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Show f p- -".irnr5;." - -r r'- ---- -n-r-;- te r it to t.eet tls dexanls tf j'Jt-t. j'Jt-t. la tn.s o 1 bs court t occasion 'to r- however, that it a rf ...on of'this c- a ty t ti i a defendant cu...e8 be'ore lbs coui t a t.cond t.me, tee court woui 1 rerard it as rerr much fraver and would iiiict a greater f 'any. The court It bound to say the statute It meant to be enforced and knows of no exceptions ex-ceptions to b mads to itt operation. Any reasont for cbanring the Uw to meet particular par-ticular casea should be addressed to tbe LS-ijlature. LS-ijlature. ....... Tbe judgment of the court It tbat tbe defendant de-fendant pay a fine of t o and coett of this action, and stand committed until the final costi are paid. t ' ' The coufession of President Joseph F, Smith of the Mormon church to a charge of unlawful " cohabitation and the "imposition of a fine of $300 upon him by Judge Ritchie were quietly accomplished during the noon recesa of the court yesterday.' ' c, . After the case had been transferred from Judge Armstrong V jurisdiction to that of Judge Ritchie, during the morn-ing, morn-ing, President Smith and his attorney, FrankLia S. Richards, accompanied by District Attorney Fred C.Loot'bourow, appeared before Judge Ritchie, when court waa in recess. District -Attorney Loofbourow called the attention of the - eourt to the presence of the defendant and asked that he be arraigned immediately. im-mediately. Attorney Richards, for his client, waired the formal reading of the information. President Smith stepped forward and entered a plea of &uiky and asked that ' his attorney be permitted to read a statement for him. The statement was as follows: 1 - . ' May it pleat the eourt: I deaire reapect-fuUy reapect-fuUy to present brief statement la' my behalf. be-half. Mr 4ret marriace waa ooatraeted la ana my -Itat in 1884, more tnan twen- ' ty-two years ago. Theae marriagea were all entered into with the aanetioa of the Church ot Jeaut Christ of Latter-day Eaiata, and. a we beliera, with the approral of the Lord. Aeeordinf to our faith and the law of the church' they war eternal in duration. dura-tion. . In th tacit' uderttanding that was had in 1890 and th year anbteqaent thereie - reffardinf what were claaaed at th old catt f cohabitation. I hare appreciated th mataaniailty .of th-American people la not . aaforeing a policy that la their minds waa aanaeettarily harah, but which astig-ned th settlement of this difficult problem to th onward profraaa of tin. . Sine th year 1890 a very larg- per- - cenUfe of th poly(-amona families har eaaa to exial until bow th number within th juriadiotion ol th.it eourt it very amall ' and marriatet in Tiolation of th law har been and now ar prohibited. . la.riew of this aitaatioa.. which. has fixed with-eertaia-ty a result that can be aaily measured np. the family relation! in th old ease of that time hare been generally left undie-turbed. undie-turbed. Bo far a my owa case It concerned, con-cerned, I, like others who had entered into I solemn religioa obligations, sought to th . of my ability to comply with all' r- "Tent portaiaiag .to-Ue trying poaitioa J "Aieh w were placed. I have felt e-.luiJ e-.luiJ in the protection of that magnanimous - tentfVent which wat extended at aa olir hranVh in 1890 and subsequent years to those sld cases .of plural family relationships which cam within - its purriew, at did tine. ' . . V, hea I accepted th manifesto, issued by President Wiiford Woodruff, I did not understand un-derstand that I would be expected to avban- don and discard my witc. Knowing th mentions only, plural marriage, hut that th President' proclamation, bssed upon that petition, expressly mentions not only plural marriage, but polyramy, cohabitation; unlawful unlaw-ful cohabitation. Thes terms ar mentioned in that proclamation no less thaa Br or six times, so that th President of th united 6tate understood that document Just at it reuld be understood by any on rding it bow, that it applied not only to the question of new polygamous wives, but to the practic of polygamy or liring ia unlawful cohabitation. cohabita-tion. ' ' ' Ia March, 1904 thit defendant testified .at Washington, before th 8enat committee, ia substance, that unlawful cohabitation' wat contrary to th rule of th church and wat contrary at well to the law of th land, and that he wat liring in that condition; that is, ia unlawful cohabitation. . I take it, your Honor, that thit eircum-ttanc eircum-ttanc of showing that thit defendant knows now, and hat knowa during-all thes years, that thit wat againtt th law. of thit Stat and th statutes of thit Sttte provided that "if any male person hereafter cohabits with more thaa on womaa he shall he guilty of misdemeanor sad oa conviction thereof shall he punished by a fin of not mor thaa $800, or by imprisonment in th county jail for not mor thaa six months, or by both of tald punishments, ia th diseretioa of th eourt.'' section substantially as thit on now read! hat baa ia effect ia thit Stat and Territory during all th time I hare mentioned. ' It has been .' againtt th law' of -thit Stat, - against th law of th land for a man to Ut ia unlawful cohabitation. Now, th object of punishment 1 twofold, two-fold, to punish th offender and to prevent his example leading other persons into the practic of th tam . particular, offense for which he is convicted, and I submit to your Honor that a penalty ahould be imposed ia this cat that will prevent other person from continuing th practic of unlawful cohabitation. co-habitation. It is a matter of common knowledge knowl-edge here that since Statehood there har been quit a number of proseoutlont for unlawful un-lawful cohabitation, th exact number I cannot stats now; but In thee ease fine have been imposed. It it also a matter of common knowledge that th imposition of these fine ha don nothing to prevent th practic of polygamy or living in th condition condi-tion of unlawful cohabitation pf persona who then-bad other wive and who were, aa this defendant says b waa, under obligations to support them and tak car of ,them. Th imposition of fine in the case has not prevented th practice of unlawful 'cohabitation 'cohabita-tion in this community. I believe your Honor should ia this ess impose such a penalty pen-alty as will prevent as will atop th pr:-tice pr:-tice of unlawful cohabitation here. It is against the law, and there It no reason why ' it should be permitted; and In this case . I recommend to your Honor that a" county-jail term be imposed. I do this ia th utmost good faith, believing it to be my duty aa public prosecutor. I believe that it will accomplish ac-complish mor to end the practice of polygamy polyg-amy and unlawful cohabitation In this community com-munity than anything that can be don. It will deter other.' and for that purpose I recommend it to your Honor. I urge aa strongly as I can that in thit can a county-jail county-jail term b imposed. sacred . covenants- and obligations which -I bad assumed, by .reason of these marriages, ' I hav conscientiously tried to discharge the responsibilities attending- them, without ' being be-ing offensive. -t. -any ron. I hav '.never Isunted my'smily relations before the pub- , lie, nor hav I felt a spirit of deflane against th law; but, on th contrary, I hav alwaya desired to be a law-abiding citi-sen. citi-sen. ..Ia. considering .the trying .position ia which I hav been placed, 1 trust your Honor will . exercise nch leniency, in your sentence, at law and ".justice wili permit. District" 'Attorney-1 Loofbourow, after the reading-of. this ,stateaeat, spoke as follows: . .. 1 ' ViVC May thofart ple"i,"n'bdy of this in-lormation in-lormation .hr-e the crim of unlawful o-kabitatiou.lated.a. o-kabitatiou.lated.a. follows; to wit: that the laid Joseph F. Smith en th second-day f 1 Deoember, l08i and -oa divert other time tharaaf tr '- aad continnsUy thereafter dowa to and including the "first day f October, 1906, at the scanty ot 6lt Lak. in th But tt Utah, did then -and there unlawfully eo-abit eo-abit with ' mor. .than) on woman, to-wit: with five -persons, asming them, in the habit and repute of marriage contrary to th laws . of thit SUte - ' ' " It is matter -of -common ikaowledg ia thit community that- thit defendant it president presi-dent of th. Charch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Latter-day Saints;-that -a such president bs occu-pie occu-pie the poaitioa with th people of that de-aomiaatioa, de-aomiaatioa, 'of that church, of prophet, seer and revelator. As a result ot that position aad th reverene with which, h is held, by thes people, hi exsmple for good or-bad ia this oo mm unity Is much mor potent thaa ia th axampl of any other person. - - This defendant, in' October, 1891, testified befer th referee ia chst case that he did not see how th ffet of th Woodruff manifesto could fall short of unlawful cohabitation. co-habitation. H waa asked particularly about that, whether or not thit manifesto did include in-clude unlawful cohabitation with wive that had been married prior to th manifesto." Hs answered: "I do not see hew th. effect caa b : otherwise." Ia December of that asms year this defendant, together with others, officers of th chureh of which he it now prea-' prea-' ident, sent a petition, te President Harrison, pokes of now a th petition for amnesty, ia which he stated that h and hi people had put said polygamy, aad represented to the President ia the. most solemn term that It, was no longer taught by their 'church nor jractieed by thir people; that it was a thing Asfthepsat-. ... . I, understand that tho petition far amnesty . Attorney Richards was asked if he had. anything. to say on behalf of his client ..and responded as follows: If r. ' Richards I hav nothing "further to aay, if your Honor please. r except I want to asy this: Th plea on which the prosecutor base th claim that it' should be imprisonment imprison-ment as part of. th sentence I think is unnecessary. un-necessary. I do not think it necessarily follows fol-lows that any penalty would not be sufficient. My own opinion is that any penalty that might be imposed by this eourt upon this def'-dant would hsv a very material and substantial effect, and I do not believe that th penalty of imprisonment Is necessary to produce th effect. , Of course, tbrar many circumstance in Palliation . that might be mentioned ,bere. hey are so familiar to th court, by reason of the general situation, that I will not discus dis-cus them. I aay th plea that ia made by th prosecutor, that Imprisonment Is necessary, neces-sary, I think is entirely unnecessary, but. tbat any kind of judgment passed upon President Smith will hav . it effect. Th Court Do you mean It will be effective ef-fective - I. -. . .! . Mr. Richards I mean at affecting other people. Aa I understand tbe effect of the statement of counsel, that Is, to deter others, as I understand It Mr. Loofbourow That is th object. r Th Court Th complaint is filed pnder section 420? Mr. Loofbourow Tes. your Honor. Th Court Th court believes that th. safest way to deal with a cas befor it is to tak It as it appear before tbe court. The statute it plain and, unambiguous. It does not need any discussion to show whst It means. By thes. remarks th court does not mean to crtttclM at all the action of the. prosecuting attorney in presenting his views,' or of th defendant in presenting bis. Th. statute evidently was intended to prevent this offense, and it is intended to be enforced and intended to be obeyed, and as far as tbat is concerned th court know nothing about any exceptions. The sam statute, however, gives the court a discretion ia Imposing a penalty. . Th. court might make the penalty as low as on dollar or might make it the highest that has been stated by tbe prosecuting at-' torncy. It appear this is tbe first time, th defendant has been arraigned before thit court for thit offense. He has pleaded guilty. Th court doe not deem any elaborate discussion of the matter necessary, and in looking upon it aa it presents Itself to the court and upon th fact before the court, and not upon matter mat-ter outside of the court. In the opinion of the eourt the judgment that will be rendered |