| Show COMMENTS OF THE PRESS AMONG the nume numerous rods tom comments ments of the newspapers on the work of the constitutional convention we select th the e following as an indication of the spirit that moves upon the more reasonable portion of the public press the sacramento record union of june said if the constitution to be submitted in unequivocal english is made to condemn prohibit and ana provide vie tiie punishment of polygamy it might de be accepted such a constitution would not at least be open to the objection thatis that it recognized an evil by silences silence which the laws of the nat nation ion plade place in the category of crimes the only oaly fear is that the mormons cormons may be able to p persuade persuade democratic weaklings wea klings to come to their view by the promise of a democratic state they will not certainly put express condemnation of plural marrim marriage ge into their constitution 11 the austin texas dispatch of the same date remarked the mormon element of utah territory are making a att effort to acquire statehood state statehood good just what objection there should be to the admission of utah as a state provided the constitutional requirements were ware complied with in ift advance is not apparent statehood would certainly saive the polygamy problem for under no consideration would congress invest her with the rights of a state unless all claims of the latter day saints were explicitly annulled in her constitution there may be political but certainly no practical reasons lor denying the requested privilege the lockport N Y journal of july oth copied in full tae ane sections ot tile constitution relating to bigamy and polygamy and added the theory upon which these sections rest is that polygamy having been declared unlawful ul and there being in no recognition of religious bodies agder under our system of government the question is a purely political one and while the government cannot treat with a mormon religious ebdy congress g ress may as apolitical measure make concessions in view oi of an established condition of society where local legislation recognizes it the philadelphia press of july 6 had the following editorial the of utah have been asking vainly for a quarter of a century to have their territory admitted into the union as a state in which polygamy is lawf lawful ul though their plea nas has found favor with democratic leaders it has been so strongly ly opposed by the republicans and by decent people generally without regard to pat pai ty that the mormon chiefs have at last given up be light fight they see that they must either abandon polygamy ag inform in id form at least or give up the hope of making utah a state As the edmunds law and its supplements have made ale polygamy air expensive and troublesome ba 1 I luxury ury the mors more astute of the mormons cormons are arc willing to place it under the ban of the constitution if thereby their beloved deseret Desere may become a state and be released in its domestic matters from further federal control the anti polygamy clause which it is proposed to put into the constitution Is as strong as anyone could wish tor for had it been adopted long iong ago and congress been persuaded that it was the intention of the people of utah to live aup UP to its p provisions ro vi sious that territory might have been enjoyed the rights of a state for bearly a generation should the convention now sitting in salt lake city adopt the ahe proposed lanti pol polygamy gamy provision and it is endorsed by the voters of the territory utah will come before congress as an applicant for admission without least a good prima facie cise case it has sufficient population for a state the only difficulty in the way will be the doubt whether a formal tion of polygamy poly eamy is indeed its abandonment don ment the proposed anti poleg amy provision making polygamy a crime punishable with fine ind and imprisonment must be given effect it if at all 11 1 by the new states courts will mormon 1 0 rmon judges and mormon juries enforce suan a law against mormon polygamists this latest departure in utah looks as though it was engineered from the outside with ith the view to create a new democratic state it is perceived that dakota can not much longer be kept out of the union kind and if utah can be coupled with it the relative strength oi of the parades in in the senate and the electoral college Col leere will wall not be changed with the art mission admission of utah to statehood the federal laws against polygamy cease to be applicable there we question very much whether republic cans will ever consent under any condition to turn ever to the mormons cormons themselves the task of suppressing polygamy this is from the baltimore sun of the convention of the people of utah assembled lor for the purpose of cormin dorming lor ming a constitution and and getting the territory to he union as a stake his has bad reported for consideration an article forbidding polygamy polya amy and fixing penalties to violation of the prohibition this too though the convention is made up almost wholly ot of mormons cormons Mor mons the reporting of such an article even if it is not adopted marks a step of progress