Chapter VI (3)

President Brigham Young was much pleased to meet with the Saints. The Church was that day thirty-one years old--it seemed but a short time, yet a great work had been done. He remembered when he had a great anxiety to see some person of foreign birth embrace the faith. For the first few years it was only Americans who received it, but he could now gaze upon tens of thousands from the nations of the Old World. He discarded miracles as being any evidence of the divinity of any man’s mission: men might be astonished by them, but the spirit only could convince and satisfy the mind. Referred to Aaron’s operations: turning his stick into a serpent, filling the air with life, and turning the rivers into blood, did not satisfy. He alluded to the troubles in the States, and warned the people against too great anxiety; thought the nation was breaking up quite fast enough. All he was anxious about was the Saints being prepared for every event in the providence of the Lord. He sometimes wondered if the great men of the nation ever asked themselves the question, “How can a republican government stand?” There was but one way in which it could endure--as the government of heaven endures upon the basis of eternal truth and virtue. Had Martin Van Buren redressed the wrongs committed against the Saints--had he ordered the State of Missouri to restore them to their property, the nation would be stronger to-day than it is. He mourned to see the corruption, and he sometimes felt a blush for being an American. He had been reared by the green mountains of Vermont, and could look down upon the nation and mourn that he had no power to save it. Although he had no reason to doubt that President Lincoln was as good a man as ever sat in the chair of state, he had little hope of his accomplishing much. He was powerless, because of the corruptions that had been introduced and fostered by the chief men of the nation. “Abraham’s” authority and power was like a rope of sand: he was weak as water. The governments that had been had put aside the innocent, justified thieving and every species of debauchery, and had fostered every one that plundered the coffers of the people, and said let it be so.

The choir sung, “Arise, oh glorious Zion,” and with a benediction from President Joseph Young we got home for dinner.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

At 2 P.M. the choir sung,

“Great God attend while Zion sings,”

and Bishop Lorenzo D. Young prayed.

The choir sung,

“All hail the glorious day, by prophets long foretold.”

Attention was requested from the congregation, and Apostle John Taylor was to put all the presiding authorities before the people for re-election. Twice a year, in April and October, all the presidents are presented and voted on separately, and such dismissals or changes made that are deemed proper. On this occasion there were some additions made, but not a dissentient voice heard. The present presiding authorities in Mormondom are:

Brigham Young as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Heber C. Kimball, his first, and Daniel H. Wells, his second counselors.

Orson Hyde as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and Orson Pratt, sen., Willford Woodruff, John Taylor, George A. Smith, Amasa Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, and George Q. Cannon, as members of the said Quorum.

John Smith, Patriarch of the whole Church.

Daniel Spencer as President of this Stake of Zion; and David Fullmer and George B. Wallace, his counselors.

William Eddington, James A. Little, John V. Long, John L. Blythe, George Nebeker, John T. Caine, Joseph W. Young, Gilbert Clements, Brigham Young, jun., Franklin B. Woolley, Orson Pratt, jun., and Howard Spencer, as members of the High Council.

John Young as President of the High Priests’ Quorum; Edwin D. Woolley and Samuel W. Richards, his counselors.

Joseph Young, President of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies; and Levi W. Hancock, Henry Herriman, Zera Pulsipher, Albert P. Rockwood, Horace S. Eldredge, and Jacob Gates, as members of the first seven Presidents of the Seventies.

John Nebeker as President of the Elders’ Quorum; and Elnathan Eldredge and Joseph Felt, his counselors.

Edward Hunter as Presiding Bishop; Leonard W. Hardy and Jesse C. Little, his counselors.

Lewis Wight as President of the Priests’ Quorum; William Whiting and Samuel Moore, his counselors.

M‘Gee Harris as President of the Teachers’ Quorum; Adam Speirs and David Bowman, his counselors.

John S. Carpenter as President of the Deacon’s Quorum; William F. Cook and Warren Hardy, his counselors.

Brigham Young was presented as Trustee in Trust for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Daniel H. Wells as Superintendent of Public Works.

