Show editorials SPEECH OF SENATOR S PENDLE TON ohi oil THE ehe EDMUNDS BILL mr president I 1 heard the fresl dent dont of the benato senate say to a sentor senator who offered aa au amendment that it was not in order in the tho present stage of the bill because there was as already pending an amendment to 11 an amendment observing the admonition of the chair I 1 shall at the proper time move to amend tho the fifth line of the fourth section at present the fifth section of the bill by ing out the words eror clor or has been before living and also in the seventh line striking out the words or has been before beloro guilty so as to read that ho he Is living la in I 1 ho practice of bigamy polygamy or unlawful cohabitation with more than one woman or that bo be Is guilty ol 01 oa an offense punishable by cither either ot of tho loro lore going sect sections ioas loas ac I 1 shall also move to amend by inserting a after the word woman the words or any wom woman with whom he Is not married in tho the first line of the seventh now the eight section I 1 shall move to strike out the words poly gadist bigamist and the words per sons now practicing polygamy or bigamy and after tho the word airro woman in ift the second line I 1 shall move to insert or any woman with whom he is not hot married mr air president I 1 have stoned listened to this debate today to day end and I 1 have llave read with great care the debate which took place yesterday yesterdays when I 1 was not present in the senate I 1 read with interest the remarks made by the liono honorable rable rabie senator from arkansas mr garland Garlan dJ and the honorable senator from delaware mr bayard I 1 was pleased to bee eee the statement mado by one or I 1 think both those senators that while white they had finally come to tho conclusion that they would support this bill they did it with many misgivings as to several of its provision provisions and with a great doubt as to whether it would finally secure the purpose which thoy they intended to accomplish I 1 do not find it necessary in what I 1 have to say upon the billor bill or the vote that I 1 may finally give to controvert any of the legal positions which either of them has taken I 1 have had great difficulty not only upon this occasion but heretofore in defining to myself exactly the provision of the co constitution institution upon watch the power of the government of the united states over the territories rests I 1 heard a senator whoso shoso memory was so fitly de borated here the other day after a most elaborate argument come to the tho conclusion that the idea that the power of congress over the territories ri tories rested in the second clause of the third section of the fourth article the one quoted by the senator from arkansas yesterday the clause that congress shall have sar power powen t to 0 dispose of and mao make all needful u j rules and regulations respecting spec ting the territory and other perty belonging to the tho united states was entirely without foundation and that the whole power of the government in the matter was to be derived flom that clause of the constitution ution which provides pro pio vides for tho admission of new now states it is not a now question it is not a question easy of ol eo lution I 1 do not undertake to say that even in my own mind I 1 have come to a satisfactory conclusion upon it but I 1 think it is absolutely certain that by whatever clause the power is given to the congress of the united states to control and govern the territories of the tha united states congress is always in all circumstances under all conditions limited by the prohibitions in the constitution I 1 do not believe that it is in the power of the congress of the united states to violate any of the guards which the constitution of the united states has provided for personal liberty congress has no power except that which is granted lest powers may bo be as assumed under general and indefinite giants grants the C constitution has provided tain guarantees of pets personal onal freedom and lias has prohibited the exercise of certain powers congress Con giess cannot under any pretense at any time for any purpose purposes violate these guaran tees of personal rights or exercise the power thus prohibited mr garland may I 1 interrupt the the senator one moment Pendleton Mr certainly ir garland under article 3 section lection 1 of the constitution the judicial power pher of the tho united states shail thail ba be vested in oae oue us raa courland Cour tand in beoh hsuch inferior merior counts courts as tho congress may mav from timo time to atme ordain and establish tho the judges both of 0 the tho ou 9 and inferior courts ceball hold their offices oes during daring good behavior in section 1861 of the revised statutes we have the vision the supreme court of every territory shall consist or of a ohler chier justice and two assoil ate J justices loes ices any two of whom shail ghail constitute a 0 quorum and they shall loid bold their of or alcos nicos for tour four Te year yean arsand fland bland until their successors arc are appointed and qualified the tenure by tho the constitution of all inferior judges is 91 during good behavior here is a section of the law lav which provides that in the territories ri they shall hold for