Show NEARING THE END Proceedings Yesterday Before the Master in Chancery THE LAST WITNESS EXAMINED Judge John A Marshall Hakes tho Opening Argument for the Government Dicksons Masterly Address The proceedings before Master in Chancery Chan-cery Loofbourow in regard to tho disposition disposi-tion to be made of tho fund in the receivers hands is drawing to a close The last witness wit-ness was examined yesterday and the arguments ar-guments were begun J3XRECEIVEK IllANG H DYER was called yesterday morning and Mr Varian said I want to call your attention to the matter of compromise made with the church authorities with a view to designating desig-nating precisely the several amounts in i money that were received for certain things Perhaps that report will show it banding to the witness one of his official reports for inspection To Mr Richards This is the petition I made to the supreme court asking for authority to compromise To Mr Varian Tho 30000 head of sheep were turned over to me as receiver They were all leased to different parties the greater number to Mr Pickard A few were inventoried in the compromise of I 750110 but they did not amount to anything any-thing The only notes that were turned over to him and certainly paid were those for the theatre So far as he remembered gas stock tho street railroads telegraph stock and money on account of the prop erty etc which had been sold Asked as to what was the present value Of the gas stock Mr Dyer said My judgment is that it is worth 125 at least per share Mr Varian What about the present value of the Deeeret telegraph stock Witness Well at one time I thought that it had some value but the more I I looked into it tho more convinced was I of its worthlessness I would not now give 64 for the whole line of telegraph in the territory well 1 would not take it as a gift < Laughter Mr Richards said he desired to offer the statement of facts in tho church case filed October S 18SS He wanted it agreed that this statement was tho only evidence before be-fore the territorial supremo court on which counsel on the other side based their decree and findings in this case Mr RawlinsWe take that as being incompetent in-competent and we object The only purpose pur-pose for which it can be offered is to impeach the decree Mr VarianAnd we stand right upon our objection Mr Richards There is nothing to offer if you do not agree We asked you simply to admit the fact Mr VarianAnd that if we objected you would prove it LE GRAND TOU Gone G-one of the attorneys for the defendants in the case when tried before the territorial suureme court was then called and he identified tho agreed statement of facts banded to him Mr RichardsWas any other evidence either oral or in the form of depositions introduced on the trial of that cause Mr Rawlins objected but the master held that the answer might bo given subject sub-ject to future ruling if necessary by the higher court Witness answered Mr Richards question ques-tion in the negative and was interrogated on the point at issue which resulted in a general desultory conversation between 1 counsel lasting some minutes TUE ARGUMENTS I This closed the testimony and the arguments argu-ments were commenced by Judge John A Marshall of counsel for tho government who said that this case came before the master in pursuance of the decree of the supreme court of the United States It was recommitted by that body to the territorial supreme court and sent here for investiga ton He first called attention to the evi dence adduced as relating to the purposes of donations and remarked upon the testimony testi-mony of President Cannon who had said in substance that the donations to the church were in the hands of the trusteein trust for dispensationthat there was no limitation to his power in that respect and that he could dispense them as he pleased Counsel quoted from Mitcheson on charities chari-ties in support of his argument on this head and contended that so far as those purposes set up in the present scheme were concerned they were precluded by the I supreme court of the United States in this t case and this surplus fund as had been I already shown was not to be applied to tho original purpose at all He referred to the many phases through which the church i case had passed and proceeded to criticise the scheme submitted by the defendants Assuming from the evidence it would be contended that thu money was originally origin-ally donated to purposes some lawful and some unlawful in their character then this decree would undoubtedly be wrong But counsel for the government could rest on II the findings of fact in this case and in the t decree to overcome any evidence that might be introduced as to lawfulness of 4 purpose PLURAL MAKRIAGE Counsel turned to the testimony given by the witnesses for the defendants on the sub sect of plural marriage and laid stress on the fact of the admissions made that i I though such marriages r were no longer con templated under existing conditions the I r principle still remained as the truth never t changes As a matter of principle ho said polygamy was held to be right and tho members of the Mormon church were I pimply content to bow to the law Boyle on charities was quoted and English authorities were also cited bearing UU LUU ijUoakiuLi ui a distribution Ul funds for charitable and other purposes among k which the providing ot eaucation for tho r children of the poor stood foremost Counsel Coun-sel did not admit in any way that the pur poses for which this particular fund was devoted was settled by the donors at all or was other than an intention to devote it to I general charities But as the other side had Introduced evidence to show that the fund was devoted to the direct relief of the poor he wished to discuss the matter upon that standpoint Numerous legal au I thorities were again cited bearing on the subject of donations and bequests to be devoted to charitable uses in which the support of schools prominently figured The text books he said laid down the fact that there was a growing disposition to do vote charitable bequests or donations to the furtherance of education and the building ot suitable schoolhouses this being considered con-sidered the best means of relieving the poor and thus placing In the hands of children that which would help them most materially in their after life and per haps save them from beooming paupers in i their old age Counsel read from the ISth Chancery division reports 310 relating to the application of funds for the support of the education etc of the poor in rural districts ON EDUCATION He contended that if there was one thing more clearly established than another it i was that the education of the poor was s within the original intention for their re lief That object might be gained by vari ous means by the allowance of clothing food and the like but the favorite means in courts of equity in gaining that particu lar end had been education In that they did not change the charity but distin guished between it and the means of gain tog the end By choosing that means they chose what was best calculated to the best results secure The number of children attending the 13 schools other than those of Mormon t parent age had been shown to be insignificant It i would be impracticable in Ito F education to limit it particularly to the children of Mormon parents for several reasons One was that the donors to this fund were perhaps to a large extent today no longs r Mormons themselves at any rate som i some of them rand therefore it would be most unfair to exclude children from tion in the fund to which their participa parents had j once contributed Again there were not n sufficient free schools established for the relief of the poor in the various towns and hamlets of the territory reaching the class designed to bo bonentted It was very evident that the donors to this fund did not restrict their gifts to the benolit of their I oreligionists and it was clearly the opin ion of the higher court to a certain extent that this money had been taken from tho schools During the progress of his argument Judge Marshall cited a number of authorities authori-ties bearing on the subject MR DICKSON3 ADDRESS In the afternoon W H Dickson commenced com-menced his argument for tho defendants He took up in succession the points in the petition filed in behalf of the church and made a masterly argument in support of it as a whole As to the purpose to which the petition asked that the fund be applied he I claimed that it was certainly nearer to the 11 t object for which it was originally destined than that proposed by the government The purpose was a definite and legitimate one and toe decree of the supreme court did not preclude the granting of the petition peti-tion The prayer made at this time was not the same as the one made at that time and the conditions condi-tions had greatly changed the practice of polygamy having been eliminated from the creed of the church He did not believeth believe-th t a single case could be found either in this or in the mother country where a court had undertaken to do what the government gov-ernment asked be done Mr Dickson then directed his attention to the legal aspects of the case and in support of his position cited a great number of cases and going as far back as the time of Cromwell Crom-well He took up every proposition proposi-tion advanced by the able attorney who preceded him and dismissed them in a manner man-ner which showed profound research in the suoject under consideration Mr Dick ° sons address occupied over throe hours and it w listened to with the deepest attention at-tention by all present TODATS PROCEEDINGS J L Rawlins of counsel for the government govern-ment will reply to Mr Dickson this morn ing and probably Mr Heywood of Ogden representing the five counties north of Salt Lake will speak in support of the petition presented by him asking that 90000 of the fund be set aside for those counties |