Show THE MONSTROSITY The Serfcreating Bill Rushed Through f f Li AND PASSED BY THE HOUSE 1 The Arguments For and Acalnst the Measure What the Senate Did on 4W3edue day Jr I t t SENATE WA3iiiSGTONJanuaryl2 Mandersou Introduced a bilL to fa facilitatepromo tions and to retire from the active service ser-vice on their own application officer of the arrpy who served during the war of the rebellion three years as officers or enlisted men in the volunteer or regular army Iteferred Dolpb from the committee on coast defenses reported as anamepdment to be offer Al > an iterAjapprgcriatmg 5009003 for the construction of fortifications fortifi-cations and other works of defense Ordered printed Allison from the committee on appropriations ap-propriations reported back the army appropriation bill with amendments Ordered printed On motion of In aIls the Senate bill to amend section 37493 revised statutes in regard to renting or selling government govern-ment proper y was taken up and passed The Senate then at 115 resumed consideration con-sideration of the interstate commerce bill and was addressed by Call who declared de-clared his concurrence in the great objects ob-jects of public policv that were thought to be carried into effect by the original bill and by the conference report Inc aJs expressed the ho e that Cullom would not insist on a vote today The senate had developel in the press uniT other organs of public opinion a feeling of intense interest and much had been expresses L which ha regards as prof t sole to those who were engaged in con si Oration of the subject Call referred to the fact stated in the work of Poor that the capitalization of the railroads Of the countrv exceed their actual cost by OOOOJOOOO The rates charged for transportation were to pay the interest and dividends on this fictitious and preen pre-en ed capital Thejpejople were now paying an annual tax5f 300000000 on this fictitiois capital f He could see nothing in that it it were permitted to continue but the ruin of the republic N > regulation of Idlerstate ommerce roald be made that permitted this enormous annual tax Did tho con erence report propose to remedy this I evil It did not on the contrary it implicitly r im-plicitly licensed it in failing to provide any remedy for it The reasonable aea sought to be established by the bill should ba reasonable rates calcu acd on the amounts actually invested n to construction and operation oft of-t hf railroads If that could notbe dOM then the bill was futile He was in I Ivoof gong much farther than i tie bill went He wu in favor of a law daring that the only I reasonable rate tYtfrle yes one which permittfd a fair return ihe capital actually invested in rail 1 o s He would however vote fore for-e pending bill because it would ac Itb tO nplish no great harm but he re j trjd it as no remeJy for the existing vls and as no triumph for those who kire to see interState commence regu nl l Although he would vote for the r1 he would prefer to have it further i idered by the conference commit 5ovrn made an argument in opposi i n to the bill Mr Mitchel Oregon very seriously loubfd and nad always doubted 7 ether the short and long haul provi i s would cheapen local freights Ie on the oilier hand a vital blow V Id be struck by it at trancontinen t nd through commerce and also at foreign commerce of the countv x r rl I he geat butt of the profits it ib v the railroad companies come irom through 90mpubet irorn biMncss and iUwits fair to as o eUist thee companies would al ay look primarily to their own in tp t and not to the interests of the ieV abllc All would agree there je hat there wild be no hesitation n the part 01 the ansportation com i mls il aban < lcnine of their through reht business rather than PIVP iin tJA rnR uler man give up profits 0n local business For ne cc did not prefer that result He w evi that suchevefljtheteWuld V would h 2 u11 secret pveriul rdlling transcontinental coInbittj05 0 between upanies water lins + s as lou1l increase the though freight and thus enable eii to IUllintaih their present a e s on short bauls He high therefore 1 t red that the provision L O ill chelt laid deception and would fraud prove Mr great I stress on the fa that the CO1Jiliol1s and il ca ances ofthruuih trnsc4ftjriontal ciLeSs were entirely oeofOal bu dissim a O n B and jlqUle fourth that h2r CCtlu tv It He therefore Would not apply declared that the O was an abolutely ely Ce of lgi13tiOIl harmless Sj for et of the rl1llruad as the in cJnCerned crnipsnies were Kd was whol y and abo Iutej imJOter and ineffe ineffective tive So as giving far protetjon tv tne JIIlerRe1 shippers was it Wfi werse than a Jb to throwing a wnale He thr retXIl would vote for Lrutjons to ittal of the hill with in amend fourth the second and ourthsecions by strildngotIt Cnder out the words tances and sUbstantilllIy