The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-02-02
PARTISAN JUDICIARY.

Inc Democratic editors and Democratic
statesmen of the country are very mad
aoout a thing which occurred down in
FLORIDA q few weeks ago, and which has
already been referred to in these columns
and II the Geographic reports of congress
slonal proceedings. The circumstances.
briefly told: are these: A number of
Florida Democrats were charged with coli
tlcal offenses, and their cases were coming
on Tor trial, when the United States mar
snail, one MIzELL. wrote to one of his dep
utles, instructing him to return a iurv list
of Fifty or sixty true and tried Republi
cans from your county registration
list" This letter fell into hands for
which 1t was never intended, as such
letters sometimes do, and it was brought to
the attention of SwAYNE, the federal Judge
Oh That state. SwAYNE, being a Republi
can, Ike the marshal, refused to receive
the letter OF hear any evidence regard
ing it.
Then the matter was taken before the
President, by the Senator's and Represen-
tatives from Florida. who protested
against such fragrant and partisan abuse
OF justice, and asked that he withdraw
from the Senate the nominations of the two
unit and disqualified officials. The
President listened, and so far as ANYBODY
knows, that is all he did, as the nomina-
lions were not withdrawn and SwAYNE
and MIz!LL continue n their respective
places.
Later Senator CALL INTRODUCED a resolu-
ton calling on the attorney general for
copy of the correspondence between the
department of justice and the court and
officers OF the Florida district with refer
ence to criminal prosecutions. The resolu-
ton was necessarily referred to the COM
mittee on judiciary, of which EDMUNDs is
chairman, and there it has lain for a month,
with little prospect of being called up for
action on it, EDMUNDs being the recognized
champion and defender of his party and the
President
This, in short, is why our Demo
cratic friends of the press and Congress are
devotlng so much time and en-.
ergy to the denunciation of -
administration and the R. sTe
party. Of course we feel sorr-- p o11can
people of Florida who are " the poor
ers from this outrage 1<oa,F me real suffer
tration of the law. = - s 3,'z,usan admins
R ,ui, whu sn' I'D be 9snus imposed upon.
resent 4neHfa democratic editors. Rep
inS. ~.eaves SD Senators so suddenly turn
-IgAant over matter of this kind? 1t
foanhot be new to them, for worse things
filan this have been called to their atten-
! tion, and if they have not applauded them
they have at least not protested. Indeed,
we have very distinct recollection of a
Democratic House of Representatives
uniting with Republican Senate in the
enactment of laws not only sanctioning
but absolutely commanding worse partisan
rule, Judicial and executive, for great
community, than anybody ever thought OF
infiicting upon Florida. And the Demo-
cratic editors did not object; on the con-
trary, with remarkably few exceptions
they advocated and urged the legislation.
| We wonder if a search of the record would
not show that some of Florida's Con
gressmen voted for these bills Here in
Utah the laws of Congress were enacted
Tor the sole purpose of keeping all mem
bers of the great majority party off the
juries, and federal official who would so
far forget himself as to eelect part
san jury would expect to read in the
dispatches the next morning that he
had been summarily removed from Office
on the ground that he was not in harmony
with the policy of the administration.
Fora long time nobody has feared removal.
We don't hear OF any denunciation of the
law In Congress, and where is the Demo
cratic editor who has the manhood and
courage to say that he thinks it wrong TO
impose upon bound and gagged Utah. the
rankest kind of a partisan judiciary to
apply Intentionally partisan statutes
Florida doesn't know what a partisan ad-
ministratlon Of the law means. To learn
she would have to come to Utah.