Show THE SUPREME COURT DECISION THE full text of the opinion of the supreme cobit of the united states in the suit to confiscate the property of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints will be found in another part of this paper with the exception of the statement of the case which it is unnecessary to reproduce because all the particulars have been previously published the disquisition as to the powers of congress over the territories to is a summary of opinions previously enunciated uncia ted by the court and an affirmation of the doctrine that in these acquired parcels of the public domain the authority of the national government Is IB absolute subject only to such restrictions as are expressed in the constitution or are necessarily implied in its terms this is an important limitation to which we call the attention of those advocates of imperialism peri allow who contend that congress is not bound by the constitution in its supreme sway over the territories the general power of congress to annul an act of a territorial legislature when submitted for fer its consideration has not in this case been questioned the contention on the part of church counsel was that the set act of incorporation of the church was in the nature of a contract between the legislature and by the tacit consent of congress between the government and the corporation and that the obligations of that contract could not be constitutionally impaired this important point the court appears not to have considered but the corporation being dissolved by congressional legislative act the question quIp tion of succession to or legal possession of its property becomes the great question the court explains at great length the doctrine of the administration and application of charitable estates and reliance is chiefly placed by the court upon the english law and procedure in the cases cited in american practice there is no parallel to the present issue indeed when the whole argument of the court upon charitable uses and the powers of courts and the sovereign in relation to them is simmered down it will be found to have no direct application to the case under adjudication because it is essentially different to all the precedents cited in a very important particular if it be conceded coincided coin ceded that where property of a charitable corporation has been the result of ten thousand petty contributions extending through a long period of ismae 12 the government or the court of chancery may in the dissolution of the corporation po ration assume contaoi of the fund because it could not be returned to the donors it must so the court admits be devoted to the lawful objects of charity most nearly corresponding to those to which it was originally destined now then the charities referred to throughout the argument are those charities which were originally intended fr for the benefit of the general public or certain classes thereof irrespective of any particular denomination in this case the charitable uses of the property were for the purposes of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints the donations given were vere not for any other purpose the lower court so found and the higher court sustained the finding the corporation is declared to have been a religious and charitable corporation for the purpose of promulgating spreading and upholding the principles practices tetch teachings ings and tenets of said church and for the purpose of dispensing charity subject and am according to said principles practices teachings and tenets the proposition then to devote the property of the dissolved corporation to the general public use of common schools would be foreign to the objects of charity for which it was originally destined sf they were so the court finds for the purpose of dispensing charity subject and act according arding to the principles practices and teachings of the church to devote them to secular schools for the benefit of people outside of and hostile to the church and its tenets and who never donated a cent to the fund would not only be unjust but contrary to the principle which the court says must govern both the judicial and sovereign power in the distribution of such accumulated properties supposing that one of the uses to which such funds has in the past been applied was the upholding or promulgation or practice of polygamy it does not appear nor is it so stated that this w waa the exclusive purpose of these funds polygamy is only alleged to be one of the tenets for the promulgation of which the funds were used or intended to be used that practice being declared unlawful there are scores of other uses within the church to which the property may be put which would lave have no relation to polygamy its practice or promulgation and granting all that is alleged concerning the present attitude of the ministers of the church on that question and further further that the property may be legally devoted to the cause of education would it not be contrary to the doctrine of charities charities advocated by the court to devote that property to the general public use ude which was destined for the benefit of the particular denomination for which and in which it was originally bestowed according to the principles laid down by the court and the position it has taken on this question even if this property donated by bv the latter day saints for religious as well as charitable uses may be legally used for scholastic purposes then thea the children of the latter day saints should alone receive the benefit of that diversion subject to the tenets and teachings of their church to the exclusion of everything favoring polygamy the rho decision of the lower court is fully sustained as to its general genera features and findings of law its statement of facts is of course accepted without question in addition to these the court of last re resort sort makes assertions concerning matters outside of the record at the same time it omits things contained in the record which if considered might have important bearings upon the ahe equities of the case the remarks of the court about the cM mormon ormon propaganda are extraneous trane ous and incorrect it is not dot true that the emissaries of the church are engaged in many countries cou atries in propagate prop agati ag gamy il and this does not appear in the record of the case the court has judicially accepted common rumor which as is frequently the cast is very unreliable it is also untrue that the latter day saints have attempted to establish an independent community and to drive from the territory all who were not connected with them in communion and sympathy this is not in the record and arnd the facts prove the contrary the court has hae no right to inco incorporate borate the slander of arial I 1 in a judicial decree on a matter of law and equity the court is also unfair inex in ex eluding parts of the findings of fact which modify other and immediately connected parts for instance the court oites cites the language of the lower court in regard to the teaching aud and practice of polygamy or plurality of wives as one of the tenets of the late church incorporation b ut omits the qualifying portion of the very sentence quoted which is as follows but only a portion of the members of said corporation not exceeding 20 per cent of the marriageable members male and female were engaged in the actual practice of polygamy let us figure on this a little we do not admit it as a correct estimate but the court coart so stated bated it the usual ratio Is ie placed at five persons to the family that is two fifths or 40 per cerit cent of the population are adults one fifth or 20 per cent of two fifths would make eight per cent of the mormon population including male and female who were engaged in the practice of polygamy according to the estimate of the court well to is it right to conclude that a church in which eight per cent of the population Pu lation are polygamists ista is an organization for the purpose of the establishment of polygamy and is it fair or judicial to rule that because eight per cent of a church population are engaged in the practice of something declared unlawful therefore the ninety two per cent who are law abiding shall be deprived of the property donated by them for religious and charitable uses we regard the polygamy pretence predence pre tence as a very thin pretext for stripping an unpopular church of its property and we are sure that it will have no effect on the exaggerated polygamy question nor will it induce anyone who is a latter day saint at heart to which he believes to be aivge divan div ln such injustice only serves coln to increase the faith of the devout and render more determined the steadfast and true this to is proven by history and will be demonstrated again in the near future the question of the final disposition of the personal property erty is not yet settled and the question as to which pieces of realty will become forfeit and escheat to the he united states is still open suits will have to be carried on in the district courts and will no doubt be taken up to the court of last resort in regard to each piece of property claimed by the government meanwhile the latter day saints will look calmly on knowing that the property part of this great controversy tro versy is but a small thing in view of the violation of justice which is being perpetrated in ia the government under which they live and of the glorious principles of truth which they live and labor to maintain senator edmunds as will be seen in our press prem dispatches has come to the help of the supreme court and proposes to effect by legislation what the court hesitates to do by judicial authority the principle involved is just the same and no excuse will justify wresting from the latter day saints that which rightfully belongs to them and giving it to persons who never owned it or r had or pro pre tended to have any claim upon it will will congress and the country sanction this renewed attempt at robbery |