Gentiles won in the local elections in Salt Lake City. For two years longer the sincerity of the Mor- mons was put to the test. 1 Finally convinced that the Mormons would abide by the law, President Harrison on January 4, 1893, issued a proclamation granting amnesty to all persons liable to the penalties of the act of 1882 who, since November 1, 1890, had abstained from unlawful cohabitation. 2 Congress also, in the same year, restored the escheated funds to the church. With polygamy thus put under the ban, Utah had better claims to become a state, and she was admitted in 1895. For a time it was feared that the Mormons would become firmly established in Idaho. In 1887 a seventh of the whole number of voters in that territory were Mormons, and by the state constitution submitted in 1890 these were dis- franchised. For the first time in the history of the United States what appeared to be a religious test was introduced into a state constitution. The Su- preme Court, however, declared that the first amend- ment to the Constitution of the United States, which safeguarded the rights of private judgment in all matters of religion, was never intended to prevent legislation for the punishment of acts inimical to the peace, good order, and morals of society. 3 ____________________ | 1 | Charles S. Zane, chief-justice of Utah, in Forum, XII., 368. | | 2 | Richardson, Messages and Papers, IX., 368. | | 3 | Davis vs. Beason, 133 U. S., 333. | -161- |