| Show THE NEW EDMUNDS BILL SPEECH OF KO FARAT PARALLEL 1 L TO SUCH LEGI legislation STATION in the united states senate january ath mr vest made the following remarks on the subject of the government trustees for J the mormon church corporation mr vest I 1 move to strikeout strike out all or of section 16 after the word law in line 5 this section as it reads now BOW is 16 that it shall be the duty of the attorney general of the united states to cause nuch proceedings to be taken in the supreme court of the territory of utah as shall be proper to dissolve the said corporation corpo ra and pay the debts and to dispose or of the property land and assets thereof according to law law the remainder which I 1 propose to strike out is in these lese words said property and assets in excess of the debts and the amount of any lawful claims established by the court against the same shall escheat to the united states and shall be taken invested and disposed of by the secretary of the interior under the direction of the president of the the united states lor for the benefit of common schools in said aam territory I 1 have no disposition to continue the discussion of the bill it seems to me I 1 as a lawyer that when the senate enacts that this property shall be disposed of according ng to law that accomplishes all that can be demanded of the most extreme and inveterate enemy of polygamy my or of any other institution in this territory that leaves the question to the courts and I 1 cannot as a lawyer give my in assent to this extraordinary tra ra legislation which takes the property or of any corporation that has ft a legal egal existence and disposes of it and takes ta kes the money and putt puts it into the treasury of the united states and applies it to any purpose that congress may designate mg if there is any parallel to this legislation on the statute books ot of the united states I 1 am utterly ignorant of it and I 1 should be obliged to any lawyer who would point me to anything like it A great deal has been said here about the common law of england the ancient rule in england was that when a corporation ceased to exist its ita xeal real estate es cheated to the crown and its personal personal property after paying off the debts debts went back to the donors but that is not the law in the united states as I 1 understand it the senator from vermont I 1 take it will hardly say that that obtains in any of the states of the union or in any of the territories of the union if this property is disposed of according to law by the courts that is sufficient but you go further than that in this legislation and after pa paying Y the debts of the corporation the balance of the money is arbitrarily seized by congress an and d perverted to an object never con contemplated pa abed by the original purpose 0 of the c corporation or oration itself one que question a in n ave the case is has this corporation a legal existence it was inco incorporated orated under t the e laws aws 0 of t the e territory of utah there being a provision in the enabling act which that said all legislation of the territory should remain valid until disapproved by congress this act has stood without any disapproval by congress and these people have acquired certain ri rights ts under it 91 mr conger allow me to say that I 1 thins think in regard to utah the senator is mistaken that provision that the territorial laws should not have force la in certain territories until approved by congress was in several acts and within a very short time a few years the restriction has been removed from some of the other territories and lef in regard to utah ulah ul ah the others making it the duty of 4 longress congress to disapprove by a positive act ard aad this requiring an aa approval if I 1 am not mistaken that is the condition of the law in regard to utah mr vest mr president mr edmunds it the senator will pardon me I 1 think I 1 can state to the sardon senator from michigan what the law about utah Is according to the organic anic act as I 1 read it the laws of the territorial territorial assembly in in utah are valid until disapproved by congress and we propose in the fifteenth section to annul and disapprove of the territorial law creating this emigrating corporation mr vest I 1 believe I 1 stated it correctly I 1 have the book before me but I 1 have lost the place mr edmunds that is the law mr vest then this co corporation oration has had a legal existence IT the he senator from vermont states that there are no stockholders what maybe may be the meaning exactly of a stockholder do not know but this corporation was established for the church and the church is the sole stockholder the language of the act of incorporation shows that it is exactly on a par with the creation of this sort of commission on the part of the denominations in the united states the methodist episcopal church meets and creates certain commissions to ta take charge of certain property which Is put into the hands of bf agents they manage it but the real owner is the church in ta this act of incorporation to which no assent ot ol congress gre s was necessary this church of jesus jesus christ of latter day saints in utah were recognized and they a appointed certain commissioners to M take charge of the property manage it pay