Show CO3IJIEXDABLE LEGISLATION On Saturday the house branch of the legislature after considerable discussion discus-sion passed the senate bill legitimating legitimat-ing the children of polygamous marriages mar-riages up to the 4th of January 1896 the date of Utahs admission into the union of states The bill was a direct result of the suggestion of Governor Wells who when approving the senate bill lelative to the heritable rights of the issue of polygamous marriages up to March Srd 1888 expressed his willingness to join the legislature in passing a still more liberal law by extending the time down to October 1891a year after the issuance of the church manifesto man-ifesto announcing the cessation of the practice of pOlygamyor even to the date of the admission of the state The senate following this suggestion of Governor Wells passed a bill legitimating legit-imating polygamous offspring up < to that time January 4th 1S96 and it was this bill that was before the house on Saturday and finallly passed by a vote of 22 to 18 Some members were of opinion that to pass such a bill would cast the shadow of doubt upon the sincerity of the Mormon church in the matter of the manifesto and we do not question but what they were both earnest and sincere in that statement and anxious to guard the Mormon church from the suspicion of insincerity But these gentlemen need have no fearthe Mormon Mor-mon church was honest when issuing tihat manifesto and will steadfastly adhere to it but as stated by Governor Wells It signaled the immediate surrender sur-render of what had for a life time been held as a vital religious sacrament sacra-ment and some hearts cannot change in a day It should be remembered that the polygamous relations sanctioned by tihe most solemn sacraments of the dominant domi-nant church in Utah were held to be by the contracting parties as hcfiy as monogamous marriages and were as sacredly binding on their consciences To rightly appreciate therefore the situation of those who had contracted these relationships the dissentient minority mi-nority of our legislators and those who would criticise the action of the majority ma-jority if any such there be should try to imagine what would be their emotions and probable action If suddenly sud-denly called upon by authority to abandon actual and tender family relations re-lations contracted with the sanction of the church whose origin they regarded as divine and in harmony with religious relig-ious ideas imbibed from chZldhood If the question was viewed from that standpoint the remark of Governor Wells that some hearts cannot change in a day will be better appreciated and some men influenced by sentiments of honor and a sense of individual responsibility re-sponsibility may have thought themselves them-selves under obligations to keep inviolate invio-late ithe solemn compact entered into and throw themselves between the law and even the decree of the church and their loved ones by refusing to abandon aban-don those to whom they were bound by ties to them at least sacred being be-ing willing to suffer whatever of punishment pun-ishment might be thought necessary on the part of either ecclesiastical or secular sec-ular authority If such cases exist we are of the opinion that mercy can afford to go its full length in dealing with them since it can do so without much trespassing upon the domain of justioe or good public policy When the great government of the United States began its warfare upon polygamy in Utah it was mainly anxious anx-ious to dry up the fountain of the evil a task it accomplished when it forced The Mormon church in its most authoritative au-thoritative manner to declare the abandonment aban-donment of its practice and as for the streams that flowed from that fountain foun-tain since the fountain itself was dried upthey were not of so much consequence and in dealing with them bdth the state and the nation could afford to be generous and so indeed they have been We congratulate bOlts the legislature and Governor Wells in this matter the latter on his recommendation which led to the construction of this legislation legisla-tion and the former for having the magnanimity and the courage to pass It No mistake was made no evil will result from that legislation |