| Show IN THE CHURCH CASES DECISION ON adjourned a session of the june the the territorial I 1 supreme court morning in the supreme held thil j ww was dooly dool y building chief court art room presided and there were justice Z ne the bench associate J jue us on with him hila and miner the members blackburn fainer tile the bar gathered in strong a of judge judee anderson And ereon occupied a force fe those legal brethren fils bis eat wn among including attorneys Attorn eya F 8 S shards resent W H dickson judge hen ers judge ju euid iti judge suther buther deri ork loofbourow arthur land IH judee W C 8 varian ano brown A E F zaney zane ogden hiles judge IN r J A marshall marahall barlow bennett duj tt judge E ll B critchlow l W w r C lberg asod 11 williams 8 13 P arm J A strong f of the last session of minutes the h read by clerk bache and court were which clinef justice Z ane signed after following anxiously te livered ivert d the awaited opil opinion aion in I 1 THE CASES tion of the church the late corpora corporation saintes of I 1 latter utter day 1 Of jesus christ defendants defend aute auts vs the united s and others orbet 9 states ot or america plaintiff to designate called upon we a are ri now which the pers personal nal prop to the objects shall of the receiver arty lu the hands acty to decide upon the and e be devoted mode of its application presented for our the questions examination of the an require and the interpretation master s report designed enactments congressional of my as well as an ap to sup suppress polygamy doctrine of equity of the applies applicable 16 to the rights of property dedicated to chari charitable tabie uses under sec 17 maintained this suit Is march ard 1887 and atad of an sot act io in force to as follows that hat the sets acte of the legislative aebly ambly of the territory of utah incorporating corp orating or providing the as for the corporation known church of ef jesus christ of lat tor ter day saints and the ordinance al rf the so called general as ably of the state of deseret incorporating po the church of jesus christ of jatter hay saints so BO far as an the sawo same ay now new have legal force and validity ste are hereby disapproved and ani annulled and the ibe said corporation in 0 me o jar far as it way may have or pretend to mavit way any legal existence is ia hereby ved that I 1 it t shall be the duty of the attorney general of the united states to cause such proceeding to be b taken 16 the supreme court of the territory of utah as shall be proper to execute the foregoing provisions of this section and to wind up the affairs of said corporation conformably to law and in uch much proceedings the court shall have power and it shall be its duty to make such decree or decrees aa ahall be proper to effectuate the transfer of the title to real property now hold held and used by said gaid corporation for places of worship and parsonages personages nages connected therewith herewith and burial grounds and of the description mentioned in the proviso to section thirteen of this act a and tid in section twenty six of this act to the respective trustees mentioned in section twenty six of this act and for the pur poses of this section said court shall have all the powers of a court of equity section thirteen referred to in the section quoted made it the duty of the attorney general of the united states to institute and prosecute proceedings to forfeit and escheat to the united states deates the property of corporations obtained or held in violation of section three of the act of congress approved july let 1862 entitled acan an act to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the territories 00 this section also alao declared that such property so forfeited and es cheated should be disposed of by the secretary of the interior and the proceeds thereof applied to the becent bettel dt of the common schools in the territory in which such property might be and provided that no building or the grounds appurtenant thereto held and occupied exclusively clu olus ively in which to worship god or personages parsonages nages images connected therewith or burial grounds should be forfeited and section 3 above mentioned declared that it should not be lawful for SOY any corporation po ration or association for religious or charitable purposes to acquire or hold real estate to in any territory of a greater value than and that all real estate acquired or held by any such corporation or association contrary to the provisions provision of the act should be forfeited and es cheated to the united states section 26 also referred to in section 17 is as follows that all religious and an congregations shall have the right to t have and to hold through trustees ftp ap pointed by any aay court exercising probate powers in a territory only on the nomination of the anthor authorities ittes of such society eo clety sect or congre congregation congregate gati so no much real property for the erection or use of houses of worship and for such parsonages personages nages and burial grounds as an shall be necessary for the convenience and use uie of the several congregations of such religious or con grega tion these then acts provide that all real estate hold held by any church for religious or charitable purposes pur not used