Show THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM f During the past fortnight there has been much talk of what the people of t Utah would do in the matter of submit I X f ting to the authority of the law I and so I 4 r c far all has been conjecture But things are assuming a shape they were never in before in this Territory and they have l came to their 1 present shape from a continued fit con-tinued and persistent effort to enforce the laws as they are without calling for L more legislation and telling Congress I how impossible it was to do anything here without extraordinary powers The great trouble was that many of our judges and prosecuting attorneys have caVed more for a big hurrah than the law and after one or two weak mewling puking efforts to do something or nothing it being impossible im-possible to determine which it was they i 1 have quit and from their imbecility as much as from anything else disrespect for the law has sprung up and these efforts have but made bad matters worse And to add to the complications in which we are in this Territory too many of the judges have been thought to be prejudiced f preju-diced against the laws of the Territorial Legislature because the Legislature was composed of Mormons And rulings of some of our judges have justified the suspicion and have brought merited reproach re-proach upon the judiciary It had almost al-most come to be a legal maxim that the laws of the Territory were invalid and that any violation of a local law would lie upheld Many had come to look upon the trials at law here no matter what the cause as a contest between Gentiles and Mormons in which the merit of the case had but small weight Hatred and bitterness have prompted too many efforts ef-forts to enforce the laws by some and because various classes were religiously and politically opposed to each other and violations of the law i have been execrated more on account of r I the violators than on account of a respect p for the law But the worst is yet to f come It has been an almost universal oeiiei that many officials Have not been above corruption and there have been numerous cases which might be cited asa as-a justification for this belief The law in J these cases has been the instrument for furthering the interests of a class and not the interests of law and order These references are not to what maybe may-be termed the politicoreligious trials 1 but to trials in which the cities or counties have been interested as well as in suits in which vast mining interests have been at stake And we have personally I sonally known of some cases in which both plaintiff and defendant have waited and let their case pass from term to term hoping that new appointments might be made This is the condition in which we have been in Utah and is it to be wondered at that the situation of affairs has not been so satisfactory as could be wished We believe that we have now entered upon a new and better era in Utah and whatever may be the merits or demerits of Chief Justice Zane he has the respect of all classes so far as his honesty and integrity are concerned and honesty and integrity in the courts are the first great requisites for engendering respect for the law Judge Zane has seen I his duty in the enforcement of all laws as essential to the preservation of society Having done so he has engendered a feeling of respect for law and order and the people are beginning to recognize A that the law without reference to any any particular law or statute is something some-thing more that the bickerings of parties By acting on this theory of the supremacy of all Jaws and to act on any other theory is to act on a false one Judge Zane has done more to bring about a solution of the Utah problem than all his predecessors and today those who have broken the antipolygamy law and hurled defiance in the face of the government govern-ment are not so proud and haughty as they have been and they are finding that the community gets along very well without with-out some of them and that they miss more than they are missed But more than this many are beginning to see that there is no slackening in the prosecutions and to believe that there will be none and already they moot the question what is going to be done and as they moot that question they think that perhaps it is better to obey the laws of the land and that in the hereafter God will forgive them if they sin in so doing So near is the downfall of the poljgamic system in Utah that for the government to pause now would be cruelty to the people who practice that system as it would give them a renewed hope and would but make more sorrow when the final downfall down-fall shall come Why do we think that this downfall is so near Because the man nor the people never lived who would run and would not surrender and for the reason that Erasmus gave that he loved life more than truth It is said that poets are born and not made so it may be said that martyrs are born and not made But it may be asked what will those wives do who have been compelled to separate from their husbands We believe be-lieve that the great majority of them will remarry and be happier intheir new life than in their old one This idea will be scoffed at now but that idea will prevail for human nature is stronger than religion |