Show ANTI MORMON legislation WE wn publish today to day the bill which senator edmunds yesterday worked so hard to advance upon the calendar that it might be considered before its time it was originally introduced trod ly by nir air edmunds in the senate when it was referred to the judiciary committee of which he is chairman it was vas there amended senators logan and davis being credited or debited with the principal changes made those amendments are given in so that our readers may see the additions and changes made in com corn cittee by arrangement made in the senate yesterday it was to come up today to day for hearing the first section of the bill is very similar to the law of 1862 on the same subject but substitutes the word polygamy for bigamy the second section which was added by the committee makes cohabitation with more than one woman a misdemeanor comparison of the two sections will show that trie authors of the bill consider that if a man lives with two women and is only married to one of them h his Is of fence is less than that of a man who marries two women for he who cohabits with ally any number of women whether married or single cannot under the billbe bill bili be punished baymore by more than a three hundred dollars fine and imprisonment in for six months while a man who marries two wives may be fined nive five hundred dollars and imprisoned for five years this is putting a premium upon irresponsible cohabitation in the case with the smaller penalties the women and their offspring may be discarded when the man is tired of their com corn pany having none of the responsibility attaching to marriage but la the case ease with the much greiter penalties he is under a marital contract and in the cases aimed at mormon plural marriages men are bound by the most moat sacred covenants and ordinances to care for and cleave to dach each wife as much as the other and regard equally the offspring and necessities of both yet the marriage is to be punished by heavy penalties and the coh cohabits abita tation without marriage by light penalties in all these penal statutes against extended marriage it will be seen that their authors are careful not to touch the great and widespread evil of prostitution or occasional libidinous intercourse the term cohabitation is applied to the living together of a man and woman and in law criminal cohabitation is not to be pr presumed e a umed by proof of a single act of intercourse in te recourse between a man and a woman not married if these pretended were really in earnest in a crusade against immorality they woula strike at the centre of the evil but they are simply fighting a religious ordinance or a ceremony which Is part of an ecclesiastical institution gran au establishment of religion the acree tree free exercise of which they mant ant to prohibit contrary to the spirit and letter of the national constitution hence their fines and penalties against extended marriage and failure to punish pro viscous and illicit sexual intercourse the fourth section of the bill is an attempt to make into law that which in the main is now the practice in the utah courts courto already it haa has been ruled here that a man who either practices practises plural marriage or believes it is right to do so shall be excluded from the jury in a trial for bigamy the section goes a little further than this and excludes the man who cohabits with more than one woman or believes it right to do so whether the section passes or not it will make little difference to the situation senator edmunds and his bis colleagues are probably unaware that federal judges in utah have stretched the law to such auch an extent and therefore imagine that they are striking a heavy blaw at polygamy however it Is to be hoped that discussion upon a citizens citizen s right of belief will be elicited by the section rec pec tion and that some good will grow glow out of the controversy tro versy the seventh and eidth sections contain the real marrow of the measure and very unhealthy marrow it is the proposition propos ution is simply to put utah into the political control of the minority not only are the men who mirry marry marny or live with more women than one to be debarred barred de from botin voting 9 or holding office but the women with whom live are also to be excluded thus the first or legal wife in a mormon fam family ilyas as well weli as the other wives and the husband will be de barred from the elective franchise while a prostitute could walk up to the polls and land deposit her ballot freely and the debauchee who lets his ids passions run ria nin and has no family ties or res reb responsibilities bill ties can accompany her and join in her elective privileges live jive appointees of the government of course enemies of the majority with three thousand dollars a year apiece are to nill fill all the registration and elective offices and to hold the power of beating seating or unseat ing all members of the legislative assembly and this is lna ina in a republic based upon the principles of equal rights and popular representation and which declares as a fundamental principle that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed I 1 one of the grievances set forth in the Declara declaration ilon lion of independence pen dence as reasons for revolt was that the parent government had combined with others for spending suspending tu our own legislatures anci and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate por for us in all cases whatsoever this is what is 18 now advised by those who are endeavoring to gain possession of our territory and its treasury and attempted by men standing in the position of republican statesmen who have become blinded by the dust raised against utah by schemers and bigots we must confess to some surprise that senator edmunds has allowed himself to be so influenced by his co in the committee as to champion their anti republican and vagaries the car pet ret bag rule forced for a season upon the south was bad enough but there was some show of excuse for it in the only just but down but here is a territory over which congress already exercises such supervision per vision that no law can be enact ed without the consent of one inan man its own ap appointee mintee and any law enacted can te be set aside by congress while within its borders there is greater peace erder security to life placed and n property less loafing intemperance lawlessness pauperism and want and more generally genei ally diffused pi deper ity than in any other territory in tho the union and yet iet because a few political adventurers cannot gain control of the ballot box and the rythe whole local government is to bo be revolutionized the principles of the suffrage and of majority rights are to be stamped into the mire mires an oligarchy is to ito be setup set bet up wa within in a republic and the business an and general genera material prospects of a flourishing Terr territory llory are to be jeopardized pardi zed and impeded under the pretext that there are some men therein who marry more wives than one and proofs cannot be procured sufficient to convict them themi all alt the special legislation now before congress in either house points simply to this piece of infamy the putting down of polygamy ia Is but the pretense that will not and cannot be accomplished by any such schemes the object is to hand over this territory to tha minority and give them those chances to gain control of and fleece the people which they cannot possibly gain through the ballot box if morality la is the motive power let it be shown in some isome earnest measure against all forma forms of immorality and not make polygamy the paltry text for robbing an industrious com 1 of the commonest rights of citizens and of the last remnants of those liberties which by the terri system are already so greatly abridged |