| Show IS IT nalum malum IN SS SE rlue THE argument of senator benator jones of For eor florida lda ida which we published and made so me comments upon lu in the EVENING NEWS of saturday contained other errors besides those which we then pointed out the most important of thomm thom was the assertion that polygamy ism ibm IS m alum in se that is a crime tn in and of itself which requires no legislative prohibition hibi tion or denunciation to niu fiu its character 11 thia this is contrary to the generally admitted theory which classes polygamy among moda pro hibira or those of fences which are made to be criminal by statute wo we claim that until the congressional act of 1882 was passed there was vas no law affecting the people of utah constituting plural marriage a crime it was then and is now part parl of the religious system commonly known as mormonism niam IJ mr jones desiring to make it appear that plural marriage in any form cannot be viewed as part of a religion ventured the assertion that polygamy la Is erime erimo in and of itself to be ba classed with murder piracy and other of olten ofTen fences ces ees which would be criminal if no statutory law were enacted for their punishment it Is strange that any gentleman with pretensions to legal learning would place himself on record as uttering such a fallacy when a man in a community in which no law exists against it marries two wives with the consent of all persons persona at af tooted footed by the marriage ho 0 commits no overt act against either of them or against the society in which he lives murder and robbery are crimes in themselves because they are infringements upon human rights they are wrong in the very nature of things they are evils independent of any law the rights to lifo life liberty and the tha pursuit of happiness are natural inherent in flu each individual anything which interferes ter feres with the free enjoy enjoyment mant ot of those rights or either of them is naturally criminal and by tha same rule anything that does not interfere with the rights of man is 13 not of the essence of crime it may be made criminal however by statute enacted under properly prop BrY constituted authority take for instance tha tho selling of any kind of merchandise di eeg ees including intoxicants if thero there is no law forbidding or regulating that traffic the mere mera business itself is not criminal but a law may be enacted requiring those engaged therein to pay a certain license fee and constituting tho the saie eale of certain articles without a license a punishable of fence the act which Is not criminal in itself is then made criminal by law it is the same with many of fences for which people committing thomm thom may bo be made to suffer penalties without a legal enactment they would be inoffensive the plural marriage of the latter day saints is of this nature we will not stop to show shaw that marriage a poly gamie gamio or that it define deline is no noi not mr jones prerogative to dofine what may be or may not norba be tho the religion of any man if in practising practicing it he does not interfere with human rights but will proceed to examine the only argument which tho the senator advanced in support of his bis assertion ser tion that polygamy la Is marum in se it was wag that by the common consent of the christian world it was stamped as in antagonism with social order erder well by tho the same rule sabbath breaking must bo be classed with essential crimes crimea the common consent of the christian world requires abstinence from cocu lar business businow on sunday and regards the infraction of this rule as in antagonism with soc boc docial social al order laws have been enacted to enforce this thia coi cox common amon opinion and particularly in times past they have been carried out with vigor even now they exist and the recognized best minds of thea the age geare are in favor of babath sabbath observance will senator jones therefore declare that sabbath breaking la is malum in ee tt Is not its criminality derived from the law rather than from the act itself and yet the common consent of cf tho christian world brands it as in antagonism to social order then by his rule in regard to polygamy sabbath must bo be malu in as ac but plural mar marriage riege is lesa less of the nature of malum in ss even than sabbath breaking 0 for while the latter can be shown to be conducive to harm because refit rest Is ia required by all people at least one day out of seven and that deity established the rule for its observance the former is ibi not against the welfare of the parties part lea iea when properly understood and it cannot be oe chown that god has han even oven declared ou on general principles that it is wrong for a man to have more than one wife if reference is made to the book of mormon on this point we will remark that the divine injunction was directed to a special case and under special circumstances not against the principle ciple or practice on its own merits and further that our opponents have to fly to our sacred records which they do not believe to toasa assail ail sli a doctrine which they do not cot understand and which the scriptures they profess to accept not only fail to oppose but actually sustain and enjoin senator jones then was as much at bea een on the question qu estion of the essential criminality of polygamy as he was in a regard to the absolute power of Con congress greBs over the his logic was equally peculiar in reference to both subjects but as his hia efforts brought forth nothing in the way of inimical legi legislation we can afford to let them pass without further comment except that in assailing this great latter day work of the almighty great men are fulfilling the words of the prophets concerning them the lithe wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding der of cf their prudent men inen shall ba hid |
