| Show C chief of justice xiv mckeaig Mc Keais I 1 clarie ch to to tilo grad jmj jury terri terni territory tory TonY OV OP UTAH Y october third district dietrict court term 3 salt sait lake city J 1874 1674 JUDICIAL cognizance COGNIZANT CE GENTLEMEN OF THE GRAND JURY the supreme court of california has said courts are bound to take notice of the political and social condition of the country which they judicially rule and the illustrious baron de montesquieu says in his spirit of lawa laws 1 I shall shail first examine the relation which laws have to the nature maturo and principle of each government ern ment and as this principle has strong influence on laws I 1 shall make it my business to understand it thoroughly and if I 1 can but once one e establish it the laws will soon appear to flow from thence as from their source bearing bearings these important principles in mind it is incumbent upon you gentlemen and upon upun me to remember where we are to inquire what are the evils which con coD confront front us and what are our duties touch ing them ABSOLUTE VETO in passing the act to organize this territory congress took the precaution to invest tho the governor with the power or of an absolute veto of any law that might bypassed be passed b by y the legislative assembly president fillmore then by and with the advice and consent of the senate appointed brigham young to be governor of the territory and an d that governor conti continue nuel in that office during the administration of president pierce primary DISPOSAL OF THE SOIL congress also provided that no ao law shall be passed interfering wj eli til the primary dispo disposal tsal ilal of the soil but very soon thereafter the leg legislative assembly aa assumed umed to dispose of vast tracts of the public lauds lands of many streams of water I 1 though artificial irrigation is essential to nearly all agricultural lands and of vast forests of timber though such forests are far from numerous I 1 will quote a fow few of these grants in the language of these ten teri legislators the islands in great salt lake known as Stans burys island an and antelope island shall be under the exclusive control of president brigham young be it ordained etc etcy 1 that ezra T benson is hereby granted the exclusive privilege of controlling the waters in tooele thoele valley tooele thoele county known as the twin springs prin gs also the waters that issue from a spring called the rock boek spring in said valley and county for mills and irrigating purposes ibbe be it ordained etc that brigham young have the sole control of city creek canyon and that he pay into the public treasury the sum of five hundred dollars be it ordained etc that theeb the exclusive elusive control of the timber in the canyons on the east sido side of the range of mountains west of jordan in great salt lake county is hereby granted to george A smith who is hereby authorized to control the timber in said canyons to work the roads into them ana and to direct when where and by whom er may be taken out no pen person on shall be allowed to cut timber in any place in these canyons without permission from the proprietor who is hereby authorized to give directions accordingly bo be it enacted etc that the privilege is hereby granted unto president brigham young to take the waters from the channel of mill creek immediately below geffs neffs mill mili and convey the same to the channel of big canyon creek be it enacted etc that all the rights ard privileges as contemplated in can rau act granting the control of waters from mill creek in great salt lake county unto willard richards approved feb 3 1852 be and are hereby granted unto brigham young sen and franklin D richards be it enacted etc that any person pelson erson who has ID closed or may hereafter beafter a portion or portions of uncia unclaimed mod med 9 government 0 vern ment laud is 18 hereby deci declared areil to be the lawful owner of the claim to the possession of such land laud and the lawful ov om ner of the improvements thereon and thereunto appertaining and he shall be so deemed and held in all legal proceedings and in all rights and doings pertaining or relating to the aforesaid property I 1 the owner of any property the foregoing section is hereby authorized in order to recover possession thereof request to without process from any court or officer thereof any constable sheriff or any deputy of either of said baid officers to proceed forthwith to remove any person and his effects who has unlawful or forcible po session of said property A and the aforesaid constable or sherm sheriff or a deputy of either is hereby required and empowered to take at least two persons with himi and to at ai once proceed and use such co course urse and resources as shall be requisite to remove the aforesaid person and aud his effects in unlawful or forcible ible ibie pomes powes possession sion slon J and place the owner in full and peaceable possession of his property any sheriff or other officer refusing to discharge the duties as required in this bention bec tion shall on conviction thereof be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars INTER SQUATTING leto eto many other acts interfering with the primary disposal of the soil soll might be cited let these suffice sum bum mlee flee some