for houses of worship parsonage or burial grounds grouB de acquired contrary to the sot act of 1862 shall be forfeited forfi ted and cheated ee ea to the united states and they annul the charter of the church of jesus jesue christ of latter day saints and provide pro vide tor winding up its ita and for the transfer of its real property nut not forfeited and ers cheated to 10 trustees appointed by the probate court on the nomination of the authorities of such much church in these enactments congress re cognized the religion of the he latter day saints as lawful and their church though as having the right through trustees selected by its authorities to own houses in which to worship god bod and aad for their minla ministers teris to live in in the second section of the act of 1862 it is declared that it shall be so construe con I 1 as not to affect or in denere with the right to worship god a co to the dictates of con science upon a hearing of this case on the bill answer evidence and stipulation of the parties this court hold held the various sections above mentioned and the auts auto referred to valid a d appointed a receiver to take possession of all real and personal property of the defunct corporation and to hold the same to be disposed of according to law and upon a further hud and subsequent hearing the court mae made a further decree by which it set not apart to the body of religious worshipers block eighty seven in plat A salt lake city known as an the temple block and hold held the remainder of real estate acquired in violation of the 3rd ard section of the act of 1862 subject to fortel forfeiture tur 0 and escheat to the united states staten that the per senal property of the church by reason of the dissolution of its corporation because of the failure allure or illegality of the trust to which it had been dedicated at its acquisition and in consequence of its use by the corporation by operation of law became forfeited and cheated to the united ri tates from this thi decree the defendant and the intervenors george romney and nd others on behalf of themselves and all 11 other members of the late corporation appealed to the supreme court of the united states the latter court affirmed the decree appealed from except the part relating to the personal property and held that the personal persona property could not be appropriated to the purpose to which it had bad been dedicated because the same flame was waa in whole or in part contrary to law or opposed to public policy that there did not ex lot let any person or persons natural or legal legally entitled to any portion of it an aa successors in interest to the church and that it had devolved on the united not being lawfully applicable to the purposes to which it was originally dedicated or for which it had been acquired and to which at the commencement of this suit it was being devoted by the corporation and its controlling authorities the same ought to be limited and appointed to such charitable uses lawful in their character as aa should most nearly correspond to those to which it was originally destined to be ascertained and defined by reference to a master for due examination enquiry and report thereon nub cub eject to ano approval of the court and to be established establish ea administered and carried out in such euch manner and according to such scheme as moy may be approved by the court the case was remanded to this court with directions to modify its decree as above directed and to take much further proceedings as to law jaw andjus and justice may appertain in ia conformity conform itcy with the opinion in conformity with this opinion of the supreme court of the united states and its decree this case was referred to the master and two schemes were presented to him one by the defendants defendant Is solicitors proposing to vest such personal property in the first presidency of the church in trust for the relief and assistance of its poor members needing pecuniary aid and for the erection repair and main of houses of worship of people of that faith and seng limiti St Bg ng the use to these two purposes the other scheme proposed by the solicitors of the united states would vest this property in a commissioner appointed by the court to be used by him for the benefit of the public schools of the territory the master has reported this last plan and its approval by the court to which the defendants solicitors object and ask us to approve their scheme and plaintiff plaintiffs a solicitors insist upon the one recommended by Y the master behind the legal title to the funds in controversy in the late corporation lie beneficial rights belonging to natural persons out of the confidence reposed in the church officials who controlled them an obligation that they would faithfully apply these funds according to the general understanding of their contributors the supreme court of the united states in its opinion directing these proceedings said the property in question has beg been dedica dedicated t 0 to public and charitable uses it matters not whether it is the product of private contributions made during the course of half a century or of taxes imposed upon the people or of gal gains no arising from fortunate operations in business or appreciation in value the charitable uses for which