similar Circuits conditions Mr Cullom stated that three tetd there < or four were speak on the bill Senators who desired to and who had meats for this engage 1 hercfore ask evening for He would not 011111 do so before a Vote tonight but Mr Hams asked the adjournment to have a vote unanimous consent 1 r11drich Objected taken tomorrow but After an I djurn executive sessionthe Senate HOUSE WA2aGtoj5 i roceeded to 12Ihe House I munds the considera n of ticI l cker anHpolygam billand thel substitute thfo f Mr E B Taylor OhioVgave a brief sketch of the establishment of the Mormon Mor-mon church in Utah and the efforts which had been made by Congress to suppress the practice of polygamy These efforts had been only partially successful owing to the difficulty of obtaining ob-taining proof of polygamous marriages Congress should take the matter in hand not in the spiritof cutionbut with a determination thai the evil and wrong of polygamy should cease It W now growing and was not confined to the boundaries of Utah Its friend the legislature of Utah would not strangle it but Congress must and fortunately Congress eoud It 1 al 1 the legal power under the Constitution and it hart the me m at hand to exercise exer-cise it He fully believed not only that the bill wodld overthrow pohgamy but that if snpplemented by tie proposed pro-posed constitutional amendment it would relieve the country from all fear qf It an < l its cognatesfivils The Mormon Mor-mon burch disposed of life and liberty It dictated the Jaws and in tht name of religiomt imposed Jliepractice of polygamy pOlyg-amy This people and this church aC fled the moral sense of civilization and were antagonistic to the principles and Institutions of the republic But while he heartily favored the mam features of the pendingjfbiH he was utterly opposed to one provision that abolishing female Suffrage in the Territory of Utah He btood appalled at the nrst suggestion of taking the electoral franchise from a considerable class of people accustomed felts use Would the precedent here made be involved hereafter and if so in wEat direction But though protesting pro-testing against this provision h would waive his objection and heartily support sup-port the bill Mr Caine Utah earnestly opposed the measure as unDemocratic uit American and wantonly destructive of human rights and because it set at naught the immutable principles upon which the common rights of man were founded and turned the Mormons and their church over to insuuiole spoilers He sketched the settlement of Utah by the Mormons depicted the persecutions to which they had been subjected j nd highly eulogized the MorJUo people for their industry intelligence and hoqesy Passing on to the constitutional discussion of the provisions of the bill he declared that the proscription of the test oath as a prerequisite to a man exercising the right of suffrage was not only odious to every American but a clear violation viola-tion of the letter and spiritof the constitution con-stitution It might be said that the right of suffrage was not expressly secured se-cured by the constitution but he contended con-tended that while a legislature might declare the right of suffrage suff-rage forfeited by reason of the commission of crime it could not Inflict a punishment on a man because he would not swear that he would never after be guilty of a certain offense This provision of the bill was pre poterous because it emasculated the citizenship of a man without the due process cf law He appealed to o the House to consider well beforA it assented = as-sented to the monstrous propositions contained in the bill He knew too well the influences that were at work to accomplish the passage of the measure mea-sure He realized that the air had been made pregnant with base less calumnies slander and innumerable innumer-able falsehoods ceashssly concocted and persistently disseminated Religious Re-ligious bigotry and influences were I arraigned aginst his people Political necessity cant hypocrisy and all kindred PeckEniffianism jolted in the hue and cry Platform pulpit and press were the rnichty enines for the manufacture of public sentiment Their batteries were directed constantly and with full force upon the Mormons He knew that it was wellnigh impossible impossi-ble for any man in public life to even protest aeainst a measure meas-ure no matter how monstrous how unconstitutional that was aimed at Mormonism It was said that this bill was aimed at polygamy If so why not give the laws already enacted and so vigorously nay so ruthlessly enforced an opportunity to work their legitimate effects If this bill become a law it would place the Mormon people peo-ple at the mercy oi Jhe men whose object ob-ject was to plunder them of all their earthly possessions and drive them irons their homes In all candor he firmly believed that