Truman O. Angell, Architect for the Church.

Brigham Young, President of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund to gather the poor.

Heber C. Kimball, Daniel H. Wells, and Edward Hunter, his assistants and agents for said fund.

George A. Smith, Historian and general Church Recorder; and Willford Woodruff, his assistant.

Besides the time consumed in putting every name separately for the action of the assembly, there was a good deal of instruction given about the severities, which is of no outside interest.

Apostles John Taylor and George A. Smith, and Patriarch Assac Morley, addressed the audience.

The apostle Taylor thought the Mormons the freest people on the earth. They could, if they would, reject their rulers twice a year: they had the opportunity. The unity of the Saints pleased them. He questioned _Vox populi, vox Dei_. He got facetious, and wondered how they would get along, both North and South, with that doctrine. If the voice of the people in the North was the voice of God, and the voice of the people in the South was the voice of God, he was a little interested to know with which of them he would really be. [_A Voice in the stand_: “Not either of them.”]

With the Saints it was _Vox Dei, vox populi_; the voice of God first, and the voice of the people afterward. The Spirit dictated and the Saints sustained it. But what were they after? Did they seek to subdue and put their feet on the necks of men? to rule and dictate nations? No. It was only the “little stone cut out of the mountains,” growing into the kingdom that the prophets foresaw that would be established in the last days. The Mormons had never troubled their neighbors, but their neighbors kept meddling with them. They had sent an army here, but the Mormons did not seek to harm them when they had the chance. They came here with the intention to kill the Mormons if they could; but they couldn’t, for the Lord wouldn’t let them. Their enemies had hunted them like wolves; but the Lord had said, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” They had kept the army out at Ham’s Fork shaking and shivering till they cooled down. “Brother Taylor” was real well pleased with things in general, and concluded with Hallelujah.

Apostle George A. Smith was exceedingly humorous over the democracy. There was no head to it; the centre of its intelligence was the belly, and the principal portion of the body was in the boots. Several plundering operations were alluded to, and Uncle Sam had been sadly victimized by his boys. The government had been a miserable goose for politicians to pluck. Abe Lincoln had now the honor of presiding over a portion of what was once the United States; he had been elected by the religious portion of the States. “George A.” remembered when the folks of New York sold her slaves to Virginia. Their conscience would not allow them to retain their fellow-beings in bondage--oh, they were mighty squeamish! They could take the money from Virginia, and as they got more religion and more conscience they were exceedingly anxious for Virginia to set them loose!

That religious fanaticism that had been mixed up with politics would lead to bloodshed. They were more to be dreaded than infidels. They were cruel in their fanaticism. The Republicans first whipped old Buck[170] into the Utah war, and they whipped him for getting into it, and whipped him awfully for getting out of it--he got out of it too soon. Politicians were in confusion, and the Lord would keep them there. He labored to show the folly of men worshiping a God without body, parts, or passions, for such being, if being he might be called, must be destitute of principles and power. He argued that the God worshiped by sectarians could not be the being that wrestled with Jacob, that conversed with Moses, and wrote with his finger upon tables of stone. He said that Joseph Smith had prophesied when the Saints were driven from Jackson County, Missouri, that if the government did not redress our wrongs, they should have mob upon mob until mob power, and that alone, should govern the whole land.

[170] Mr. Buchanan.

He bore testimony to the truth of the work in which he was engaged, and said if the Latter-Day Saints would listen to President Young’s instructions as they ought to do, they would soon be the wealthiest people upon the face of the earth.

The choir sung “The Standard of Zion.”

Air--“_Star Spangled Banner._”

Oh see! on the tops of the mountains unfurled,
The ensign of promise, of hope, and salvation,
From their summits how nobly it waves to the world,
And spreads its broad folds o’er the good of each nation;
A signal of light for the lovers of right,
To rally where truth will soon triumph in might.
’Tis the ensign of Israel streaming abroad,
And ever shall wave o’er the people of God.

