Show W MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS we cheerfully surrender our editorial space today to day to give ire insertion to the memorial to congress Congi which lias bas been prepared by the apeci special 11 joint committee of the legislature appointed for that purpose the article will bo be read with deep anter cst est and fully endors endorsed col not only by the mormons cormons Mor mons but also by every honest bonest fair minded man mail in the community ne to ilie the honorable the senate and rl otis of representatives of the united cited states state of america in gresa F rem assembled we your memoria lists t the lie legislative assembly of the territory of utah rt respectfully represent that in consequence of baseless rumors and monstrous exaggerations alie tit c people whom we w e represent have been placed in jeo ar yand arid are now threatened with wi the V e deprivation of the right of local self government persons whose aim aim is to gain control of this now wealthy and arid prosperous territory and manipulate its finances have succeeded in arousing the ire i of the clergy and through them the opar anger of many people against the largo a rge majority ma ori t y of the citizens C iti zens of ut utah and thus a pressure has been brought brou glit to bear upon your honorable body which shows its effects in ill proposed measures containing previsions provisions visions utterly at variance with the tile fu fundamental nol principles of republican government and which while ostensibly oz aimed at tit the marriage relations of but a small portion of the tile pe people aple will if carried into effect deprive the whole territory of the vested rights secured to it by the organic act and the constitution cons tiiu tien odthe of the united states 14 the cx acu ecu live and judicial uricial powers odthe of alic territory being vested in the hands aads of the government ap by y the absolute veto power of the governor it is not difficult d i to realize how bow comparatively powerless POW erlem the people have been when attempting to foster the interests t tho he territory errit ory for many years the people opie of utah have patiently endured engred tho the misrepresentations and slanders of unscrupulous persons who have located at different times in the territory and who from various unworthy motives have formed themselves into political and religious cli cliques quest avowedly avows adly to represent the liberal and progressive clement element of the territory but really as the history of their transactions plainly shows to vex and the m ty tv of the people and deprive them if it possible of their civil religious and political rights IV while hile bearing all the burdens imposed under influences created officials wholly irresponsible le to them the people of utah have waited hoped andi prayed for better ti lings under under a government less liko like the colonial bondage to which fathers were subjected and more harmony with true republican institutions tut ions when accused of exercise exercising undue influences influence over the portion of the population and idea was advanced that if women utah were granted ra anted the right C to vote a it remedy I would io uld at once bo c found tile territorial legislature promptly anticipated the proposed of congress and passed an in act conferring upon wor women in ill utah 21 years of age and with other proper qualifications the elective franchise again when accused of making the church dominate the state by permitting ecclesiastical influence or priestly ly authority to assert influence at t the le polls by means of the marked ballot allot b which had been approve dand which many stile believe to be the cheapest and arid best means of preventing illegal votes the legislature enacted a law providing lidid forthe for the registration of voters repealing ier ica tin all election laws requiring i burn nurn numbered cred or otherwise marked 1111 ballots L lots and making them strictly st i li secret ecret r the registration law having failed to c change hange the voto vote of the people in favor of their accusers congress Gon gres is now urged under pressure dessure of public opinion incited ty by unscrupulous persons to enact laws disfranchise ing in in aliis territory many native born and arid other loyal citizens of the republic the fraudulent certificate issued by present gov vernor having thus far failed to disfranchise tho the people congress is asked to do abat duplicity and unblushing fraud have failed to accomplish com and we call the attention of your honorable body to the fact that previous to the passage of the anti polygamy polygamy act of 1862 there was no law ar in force local or congressional against the marriage of plural wives in utah there arc many ay persons who contracted plural jn arriago arriage before cor that time who have never violated that statute and who have remained unmolested in their family relations they cannot be pop ap I convicted of crime because they have broken no law yet the legisla tion proposed to your I honorable body would disfranchise them and arid deprive rire them of the inalienable rights of citizens which we NYC submit is both unnecessary iary and arid unjust t under these cruel circumstances circumstance th alic future can call alone