But  the  government  should  no  longer  hold  a
doubtful  or  divided  position  toward  this  great  crime
of  the  Mormon  church.  Declaring  clearly  both  its
want  of  power  and  disinclination  to  interfere  at  all
with  the  church  organization  as  such,  or  with  the  lat-
ter's  influence  over  its  followers,  assuring  and  guar-
anteeing to  it  all  the  liberty  and  freedom  that  other


DUTY   OF    THE    GOVERNMENT.  IO9

religious  sects  hold  and  enjoy,  the  government
should  still,  as  clearly  and  distinctly,  declare,  by  all
its  action  and  all  its  rejDresentatives  here,  that  this
feature  of  jDolygamy,  not  properly  or  necessarily  a
part  of  the  religion  of  the  Mormons,  is  a  crime  by
the  common  law  of  all  civilization  and  by  the  stat-
ute law  of  the  Nation,  and  that  any  cases  of  its  ex-
tension will  be  prosecuted  and  punished  as  such.
Now  half  or  two-thirds  the  federal  officers  in  the
Territory  are  polygamists ;  and  others  bear  no  tes-
timony against  it.  These  should  give  way  to  men
who,  otherwise  equally  Mormons  it  may  be,  still  are
neither  polygamists  nor  believers  in  the  practice
of  polygamy.  No  employes  or  contractors  of  the
government  should  be  polygamists  in  theory  or
practice.