By an angel’s strong hand to the earth it was brought
From the regions of glory, where long it lay folded;
And holy ones here, for the arduous work taught
By the priesthood unflinching and faithful uphold it;
Its crown pierces heav’n, and ’twill never be riv’n,
’Till the rule of the earth will to Jesus be given.
For the ensign of Israel’s streaming abroad,
And ever shall wave o’er the people of God.

’Tis the emblem of peace and good-will to mankind,
That prophets have sung of when freed by the spirit,
And a token which God has for Israel designed,
That their seed may the land of their fathers inherit;
Many nations will say, when they see its bright ray,
To the mountains of God let us hasten away;
For the ensign of Israel’s streaming abroad,
And ever shall wave o’er the people of God.

Its guardians are sending their ministers forth,
To tell when the Latter-Day kingdom is founded,
And invite all the lovers of truth on the earth,
Jew, Christian, and Gentile, to gather around it;
The cause will prevail, though all else may assail,
For God has decreed that his works shall not fail;
Oh! the ensign of Israel’s streaming abroad,
And ever shall wave o’er the people of God.

Patriarch Morley pronounced the benediction, and the first day’s conference terminated.

SECOND DAY.

The crowd on the Sunday far exceeded that of the preceding day. The streets around the Temple Block were literally filled with people and carriages. The Tabernacle could not hold a third of those who were anxious to hear. Every seat and standing-place was occupied long before the opening of proceedings. As soon as Brigham reached the inside vestry, he sent out some of the apostles and elders to preach to the outsiders, sufficiently distant from the Tabernacle as not to disturb each other with their preaching.

I have already filled so much paper that I fear trespassing too much upon your columns with the details of the second day at the present time, as Brigham was very explicit on the subject of plurality of wives, and it was the only time I ever heard him on the “peculiar institution.”

Altogether it was a great conference, and, as the foregoing exhibits, the apostles enjoyed a particular free and easy time of it.

In its territorial status an anomaly has been forced upon the Mormon population. It must receive officers appointed and salaried by the federal government, viz.:

A governor, with a salary of $2500 (£500) per annum, payable
quarterly.

A secretary to government, $1000.

A chief justice to the Supreme Court, $2500.
An associate do. do. $1000.
Do. do. do. $1000.

A district attorney, $400.

A marshal, $400 (not including perquisites).

A superintendent of Indian affairs, $2500.

A surveyor general, $2500.[171]

[171] The delegate to Washington receives “$8 per diem, not including
‘mileage.’”

The governor, who is also commander-in-chief of the militia, holds office for four years, unless sooner removed by the President of the United States, or until appointment of a successor. He has the usual right of pardoning territorial offenses, and of reprieving offenders against the federal government. He approves all laws passed by the Legislative Assembly before they can take effect; he commissions all officers appointed under the laws, and takes care that the laws are faithfully executed.

The secretary holds office for the same time: his duty is to record, preserve, and transmit copies of all laws and proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, and all acts and proceedings of the governor in his executive department. In case of death, removal, resignation, or necessary absence of the governor from the Territory, he acts temporarily until the vacancy is filled up; and practically he looks forward to being a member of Congress in the House of Representatives of the United States.

The marshal holds office for a similar term: his duty is to execute all processes issued by the courts when exercising their functions as Circuit and District Courts of the United States. In disturbed countries, as California of the olden time, the marshal’s principal office seems to have been that of being shot at.

The executive arm would, in any other Territory, be found to work easily and well: it is, in fact, derived, with certain modifications, from that original Constitution which has ever remained to new states the great old model. Among the Mormons, however, there is necessarily a division and a clashing of the two principles: one, the federal, republican, and laical; the other, the theocratic, despotic, and spiritual. The former is the State, under which is the Church. The latter is the Church, under which is the State, and hence complications which call for a cutting solution. As long as the Prophet and President was also the temporal governor, so long the Mormons were contented: now they must look forward to a change.

