| Show THE CRUSADE WHAT DO they THE WANT por FOR a period of fifteen years the people of this territory 11 lied aled ed in the A A I 1 bract practice ice of plurality or of wives lived a unmolested upon that point they marriet married and were given in marriage and no man said what do ye they practiced their rellison rel rei lilon leion in conjugal matters under the guarantees of 0 the constitution and constitutional laws and were in nowise hindered therein their onel one nibs mies however were hy by no means satisfied with the peaceable condition of things and consequently they worried the administration at was Way washington hington after having ai n g deluded it with slander concerning the people here until the buchanan expedition was sent out which h however proved a complete failure so fa far il as fulfilling the expectations of those who were instrumental in having it sent was concerned the sending of this army however and the immediately seq sequent clent tient events did not ex pressly interfere with the domestic relations of af the people in 1860 the Jle republican publican platform contained a plank embodying a pledge virtually to abolish the twin relics reiles slavery and polygamy this formulation put the question in a position from which a direct issue might be expected this plank and the election of lincoln upon the plat platform forni of which it 16 formed a part so aggravated the southern states that the civil war ensued resulting in the humbling of the south and the extinction ot slavery from that time certain of the moro more rigid of the republican party have considered that its work ork was only half done so BO long as ag one of the tho relics was extant and consequently havekost lost no opportunity of advocating its extinction and other characters anxious chiefly forthe nor for the spoils chave V joined lustily in the cry sa so t far r however they have only learned how not to do it every session of congress the members of that body have been postured post ered and besieged myself by self seif ap pointed lobbyists hobbyists over this question of disposing of tho the remaining twin in 1862 1892 a bill passed congress to punish unish and prevent the practice of elagamy bigamy and polygamy in the territories ri of the united states with a nine niue of and not exceeding live nive years imprisonment in case of conviction previous to this there WAS no law making po polygamy y g amy an of fence orin or in legal t technicality 0 h n leakity a crime though it is not a crime of itself and is iek no crime at all as that word is generally understood but la Is simply an of mience fience before the law because the law makes it so just as might be made an offense offence before the law by the enactment of a law forbidding it this law of 1862 as we understand became a law without the signature of president lincoln and lie he never troubled himself about putting it into execution indeed one of the best traits in the official character of president lincoln was that chenever he never we believe made any attempt or showed apy dispo while in office to persecute or annoy the people of this thia territory in any way and we have heard that ho he expressed himself as having no intention to dalany such thing for which he Is worthy of honor the law of 1862 1882 is said now by republicans republican to be only a dead letter notwithstanding all that has been said in favor of it and all that has been done to put it i into execution for although du during ring the preal presidency dency deney and that of johnson nothing particular was done to enforce it ye yet most w sessions alons blons of congress congrow of lat late eyears years the subject hab bab been agitated and in some somo yearn years strenuous efforts have been made to have a more oppressive law enacted than that of 1862 sil all the thele ze efforts failed until last session when the poland bill was passed a very unjust bill ft ta jt ita iba ii but nut not a tenth part so 1 unjust mt an I 1 its originators and chief auitt erv ery intended it to be before the tile passage of tits this last bill blu atter attai attempts were madeko made mado to prosecute for polygamy when grant went into the white while houseton nou Hou seTin 1869 the presidential animus appears to have changed and a determination to have sprung up iu in the breast of the executive to push matters against the mormons Mor mons in 1870 rev dr newman came here and ran a tilt with elder elden orson oreon pratt upon the tile subject pf af ap polygamy and the bible tuo tue dr Re according to the general verdict coming off second best beat the same year a new set of US officials als ais were sent here and they tried to do something wonderful most blost of them seemed to come como hero here with the idea firmly fixed jibed that the cormons mormons Mor monh mons were an outrageous people bad in almost every T respect and that the principal duty orthe ortho of the U 8 a appointees P po lutes was to repress the spirits an and d tendencies of ef the people and prosecute them in every way that could well be taken in that year earne caine our present chief Ju justice sLice stice apparently not notto to act the ordinary impartial imp artial and unimpassioned lole loie or of a chiel chiei ustice but tobe a sort of missionary ludge judge whose great particular bui ness was to break up poleg polygamy rny any and lc theocracy which he understood to be the strength of 0 the Mor monic fabrio fabric politically and socially soc lally this re eliglo politico judicial champion oj oi theo the relic relio plunk of the republican plat formon his arrival hereof himself vigorously to work ile he opened court empanelled empanel led juries and commenced to try caben cares but though he worked energetically lie he worked not wisely nor bor too well he created considerable excitement and was evidently about to do big things wonderful things in which the mormon system and people wore ware to bo be perfectly used up as A religious body but supreme court decisions came jiboa wet blanket and dampened thinks things considerably sider ably and the effect was that the dead letter state pro pio prevailed once more nor did the judge betray any anxiety to push things again until the poland bill was passed now that is in operation he seems to have recovered covered rp something of his old vigor