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Show . " WHO IS TO BLAME? f , The Herald this morning, in an article i, : ; i mainly devoted to the Honorable James 1 i r : W. Barclay, M. P.; has this: j . ' t 1 "He" (Mr. Barclay) -is also interested in ; ( Utah enterprises, and would undoubtedly be r . more so were it not for the unsettled condi- t i- tion of affairs here due to the unwise : J . course pursued by some of the Government ! representatives who insist upon keeping the . coumniunity in a turmoil." . - This sentiment belongs to the Herald, i and mast not be supposed to be that of 'I the Hon. Mr. Barclay. Mr. Barclay may s deprecate the condition of things here, I I - and wish it were far otherwise, but he certainly cannot im ok tnat tne eniorce-i eniorce-i ment of the law is a wanton proceeding : whose sole purpose it is to create turmoil ' ; in this community. - As a member of the : British Parliament, he is too familiar with the maxim that "Parliament is supreme" i 4 to admit that any community has a right j s to violate laws with impunity, even when ' j 1 those laws are broken on the ground of a I- ! f claim to religious right. The community i fj is in a turmoil, but who is to blame for it, the officers who enforce the law and pun-! pun-! ish law breakers, or those who break the laws? In all civilized governments resting rest-ing upon law and order it is absolutely ; necessary that the law be supreme over j all, and that its mandates be obeyed. What i3 the theory in Utah with regard to the supremacy of the law? It , is this, if we mistake not, that the law is supreme after the Mormon church, and that it is the right of a Mor- - ! mon to set the law at defiance if at any ::!;' time he conceives that the law is in jcon- j flict with what he thinks is his religious right. That is the cause of all of Utah's . woes and the ills which are now upon her. Who is to blame for such a condition of things? Clearly those who insist upon ' j breaking the laws and claim immunity i from punishment for so doing. If the '. Mormon paople have a right to ignore ! j one law, others have the same right to ; ; J ignore other laws. If laws are to be '' ; I obeyed or disobeyed at the pleasure of ; . those desiring to obey or disobey them, then chaos will reign, and social dissolution disso-lution and anarchy will supervene. . The first amendment to the Constitution y of the United States was not adopted for ! the introduction of any such order of );.? things. If choice is to be niade in !Utah between business busi-ness prosperity upon the ' condition .j that people must be allowed to violate the I laws according to their own sweet wills, j and business depression consequent upon ! 5 the vindication of the laws, we should certainly say let the business depression , ' come. The people 1 of Utah desire to make lawlessness law and law lawless- , j ness. It is truly said that the enforce- ' j ' - ment of the Edmunds Act keeps the community in a continual turmoil. There are two remedies which will prove effica- I. ,V cious for the cure of this turmoil, j if applied. First: Amend the Ed- ? munds Act by making the jurisdiction of J the District Courts concurrent; abolish 1 1 the statute of limitations so that polyg- !- amy and unlawful cohabitation shall always be liable to punishment; make the punishment for . unlawful cohabitation cohab-itation co-extensive with that for polygamy; "create a Supreme Court , ; separate and distinct from the trial ! judges, and increase the number of trial judges bo as to enforce the law simultaneously simulta-neously and effectively throughout the , ' Territory; give the United States Prose- ',' cuting Attorney a sufficient number of assistants to perform the work to be done ; and to all these old and newly created officers give a salary sufficient to command the services of men of marked 1 and superior ability. It might also be " well to have a contingent fund to be : i1 drawn upon for extraordinary expenses. We believe that the enactment of the measures above suggested would be suf-; suf-; ficient to suppress, in a comparatively Bhort time, polygamy and un-, un-, ; ;. lawful cohabitation the causes of , ; ' the continual turmoii? in the community. The other method , by which this endless turmoil can be ' terminated is for the Government to ; . repeal all laws enacted for the suppression : ':' of polygamy and unlawful cohabitation, ana lor C ongress to suggest to the States . an amendment to the Constitution fcr-i fcr-i biddinjr the passage of any law, either ; by the General Government or by the State or Territorial Governments, which will in any way interfere with the prac-:. prac-:. ,tice ?f polygamy and what is now termed unlawful cohabitation. In the adoption .sr. of either "of these methods will be found t -a solution of the mucli vexed question of ? w- - pob'ffamy, and our wish is that very ; . " .' V journal throughout the Territory will urge v and advocate the adoption-of the one or the otlier, as may best suit them. Those who are to blame for the present turmoil are the law-breakers, if law is to have I' any force, and those law-breakers should either be. entirely suppressed in their law-breaking, or they should be absolved from all liability or breaking the laws by I . the repeal of the lawn which they violate j " Let the turmoil cease. ' " |