The Legislative Assembly consists of an “Upper House,” a President and Council of thirteen, and a House of Representatives, or Lower House, of twenty-six members, whose term of office is one year. An appointment of the representation based upon a census is made in the ratio of population: the candidates, however, must be _bonâ fide_ residents of the counties or districts for which they stand. No member of the Legislative Assembly is allowed to hold any appointment created while he was in office, “or for one year thereafter,” and the United States officials--post-masters alone excepted--can not become either senators or representatives. The legislative power extends to the usual rightful and constitutional limits. “No law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States, nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. All the laws passed by the Legislative Assembly and government shall be submitted to the Congress of the United States, and, if disapproved, shall be null and of no effect.”

[VOTERS AND VOTING.--LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.]

Every free male (white) inhabitant[172] above the age of twenty-one, who has resided in the county for sixty days before the election, is entitled to vote, and is eligible for office; the right is limited to citizens of the United States, including those recognized by treaty with the Mexican Republic (2d of Feb., 1848), and excluding, as usual, the military servants of the federal government. Great fault was found by anti-Mormons with the following permissions in the act regulating elections (Jan., 1853), because they artistically enough abolish the ballot while they retain the vote.[173]

[172] When the vexed passage, “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal,” written in 1776, is
interpreted in 1860, it must be read, “all (free white) men” to be
consistent and intelligible. Similarly “persons bound to labor”
must be considered a euphuism for slaves. The “American Mirabeau,”
Jefferson, who framed the celebrated Declaration, certainly did not
consider, as the context of his life proves, slaves to be his equals.
What he intended the Mormons have expressed.

Again, what can be clearer than that the Constitution contemplated
secession? If an adult citizen is allowed to throw off his
allegiance, surely the body of citizens called a state have, _à
majori_, a right to withdraw from a “federal union.”

[173] The first Legislative Assembly was elected in the summer of
1851, and held a session in the following autumn and winter. An
historian’s office was established, courts were organized, cities
incorporated, and a small body of Territorial laws were passed. The
second Legislative Assembly met on the 15th of January, 1852, at the
Council House, and after the organization of the two houses, they
came together to receive the message of the governor, Mr. Brigham
Young. The archon, when notified of the hour, entered, sat down in
the speaker’s chair, and on being asked if he had any communication
to make, handed his message to the President of the Council, who
passed it for reading to the Clerk of the House. The message was
a lengthy and creditable document; of course, it was severely
criticised, but the gravamen of the charges was the invidious phrase
used by the Prophet to his lieges, “for your guidance.”

Sec. 5. Each elector shall provide himself with a vote, containing
the names of the persons he wishes elected, and the offices he would
have them to fill, and present it neatly folded (!) to the judge of
the elections, who shall number and deposit it in the ballot-box; the
clerk shall then write the name of the elector, and opposite it the
number of his vote.

Sec. 6. At the close of the election the judge shall seal up the
ballot-box, and the list of the names of the electors, and transmit
the same without delay to the county clerks.

“In a Territory so governed,” remarks Mr. Secretary Ferris, “it will not excite surprise that cases of extortion, robbery, murder, and other crimes should occur, and defy all legal redress, or that the law should be made the instrument of crime.”

The deduction is unfair. The real cause why crime goes unpunished must, as will presently appear, be sought in an unfriendly and conflicting judiciary. The act itself can produce nothing but good; it enables the wise few to superintend the actions of the unwise many, and it subjects the “tyrant majority,” as ever should be the case, to the will of the favored minority. As the Conqueror of Sindh often said, “When noses are counted, the many are those without brains.”

The bad working of a divided executive is as nothing compared with the troubles occasioned by the opposition judiciaries, federal and territorial.

An act (19th of Jan., 1855) provides that a Supreme Court of the United States be held annually on the first Monday in January, at Fillmore City; each session to be kept open at least one day, and no session to be legal except on adjournment in the regular term. Another act (4th of Feb., 1852) directed that the District Courts, now three in number, shall exercise original jurisdiction both in civil and criminal cases when not otherwise provided by law, and also have a general supervision over all inferior courts, to prevent and correct abuses where no other remedy is provided. The above are officered by the federal government.

