| Show I I lr f 11 OF t I I HON JOHN R TUCKER A I or I it in me arouse of ayes Z tuesday march aut 1882 I tho irons having n under cons consideration ideation I the bill no M to amend rice section tion MV I of the revised statutes of the united I states in re arence to lem bigamy find for other purposes I I mr tucker I am as much opposed I ased to polygamy and tho the kindled kindred 11 enumerated iu in this bill us as I any gentleman in this house the t marriage sanctioned by the divine author of christianity is a civil status constituted by contract between ono one man and ono one woman to I live together for life lift as the basis of I the tile family without which no society can bo be virtuous prosperous and happy and I incline to think tho the decision in hydo hyde vs alyde I L it probate and divorce Divo cases is sound in in holding that no 11 mormon 11 ormon in marriage ar k though valid by t lie lex loci between a man and woman which I implies tile light right of the tile man inan to I I marry y another woman is a christian marriage the contract rf christian wedlock must exclude I I I I tho the idea of marri marriage arm to another woman tho the first wife living it was wm so from the beginning that they twain shall be one flesh tt great as is this evil of polygamy in utah and important as it is to extirpate it as an clement element in american I polity it must b bs cured by constitutional I remedies I believe the most prec precious ions n assurance for azicri american t liberty most essential ar guarantee of american civilization I I is 13 the constitution of the united states to destroy any evil by unconstitutional I I I methods is to cure a 01 11 I disease by a poison which disturbs the vital functions of the body politic ki and injects into a principle most difficult to be extirpated and creating I t I tinga a precedent whose influence most must be injurious and may bo be fatal to tho the life of constitutional government k I I believe in the power of congress to legislate directly f for the territories I I ries of tho anion subject ot to thu tho I constitution of the united states con congress greas holds them as property for sale and as a domain for colonization in trust for tho the common and I equal benefit of tho the united states I and the people of each and all of them it can pass no law contrary I to this trust nor contrary to the terms of limitation on its power prescribed proscribed t I by the constitution that I constitution follows each colonist monist z to his ills new home in the territory and shields him from froni arbitrary power ai by whomsoever exercised whether E by the dirl direct ct action of congress W or of the territorial government to I I which congress may delegate t the aa 14 I governing authority the citizen in the territory like the citizen in I the state is protected against all laws which arc are not ima made ado in pursuance of the constitution I S I believe that the fifth and eighth t sections of this bill are violations E of tho the constitution and I therefore K cannot vote for it they violate it P in fundamental matters which if I 11 allowed in an effort to extirpate this enormous evil il will bo be a precedent i I for passion and prejudice to uso use the I same evil where no real evil exists I i every provision of this bill aimed ka at PO polygamy I Y ramy r amy and the other offic uses named named in it fur their punishment and to accomplish their extermination meets my hearty concurrence a and I regret that some of its provisions F n fa arc are so arbitrary and ind unconstitutional that I cannot give my voto vote for tho the bill I tile haste with which under tinder the previous question and a short hour I lor for dinen amendment dment and debate thereon eon L I and call of roll have prevented me ak I I from moving amendments which might mir lit in my view have made inato the bin if constitutional I can now only voto vote a against aust its passage with no he hope of defeating this ill con si dered t if not inconsiderate measure I will now present mv my constitutional objections to the bill 11 I It Appears that the governor and legislative assembly of T utah by 11 an act passed january 19 1855 adopted and re enacted an ordinance I passed by tl alic e provisional government 1851 by which imo mormonism rm with its polygamous rites was legalized I in t that lat territory that act was A never repealed until congress by P a law lav passed july 1862 12 S statutes t at jl at large annulled it and e I made polygamy unlawful that act was codified in tho the utes section this section is rc re enlarged in its scope I by br the first section of the present hill in other words this bill makes I some acts criminal which have not been bien criminal to aothia this date il I I the third section of this bill creates t a new offense lense of namely cohabitation ile more than one woman 11 implied impliedly ly making illicit cohabitation I V I with one woman no off lerise at all and denounces aces it as a misdemeanor Iri muniss punishable liable by a fine and zae I imprisonment i so ament myo how w let us look at the fifth sec see