Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-01-18
SENATOR HOPKINS
DEFENDS SMOO1
Illinois Man Makes a Strong Plea IN
Favor Of Seating the Utah
Senator.


washington, d. c., Jan. l4.-The
first speech in defense OF the right OF
Reed Snloot TO a seat in the senate was
delivered yesterday by Senator Hop
kins, of Illinois.
Senator Hopkins took the position
that senators were not federal otilcerS,
TO the extent that the senate could
pass upon their qualifications ana
eligibility or could impeach them for
high crimes or misdemeanors. III az
senator must be punished it must be
done by the state or federal courts.
Only federal officers, he maintained,
were im~peachable, n this impeach-
ment must be for acts committed as
such federal officers.
The precedent cited was the unsuc-t
cessful effort TO impeach Senator
Plount. of Tennessee, charged with.
reasonable correspondence with a
foreign nation more than loo years
ago. The conclusion then, Mr.. Hop
kins said, had never been reversed,
and that was that the senate had no
right to try the case, as senator
Blount vas not an officer OF the United
States.
Senator Hopkins said it was unnec-
essarv for him to multiply evidence to
demonstrate his point that individual
states have no power TO add II quail
ihcations for a senator other than those
prescribed by the federal constitution.
After reviewing the charges and the
argument to sustain them at length
Senator Hopkins concluded with the
declaration that he would be false TO
his oath as a senator if he voted to
expel Senator Smoot from the senate.
Senator Beveridge supplemented Sen
ator Hopkins speech by the statement
that the country should be informed
that Senator Smoot is not nor ever had
been a polygamist.
senator Fulton asked Senator Hop
kins whether the Mormon church had
recognized the twenty polygamous mar
riages which the evidence shows had
taken place since the manifesto of 1890.
Senator Hopkins said the church had
not recognized these marriages, that
under the laws of the Mormon church
today such marriages were not permit
ted and that the parties contracting
them knew they were violating both the
civil law and the church law n for
that reason all Of these marriages had
been contaminated in Canada.
Questioned Ely Dubois.
Senator Dubois asked if Mr.. Smoot
had done anything to bring these per-
sons TO Justice.
Senator Hopkins held that there was
no more obligation on Senator Smoot
in this respect than on anyone else. He
maintained that Senator Smoot had, In
his position in the church, done more
to stamp out plygamy than any
thousand other men, land yet you pro-
pose to punish him for this by eXpell-
ing him from the senate"
Senator Dubois wanted to know when
and where Senator Smoot had ever
publicly placed himself ON record as
condemning polygamy.
Senator Hopkins replied that Sena-
tor SmOot had twenty or forty times
stated his position before the COM
mittee and that his whole life and
every fiber of his being was a protest
against polygamy. 1t was not neces-
sary. he maintained, for Senate
Smoot TO hak his fist in the face Of
any man and announce his position,
nor was it necessary for him to arise
in the tabernacle and denounce Presi-
dent Smith. of the Mormon church.
THE senator himself said Senator
Hopkins, addressing Senator Dubois,
dare not stand up here on his floor
or any other place and say that Reed
Smoot has not been a persistent OPP
ponent of the practice of ~polygamy."
Senate Dubois demanded to nave
pointed out in the committee testi-
mony where Senate Smoot had stated
his position.
Senator Hopkins, however, look his
seat and Senator Cullom was recog-
nized to call up the legislative APP
preparation bill and no answer was
made to Senator Dubois.
Amendments to the legislative APP
preparation measure, including the
proposed increase in the salaries of
the vice president, speaker, and cab
met members, were not considered but
will be taken up later.