the taxes and control it for the benefit of the church until disapproved by congress that Is ii u valid a corporation u my any in the united states if that is not a vested right I 1 know not how a vested right can be created if we provide that whatever remains after paying the debts shall be distributed according to law we do simple justice on the other hand band if we adopt the latter part of the section I 1 undertake to say it is anomalous without a parallel in violation of the jurisprudence of this country how a lawyer can look upon it with anything else than distrust is beyond my comprehension mr edmunds if my friend from missouri were correct in his estimate of the nature of this section I 1 should be inclined to agree with him but I 1 think the has not studied it with his bis usual care first I 1 may maffay bay I 1 duink he is mistaken about the act incorporating cor corp actuating act orating rating this emigrant company as it I 1 lis 8 called calle but the statute book is gone out and I 1 cannot refer to it at this moment but I 1 am pretty sure in what I 1 say that the church is not a stockholder nor is anybody adv body else it is an entirely independent i concern it it is true that the first Pes president ident of the church Jh the one mau man despot there ca controls this corporation now coming to the of striking out this last clause if you stog stop where anere the senator wishes to stop id dispose pose of the property and assets thereof according to law then you will have given back it is true u ue to the donor the real estate if he be turns lurns out to be entitled to tit it and to the U united states the personal estate of it turns out to be entitled to it after payment of debt sand there you will have stopped and whatever there is to which private persons n are not entitled or corporations 0 or ar anybody else are not entitled shall go into the treasury of toe the united states into its general funds the committee on the judiciary did not wish it to go into the united states treasury they wished to devote it to the promotion of education in that territory so we say that said property and assets that is what the senator wishes to strike out in excess of the debts and the amo amount of any lawful claims established by the con court rt against a in N t the same shall escheat to the yn united ite d states and be devoted to the use of schools in that territory the last part of the section is essential to dispose of any residue alter after all claims ot or every kin kind d are disposed of of this property properly that may be left out it 11 goes into the treasury Leav irig fitlin it goes to the use of common schools in that territory the president pro tempo reTtie reThe question is on the amendment ot the senator from missouri mr vest mr vest I 1 want to settle one question I 1 have before me the act ot of incorporation this is the amendatory act under which it is now operating in the compiled claws of utah this act says be e it ordained by the general assembly of the stale stage of desard approved by the territorial legislature 1 afterwards that a general conference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints or a special conference of said church to be called at such time and place as the first arst presidency of stud said church shall appoint is hereby authorized to elect by a u majority a company of not less lees than thirteen nen men one of whom shall be designated as their president and the others as assistants SEC 2 this com company any is hereby made and constituted a be body rr corporate corpora teg under the name and st style yle of T the e perpetual emiera ting fund company compan and shall have perpetual succession and may have and use a common seal which they may alter at pleasure then it goes on with general provisions of a corporation that they shall defend and be defended plead and be im pleaded hold property and so forth this is as lawf lawful ut a corporation now as exists on the soil of the united states ard and senators need not disguise from themselves the simple fact that we are asked now to take posses possession bion of a corporation which was organized organic sed ed for a legal purpose so far as appears ap ears which the co congress ress of the united united states has permitted r ted to exist under which rights of property have been acquired we are asked to take possession of that corporation and administer upon its effects and take what is left out of the possession of these parties artles and say that the courts shall gave have nothing to do iab ut put it into the treasury of the united states or give it to the common schools or anything else mr presidents dentas a lawyer I 1 will never agree to any proposition ro position upon this or any other subject which says that the courts of this country shall not determine the rights of corporations or individuals divi duals mr edmunds that is precisely what this part that the senator sanator wi wishes ashes to strike out says that the court is to establish the rights of the claimants and if there is anything left it is to be devoted to schools mr vest let me read the part oi of the sixteenth section ut of ue tit bill I 1 li L says bays that it shall be 9 the duty of the attorney general Cie of the united states mates to ouch proceedings to bei be