OCR Text |
Show THE NEW REMEDY. Senator Edmunds' new bill for the remedy of our Utah troubles is now before be-fore the public. The merits of the proposed pro-posed remedy are various. The test of every such measure is the probability of its accomplishing the ends sought. To some extent this new bill, if it becomes law, will accomplish the end sought the suppression of polygamy and the breaking break-ing up of the" political power of the Mormon Mor-mon church. That part of the bill which relates to the confiscation of the property of the church is apt to become inoperative inopera-tive because it will be an absolute impossibility impos-sibility to find the property aimed at. The policy of the church recently ! has been to convert real property into personal property as being far less liable to discovery. The real property, other than the houses of worship wor-ship and .the like, is generally held in trust, but the fact does not appear upon the face of the deeds evidencing the ownership own-ership of the property. Some of this property is held in fee by the trustees, and if the grantors and grantees of such trust property refuse to divulge the true state of affairs, how is this trust property so held to be known? . That part of the new remedy relating to the registration of marriages is good, but the trouble here will "be that those who perform" the ceremony in polygamous polyga-mous . marriages will only be more careful and cautious. It is quite probable that those who contract polygamous marriages may never see' the person who performs the ceremony nor even know who such person per-son is. But in future it will be impossible for those who perform the ceremony in polygamous marriages to do so with absolute abso-lute impunity. This part of the new remedy should have been supplemented by a provision requiring the registration of all births, and making it criminal not to register such births.. If the father of any child was not known or the mother refused to divulge his name, such child should become a quasi-ward of the State. Without a registration of births a regis- tration of marriage will be of non-avail. The dower provision of the new remedy is liable to be more of a hamper upon the transfer of land by those who would in any case make ample provision for their wives and to whom polygamy is an abhorence, while the devout Mormon wife will readily release her right in her husband's lands. Of course in some cases this will not be the case, but it will be in thg, majority ma-jority of cases. In most of the States of the Union dower has been abolished as being a relic of feudal times. The return to it now as an aid in the solution of the Utah question is an anomaly and proves that history repeats itself. The provision pro-vision for attaching witnesses without subpoena sub-poena is justifiable from the fact that in some polygamy cases witnesses who have been subpoenaed have failed to put in an appearance when the day for them to be in court has come around. An attachment at-tachment will prevent any such doings in future: . - The provisions for the punishment of adultery are proper, and will apply to all who are guilty of that crime. .; We do not like sec. 21 of this bill, j This section confers upon United States . commissioners all the powers which jus- j tices of the peace have, and for this there j is no necessity whatever, while it is , another very important legalization of the ; doctrines of centralization. Whether j such commissioners would have power to ; remove cases from justices' courts to ; their own is a question. It is possible I that they would. j This new bill is the most radical of any j yet introduced for the solution of the j Utah question, but whether it will become j law remains to be seen. The temper of the country is such on this Utah question that almost any legislation on it is apt to j be passed, and this temper of the country together with the fact that each new ; measure is more radical -than the last should make the people of Utah pause i and reflect. A wholesale and persistent j violation of the law of the land is a con-! tinual invitation to war. J |