Sacramento Daily Record Union

GOVERNOR MURRAY ON POLYGAMY.

Governor Murray, of Utah, represents to the General Government the uselessness of enacting laws against polygamy unless they are enforced. Governor Murray has lived in Utah, and yet he does not appear to have perceived the real nature of the difficulties with which Congress has to do. Between the conditions which obtain at the South, and those of Utah, there is no difference in essentials. In both cases it has been found impossible to enforce laws which are opposed by the public sentiment of the dominant elements of society. All history teaches that where this condition exists the imposition of obnoxious laws upon the community is impracticable without the employment of a degree of force which very few powers have ever been able to command, and the use of which in this country would be incompatible with republican principles. This is the truth, and this it is which has baffled Congress so long, and has blunted all the weapons it has tried against the Mormon institution. General Grant gave Reconstruction a full trial at the South, and when he went out of office he had to acknowledge that it was a complete failure. It was so because the Southern people were out of sympathy with the principles it was sought to enforce, and because they were out of sympathy with these principles the South is solid to-day. There is nothing to be done in such cases but to deprive the recalcitrant community of the powers of evil, and trust to example and education for a change of sentiment. This applies both to the South and to Utah, and we are satisfied that ultimately the country will reach the conclusion here outlined.