The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-03-10

that decade. VIC shall beg 10 disagree
with the News upon that point.
From the time Of the passage of the
anti .polygamy law Of 1862 the church
officials definitely arraycd themselves
against tho statute There was not
the slightest disposition on their part
10 submit themselves 90 its provisions.
On the contrary, they finally announced
that they would fight the matter out
in the courts ny TO the supreme tri-
bunal of the United States. In 1873
another anti-poyIgamy law was passed
which more thoroughly covered the pc
culiar evasion, deception and trickery
praciiccd by the pnlygamists IN order
10 avoid punishment But even when
| rho law of 1878 was passed the Nor
mon hicrarchs spoutcd their defiance
and their determination TO fight to the
! last ditch And so II came about that
in 1879 a test case was had in the
matter Of tho United States against
George Reynolds. with the result that
it was carried mp 10 the National Su'
preme court where the law was de-
clared Constitutional, and the polyga
nous church lost its contention. Al
though the announced determination
| Of the Mormon hicrarcbs 10 carry the
question TO the highest tribunal would
naturally give rise to the snpposition
that If they were finally ruled against
they would submit TO that ruling. they
thereafter rushed men into polygamy
as fast as they could be put through
the old endowment house, which stood
in the northwest corner Of the temple
block in this unlawful procedure and
Righteousness against the Federal au-
thority Joseph +. Smith. the present
head of the Mormon church. was one
Of the most Industrious of lawbrcak-
ers. He even went so far as to say
that although law might be declared
Constitutional he had a right to his
own opinion, and also the right to be
guided in his acts by that opinion, pro
vided he were willing to risk the CON
sequences.
II was eleven wears after the law
was declared Constitutional, or in 1890,
that the Woodruff manifesto. inhiblting
nOlNUhlUN anu VIC Il'lN EHil''e f''''
tcc, was promulgated by the church.
$50 we sec that the church was slower,
even when positively advised, to move
than were the people of the United
States. with their previously meagcr
and conflicting adviccs.) Next October
we shall have completed the twentieth
year since the issuance Of the Woodruff
manifesto. Not even in twenty years
have the hicrarchs been able to "ad-
iust everything affecting the crlml.
nal polygamous practice-cXccpt in the
following manner: Formerly any Nor
mon man who SO desired could take
more than ono wife. provided he merely
met certain unburdcnsomc requirements
laid down by the ploygamous hicrarchs.
At the present time no man is given
permission to marry plurally unless he
can be implicitly trusted to secrete the
ofrcusc and to defend his fellow offend
ers and to absolutely absolve the church
from all responsibility in his case. That
is the only manner in which adjustment
has come.
To argue that the Government con
doncd an offensc because ii was una
BILE TO detect and punish all the Of
Tenders. with the entire cult working
for secrecy. is absurd. The News might
as we'll assume that the State condones
murder because 1t fails to punish the
murderer by reason of his successful
clusion of the officers and his eventual
escape beyond possibility of capture
and conviction.
"Plural marriage is a practice of the
past. as far as the church is CON
ccrned' says the News. That little
qualification. 'as far as the church rs
concerned - is voluminous only in the
long story that it tells. In all of the
public pronounccments'o individual Of
ficials of the Mormon church concern
ing polygamy, these men have been
careful to say that if any cider now
marrics polygamously he does it on
his own responsibility. And ii is with
this understanding that the hundreds
of new polygamists now within the
church have committed their crimes.
Joseph f. Smith. their supreme ruler,
said, 81 have preferred to take my
chances against the law, - in his testi.
mony at Washington in 1904, They
have done the same thing. Because
Of The protection. the defense and the
financial aid rendered by the Mormon
church officials to new polygamists, to-
gether with the deception and lying
practiccd by Mormon newspapers in
their behalf. there are now probably
more new polygamists in the church
than there are OF those who married
plurally previous to 1890.
And briefly told as tho case will per-
nit, that is about the whole story.
While the good and Christian lay.