it is held are stamped upon it by charter by ordinance by regulation and by usage in such an indelible manner that there can be no mistake as to their character purpose or object mormon church vs united states U a p 50 in its opinion the court does not distinguish and consider singly and separately the various charitable objects tor to which the property in controversy tro versy was dedicated in fact the inquiry by the trial court had bad not gone that jar far I 1 they were considered in a lump lump so to speak and the whole lump appears to have been regarded as tainted with polygamy the court on appeal could not look at the merits of each object of charity separately because the findings ot of the evidence did not disclose the object singly or their peculiar merits tn in his inquiry the master advanced and we are permitted to see the objects to the fund had been devoted in the light of the evid evidence eDco reported by him we can distinguish the good from the bad the worthy from the unworthy and understand to which and la in what proportions the church authorities had bad applied the fund before it was taken out of their hands it appears from the evidence reported by the master that george Q cannon testified that he was first counselor to wilford woodruff president of the church and that he was familiar with the purposes for which contributions creating the fund were made tor for many yearn that they were voluntarily made for religious and charitable purposes that appropriation and distribution trib ution of it was left to the first presidency and the proceeds were expended on an temples and places of worship and for the poor and such charitable objects as arose that the first presidency ku in the their ir appropriations of this fund were limited to church purposes that the custom his has been for the first presidency to submit to the semiannual semi annual conference con terence of the church a report showing the appropriations and their purposes and such reports were approved by that body this testimony was corroborated by the testimony oay of other officers of the church and there was no evidence contradicting it the master in his report states that the allegations that ever since the organization of the church and down to the time when the fund was taken possession of by the receiver herein the fund has been managed controlled and disbursed by and under the direction ot of the first presidency of the church and was devoted and applied solely to the religious aad charitable uses in which the church and the members thereof were interested that much the larger part of the fund had prior to march 3rd ard 1887 been devoted to the building of temples meeting houses and other places of worship for the members of the church and for the relief of its poor and distressed members their fani families flies and to the widows and orphans of such members who were in needy and distressed circumstances were in the main supported by the evidence before him fl u it also appears f from rom the testimony that about 75 JOO per annum had bad been out of this fund to alp n th poor previous to the time it was wall placed in the hands bande of the race receiver iver and about per annum to the erection repair of places of worship and that and as much will be required in the future the money and personal property the hands of the receiver and to be dlo dia 1 in hobed of by the court to is about the money donated to assist and lieve the poor and erect places of re ship and maintain and repair thera them wor are ar for charitable uses the st of 43 eltz c 4 to is regards regarded as the highest standard atan dard by which tn determine charitable uses and poses pur nn pur among the objects mentioned in that act as charitable la is relief for aged impotent and poor people th nations lations for schools of kearnin learning i frn fre do dr schools repair of churches aad ad aid or ease of any poor inhabitants fo r and for house of correction 2 o other and many man purposes objects are r mert tinned as charitable in this statute the statute has been liberally by the courts oon eor A in the case of jackson vs ph unhand others 14 allen alien the bous said Charit charities leo are not cou rt r confined the present day to those which warl at permitted by law in ED england in were the th reign of elizabeth A A gift forthe for the art ad cement of van religion or other charitable purpose iuri iose in a manner permit by existing laws is not the levalia le less valid tB hv of by reason having suet such an object would not have ben been as M legal at the tim of the passage of the statute of chart charl minme table uses for example charl L trusts for dissenters vora from the enec fished church have been uniform upheld in england since the uniformly tion act of I 1 W ft M c 18 S the reno oved legal disabilities under which sects previously labored gloh w attorney general vs hickman eq cos cas ab aman st 2 jlloyd vs 8 3 PW PW 8 44 8 C 2 A attorney general vs cook 2 VM sen TO and in this country since the revolution no distin distinction 0 ti 0 n b has as been made mad between charitable gifts for the benefit of different religious sects 2 while the master finds ends in that the fund was devoted and by the church applied solely to the religious rell riou uses of the church and |
