Show EXCESS OF F fon FOR 0 R ONE 0 LAW naw ONLY LAST evening we drew atte attention antion to the unlawfulness nines of the course pursued b by the district attorney Att alt oniey onley and the grand jury in attempting to compel the lawful f ul wives of persons persona suspected of polygamy to testify against their husbands it is necessary that the people of utah should clearly understand tile the rights of husbands and wives in lff this connection oneff one of our paramount duties is to stand stand firm in defence of every civil civile religious and political right guar guaranteed to us under the constitution and laws of our country As president taylor has so many times endeavored to impress upon the 1 mormon mind this obligation rests upon busnot only for our own goodard good and that of ou our ri posterity st erity but in behalf of all hutkai humanity lit for it if our rights can be assal assailed le and trampled upon the rl rights h ta of other people can be violated vi bated time and opportunity alone will be wanted the pretext used against the mormons cormons Mor mons can be turned into a pretended principle with precedent to support it and other othel bodies be attacked for a similar milar s pur nose dose and with similar results result if a wife cannot be lawfully required to testify against her husband every aftem attempt pt in that direction ought to be resisted to the uttermost A wife upon whom this dastardly work is commenced should refuse to answerably answer ally aily questions ill in relation to her hen husband whether her answers would tend either to criminate or exculpate him it is 19 the encroachment upon her rights that should be fought against and she should be as determined not to yield to unlawful compulsion if her replies would tend to clear her husband lius ilus band ot suspicion spi cion as if they might be damaging 0 to his case it is cowardly as well as unlawful lawful work to force a wife by pretended leg log legal al process into the tile presence etc of sixteen strange men inen with no adviser or friend to aid her and ply herwitz herAvI tIL questions concerning her husbands private affairs using threats of punishment when ashen cunning and persuasion fail to elicit the desired desired replies and the lud iud indignation ignation that buch such vile and contemptible temp tible conduct arouses becomes wilen it is made clear that there is 18 not a line of law to justify it is one of the methods adopted to extort testimony against persons persona egions suspected of recent di disregard of the edmunds act it is d done ane exactly in tile the same spirit that prompted the torturing of witnesses in tile the times when catholics went avent wild against protestants Prate stants stauts and with the turn of the tide tlde of power tile the protestants raged with lury fury against catholics the methods have changed but tile tiie object and the spirit are identical ivlev lover of his hla race and every itil amp iiii ii 1 1 r of law and ani good gov mil hil against such villa in there is rothel lothel ul practice before grand tand rand juries that Is ig without authority in law it J itne ane swearing of witnesses to se cresy A mants bif f I 1 is n not ot only liable und erthe present wo lawless ess practice to bb bbb captured and taken bet before ore tile tiie grand grano gry to be bellied with impertinent and disgraceful braceful race ful fui questions but blit required to ta loan lean oath 0 keep secret all that takes place in the jury room there is no more law fon for this than for the other the grand krand J lury jury u is v very p properly r op e aly sworn to secre s sy yeii in re regard a ead t to 0 it its s proceedings roce edings the reasons for t this his are obvious and need neither explanation nor argument but the law which requires lecresy on the part of grand jurors does not cover the ground of witnesses its extent is thus defined in 1 greenleaf sec see 1 page e af j it the rule includes not only tise tile grand grandt r jurors them themselves wives kIves but their clerk cleric f i it if they have one and the prosecuting of nicer if present at their deliberations al all ali I 1 of these being equally concerned in lit the administration of the same portion of the tho penal law 11 there is no rule with which we ale afe arm amm acquainted as there is n no I 1 law 1 upon the statute books that antho authorizes r the thu swear swearing in of witnesses to se cresy tile the oath a administered to this effect isia our oun opinion so far illegal if taken under andee pressure res sure gure or under protest it is nov not eluding binding either in n lawor law or in morality its administration is all of a piece with the mhd attempt to extort testimony bily from wives against their husbands it is a stretch of authority and another in indi diz dil cation of the spirit which actuates the officials who are aru engaged in the present 1 crusade it is said that 11 straws show which way the wind blows the tho action of the grand jury in the roundy capeis ca seis sels knoof one of those simple simpie indications that body has adjourned to to illo ille call of tile tiie foreman if its labors averd were concluded its dissolution would b be the signal for the discharge from from cu cus GUS tody of nellie white inn tnt an an indict anent menthal had been found against bishop roundy the thu same effect would w gilld follow in either case the youtie be bd released iram custody but the do de sign 1 I n fihs ihs Is hold her in durance vile as ag a p punishment u is ment for declining toan to an swen tile the gesti questions oms propounded to her 0 00 o the grand fury jury is nat discharged neither 14 is an indictment found lound against the accused and this paltry trick 18 adopted to wreak petty ven vengeance geane on n ayoun girl whose sole of fonce fenee e even n when viewed in the light of the jurys own theory is ref refusal esal esai to betray the man to whom she Is alleged to have been united by ties that to her would be most sacred and as a matter of 91 fact is simply a defence of her rights as a I 1 yaman to what wretched subterfuges are they reduced who wage a warfare ft against the institutions of zion ziona the tha reason offered for these e extreme measures against ong ono class of of fences is the law must be ioe upheld but is gottlic execution of the law just as needful in other directions are there not crimes against morality as well as ilif infractions dt various laws lawa that require attention quite as much as pol poi polygamy amy aam why this special vigor in onelli dib fib aud and apathy in others other if the tho ld la isso sacred in their thein eyes why adt seek f for or its vindication as actively in all cases and antl why hould should these sticklers klers for the law become so anxious for its maintenance in one oner given direct directional ionas lonas to disregard its provisions in another and to set at nought establish established od rule rules s as well as the dictates of fairness and ku manity Is 19 it not because the work siu liu 1 u which they are aro engaged is more in the nature of persecution and wrath against a religious creed and people than the administration of laws for the public safety we think ao 40 strand and the course I 1 pursued in n these thee instances as eviden evidence cp of the correctness of our opinion that will lead the public mind to as a similar conclusion |