Show PRESENTED CONGRESS BY MR SPRINGER A fair statement of uny questionable facts balow is tho report from the house committee on territories as submitted by mr springer on march al 21 the committee on territories to whom was referred the bill H E for the admission of the state of utah into the union on an equal footing with the original states having had the same under consideration have instructed me to submit the following report thereon utah is asking to be admitted as a state under a constitution some of the provisions of which and the circumstances under which it was made and by whom mado will be hereafter considered si dim OF AS TO THE ADMISSION OF STATES it is certainly to the interest as it has been the policy of the general government to create states out of the territory belonging to the federal government whenever there is a population within a defined locality sufficient to justify a state government and of such a fixed character and possessing such qualities and interests as to justify conferring the exclusive power to control local affairs the admission of new states into the union adds to its strength as a nation and it may be said therefore that it is not merely the privilege of congress but the duty gress to convert this public domain into states as fast as population and conditions will justify THE MIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF A bohr TO HAVE A STATE government but it is not only the duty of congress to bring in now states it is the right of the people to have a state government when the conditions ex when congress creates a territory and a territorial government for the people who may inhabit it it is with the implication that they shall have a state government and shall be part and parcel of the nation in every re and especially have a voice in it affairs with this promise held out to them they occupy and develop a part of the public domain and when they have fulfilled these conditions their right to a state government cannot without bad faith be denied unless there are other conditions existing that relieve congress from the duty that would otherwise be imperative in the consideration of this subject your committee have carefully examined into matters relating to the population resources and material development of that territory and the social status jf the people the proponents of this constitution as well as those in opposition have been fully heard statistics have boon carefully cara fully and elaborately presented and considers and the facts about to be stated herein are undisputed jhc thc are not only asserted by the proponents but they are freely and frankly admitted by the op ts and are fully sustained by recorded statistics the population of Utah is now about the yearly productions may be summarized as follows grain and hay products vegetable and other garden products cattle head value forsea hed value sheep head value Swine head value the annual yield of farm and garden products and profits of stock raising and oe the wool clip is estimated to bo net loss than the manufactured articles for 1888 are valued at about 00 the output of the coal mines of utah last year exceed in value over the output of precious prey ious minerals in 1888 at soa board value was the total business transacted in the territory exclusive of railway and telegraphic business amounted to something like the transactions in real estate in salt lake county alone for as they appear by the records of that county aggregated there are 1140 miles of railway in operation in utah and several now lines in courna of construction and projected telegraph lines connect all tho principal settlements and the telephone and electric light are extensively used in the larger towns tho real estate is valued at not lees than the aggregate of property is placed at exclusive of which are nn taxed the records of the land office show that there have been since ita opening in 1869 homestead dentri for a total acreage of acro a preemption pre emption filings for acres cash entries numbered for acres and desert ap 2573 for acres timber culture 1051 for acres a total of entries and applications for acres the private ownership of lands in the territory is generally in small tracts the average is not to exceed seventy acres to each owner tho territory is conspicuously free fam and monopoly the people gener sy owa their own lands holding titles from the government the manufacturing interests are varied and of increasing magnitude among these aro flour mills woolen mills sawmills saw mills mils paper mills clothing boot hat clovo hosiery silk broom brush sash door and molding factories iron glass soap glue chemical furniture cooperage coppe rage refining and smelling smelting sm elting works foundries potteries machine shops lime kalns kilns brick yards cement yards etc RESOURCES the mineral deposits include gold silver lead zinc and copper the finest marbles white and colored granite limestone and various building stones there are also antimony sulphur gypsum manganese and beds of aap haTtum besides petroleum natural gas etc the precious have yielded during the last seventeen years tho sum of which is evidence of their richness and permanency the coal beds and salt deposits are practically new discoveries co of valuable minerals are made every year SCHOOLS the