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Show TERRITORIAL OR UNITED STATES COURT ! Following on the wake of the Utah Chief Justice, Judge Lewis, of Idaho, has giver, a decision on the District Attorneyship, in which he also discovers dis-covers that a Territory has no District Courts they am all United States Courts; and consequently the Idaho Legislature, like the Utah Legislature, has only the privilege of playing at Legislation, for the Attorney-Generalship creatid here by Act of the Legislature, Legis-lature, and the District -Attorneyship cieatcd in Idaho, by the same power, are convertible terms; and the same principle was in dispute in each case in the two Territories. The position taken by the Idaho Judge and the Utah Judge is that the District Courts are not Territorial but United States Courts; and, to this subject the Idaho World devotes an editorial. Among other things it recites Article 3 Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which provides that "the judicial power of the United States shall bevested in one Supreme Court aud in such inferior courts as the Congress Con-gress may from time to time ordain or-dain and establish;" also, that the Judges of all such courts "shall hold their offices during good behavior." be-havior." From which it reasons that, if the District Courts are not Territorial Territo-rial but United States Courts, within the meaning of the Constitution, Congress Con-gress was guilty of a piece of folly in limiting th terms of such Judges to four years, by the Organic act, the Constitution declaring they should hold office during good behavior. Either Congress created Territorial District Courts by the Organic acts, or it sought to amend the Constitution, which as a body it has no power to do. The World says further : It looks rather strange that in all the Territories of the United States, during dur-ing the past ten years, none of the numerous Judges, U. S. Attorneys, or anybody else, had heretofore discovered discov-ered that a Territorial Legislature had no power to create a local office and provide the manner of filling it. It remains for a Judge in Morruondom, in order te successfully prosecute polygamy, to inaugurate this new theory, the-ory, and an Idaho Judge, upon the doctrine of what he considers stare de-i de-i cisis, and probably upon the further assumption that Idaho Demucracy should be as roughly handled as polygamy po-lygamy in Utah, not only fullows in the wake of the Utah Judge but in some respects goes farther. We do not consider that either polygamy po-lygamy or a party name is particularly aimed at in the matter ; but the idea that the Federal government should be a strong centralized one, is carried to such an extreme by these sapient Judges, that they act as if the people of the Territories were incapable of exercising and should not have any political rights ; and that instead of being "wards of Congress," as they are usually supposed to be, they are virtually vassals of government appointees. appoin-tees. Ten years ago such anti-republican views as are now held by numerous officials were unknown iu the country, and thiir further dangerous growth can only be stopped by a strong expression ex-pression of the will of the people giveu at the ballot-box. We look for principle! princi-ple! more republican in their results and more sensible in their conception to speedily become paramount in the country, which is not prepared to endorse en-dorse either dictatorial or monarchial rule. As for polygamy, it may be as well to briefly state, that in the efforts directed di-rected against the liberties of the people peo-ple of Utah the word is only used as a means to an end. The idea of a "ring," numbering among its members a parcel of libidinous, immoral and corrupt fellows, being opposed to marriage, mar-riage, although it may be plural, on the plea of virtue, is simply ridiculous. The only difficulty with most of the "virtuous" railers here against the Mormsns, is, that virtue is too strictly guarded in Utah to meet their lascivious lasciv-ious desires. But politically there is a principle involved, and it is a struggle between republicanism and dictatorial satraps, the latler seeking to misuse the positions they occupy as officeholders office-holders under government. |
