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Show ASKING LEGISLATION. The fullfjwiog iiaragrarili tt.-l'ipra.phcd from tliii cit , to the a.irtociatt;d prune, urnier date January IM, w) lind in our The mfinidrial of'tru bar of Salt Like to iioiinrPMH tor ItiKHlar.ioo, (urwanl'-'l to Whmxt.(!fi to-itay, 1.1 stjuci by all i the leii'li'i liiv,:ri "I' i'y- 'l ' dhows that the ii-oral court aru (jow-erietm (jow-erietm to both criminal :ilh1 civil i.iU':.-; tliat Ui only tumAj tut tin: evil.- :.:t forth i.-i with cnriifrc.-n. ('uji':H '-t lite Di-'inunal wr uiail:l to tin; .'fMi'lnt, cuhinut, BCtiiitoru mA n prucurji-tivurt. prucurji-tivurt. Thorn are mme thinK in connection with tltii "iwemuriiil" whii:h it in time alioul'l Ijj Kiwa to tho jiublii;. a the tir.it i)m:ii it in wt niu:d by the loading lawyuri of th? ciiy, nath:Iu.-i tho a-HOi;iarcd press agent may have beea bo informed ; fur hokks of the leading lawycra avr;r they have never scad the iii.itruui:nt,miicli lean attached their namon to it. Thin telegram HUyH tho oitiuiorial uetu forth that "the federal oourUt are powerlenn yet wo are daily informed that tho federal courifl are all powerful, and that; the Territoriil Ifg-inlaturo, Ifg-inlaturo, and the inferior courts of the Territory, are mere bodied of nfraw which mudt tail buloro tho blighlCHt touch of an authority huro said to bo powerless, whenever that authority chooser to exercise a latent power, which it claim to podesd, superior to the Territorial legittlativo enactuicQU, and even congressional legialation and Supreme Court deci.iiooa. Wo havo do intention of saying that tho mtiuorial duo a not contain the BtatomontH hero alleged to bo in it, yet wo havo boon informed by lawyers who havo Higncd the dooumuut.thiit it in entirely en-tirely different in its character and that it merely requests ol congress a revision of tho lawd of Utah by that body; and ono of tho KontlenioQ referred to also iuforoiB un that ho was on iho cointiiit-tes cointiiit-tes to mark tho statutes in which n vidion in desired, and tho changes Bought- Moat, if not all, of those legal gootlomon wero in Salt Lake, about a year ago, when tho Territorial legis. laturo wan in de.ision. Why did they not approaoh that body by memorial, and point out tho statutes passed by it which in their otimbined legal wisdom and experience they considered needed rovision and alteration? Tho fact that such rovisiou was imperative had not so forcibly impressed them at the time, and an lliey arc modest gentlemen we proposo to try and discover, for tho : bonelit of tho public, and without an noying thorn too seriously, why aud how they havo reached thid view of tho matter that prcssoa them now to urge congressional legislation. A yoar ago juries wore picked and packed with tho utmost facility, and tho missionary cutcrprhod of our foderal judiciary wero being prosecuted with, to thoui, tho most gratifying success. suc-cess. Courts wero held and the gentlemen gentle-men of tho long iobo wore enjoying a multiplicity of rotuiuors and feed, i ut a short time later a decision from Washington declared that juries must bjLd!wuEjtf3: parfbWo7fstlec"; not stripping them of any of their rightful powors; but declaring that a jury by which a man's life, liberty and property wero imperilled should bo drawn from his peers by duo form of law, and not, selected from his avowed enemies breathing couvictioa before trial and determined on punishment punish-ment whether tho accused wero innocent inno-cent or guilty. This was all tho restrictions placed upon the fedora oourta in Utah, and they wero placed upou thorn by tho unanimous decision of the court of last re?ort io tho country. coun-try. Tbo federal courts havo to-day ull tho authority they havo over had, and thoy havo always had amplo authority for every purpose of justice, when the judges did not refuse to cxereiso their authority. Chief justice MoKcan eamo on hero from tho east last summer, after his friends had said ho could never again show his f'aco on tho bench in Utah. Ho had all tho authority needed to hold his terms of court, to havo grand aud petit juries summoned and impan-neled, impan-neled, and to perform all his judicial fuuetions. Some jury trials wero had. One very important one, in which the Central Pacitio railroad company was tho defendant, was tried and a verdict obtained. The celebrated and important import-ant Emma aud Illinois Tunnel caso was tried, by jury, and decided. And yet, it is stated, "tho federal conrts are powerless in both criminal and civil issues." Last summer, before the eommencc-nient eommencc-nient of the September term of court, tho United States district attorney applied ap-plied for a grand jury, but could not got it. Why? The Territorial Terri-torial attorney general applied for a grand jury, but could not get it. Why? Because preparation was being made for this very cry, that "federal courts are powerless." Judi;c McKean had been thwarted in his work as a mission jurist, by the supreme court of the United Slates. (aud tliatthe desired legislation leg-islation might be secured from congress, con-gress, the wheels of justice were locked. nd tho courts practically suspended. There is not a lawyer in Salt Lake City to-day but knows this. And believing be-lieving that judge McKean is to bo retained re-tained in Iim position, a number of the meters of tho bar are not very particular what legislation id secured it' it will ouly open court and allow their practice to go on. Wt$ay this deliberately deliber-ately and advisedly. Some of them have admitted that they mut either endorse the course of judge Metvean, or remove to some other pla.'c to practice prac-tice their profession. They have not the moral courage to declare the facts which we havo stated, aud to ask for his removal. They aver lint he has given numerous decisions which will not etaad before a tribunal higher than the supreme court of ibis Tenitory; that he will not permit the regular judicial business to progress unless he can got such legislation as he desire; that their only course is to coincide with his views and sees legislation ty oo tigress ti-gress of any Yxz that will open the courts, and that the courts can only be opened by prop tilting the pres ent chief justice of l";ah. Adiei to this, notwithstanding the pli'mess of the statutes, tho judiciary hera will neither hoid court thtm-e'ves, nor alow tho jurisdiction which the law onfersupon the probate courts; and fom first to laat,in all the movements, ho object U plain, to try and impreus ipon congress that "the federal courts ire power Lea in both criminal and civil e.iUee;" which is ad untrue an to day that conre:d has no legislative authority author-ity Ln::au-e the federal constitution prescribed limit within whi':h itd leg-islation leg-islation must be bonftaed. |