la in utan utah if it is adopted utah will have strong claims to statehood being a much more live community than nevada the trenton N J times of july ath has these editorial comments 66 the JI et attitude of the G government 0 vern with respect to the suppression of polygamy and the recent legislation designed to stamp out the evil are now bearing fruit it seems in t the h v very e r y stronghold of mormonism A at I 1 t the b e present time a constitutional convention is in session in salt lake OIL oily the most important step yet taken in this convention was made mad on tuesday when the appropriate committee reported the lol iol lowing sections prohibitory sections riven given in full it seems that the mormons cormons who favor the above sections have expert eacek a change of heart in order to let thero salves down easily they cepres represent en t that all government comprehends pre hend ends s and implies concessions af some so e popular rights and beges that this quei question tion belongs to the local instead ot the DatI national ODal government ern ment that it is political and not religious and that govern i nent ent cariot cadot treat with or make agreements with religious bodies that polygamy has already been pronounced an offense against the law and these there provisions make no do new offense but recognize something already so long as the mormons cormons agree to obey the law and surrender their cherished institution of polygamy the people of the united states will wil find no fault with the style of reasoning adopted by the saints to reach this end the people ave ale interested more inthe in the abolition of polygamy than in the means adopted to abolish it we take the annexed f from born the cincinnati cin nati gazette of july I 1 ath t lh the mormon movement toward reform in abolishing polygamy should not be discouraged at the start by denouncing noun cing it rudely as a fraud and sham the fostering a base tion as we look at it has been sorely scourged urged in this count has lasted and flourished tor some time lime persecution has developed the courage inflamed the zeal and hardened the determination of its leaders as it ha has s before this time stimulated the chieftains and intensified the loyalty of followers lowers in more holy causes and glorified them with martyrdom men may be more easily led than driven and iq in this well known truth our prohibition friends in their reform have something to learn the world has been full of evil since adams fall and the combat against it has been long the best reformers are those who look at things considerately with malice towards none und and charity for all recognizing that all people are not alike in dispositions and desires and that there would be na saints without sinners so the b hast st reforms are conserva conservative e in air course gathering pree force by degrees and satisfied with wise means towards desired ends though means be temperate action and patient bearing the mormon power in utah has rift net been harmed by howling ng against the evil organ organizing ang a third party and helping the democrats into control neither ether can th the e prohibitionists in ohio ohio hope ope to make any headway against their heir pet enemy by becoming cranky in their heir insane hatred and seeking to disarm the only element of good government ern ment 11 the manchester new hampshire union thus speaks editorially it would be of interest td know how much of the opposition directed toward to ward utah is by reason of hostility to polygamy and how much is due simply to hostility to the mormons cormons merely as mormons cormons Mor mons it is difficult to see on what just ground utah could be excluded iff it the conti constitution of the proposed state tate should positively prohibit polygamy the constitution Q ion ution thus being in accord with the laws of the united states gov governing governia erniD the territories with the particular religious belief field by any community the government has nothing to do and if assurance is 91 given ven that the authority of the government shall be respect ed it will be a delicate matter to distinguish between intolerance and an honest conviction that the mormon doctrines are among the most abominable that ever swayed the minds of men if the opposition against utah butali as a state is based solely upon polygamous practices it is evident that opposition must tall fall when polygamy ceases the washington critic of july 7 tersely remarks not much stock is to be taken in t the he clamor of the salt like lake politicians against the mormon constitutional convention the gentiles of all parties and creeds were invited to take part in the movement but stubbornly kept aloof and the prospect now BOW is that they will got get left in the makeup make up of the new state there is is no reason to believe that the convention is a fraud and a sham as stated seated by the salt lake tribune it is moving right along toward the format formation ioa of a constitution ution with polygamy left aft out and the question of its ils adoption is to be submitted to the people at the august election with a certainty of being carried if the me anti polygamists of cheter do their duty 6 |
