| Show 4 amb AMERICA RA CANNOT AFFORD TO PERSECUTE THE american which cannot be accused of any sympathy with the mormons cormons Mor mons as it has taken strong ground in opposition to their social system has haa the annexed rational paragraph grap As we never looked to immediato immediate results as the fruit of the edmunds bill we are not disappointed nor can we unite with those who call for sor still more stringent lo legislation against the cormons mormons Mor mons the edmunds bill goes quite as far as it is possible for the united states to go without falling into a persecution of religious opinions the nation has done its duty in stigmatizing the crime of polygamy by dis fran chisem chi bement ent and in taking every step possible for its punishment we jook to the gradual effect of this legislation to produce either the dissolution of the sect or its compulsory abandonment of plural marriage man lage america cannot afford to persecute the last sentence in the above is pertinent persecution of the mor mons mona will not pay in the long run tit lit if that can be done by the govern ment against one religious religions denomination under any plea flea whatever it will be only a matter of time till jt it can be done under some fresh plea to another religious body it will prove the lifting ot of the flood floodgates gates petes ot of intolerance and bigotry only a small stream maybe may be sent forth at first but the lever will bo be applied again and again until the tho torrents of 0 persecution will sweep down and overthrow all sects and societies that are deemed unorthodox opinion under this government must at least be free if the free exercise ot of religion guaranteed in the ohe he luprele law of the land is only a phrase a theory something to be 91 caged by the popular standard wh which ich is ever changing must bo be lett iett unfettered and unaffected by whim notion rule or law when the mormons cormons Mor mons claimed the right to freely practice their religion including its marriage teachings and rites they were told that they were free to believe what they pleased that they might think what they they liked that they might put as much faith as they thought proper in any professed revelations ancient or modem modern upon any subject bo be long as they did dla not carry their faith into practice it was said they were un objeCt lo nabie the supreme court of the united states announced the same principle in effect it is only when belief breaks out into overt acts against peace and good order ordet that tho law low can inter fere fore with lt it so BO that at court proclaimed thew the wise e judges who enunciated that d doctrine carine did not attempt to joehow show how or in what manner plural marriage marni mairn age broke out into overt grovert lots pots against peace pence and good order but but bat they assumed that it did and therefore decided that the law might forbid it but declared that belief in it could not be legally interfered ter feted with and yet there are persons and pa now advocate what the american properly calls ealis persecution for fon religious belief that esthey would deprive all cormons mormons Mor mons of the franchise on the ground that though those who now have the right to vote aro are not any of them practical lato isto yet they belleve that plural marriage marriaga is right and therefore ought to be also franchised disfranchised dis and cut off from all political rights and privileges this would be ba punishment for no ilo rime crime it would be doing that which ther constitution constitutions the supreme court lud end VA lIghtened enlightened opinion nil nii over oven the wrid say bay cannot lawfully be done buch persecution would not only bo be unlawful it would be inexpedient it would be the worst kind of policy it would form forma a most mischievous precedent it would be a sin that would soon bring its own punishment disfranchise the mormons cormons Mor mons for unorthodox belief and what sect would be safe and what would be accomplished by such a shameful departure from right justice and constitutional law can error bo be stamped out by force will firm belief give way to violence docs does history show that such a course Is ia likely to succeed may we expect that admitted wrongdoing will bring about right results will acknowledged evil overcome alleged evil can the cormons mormons 2 1 more than any other human beings be coerced into thinking to orders order or be deterred from believing and trusting in a creed for which anich they have hava already shown they can U en dare all no the tho attempt will not only be wrong it will be a failure as it deserves to be since bince writing the above we have hake seen the following in the albany argus in an editorial of august it strikes this nall nail directly on the head and therefore we clip and insert it here ali all ali cormons mormons believe in polygamy not more than two men in ten of them practice it the eight believing in tho the abomination out of every ten who nevertheless as a fact do not practice tice tico it made upa ups up a ticket of their own number and triumphantly antly elected it mormonism Is a religion polygamy Is a fact the fact can be made a cause for dis dib the religion cannot polygamy has won without factual polygamists voting or being voted for what the next step to take will be cannot be remarked yet the facts in the case are plain disfranchisement cannot be based on the views of men in territories their acts nets alone can be regarded A polygamist in utah is one who has more than one wire wife at a time he who has none or only one can not be franchised disfranchised dis for believing that it is right to have more than one at a thue time neither can voting be dispensed with in territories by congress the constitution guarantees territories the right to the election of local offic officers erbs enss subject to congress restrictions but the constitutions constitution in granting freedom of religion re moves mocca a be bellet gilet lilet uither elther in polygamy or in idols or in anything else from the list of possible restrictions that view of the case will be endorsed by all rational persons persona who are opposed to plural marriage marriages unless they are interested in the scheme to rule and ruin utah the plea of expediency is too farfetched far fetched the alleged object in view could not be reached by the means proposed and the scheme is too extreme un american and altogether monstrous to be adopted in the republic of the united St states sites ittes |
