Show WHAT TJ THE leople SAY extraordinary judicial proceed ings salt lake correspondent reviews some of baues court conduct this has been the day of days for interest in the judicial administration at this city as conducted by judge caneon the bench of the third district court the day fixed by his honor to sentence three of our roost prominent citizens borwhat for what 19 termed unlawful cohabitation which intact eun ply consists in man living with providing for and lionor ably maintaining his own fa roily wae certainly remarkable in its develops anent many items were of sufficient interest to furnish material for a lengthy communication but I 1 will notice only one or two of the most conspicuous his honor dwelt especially upon tho power and discretion of the court by which he asa authorized to punish offenders by fine by both fine and imprisonment in part or to tho full extent of both as provided by law stating with force to the effect that the fine only was sufficient to ahtone for the past and for the vindication of the law provided he could obtain assurances for future conduct in conformity to his construction of the law theae assurances were not forthcoming to his satisfaction and he gave to each the extreme penalty of the law anuw what is declared by this act to the judicial mind it is simply saying I 1 will punish you with fine for what you have done and I 1 will give you six months imprisonment now for what I 1 fear you may do some time hence this is but a fair construction of both the declaration and alie act which is simply a scandalous farce on judicial administration to which no other country in the civilized world would dream of being subjected tho people of utah have had great cause to complain of ex post facio law but now an honorable citizen must go to prison six months because forsooth the judge imagines he may do a some time in tho future this is making mens sins go before into judgment with a vengeance though such eins may never be committed we had supposed that a man convicted of crime should only be subjected to such penalty as justice only de rounded in vindication of the law as a proper atonement for the crime committed but here if a pledge or sacred promise is not made to the judge that future life shall strictly conform to his views of what constitutes cohabitation six months imprisonment is added six months 0 o be deprived of personal liberty is held out as a fearful men ance to extort a pro from his victim of aliat a future life shall be and this is what we witness and arc subjected to in the adminis tras tion of justice in utah in case a prisoner should die before he could be released from confinement he would have no opportunity port unity of showing what his life might be and the generous gratuitous gift of the judge of six months in prison bestowed out of his discretionary bounty might be entirely lost only far as injured families might have good cause to curse his memory and pray for jus tice on the unjust this plan of converting persons from supposed errors of life which relate to conscience may not prove as effectual nor so pleasant as the plan reported to in many other countries where polygamous motives are brought to renounce their feitli and where conscience has no scruples these extrajudicial extra judicial efforts whether or for conversion are much to be deplored they are never satisfactory but are sure to work the dis grace of either court or criminal often both when juries learn to be content in doing what duty demands and enforce only euch punishment as will vindicate the law without exhibitions hibit ions of personal bias and even malice they will be respected as lionor ablo in justice by all classes of citizens the present fixed rule of tho chief justice to enforce the extreme penally of the law upon all parties convicted of unlawful cohabitation ia ono wo shall wait to it applied to crimes where conscience and moral convictions arc not to be uprooted and destroyed existing facia dorco the conclusion that this 13 tile most important consideration in these extrajudicial extra judicial missionary efforts through tho channel of a cault of justice education and correct moral training make consciences that six months imprison cannot unmake the infliction ia known to be in satisfaction of a discretion ary power and becomes in nowise an clement of justice S W E may |