taken in tha larewe eme court of the territory of utah ib liall tw I 1 proper to dissolve the said mentioned in the preceding ind and pay the debts and to dispose ot the pro property and assets thereof according to la law there is a proceeding by due process of law in the court bourth of tin v which is the only anotle in hi viv ment known to the conati at it tau tao united states or to our juri armb dicu ticu by which property rights right a u c ii i r tiled bat this provi provision stoA gleis than that abat thit that would seem to lw bu for a lawyer but it goes further farther and says said raid property and assets in excess of the debts and the amount of any lawful claims claim 11 established by the court against the same shall escheat to the united states there it is taken out oat of the courts baere congress steps in arbitrarily and after saying that the court shall determine according to law that matter says that the surplus after paying the debts debt shall ashall go into the treasury mr hoar may I 1 ask the senator a question what does he understand would become of it if his bis proposition prevailed mr vest that is a olues question tion which the law will determine if the senator wants my I 1 opinion as a lawyer I 1 can give it to him my judgment is that it would not go to the treasury of the united states mr hoar the question is not wh where ere it would not go but where would it I 1 ago go the senator will pardon me I 1 understand that this section re mits mils TO we the courts lust just as he be says it ought to he remitted the question of every claim whatever ag against alast that property the right of the creditor the right of the donor the right of the sovereign but if the court finds after all ail claims against it are established that there is property in the corporation which would be left derelict after the disposition of it under the law as provided to anybody who has a legal claim to it then that is to be put plat into the treasury of the united states and by a sort of rude doctrine of cy pres used for common schools and not for the general public purposes of the country count arst mr vest I 1 do not understand how the doctrine of cy pre s applies to it I 1 I 1 do not understand that any trust has been created here for common schools by anybody the doctrine of cy pres simply steps in and f furnishes urnis hes a trustee where the first objects of the trust have failed there is no such trust certainly for common schools it is lotain notting 9 else but an arbitrary seizure of the property of this corporation taking it out of the courts and disposing of it as congress sees proper and I 1 if fiacan it can be jone I 1 on e in this case it can be done as to any y baptist methodist or presbyterian church in any of the territories if a majority of U congress angress thinks it ought to be done mr hoar the senator does not answer my question if he wl will 11 permit me to interrupt him I 1 do not want to interrupt t him improperly mr vest vest certainly I 1 yield to the 8 senator mr hoar suppose it were a baptist church or a methodist or a un um 1 church to which last denomination 13 I 1 have the honor to be belong long and it were within the jurisdiction ol 01 of the legislation of congress relative to the territories the corporation is dissolved and its property is taken possession of by the court by a receiver or other judicial officer by b a proper process ess and the court iia having 3 ng established every v ery possible lawful claim if there were no other legislation on the subject if there were anything left that would have to remain in the treasury of the court forever and when congress found it out they would then come in and do something with it here is a f und fund which belongs to nobody as far as the court k knows we should undoubtedly do something sio with it and instead of waiting for that occasion to arise this simply provides for it in advance and says that when evry every ev ry possible lawful claim against that f fund and is estaba established fahed by the court and satisfied if there is anything which otherwise would be left derelict or left in the treasury of the court to abide there forever we provide now what shall shah be done with ith it that is all mr r vest mr president it is remarkable legislation I 1 confess I 1 know of no parallel to it where congress assumes a certain state of facts in advance of the finding of ofa a court the senator from massachusetts says assuming that nobody owns this property that is a quei question tion of law that is a question whick which every american citizen and corporation has had a righetto right to have determined by the law of the land mr hoar the bill says the court shall deci decide dein ln the first part according to law mr vest the hill bill says in the first part according to law and then goes on and takes the court by the throat and says you shall do da so and abd so in other words it declares an escheat when an escheat may not exist according to the facts it says in advance of the facts that it shall escheat the doctrine of es cheats is a well settled one I 1 understand I 1 that hat the sovereignty of a country is entitled in certain contingencies to ta take ke sion of 3 and not before but they must be declared dt dared they must exist they must be judicially |
