The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-03-11
THAT DEBT.

And so the First Comptroller of the
Treasury has been casting up the
government account with Utah. He
finds that in 1876, the Treasurer with
held from the Territory $1S.636 which
Congress had appropriated to pay the
mileage and per diem of the members
of the Assembly tor the year; he also
discovers that minus this sum, the
United States have paid Tor running
the courts in Utah, tor Territorial bus
mess, since June %, 1874, when the
Poland law went into operation, $685.
IT'S, which amount is charged against
Utah as debt due to the general gov
eminent.
Because the present Legislature has
not made provision for cancelling this
obligation, the compensation of the
members and officers is withheld, and
poor men are made to suffer for having
served their country and the public
honestly and faithfully. If the debt
were an honest and just one, the mode
of collecting it is unworthy a
great and rich nation; it is low
and despicable- way as
would be suggested by the mean and
vindictive. 1t becomes positively dis
reputable when one reflects that the
alleged debt is neither just nor honest.
As matter of right, not one dollar of
this sum Is honestly due from Utah to
the general government. The Territory
did not create the obligation; it had no
voice or direction in its creation. The
people were not consulted in the mat
ter, directly or indirectly, and they
have had nothing to do with the e1pen-
dituTe of one cent of this money.
1t is an obligation created by the
Federal government through its author
lied representatives. and the Federal
government is alone chargeable with
the debt. So long as the people of Utah
can control either their pockets or their
Legislators, no provision will be made
for paying one cent of this miscalled
debt. The government may withhold
the pay of the Lawmakers from now un-
til doOmsday, but it will not lead a
faithful. honorable citizen of the Terri
tory into making a suggestion of
wrene doing, or of breaking faith
with himself, with his fellow citizens or
with what he knew to be right. If their
pay is to be withheld, and men cannot
Afford to serve as lawmakers without
compensation, the public will cheerfully
see that the Legislators are not com
PEELED to make the sacrifice of time and
money. The Governor stood in the
way OF erecting building for the Uni
versity Of Deseret with the public funds
which the peoples representatives voted
for that purpose; yet the building went
went up, and in time the generous
patriotic citizens who contributed of
their private means for the University
will be paid in full, while grateful
public Will hold them in kindly remem-
brance, Other WORKS of public char
acter have been carried on by private
generosity and individual liberality and
patriotism. The needs of the Legisla-
tors will be supplied in the same man
ner before anyone will consent to the
Territory being compelled to submit to
this great wrong which government and
certain of its local representatives would
put upon it.
Let the Treasurer keep on paying out
money, and charging it mp to unfortun-
ate Utah, and one of these years it can
balance and wipe out the account by a
suitable profit and loss entry. The Ter
ritory can endure this sort of thing
quite as long as government feels dis
posed to carry it on. Utah is ever ready
sld willing to meet its honest, just OBJ
legations, but it will never be ready OIL
willing to pay debts which it had nc
voice in contracting and which it does
not owe.