The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-20

BiIl-AIIisOn's Bayard Resolution.
Up to date the work Of the legislature
has been more in the nature of prelim-
mary action than in the framing of
laws calculated to affect the people of
the state. True. few bills have been
passed, but as a rule they were meas
ures of relief for the benefit of the
state and district courts and for the
providing OF supplies for the mem
bers of both houses and state Of
icers. This week, however, it is an
ticipated there will be something done
Tomorrow VIII be spent, in all prob
ability, by the conference committees
of both the senate and house in an en-
deavor to get the bill for the relief of
the supreme court passed. There are
several instances in this connection
where members of both bodies Will
have to recede from former positions
in order to arrive at an agreement In
the case of the provision setting aside
% per cent. Of the fees of the clerk OF
the court for the benefit of thei law
library. the senate members were in
favor Of the same, while the house was
not. Prominent among the latter was
Representative Stephens of Ogden. He
declares in this connection he is not
hostile to the library, but believes APP
propriatiOns ought not be made in the
dark specified amounts should be ap-
prOpriated for this purpose, says MI
Stephens. I'VE 90 not know how much
the fees of the court are going to be.
They may be very heavy and % per
cent. would be more than the library
is entitled to. On the other hand, the
of ba
much as viii meet the legitimate eX-
penses of government The fees of the
court may be light. We are endeaVor-
ing TO make every branch OF this gov
eminent pay its own way. suppose the
fees collected by the court fall short OF
The legitimate expense, what Is the re
Sult2 Simply that the general fund mas
TO be drawn upon for the law library
! repeat I am in favor of the library
it is q good thing and should be en-
c0ura ged. / win vote for as large an
appropriation for it as any man, but-I
viii not give it any blind amounts
The figures must be stated. That has
been my position in this matter and Is
one shall not recede from.
Inasmuch as the majority of the
members of the house concur in this
view, it would appear that stephens
and his friends have the inside track
on the bill
AIison's bill for the introduction of
the Torrens land system has been
printed and is being carefully scanned
by the members of both houses 1t is
a very lengthy document, containing
very neary ten thousand words IL is
not going TO pass without struggle
ogden is against it, and there viii be
severe opposition in this city. Besides
all the country towns and villages and
the farmers are liable to raise up and
Ia 6pf
II is not a good measure in many es-
sential respects. for where it has been
tried it works well, but just now, when
money is close. the extra fees which
would have to be paid to make the
changes required by the bill are hard
to obtain. 1t is argued that the cities
of Chicago and New York, where 1t Is
in use. can afford the expense, but the
small farmers of Utah and the people
who own their homes here and in other
cities have all they can do to make
living and pay taxes. without being put
to extra expense at this time
The bill provides for two examiners to
pass upon the title Of property ana
there are those who scent job in this,
so they viii work against it. Allison
would DO we'll to drop the matter and
continue his chase after the scalp OF
Ambassador Bayard.
Booths land bill which was present
ed saturday. win be carefully examined
+bis week. and while it viii pass as a
whole, there viii be some changes
made. It may be relied upon that when
the festive country member gets hold
of il and notes for instance, that the
attorney general has the power and au-
thority TO retain a land attorney at the
NATIONAL capital the same attorney to
receive an annual retainer of $500 and !
cents per share for every acre Of land
/ - lot Will a
some lively protests filed The festive
country member is going to kick on
heavy EXPENSES wherever he can
There are several other points in the
bin which will be revamped ere it be-
comes a law.
Speaking of expenses. there is going
to be a fight on the matter of salaries.
It is doubtful if any measure of relief
for county officers passes until the late
hours of the session. The disparity in
the size of the several counties and
their population is going to cut a
great figure. Especially is there wide
disparity in the duties Of the sheriffs.
Harvey Hardy has here nearly ONE
third of the population of the state.
The sheriff of Weber has an immense
amount of work to do also These
two officers want good pay. The
salary Of the sheriff Of this county by
right ought to be $500 per annum,
while Weber's man could use $4,000
handily When the criminal depart
1nent of a county is neglerted, the in
terests of the citizens suffer. But the
sheriffs from the outside will protest
against any such action and the mem
bers from their counties viii fail tc
note that in the two largest counties
of Utah there is more crooked work
going on than in all the balance of the
state combined. That the salary of a
sheriff does not all go into his pocket
he is compelled TO eXpend a great
deal. Admitting he pays his deputies
or the state does the amount mention.
ed would not net him more than $1,000
after he had settled with those he
owed for assistance and supplies used
in capturing criminals.
Monson has q bin before the lower
house which provides for the payment
Of attorneys which are appointed by