i a law directing general fu lawry against all who did not publicly renounce re-nounce and recant their belief in the I Mormon Church would be merciful in comparison with the effects of the proposed pro-posed lawj it was 3105 the morals of the Mormon people or the contaminat mg influence thereof on the public that was at the bottom of the persecution persecu-tion his people hjid to endure It was preposterous bnsene to talk about the Moruon blot on the civilization of the age If Congress were to undertake under-take to eradicate the blots upon our Civilization it would have its hands full There was scant probability of the canker of Mormon polygamy polyg-amy endangering the morals of the world in toe presence of such a widespread wide-spread and general demoralization of hidrals asare dpfctea in Van Oettin gers moral statistics published in 1S32 The Mormon Cbluch esNbltshment was the thng aimed at m all this onslaught upon the Mormon people It jvas the reljgious problem whicn Congress was endeavoring to deal with in this legislation legis-lation The men who were here from Utah clamoring for the disfranchise rnont of the Mormon people were not afraid of the contamination of their own or their families morals They knew as all the world knew that a purer mdreorJerJy upright Godfear ingand Godservug community did not exist On the earth than the exclusively Mormon settlements in Utah It was simply because the minority could not Dinner the DemocraticAmerican local government rule the majority that these men were clamoring for the disfranchisement dis-franchisement of his people The House was a ked to make honest that which was inherently dishonest good that which was hopelessly bad pure that which was reeking in filth noble and elevating that which was ignoble and all by legislation In other words it was asked to legislate the sows ear into a silk purse They had been misruled by consent from the government that did not design de-sign to be unfriendly by men who had been their enemies in every way but that which gave the garb of honor to enmity and his people hal submitted Tnev had been tempted by wicked and J treasonable designers fo f assume a POSItIon posi-tion of open and avowed resistance to the government but the em pt tInbld failed yet charges of treason had been entered against them which were sh6wn to be false and the whole nation if the word of blatant men prevailed pre-vailed was arrayed againstthem determined de-termined upon their destruction He asked the House to pause It could not afford to take tte step which WEn t etermined upon Oil such insufficient and untrustworthy testimony He pledged his word and his characterthat the statements i upon which this legislation was based I were without foundation in fact Time I the corrector of all evils would right I this wrong if such it were and the fiat of the Eternal had already declared that the last vestigeof Mormonism shall be swept away by the peaceful progrers of events if it is not that which God in His wisdom has appojnted shall survive sur-vive as the fittest t Mr Bennett North Carolina opposed op-posed the bill In speaking of the clause requiring all the male inhabitants of Utah to register and to swear to up hold and observe the laws itinlndftip this act he said we were again to be subjected to that state of things which in the south ended in corporals reviewing re-viewing the decisions of the supreme court of a sovereign State Mr Reed Maine sad that Congress had the right to make rules and regulations regula-tions for the Territories As to Utah he was not sqre that the wisest course would not Lefor Congress to take complete com-plete control of that Territory And why that Territory A long time ago a body of religionists had taken a part of certain property belonging to the United States It was not only a body of religionists it was a people that had a policy That was the key note of the situation They intended in-tended to people that Territory exclusively ex-clusively withMoruions and to segregate segre-gate themselves as a separate band on a portion of the property of the United States That hierarchy had been kept up ever since their organization organiza-tion was an organization inside of the United States and controlled one of its territories It was useless to call this I bill an ussault upon religion It was an assault upon a bapd of men organized for the purpose of exclusively ex-clusively controlling a Territory which belonged to the people of the United States Today Congre s was rooting out an unjust possession of the soil that belonged to the people and that should have been open and free to themell Polygamy was only one of the manifestations mani-festations of the condition of society in that Territory It might bo asked why we did not Jet them carry out the principles that actuate them because some day or other