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Show ISSteb State mi (I County Officials Said to Have. Acted Without Authority. ' 'PROPOSITION TO AMEND !' IS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED ! Under Present Laws Dynamiters ; Can Be Charged Only With Misdemeanor, l o Owing lo Uio fact that tlio stale law " inly makes Midi an offense as flint which occurred at (lio Utah hotel re-' re-' t rently a inisdcniciinor, considerable talk i is going the rounds, cspeeittlry anions lawyers, of haviug tlio present statute j amended so that such crimes may he I punishable as a felony by a. term of t imprisonment in the state prison. At present such .1 crime is defined and punishable as mnlieious mischief, tlic penalty for which cannot exceed a term of six months in the county jail or a ' liim nC fs'.lCM. nr hnfli. Inasmuch as the offense committed by the person or persons who dj'na-, dj'na-, 1 nii led the hotel is onlv a misdemeanor, there is no question that the action of , acting Goveruor Tingcy in oll'oring a 4 reward of $.11)0 for the arrest and con-' P viction of the guiltv persons is il- legal. The state statute gives the gov-f gov-f ornor authority onlv to offer a reward 1 for the capture of an escaped prisoner or for a person charged with the commission com-mission of a felony. There is also a grave question as to the legality of the action of the count v commissioners in olfering a reward of $oQ0 for the , persons who did the dynamiting. Under the provisions of the city ordinances, the mayor only has a right to offer a reward for the arrest of persons charged with a violation of the city ordinances, and in such cases the re-Jj re-Jj -ward cannot exceed $200. , Offers Without Authority. It is the opinion of several of the 1 leading attorneys of the city that at lea si $1000 of the reward money now posted for the capture of the Utah hotel dvnamilers is without authority of law. "Section -310.1 of the Compiled Laws of I "Utah. 1007. which regulates the power of the governor in regard (0 rewards, is as follows: "The governor may offer a reward not exceeding $1000, payable out. of the state treasury, for tho apprehension apprehen-sion : "I. Of any convict who shall have escaped from the state prison: or, '2. Of auv persou who shall have committed or shall be charged with the commission of a felony." That apparcntlv settles the question of the reward ofl'ered bv acting Gov-I Gov-I ernor Tingey. because of the fact that the act committed bv the dynamiters I is only a misdemeanor. I ' Board's Powers Limited. I So far as can be ascertained by the I attorneys who have looked up the I proposition, there is no aurliority given I the county commissioners to offer a II reward in such cases. In the list of I' powers given the board and enumerated It in detail in the statutes, there is no I , provision whatever for the offcriu:; of a I I reward for the arrest of a person I charged with a crime of any character. I A resolution was introduced at tut? I, meeting of I he citv council Monday If iijglit authorizing the mayor to offer a If reward of ?"i00 for the arrest and con-I con-I viction of the dynamiters, but this res-I res-I olution was referred to a committee for I consideration. I As to the power of the mayor to I offer a reward, .section -10S of the a-1 a-1 vised Ordinances of lOO.'i contains the I following provision: I 4 'Whenever in his judgment if is a I proper case, the mayor may offer a I reward, in any sum not. exceeding $200, I for the apprehension of the city ordi-I ordi-I nance" Tu view of the fact thar the pcrpe-I pcrpe-I ! trators of the offense at trio 11 ah ho-I ho-I tel would bo charged under the state I statutes with malicious mischief, it is I evident that the mayor could not le-I: le-I: .1 cally offer a reward for their arrest. ! ' It is. therefore, likely Unit the com-If com-If mittee will report adversely upon the Ij reward icsolution. H j ' To Amend Law. I, I Should the law be amended so as Ij ' Lo make such crimes a felony, then the 1.1 legal obslacle in the way of offering r . , rewards would be removed, in part, at ? 1" any rate. .Judging from the sentiment ' 1 since the explosion at the Utah hotel ! it i not uulilvclv that the matter will 1 ,'. l,c taken up with the ue.r. legislature, i with a view to having the law amended, j i ' ;', Two sections of the state law cover-' cover-' , injr the malicious destruction of prop-' prop-' . j ': ertv are :is follows: , j I; 1 '"'TSvery person who maliciously 111-i 111-i iurcs or destroys any real or pcr&onnl ,:!'.! . property not his own, is guilty of a jniademeanor. . , k , . "Section -llSy, lieviscd Statutes of J ':.. j. "Every ofl'cnso declared to be ajnis-j ajnis-j j I i' demeanor is punishable by iinprison- 1 ! 1 meut in a couuty jail ot acceding six t ; ; months, or by a. lino in any sum Jess , r , than $300, or by both." tr h, "Section 40Gu, .Revised Statutes of jf'L Utah." .j. , v L, Penalty Is Ridiculous. L'i ' ':... In discussing the matter Tuesday a ,. well-known lawyer pointed (0 the law, K v' and -said: . , , a "The only thing that could bo done fi', 1 . 1 -with the man or men who committed ,ii , ' -t hat. crime would be to convict him or M 'd them, and then sentence tho guilty V ' person or persons to a term of six Xt'. months in the county ,P'i1. with the )Jf'.', addition of a $300 fine, which they ii , would have to serve out at the rate r i of 1 a day, unices paid. This is the ' ,h 011I3' punishment that could bo meted out; for a dynamiting outrage, unless i 1 ti sonio one were killed, and then murder fift in liiu first degree might bo charged." . Should Eo Felony. ' .lob P. Ijyon. county altornci', is of i! 1 the same opinion. He said Tuesday .! that tho present; law should be changed ' . , ! fo that it would cover such cases as h have- come up within the past few i ',!. months. ' 1 "T certainly believo that the law 1. 1 1 should be changed so that the using of ! ' dynamite should be, made n felonj', and 5 "' that the mau convicted of such an of-, of-, J , fonso should havo at lenst a long torm I :t"'i in tho state prison," said Mr. Lyon. : , 1 ; District Attorney Fred 0. Loofbou-I, Loofbou-I, '1 row declared Tuesday, that for the 1 good of organized labor every union in ll y yf the cit' should urge each of its mem- I -' ' born to do everything in his power to .a) J I ferret out tho man or men who were J 1 i guilty of dynamiting the Utah hotel on j . Alonday morning, He furthermore said that as most of tho union men had families hero that special effort should he mado' to purgo the unions of even the slightest suspicion. Jlc suggested that it would not be a bad idea for tho head of every locnl union to urge upon the members that they do everything every-thing in their power to find tho guilty Plthou or porsous |