Show 17 lwft X I 1 s i 10 S ln the T fil ill convention COURT housep HOUSE GREAT SALT LAKE CITY JANUARY 1862 1802 REPORTED neron TED by y jv V LONG nono after the s anin of the constitution by the Delegate sj lion hon chief justice kinney ve being ing present pres ehr was wis calle caile J upon to address the convention and spoke as follows AND GENTLEMEN OF THE convention T 1 banot canot ca hnot but feel deeply sensible of the honor bonor conferred upon me moe by being called to af address aldress dress dreas you A mere spectator not expect ting to speak I 1 can scarcely hope to be able fo say anything that will enlighten or B s lengthen reng then the members fimbers in the discharge of their high duty I 1 see before me ma delegates from froal every founty county in this territory some residing four hundred miles distant not a man elected to the convention who is not at his post all no doubt fully impressed with the responsibility of the works work that of preparing for the themselves in an I 1 posterity a constitution the highest chiv I 1 trist that can be delegated to the citizen for mr president you well know the departments of government executive legislative and judi jadi ial lal not only derive all their powers from the constitution but must be obe obedient dent to the constitution TE the deliberations of this body and the unanimous vote in favor of adopting the instrument just read as your fundamental liw liw prove to my mind that the people are not enly in earnest in changing their form of government and asserting their rights under the constitution but also that there is ro 10 to 10 feeling feel inam an the subject among those represented on this floor j having been more or less connected with j the th e people eoe of thi this territory since 1851 ap domed pointed twice under different administrations 1 j your bour chist chief justice personally treated with courtesy and as a a judge with respect and confidence it is not strange that I 1 should rz regard ard with more than ordinary interest the proceedings of the s convention and your an application for fox admission into the family of f states mr arr president you are endeavoring to shake I 1 C off ty your ou r old worn out territorial garments a poor legacy at hirt birt birst first and af afford fordin ln r indifferent protection but now threadbare and rotten from age and ce and in their place put i on the queenly robe of state sovereignty the cord that has bound your hands and fettered your feet you propose to exchange for one of fraternal love unit mg na you forever for ever in this hour of her calamity with the sister hood of states in doing this the people are only availing themselves of a ri ed by the federal constitution and congress im aA admitting you I 1 is but performing a duty it onlo anio coined ined by that sa sacred cred instrument the rhe right nhe prat of oe self government governments underlies i the constitution it wa was S boldly asserted by our fathers fathera bedoe the revolution it is older than aan constitutions or governments it is in muni mini ins birthright derived as an inheritance 1 from the supreme being f it has been said of oe the israelites spartans spartano Spar tans and romans wh wb framed their governments according to their own will that they did it rot hot ot by any peculiar privilege but by a universal right conferred udon uron them by god and nature our fathers understood this and to maintain the right of self government the war of the th revo luon was fought against the coos mast most fearful olds god stood by the right the prin ipie triumphed and was incorporated into the tha constitution as the basis of our rei republican publican ins the irrefragable right of the tho th american citizen so long iong as that cn 1 stu sti lution is the paramount law of the land I 1 nuat duat at sir the american revolution was fou douht ht to sustain this principle governors and NY were nvere ere imported from the aloth mother r country to rule over the I 1 people of the colonies in the selection of these and other officers they exercised no ili iii loice their legislation was first submitted i fe the Gover norand unless it met with his I 1 roial rayal sanction it was void in case he gave j his nia assent absent it was then thea transmitted to the crown for the approval of lils ilia majesty yla yia e if it passed both these thebe trong trung trin ordeals lit jit it stua was calil ya alid lil ili iii and this is one of the ibe causes of complaint set sat dorthin for thin the declaration of independence dan can ce here liere was nas a flagrant violation of the p principle 1 ae of which I 1 have spoken ajr I 1 rs having fled from civil and religious il tolerance intolerance infused the spirit of liberty into their descendants of the revolution and in taking ta that step of moral sublimity which causa caused kings to tremble upon their theirl thrones hrones i they tl gle gie if c la a a that all men are created ead elul elui ll tg ey are endowed by their creator with h certain inalienable rights that among these thesa are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these right rights I 1 1 1 go app p are instituted amon anong among 7 ngn men deriving de ltv ing th virjust ir just powers from tle tie coant content govern grovern gui mr air nt do