Show WHAT SHALL BE DONE DOME WITH H PLURAL WIVES THE following special dispatch appears in the salt lake geraid washington DC D C april 29 F S richards closed the argument today to day in the snow cases jib bis reply to assistant attorney general maury was able and eloquent briefly discussing the law points advanced on the part of the government he insisted that the questions for the court to pass upon were whether there could be constructive cohabitation and a segregation segre gatian of offenses when in fact there had been but one offense in replying to mr baurys remarks about morality moralle y M mr r richards was impre impressively savely eloquent and the court paid marked attention the questions put by the members of the court to counsel yesterday indicate clearly a desire to construe t the he law so as to relieve the hardships the construction given by the court below would impose on the people affe affected et ad justice bradley yesterday eveni evening fig desired maury on the part of the government ern ment to say what course mists should pursue in regard to their plural the chief justice remarked to maury that he could take tilt till this morning to answer the question today the chief justice bradley miller and field pressed the assistant at torney general to answer but he avoided and becoming excited declared it would have been infinitely better if the cormons mormons Mor mons years azo ao had been put to the sword curtis protested and called upon maury to explain but his explanations were awkward richards Kic hards in closing made ef elective use of baurys ill advised expression 19 the case now under consideration by the highest tribunal in the country is one of very great importance apart from its consequences to the apostle who now lingers in the penitentiary because he refuses to renounce his covenants cast off his family and turn back on his religion it is likely to affect the future of this whole territory many of the foremost men in the community are in some respects involved in the same questions which belong to the case before the court of last resort they are summed up in the two points presented edby by mr richards and that which was pressed on counsel for the government by several of the judges it is to be hoped that this time the court will give a comprehensive and complete opinion uvon upon the gesn meaning of and limits of the offence offense of unlawful cohabitation created by the edmunds act we use the word created advisedly under the definitions that have been given to the term it is a new offense in the law no such criminal meaning was ever before applied to it as in the prosecutions rosf cautions Cut ions against the mormons cormons Mor mons f it t has been stretched and twisted in various ways to meet differing cases it has been made more elastic than any statute that was ever before manipulated by adroit attorneys and echoing courts its capabilities even now seem not to be exhausted it ever a law required a settled definition it is the third section of the edmunds act the question what course shall polygamists fists pursue in regard to their p plural pl olega ur W wives ive 11 is most momentous in many instances plural marriages were contracted in good od faith before any law of 0 the ra united cited states was enacted on the subject and there is no other law that touches them in still more nume numerous roas instances they were entered into at such a remote period that the statute of limitations bars them from legal action thus thua in such cases the status is not criminal and that has been enunciated b bv the ar U S sa supreme court itself what then shall men do with the plural wives whom they have married and who are as dear to them as any monogamists wife is to him are they to cast them off as many so called christians do their mi stresses or are they to eat them like the converted po polygamous savage when he embraced christianity under the rulings which sent apostle borenzo snow to the penitentiary a man must not dwell in tile the same town as the women whom he has lived with as his wives for years becan he can beina be aoi prisoner if he says they are his bis wives or if rumor says they are his wives although he does docs not dwell under the same roof with either of them nor treat them in any way as a man usually treats a wife to use the lunatic language of the chief justice of utah 1111 he lives elives they live they live together they cohabit they are his wives he cohabits with them as wives conclusive reasoning send him to baill the meaning of all this is 18 A polygamous us mormon must repudiate his bis plural I 1 wives whom he has solemnly vowed to treat as his wives in time tim e and throughout eternity if he does not he shall go to prison we do not believe that any one but rabid and heartless bigots and persecutors like the utah ring and such men as maury wish to break up and destroy peaceful mormon families in any such barbarous fashion we are certain that no such result was contemplated tem plated by the enact ers of the edmunds law except pe perhaps the iceberg from vermont and a few other soulless maury daury would solve the mormon problem with the sword his remedy would be to destroy polygamy by slaying those who practice it in order to cure he would kill weare glad he expressed his true sentiments in the highest court of the land the judges can see the animus that directs the extreme measures against the mormons cormons Mor mons 11 it is beyond and outside of all law human and divine it is passion a s s i on not principle it is brute fo force r e not reason what to do with mormon plural wives to sustain the especial law of congress and not violate the laws of humanity of civilization and of equity is the great reat question before the court it requires an answer if the counsel of the government cannot answer it the dut duty r lies with the supreme court baurys method is out of of the question quentio n in a popular government it amigh t do for savages and semi civilized autocracies cr cra cies acles but the government itself would if called upon repudiate the murderous sen sentiment timen t of its temporary representative if a peaceful and lawful f at settlement of the trouble is desired and the august tribunal before which this matter appears can decide u upon on no other some ratio rational n ial recognition IOD of 6 mormon I 1 rights as citizens and religionists zionists ts must be adopted as well as of the law which is especially framed against a feature of their faith one thing may be counted on by all who are interested in this question no true latter will violate the covenants cove he has made with god and his wives no matter what may be the penalties imposed upon him that may be depended upon come life or death albert liberty or perpetual imprisonment the saints desire if possible to live within every law of god an and man they wish no conflict with th the e country they desire no rupture e with the government they court no enmity from any other body religious or political but they have embraced a religion that ua i interwoven with their very lives and has regulated their family relations and the ties that have bound them together and have been sealed by the authority of almighty god cannot be broken by any power on earth civil or military and nothing but sin and the decree of heaven can sever the eternal bonds that unite them undue severity cruel interpretations of a harsh enactment efforts to force men to cast adrift aarif t their loving families and break the sacred vows that they have made in holy places will all result in conspicuous failure and this is as certain as that there is a god in heaven give us laws that we can obey in honor I 1 and definitions thereof that thac are in accord with recognized jurisprudence and preservative of common rights and tar more will be accomplished than by the vindictive measures prejudiced verdicts varied rulings and tri sentences of packed juries and passionate courts or by tile the blind fury ruthless violence and relentless hate of armed hosts and their bloodthirsty advocates |