and determination to do something in which lie he is backed by othor other U S omm off meers officers and th that a bonde cilot conglomeration of entities popularly the hinr g ard and me ofie seems to have commenced com afresh new now what do these virtuous crusaders want to do de what cond condition ution of things do they think t ti eyare likely to bring about it must be taken for granted that they mean to annihilate that twin relic they tiley seem to be beginning by inducting indicting indic ting for lascivious 4 cohabitation but no impartial joiy anywhere could for a moment entertain the idea that plural marriage was lyas lascivious cohabitation however on whatever charge they may indict we must conclude tuut tuat their aim is the punishment and prevention of polygamy for that was tiie tile th a declared intent of the law of 1862 now it is a avast wast deal easier easler to punish than it is to prevent although prevention is better letter than cure if it can be done but when you have punished one man fur for doing what he believes to be DC right it will by no means follow that another man will not go and do what he lio bellev believes ps to be right notwithstanding so where will be the prevention for in matters of conscience men and women and particularly religious men and women are the most perverse beings on the earth the judge recommended the punishment of a few of the leaders of the churchard Chur church chand and the lettin letting of the rest of the people go but will punishing half a dozen poly deter the multitude who may be equally conscientious from till still abiding hy by the dictates of their consciences bov bot very likely and therefore the relic relict will flourish practically as much as ever besides Be aldes aides will not prosecuting a few of the leaders be regarded by the bulk of tho church as persecution of course it will in fact this arraignment of the mormon people for their plural marria gesis now generally regarded as more in the light of malignant persecution than of honest prose prosecution cution it may be said then that the whole of the people who are poly i oly must be prosecuted very well let us see how such wholesale prosecution cution catlon would work itis it is said that there am arm not less than mormons cormons Mor mons in this territory those thos e figures wall will do fur furu ith itz of these we ulay may reckon a dult duit bulles nulles lt it ha han 4 been often plated p that the proportion of poly pole gamasta in utah Is one in ten of f the men we ve hav havo no objection object lorl lort to these figures figu ress reff for forthe the purpose of our argument therefore let jet Us assume for the time being bellig and for the hv purpose in hand that thre there are a thousand men in utah with more more than one wife each let usar us fur ther average them as having throe three bivs each and each wife as having baving three thieo children that will give us a grand rand raud total of 1000 men 3 women and children in the he t order of frith family illk uni union on we do let jet nt lot say these figu figured are exactly correct we merely assume them wr nor the sake of argument the actual numerical facts might vary above or below them but that matters little littleto to oun argument here then are a thou thousand sund sand men tp be tried for marriage marri ake aie averaging in each district court rhe fhe women and children of course will wili be let go of conree se all would b be a convicted tei tea it the thu determination is to put the melic rei relic rel icyl lall through ii and therece there thore turu toru 0 all the thou thon sand band must pay five jive indred hundred hi dollars each alid and go to the thu penitentiary J fr for nv flaw years yeara or les less S flie rile wars mars lial ilmi and aud the warden would have to increase the accommodations of that building materially the cyst coat of keeping these lom lum prisoners would bu be not nut less juss than lifty I 1 I 1 aty cents each or pe pur r day j the expenses of the tile trial could hardly be less than lod iod each or igo GUO in all the loss losi or of the labor of these men to the territory at two dollars each would be som sow 2000 per day or hay hay bay each or for the whole per ye year sear at making for tor an average yf of lour years yours each man nun that thau ii id a heap of means to be thrown away in one kerri territory tory upon that 19 relic plank then duning during all ali these thee four years sears years jears and the time becu occupied pied in trying the thou thousand land tand another ir thousand would be growing up and marrying marry ing lug wives and preparing to be fined lined and put in the olio penitent penitentiary laly ialy the thee these e thou thousand saud men ruen would be the most moat ente pricing aud the ule best men in the lor nobody but enterprising und and good deserving meu men would be very likely to be willing to lake luke care of and do the handsome hau had daume to no tso many wives and aud children think Thin know khow now the forcible tor cible cibie abstraction of so many miny ot the principal men of the anity would break up and destroy des def stroy etroy tho the bu bushless of community the and aud induce poverty among the remaining part of the population rhen thes now liow are the three thou sud hus women and the nine th thousand usand 8 fatherless children to be su supported p P they could not be tte left tu to starve christendom would cry shamo shame on that they rhey could hardly support themselves iu in auy any kind h ind ut ot a decent docent manner elie rile 1 he property of the hu hut hauda bauda and fathers would be all loru torn to pieces and bold boid to th pay the liue line li ue vlen nien what must uhe the women and children do or what whal be doue dune with them thew women will bear much but they will cry about it when it wearn wears heavily upuia them children wili will wil 1 cry too filere there then theila the courts would have around them crying women and good crying aud and what would the tiie courts saY may to all that they would soon get tired of hearing that thal music but nut the condition ot things thing which the courts and the nin hin abill rin may reasonably expect long beffre the koliu is abol jibed hoddo how do they ilke like the picture are they ready to mee face the musie liabos lu this fashion |
