Show MARRIAGES IN las lak TERRITORY OF utan UTAH in the house of representatives representative april 1884 mr alexander aroa the committee on the territories submitted the following foll report whick wencl was re referred forred to t thi taj ht house Calen caien jai dai and ordered to be print printed pd yi ewo eko ito I 1 to accompany bill IL IL GO 0 ylie committee on nhe the territories Hes ta I 1 whom was referred H ji to provi provide dejor defor por for the governing of t commission submit the following g that the object of the billis bill is to gor gov cm ern utah by bv a commission for the purpose of preventing the crime of polygamy or bigamy in hi that territory that in their investigation of the conditi condition conch tion oi of utah your committee find the people to be industrious law abiding people except as to polygamy or ozaly a and ud that prior frior to the enactment of i the law of march 22 1 1882 known as the edmunds law that a large portion ot of the people 11 lived and acted in open denance defiance of the ladof law of ct congress ingress forbidding din polygamy or bigamy that therb there were in the tae territory or of altah utah in 1880 00 inhabitants about tour lour fifths be being mormons cormons and non mor nor mons in ons or gentiles Gentil eg as they ara ana called in utah with the yeli reli religion 9 a of the non mormons cormons 1 nothing ta do Coh congress gress shall make no law r respecting es ail an establishment establish mont mant of religion or prohibiting the f free ree exercise thereof it is the right of every citizen to be protected in his 0 olf her religious religions worship but this is a duty the government owes to the citizen and not to his religion for without any reference to what his religion may be has the right to worship god according ac cordin to the dictates of his own conscience and has a right to be protected by the government Govern mentin in so doing the christian who teaches that jesus was the christ has the same right and none other to be protected in his worship as the jew who teaches that this saino same chhist christ wagan wass waff an impostor neither can claim of the government any protection or ar recognition of his reli reil religion gon but bat both being citizens may claim to it be protected in their religious mor wor worship slip with the teaching or t tenets of any religion congress has gas nothing to do it I 1 is is equally clear that luo itlo Tell celi religion glon gion cat caa i arener trench upon th epowers of the government ern ment the domain of government Z can no more be invaded by religion rell reli a aloi gioi ion lon than the domain of odthe the c church hura c can n be invaded by government i no one under the guise of T religion 0 algion can be permitted ln hi a fety to vIolate the laws of congress this toa tda has been e expressly decided by the supreme Ju preme court of the in the case of Reynolds vs rs united states 98 08 otto in this case reynolds who addicted teu ted for the crime erime of bigam yset u the defense that to have more mole thaw thai one wife was the teaching of mon church of which he was a member and that etwas it was a part of his faith ani add religion but the court heldtke held heid the defense to be bad and decided that con congress e 3 11 had the power to pass a jaw law for fon U tah maki makl makina nir polygamy or bigamy a crime and one could interpose ilis llis religious belief asa as a defense to an indictment for a violation ot of the law thelm ThelA the mormon ormon chunie eaches reache jt plural u marrih marriages gesto to be the duty of its fat faithful hf ril rii members whenever a xua tua man n of its faith has obtained sufficient property to support c than his first wife and her children for him to marry another woman is a duty commanded by the I 1 mormon church here the government of the united states and the mormon church charch are area in conflict for by I 1 the law of congress plural marriages are prohibited and no inch of ground should be yielded bythe government kovein ment ot of the tha united states in this contest for the supremacy of law and to put down an institution both barbarous and demoralizing dembs of theolor thenor mon inon church must be made tornow that they cannot violate the laws oi of congress with za fety that the po people tty e of the united states are uni united jn the determination that in utah mormon or non must obey thelast the lawt the matter of plural otes ates n res tes has his for a long tIme been a cause ot trouble and irritation in uth utah there are in the territory now between 2 W til s ii men living in polygamy liv ltv i neglected to make proper ki J i I 1 take measures necessary to prevo pi i this lous ious practice in its u the Ponte consequence quence of this failure ai n neglect on the tiie part of congress one til th t tuero is in utan utah to tb day at least persons members of tile tiie mormon baurch who believe plural lural marr mair marriages kazes inges to be right this hicle hideous ous wrong lias ilas grown rown with their growth and is so intermingled ter fer mingled with their social institutions and the affairs of ever over every eveny everyday jr day life that its correction is dinni cult that plural marriages ought to be stopped all outside of bf lafie lafae the mormons cormons admit that it mus must be stopped is the voice of the people of all the states I low ilow to tw this end is a problem in the solution ot of which the aid of reason should be invoked and not the aid of passion 4 so go far as the past is concerned it is a serious question as to what ought to be done to break breakup uv the family ties that havo have existed eo 96 lon ion long iong to declare ae ift children of plural marriages bastards r to turn women 70 n adrift in their old age who w h h have am in good conscience believed themselves to be wives wises with all the ties of a lifetime life time broken up and doomed to