Show latter sovereignty vs the wor of the valley tan sir I 1 have carefully perused peruse an article artial the signature aig nature of lexan vs titled poleg amow amy in utah or squatter sovereignty vs the common law of the states published in a late number lumber of the national intelligence and copied into your paper the ithe author merits much credit for having presented jn in so BO clear and lucid a manner those fur da mental principles ci ples upon m h ic arest the great greit fabric of tte got government eminent with all its intal jests ate working horling machined machine machinery 7 infusing the elements of prosperity pros perit ran and happiness into ev eve ij department of society ety aut the constitutionality tignall tiona lity t y of the measures proposed by him bun for alie removal of this growing evil does not appear to be pointed out with sufficient clear less tisa to dispel those doubts which stand stana in V P way of prompt action upon the abe subject As those who support poly polygamy garny claim to wt nae in trenched themselves th em selves behind cons titu lional authority author ity it devolves lupon upon those she ho oppose the institution to refute it upon the same game high authority and on jailing unfailing to do to 00 let tho the victory be awarded to the inlet and cease to molests molest him in the enjo enjoys v bent int of hn his constitutional privileges L i tha ne discussion of this thia question quei tion necessarily ily involves liiv olves the claims of squatter sovereignty aich abich from the fhe peculiar circumstances circumstance at tending the settlement of a vastly extended 1 public domain has hag acau acquired ired a degier degree of pop jl I and an apparent sanction tion of ataop law altogether together 11 superficial ial the constitutionality 0 of a measure or the ibe lound bat ness of a new principle f popular la is likely lobe critically scanned until ueail the ercile thereof is discovered to convict with otters others more sacred or important to th tiie inter waff tf society and hence that at the opinion of some congress hath not to power ad legislate i or th e territories prior to tw the adoption alb tm Fa in 1780 all tb lands under the control of the general government ern ment had teen been ceded to it by the eign states with the express understanding that awas to be imposed of for the support of a common cause andi the october 1780 the congress of the confederation ration enacted that those lands should be disposed of for the common benefit befit of the united states 0 0 and be granted and settled at such times and under such regulations as shall berea hereafter after fter be agreed on by the united states in m congress assembled sem sein bled 1 and again in an ordinance of the july 17 1787 8 we derive erive urther further t information in in regard to the extent to which the general goverman Go vermen t felt authorized at that time to legislate ahr the territories and the objects for eor which that legislation w was as had viz viz i for JF or extending aw lie fundamental U principles of cai civil il and religious liberty which form the lam whereon these republics their laws and constitutions are erected to fix i and establish those principles as the basis of all laws constitutions constitution and governments which forever hereafter shall be 10 formed zed in the said Terri territory fory 2 thus recognising recognizing in most m a t impressive language that embodiment of innate principles which h h cit institutes the basis of american jurisprudence ris ri prudence ne and styled staled by tetanus the common lim law of the iho states jt is is the social secial habits manners cus to baand and religious sentiments of a people that their Is lau a emi nate and for the preservation 1 and perpetuation of the same that legislation is had ad and if we will examine step by step the archives of our national and state le legislatures gisla tures from their first organization to the present we will find that these hes e social and religious sentiments have beautifully entwined themselves into every pair principle icicle of law a d stamped their impress upon all the institutions of the country and formed for the american people a dis nat national ional c character har acter and whether that national been left to the mercy of eier ev ers er s shifting hefti inga opinion 1 ll 11 ion or fostered by the strong environs olt of the h e cons constitutions cheth whether er the history of our lavi laws and institutions is is to be eyer shifting like the changing dolors bolois of the chameleon or like that immutable tode code which changes not w ith the lapse of time Is a martof part of the subject alth ol 01 0 our u ir present enquiries johen ahen a portion of 1 their e public domain was ceded bythe by the sovereign states they yielded their rights for the e attainment ot of a paramount object they sacrificed pecuniary in interest t res t for the establishment of those ose intrinsic principles I 1 I 1 of our nationality giving to chewer the federal congress the right to dispose of and make all needful rules and rr respecting the same saint not such a disposition as would ultimately subvert those institutions tor for which th they I 1 were I 1 ceded to s support or such rules sort el us a and n r regulations as w would ou conflict with the laws of society in in the several states but only such as were necessary to secure the extension and observance of those laws in in the territories what are we e to understand bathis by