Show correspondence BETWEEN LIEU MEU general D U WELLS AND GOVENOR JT W SHAFFER ADJUTANT GENERALS OFFICE UT salt lake city oct 25 1870 his excellency J W SHAFFER shaefer governor and commander in chief of the militia of utah territory SIR sin whereas a proclamation has been published emanating from your excellency in which the holding of the regular musters in this territory is prohibited except by your order and whereas the notices for the regular musters were given out as usual and some of them held in portions of the territory and whereas to stop the tho muster musters now snow neither the terms of the proclamation the laws of the territory nor the laws of congress requiring reports of the force and condition of the militia of the territory could be complied with we therefore the undersigned undersigner under signed for and in behalf of the militia of said sala territory respectfully ask your excellency to suspend the operations of said proclamation until the day of november next in order that we may be enabled to make full fall and complete returns of the militia as aforesaid D DANIEL aniel H WELLS Gen chomg militia U UT T H B CLAWSON ada gen militia IT T EXECUTIVE department utah territory salt bait lake city oct 27 1870 1670 D H WELLS ESQ SIR I 1 have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of yesterday in ih which you alga yourself lieutenant general commanding the militia of utah territory As the laws of the united states provide for but one lieutenant general and as the ocum bent of that office is the distinguished philip H sheridan I 1 shall erta be pardoned for recognizing n no 0 other in your communication you address me as I 1 I 1 comman commander derin der in chief of the militia of utah territory it is now twenty years since the act to organize this territory was passed by the congress of the united states and nod so far as I 1 am informed this is the first instance in which you or any of your predecessors in the pretended office which you assume to hold have recognized the Goyer governor nor of this territory to be as the organic act makes him the commander in chief ac ac my predecessors have been contemptuously ignored or boldly defied I 1 1 late you and the loyal people here and elsewhere on the significant change in your conduct you do me the honor to ask me to suspend the operation of my proclamation of sept 1870 prohibiting ap hi all musters drills ac ac c in other words you ask me to recognize an unlawful military system which was originally organized at nauvoo in the state of illinois and which has exsted here without authority of the united states and in deliance defiance of the federal officials you say whereas to stop the musters now neither the terms of the proclamation the laws of the territory nor the laws of congress ac could be complied with that is my proclamation cannot be carried out unless I 1 will let you violate it laws of the territory which conflict with the laws of congress must fall to the ground round rouno unless I 1 will permit you to anh uphold old oid them and the laws of congress cannot be complied with unless I 1 will williet let iet you interpret and nullify them to state the proposition is to answer it mr wells you know as I 1 do that the people of this territory most of whom were foreign born and are ill acquainted with our institutions have been taught to regard certain private citizens here as superior in authority not only to the federal officials here but also at washington ever since my proclamation was issued and on a public occasion and in the the presence of many thousands of his followers brigham young who claims to be and is called 11 president quit 11 denounced the federal officers of this territory avith b i te vehemence and on a a like U t the same time and in his youngs young a presence one of his most moat conk conspicuous I 1 followers declared tha that t congress had no right whatever to pass an organic act for this territory that such an act was a relic of colo coio colonial n jai jal barbarism and that not one of the federal officials had any right to come to or remain in this territory mr wells you ask me to take a course which in effect would aid you and your turbulent associates to further convince your followers that you and your associates are more powerful than the federal government I 1 must decline pend the operation of my proclamation now would be a greater dereliction of duty than not to have issued it without authority from me you issued an order in your assumed capacity of general ac ac calling out the militia of the territory to muster and now you virtually ask me to ratify your act sir I 1 will not do anything in satisfaction of your off omm lelous officious and unwarranted assumption by the provisions of the organic act acts t the h e governor is made the commander I 1 in n chief of the militia of the territory and sir air as long as I 1 continue to hold that office a force so Im important t as that of the milita shall not be wielded or controlled in disregard of my authority which by law and my obligation it is my plain duty not only to assert but if ila fla possible os sible bibie to maintain I 1 hope the above is sufficiently explicit as to be fully understood der stood and supersede the necessity of any further farther communication on this subject I 1 have the honor to be ac fcc ac J W SHAFFER governor commander in n chief chiet of the militia of utah territory |