of these and other similar acts were first enacted by cheso the so called legislature of the so called state of deseret and were afterwards sought to be ratified by the legislative assembly of the territory As one of the unlawful consequences of these void vold enactments the buildings of many botia bona fide settlers have been torn down such sett bett settlers lers lens in some instances murdered in others thrown into the river jordan or cruelly maltreated mal treated perjury and subornation of perjury have frequently been committed to obtain patents of lands from the general government MUNICIPAL LIMITS at sou nou 0 t content with these acts t C interfering ter fering with the primary disposal or of the smiliy soil soll the legislative assembly has included vast tracts of land within the limits of city corporations many of them containing small smail m al 71 populations to such an extent has this policy been carried that a large proportion of the agricultural lands susceptible of irrigation at reasonable expense have been included within the limits of cities whose councils enact ordinances over which the governors yeto teto would be powerless THE legislature ARRAIGNED legislative resolutions the legislative assembly has assumed to enact that irn Irp solutions are e equally q bally valid with acts 11 the significance of this will be apparent when jt it is remembered that acts require tim tilo governors approval while resolutions do not liot no N longer ago than last winter an appropriation atlon bill vetoed by the governor nor was passed by tile tiie legislative it tive five assembly as a rego reso resolution lution thus seeking to impose upon the people many tens of thousands of dollars in taxes the natural inevitable tendency of huch such legislation as I 1 have called your attention to is to give eive a few men an unlawful control over the lands str streams earns and timber of the general gov government ern ment and to discourage all agricultural imm immigration ra save in the interest of go those S few men PROBATE COURTS COURTS AND territorial OFFICERS the legislative assembly assumed to confer upon the probate courts jurisdiction civil and crim inal at law and in equity in all cases arasin arising g under the laws of the territory it also created the offices of territorial Attorn attorney ev general and territorial marshal marshai I 1 and the incumbents of those of offices flees as well as the probate judges have been almost without exception open violators of the laws of the land PROPERTY OF DECEDENTS the legislative assembly has enacted that the probate judge in each county is empowered aud and required to take possession of all property left by any deceased arab orab scon dent person when there is no legal claimant known or sufficiently near ear to see to it in season and shall forthwith app appraise raise ralso and mahe two lists of said property and keep one on file and furnish one to the treacer er of the perpetual emigration 0 fund at the earliest practicable date the probate judge judg e shall place said property or the avails thereof in the possession of paid fund the value thereof to remain there until proven away awny by a legal claimant when said judge shall give an order on the treasurer of the fund OF precedents DOCTORS AND PRACTICE these legislators actually enacted that no report decision or doings of any court shall be read a argued N aed cited clied or adopted as preceded pre in in any trial and also that no person or persons employing counsel in any of the courts ot of this territory shall he compelled by any process of law to pay the counsel so employed for any services rendered as counsel before or i aft eror during the process of trial in the case and they further enacted that if any doctor physician apothecary or any other person shall give any deadly polson poison whether animal mineral or vegetable suell guch as quicksilver arsenic antimony or any mercurial arsenical or artimo nial preparation or deadly nightshade henbane 0 eions opium lu arany or any diversified preparations T such as chloroform ether exhilarating gas calculated in their nature to destroy sensibility from any other pois poisonous unous minerals or vegetables to any citizen of the territory of utah whet whether hersick herbick sick or well old or young man woman or child under pretence predence pre tence of curing di disease seale or from any other real or pretended cause influence influences argument or cr from any design or purpose whatsoever what oever without firs first t explaining fully definitely critically a y simply and unequivocally to the patient and surrounding friends and relations such as aa father mother husland huso and wife children guardian or other othern as the case may be and in plain simple english language the specific nature operation and design of raid mid poison or poisonous preparation about to be or intended to be given and procuring the unequivocal approval ampro approbation bation and consent of the patient tife till it if of mature years and of sound mind and of the parents guardians or their friends to the civi giving ug administering or communicating ni sald said poison so intended said doctor physician ailo alpo apothecary h acary pa person r on or persons so administering said sald ai polson poison without