Show POOR EXCUSES FOR INTENDED WRONG WE have received from washington ne he report of the judiciary committee f the house of representatives on he packer edmunds bill recently published in the DESERET NEWS toe ull all report will be found in another part of this paper it is an explanation of the changes made iu in the senate bill bil i which will be found to correspond with those these pointed out in our remarks accompanying the bill it also offers some reasons for those can c langua geis and additions and these require u aire a few comments as several of atie he statements are untrue and many oi of lae arguments are unsound the mod made la in the first part ot of the bill is praiseworthy and the reasons offered ther elor are clear and explicit there are three sections however that indicate me ignorance of the rne committee concerning some of the subjects on wyica they propose le legislation gration they are tile the sections that eway essay to repeal tile the utah statute providing for a divulged or marked ballot that which forbids prosecution for adultery except on the complaint of tile husband or the wife and that which grams graalfs to private persons or corporations rights in ia an and d to tae public domain there are no suca laws upon our statute books therefore the sections aiming to repeal them are marks oi 01 that laek lack of correct information on utah affairs which distinguishes both the special legislation that has been and aad the arguments of most members of Cin congress gress in relation to proposed laws tile the compiled laws or ei uvall ol of 1870 contain all tile the living enactments ol of tile the legislative assembly up to that data NO mo such laws as are proposed to je e repealed can be je found iu in that volume or oria in any of the subsequent davs of utah the committee laidve ua ve bea baen impost d upon by tile the BJ persons aud and it a we vy taken lor ier granted what has been beau t d 1 to lo them although althou gu tue the binetas ot of disproof dt proof were placed within their r aun but these are on the bill and we pumi gaeu out delely for tile the purpose oi 01 superficial is lao 01 ol the lilt corn CUM mitlee MILLee ot 01 the subjects ol 01 thair proposed legislation ane revision making tuu tae status dusci oi polygamy criminal simply cr iles into law we practice ol 01 the ulai courts ll 11 shows that ellitt the tiou ot of those courts couns thai makes that thal st itus unlawful is illegal and therefore oppressive and eliat tuat those who suffer from that construction are imprisoned for if tile the law already malies makes the stasiu criminal there is no need for the committees new section and if I 1 ll 11 does not then the rulings of the courts on that question are lawless and iniquitous the intimation Lion of the lilt committee that the amnesty powers contemplated iu in the bill imply tile the of their plural wives by men who it is admitted have broken braken no law shows that is no mo real mercy or actual clemency in the proposition that men be required to proclaim as ruly only kept mist reses tile the wives with the committee acknowledge relations rela lions of interdependence haw been established edard aud feelings of aft ceLion have grown up for many years is something that no true man can consider cou sider with wita patience and no human law or authority would demand certainly it is id a condition witti with which no latter day saint could comply the statement that the mormon system it io antagonistic to all ideas of european and A merican american civil Izai iou is 18 it is wade made in ignorance of tile the spirit theory and practice of anat system sybler and is based ou oil the lae incorrect notion that eliat polygamy poil eawy tile the awault waller mailer rne ilie tuat tull ws froma from a of tile the elam elewe euis lits and ol of plural marriage arriage ni it is un in referring to tile the baule ati ab that thal sacred record provides tor for sanc san lions and regulates regu taley both aud and plural marriage age and shows that lual loutrary coul cout to 10 tile me cow statement LUC two iwo types ot ol dow domestic estic lile ble urel are not absolutely absolu iely and inconsistent but that aney have aua continued side by bide to toge gettier iu in tile same nation and community for of ynid y nid tue tae baule lesson way ti bt learned irom from tie lae practice ol of tile lue two apis tp is lu in utah for over a of a century aney can and aach do coalesce co aleace there is bothin in m their relations that r require them to be placed in 66 separate separate nationalities 11 ang and laere la Is nothing ing in I 1 n the nature ol 01 01 either which renders it gut antagonistic agonistic to tin tee other etker it is a sub pub eject et that the committee evidently do not under underhand tand and history flatly denies and irreversibly refutes their assertions sert ions and conclusions in treating of tile the ie incorporation corporation of the C hurch church of jesus bestis christ of latter day kabula balits ba luts the matter is unfairly and incorrectly correctly prosecuted in order to give legal color to tile the provision for its dissolution an attempt