Show A MASTERLY thia argument of the celebrated berated lawyer george curtis before the supreme court of the unite unita A states in the snow case which was wa published in tuesdays FV ING NEWS is a masterly presentation ori ol of the rights of conscience involved in tb the e present attack upon the religious liba liberty airty of the mormons cormons Mor mons under color ot of law the religious aspect of the plural claral wife question is exhibited exhibit od with fidelity delity fl and it t is separated from the purely flegal part art in such a skilful roa inner that no lawyer awyer can fail to ampre appreciate the tae US unction inc lon tion of course the able jui jia a different position to that which the mormons cormons Mor mons take la in reference to the rulings of the court on the anti poleg amy laws but bat while accepting them as final we he shows in a clear and comprehensive manner that though penalties may be imposed for conduct that is prohibited by law there is no law daw an and can be no constitutional law to punish a man for his belief the expression of that belief or the establishment or continuation of relations 9 growing lug out of it which are not in ac tuk violation of constitutional law T thus a man who has several wl wives ves who have been sealed to him by a religious ordinance for time and eternity eter eternity mareall may call them thein his wives in the re religious igloos sense and they may maintain that relation it if he does not actually cohabit with more than one of them in a carnal way and there is no law that can or should interfere with him the religious relationship of imor mormon manip marriage is very clearly set forth and the testimony in the snow case touching on this matter is brought in deftly by iway way of ill illustration the effect of the religious influence upon the minds of pure virtuous and devout women enabling them to embrace with freedom and fervor something that repels others chodo who do not understand it nor view it in the same light is explained in a way that is calculated to remove much prejudice a against the system it effectually disposes F oses of the fallacy that the Mormon women are under bondage in relation to this matter and that common error is i undoubtedly the cause of a very great amount of the violent prejudice entertained towards the mor imor mons is it is supposed flat the downtrodden down trodden women of utah are under some species of coercion and the desire to do something desperate to relieve them is at the foundation of many movements inimical to the people of utah this great mistake is exposed in the splendid address of mr curtis the errors inconsistencies and self chatra contradictions lie I 1 of the lower court in the snow case are held up to full vieland vie wand the argument as to the wrong done to the defendant is conclusive and unanswerable sw sV erable that his acts as testified to in ia the prosecutions against him were innocent in fact and in law were honorable justifiable and beyond the reach of the enactments against polygamy and unlawful cohabitation is demonstrated beyond successful dispute judges powers and boreman each come in for their share of censure in the scathing remarks that expose pose the combined barbarity and ignorance which characterized their insulting utterances a against ainest the defendant I 1 i it is proved that having more than one w wife e and ano introducing more than one woman as a wife do not constitute unlawful cohabitation and that it was a gross error in the lower court not to so instruct the aay as requested qa quested ested and the necessity of taking into consideration the conditions and do domestic bestir relations existing when the edmunds act broke in upon them in order to arrive at a legi legitimate time construction st ton of the tae law is argued comprehensively ly this introduces a graphic relation of mormon hist history ory embracing the period between the exodus from nauvoo and ancl the first prosecutions law rosee I 1 atrops under the edmunds the duty of the court to define the meaning of the statute so go as to carry its provisions into hect effect without injustice without infringing upon jon religious juith faith and institutions aup ons and without requiring the people whom it affects to cast their families adrift upon the world in strong a and ud convincing terms term and the wrong is i led e and deprecated of I 1 judg ad aing ng the mormon question as it 1 is I 1 judged almost universally W without J investigating vesti gating it upon its merits and examining amin bestif g J the other side the entire argument Is strong and the points mado made in it are telling and pungent they go straight straight to the mark it A Is rare thiet thatason a non mormon rasps the situation with the force foice and adelita S debty exhibit exhibited 11 in the speech of mr curtis the s style yle is is admirable and the address abounds wita polished sentences ind and indications of the literary talent as well as t fhe ae le legal gal erp erg ditlea and ability of the eminent jurist who has struggled so manfully for the rights of an oppressed people that the court failed to pass upon the questions so 80 eloquently presented proves nothing against their validity on the contrary after reading the argument every unbiased person must be strengthened in the coi conclusion that the lie court unable to resist the force of the plea and unwilling illi to rule so as s to relieve the unpopular mormons cormons Mor mons I 1 from the unlawful pressure brought to bear upon them escaped from the issue by the convenient operine ope nine afforded in the exe excuse use of lack of jurisdiction however this grand effort will not failor fail of accomplishing good it willbe will be read by leading men and women who are interested in the irresistible I 1 mor moiel mou question and will aid in disseminating semina ting correct information which is one of the great objects we have in view it ought to ito be published in pamphlet form with the argument of Pr franklin anklin S ichards which will be shortly printed in the deseret NEWS and should be widely distributed for the good of the public |