The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-06-02

/ nc WIS living III pOINEdUlN openly. ana
that 1t was none of TIE business OF the
! United States, saying:
It is not the law OF Congress under
which l am living and by which I am
! punishable. The law OF my State and
| the courts of my State have competent
| Jurisdiction TO deal with me in my Of
/ fenses Of the law: and the Congress OF
! the United States has no business with
! my private conduct any more than it
! has with the private conduct Of any citi-
! zen OF Utah or any other State. 1t IS
! the law Of the State to which I am
! amenablc.
Ex-senator Edmonds adds force and
pungency to this contention when he
says;
The evidence so far obtained by the
| Senate committee investigating the case
Wof Senator Smoot includes n list Of the
| chief rulers Of the Mormon church who
! have deliberately and continually car
ried on the practice of poygamy without
! prosecution or annoyance in the face Of
| their pledges made TO two Presidents OF
the United States. and have set an ex-
! ample, naturally. and almost necessarily,
/ TO he followed by their church members
and adhcrents, Without any danger Of in
! reference by the Legislature or any
! other department OF the government by
! the State of Utah. They know that Con
| gress has no power and that the State
has no disposition TO interfere.
But, the practical question now be-
fore the American people is. How can
polygamy and polygamous cohabItatlon
| be mprooted in Utah and other States
where il exists today! So long as
| Utah had n Territorial form Of govern.
ment, il was competent for the Federal
! Government 70 legislate directly touch
| ing these offenses. This it dld by the
act Of 1862, and the acts supplemental
! thereto of 1882 and 1887, which, could
| they have been continued and enforced,
hv keeping Utah a Territory, the last
! s.a Al have lone
since been uprooted and destroyed. it
was a blunder bordering on q crimo
! to have admitted Utah as n State be
| fore This practice was completely de-
stroyed for, the moment statehood was
accorded, that moment the power of the
| general government over the matter
| ceased. and the revival of the practice
of polygamy, as Senator Edmunds we'll
said, =
''Should surprise nobody except those
whose generous and conldng faith I'm
promises led them to believe that the
settled polty Of great and powerful
church would he, or remain, reversed
when that Organization should become In
dependent Of the only power IT had any
reason 10 fear
The practical question, therefore, is,
How can this crime be eradlcated from
Utah and other States where it has
gained a foothold and threatens con-
]
sible way of reaching this crime and
| eradicating it now, except by an amend
ment TO the Federal Constitution, Civ.
ing the National Government jurisdic-
ton to deal with the matter II was
I only by an amendment to the Consti-
tuition that we were enabled TO com
plctely and permanently abolish slav-
cry in the States. l confidently be
lievc that. as in the case Of slavery.
this d" twin relic OF barbarism' - viii,
IN the not distant future, be destroyed,
not in the bloody throes of war, but
through the peaceful yet equally effec-
tive instrumentality of an amendment
TO the National Constitution, declaring
that:
Neither p9lygamy nor pQlygamoqs co;
States or any place subject to their juris-
diction.
This. in my Judgment, is the only
method now open by which the continu.
ance and spread Of this barbarous prac-
tice. can. be arrested and placed in
course Of ultimate extinction.
! In 1856, the first National Republ.
can convention, assembled in Phila-
! delPhia, declared, among other things,
| that:
The Constitution confers upon Congress
sovereign power over the Territories of
the United States for their government.
ana lnat IN the exercise OF TINS power IT,
is both the right and the duty OF Con-
| gress to prohibit in the Territories those
Twin relics OF barbarism, polygamy and
| slavery.
On the LIST day of January. 1868,
I during the progress of the Civil war,
| Abraham Lincoln, by virtue of the
| power vested IN him as Commander-in-
Chief of the army and navy OF the
United States, issued a proclamation
! declaring "ChaC all persons held as
! slaves within certain designated
States are and henceforth shall he
free. subsequently,, and IA 1865, this
| proclamation was crystalli2ed into an
amendment 10 the Constitution of the
United States, declaring that:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servi-
| tude Except as n punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly
/ Convicted shall exist within the United
! States or any place subject 10 their juris-
| diction.
Thus, in less than ten years after
the declaration Of 1856, slavery. which
antedated the Constitution and was in.
| terwoyep with every fiber Of the Ma
tonal lfe, was not only prohibited in
| the Territories, but entirely abolished
and utterly destroyed throughout the
! United States. Thus perished one of
| the twin relics OF barbarism,' while
| the other still survives 10 shame the
State and veX the Nation.
The President of the United States,
III his last annual message, said:
| ] am well aware Of how difficult IL is
! To pass a constitutional amendment New
ertheless, in my Judgment. the whole
! question OF marriage and divorce should
/ be relegated "a the authority OF the Ma
| tional Congress. Al present the wide dlf-
! ierences i'm the laws OF the different
! States on this subject resplt in scandals
! and abuses. and surely there is nothing
| so vitality essential 10 the welfare OF the
nation, nothing around which the nation
| should so bend itself 10 throw every
| safeguard, as the home life OF the aver
! age citizen. The change would be good
! from every standpoint.
II particular il would be good because
| IL would confer on the Congress the
| power at once 10 deal radically and
/ efficiently with poygemy. and this should
| be done whether or not marriage and d.
! Yorce are dealt with, II is neither safe
nor proper 10 leave the question OF polyg.
| amy to be dealt with by the several
/ States. Power TO deal with IL should be
! conferred on the National Government
When home ties are looseped; when
men and women cease TO regard q worthy
! family life. with all IFS duties fully per
,,.-1 rli H.