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Show i HABEAS CORPUS. I Salt Lake Citv, Dec. J, Is TO. j Editors Daily Herald : j I observe in your issue of yesterday, j allusion made to the "Habeas Corpus Act;" also to an alleged refusal of! Judge Strickland to grant the wiiL i I have been pleased as a general j thing to witness your apparent fairness ; as conductors of a public newspaper, alleit as members (aI suppose you to ! be J of a religious sect, you defend that ! iwet when believing it to be assailed. For this I cannot say that I blame you much, if any, for I have observed during dur-ing my life, and from what I have read of the history of the religious world (so called that all denominations are to a certain extent clunish, and disposed dis-posed to believe that "our" particular church is, par excellence, the church of God. , Well, I do not quarrel with that I either, for are we not all more or less selfish and disposed to think that we arc right and those who do not believe as we do are wrong '! But I did not intend to moralize or find fault only to ask that justice maybe may-be done to all. Let me premise that I (being an outsider out-sider to all intents) not being either a "Mormon" or a member of the "PiiDg," may be supposed to view the controversy between the parties in an impartial light. That Governor Shaffer committed a grave error, if not a usurpation in office, of-fice, by issuing the September Proclamation, Procla-mation, I most sincerely believe. The Governor of Utah cannot enact a law of his own, while the Organic Act gives him only a joint power with the Assembly to do so, and hence I hold that his proclamation was no more a law, binding on the people of Utah, than is this friendly epistle which I am writing at this moment. If I am correct in this, then it follows (unless some law was infringed by the lOth Ward demonstration), that his Honor Judge Hawley erred in committing commit-ting Messrs. Ottinger and others to await the action of a Grand Jury. I have not the pleasure of Judge Ilawley's acquaintance merely having been introduced to him, and conversed but a few moments but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, am bound to believe that bis ruling in this case was more an error of the head than of the heart. Judges, like other persons, ought not to be blamed for honest opinions, even if erroneous. And the ordinary way to correct these errors is by appeal to a higher tribunal, and here I find cause of approval of your suggestion to remove this bone of contention con-tention from this Territory. And if I may be permitted a suggestion for the benefit of all concerned, 1 will add my advice to yours, take this decision of Judge Hawley belbre the Supreme Court of the United States, where alone it belongs, and you will be very likely to find out what the lau is, whether it bo the Constitution of the L'nited States and the laws passed in puisuance thereof; or whether it be the Ipse dixit of some gentleman gen-tleman clothed with gubernatorial; authority in a Territory.. The impression im-pression of your humble correspondent correspon-dent is, that Ihe former is, and will be declared the "law of the land." And here permit me to allude to an implicit censure of the action of Judge Strickland Strick-land in refusing the writ alluded to. My acquaintance with the .Judge is as limited as that with Judge Jlawlcy, and I am ccrlainly not in a position to become an apologist of either of these gentlemen, bul, it ii but justice for inn to say, that, as an honest Judge, wilh a knowledge of the law such us ho fuiflif In posses, linldinp: ilic position he does, I do not see how he could have done otherwise. I think you will find by refering to See. 9. of the act of Congress organizing organ-izing the Territory of Utah, that there s no power to hear either a writ of error or appeal, or to grant a writ of hedjeas corpus where a person is re-. re-. strained of his liberty by a decision of a United States, or District Court of Utah, or by auy one of the Judges ! -hereof, exceptive tin Supreme ( 'ourt t the Uiiibd State. ' If I am correct, then Judge Striek-' Striek-' land did right in refusing the writ: and I have no doubt as to the eorrect-"!ss eorrect-"!ss of this opinion. I f you want this :;stion settUed once for all, there are ' o ways by which it can be done: Either wait until the arrested parties are tried by a court here, and then appeal ap-peal to the U. S. Court, or apply to that Court iiow; for a writ of habeas corpus and in this way obtain the opinion opin-ion of that Court, and if the defendants defend-ants should be discharged I think that act would put an end to Governor Shaffer's proclamation aud arrests for violating it. Utah. |
