Show expressions FROM THE PEOPLE A GLANCE AT nome SOME OF or ehe THE NOBLE institutions AND METHODS OF or oun oust GLORIOUS voun COUN tny THY A suggestion FOR THE simplification AND improvement OF THE SAME PLEASANT GROVE may 2 jd ism 1885 ed editor ibok deseret news ivous I 1 believe it is said that the enlightened nations in framing their laws have adopted THE CODE OF MOSES as a basis and even even embodied many of its provisions in their systems I 1 am not much versed in law jaw but I 1 think in some instances those in existence are the reverse of that of moses his 1118 code for instance ordained and incorporated orated in its provisions the divine institution F ution of marriage including pol poi polygamy y ami or a plurality of wives giving I 1 details 1 s how it should be conducted making provisions for every emergency and protecting all in their rights in that relation but forbidding all sexual intercourse ter course outside ot the marriage relation adultery and fornication were punished with death the offender was taken outside the camp and stoned to death I 1 have been led to examine these matters recen recently tl while observing the proceedings of the courts in this territory their rulings and applications of the late acts of congress the edmunds law etc it se seems s these laws and rulings are made to screen ali all marriage relation and punish with fine line and imprisonment those who enter the marriage relation as provided for by ny moses if they had made it a capital offense the reversion would have teen leen been complete the edmunds law has some very singular features the tho president and arid his appointees pled pied pledge ie themselves to an impartial enforcement of it this appears to me to be an im impossibility possibility rears years how to can a partial discriminating one sided law be impartially administered for instance the edmunds law in all cases of polygamy etc excludes from the jury ei eighty lity per cent or more of the tiie people in ams this territory because they are supposed to be biased in favor 01 of the aecus accused ed when it is a well weil known fact that the remaining small per as a rule are or more biased against the accused yet the law makes them eligible good lawful juries to try such cases thus congress by oct act has provided for PACKING racking THE JURY in these cases I 1 am sorry for president cleveland and hla hia appointees to have such an unpleasant duty to perform true the courts have a discretion in nixing fixing the penalty in cases of conviction bup bul if the court partakes of this bias against this class of cases the condemned Is sure to get the full penalty and some of the judges have said that the penalty for unlawful cohabitation is entirely too light this exhibits vindictiveness and unfitness to exercise judicial power further abuse of this authority styls is manifested in pronouncing sentence in these cases the victim is ordered to stand up the tile court elevates the judicial club over his head and says lays have you anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon you if you will turn all of your wives out into the street but one where they will become a prey to the unprincipled and thus sever the thie most mast dear and sacred ties known to the human heart the blow will be light tight and further if you will entirely give up your faith in these things renounce what you have b bj j llevad and taught for forty years or more morer obey the edmunds law and teach others to obey it be a good citizen and become one of hs ils 1 we will let you go and suspend juda judgment m ent if you dont promise to do this and surrender your manhood you shall have the tha full penalty of the law which is entirely too merciful for your case when I 1 was a boy more than afif ty vears years ago I 1 saw an illustrated copy of BOOK OF MARTYRS one illustration in it I 1 remember was an execution by burning of a heretic the V victim was tied to the stake and the fa fag 9 piled plied around him the executioner stand standing inc inZ by a lighted torch and a priest in front holding up a crucifix lecturing the culprit about his heresy offering him pardon and life if he would renounce his religious convictions vict ions obey the law and be a good citizen I 1 thought that was done in a day of ignorance and anti superstition and felt thankful that I 1 lived in this enlightened age and in this glorious republic in free america where every man could worship and serve god according tu to the dictates of his bis own conscience with none to molest or make him afraid but here we are in the same fix in this enlightened age in the land of liberty and equal rights and this is done by the lawmakers law makers suffering themselves to be crowded to it by the priests of the land the whole machinery of if the courts Is set by law and rulings with guides and shutes to grind out a certain result in these cases and they CANNOT MAKE ANY MISTAKE it took some time to get the machinery in shape but it I 1 is now done and runs admirably A cold blooded murder case can run through the whole machinery three times in succession and come out unscathed but it will catch a foliga polygamy C case a s e every time the A miles encase case maid did s slip 1 ap through but hut the machinery was not complete then able counsel are employed to defend these cases but they are checked off by the rulings of the conductor and have no show at all how would it look in the prize ring to fetter one of the combatants and let his opponent have a clear run and beat him kim unmercifully and come off without a scratch would he not feel large his brinds patting him and calling him a hero as ee he received the belt I 1 would make A suggestion to have the law amended so as to do away with juries and the prosecuting attorney in these cases it would be shorter and more economical econe mical that would leave the court and marshal with his deputies who with the aid of the informer could carry the work on more rapidly the informer could hunt up the case report to the marshal receive his blood money 25 30 or whatever the fee is then the marshal could swear out his papers and send his deputies to arrest the unsuspecting victim arraign him before the court to be lectured and sentenced and sent to prison who comes coules A ten year old son of mine while listening to the doings of the courts the other day says pa if it every 11 mormon formon man would take two wives that would get them would it not MIS nis 13 is li 13 the way young israel proposes to fight light this battle FAIR PLAY |