The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-06-17
THE WEST SIDE MEETING.

The voters who held Fb Indignation
meeting in the FftcrnthlTard on Tues
day evening, in protestF against tho
stockadc.' were decidedly in the
right of it when they appealed TO the
State officers "a anuul the incorporation
under which that stockadc operates, 30
far rs il operates at ALL They were
clearly within their rights. also, i'm bIam-
ing, so far as they stick TO the facts.
city officials whom they consider
blamcwor,hy; though they would have
shown more candor and better spirit
of Justice if they had recognized the
fact that tho courts have assumed iurls-
diction Of the case. and that court
process IS ont against any unlawful
practices at the ''stockadr, - which 1t
! is he sheriff : duty TO enforce And
this points to IN omission on the part
of the managers of that meeting which
may Justly involve the charge that
party politics was not forgotten i'm their
alleged moral uprising For, the meet
ing passed resolutions appealing to the
State government. denouncing the city
! D0NtInInt DuI DulUlHS N5S 0dlb 'ip''l
the county government nor Of the fail
ure Of the sheriff 10 enforce tho in
I junction of the court. Here a manifest
/ bias is seen. an unjust assault upon the
! city government combined with an
equally unjust cXculpation OF the county
government as represented III the sher'
iff S office. For, there is moi the least
doubt that it is the express duty of
the sheriff, in pursuance of the order
of the court, to close up the ''stoclS-
ade - Moreover. the sheriff has been
assured of ample funds If he Will act.
II he should station (say) twenty dcpu-
tics every night at the stockade, and
arrest every one showing up there for
immoral purposes. how long would the
stockaden last? And II Joseph i.
Smith should "counsel' the sheriff to
do this, that ''counsel" would, with
out the least doubt, be infinitely more
potent with him than is The mandate
Of the court But the meeting showed
a protective bias toward the sheriff that
was wholly unworthy of its professions,
and of the great moral cause it as;
sumed to represent,
With respect TO the resolution ad-
i dressed TO the Governor and the Attor-
Inev General, it is noteworthy that 1t
! is identical with that addressed last
September TO (then) Governor Cutler
and (then) Attorney General Breeden.
The reply of those officials at that time
was that they had no jurisdiction. They
! had jurisdiction TO authorize this I'M
morality TO open business, but no luris-
dicton to stop it. We shall await
with interest the reply of the new Gov
ernor and the new Attorney General, to
! see whether they consider that they
! have jurisdiction to stop the flood Of
vice which their predecessors set loose
in this city.
The resolutions addressed 10 the
Mavor and City Council are singular
Ily muddled. So far as they set forth
1 the duty of the police to enforce the
laws and TO break up immortality and
vice, they are on solid ground. But
when they recite the proceedings in the
Third District Court, and invoke the
! Injunction issued therefrom, as some
and enforcible by that government,
there is n connection missing. This is
clearly the sheriff s work. and not that
Of the police. The sheriff is the eHccu-
tive officer of the court. The Mayor
and the City Council have no such re-
4 Al. al
mistakenly addressed as though they
had II looks very much as though
this address to the Mayor and the Coun
ell is a composite; as if 1T were COM
bination Of two. one Of them ad.
dressed TO the sheriff and aftcrward
the sheriff loft out and the part belong
ing 10 him enormously cngraftcd upon
the address 10 the Mayor and City
Council. But whether this is the true
solution of the contrctemps or not. it is
sure that here is an cgregious misft, Il
missing Of the sheriff, who ought to be
bit harder than anybody.
The citizens of the west side do we'll
to unite in the assertion Of their rights,
and in resistance TO the intrusion upon
them of this den of vice, They arc i'll!
advised. however, in undertaking to
make political Job out of it, and
especially arc they weak when they
refuse TO condemn the most guilty and
visit his (thc sheriff - dcrelictions up
on those who in no way are responsible
for them. 4 fair, straightforward
presentation would be far more effective
than one tinctured with politics and
controlled by desire TO shield the
ono who is chiefly responsible for exist
ING cOndit ons