is made to 8 show how that it was enacted by t the he state of deseret in opposition to the law of congress organizing the territory of iTne facts are that it was impossible under the organic act tor for the legislative assembly of the territory to exist and assemble until september 1851 the state of deseret was only a provisional government which tile the people here hud had a right to organize pending the establishment of a form ot of government sanctioned by congress it was dissolved as soon as it was possible to organize the lae territorial government tle the dissolution took place april oth 1851 bendia pending this tile incorporation act was passed it IL is claimed by the committee that tile the act was void ab initio inirio because it was passed ly by an assembly that had no legal existence but that ordinance ot of tile the state of deseret was re enacted by tile the territorial legislature and was not only not disapproved by congress but was recognized as valid by that body in the act of 1802 which repealed a part of it and expressly provided that the act only intended to repeal that portion of it that was specified and if the law or tile the cli charter arter was void from the beginning can the committee tell us why they now seek to repeal it and to take legal measures igea to dissolve a corporation that thai never legally existed the committee further state in relation to the P F E fund corporation that it was incorporated by the state of deseret september 11 but the existing law in relation to that company was passed by the legislature in 1856 and has never been disapproved by congress and according accordine to rulings of tue supreme court 61 ot the united states it has therefore received the tacit approval of the national legislature As to the argument that the act incorporating corp orating the church is a law respecting aa establishment of religion not the e establishment as the committee incorrectly quote the constitution all through their report it is one of the most childish ever ot of alered by men supposed to be versed in the law according to this every act ot of every state stale in ae atie union in in regard to the incorporation of religious ioas bodies if is an infraction ot of tile the C constitution and the committees or original igina section in regard to the property of choches chatchew chu chat ches in utah is open to the same objection I 1 nobody will surely dispute that the clause in tile constitution ahat relates to this matter is to prevent congress from restricting preventing or proscribing religion and setting up a religion to be supported or regulated by the government the utah act authorizing the incorporation of tile the charch did nut establish any religion neither did it interfere with tile the free exercise ot of any religion it simply permitted a church that had been iu in existence for more than twenty years to exercise corporate powers so that it might be legally recognized in relation tion to co the holding and disposing of property it is not true as stated by the committee that it was rne ina r ne church of deseret Uti seret it made no such claim aud and was not called by that name nor recognized ip in any way as connected with wita tile the state neither was it the church of utah the very genius ot of the church and its institutions precluded such buell a connection or title it claimed to be established by almighty god through jesus christ his son gad and to be independent as a church ot of the power of the state ane fact that the incorporation was not denied to other churches ab a claimed by the committee and that no special powers were granted to it la in regard to marriage or other ecclesiastical ordinances is seen in the language of tile the law its rights in this tais respect are only recognized i in n common with all civil and religious religions communities muni ties 11 and as are not io inconsistent with or repugnant tc cc the constitution of the united states tile the committee do not attempt to disprove the argument that the churell corporation is a private corporation and therefore cannot be annulled by b act of congress but say they are not willing to concede that it is a private corporation perhaps not but bat whatever they may concede or refuse to concede cou cede no 10 evidence is given or can he be that it lb a public or quasi public curp corp the Tae committee bay ay that can bar tile the right ot of government to it so fur as it has cowets which are political in ia their nature I 1 I 1 etc B but u t they do not and can nob bliok wherein its powers are political li Il and the proposition is not tie t destroy its political powers but to destroy deg troy the corporation altogether i the statement that the legislature lavished upon the chiefs of the church timber water and herd privileges and large landed estates and that it piave large portions of these to the church is partly misleading and the other part utterly false temporary control ol of certain ca caf lons lions ranges and feri denies leg was assigned to individuals who had hadea expended or were required to expend large sums for the p public bublic benefit not as heads or officers