| Show THOSE FORTY CASES tim THE telegraphic synopsis of the report of the secretary of the interior published in monday evening s NEWS says he refers to a con conversation voin held by him with delegate john T caine in reference toa to a letter written by the delegate and containing the declaration made by president woodruff on the plural marriage question and the secretary adds in the conversation which took tok place when this letter wat wag delivered it WM was objected that mr caine and the he president of the chur church eh would have to meet the spec specification on of forty cases cams with more than a general denial these forty cases mentioned by secretary nobles are those reported by the utai commission as harln having g probably entered into polygamy since the date of their latt ladt report president at in life ills declara tion denied that either forty or 0 any number of ef persons persona in utah had entered into polygamy during the period specified and the secretary screwy of the interior says the tion will have to be met more than a general denial f we would like to know the utah commission entered a general charge it scarcely amounted even to that they haftl the registrars regist rara had bad reported to teem thein about forty oases cues of persons whom they had bad reason to believe had bad gone into polygamy since the dote date nion men tinned it will be seen that thle this was very craftily put no lions were made no names were given by the commissioners no places or dates were mentioned the commission did not even state what were the reasons for supposing that these unnamed persons hold broken the law against polygamy it was a blind accusation and a lame excuse for making it we ido do not think the commission bol believed lived it and we are sure that if they had been in possession of any evidente evi defte to substantiate it he be proofs would have been in the hands of the prose buting attorney and united states marshal marshalen alln in a very short ti time mand aad the suspected individuals torild have been arrested there is go BO language strong enough to characterize the ineffable meanness of the cunningly devised and unsupported story i why then should the burden of proof be placed upon president woodruw woodruff and delegate caine who simply deny what the commission Commis slon only half affirm are they to be required to prove a nega negative on the contrary should not the corn com minion be required to prove the affirmative firma tive they assert others deny and they should bring forward the evidence if they have any tojiu V ty fy their assertion and secretary noble should certainly know better than to ask tha th gentlemen who simply meet a general allegation with a general denial to disprove something for which not the shadow of rn an atom of proof has 1 been een adduced but there ib something more to this bald assertion made for a hiir aptt T pose by the utah commission in iii the conversation with delegate delagi caine the secretary of the interior admitted that the Comm commission should produce the names of too the persons alleged to have thus broken the law that the facts might be elicited and he authorized the delegate to make formal application for those names this may not b be mentioned in the official lelal off report but it is a fact nevertheless and it to is atoo also a fact that delegate calne caine did make a formal and respectful demand in writing upon the commis sion while in this city for the names and it is another fact that they did not respond this should be made known to the Secreta ryas doubtless it will be and the country ought to know on what flimsy grounds the utah commission make damaging statements in such a way that they escape for the fiction while they accomplish the purpose they hey had bad in view they put this insinuation against the mormons cormons Mor mons so worded that it ic would pass paes for a direct charge in dirty hando here that they knew would wire it to the press before their report was filed and so the papers throughout the land would repeat the accusation until 1 it would be generally taken as an established fact those forty cases if there hao had been anything any thing to them but gossip would have been a rich windfall to hungry officials gaping for fees why were they not reported to them why did not the commission namo name them when called upon to dp BO if they did not know what they were charging why abes they found themselves without the proof did they not frankly admit the mw fact and seek to correct the terror which they had been theme the means ansof of one of two abing uey they should be made to do either bring forward the evidence they had to justify their broad accusation or confess they had none and only repeated the groundless gossip of antl l mormon partisans parti those forty cases we believe to be forty myths and need nothing more on the part of the mormons cormons Mor mons than a general dental denial |
