Show twe THE the tho zealous crusade against the institution of polygamy in utah which th the e 1 uricial judicial clat cial branch of the united states state government set on foot some months ago with a great flourish of trumpets has haa come to an inglorious end and the saints of the latter days have won another victory over the power which so BO long ago as 1860 solemnly consecrated its energies to the task of extirpating from the land those twin relies relles of barbarism slavery and polygamy 11 we mentioned at the beginning of this crusade that this new persecution of the saints was the work of a ring ning which had been foi fol formed med in washington for the purpose of driving the mormons cormons butof out of utah tah ando undo and of obtaining possession of their lands E evil vil vii fortunes have befallen many of the american I tings icings JR ings of lateana late anu ana anu aua this combination of federal officeholders office holders against the mormons cormons shared ju in this ill luck they began their operations with vigour the united states judge at salt lake city was one of their number the mormons cormons leaders were indicted for all manner of crimes ranging from murder down to theft bills were found against brigham young himself for murden murd erthe ertho the president whose foes fees say that he also was a member of the ring sent orders for 1 the most vigorous enforcement of tile the laws aws and everything seemed to foreshadow either the tho emi emigration emigrate gratl on of the mormons borms en masso masse or their submission in bm ision to conditions which would make the practice of their falth feitli impossible but for reasons and b by means which are not yet explained ari ait all ali the machinery set in motion against the mormons cormons has come to a stand the indictments against the leaders laders are thrown aside As as so much wastepaper brigham young walks the streets of his cily city unmolested and so BO far are his followers from preparing foran nor for an exodus to mexico or the sandwich islands Js lands that under his direction they have lately been holding a convention at which they have framed and adopted a constitution under which they ask admission to the union as a ai separate and sovereign state one of the most curious peculiarities sf if the american union is I 1 that under the federal constitution t hat that which may ti be punishable as a afi chime crime me in a territory may be perfectly legal in a state for example the state legislature of new york may to morrow enact that each citizen of that commonwealth may have as many wives as he can support and the federal government would be powerless to interfere the federal government has never enacted any laws regarding marriage and when it undertook to suppress polygamy by legal means meana in utah I 1 it could not prosecute the mormon saints for bigamy but only for lascivious conduct and immorality i against which offense offence there happens to be a federal law applicable to the terri tories the territories unlike the states are subject to the control of the federal government in everything but this control must be exercised under the existing laws and not by the mere merb caprice capric of the executive when a ter territory ry becomes a state this absolute control ceases and the new state is clothed with the power of regulating its own domestic afna afra affairs irs to be admitted as a state its people must have framed and adopted a conati which must be approved by con congress hress gress but when once admitted its people may aye change ange this s constitute constitution on as the they pl please e if these changes do not violate in any of the provisions of the federal constitution the people of virginia could not now reestablish establish re slavery for an aru amendment to the federal constitution ution prohibits slavery but they cald could establish polygamy or repeal all their in laws ws punishing bigamy because the federal constitution contains no provision against these changes the mormons cormons Mor mons P in framing and adopting the constitution which they are about to sub submit mitto to congress have not been ignorant of all this they know that it would be useless to ask congress to erect utah into a state with a constitution legalizing polygamy but they know also that when once admitted as a state they can gan do as they please in tile tiie passage of laws which shall secure this institution one of their leaders expressed their convictions when he u urged d the convention to remember that t there thero ere was no safety for them without withof a state government and that there cou con could be e no state government for them unless they the made some concessions for the moment to the bigotry of the people at washington the constitution which they have framed is not devoid of these concessions 11 it provides that the new state government shall protect the workmen engaged iu in the silver mines and levy no tax upon mining that women shall be voters that a system of cumulative voting shall be adopted in order to secure representation for the he 11 gentile 1 I minority that freedom of religion shall bo be guaranteed and that all ali men whether gentiles gentiles or equally taxed and above all it provides that the practice of polygamy shall cease every everyone one knows that this provision is made to be evaded not in the letter perhaps but by the neglect to enforce or orthe the refusal to enact laws inflicting penalties on those tho e who indulge in the luxury or submit to the penance of having more than one wife at a time if congress accepts this constitution and utah becomes invested with the rights of a state in the union its citizens can snap their fingers at the monogamists tor for no further attack attach upon their peculiar institution could be made unless indeed three fourths of the states should vote for a constitutional amendment abolishing polygamy the convention which ilas has framed this constitution decreed that the question of its adoption should be submitted to a plebiscite and as the territorial legislature emo gme time ago ngo had conferred the suffrage upon women they came to the polls in great numbers it was edifying an hn sight it assaid is said sald for the patriarchs went to the polls alone while their numerous wives in families of a dozen or a segre core eore came afterwards and deposited their ballots that harmony of opinion prevails among the saints cannot be doubted as all the votes were for the new constitution and as the voting was by ballot and the men and women voted separately there could scarcely have been any coercions coercion although there may possibly have been some instances of corruption it is not at all unlikely that congress will accept the constitution thus framed frame dand and rati fled and that utah will soon become the state of the american union E edinburgh din burgh scotsman april 21 |