territorial legislature has provided a system of public schools and for the support thereof which is summarized as follows the particulars being taken from the statutes of utah and from the report to congress for 1888 of the commissioner of schools appointed under the provisions of the act of congress of march there are twenty four counties in the territory in which there are 34 school districts and ia these districts there are public schools there are teachers and assistants and of these forty aro non mor mons the school population between the ages of six and eighteen years is of which are mormon and non mormon the number of scholars enrolled is of which are mormon and 2267 non mormon com deport ap pp now SCHOOLS ARE maintained these schools are supported as follows by a territorial tax of 3 mills on the dollar for of teachers trustees are elected by the taxpayers in each district and these trustees are authorized to levy and collect an additional tax of one fourth of 1 per cent for general school purposes and by a vote of a majority of the taxpayers in any district a further tax up to 2 per cent maybe assessed and collected for school purposes corn ap pp 2 34 J the value of district school property is ibid p the amount paid for school teachers and appliances for schools for the year ending juno was ibid p 16 the text books used in these schools are as follows Ban crofts readers Harring tons graded speller Apple tons elementary and higher geographies copy books michaels system of penmanship for fourth reader and higher grades of pupils krusic drawing series pathfinder series of gies consisting of no 1 childs health primer no 2 hygiene for young people and no 3 steeles hygiene physiology si grammars barnes short studies in english beed and kelloggs higher lessons in english barnes primary history of the united states stephens music readers harpers university in addition to the foregoing there is the university of deseret which is in part supported by territorial funds it is open to all and forty students yearly are admitted upon condition that they become teachers in the district schools ibid p 6 denominational SCHOOLS 0 these the cormons mormons have 85 other denominations in the mormon schools the scholars enrolled are and 19 non mor mons in other denominations the scholars enrolled are 2277 cormons mormons and non cormons mormons ibid p 13 it is very apparent from the statistics above given that the provisions for education are worthy of the highest commendation and the results prove their value these results briefly stated are as follows taken from the report of the united states commissioner of education for the year 1881 the average duration of schools in utah in a year is days only twelve states cind one territory and the district of columbia have a higher average viz davs connecticut delaware owa ia massachusetts michigan new jersey f ft new york ohio pennsylvania rhode island wisconsin district of columbia idaho illiteracy the fruits of the school system are shown in the facts that the percentage of illiteracy is lower than the average of the country and there are thirteen states and territories that show a lower percentage of persons who cannot read connecticut and utah have the same namely leaving out of view persons of color the following table from the gt census report gives the compari of illiteracy in utah as a s compared f ho aggregate of the states and territories age and nationality who utah US cannot write an itt cent vent native whites 10 years and over 59 87 Fore 5 whites whipps 10 to 14 years whites iff to 21 49 72 t whites 21 yeara and over sa 94 it can sot be and is not disputed that the educational facilities in utah are of a high order of excellence and the effect is shown in the statistics above presented of churches other than mormon there are sixty live in the territory holding church property proper tv of the value of and havin glOS ministers these are catholic episcopalian presbyterian methodist congregational baptists etc THE MOKAL STATUS OP PEOPLE OF UTAH the population of the territory may be classified generally as follows cormons mormons non cormons mormons Mor mons it is universally conceded that no locality equally populated with utah is from the vices that afflict communities than this territory it is singularly free from saloons houses of prostitution and the like and it is undisputed that the people generally are moral industrious and law abiding while this is true as to the population as an entirety it is es true as to the mormon portion of it their characteristics in cheso respects aro introduced by the following governor west in his report to tho secretary of the interior for 1888 says 1 shall not arraign the moamoa people as wanting in comparison with other people in religions devotion virtue honesty sobriety industry and the graces and qualities that adorn beautify and bless life dr miller editor of the omaha herald says to the lasting honor of the mormon people and system be it said that for twenty five years such machines of moral infamy as whisky shops harlo tries faro banks and all the attendant forms of vice and iniquity were totally unknown in utah bishop spaulding in the forkim for march 1887 says the cormons mormons are sober industrious and thrifty mrs emily pitt stevens editor Pio izeer a comans