, 1884-01-27
About Governor Murray's Mes
sage Against His Sect.
The Gentle is Handled Severely
and Without Gloves.
Both Sides Have Now Been
Heard Upon the Question.
Going for Utah's Governor.

Washington, January 26. John S.
Game, delegate to congress from Utah,
has addressed a communication to the
general manager Of the associated press
in regard to the misrepresentation
and perversions of facts" made by
Governor Murray in his message to the
legislature, evidently for the purpose
of deceiving the eastern public.n The
delegate says:
"He 1.-THE governor) asks the repeal of
the law making escheats result to the
Perpetual Emigrating Fund company
This law was repealed eight years ago
by the enactment of section 713, COM
piled laws of Utah, which reads as fol-
lows:
IF decedent leave no husband, wife
or kindred, estate escheats to territory
for the support Of the common schools,
This is the law now and has been
since 1876. He misrepresents the scope
and effect of the act Incorporating the
mormon church, when he says it is a
law respecting the established church.
1t did not purpose to establish any re-
ligion, but simply made the mormon
church, as a body, cooperate with the
powers as stated in the charter, and is
not inconsistent with or repugnant to
the constitution of the United S .ates.
Other churches, including the Presby-
terrain, have been incorporated in the
territory. AS only so much of the act
Incorporating the church as might
establish, maintain, protect or coun-
tenance the practice of polygamy" was
disapproved by congress, the compilers
of the territorial laws in 1876, failing
to find any such provision IN it as that
named by congress, included the entire
act in the compilation, but no part of
it was then or ever re-epacted by the
legislature, whose acts, to be valid,
must be consistent with the laws OF
congress or else they are null and void.
His statement of this law which vests
the ecclesiastical courts with an author
ity which may only be exercised in the
United States by civil courts, is entirely
without foundation, in fact no such
powers are by law conferred upon &C.
clesiastical courts they only act as
arbitrators and regulate Fellowship -
members of the church, and that with
out expense to the parties. His COM
ments on the dover question give an
entirely false idea of the property rights
of women in Utah. The fact is they
are equal with the men in their legal
rights and power to acquire, hold and
transfer real and personal property.
The husband has no control whatever
over the property of the wife and need
not pair with her in deciding away.
Hundreds of women in Utah hold the
titles of their homes and other real es-
tate entirely independent of their aus
bands. True, there is, technically
speaking, no right of dover existing in
the territory. but there is more liberal
laws to the wife than a dover right
would be. For instance, the widow
intestate is always entitled for life to
the homestead of her husband and to
all the personal property which is by
law exempt from execution. In addi-
ton thereto she inherits for life one
third of the remainder of the estate.
Where he leaves one child, and if more
than one child, then one fourth of the
remaining estate goes to her for life.
If he leave no issue, but either a mother,
father, sister or brother, one-half the
estate goes to the wife absolutely; and
if no issue, mother, father, brother or
sister survive him, the whole estate
goes to her absolutely, and in all cases
where exempted property is insufficient
to support the family during the settle
ment of the estate, an allowance is
He says that marriage should be made
by law a civil compact, to be entered
into only by persons competent to con
tract, and valid only as between one
marriage, under any circumstances,
should be null and void" This is the
common law, which, in the absence of
statute on the subject, prevails in Utah,
hence the enactment of such a law as
he proposes would not in any degree
change the legal status of married per-
sons. As II matter of fact, no polyga-
nous marriages have ever been claimed,
even by the mormons, to be valid in
law. They have never been enforced
} or annulled by process Of civil law" as
his language would import, but are
simply regarded as religious obligations.
! The public schools of the territory are
not, as he would have the public be-
lieye, sectarian in their character. They
are as free from the charge of sec-
~tarianism as the public schools in any
other part of the country. 4t
e Governor Murray interviewed.