Show r BODY BLOVI I c Chairman Tayler Administers Admin-isters One to t Poly < < I amist Rolmts II I I tIIi ASK POINTED QUESTION It t I Bequests the Utahn to Explain Ex-plain 1 Important I Matter c EVADES IT AS USUAL i AdJ Question was Why if Ho Roberts EF was a Polygamist Endeavoring to Hold the Office of Representative In Congress Whether in the District s Dis-trict of Columbia Where Congress IIi Had Exclusive Jurisdiction EeL Ee-L was not Disqualified Under the Ed munds ActIr > Schroeder Urged F the Committee to Act in the Matter I 1 Upon the Question of Robertss i Polygamous Relations Alone k Fight was Made on tho Polyg ainlsts of Utah of Whom Roberts 4 sir was the Representative 1 TRIBUNE BUREAU 501 Fourteenth street f E p Washlngton D C Jan 6 1000 rr The Roberts committee has heard and hac practically closed tho arguments submitted in the Roberts case Through two long weary days Rob arts has occupied tho time of tho committee w com-mittee in attempting to reply to the sc cleancut arguments made against him by Mr A T Schroeder It must be ad mltfcd thLt the memberelect has given I a great deal of time to tile study of tne law aa It bears upon his case whatever i may be his position as a member of the Utah bar It Is evident too that k he has had tho benefit of exceedingly Good coaching either through the suggestions T sug-gestions of Senator Rawlins or some other attorneys connected with the t Mormon church I FORGOT PROPRIETIES uth On the whole his statement Is regard rd as a forcible legal presentation of his bide of the case when he was not j wandering away into new discussions or forgetting hlq dignity and the proprieties proprie-ties of the occasion as he did in scv L i ral Instances when he attempted to denounce tho sectarian preachers of 3 ci Utah and Mr Schroeder n ATTACKS NOT NOTICED I 6it All of these attacks by the way Lat were unnoticed by Mr Schroeder who I Pilently sat exhibiting extraordinary P pelfcontrol and dignity perfectly sat Jailed with the commendations which Ills clearcut legal presentation of his rase had received at the hands of sev cral members of the committee 1 VHAT SCHROEDER DESIRED I I I After Roberts had emptied his vial of wrath against all thoso who were In Ptrumental In Instituting the proceedings proceed-ings against him and especially against SI the attorney who has appeared for his opponents before the committee Mr iif j chroeder said that speaking for himself him-self alone and not binding exSecretary Carlisle or any one else Interested in the case he hoped the committee would LrIHcI Ignore I Mr Carlisles argument made I by letter against the autilclency of Rob ZUST iilat naturalization papers 1 WAS FIGHT ON POLYGAMISTS Mr Schroeder added that It Roberts was not declared ineligible because of his polygamous relations he hoped that LING Ihfc committee would seat the member erect t He said this very emphatically lie was not fighting Roberts he said fFORj peiBonqlly but ho was making this const er t con-st against the polygamlste of Utah of whom Roberts was the representative representa-tive JES i 1HAD WEIGHT WITH COMMITTEE J i Jn view of the fact that throughout t the t whole controversy Roberts haM cst hown a disposition to regard Mr i5I t Schroeder as personification of all 1 the Bentlment of tho rountry against 4 him this statement of the attorney 1 might bo regarded us an exhibition of generosity hardly to be expected under iG Ji ihu rlrcumstunces It undoubtedly had 05th weight with the committee us well aa with the spectators fI WAS A BODY BLOW Roberts received a body blow this ttT1i afternoon when Chairman Tayler asked DI him to explain why it he wus a po 13 ly SI mIst endeavoring to hold the olilce of Representative in Congress whether In the District of Columbia where Congress Con-gress had exclusive Jurisdiction ho was not disqualified under the Edmund3 S act EVADED ANSWER AS USUAL Roberta was unable to give a satisfactory 11t0J satis-factory reply to this very pertinent In 1l lulry but attempted to and did evade the question Ho did not seem to bo r willing to admit the gravity of his l 7ic situation and in fact wandered oft Into 10 si fresh attack upon Mr Schroeder In tad of giving a direct answer ic Schroeder guld Roberts is a tenth i3l lute lawytr SCHTIOKDEU COMPLIMENTED re Whereuion an attorney among theE Rpoctators walkinl over to Mr Schroeder 4 Schroe-der uml romnrkcd that ht hud llntcned 7 tt lh mirunitfnu from th outset t and I Kild Jt you nN it ttnthrnte lawyer Dscr then all the Kreat men from the Uiujt I s muni have left thin section to practice thJ E QUESTION IMPORTANT per Th Importune of the queitlan which jp ThbertattrntLed to crtdi Ha In tht r face tht the Edmund uct applies to 4sT the Dhitrlct of Columbia Just as ItO It-O tto th Trrritorte Arizona New Mexico OfcIaJ > m4 and Ala ka todtr TO11 uiIdt as It did to the Territory of Utahb foro it was admitted as a State I CANNOT PLEAD IMMUNITY If therefore Roberts Is I a polygamist It makes no difference whether his wives are In Utah or are in Arizona New Mexico Oklahoma or the District of Columbia His status aa a poiyga mist follows him when he comes to Washington He caunot plead his Immunity Im-munity under the State laws or his rights under the Constitution In cornIng corn-ing or going from a sessIon of Congress I THOROUGHLY DISQUALIFIED This Is what Mr Tnylcr Intended to bring about and he seemed to have proved very clearly that Roberts Is thoroughly disqualified to hold ofllcc in the District of Columbia as It would be should he try to hold office in any other place under the jurisdiction of the United States SCHROEDERS OPINION Mr Schroedei when seen at the Arlington Ar-lington this evenlnar and asked for a statement of his views of tho situation said In substance aft follows Considering Consid-ering that I went into this matter without with-out any preparation I am entirely satisfied sat-isfied with the present status of this contest just closed On the facts I am sure the committee will be unanimous against Roberts I Infer this from the fact that they take no steps to secure the attendance additional witnesses suggested by me MUST BE EXCLUDED It I can Venture a prediction based upon the discussion of the members and the questions asked during the argument ar-gument I would say there will be some difference of opinion among the members mem-bers as to some of the dozen or more intricate in-tricate legal questions directly Involved The majority 1 believe will find that under several separate and distinct legal le-gal theories Mr Roberts Is legally ineligible In-eligible to hold the office and must be excluded WHAT MINORITY WILL HOLD minority will hold that he Is not legally Ineligible and therefore should not be excluded but that after being sworn In the House has power to and should expel him In my Judgment not a slnglo member mem-ber of the committee will favor his permanent per-manent right to a spat The majority I believe will argue that exclusion even under the theory of the minority is a justifiable remedy If the cause which would Justify expulsion exists and Is made known to the House before be-fore the member is sworn in FIGHT FOR EXCLUSION Of course my fight has been primarily pri-marily for oxclualoii expulsion If that falls It will probably be ten days or more bpforc the committee will report I will remain just a little longer to be certain that the period of my usefulness useful-ness has passed before returning home omeSURE SURE TO BE SHUT OUT Ono of the members of the committee commit-tee who desired that his name be not used paid tonight The majority of the committee will undoubtedly report In favor of keeping Roberts out of the House under all circumstances A minority mi-nority report is likely to be made which will recommend that he be seated on his prima facie right to a seat and then Immediately expelled WHO MINORITY ARE I I I am convinced said this member that If such a minority report Is made i to the House It will be signed by De Armond pf Missouri Mlers of Indiana and LIttlefleld of Maine The two former for-mer arc Democrats and the latter is a Republican |