womans journal writes utah is the wisest and best governed of any large section of people in the united stales in great salt lake city there ia less of drunkenness gambling idleness theft conspiracy against the peace of society and crime generally than there is in any other acty of the same population in the country if not on the globe the testimony of bayard taylor the illustrious traveler and author is the cormons mormons as a people are the most temperate of americans they are chase laborious and generally cheerful governor 0 idaho in his report to the secretary of the interior for 1888 says paris bear lake county has a population of about 1500 all mor mons and thero is not a saloon or gambling house or any other place where intoxicating liquor is sold and this is I 1 am told the case in all the towns jn idaho where these people have exclusive control the governor of arizona bears similar testimony and it appears that the moral character of the cormons mormons is good wherever they reside THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE that the affairs of this territory j have been well managed in the past is sufficiently evidenced by the fact that there is no territorial indebted 1 ness except which was creat eda about a year ajao under the act of the legislature for public institutions the legislature had appropriated for an insane asylum for a reform school for a capitol building for an exhibition building for tha uni hersity building for a deaf mute asylum for an agricultural college and the debt of in 5 per cent bonds was created to meet balances due on cheso appropriations there has been no case of official embezzlement or malfeasance in office during tho twenty nine years of territorial government from what has now been stated it is apparent that all the conditions exist in utah in a marked degree necessary to entitle the people of that lurn tory to have a state government it iye qually apparent that by reason of her geographical position her immense agricultural and mineral resources her accumulated wealth and the general intelligence and indest rious and energetic character of her people it is of national importance that utah should have state golem ment your committee will present however THE objections RAISED AGAINST ADMISSION these are 1 the existence of polygamy 2 the power of the teachings of the mormon church on that subject the facts in respect of these will bo presented in their order it is not denied by the advocates of admission that polygamy is practiced in that territory they claine that it is not obligatory upon the members of the mormon church that it has been gradually dying out until now there are comparatively few who are living in polygamous relations and that this few are chiefly past the meridian of life they claim that polygamous marriages have ceased to be solemnized that in the near future polygamy will have ceased to exist altogether and is even now practice ally dead and that its unjust to deprive the many of political rights be cause a comparatively few are violating the law in this regard your committee therefore present such facts aa have como to their knowledge on this subject for the consideration of the house athe atah commission both males and females voted found that there were persons of both sexes who were or had been in polygamous ions of thase who had been but were not thee in polygamy there were leaving bow men and women then 1882 in polygamy how many of those were men and how many women can only be estimated the estimate has been made that there were on an average ahree women to one man and this is probably a low estimate and would show that thoro were not more then 2250 men in polygamy and probably less than that number it is asserted by cormons mormons who should know that they have no knowledge that there have been any polygamous marriages for several years there is no evidence that there have been any in the past three years bat it should bo stated that the non mor mons allege that the absence of evidence to the contrary is because such marriages are secret but the fact nevertheless is that there is no evidence that such marriages have been solemnized since that time tho pro are in the light af pf the stringent legislation by congress and the active prosecutions that there have not been if that be true then the number in polygamy though death and otherwise musa have been greatly reduced since 1882 and must be comparatively small now the only additional evidence on the subject is found in ex doc no first session fiftieth congress a report by the attorney general of the convictions of polygamy and unlawful cohabitation under the anti poly gamy acts of 1882 and the amendment of 1887 an examination of these acts will show that congress went as far as was reasonably possible in granting power to prosecuting officers and the courts to ferret out and convict persons who were in polygamous relations the result as stated in that report has been that there convictions as follows for polygamy since november 1881 ten persons were convicted for unlawful cohabitation between aprie 1885 and september 1888 were convicted this indicates very strongly that the fact is as claimed that polygamy is rapidly disappearing and that compared with the whole population but u small portion not as much as one per cent are |