Show I THE ROBERTo blSCUSSUN I I Mr Roberts of Utah accepts tho verdict of Congress as llnul He has sense enough t know when n tenstory block has fallen on him Boston Globe W < i JkJr Roberts or should he be alluded to as tho lato Mr Roberts Is anxious to I reach tho car of the United States Supreme Su-preme court but seems to be In doubt as t what kind of n megaphone to use Sioux City Journal I Nevertheless Mr Roberts relaxed his xrlp on tho pillars of tho temple just as If somebody had smeared grease on to his lingers beforo ho look hold with a determination deter-mination to pull down tho structure Don wit Journal I Utah Roberts Alll not be allowed to act In Congress but theres a career for him I on tho dramatic Mugo If ho only knew II It I ho would drumallzo hlinypif his I Mircehs would he prompt and complete New York Mall and Express < I Although Roberts has been denied admission ad-mission to Congress Utah docs not propose pro-pose to bo without a I Representative In tho House An lection has been called to choose his Min oMMir and unless the people of Utah Mormons as well as Gentle I Gen-tle aro bigger fouls tbm UHV are commonly r com-monly supposed to be J Is quite safe to predict that they ulll not ropeil the experiment I ex-periment of electing a Polygamist to Con I I I I grcus Sun Diego Union j I I And despite tho eloquence o lit tielleld of Maine the llouso o Representatives Mrved an Immcdlnto writ of oiiiucr on Rolx > ris of Utah By a voto of 2Ctt to 50 the popular blanch decreed that ho must go back to bin wives without the privilege of taking the oath Boston Globe prllcgo o U 0 I Mr Roberts of CLub pays hc 1 will walk the earth as angels sulk the clouds Very good Tho wILl mny begin at any time There aro no strings tied t UJY lIr Roberta we believe except a few apron siring Kansas City Journal POLYGAMY REBUKED Tho Houso 0 Representatives yesterday I dealt a stinging rebuke to tho pracilco of polyguny by excluding from membership I II a man bearing proper credentials In form I I but lacking the prulcr I lu requirements of cltl zcnuhip and morality I Tho mulorlty cast I I ugaiiiFt tho admission of Roberts Was large and It notified the Stale of Ulah I Irrespective of party and In inimlstakablo Inn I-nn that polygamlste need not apply I ll aft icr even to ecur brief admission Quibbles and technicalities t to tho con trary notwlthsumdlng this courf was demanfl by the dictates of t u > Ifres pert and good government II was Jiibiified by I precedent and law supported by somo of the I ablest member of the House and ap proved by tho vast majority of the people Roberts nuegeals now that his Sate will appeal to tho Supremo court This would i bo a welcome move for It would doubtless II I clinch tho decision of tho House beyond I I question and thus forever stamp tho prac tice of polygamy at a thing unclean and despicable nnd demanding speedy extinction extinc-tion Washington Star 0 0 oJ ROBERTS RIGHTLY KXCLUDED That Mormon malUr before the house of Representatives was effectually ended on Thursday JJrlchum II Roberta wits excluded from taking tho oath and his seat wan declared vacant bj a vote of ji > S against 30 There was a proposition that I he should bo allowed to tako the on tim t I roupled with t an i Indirect understanding that I tho iucsllon of his expulsion should next come up That was defeated l by 211 I votes against It to but St for It The Eaulo regards tin exclusion of tho man as preferable to his expulsion The oh Jecl wag to vindicate tho law against polygamv which was passed vhllo Utah was a Territory and tho principle of which was set In the Conalltutlon of 1tnh as a State under which by a compact with tho United St < itC the Territory was admitted ad-mitted lato the Union That constitutional I principle has also ben enacted Into law by the Stato of Utah Tho effrontery of Robertas claim to a seat was Involved In hid successive viola lion of time Territorial law when It was operative In Utah of tho State Constitution Constitu-tion after Us adoption of the State law enuctlnp the constitutional principle after Its enactment and of tho compact which Utah made with tho United States for admission lao tho Union Every ono of his successive violations of law and of constitution created an InoURlblIty lo his selection