The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-05-29
MAY 90, 1894
PROVO CITY.
A SHAMEFUL THING.

Merritt and Smith, using recent tele
graphic correspondence for the pur-
pose, is by all odds the vilest thing yet
attempted in all the history Of western
frontier politics. The gentlemen
named may take this reflection as true;
It is because of no especial distaste for
either as men, but they are democrats
and democratic ofice-holders and as
such they come in the line of fire and
must take their share. This whole as
sault is nothing else or other than a
campaign measure. The democracy ls
to be defeated and the most exalted
virtues and names are to be dragged
in the mire unrelentingly if in doing
so, the democracy is to be crippled or
injured In any way. The republican
plan of campaign is now fully un-
covered and it will be our own fault if a
stingine, ave! crushing rebuke is
not administered at the polls on the
second Tuesday in November next.
We regret exceedingly that our foes
have elected to adopt this despicaple
policy, because it is only human ma
ture to retaIiate, and God only knows
what an infinite mass of corruption
and filth this will inject into the cam
paign. The recklessness of the thing
is well nigh criminal, in and of itself.
When we recall the fact that our peo-
pie are excited, angered and irrational
on this wealer business anyhow, to
come forward in this way and without
any base at all, to attack the chiel
Justice, and one of the ablest and best
judges ever on the bench of Utah, his
associate, is criminally reckless almost
beyond expression. 1t required no
trial to fix the guilt Of the men arrested.
They were captured in the
very expression of contempt. Indeed
they afterward pleaded guilty. No
more was needed than the evidence of
Judge Smiths own eyes. To have
pursued any other course than that
actually pursued would have been an
Unfrank pretense, an affectation.
Naturally enough, with his Nephi
duty plainly before him, Judge Smith
wished for a consultation, but this
consultation was entirely upon the ar
rangement of the business to which
each of the judges were eligible alike,
so that there would be as little hind
rance as possible to the general busi-
ness of both courts, and not base con-
spiracy to convict innocent men, or to
prejudge their cases In any way. This
is plainly deducibie from all the facts
in the case, yet these reckless special
pleaders claim that Judge Merritt and
Judge Smith conspired to condemn in
nocent and unoffending men in ad
vance of trial, 1t is too monstrous for
human belief.
We cannot determine as to the cor
rectness of the Tribune's expressions
of the several lawyers whom it inter-
viewed in its Issue yesterday morning,
but we cannot believe that the bar of
Salt Lake could be guilty of such q
petty thing as to give color to the Tri-
bune's unworthy effort to besmirch the
ermiue of two such men. We rate that
bar of higher order of men and we
feel perfectly assured that the opinion
ascribed to Judge Powers is altogether
false in every particular. Time only
of the briefest is necessary to estab-
lish the utter falsity of the whole
statement as to all the gentlemen of
the law of Salt Lake.
There is, however, in all this a thing
which is altogether uncomplimentary
to this territory and its capital city. 1t
is this: That there should be among
our loftiest and purest citizenship
sentiment ready and willing to lend aid
and countenance to a mob of men
seeking to menace this government
and who il the prosecution of their
unlawful schemes act in contempt of
the courts, commit grand larceny and
steal everything from locomotive to
mess of leeks.
The sober second thought of the
good people of this territory will place
a broad condemnation upon this su-
preme effort OF petty spite and par
tisan hatred to drag these two gentle
men down to the low level occupied by
their assaIlants. Shame! Shame on
them.