Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches
Hence unlawful cohabitation is under the ban by our state enactment;
and I am not arguing that polygamous living is not against the law,
and am not attempting to justify any one in the violation of that
law. I am now merely pointing out the fact that in our compact with
the government of the United States disruption of marital relations
coming down to us out of the past constituted no part of that compact.
The terms of the compact are here in the Enabling act and in the
Constitution, and may be read and known of all men.
That compact was not made between the Mormon Church leaders, as claimed
by Mr. Kearns' adopted speech, and the United States government, but
between the people of the United States acting through Congress and
the chief executive of the nation, and the people of Utah, acting
through their representatives in the Constitutional convention. Utah's
Constitutional convention sought earnestly to meet the demands made
upon our people by the nation. The chief executive of the nation
by accepting the Constitution we had formed and proclaiming Utah's
admission into the Union, said we had succeeded in meeting those
demands. To undertake now to read into that compact something that was
not demanded by the Enabling act, and not conceded by the convention,
that is not expressly found in its terms, and not fairly to be implied
from them, is infamous. Yet that is what is constantly sought to be
done, and we have all sorts of extravagant claims made as to what the
Mormon Church leaders pledged in order to obtain statehood--the compact
they made with the nation, and how the Mormon Church has broken it, but
never a word do we hear as to the compact itself. The Mormon Church
leaders made no pledges to obtain statehood, except as in common with
all the people of the state they accepted and ratified the compact
implied in the Enabling act and the provision in the Utah Constitution
forever prohibiting polygamous or plural marriages and providing
penalties for that offense. The Mormon Church officials pleaded for
amnesty for their people, it is true, but amelioration of the hard
conditions which a cruel enforcement of the law imposed, not statehood,
was the object of their petition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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