AMERICAN NEWS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1314, 24 October 1883, Page 4

AMERICAN NEWS.

(From the Duneuin Star).

Tnr .aiOR on rrcBLEM still uitsolved

Whoii Congi'pss fired the Edmonds j Bill at polygamy in Utah, the Commission appointed, and a'l thr*' tnnchinevy put in motion to make the provisions of the Bill -effective^ it was thoi:£;htthat is was but a question of time when this vile sore upon the body oolitic wouTd 'q entirely healed. A territorial election underthe regulations and provisions of the Bill has hist taken pla™, and ithasresulfcfldin a complete victory for the Mormons. The Council, which answers to an Upper House, is unanimously Mormon, and the Lower House has, one' lone Gentile member. The Edmonds Bill disfranchised about 2,003 polygamists^but has not otherwise hnrfc the ev^ The result was cunningly, achieved; Wh^B poljrftamists were di^ladljcl from office their places were filled fVy monogamists from the same .'families, This Amg accomplished by 1 the female vote. Women haye "the riirht of .suffrage in Utah WydmingV .territories. In 1880 the Mormon vote was 18,568, of which 10,000 were*women, while the Gentile vote was 1,357. In 1882 the Vormon vote stood at 23,239, of while 13,000 were women, and the Gentiles 4,908. At the present election the vote was 15,000 Mormons and 2,000 Gen-"-Hnles. There are 14,494 Mormon women in Utah temtory who voted en masse as the Church dictated. These women are composed mainly of the scum and dregs of European -cities. By the blessing of female suffrage a solid Mormon Assembly confronts the Edmonds Bill, the Congress, and the United States. It shows 'hat though an overwhelming majority of the Mormons are monogamists yet they are resolved to defend polygamy. 111.1.I 1 . now remains for the Government either to abandon the field or to adopt an entirely new line of attack that will

force surrender. The moral sentiment of the cbiin try will' not suffer the abandonment of the field. Polygamy must go, evfsn, if it should be,tip ablpody grave, as did salary. . . i ; / •

AMf-BICA^'TOGITTVE^WTEii^feT. ' ; /,' : ' Last autumn the whisky-makers, (Of . our country made , the discoverer; fchath they had manufactured, enough to jlaste for eight years* and ithatJ they' wbuld be' compelled tb pay tne S f x^ i pn ! 'ft i yeai-s before kellitig 1 itV.; '^hWefoWtb'ey asked Congress to exten^r tt^^ime for paying the tax,, and. for the first tima in its history the American ,Cons»resß' refused the appeal -off. the •'distillers. Then the idea was -conceived 6f exporting the surplus to Cariada^and to reimport it fr*om ttvere as^t^edecl. 'But the authorities of Canafia refuped to connive at the fraud. The distillers

next arranged to st^re it. in Bermuda, one of the British West India islands. The Attorney-General has jnstrehclpred a decision that this method 1 of evasion is illegal, and will involve the confiscation of the entire, stock, of the vesselsemployed in the. transport, and the imprisonment, of masters and crews. The Government of the United States have been, and to some extent art now, a silent partner -with" the J ' distillers. Yet the Government get cheated every time. The distillers manufacture whisky at a cost of about la l<l-per gallon, on which; . the Government claim 8s 9d as revenue; If this whisky is kept eight years it is worth about £1 or£l 10s per gallon. The Government take care of this whisky in bonded warehouses at the" public expense, employing a sum 1 army 5 of storekeepers, gaugers, collectors, and clerks. An allowance is made of 12f "gallons out of 40 for leakage, .which is double what it ought to be. The amount of spirits now in bond,' is over 85,000,000 gallons. ThW J -tkx ) 'on < 85,00^,000 gallons amouuts to £15,200,000. The distillers want the time for the payment of this, strm postponed indefinitely/which m^ansprac tically a donation of "from £12,0^0,000 to £20,000,000. Their paid, agents and attorneys swarm in Washington like the locusts in Egypt. Daring the last session of Congress the sum' of £15,200 was raised amongst the distillers to pay losses, bnt.^wha.t particular losses the investigating conHmittee never could find out. Thr Bill for the' relief of the distill rs passed the Lower House, but was defeated in the Senate. This was the grandest triumph for temperance ever achieved in the American Congrers. Brit it will not l-e'the last. The dawn of the approaching day can be clearly seen^ Hail 'the coming morn ! i - . •