power to make all needful rules rulef and regulations lations respecting the territories S batter sovereignty ahas polygamy would vi define it as having exclusive reference to the disposition odthe of the soil but if so the organic law of every territory in the government go is is nul and void as also the statutes of their legislatures but abut the constitution provides that 1 all l crimes capt except impeachment shall be tried by jury and ithen not committed within an any state the trial shall be held at such place or places as the congress may by law have directed thus thug clearly cl defining fining the power to tol legislate for the punishment 0 of crimes in the Terri territories torim again the con expressly enjoins upon ayery every state in the union that ant persons charged with crime in in one stat and fleeing ialo another shall be deli delivered vard up cp on demand of the executive authority 0 of the state from chic ch hi fled and if the constitution enjoins it on the general to enforce regulations forthe for the punishments crimes in in a sovereign state is it not reasonable to suppose that she can exert a similar sit nilar authority over the Territories 1 the constitution agaibi again provides that nun adin admit it new ue 0 states and we reco recognize knize in in our territorial governments those new states stales id in embryo I 1 ultima ultimately I 1 to a attain I 1 tain their jo rity and be e inducted into fu full 11 membership 8 i pup tipon or an equality with their el elder der sisters on presenting re enting full and satisfactory tokens of fidelity d M it to those ose inherent virtues abich farm th the aba basis sis of oar our national character so in intimately ti linked aith the destinies of our institutions institutions and so endeared to the heard hear of every true American citizen that fa q violate them them is t to rebel and with thi the sami sanie guar guardian ciari Ig fenee the constitution binds the national dong congress gres in asolean Aib lern guarantee to every tiery state in the union to preserve inviolate the chastity ot these institutions that n no usand and adulterous offspring may I 1 poison the sources arees of virtue ind agh the fires of discord upon the hearthstone of the patriot again the Cona constitution titu tion provides provide cihat thattie th atthe althe ff cf w ath h ag afton pug au fc ram to all privileges and limm immunities unities of the citizens odthe of the several states and to carr carryout out in good faith this provision of the constitution it would be a safe rule to prohibit the ad adoption of any institution or practice in thi the territories te ea that hat t is inimical to the laws of all the states for what is is and e eier er has been eschewed as evil and promptly punished as aa a crime by the laws of every state in the union should not be indulged with impunity in n the public domain which is is the common property of all the states and ultimately destined to become members of the common sisterhood the power to dispose of and make all need full rules and regulations regulation respecting the territories rt ri rit has been ceded to congress and in neu e u thereof h f t the h constitution guarantees the form ame of the institutions to be erected thereon not such institution sas sae we see resting lineta mammoth incubus upon the degenerate tribes of asia and africa t to to inflict the curses of effeminacy and imbecility upon the vigorous offspring of a young and enlightened nation but such only as aa me may have received the sanction of that code of morality that has been adopted in in every state in in the union the constitution again provides that congress shall make no law respecting respect big an establishment lish ment of religion 7 or prohibiting the shefree free exercise thereof tut but it is ia evi ident derit from other clauses of that same instrument that we becan can not sar sanctify citify and legalize the whole catalogue cati logue of crimes and practice them with impunity im punit uder udder u der the sacred garb of re gihon gilion and it if can be thus sanctified I 1 see no rea son why other crimes may not be allowed the same sanction this same toleration of religion is a prominent feature in the constitution of every in in the unior ys s mho ho would a attempt t to practice polygamy and justify it a as a religious institution under the 1 constitution of one of the states yet if it can be tol toi 1 rated under the constitution of the general genera government it can be tol tolerated erato ed under them 1 all ill if it be oe tolerated as a local institution it must be tolerated also as a a nati national olal institution and stamp its impress 0 forever o ever upon the national character if I 1 it is to be tolerated as a religious institution and I 1 if we indulge it to those who deem it necessary r a and n d essential to their salvation it cannot be e denied to those who care nothing nothing about salvation ard it now devolves upon the ile people of this thia great and enlightened nation to determine whether they will engraft this institution of polygamy upon their social system and entail its long train of attendant evils upon the character of oath the nation to defile the sacred purity punt and break up the harmony of the marriage relation lat ioto to inflict the pangs of remorse upon the heart of the mother and blunt and destroy ll 11 those refined sentiments ol of which shed b a halo of purer joy upon the declining years odthe of the american atron hi nov 14 1858 |