s-election to the llouso of Representatives The House decided that Inedibility cuunl neither ho waived nor cured by election and that tho offense committed could not bo condoned even to tho extent of admitting ad-mitting the eligibility of the man tho reality of his election and then of expelling ex-pelling him aftervviird rIme Eagle thinks that the House did right To havo ad milled tho election as a reality would have encouraged If not warranted tho choice of other polygamlsts in the future It would havo raised the question whether expulsion of a man could bo made turn on something that did not affect his Congressional Con-gressional character or upon something by which tho character not as a man but as a Congressman was affected Roberts Rob-erts Is n felon punlshablo In Utah by law as a Colon Utah Instead of punishing him elected him to Congress Tho House has voted that felony Is a bar to admission admis-sion election or no election The voto of tho Hou e Is a most salu tary precedent It vvjll teach constituencies constitu-encies that they cannot ond criminals to CoisreuH Not many constituencies will need hut lesson but Utah needed It and tho moral sentiment of every other constituency con-stituency III tho land demanded that tho lesson bo enforced It thaN been effectual ly I enforced Had the man Got so far aa to be sworn In then tho question of expulsion ex-pulsion might have turned on whether u Congressman could be expelled for some thing which ho did before his membership member-ship began It has been decided that conduct anterior to membership could not bo punished with expulsion after mem bership had been completed Whether that bo so or not tho decision now Is I that felony confessed and gloried In by a man clalmlniT admlsjlon Is a bar to admission Itself That Roberts bases his felony on his religious duty and on his moral conscience con-science Is a fact to Illustrate his religion and his conscience but not to affect tho religion or the conscienceof any one else Ho was excluded by law not by religion or by conscience by cold logical Impar tial law Ho can poso us a persecuted nuiityr but that doe i not affect the law It only shows that ho lacks logic or Is a bad actor Ho has not been persecuted Ho wus not c11lhlo 1 IMt Inn n f nn 1 eligible Is nonelection Ills scat was not tilled when he wns elected It was vacant va-cant then because ho did not possess tho requirements which law prescribes to nil It It Is I vacant now That Is all there Is of itWo I Wo put the case Just as It Is We arc avvairo that a tremendous fanaticism lg behind Roberts and that a tremendous and magnificent moral indignation was marshaled against him Wo aro aware that a community of religions fanatics will Insist that ho was kept out because of his religion We are aware that 75000 000 people were virtually a unit tluit ho I should not be let In on account of his I conduct and diameter But thi so foul I luifs arc only Incidental Utah can elect a Mormon who Is I not a polygonilst nnd lid can take his seal Utah cannot elect a polygamlst Mormon or no Mormon and that Is I all Ihero lit of that Tho fanall cal ferocity of Mormonlsm and the moral indignation of tho American people havo Clayed dramatic parts In this Incident but the mailer llsolf has turned on law as already said That Is most gratifying It will vindicate the result to history It will protect the procedure from aspersion I It will at onco create and save from ubuso a precedent of great value for the 1 future rIme Instruction to Utah will ho heeded I I Tho Houso has shown overwhelmingly that Vlah can be represented by law only I and not agalnnt law Time loss to Utah of representation will bo so signal that tiat State will bo swift to sendun eligible I man to Congress Nor will tho gain stop there A stigma bus been put upon po lygamy that will be ineffaceable Mor monlsm will understand that polygamy cannot bo disclaimed and practiced It will understand that tho United States can neither bo dolled nor humbugged The entrance of civilization morality and all tho benign forces of modernity Into Utah will be greatly assisted by the brand which tho Houso has put upon an abomination abomi-nation with which law has dealt sternly In the past nnd with which law will deal mom sternly In tho future Brooklyn Eagle |