Show THE IDAHO TEST OATH A telegram in THE SUNDAY HERALD said that on motion of United States District Attorney WOOD at Boise the indictments I against a hundred Mormons for registering and voting in 18SS had been dismissed These men were indicted under the test oath act which denies suffrage to those who are members of an organization which practices or teaches the rightfulness of plural or polygamous marriage THE I HERALD congratulates the defendants who have been greatly annoyed and put to considerable expense and I we heartily commend the action nf H n 0 yo n ILULUI Yuuu UUU loUt UU1L It should now be considered as in order to take the obnoxious provision out of the Idaho constitution and statutes It is a shameful thing is unAmerican and mars an otherwise beautiful structure We know that deep down in their hearts there is something which tells the broadminded men of Idaho that it is not right to disfranchise dis-franchise men who have never broken a law and who are guilty of no offense against human or divine enactments there is something which says to them that the provision to which we refer is a blot upon the written iaw of the state We doubt that one in fifty of the Idaho Mormons is a polygamist polyga-mist and THE HERALD has It from trustworthy trust-worthy Gentiles and pronounced anti Mormons as well as from rehabls Mormons themselves that polygamy has not been taught there for many years while it is not claimed by anybody that the antipolygamy law has been violated since long before the issuance of President WOODRUFFS manifesto in this city in 1890 If the Idaho people entertain any doubt as to the sincerity of the Mormons let most rigid laws be enacted for the punishment of polygamists and if need be provide extraordinary methods for making certain the punishment punish-ment of the guilty but in the name of republicanism re-publicanism in the name of fairness in the name of the Ameiican sense of justice do not deprive Americanborn citizens patriotic men who would scorn to do I wrong of the dearest rights on earth save that of life and make them serfs in a land of freemen We tell our Gentile friends in Idaho that they cannot afford to permit the test oath law to continue in their statute books and we would tell them the same thing no matter to whom the law applied It is perhaps true that the majority of those disfranchised by the law in question are Democratc in politics but our appeal in their behalf would be just as earnest just as honest if they were members of any other party It is a matter of principle and not a question of party politics It is to be hoped that the next legislature 1 of proud and progressive Idaho will rise above the narrow prejudice which put this blot upon its statute books and take the necessary steps to thorughly Americanize Ameri-canize the state If there ever existed the danger which made the law necessary the time has passed and it will be a cowardly confession of weakness to say by continuing continu-ing the testoath that the state is unable to deal in the ordinary way without imposing im-posing punishment upon the innocent with the guilty with such evils as may arise Attorney WOOD and the Boise court have set an example which may well be followed |