I I I I I 11 Z V pv tion it provides that in nil till prosecutions for said onies it shall bo be sufficient cause of challenge to a person summoned as a Jury Juryman mathat that he lie is or lias jim been living in the practice of biga lily pol polygamy ganly or unlawful ijac if il cohabitation ac or that lie is 13 or hag has been guilty of an in offense punishable by cither either of the foregoing sections or by section of the revised statute statutes or that iio lie believes it right for ft a man to bavo more than one livin living gand and cd ed wife at the same time or to jive live in the practice of cohabiting with more than one woman the section provides for examination ortho of tile Jury juryman inan and other evidence and to exclude him from the jury if he lie refuses to answer asto as to his guilt or innocence of said offe cs I do not insist that every man lias has an all equal right to be upon the jury hit ilia I do insist that it is the right t of the accused to be tried by an impartial jury of his district T the lie fifth amendment to the co constitution ution declares arcs that no persen shall be deprived of life liberty or prope property ity najt without li ou t due pro process cess of law what is due process of law judge story citing 11 lord coke storys Comment commentaries arie s on the constitution 1783 says this means the tile right ri bt of trial rial t according to the process and P proceedings locc edings of the common law this includes trial by jury of tho the accused as shown in milligans Mil ligans case wallace but the sixth amendment of the constitution is more explicit it declares the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an in it impartial jury ac in the late case of strander cr vs west virginia IOU united states reports the supreme court la 19 says ys in speake speaking it of jury trial the constitution of juries is a very essential part of the protection such a mode of trial is intended to to secure the very idea of a jury is of men comp composed oscil of the peers or equals of alic person whose rights it is selected or summoned to determine that is of his neighbors fellows associates persons having the tile same legal status in society as that which he fi holds the courts say MY it must be guarded against the process known as pachi packing tig juries and tai that at the man plan bo be tried b by y persons without prejudice a against t ainest him now I do not mean to say that persons in ul pari jari delicato with the accused should bo be put upon his jury bu but 11 I do mean to say that the tile fact that I a man lias has been guilty of an offense at a time long past is no reason for liis his disfranchisement as a juror per nor to debar tho the accused from having him on a jury and yet this bill docs does this it ac declares clares if a juror is is or has bas been guilty of any of these of offenses rense or is or lias jim been guilty of ofa the offense newly and for the first timp fiade fouch by this ho ile has abandoned it or not whether he lie says he will justly execute his duty as juror or not he lie is absolutely disqualified to sit on the jury but it goes further it dives into the heart of the juryman and disqualifies him for his belief in both cases it proposes an inquiry 11 into ito the question it probes the juryman himself hini self ciflie if he declines to answer he lie is ipso facto faeto set aside I have shown that no law against polygamy exl exited ted prior to july 1862 1180 nor against unlawful cohabitation with more than one woman up to this time yet a man who I never violated cither either law is by retroactive effect given to each to be disqualified as a juryman this gives an ex facto operation to these laws in order to disqualify jurymen juryman Jury men and thus to debar the accused from an impartial jury offis of his peers peera but more than all this is done by an inquisitorial proceeding proc ceding to disqualify qualify y men for jury service to brand them as e criminals nals without trial even perhaps without accusation and thus to narrow and circumscribe cum scribe the class of citizens in the community from which an impartial jury is to be selected Is this fair Is it not unconstitutional in that it excludes exclude i large classes of men who may not on only never have offended against any law faw but who may have abandoned a practice they once were guilty and who in in many any cases might afaf fairly r administer the law without regard ard to any supposed to govern the mormon kormon people I come conic now to the eighth section of the bill that provides that n no big bigamist anist polygamist or a any ny person cohabit cohabiting ailt as its before mentioned shall vote or b be elig eligible i ble to office or hold office in any territory or place over which the tile united states have exclusive jurisdiction or under tho united states this disfranchises franchises dis every such person from every office from froni the presidency down to the most petty place under the government ment I waive the buos quos question fion of a constitutional tut ional power to make eions for offices to which