an existence miserable and comfortless are conse to be fully consla consia considered ered before action is taken if by legal e enactment plural marriages marriages in th the future ile fie can be prevented and ad the institution of polli g luly imy put ina lna condition of gradual ext notion we think all reasonable expect tion would be accomplished i I 1 la a later years there has been baen legis tiou tion by congress looking to the a tion of plural marriages in 1864 1862 t law liw was enacted by co congress ress makin making plural marriages criminal and the constitutionality of this law has been affirmed by the supreme court of te tie united states in the case above cited reynolds eynolds ll vs united states the success attained by byr this law in accomplishing pil shing ts object was not what its f for or expected there were some cases prosecuted under the law but it had little or no effect in fa preventing venti plural lural marriages the bostil ity of ane INI mormon ormon people to the law prevented its execution thaymere Th they eymere were so large a part of the people of utah that the law could not be enforced in opposition to the public sentiment crea ted by them ten years afterwards by act of ofa 2 ad margh march 1882 2 entitled an act to amend section the revised statutes of the united states in reference to lo bigamy and for other purposes and known as th the eed cEd edmunds eedmunds munds law congress enacted a very strict and rigid law jaw to prevent plural marriages in the territories by this law among other things thins it was provided that no polygamist bigamist or any person co lial ilat lAtIno with more than one woman aldno and no goman woman woman cohabiting wi with thamar a mar who has a living wife in any territory or other place over which the united states have exclusive jurisdiction shall bo be entitled to vote at any election helain nelo nela in any such territory or other plate or be eligible for loc election or appointment to or be entitled to hold office or place of trust honor oz or emolument in under or for any such territory or place or under the united states in said labit law y it is also provided for an appointment by the president of the united states of a board of five persons who shall have full power to perform each and every duty rel rei relating ting to registration of votes the conduct conduct of elections elech elect lonSy the receiving or registration of votes und and the bho canvassing and returning ol of the same and the issuing of certificates or other evidence ot of eieg s tion d territory that said sald braml was appointed jy by the president resident that thel the thet entered upon the discharge of their duties ag as such and refused to the rr egister as voters all toe the men and women who had entered into and that all such persons oam men and women weno chased to the number of about twelve balte thousand that no person living in in poly polygamy bam gam was elected ejected to t any in the tha territory of ut oh at the election ejection held heid under the tha law above mentioned it will bo seen that every man and ra nayoman yoman living in poli poly polygamy can neither vote nor hold office in the territory of utah it Is claimed by some gome nue pe rp t that il at there tila ilia havn have e 1 I I 1 es iu in ine lne th the RM ll I 1 no ft t W munds law contra solemnised in secret budt bugg we fqy well weli n ell eli authenticated case af 41 aldama warria parria ax A that nas nag taken place since the passage of the edmunds law we think tuv edmunds law liw has had a tendency to prevent plural plura marriages and flat irom from t the reports s of the r appold appointed by the president ident under taud atud 61 by virt virtue of the taw law law ot f match maych 22 1882 wo we think the effect bouhe 0 jile tile law been reasonably satisfactory 1114 1 g k we do not think that su t time has hag elapsed to test fully the a advantages es ithe edmunds tl I 1 law w bethink we think the be coave ei e i trial fora for a length pf af time suan sufficient ont ent to lo 6 give IT elta its ita fair test and in the mean time suca such amender amendments ants to I 1 0 or r lav lai las lah s as experience mayhug gest est cst raer raen tila ilia than n to now repeal the law and n d pas measure mease in its ste I 1 that tha would uld in turn hie t 13 a bs bf T ted toa byrl byrk r ne nc J x J ae lse bi bill moo iff it is propos l i vivi vt fr t laru larn 0 ot of tl p i r i 1 tj c u j on of fifteen emi persons to 10 ue deap up the ulie pre president aident of the U ni it c s i proposed in in sald hald u ill virtu t a y r 0 3 t J th nhi nr r laii u t 01 oah nah lah 1 te terr p r to disfranchise every ewery eat i ut ort r in the th I 1 territory whether mormon or I 1 not to place tiace VJ ajolo olo people with all of their atu 11 property and every interest under the legislative control of fifteen T ans sus in whose selection the people ave no voice this for a government overn ment te Is ft a very highhanded high handed ii re and should not be restored to 0 lon ion it yng ing as there is reasonable hope that otner means may be employed that will gradually extinguish polygamy poly amy we think that a law lav to provide that all marriages shall be solemnized in utan utah territory before some person whose duty it shall be to file a cert certificate of the fact in the office of the county recorder or person whose duty it shall lye to record land titles in utah will have a tendency to prevent secret marriages and will bring to public notice of all the marriages clat that take dike place in the territory tont tout committee therefore report in lieu ii of t house 11 se bill aw and as a substitute ater tt er 1 or the accompanying bill being a bill to provide for the solemnize lug ing of marriages th in utah territory and requiring certificates of all marriages to bo be recorded and for other purposes and recommend that the same do pass |