Show THE MORMON QUESTION CON eon CONSIDER SIMEn ED enox wrom eue THE LEGAL negal OF or VIE VIEW W were it not from the fact that great reforms have seldom beldom or never nevek been brought aboud by j judicial action aelion alone we might see an in the events now passing in utah te promise ise ase of a brighter dawn for that polygamy ridden people chief justice mckean has certainly shown himself an uncompromising enemy to the peculiar institution of the saints and has initiated measures that may well fill them with apprehension the first and severest blow was struck when the chief justice decided that the courts of the territory were courts of the united states to be governed by the rules guldi and practice of the federal courts and that all processes were to be served and juries selected by the united states off omm leens officers theretofore the laws and regulations of the territory had been py paramount amount mormon officers had te selected elected mormon juries and justice had been administered quite in accordance with mormon notions but with gentile juries and the second daniel came a new orde order cof of things men holding opinions favorable to polygamy were refused tes ies of american citizenship zen ship mormon laws and mormon ordinances din ances aside and the entire polygamous is was put on trial the present status of affairs deenis se beems seems enis to be about as follows brigham young the successor of jos smith has been Indle indicted ted on several charges among others for lascivious cohabitation the mayor mior and ind several beveral of the elders are under arrest and hawkins Hayr kins a pol poi has hai been veen convicted eted of adultery an and sentenced to pay CL a din fin fine 6 of and to be pe imprisoned at hard labor laboi for a term of three years ithe he trial of young g cabeen ha abeen been rop fop postponed ned several aeral months during daring which his counsel jioie to get a decision of the united states supreme coursoh court Cour i toh tob an the question as to whether t the to territorial arito bial or federal laws are to govern in the tho selection of juries the question is of course of the first importance import anc e for with a jury jur jux y composed entirely of gentiles there would be little hope for the prophet 13 the remark of the chief justice that the s S of lc theocracy would woula be tried tried in the person of brigham young PY bas has we are told by a correspondent to knit together ther the entire mormon community aud men and wom women en abe afe are alike offer ing ins their s to secure counsel to defend their leader leadir add arid their doctrines should the trial take place if will be one ono of the causes celebre of the country the indictment of young and the thle conviction of hawkins were brought about under a statute against adultery and ks ils conduct passed by an exclusively mormon legislature in 1852 1850 0 that the act was wag intended to cover coven cases of the kind no one believes and it may fairly ie be questioned whether poly gamy can be treated as a crime under it but ut it is a question we do not propose to discuss we are of the opinion however that it would atwould have been more becoming considering the decisions already made for lor the court to haye have proceeded under the statutes of the united states at against polygamy tha that t uhle unie chief iks justice mckean is a pure purer and honest bonest man we know having known him for years before his elevation to the bench buh but boutwe we know him also to be a man 0 of f strong convictions and unyielding prejudices these latter qualities be he has displayed in his hla present position in a manner scarcely becoming the ermine justice ought to be severe and ind awful too but it ought at the same samo time to be ba impartial to sit calm and unmoved above the storms of prejudice brej udice and passion that rage beneath his decisions we do not question battue but the tue iane lanE language page Fage accompanying those decisions has been often so intemperate and partial as to remind one of those ruder ages when the bench was but a focus where were gathered and reflected the passions of the people of the mormon people much may be said in praise as well weli well weil as in blame they have hava havano no doubt trampled upon ong one of the strongest traditions tradItIon 4 of civilization but they have also done some service to the state driven from one point to another by mobs as bad as the worst of them thern they at length made she a hegira gira quite as is memorable agthe as the flight of the tartar Tri tribes beis bels to the wilderness of deseret Pe seret and esta eata established bUshed bushea a commonwealth common mon wealth which has prospered almost beyond example aside aalde from polygamy I 1 they have obeyed the laws quite aswell as well weil as most moat new western communities and they have neven never failed to respond promptly to any call cali upon them to aid in defending the country or prosecuting prosecution prose cutin I 1 its W wars us for a quarter of a century th their air peculiar ins institutions have been tolerated by y the government so long indeed as to justify us tiby them in assuming that they had become acom e legalized by prescription in yiew view 0 of f these facts we have no hesitation in saying that the J justice ustice that is now meted out to them thern should be tempered with mercy and that neither the chief justice nor his followers will gain imperishable renown by an uncompromising crusade albany law journal IN ix the new york herald of nov 3 appeared what purported to be a report of an interview with hon W V H hooper the washington correspondent en t of the philadelphia eress press speaking of that gentleman says same earne date he denies most emphatically the truth of the statements which appear in the new york herald of today to day in an alleged interview with a correspondent of that journal mr hooper is a thorough be believer llever liever in mormonism and as be he bays saye for him to be talking of sweeping away poly gamy is simply ridiculous the correspondent who pretends to hav have e interviewed him evidently was wag not familiar with mr hoopers sentiments on the subject the washington correspondent co of the cincinnati times writing aiso albo nov N 3 bay say B 4 the mormon bishop sharp now here isire bere ays says brigham young has nob not fild fled from utah but has gone to the orif bouth of salt lake for his health in pursuance of a plan formed months ago agos agob sharp declares that the jury was that young hns has no idea of abolishing polygamy and that very five gentiles sympathize with the prosecution of the mormons cormons Mor mons the washington to n correspondent of the new york arald merald herald the same day wrote 1 if is likely that there will be a considerable Pid mid bid sid erable reaction I republican politicians especially congressmen andelt is ai the Cabinet ia Is not ilot a j staining sustaining gu jhb the course of judge mckean senator Train bull buli strongly disapproves of the action which has haa already been taken against ithe and athel 1 mn n of al equal reputation will nol noc be tie backward in arraigning tho the administration if i should turn out that the united stated troops had been used as agthe ithe in of or persecution in the inter |