these people might be admitted into fellowship in the States and while he recognized to the fullest extent the right of local self government the right of the preservation preser-vation of local institutions while he denied not that right one of Fha strongest bulwarks of liberty nevertheless never-theless tins country must be in the main homogenous in thought and feeling feel-ing if It was to be a strong nation The differences that were to be tolerated must be kept within reasonable limits which will enable the nation to be united thought and feeling against all exterior opposition Mr Tucker Virginia said the Supreme Su-preme Court had held that there was no right of suffrage by any inhabitant of a Territory as there was a right of suffrage by a citizen of a State that the absolute determination of the questioi of government of the Territories was in the power of Congress subject to the Cjnsiitution and that whether a man or a woman should be allowed to vote was a question for Congress to decide There had never been a question ques-tion brought to the attention of the committee that had been examined with more earnest care and the committee com-mittee had come to the conclusion that something must be done if the United States did not desire to declare that they were unable to cope with the question ques-tion of Mormonism A Territory of the United States did not belong to the first little squad of men which came and squatted upon it inJ said hW are I monarchs of all we survey It belongs to the United States and itr was the I i i duty of the United States to say that I I this Territory should not be monopolized monopol-ized bv anv class of m n or anv church There wasjio doubt about the power of Congress in this matter The J oil violated I lated neither the letter nor the spirit of the Constftution Though ne had reported re-ported tie biltibe would vote against it if he tnought there Wag one > thing in it which entrenched upon the conscience even of a Mormon He did not care what a Mormon believed but he must not put his belief into acts if thereby he infringed on the rights of other men What was polygamy It was a crime by the law of every State of Christendom Ever since Christ interpreted inter-preted the Judiac law and gave out Therefore shall mdn leave father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they twaiaLThey twainandnot a whole bundle Laughter and H applause ap-plause Ever icce Christ uttered thpfc sentiment all Christian nations have adopted monogaruy Applause The nucleus of a nation wtsin the homes of the people the oce man and tie one woman Inc one man loving supremely none but her and the one women Join supremely none but him Thank God there are such homes yet Applause That was the foundation of the body politic Without it there would not be a Christian State that would be fit to live in pplause In Utah the heart of the husband was diffused among a number That was the basis of a civilizatiort hat went out 2000 ears ago except in Asia Ours was the basis of a principle of civilization civiliza-tion of today the Mormons that of ancient civilization Conld they be brought together Could they he sde by side Was there a man who would vote to admit the polygamous State of Utah into the Union Cries of No No Then what was Congress to do The gentleman from Utah Caine said Wait if we are wrong we will sink but the government wanted Utah as one of the States of the Union Why did it not come in Because there were 150000 Mormons who would establish polygamy as one of the institutions insti-tutions of that State It was the duty I of Congress to prepare Utah to come into the Union and to prepare it extirpating ex-tirpating rooting out that which was alen to the genms of aurunstilutions He believed that if this bill were enacted en-acted Into a law and supplemented by the proposed Constitutional amendment amend-ment Mormonism would go to pieces he meant as a polygamous institution that Utah would be peopled by free people and would be ready to come into tbs Union He was going out of public life and it he could do anything to es tablish a proper system in this unfor tunate Terrttory to uproot this thing that had been a blot upon its fame and permit it to come into the free sister hood pc States based on the idea of Christian homes he would feel that his humble public life would not have been in vain Loud and long continued applause ap-plause Mr Scott Pennsylvania asked leave to offer an amendment to tbe bill Mr Tncker declined to permit him td do so saying that be wanted to pass the bill here and now so that the 12th of January ItfSwould be memorable in the historv of the country Ap plause1 < < The House substitute was then agreed band the Senate bill as thus amended was Rasped without division only eight members rising to demand the yeas and nays J I The House then adjourned II |