of any church but as private citizens and this cou could lanot not convey ownership and title for the land laws were not yet in operation and when they came wo into force woe I 1 individuals and those lauds lands were just as much subject to the laws as any other persons and parts of the public domain no grants of land we remade were cluade to 10 the church that it is an all assertion that is entirely groundless tile the whole statement is incorrect and merely a repetition of the claptrap clap trap of anti mormon prevaricators the pretended account of the ba buchanan raid upon the territory is partial and oue one sided it does not attempt to quote from documents as easily accessible as those referred to which would prove that the whole movement was based on misrepresentations to the government tile the committee say prudence prevented the conflict of arms cesi yes it was that kind of prudence which found out the falsehood that pr promoted the campaign and which exercised before and instead of after the mischief was dane done would have been real prudence for it would have prevented the expedition A little prudence on tile the part of the committee would have caused them to 10 live tile the whole story or to abstain from any reference to it their comments upon a number of the provisions of the bill are unimportant and need no particular cular notice but the provision requiring lequin ng every male person pel son to 10 register himself before tue lae welk of tile the probate court and give if married the name of his lawful wife it is claimed will make a record of all marriages mani ages heretofore here tolore in tile the territory but the requirement includes tile taking of a test tesi oath that no polygamist will subscribe to and the only penalty is disfranchise ment from which he already suffers now then will this make a record of all marriages heretofore in tue territory when it is doubtful whether more than one fifth of the people will wid register the object of ane oath is to pi pie event venethe the mormons cormons Mor mons from registering and voting and yet the register regist tr is depended upon tor for a record of ull all previous marriages were the committee dreaming or what was the matter wilen when tuey faey drafted that section which aney worded so as to defeat its own object As an apology for the undemocratic proposition to make nearly all the offices in the territory and one branch ot of the legislature appointive poin tive instead of elective giving to abe be executive power that inner antly belongs to the people pe oplie tile the committee say the united states and tue the people thereof are deeply and directly interested in tile the molding of tile the policy ot the new state they are aure re merciful powers U we re presented when tile the government appoints the governor judge attorney marshal postmasters etc and aad tue the appointed appoint et governor can veto without restraint ted and without remedy all tae acts ot of the peoples elected Legisla legislature 1 tue the committee speak of tile the necess necessity iLy of a lair representation resen tation ot of the united Sta suites ic the legislature 11 la Is not the absolute cont oiling power ot of the governor Gru vernor and the U aut nonty of congress to lo disapprove any aay act of the legislature even eve if signed by the governor representation sen tation enough and cannot th committee isee bee that it tile the mormon majority represented in the liose lio ho se be can check purposed pr posed oy by then their enemies in the upper housch it would only mike make an impregnable deadlock the tn e scheme la is chimerical and worthy of a com of rational men inen tue apology for tak ing away from frem th people the right to ele elect t their own superintendent of schools is equal to the otner the committee bay this will he in the isi terest of fair dealing and justice to lo the tae children of all classes of the pop population phew fhe ahe arbitrary applin of a person chosen from fi om a small mL writy will be in the interest of fair dealing and justice I 1 to the ma majority bority will it where is there a single element ot of fair dealing in the meas uve e the children ot of the majority ten to one I 1 the children of the a for of the latter have no chil dirAn and it its in the interest of fairness to authorize one of the minority to appoint another of the to manage the educational interests ol of the great majority and decide as to w what h at text books they ey shall or 01 shall not use this caps the climax of the injustice and wrong of the edmunds bill and the fallacy and ened lity of the arguments in we tee report apologizes for font it icare gratified that no valid reason can caa lie be offered for the assault proposed upon ui awa the large majority ot of the people of utah ut feel grieved that american i are so blinded by prejudice against an unorthodox religious body talat they can seri seriously oly recommend such rash and despotic mead ures to 10 the congress of the united 8 Si i ates su pax ported arted by such hollow pretexts arted by such shallow arguments ard bolstered up by so feeble an apology for haft balt wrong |