another department part ment appoints s or as to which afie constitution itself establishes its own pro qualifications I assert that this beckim without trial of an any Y kind takes from every person guilty guilt Y of any of these offenses the precious right t of and tl the I privilege ri of eligibility to or the is title to hold any office under tinder the united states state this is done by act of congress fur for crime it operates fo ro instants ins tanti of oft the be approval of this law if at tit that moment he is guilty of the new llev offense created by this act this act in the same moment inflicts this heavy penalty it docs does more the ninth section establishes a commission of five persons whose decisions of exclusion of any man from the polls is ab and final lie ile has no appeal that commission coTa mission tries the question of guilt or innocence in order to dei I I 47 I P terni ine his right to vote hia citizenship honsl is emasculated under this lav without lyphout it duo process ess of law hy by indictment and jury trial by a court Courto of flaw law the tile commission of five tire the absolute arbiters of the rights and immunities of citizens of jhc thc united states Is such a law lar constitutional the supreme court in cummings Cum minga vs missouri wallace have settled this question the constitution of the united states article section clause declare declares no bill of or attainder or ex post facco law shall be passed this is a limitation on oil the power of congress milligans Mil ligans case caseb wallace cummings vs tie missouri supra what isa is a bill of attainder the supreme court answer it A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts I punishment w without a judicial trial if the punishment be less than death the act is termed a bill of pai pains us and penalties in these cazes cases the legislative body in addition to its le legitimate iti functions exercises the powers and office of judge etc and fixes the degree of putli punishment in in accordance accord tince with its own notions notion s of the enormity of the of rense per field J wallace but id is a disqualification to veto to be eligible to office or to hold office a punishment let lot the same court answer the theory upon which our political institutions rest is that all men have certain inalienable rights that among these arc are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness e and that in the pursuit of bap happiness all avocations cat ions all bu business all positions are alike open to every one and that in the protection of these rights all arc are equal before tho the law any deprivation or suspense of any of these rights for past conduct is id punishment I and aud can be in no lie otherwise defined ibid p again the courts say punishment L embraces deprivation or suspension ion of poli political or civil rights lits again disqualification li from am office may be punishment as in cases of conviction upon ment in tho the case cited a legislative act which deprived a man of his rights to teach and preach for acts done before its passage was held to be un unconstitutional al as a bill of attainder how irow more go so this bill which deprives the party of civil civila and d political rights without trial and by a mere act of legislation the tile same doctrines were aff affirmed in exl arle garland wallace I cannot doubt then alit this act will boa bill of attainder As such it violates the constitution in a matter which affects the lives liberties and r rights if its of fifty millions million of f freemen I cannot vote for it I should be false to my sworn duty to support and defend the constitution of the tile united states if I voted fora forn bill which not only violates the tile constitution but makes a es a precedent of evil omen to the liberties of the people I cannot consent cement to eradicate one vice by an act of asur usurpation a of power which might inight c inai involve f ve results of greater ilag magnitude and importance to the tile happiness s of the present and future generations of this great union I forbear to dwell upon the tile dangerous powers vested in the oligarchy to be constituted by the ninth section given a board which iba is to regulate suffrage to hold elections to make inako returns thereof and all this without ali appeal peal and there will till be no difficulty in reaching tho the conclusion that for the tile time being citizens of the united states will be subject to an autocratic oligarchy as absolute in ita its authority au authority thorit and capable of achieving as mue much K unhappiness for its subjects by the tile plunder of their properly the tile deprivation of their liberties and tho violation of their constitutional rights as ever existed among any people in ancient or modern times time with a solemn protest st against these dangerous provisions of this bill lain constrained to vote against g it I am sati satisfied fied if it is defeated that 11 this I is great evil of mormonism may ba be extirpated by some new me measure asure without a violation of the constitution or detriment to tho the republic Ke public |
