The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-01-23

BUT LITTLE EVIL NOW EXISTS
Declares Old Conditions OF Polyuany
Are Fast disappearing and Pres.
ont Representative in Congress
Does Not Favor Practice.
WASHINGTON Jan. a. scnat

WASHINGTON Jan, a. Scnnt 1r
Sutherland today came to the rcl =
uf his colleague. senator Smoot Of
Utah. defending his right 10 retain
hls seat In the United Hlntea Scnn' :,
Il an not hore to justify wrongdb
ing IN my 9wn asn,o" he said, any
more than am here TO justify wrong
doing In any other state. Whoever
may be thus employed must bear his
own responsibilities"
II Smoot wau ylolater Of the lag
either ns principal or accessory or rec.
ognizcd any allegiance to any pog
er paramount to the allegiance he owe1
"rnmrnt. and the poor man IN WASH
his nag nud country, or by reason of
his conduc, he waA No morally upnt
that hls continued presence IN the
Senate would bring repfoaeh or shame
upon H. he should not retain HIS seat
otherwise he should.
In public undorntandln. ahid Mr..
Sutherland. smoot WAS palygumttt
this charge. originally made by ono
man. had hoon rcpudlntcd by every
body connected with the case. Il
was attn asserted III the newspapers
and was given general crcdcnce In the
country.
Discussing the charge that smoot
had taken an oath IN apostle that con
fiictcd with his obligations an "A Scna-
tor. the Senator states that this charge
had originally been made by the aama
man who had charged Smoot with
polygamy and that OF the five witnes
Aa who testified to It four had been
shown by uncon,rndlcted evidence =
be persons Of bal reputation. drunk. |
ards. or OF unHound mind
There was II large amount Of cvl+ |
dencc, said he given by thorough! |
reputable citizens OF the state. to ~" I
effect that no such oath was ;aken. !
and. taking all Of the testimony to- /
gother this charge waa utterly dis
credited
The two charges remaining were
that polygamy and polygamous eohab-
jtnlIon were still being prnc,lccd ~
adhcronrs Of the Mormon Church and /,
that the church nlerfcred In political
and temporal matters As 10 the nrst
charge the speaker traced the hIatory
with reference TO the growth Of po!F
gamy untll i,s nna abandonment by
the church in 1890.
The thing which tho government Of
the United Statcc as well as the Gen
tiles Of Utah have been striving Cor,
said Mr.. Sutherland. was TO get rii Of
the institution Of polygamy. He topt
the position that It was recognized in
the main that the people who had en-.
tered this unlawful relation did 20 un
der a religious deluson; that they were !
good men and good women. though Of
course utterly mistaken In their views u
regarding this matter.
The fact that polygamy was there I
fore opposed to the united thought oc u
the American people and to that Of I
the Christian world" he continued, n
was no argument that 1t was BELIZE.
cd wrong by Mormon people who prnc. II
ticcd It in the past. with the mani. g
festo Of the church forbidding future II
marriages the gcne.ll IL
opinion among GcntIles In Utah had d
been that the end OF the contest shnul u
come. At that time there We're over u
two thousand polygamous marriages u
or households That some Of thaFr III
people had resumed their former as. ol
was beyond doubt. As a
general thing 1t had been thought that te
SO long as relations were not ilagrant ma