The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-04-02

the case of Utah at present, he is
appointed for various reasons, gen.
orally as a reward for party service,
rendered in some distant state, or
to get rid of his and his friends i'm
portunities. Party custom has fas-
tened this baneful principle upon
the country, and it will doubtless
continue in force as long as there
are any territories left; but board
OF commissioners, Give MurTays),
would be infinitely worse and
thousand-fold more shameful, cor
rupt, dangerous and humiliating.
A territory of the United States
is created by act of Congress. 1t is
to all intents and purposes state,
lacking a representative in the
United States Senate, the right to
vote in the House of Representa-
tives, and to elect its chief executive
officers. The organic act Of Con-
gresS establishing a territory of the
United States is in the nature OF a
treaty or international compact.
The people of the territory and
Congress are the parties to the con-
tract, which neither alone can justly
annul. A territory then is a state
adj interim, (under the old COM
mon law, County Palatine.")
waiting the pleasure of Congress- to
be clothed with full complete SOW
reignty, that is, the right to elect all
it's executive officers and to partici-
pate in national legislation and BEN
efits, and the duty to share in
national burdens and obligations.
The principle of local self-goVern-
ment in domestic affairs in terri
tories-subiect only to supervisory
control of CONVERSATIONAL be as
sacredly respected by Congress as it
is in sovereign states. And this was
the view Of Webster, probably the
ablest expounder Of the Constitution
the republic has produced, Of Clay,
Cass and other eminent statesmen
(see debates in Senate, 1850 as well
as Of Chief Justice fancy (Dred
Scott case), Chief Justice Chase
(Englebrecht easel, Of the United
States Supreme Court, and Of Chief
Justice Campbell, Of Michigan,
| (CrdQ0 Us. hGSQ6T).
Whittier then are we drifting? On
what ''meat" have the present day
statesmen fed that they have grown
so -.luch wiser on this most vital
question than the distinguished
patriots mentioned? The odium cast
upon the principle Of states rights,
or local self-government, is sure to
disappear sooner or later. A new
generation has come uDon the politl-
cal stage since the rebellion. That
principle is presented to the nation,
| in the case of Utah, as it was
never before since the adOp-
ton of the Constitution. The
scales have been turned, and
the doctrine of the right of Congress
to interfere N the regulation of
domestic affairs in territories, which
was, in 1850, VIGOROUSLY overthrown
by Webster, Clay, Cass and others,
although championed by John G.
Calhoun. to-day is judicially and
Ilegislatively pronounced constitu-
tional, and that arch-nullifier and
father of secession stands vindicated
by republican platforms and states
men. Here, then, are old abolition
lists and modern republicans in the
company of Calhoun, the virtual
instigatOr of the late rebellion.
Truly, war and politics do make
strange bed-fellows, The republican
party, in its brief dominion, has not
only preserved the integrity Of the
Union and emancipated the negro
slaves, but also has it given two
illuStriOus victims to the assassin 8
bullet, and at length, in its head
long rush under the lash of bigots
and preachers, whose churches to-
day represent little else than close
social corporations, and with the
CHASTITY shade of John G. Calhoun at
| It's head, it tramples under foot even
the fraction of yet sacred right OF
local self-goYernment in the Terri
tory of Utah, where almost every
body is tolerably content, crimes
few, and taxation the lightest OF
any state or territory IN the land
Why this onslaught upon Utah
Simply because rs or so per cent: of
her population are members Of q
Christian Church-decidedly demo
cratic in its organization, with nc
salaried, rObed and barnacle preach
ers-that believe in present GREY
elations," visions" miniSterlng OF
angels" ETC.. as did the primitive
Christians; Gf such things could Oc-
cur 1900 or 2OOO years ago, why
can't they occur nowO but more es'
pecially inculcates and cOnsclen'
tiously, and manfully practisesz
| but to a limited eXtent-the System
of patriarchal or plural OF primt
tive Christian marriage, or if you
please, polygamy, though it is not
such in common law definition.
This is called Christian nation
par excellence. Efforts are made to
| get the Christian God in the Consti-
tuition. Shades of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, Solomon, David and
| Moses, and all the rest of you bibll-
cal polygamists and chosen agents
of that august parsonage, come and
try to live in this free Amer.Ui:l re-
public, founded by the descendants
of men who fled from all that was
dear and hallowed, to Americas III
| hosptable shores solely to enjoy re-
Iligious liberty in full security, as
fed the MOrmons 50 years ago from