the people of oe utah enjoy this divine as well as constitutional right of j self seif government mude mide if possible more sacred by the precious mood blood of our ancestors they do noi not nii wathla WAthia IV ll these historic truths gookim looking ua ruil full inthe fach a terri territorial to toral r al government has haj been inaugurated for you and under which lich ilch you have lived for near twelve years almost in he be exact similitude of the one established by great britain for the colonies your governor 11 other othen civil ers era ar arh ara s tent tant tint sint among amon yo yott ahl forced upon ou oil t bar co n gent sent truby trad Truey you oui are eglit to it i local icil legislature ay were bome some eo mo of odthe the a p oya thi the e organic branic 43 Governor has absom a 1 vii vil ill lii I your legislation 1 a i nv nell neil e it as aa the most unimportant nt bill bil 1 that at p passes a e 9 it may be without a dissenting vote is I 1 liable a b 0 to be thwarted not by a veto message assigning reasons or withholding wit holding his approval but by simply folding hl his arme arm and looking on with stolid indifference this tilis power I 1 say is conferred upon the governor go arnor and has beeh been exercised in the way mentioned more than once or twice or a dozen times and some of your most vital legislation L has failed without any reas reasons i ons having haying been given why the bill met with disfavor in the hands of a wicked and obstinate man the power is effectual to block the wheels of legislation and after spending forty days the allotted time in faithful duty for the best interest of your constituents you find your labors all in vain your self government an I 1 i suit to your int intelligence diligence a mockery to your american spirits spirit and a libel upon the federal constitution As of a great principle of free government it matters little whether the power is exercised or not you are subject to this tyrannical oppression by te ae act of congress that gave your people territorial existence although such power is I 1 from some other present territorial governors but mr president the analogy between the colonial government and your own does not stop here by a provision in your organic act it is established that 11 all the laws passed by the legislative assembly and the governor shall se be submit submitted ed to the congress of the united states and it if disproved shall be null and vold void 12 tho the congress Con giess here bere takes the p ace of the british crown in colonial legislation our oar fathers complained and J an successfully c ce sau f 11 y assert as ef a different principle principles that the right to make laws was inherent in the people to tobe be affected by them you asi abt as 1 sert the same right in your constitution constitutions and earnestly demand that this dear bought provision be extended to the people by admitting them as a sovereign sate S ate it ith has a been gravely contended by the execl I 1 tive tiye vt 0 this territory that all your laws remain I 1 in abeyance until congress has passed upon them while I 1 do not agape with this sentiments sentiment athil still the power is vested in congress to render them null and void vi dand and if the toe governor Go kernor approves approve sp you are still obliged to run this congressional gantlet the people here then have two absolute ab and independent sovereign sovereignties ties to which they the source of all power are when they seek to express their thell will through their legislature legislatures in framing their own local laws first the negative veto of the executive second the absolute veto of the congress of the united thi chiai is a almost precisely the power ed and contended for by great reat britain over the colonies and resistance to it as I 1 have said sald brought on the revolution and established self government which can never be enjoyed by the people of utah so long iong as they remain in territorial bondage again mr Pres nent keht it has been sei set seriously bously contended by able jurists that there is no ilo authority given to con congress ress by the constitution to organize these thebe fw Tenito rial governments it will not be denied that hat congress can exercise only such powers ia i a are conferred conter confer redi nor that the enumeration of certain specify d powers necessarily exclude all others no express power P 0 w er is given to form such governments an and d i if f delegated at all it is only so by implication or construction it does nt at become me sir air occupying a judicial position to lve alve ive mv mav views in a speech upon a question involving invoking the very existence of your present government As a judge I 1 can only bow with submission to the decision already given by the highest jud ical tribunal of the country one thing however I 1 will say en passant it if the power is derived from the constitution why is n t the constitution observed and your judges appointed during good b blavier bLa cavior Ia vior according to its provisions Is not the office created by congress and must it not look to the constitution for its authority does not the constitution provide for creating inferior courts and prescribe the tenure of office during good behavior but we are told the courts