Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1872-03-30
Why THE TERRITORY rs n nrpT

WHY ThE TERRITORY Is II DEBT.
The kalama Beacon Of March23d pub.
fishes very able article upon the subject
of the Territorial finances aud certain
'ulipcs of the courts connected herewith.
which have been the subject Of eonsidcra.
Die comment by a portion of the press: 1t
affirms that
1.-The dual character Of the courts seem 10
be specially framed by plan Of cunning Ter.
rtorial legislation to snbdivide the community
into the greatest number of taxable autonc.
mics, where each is made sudservient 10 the
greatest possible judicial and ministerial ex.
pesses, which local rings and little Tweeds $
impose at will upon counties, until il cvlmi.
mates to snch an exhibit as developed in Clarke,
where the county Indebtedness exceeds even
the Tclritorial-which latter has bee, created
so says legislative resolution) by sthe fact
That gross frauds have been perpetrated ,pon
the Territorial treasury by fraudulent cost bills
and divers other ways'-[Laws 1871 p. 227. p
1t is then shown that there is no reason.
able excuse for any Territory or county to
be in debt. That when the expenses Of
Governor, Judges, Secretary, Legislature
and all incidental bills are borne by the
United States, the balance is comparative
ly small sum. 1t continues:
" The mistaken relation Of the Courts and the
law to the criminal jurisdiction in the Territory
has been fruitful source of feeding these Ter.
ritorial and county eormorants that live by
digesting financial paper or rum the pseudo
code that has been txed us Territorial in the
courts that have not seemed to be conscious
of the facts that Federal authority established
them This dual relation in the same court
and criminal code sometimes makes a fat
scheme for these autonomous plans Of getting
up a good thing'-for instance, a failing and
guard speculation, of which the following sue
cinct account of a recent speculation may H.
lustrate-a Port Townsend case: Territory o.
Watts, who was convicted II murder in the
first degree. This man was once before con-
victed on an indictment wherein the United
States was party plaintiff, bit the Judgment
was reversed by the Supreme Court Of the
Territory on the ground that the Island of St.
Juan is part of Whatcom county, and that
therefore the Territory should bave been plain
tiff'
In the first place, it seems, the United States
authority, as in recent instance sustained ut
Juan, TOOK cCgnzance OF homicide, and the
result is detailed in above. TO the honor of
the Territorial judiciary, there was one dis
senting opinion in the Watts iecision, which
saved the court from being entirely catalogued
with Necessity" In this Watts affair, the
Territorial "ring" at Whatcom will have a
swinging" bill against Waatcom county
for charges which make a Sheriff grin rather
blandly as he fobs the taxes laid for " ring'
purposes by the aid Of court decisions, where
the U. 8. Marshal might, md most probably
did, once provide for the same I
This Territorial-court machinery is capable
of expansion from the decision of point OF
penue in the Watts case, to the further claim
of equity Heaven save the term y jurisdiction
in jobs like the following, which we fad ingen
uously detailed in the Olympia Standard
Here follow extracts from our article OF
Of the 9th inst. The Beacon concludes
off the paper has made correct statemen mt
of the case, the Judge is as much befogged on
the equity side Of his head AZ he showed him
self in loo and upon the Watts case---in fact
happened to steer to palpable error in both de-
csions. To legal student, his equity reason.
ing for granting that mandamus upon the
Treasurer, if set forth en- extenso with the or
der, would be as comical logic as we wot OF
in Shakespeare, where an indiscreet mag. strate
who sentenced a culpit by ratiocination, has
made his class ever since notorious among
readers"