| Show TILE THE COURT SCENE ON SATUR u DAY tan tar y J sentence I 1 scene in the cases of brothers Bibi liers anus angus anas M cannon A M musser mus ser J and james C watson had a powerful dramatic interest the calm caim dignity 1 which they 7 maintained throughout the fhe ordeal was the outgrowth of a consciousness of having committed no crime either in intent or fact on the other hand band the perturbation of the court evinced by its somewhat j aud and incongruous explanations must ha haye have ve been the result of an inward sentiment of a directly opposite character acu act er the judge was in a pitiable plight having neither the backing of a it clear cibar conscience good law nor sound soun morality it is no wonder therefore that be he presented presen teda a spectacle calculated to inspire all sensible peo people i with sadness and regret it is indeed andee a sorry sight to see sev the ways of justice perverted the court was impelled on saturday to place itself once more on record in the field of ib congruity not to say absurdity in various particulars its answer to a question of one of the gentlemen about to receive sentence us as to which wife he ought to select providing he lie should live with only one after he emerged from prison was one of the most astounding that could have been niven given the interrogator was informed that that was a matter which was left entirely to his hie option so long as he only lived with and acknowledged one as his wife the law lawi left efthim him freeto free to choose which If should be according to the ladof law of celestia marriage marr marn laze iaze as accepted in the religious the saints no bio fio matter how many wives a man may have in that or der stand hithe same relation ship to nim him the judge seems to have come a little over half hall way toward the same SAM conclusion A man who has a number nuu nur tiber of wives can only have one reeda recognized nihed as such by the law judge zane announces from the bench eliat if he BO so elect he can cut that legal wife adrift so jong long as he chooses but one octol the number whom he will recognize as his wife thus according oto to this remarkable functionary a woman cau cabat at the will of her husband be summarily deprived of her legal status of 7 and its privileges be transferred trank erred co fo the shoulders of another who has not heretofore occupied that relation under the law no other inference can be drawn f from rom rum the statement of the learned gentlemen for surely he would hardly take the position that the man in the situation tuition al in question should renounce id legal fai gal marital obligations altogether and henceforward live with the woman he might select as ha his 3 companion outside relation notwithstanding that the nourt court holds that no matteRn bw many women a man wan may outside of that objectionable circle he cannot be held guilty of unlawful lawf al cohabitation according to this definition as to how a man sinan might extricate himself from the plural marriage connection and conform to judge zanes bancs ideas of the law it might have lyeen reen pertinent to ask him in addition whether it would be according to edmunds for a man to take one of his wives and hold her out to the world for twelve months or any stated time then place heron her on the shelf and take up with the ne next at on sin rotation and hold her out until he had alternately done the same by each and then begin over again and r repeat peat the process this tais would be having but butone one acknowledged or held out wife bif eat at a time and that point Is the only one that judge zane appears to think jt necessary for the pol poi polygamist gadist tor to reach eachin in order to free himself himself from the consequences of the law A ruling from the court upon that point appears to tobe be strictly in order at this interesting 11 juncture but U t there Is one more point lecul peculiar lar to the present process applied to mormons cormons Mor mons I 1 accused before the district court of unlawful cohabitation ane judge held out to the three unfortunate gentlemen ano were before him on saturday an alternative by which 1 they might have saved themselves from going to prison if they would agree to cd conduct induct themselves according to his special pro gramme in future they could escape that part of the penalty two of the brethren did not define by y any expression of words what their course in lu future should be they had no promises to make therefore what it will ba be was a matter of conjecture but bat whether it was left to speculation or otherwise Is of but little consequence to our present purpose etwas it was evident from the judges statement that had they elected him to be their confessor he would not haye have imposed any imprisonment this leaves it beyond all doubt therefore that each of thee thebe brethren were imprisoned for six months in a loathsome jail for no of tensa tense that they had committed they rec received elvea that punishment solely and absolutely on account of something that the court supposed it probable they might do at some if time JO this daniel come to j judgment according to his own expressions and plain laan lean statements does not contine confine kimsell himself to the punishment of offenses committed but visits venire vengeance ance upon the heads of his victims on account of what they may probably do iii in future but that is not a new line of action for the court to pursue in this class of cases when rudger rudder clawson was belore him for gen sentence tence tenge that gentleman responded to an invitation of the judge by stating statin 1 his religious 1 belief this drew out a sermon seranou froin from the court which remarked the courtl constitution aution of the united states as construed by the supreme court and by the authors of that instrument ment does not protect any person in the practice of polygamy while all men have a right to worship god according to the dictates 0 their own conscience and to entertain any religious belief that their conscience and judgment might reasonably dictate they have not the right to engage in a practice which the ain aln american people through the laws of their country declare t liobe tio lio be eun unlawful lawful aud and injurious to society thus the judge admitted that a man had a right to believe as his conscience dictated and could not be legally or rightfully punished for it but he lie overturned his own theory in this respect av when hen he immediately announced the f following lowing ol 1 91 I confess that I 1 should have been inclined to fix this punishment smaller than I 1 shall were it not for the fact that you openly declare that you believe it is right to violate th the tho 3 law that you yon believe you yon are right in doln doin cboins it all that amount of punishment inflicted in excess of what would have been given but for the belief of the P prisoner prisoner was placed upon him according 11 ag to this statement for no other reason reason than his aforesaid belief and not on account of any overt act the judge on saturday did several other extraordinary things beside besides those already enumerated lie ile infer c dragged into the pr proceedings the name of a well known honorable and respected gentleman who was in no no way connect connected edwith with the cases before the court he intimated what lie he would do if that gentleman were before be disposed of accord in to his arbitrary order what made this freak appear all the more extra uricial was the fact that a similar announcement had already in effect been made bythe prosecuting officers offic cerii ceris ot of the government and endorsed by ills honor mr Dick sons interpretation ot of the edmunds edmunda law was that it was f framed rained and enacted expressly to catch the leaders of the church it was directly aimed at that class the court coincided with air dir Dick sons theory and ruled accordingly the judge wished the principal gentleman affected by th this s partisan ar s a n and monstrous theory r regarding lard pl class 1 a ss application of the law t to come core before 0 r him and have its full force aimed at him this invitation is more remarkable for assurance than modesty and consistency and partakes a trifle too much of the nature of that 9 given by the spider to the fly the gentlemen who were put through the he extrajudicial extra judicial mill on saturday took took the consequences of their position like kike ike true men they thoy afe sustained ined by a consciousness of their own intrinsic innocence having P rn n inward approval that is denied to i tho ho ie e by whom they re compelled to eilet in a way that is almost intolerable for half a year if the secret thoughts ot of those who have rendered it compulsory for them to occupy their present position for conscience sake could be read they would tell a tale of discomfort and nd self seit condemnation unless the still small voice of the prompter has b been een long since silenced by continued I 1 ignoring of its admonitions the in martyrs to their convictions are also 6 sustained ned by the healthy religious and in moral oral orai sentiment of a great and vi virtu atu bus community i |