provided for by the constitution are not territorial courts as the judes judges jud es could not be so appointed because the go government vein ment is temporary exactly then we ask again where is the power well lvell if I 1 must answer the question I 1 will wiil say in the dred scott scotta decision the truth titita is mr president it will not do to investigate too sharply or critical e too closely these territorial government govern men 9 we have acquired territory far tar beyond the expectation or of the framers of the constitution for the government of which they made no provision if error has been committed in creating crea tim such governments antagonistic as they seeg seen seem beem to me with the spirit alid genius of our re pub ican institution the best way to get rid of the evil and remedy the difficulty is to exchange them for state governments the 0 for by the federal constitution ution but nut if they must exist give he be people thon tho n elec tall tali if you tax them directly or indirectly a representative in Gt congress ingress taxation and re resent tion are twin sisters ahl ailt yes sir bir fuin fuen twin relics if you please not of barbarism however bo wever but 1 of american independence clorious lo rious f ulta uita of ulf uld revolution are the neove people of utah taxed most blost certainly taxed just as our fathers were taxed to support tha tho parent government I 1 taked taxed just armach as the peppie people i of the th states jar are jaad axed according to youn population and consumption dejour 4 sul sui cobe your spur woo booen wo oen lenand abid linen w you tou eat elt d alu k and we r thattis ort edland coue cone ils lis bir tir rAlie falie the tax and bifid I 1 goes oes 1 alto ito t 0 th the 11 national baid said that taxation itt kit bt bit B it 9 jathen dathen go together they were i taxed ax 1 rd Wi 81 way and also deprived of a representative in the british parliament to th til 9 they would not submit you know be resit res ailt has utah ever had a rep in tile the congress of the united 9 ates never you have a delegate but be is not permitted to vote and can not vote voto tor or your interest in regulating the tariff or an any hother bother measure which adly d ly concerns your prosperity lie he is an duider ou lder ider occupying much the same position that I 1 do in this convention privileged through your courtesy to take a seat a mong among you us for or which accept my thanks to speak but oiin otin jall all ali that constitutes legislation is denied him sir I 1 see b by the proceedings of your late legislature that utah bas has assumed payment of the dir ct feder federi 1 tax assessed to help carry on the war some lawyers might suppose that a direct tax could only be apportioned according to the constitution amon among the several states stales I 1 rejoice oice olce that utah hags hafs has not taken this view that I 1 at she is willing rilling M poor as her deop e are in ready money to be bear ar her proportion of the expense in sustaining the government the constitution and the laws and that too without asking or orca carein whether the tax is constitutional cr not money noney could not be appropriated ap for a better or holier cause and man utah has set her sister territories a roble example in I 1 n this respect which they will do well to follow rebellion must be put down the cons constitution tit ution must be preserved whatever the sacrifice but mr president the question recurs will utah or deseret as you have christened your state be admitted I 1 ask guided by the constitution why not haselera Ha has severa ever a state been denied this privilege have one been admitted to the confederacy since the adoption of fhe the constitution should not the be same right be accorded to deseret deveret that las been to other states Sta tes tei and while the doors of congress have been teen thrown wide open to receive them are they to be closed against you Is utah for ever doomed to remain in col lonial va vassalage lage barred of her C denied the precious boon of self f gover goser government 12 rendered doubly dear to her iier citizens in consequence of bissola tion and the strangers appointed to rule over them Is not your atlon claimed to emb amb embrace ace some eighty thousand souls sufficient to entitle you to a respect respectful ill ili til ul and favorable I 1 consideration have not the people sett ed these valleys pres biting to the eye at the time of their a rival the appearance of vast desert sunder the most painful circumstances and has not their industry made them literally blossom as the rose have not villages and aties sprung from their hands bands as if by enchantment have you not here made a resting place for the wea y emigrant while pursuing ensuing his toilsome journey to the new BI I 1 dorado 11 and has he not here been fed a and ni refreshed shed aid wid gone on his way rejoicing have you not done more to attale an empire on the pacific than all the ships chips that navigate leacel ul waters Is it not by the products of your soil that the great overland mail is ia enabled to perform its daily trips across the continent Ws wis W s it not by reason of the toe enterprise of president brigham young the leader or this people peoples s that tha t labor and means wee furnished to comp |