cevelo develop xv what aliat liat unhappy events may yet be in in store for a people so long subjected to the eliis growing out of usurpations usurpation and sand the I abuse of power c r by officers odthe of the general government wholly irresponsible to tile people while reviewing the grievances which caused mused iho the revolutionary revolt ti conary fathera fathers to place on the altar their lives their fortune sand their sacred honor linnor ns as proof of the truths contained in tile bill of against the british king the people of utah revering that declaration of rights ve venerating rig the honoring tile lag flag of their co common ninion country claim the protection of the nation whose noble sires made mado human liberty not only desirable but possible and obile clain claiming ling life liberty and the pursuit of happiness as bequeathed thed rights they do solemnly aare declare eel that governors in utah have trivial their assent to laws most csome and necessary for the in i public bood they have abused the pardoning I power by turning loon pipii ii j the community convicts danger to tot lie public peace they have i Jit lit to obstruct the functions of the territorial government by refusing approval of legislative appropriate lions ions and their signatures to needed enactments unless handicapped by tai ini sual asual and unreasonable measures inea I hey have attempted to rend ren dortho erthe wili military tary hostile and superior to the tile ml MI power by calling on oil troops to en orders depriving citizens of the right lo 10 hear bear arms arins even when celebrating the anniversary of our ra rational independence when sold soldiers I ers s stationed t rationed near us have hare been arrested for grossly violating municipal lawn ars tile they have been forcibly released by military authorities thoi ties others li have pvc quietly enjoyed heir their quarters even when the general wari wi appealed to for military aid while the militia of the territory were compelled to defend the homes of f the people from the hostile lio stilo en on croach chiments ments of indians who biad plundered afa killed defenseless citizens the district and judiciary odthe of alic Torri territory toz dept abing ading alone upon the will of the t ie gc goi iril eral covern government ment for iho the tenure of glicr r offices ou biccs and for the amount and arid payment of their salaries aries have frea frequently lie antly obstructed ted justice by ruling in thu interest of debauchery bau chery prostitution and kindred crimes crimes and have rendered vexatious unprecedented and arid contradictory decisions against municipal re regulations and in favor of lawless liquor vendors they lia have e hindered the naturalization of foreigners foreigner aby by re requiring quirin reli religious lous tests and thereby have discouraged immigration by specious rulings invading even the bound lep domain of belief tile they have sought deprive citizens w when ien accused crime crime of the right of trial b by an impartial jury of ti their leir peers I in cases they have packed juries in tit haip oa ip havin havins been carried to such an unbearable extent the national court on appeal in many instances has reversed the decisions of the territorial rit orial courts and remanded causes for new trial other government nt officials have endeavored deavo red to cripple and break up tip operative cooperative co mercantile and arid indus trial institutions by illegal illegal imposition of revenue taxes to the af pf of many thousands of dollars requiring expensive suits at law for the recovery c cry of tile large sums extorted S some ov of our most honored have been imprisoned upon pretexts and without support of or precedent other than that established by the malice of bigotry hatred and an when dowhen their has lias been by higher powers pronounced unlawful lin lawful and arid sufferers have remained without redress ll 11 officials bound by their oath ofaf fico to sustain the constitution laws of the tile country have their sacred obligations and persistently arrayed themselves against people whom they have been paid serve losing sight of law aw justice equity and of humanity have frequently joined with adventurers whose greed ced for lias only been equaled equale yby by their malevolence le and in order to acquire influence have persistently misrepresented tho the opinions nims aims and practices of the tile people thus they th ev succeeded in aron arousing sing jealousies heart burnings of the fiercest kind and have rendered alien to each those who ought to be bound by fraternal affection government officials in ill meny instances instead of administering tile law ciare overridden their authority and ind in the most vexatious manner annoyed barr assed cd and arid trammeled the people in the exercises of their political religious and arid civil rights they have taunted ta our best citizens with the cli charges arges of disloyalty called them traitors to our incarcerated them under pretense of crimes repulsive and foreign to their na ibave prosecuted others under tinder laws enacted against offenses totally dif lerent from those alleged thus men inen have been punished pi ild for tho the united states offense of polygamy under tinder the territorial laws against lewd and lascivious