Show ROBERTS AS A clump i B H Roberts Is decidedly a chump or ho Is practicing on the lack of Information In-formation on the part of the committee commit-tee as to matters here President Woodruff of the Mormon church Issued a manifesto forbidding I 2 polygamy Later under oath he explained ex-plained that the manifesto was Intended Intend-ed to cover all polygamous relations Apostles Snow Lund and President Smith expressed the same conviction Delegate Rawllns assured the Congress of the United States that polygamy was dead The First Presidency and all tho Apostles certified to the President Presi-dent of the United States the same l thing and vouched for the good faith of tho Mormon people The Deserct News voluntarily pledged Itself to join The Tribune In calling a halt if there should ever again be shown n disposition dispo-sition to lapse into the old conditions Two Presidents Issued amnesty proclamations procla-mations the wording showing clearly their belief that polygamy had been abandoned Upon this on enabling act was given authorizing the people of Utah to call a convention and to frame a Constitution The convention was called In that convention Mr VarIan moved that apart a-part of a Territorial law relating to polygamy should remain In force In Utah Mr Varlan explained that he had offered of-fered the resolution simply to meet the issue which was tendered by the enabling act and to carry out In spirit tho act of Congress and the will of the people of the United States so that no stumblingblock might be thrown in the way of Statehood There was a good deal of hedging and quibbling quib-bling In the convention to have made clear exactly what the mover of the resolution meant The editor of this paper finally told the convention what Mr Varian had that the clause was needed to meet the requirement of the enabling act that It should be passed in good faith that something of tho kind must be passed In order to obtain ob-tain Statehood and further said that If the people after Statehood should be obtained pleased to deride the mandate man-date o the Constitution they could do so because laws in opposition to the public sentiment of a State were never enforced Now before the committee which has his case In hand Roberts parades that statement as proof that the writer favored fa-vored working a deception on Congress and the country Then Roberts gave his own speech In which he held that tho resolution was absolutely necessary neces-sary In order to obtain Statehood and that It should be passed In good faith Now where the chump feature of Roberts comes In is in throwing himself him-self open to possible questions for Instance In-stance these Did The Tribune editor ever favor polygamy Did he urge the resolution on any ground except that it was necessary in order to obtain Statehood 7 Was his remark that the law would not be enforced against the public I I opinion of the people made as something some-thing new or merely as a generally understood fact 7 You were In the convention and urged tho resolution were you acting In good faith Was there not at that time living in Salt Lake City a lady who had a sign out as the wife of a Mormon elder one to whom she had been sealed for time nnd eternity Did she not two years later have I new sign painted changing her last name to Roberts I Did not the first State Legislature pass a statute punishing polygamous offenses and legitimatizing children born up to a certain date Did you not loaded as you were with families and with violated oaths run for Congress Were you not elected Z Have not you and your State through you most signally vindicated the truth of that Utah editors statement state-ment that laws which are contrary to public opinion cannot be enforced 1 Has the Utah editor ever counseled the violation of any lav Have you not been a law unto a yourself your-self all your life When In the convention you counseled coun-seled the passing of the resolution In good faith were you not at that very moment determining In your own mind that the faith as plighted 3 plghted by your priestly superiors and which both Presidents Harrison and Cleveland had given an understanding of In their am I nasty proclamations wero you not at that moment determining that the faith should never be kept Did you at that time understand that an honest interpretation of tho enabling act meant that Congress cared not at all for the crime which tlc had sent some hundreds of your fel lowchurchmen to the penitentiary penlentary Had you and your fellowpolyga mist in the convention set up that claim do you thlnlc Statehood would have been given Utah When It comes to a question of good faith where have ot you kept lt1 Have you for a since day you left the penitentiary obeyed the law Havo you kept the faith ns declared under oath by the head of I church your Have you kept the faith with the President and Apostles Apostes of your creed as pledged In their petition for pcLton am nesty If Congress In I framing the enabling act kept in mind that all emblnr 01 over Utah I were financially poor men and women poor men with families from different wives who had but one little house and I I who were too poor to build or buy oth cry and Ii Congress provided that such people should not be distressed by the change Is It bravo and generous on your part to claim that thereby you are permitted to do what you please so it I Is called religion Is it not fair to conclude from your full argument that the manifesto was issued to deceive the Nation That the petition for amnesty was signed by your Apostles and the First Presidency of your church with a determination de-termination to deceive the President and people of the United Stales Was not the real Intention steadily concealed from the Gentiles of Utah and from people outside Finally what Is your opinion of a man who comes to Congress and in effect ef-fect says 1 have since early manhood defied your laws laws affirmed by your Supreme court I am guilty under the statutes of my State statutes passed by Mormons but I demand a seat In Congress t |