26 DECEMBER 1885, Page 3

The American Senate has, it is said, accepted a Bill

which is expected to suppress polygamy within the Territory of Utah. It not only makes it a penal offence, but compels the evidence of husband and wife, and makes adultery punishable on the prosecution of a United States officer ; this last provision is intended to meet any declaration by the Mormon Ohara that second or tenth marriages need not be legal; but it would,. ot meet a rule declaring all informal marriages sacred. The Bit, also abolishes female suffrage, which has been steadily used for polygamy—possibly under terror—and enables Congress to seize the Emigration Fund and devote it to schools in Utah, and places all the property of the Mormon Church in the hands of Trustees appointed by the President. That last is a downright blow, and cannot be met, as the pro- vision about the Emigration Fund could, by transferring the property to England. If the Bill passes, the Mormons must either fight or fly, and will probably choose the latter. They can hardly remain on the continent, as the Spanish Catholic

' States will not have them, and the Union would put down an effort to seize Lower California ; but they may conquer an island in the South Sea. They have wealth enough to buy ships, and men enough for an expedition.