| Show p r J SENSELESS BILL 1 j The more one studies the Hosr i bill which lately passed tho Senate 1 the more is he convinced that the ti I measure was devised and presented I w I for dress parade rather than effective 1 I j effect-ive operation It ia true the pos I I Eibilitiea to which the bill would Ii i I open the door are great they are iij I I J wonderful when we come to contemplate ii I Jt con-template them in the light of the t if past administration or law in ucanf 11 I I t J t but in the line of solving the Mor 11 It J t I If mon problem they are as nothing Ii JIL1 I I 1 unless it be the purpose to find a Ii J 1 I J solution by petty annoyances and inflictions outside direct prosecu II 1 tlons for offense J and hence outside ill i the law The more we consider I the bill the firmer fixe d is the conviction 1 i con-viction that its framera understand I lj i little or nothirg of the situation j li f here and less of the matter upon j Ii 11 which they proposed to legislate I i and also that those who voted for I i I 1 the measure had remarkably vague I i j i f ideas of what they were doing f 4 beyond posing as moralists before i I thoughtless constituents Now the R i J Edmunds law had an object in lirt r i view there was a purpose in it and q 1 1 while the blow that it aim d was Ii I t i cowardly it was nevertheless a blow r Ii i which for the time at least has had 1 Ii telling effect It is true it has not i cured the evil and in no sense 1 j has it injnied the Mormon cause or ll l 1 lessened the faith or anybody in r fs il religion the punishment inflicted It upon Mormons by it has been irregular It ir-regular and it is believed will yet ly r be EO declared yet this was what 11 Mr Edmunds intended hence his t law has not proven a disappointment i disappoint-ment to him however far short it has come of putting an end to Mormon practices I But the Hoar bill is pont Jess except i ex-cept in the sense of vi lousnees I I I The first section displays the grossest gross-est ignorance on the part of Mr t Hoar in that It makes the husband J or wife a competent witness against the other in a prosecution for bigamy big-amy polygamy or unlawful cohabitation cohab-itation Does gentleman suppose this change of a rule of evidence g would help him In the last degree If I he does he doesnt know the Mormons I < Mor-mons men or women Two rather I I vigorous attempts have been maae T by the courts to co pel Mormon l plural wives to testify against their j husbands and the results were such 1 as to teach courts and Congressmen f1 the futility of trying to get cW if I dence by coercion The women in I i question refused with emphasis to I tell anything one of them spent a t I few months in jail rather than bes Lj 111 i tray her husband and the other is 3 t passing the summer in the penitentiary 1 1tlI peniten-tiary as a punishment for holding I fi her tongue A similar result would i1t follow the attempt to compel the I L1 first wife to testify she simply ¼ would refuse and defy the court m t and the law to make her speak if jj1i the prison fere prescribed as I it has been she would accept iItl it and still be silent And then J1I what would Mr Hoars bill amount llhJ to The facts arc if Mormon women i1i1 wo-men wanted to punish the Mormon I jj men for polygamy they could find 14 plenty of law for gratifying findW wishes in that respect and they q fr wouldnt require any urging and If I ID i they didnt want to inflict punishment D I punish-ment which is the tiue case all I I J the laws and all the coercion that I could be brought < > bear in the matter I J mat-ter would not make them a party 1 to the prosecution of their husbands I Mr Hoar provides in the second r ji section of his bill that in prosecutions 1 L I 1 prosecu-tions for polygamy the witness L may be attached and compelled to s i s 1 0 attend without previous subpoena il 1 p Like the first section this would tr t tamount to nothing for the witness Ip I t I could be silent and go to jail for c p f J contempt on short notice quite as I I I I i easily as on long a j t J And so we might run through the t i entire bill only to find the ignorance I ignor-ance cf the framers The billwere Jii i it to become law could and undoubtedly IL un-doubtedly would be made a means I of doing much injury to the Mormon j plan people Tb6 jails ccnld oe C I V i I filled with mtn and women I and the people be robbed of their substance to defend themselves I aganst malcif aDd vindictive oroseculions and wicked persecutions persecu-tions but that the law could by any t twistiu interpretations or deg de-g ees of severity in administration and application be made to bring about an adjustment of the Mormon problem no one who understands the situation will for a moment ad mtt On the contrary all lars like the Hear proposed statute will only strengthen the Mormons in their belief confirming the correctness of the faith in the doubting and making more firm the belief of those who are already confident and content If Congress will persist in meddling med-dling with the question it should give it into the hands of its statesmen states-men and not permit its demagogues to fool with it |
