The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-08-29
THE RIGHT THING AT LAST.

Utah is now luxuriating for the first
time in a Supreme Court composed Of
four members. We ought to have had
such body long ago, but better late
than never. The previous tribunal,
composed Ct the judge who sat on
case at nisi prius and two Others who
were attracted more or less toward
their brother by the force of sympathy
and also by that mute but Irresistible
argument of you may need me some
time" has rendered our court o. last
resort a rather shadowy sort
of de- enhance for appellants. In fact,
it has facetiously T not correctly been
termed q mutual admiration society,
and words have been mach more
prodigally squandered than when used
in such connection.
Well, all this IS over at hest. The
Judge who sits upon the triEleof case
will not participate in the heezing of it
on appeal in the Supreme Court. OF
course, he does not forrest dis title or
abandon his seat, but he can not
participate in the deliberStiors upon
case concern ing which he h2E already
had chance to know and ic presumed
to know the merits and gil the points
of law raised. That anything different
should ever have existed'iG one ofstle
anomalies apparently insepGrable from
frontier govern ments under tutelage by
the national authority, bCtinexcasabl bly,
SO il our ca3e. because Utat has be IN
civilized and enlightened division of,tks
public domain for a fall generation.
The rules and methods pertaining to
such Territories as were "cf neces sity
under the guidance of government
Inspectors in various capacities, while
good enough Tor isolated and slowly
developing communities, SHOULD have
had no application here, but no atter
ton has been paid 20 or repeaeed
presentation of the case until tbs
present year.
The new condition Of things brings
about some other changes, al of which
welcome. We have 10 disposition to
exuls over the downfall of political,
judicial or social opponent, nor to
claim that if everything had gone oue
way before, much that was wrong
would have been avoided 4and much,
that was COED which we dc not get
would have come this way. Nothing
of the kind. fVe refer particularly to
the retirement of JudgeHeae, and dis
claim any se-t of feeling O. rancort
or i'll will because OF him or
his sojourn. Opinions safer as
to the official counse of any
man in public lie. and in differing with
the active partisans of the retired jurist
we simply exercise our best judgment
as to the merits, the motives sand the
methods of the nan. 1t iC not in order
that the way may be paved for saying
something seVeze that We credit him
with honesty OF Intention and being in
f1uenced by what he may have censid-
cred high psEiotic purpose. for
two reason3-th&t we have nothing Sc
we're to say and the credits adEitted
are generally understood and conceded.
There are different ways of arriving at
things, and Judge Zane had his way.
He was in position in which, no nat-
ter how much he may have been .G0n-
fronted by dissentients, Whatever he
decreed had to stand Cor the lime being
if not altogether. Sometimes, perhs ps
in most instances, he exercised this
autocratic power wisely and with a
sincere purpose to SECURE the best
results, having due regard tor
the law as it is and inatt
and patriotic purpose always beforet
him. but if this had been always theH
case the Judge was something more
than an sutocrat-he was a veritable
Solomon "wxspped in the solitude OF
his own originality" That be was not
this, nor anything resembling it nearly
or remotely, isevidenced in the fact of
one of his moastrous inventions, thu
segregation measure. In this he
usurped the functions of the
'Iaw-making poWsr and became for
the time being a separate and
distinct governmental agency from
the one he was app ointed to &C.
cupy; and this nat that any useful or
dressing purpose might be subseryed
because he must have known, as the
sequel has shown, that the means al
ready provided by the proper authority
and quite at bis disposal we're ample
but, as those who look at it dispassion-
ately must nov and ever consider, in
order that he might coerce Ehere h.
could not intimidste, and thus make
|reputationy as missionar revolutions
which could not be gained by following
tbs beaten path of the Law as it was
and is. The HERALD is glad that he
Jailed, not because of the personality
but because Of the principle involved