the full and free rree assent of said patient and friends shall be ada adjudged budged guilty of a high misdemeanor and be punishable in any sum not less than one thousand dollars and be imprisoned or confined to hard bard labor for any time not less than one year and if the death of the patient or person so receiving the rols rois poison polson as above specified shall follow the taking of tho same bame without being made with the nature thereof then the do doctor etor physician apothecary person or persons so fo f o giving or causing to be given said poison ahall be ada adjudged budged guilty of marl mari manslaughter slaughter or murder athe abbe A the case may be by any court having jurisdiction and be punished according to law for such crime erime crimes ils ris WHAT SHALL mail BE SAID LANGUAGE FAILS borsuch of such sueh legislation what shall be said Legisla legislation tion tinn to exclude froni from utah the authority of coke blac blae 8 atone one Ma mansfield mans nield field kent story and marshall to defraud the lawyer of his just compensation the laws lawyer lawser er who in all ages has been found amongst the foremost champions of liberty the foremost foes of tyranny and to send to the prison or the gallows the physician who before prescribing for his possibly dying patent fails to top and deliver a lecture on materia tria erla eria medica to the bystanders language falls fail properly to characterize such legislation eg THE constitution 11 AND ItELi itell RELIGION glo gio T the constitution or of the united states provides that Congress shall ashall make no law respecting an establishment lish ment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof buethe but nut the legislators of utah have passed an ordinance incorporating the church of jesus christ of latter day saints establishing it as the state church church giving to it most extraordinary and formidable powers and in eni enn act prohibiting the free exorcise exercise of religion on tho the part oft of decoders e and dissen dissenters I 1 will quote one section of this remarkable ordinance sec 3 and be it further ordained that as haid ald fald E church holds the constitutional and olg original inal richt right t in common with all civil a and aud d religious communities to worship god ac cording to the dictates of conscience to reverence communion agreeably to the principle of truth and to solemnize marriage compatible with the revelations of jesus christ for the seea seca security rity and full enjoyment of all blessings and privileges embodied in the reil reli religion gio glo I 1 of jesus christ free to all it is also declared that said church does and shall possess and enjoy continually the power and authority in and of itself to originate make pass and establish rules regulations ordinances laws customs and criterions crite rions for the good order safety government convenience comfort and control of said church and for the punishment or forgiveness of all of fences ances relative to fellow ship according to church covenants that the pursuit of bliss and the enjoyment of ilfe life in every capacity of public association arld and domestic hap happiness pines il temporal expansion elonor or spiritual increase upon the earth may not legally be questioned provided however that each and every act or practice so established or adopted for law or custom shall relate to solemnities sacraments ceremonies consecrations consecration si endowments marriages fellowship or the religious duties of man to his maker inasmuch as the doctrine principles practices or performances support virtue and increase morality and are not inconsistent consi stent with or repugnant to the constitution of the united states or of this state and are founded in the revelations of the lord 3 9 r established CHURCH DOCTRINES ETC this enactment was first passed by the so called legislature of the so called state of deseret after con congress gress had bad passed the act t to 0 organize the territory and was subsequently sought to be ratified by the legislative assembly the established church chuich here has ever regarded it as valid and binding what are the covert meanings of this unprecedented enactment I 1 will take time to unfold one only of the many doctrines wrapped up in its verbiage let the makers of the law be its commentators I 1 quote from the journal of discourses published by authority of this church and from the deseret De seret news the church official organ brigham 1 I young in public discourses discourse 2 said the time is coming when justice will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plum met when we shall take the old broa brol sword stoid and ask are tare you for god and if you are not nol heartily on the eloids side you will be lle hewn down there are sins which men commit for which they cannot receive forgiveness give gi veness riess in thi world or in that which is to come and if they had their eyes opened to see their true condition they would be perfectly willing to have their blood split spilt upon the ground that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins and the smoking incense would atone for their sins w whereas if such is not the case caso the they Y will stick to them and remain with them in the spirit world I 1 know kenow when you jou hear |
