The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-21

thousands Of members Of congress were
compelled to take the oath required.
:. The house, in 1863 adopted a gen.
eraI rule of order. providing that no
person should be sworn in as a mem
Der against whom the objection was
made that he was not entitled to take
the test oath. ana IT, upon investigation
such fact appeared, ne was to be per-
manently debarred from entrance.
3. The interesting proposition is
made that the claimant be sworn in
and then turned out Upon the theory
taiest-tae lssss e5~ 10 permanently part
company with Ts'1berts. this is ! Cu-
bious proceeding. Such acton requires
the vote of two-thirds of the members
We ask If suCh a vote is possible OF
right. in view of the following observa-
tiOns:
Provisions of Constitution.
'@The expulsion clause Of the eonstf-
tuition is as follows: Each house may
determine the rules Of it's proceedings,
punish its members for diSOrderly be-
haviOr, and, with the concurrence Of
twO-thirds, exoel a member
NO LAWYER can read that provision
without raising in his own mind the
question whether the house has any
power to expel except for some cause
relating to the contest The aDiest law
yers from the beginning Of the republic
have 50 insisted. AND their reasoning
has been so cogent that these PROPOSE
lions are established namely;
I. Neither house Of congress has ever
expelled a member for acts unrelated
to aim as a member. or inconsistent
with his public duty as such.
-. Both houses have many times re-
fused to expel where the guilt of the
member was apparent. where the re-
e.. -rT~ asT
that the house or senate, as the case
might be, had no right 10 eXpel for an
act unrelated to the member as such,
or because it was committed prior 10
his election.
Strong Language Used.
The full report Of the committee eIab-
CRATES the summaries and in some parts
uses strong language against Mr.. Rob
erts As to his plural marriages u
says:
Prior to 1882 3. II. Roberts had mar
ried one Louisa Smith. She has borne
him six children and is still living
About 1885. when Utah was fairly
ringing with the blows of the Edmun0s
act Of 1882 while numerous prosecutors
we're going on, and after the supreme
court had passed upon the validity OF
the act: when the American people sup
posed polygamy had received it's death
blow: when no man Of the many whose
cases went to the United States su-
prerne court pretended the provisions
against pOlygamOus marriages were IN
valid, with all these facts inslstently
before him. Brigham n. Roberts took
another wife. his first pOlyg2 nous wife,
Celia Dibble by name, who in the fol-
lowing twelve years bore MIN SIX chill
His Second Wife.
'Thfs second wife he married in de-
fance Of the Edmunds law. He spat
uDon the law: he declared By his act
that he recognized no binding rule upon
him OF a law Of congress; ne declared
by it that ne recognized q higher law
The congress of the United states vas
to him an object of contempt mo
supreme court of the United states
might declare the law for others. but
not for him. He laughed at ITS tutiie
DEGREES and spurned its admomtlons.
The executive which ha0 declared IN
solemn messages its gratIhcatlon that
poIvgamy seemed forever gone. he de-
fed and despised. OF what consequence
to him were laws of congress and dec
tarati0ns of the highest c0urt and
proclamations of presidents, and his
sensual INTERPRETATION Of sensual d)c-
trine? And all the time the Edmunds
law declared not only pOlyGanH, Out
cohabitation with more than one WoIn-
az. unlawful. Roberts not only big
amousIv married a second vie. but he
persisted in violating ana Geiiantiy
trsmpling underfoot every other Pro-
vision of the act.
Then Third Wife.
But he had not yet sufficiently pro-
claimed his utter contempt for the SUI
preme court. for congress and its most
solemn enactments- A lew years later
he took third wife.
From the time Of his second mar
rfage 10 the third he cOhabi.ed with
two women. From the date o MS
third marriage down To his election
and. We doubt not. to The present time
he has been cohabiting with three WON
en-. As recently as Dec. s, 1893, ne de
fined his position as follows,
These women have stood by me