The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-01-24
TIE TIa1Fs- Va WEDNEsDAY.JANUARY 20 1000

]SAiYl NL)lYlEIN
N..O1.CO.N!. I HUTTON ! !. ]
CONTINUED from First Page9
sion at the doo,r: Q: the American c:en-
] Sgress.''
Mr. Tayler was emphatic in his assertion
that exclusion was In harmony with pre-
cedent; expulsion in violation OF It. Ie
amplit1ed Sthe three grounds forE Mr.
1 Roberts exclusion; first, because of his
violation OF the Ednunds Act: second, be-
cause he was living in open. hagrant and
notorious violation OF the statutes OF
tho Congress he seeks to enter, and third,
because his election was q violation Of
! the compact by which Utah was admitted
into the Union.
Mr.. LittIedeld, of Maine, was the
minority spokesman. The only issue be-
tween the majority and minority was
as TO whether he should he expelled or
excluded. The right of member to his
seat was a constitutional right. He went
back to the constitutional debates and
other early history to prove that Con-
gress could not add to the qualifications.
of members negatively stated in the
constitution. ss
rounded the framing of this provision Of
the constitution, and quoting Madison,
Hamilton and jefferson, he asked
triumphantly who there was who could
#shatter the crucibe Of history which sur
rounded it or the declaration of the men
who framed it.
A FULL RIGHT.
he challenged and ridicu.cd many of
the matority's grounds and presidents.
He said the minority stood with Burke,
Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Morris,
Webster. Storey, Cooley. John Randolph
Tucker.
IT believe said Mr.. Littlehe1d. that
Mr.. Roberts has full constitutional right
to a seat in this House,
The applause which followed swept over
the floor and to the galleries.
Mr.. Littlefield then turned to the con-
sderation of the, proposition that If the
House had the right to add to the qualiti-
cations of a member, the ationS
of a member proposed by the Edmunds
act did not apply TO Mr.. Roberts, be-
cause member of Congress was not an
officer under the United States" within
the meaning Of the statute.
He then attacked the propositions. of the
majority, that Mr.. Roberts had violated
the compact between Utah and the United
States he pointed out the unquestioned
right of either house to expel 4 member
for sufficient cause.
Mr. Roberts then spoke for one and
a half hours at ease and without temper.
He said he might say with propriety: "A
plague On both your houses" since both
propose his undoing Qaughter) but the
situation was not altogether without its
advantages. He was convinced with the
minority that the Hou>se had no right
to exclude him, and with the majority
that once admitted he could not be eS-
PEELED.
Between the two" said he, matters
fall out about as ( would have them,
and substantial justice will be done. Gre
newed laughter.)
Mr.. Roberts gave notice he appropri-
ated the arguments of the majority
against expulsion and those of the minor
ity against exclusion.
His constitutional qualifications were
admitted by both the majority and minor
ity of the committee, and he declared
that the members of the House, if they
had regard to the Constitution OF their
country would call him back to the bar
from which he had been improperly
turned away.
MARTIN LUTHER.
He warned the House that nations fell
because they departed from their tradi-
lions. If a nation INDUCED in consti-
tutional immortality, as did the individual.
it was guilty Of physical immortality. He
beseeched the House not to yield to the
clamor Of unthinking people. Was this
emergency? A man was elected to Con-
gress, who in the sancity Of the Church
had married a plurality of wives. He
said we have passed the stage Of repre-
senting or defending polygamy, and he
did not want his contention so construed.
He said the time of polygamyz is NAHUM
:rohbitum, not N1ala I'm Sc; that in the
teachings of the Great Master, although
he denounced crime sin
that man can commit, there is no word
of his condemnation of the conduct of
the patriarchs or Of the law as it Was
give to Moses and ancient Israel. He
quoted Martin Luther as saying: II can-
not protest when one takes many wives,
for it does not contradict the Script,!res''
and again. that the Gospels do not revoke
or contradict the Jaws Of Moses in mat
1imonial matters.
Yet we bull. monuments to Luther,
Notwithstanding his liberation and de-
fence of that form of marriage. say
this only to show that polygamy Is mere
~ a crime because prohibited hy law"
Mr.. Roberts explained Inc Mormon be-
lief in polygamy, and said Inc Church
thought their creed on ibis point came
within the constitutional inhibition
against laws prohibiting the free exer-
else of religious belief.
'.But them said Mir. Roberts GRAMMATICAL
ly, II felt it would have been deserving
the cause of God to have agreed to give
up polygany.''
A scattering wave of applause passed
over the galleries at this utterance, but it
was quickly drowned with Kisses.
81 had rather had my flesh hewn from
my limbs than to have been untrue to my
people. 1t was this feeling that was the
incentive to the lawlessness such as it
was.
'But." he continued. 'the time came
when the Mormons of Utah were obliged
to sumbit. Death had kindly solved the
problem for some. and the heart aches it
left for others made them wish for the
same end.
You can neither exclude nor expel me-
said Mr.. Roberts In conclusion. Il will i
cling so hard to the pillars of liberty that
you shall not drag me from them without
bringing down the whole temple Cap /
lause and hisses).
.I have lived with a good conscience
until this day and am sensible of no act
of shame, upon my part. You can brand
me with shame and send me forth. but
shall leave with head erect and brow I'M
daunted and walk the earth as angels
walk the clouds. If you violate the con-
stitution all the shame will be with you"