four y years ss which the supreme court has hns held heid after elaborate argument to be within the power ower owen of the congress of the united states under their power over the territories mr pendleton I 1 understand that perfectly these territorial courts to be found in every law organizing the territories of the united states or exercising control over them after they are organized organic d do not belong to the judicial system of the united states they nrc arc organized under the general power of Con congress greas to provide governments for the territories I 1 admit that congress has the power to establish governments over those territories to organize legislatures to organize courts to enable them through their own action to perform all the functions of civil gover government ament I 1 d deny eny that there ia Is any power in the congress of the united states under the constitution or anywhere else to establish a despotism over the tho territories I 1 deny that they can in any ot of the territories violate any of those provisions of the constitution which protect the life and liberty of the citizens of tho the united states I 1 deny that they can establish a government in the territories of the united states anywhere which shall try and execute a man without giving him the benefit of a trial by jury under an indictment according to the forms of law which the constitution sti ution tullon has proscribed prescribed mr air butler I 1 wish to ask my friend a question in connection with that part of hla hia argument does doea he believe that congress under the constitution may or may not impose a qualification for voters in the territories mr air pendleton I 1 believe congress may and I 1 shall ishall direct some remarks I 1 have to make directly to that very subject mr jones joness of florida I 1 wish in that connection to ask the senator from ohio if he considers the act which I 1 cited yesterday for the government of the territory of florida unconstitutional which vested the entire powers of government in one or more persons to be designated by the president and confirmed by the senate including the judicial and powers of the territory mr pendleton Pend loton I 1 have not had the opportunity of examining closely that statute I 1 do not know exactly what it provided but I 1 ampre am pared to eay say that it it vested in iwo two or two hundred people the right to control and govern the territory of florida in any way inconsistent with the provisions of tho the constitution of the united states guaranteeing the rights of ilfe life and personal liberty and property to the citizens it was unconstitutional mr hoar hlay may I 1 ask the honorable senator from ohio a question mr pendleton W with th pleasure mr hoar hour I 1 desire to ask him if he believes that congress might constitutionally take away from the inhabit inhabitants tants of any territory of the united states all power of self gov amment whatever and might mahe make nin e all the laws civil and criminal and appoint off omm meers officers to execute them giving the inhabitants of the territory no voice whatever ignot Is not that exactly what we have done in a territory acquired Is it not what wo we do in this district if that be true how can the senator complain if congress may constitutionally exercise all the powers of government for fora a territory and not allow any voting at all when instead of doing that it allows the citizens to vote on certain conditions mr pendleton Pend rend leton laton mr sir Preal dent I 1 have not yet complained of anything I 1 have not yet reached the point where I 1 am dig diP disposed posed to complain at all of this thia bills bill or of any of the provisions of it I 1 was defining what I 1 considered to bo be the extreme limits aa of tha the powers of congress over the territories I 1 am not pro pared to say that I 1 could fix the ex exact act limu where I 1 think congress ought to lo allow to the people of a territory the right of governing themselves it has been done in A some cases where those people reached perhaps six or eight or ten thousand thousand it has been denied in other cases eases until they reached thirty or forty thousand this I 1 say that the congress of oi the united states is bound to give to the people of a territory the right of belf pelf government within certain ranges as soon as it becomes safe and proper that they should exer clerciee clEe that night right in order to give them the training necessary to be admitted as new now states and until that time as long as it assumes to control and govern them it Is bound hound by the grants and the prohibitions of the constitution mr hoar but are not nut all the territories ri today to day subject to the veto power of the gover governors norB incho in whose ze selection the people have no part and to the veto power of congress mr pendleton I 1 do not know that all of them are some of them are perhaps all of them but that Eug hug suggestion I 1 submit would not in any degree the argument that I 1 am making as to the power of congress at all times and the duty of congress at some time tim to remit to these people the agh rights s of seif self gov ern ment I 1 do not find myself bound in any way at all to antagonize the position the gentlemen have taken in relation to the