cohabitation and the reason such laws arc are not now upon our statute books is because prosecutions have been conducted under their provisions in ill cases to which they were entirely foreign afi they have designated our citizens as tile scum and off of tho tile world morally debased and physically corrupt and yet tet drinking sa saloons oona gambling gamblin dens billiard halls balls and houses of as j egnati on harlots libertines and prostitutes have been urged as a mean best adapted for the regeneration and christianizing of people that they might better harmonize with the civilization of the tile age it lias has been frequently said mid and widely published that the affairs of the tile territory are und erthe control of foreign born citizens yet the present contains twenty seven american born and but nine nine naturalized citizens wo are accused of bein being opposed to education statistics tide demonstrate on strate tho tile contrary and a territorial tax equal to that from which the entire revenue oft of tho he territory is derived is annually annual lv assessed callec collected ted and disbursed exclusively acl usiel y for payment of the school teachers in district se schools bools open to the children of all citizens irrespective of creed color or party whilo in addition a local option law permits a tax not riot ca exceeding two per cent for general school purposes to bo be annually ass al essed in the dietrict where tile people so elect by popular vote the tile connery has rung run with cries of 1131 mormon ormon atrocities and the tile mountain meadows massacre is cited as an instance the tile truth in is that no western state or Territory lias has been settled with so little lawlessness asand and bloodshed and so little expense to the government as utah and the tile shocking catastrophe alluded to occurring in n an indian country three hundred miles from froin the capital of a territory then without railroads or telegraphs ra p q i ia ano no more inore to be charged upon t the h e here or their leaders than the tile blood bloode y scenes of the frontier in which a low tew renegade whites have joined in the tile raids of the red men inen are arc chargeable to the government at it washington Washing tOll we repudiate with avith all our souls alio foul charge large and declare that all the reliable evidence ever over adduced is entirely to tile popular belief we court investigation on oil this and other vile and arid infamous slanders we respectfully urge that while tins territory is deprived of any depre en tion in congress through the act of the executive generally recognized as usurpation ur pation and fraud it is most unfair to us that measures should bo be rushed through the national atio Ilal legislature no voice from the against whom this special legislation is designed beill being lifted in their behalf or h heard ard in th their cir defense we respectfully remind your honorable body that there arc are instances in in recent history which demon demonstrate strato tho the evil consequences of hasty action unjustified by fair inquiry in 1857 an all army was sent to utah to support lie inauguration of government officers cers under sunder tho the mistaken impression that the cormons mormons Mor mons were in revolt and that they would resist tile new officials it had been falsely represented by officers who lind left their posts in this territory that utah waa was in rebellion that court records had be been en burned burne dand and th eliat at other ter overt acts against lawand good order had been committed rhe army was dispatched the I government overn ment appointees arrived it was fo found und that the reports were incorrect a commis commission tion was then ilion appointed and arid it was clearly proven diat that there bad been no cause whatever for tile agitation the army or the expense of the expedition A commission to iiii investigate before instead of a after fler the action oi of the government would in that case have saved the countr country many millions of dollars and tho tile administration ministration administration ai from an in act which no informed person will now declare to have been wise or politic in 1875 it was falsely represented to congress that the legislative assembly of utah had not made any pro vision and arid would not riot provide for jurors and witnesses os fees and other expenses of courts in or criminal I minal cases without sufficient investigation congress diverted the amount ampro appropriated for legislative expenses of t this territory to the uses of tho tile courts with the provision that if the legis lature would appropriate for such uses the tile mone money might bo be recovered tile assembly appropriated for court expensed expenses and at its next session a deficiency appearing moro more was vas appropriated to cover it making instead ol 01 and yet the members ami and officers of the have not riot received one dollar for t hir per diem and other yc xmay ir ing of these facts would doubtless have prevented this injustice every statement set forth in ill this memorial can be substantiated by competent documentary evidence we fertl further er respectfully represent that there is is no cause for the disruption of our local government taxes sare arc light good order is maintained no person is |