powers of congress over the territories I 1 might dafler with them I 1 do differ with tham them menti lenti essentially ally ails but it ia Is not necessary tor for or my argument that I 1 should enter into any discussion with them upon that subject now what is tho the bill before us it is a crimes act the title defines it to be a lill bill to amend a clause of the crimes act this whole title of the revised statutes of the united states of which section ia Is a part is the crimes act of the united states this thia bill provid provided pro vides eq an amendment to a clause of the crimea act and the only amendment that I 1 see in the first section of this bill is simply the introduction of the words and any man who hereafter simultaneously or en on the same game day marries more than woman I 1 do not know whether it ia Is found in the practice tf bf this territory that it is necessary to bo be BO particular as to the time when the act of tho the second marriage takes place it may mar have been it may be the that they aney have held that the day was but an instant of time and if the marriages took place on the same day I 1 etwas t was not a subsequent or ora orn a prior marriage and therefore it was necessary to introduce this pr provision of the bill I 1 do not know how that is and I 1 therefore take no exception to it at all events this is an addition to the crimes defined in section of the revised be statutes which 13 13 18 part of the crimes act of the united states then section 2 of thia this bill as originally reported but now section aj 3 is another addition to the crimes act for it provides that it if any malo param in a territory or 0 other place over which the united states have exclusive jurisdiction hereafter cohabits rith with more than ona cna woman ha be shall ahall to deemed guilty of a niN nih misdemeanor demeanor I 1 do not know the exact state cf the law on this subject subjects but I 1 suppose that the tho crime defined is co ha biting with any other woman than his wife and that this keeti n of the tho bill is intended to meet the case where with or without marriaga marria ria 13 ho he shall ba be guilty of this cohabitation tation when we come to the fourth section of the bill what do we find in defining the quail of jurors who shall alit rit in cases of this kind we find that it shall bo be a cause of challenge that a man cs is now or ever over has been living in the practice of bigamy or polygamy or unlawful cohabitation with more than one woman or that he is or ever has been guilty of an offense punished by either of the foregoing sections of IsbIll th this bill Is or ever has been mr president your experience on judicial tribunals and in construing and observing laws is very great did you ever know known a jury law ahl which went back to the whole course of a mans life and disqualified him from sitting silting upon a jury unless ho he would swear that he is is not now and never has been guilty of any ady of the acts defined as crimes in tho the laws he may have been u bigamist he may have been a polygamist he may have abandoned all those beliefs he may have abandoned all those practices ho he may have either by death or divorce c cr r otherwise been entirely freed from the obligation which the marital relations rela reia tiong tiona imposed upon him and yet according to this bill ho he is forever deprived of the right of sitting upon a jury in these cases where is the justice of that where is the propriety cf it take away the locus yow yon de him of the he right ton fon to abandon bandon that which you define as a crime and say that if li ho mb has hns abandoned what you have now for the first time defined to bo be a crime or at least now do define to bo be a crime erime he lice hall not a jury do you do that in im relation to any other man A man goes into the penitentiary after conviction of crime and in some ftp stages jes ho be ia is disqualified fr from om sitting on dh a jury but if ho he comes out upon a pardon ho he is competent to t sit upon tho the jury but ho he would not bo competent under the provisions of a statute like this the pardon while it may wash away his sins so eo that he shall become as white as enow snow cannot override a provision of the statute that pios pies pi es bribes that he shall not thereafter sit on a jury now sir I 1 do not think this extremely important I 1 am perfectly ready to eay that but I 1 do think it shows this animus and spirit with which the wll bill ia Is pressed upon the senate today to day days and in that I 1 mean no ie upon honorable eena Fena senators tors who sit bit upon the judiciary committee I 1 think thin it is jho the outgrowth of a spirit which is stroad in the land which means to stigmatize these thebe people as criminals aa outlaws as beyond the borders not only of civil tion out of or the protection of the constitution of the united states I 1 am not to bo be misunderstood understood nils I 1 will coincide with any gentleman who endeavors to go the farthest within proper limits to crush out this crimo crime of polygamy I 1 believe that the home homo is the fot foi of the purest civilization that it presents th the e safeguards by which Fo colety lety is to ba be ee cured that the sweet charr chath charrles charries les ies of conjugal and parental and |