Section 23d of the same act provides for a Judge of Probate--of course a Mormon--_elected by the joint vote of the Legislative Assembly and commissioned by the governor_. His tenure of office is four years, and he holds regular sessions on the second Mondays of March, June, September, and December of each year. The Probate Court, besides the duties which its name suggests, has the administration of estates, and the guardianship of minors, idiots, and insane persons; with these its proper offices, however, it combines power to _exercise original jurisdiction, both civil and criminal_, regulated only by appeal under certain conditions to the District Courts. Of late the anomaly has been acknowledged by the Supreme Court.[174] Inferior to the Probate Court, and subject to its revision, are the Justices of the Peace, the Municipal Court, and the three selectmen in each organized county. Besides the Probate Courts, the Mormons have instituted, as will presently appear, Ecclesiastical High Council under the Church authorities and the President, provided with ample powers of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and fully capable of judging between Saint and Saint.

[174] The Court held, First. That the 9th section of the Organic
Act vested all judicial power in the Supreme, District, and Probate
Courts, and in Justices of the Peace.

Second. That the only restriction placed upon these courts was as to
Justices of the Peace, refusing them jurisdiction to try any case
involving the title or boundary to land, or any suit where the claim
or demand exceeded one hundred dollars.

Third. That by virtue of that clause of the Organic Act which
provides that “the jurisdiction of the several courts therein
provided for,” including the Probate Courts, “_shall be as limited by
law_,” that the Legislature had the right to provide by law for the
exercise by the Probate Courts of jurisdiction in civil and criminal
cases.

Fourth. That as the Organic Act conferred common law and chancery
jurisdiction upon the Supreme and District Courts respectively, that
this jurisdiction belonged to these courts exclusively, and that
the Probate Courts were confined to the jurisdiction conferred by
statute, and such jurisdiction might be exercised concurrently with
the District Courts to the extent provided by statute.

Fifth. That as the Legislature had passed a law conferring upon the
Probate Courts concurrent jurisdiction with the District Courts to
hear and determine civil as well as criminal cases within their
respective counties, and had provided the manner in which this
jurisdiction should be exercised, that the trial, conviction, and
sentence of the prisoner were valid and binding in law until reversed
by an appellate court.

Although Judge Shaver, one of the best of jurists, tacitly
acknowledged the jurisdiction of Probate Courts, Judge Kinney is the
first who has dared assert his decision judicially.

[CONFLICTING JUDICIARIES.]

In describing the operations of the two conflicting judiciaries, I shall borrow the words of both parties.

According to the Mormons, the increased chicanery of the federal government has arrived at full development in their Territory.[175] The phrase has been, “Any thing is good enough for Utah.” The salary is too inconsiderable to satisfy any but the worst kind of jack-in-office, and the object of those appointed is to secure notoriety in the Eastern States by obstructing justice, and by fomenting disturbances in the West. The three judges first appointed from Washington in June, 1851, became so unpopular, that in the autumn of the same year they were obliged to leave Utah Territory--one of them with a “flea in his ear” duly inserted by Mr. Brigham Young. I shall not quote names, nor will the reader require them. Another attempted to break the amnesty in 1858, and when asked for suggestions by the Legislative Assembly, proposed an act for the prevention and punishment of polygamy, and urged the Senate to divide the land between the proposed Territories; finally, this excellent Christian hung a Gentile brother on the Lord’s day. Another killed himself with opium; another was a notorious drunkard; and another was addicted to gambling in his cellar. A judge disgraced himself with an Indian squaw, who entered his court, and, _coram publico_, demanded her honorarium, and another seated on the bench his mistress--_la maîgre Ada_, as she is termed by M. Remy, the Gentile traveler--and the Mormons have not yet learned to endure Alice Peirce, or to worship the Goddess of Reason in that shape. Another attempted to convict Mr. Brigham Young of forgery. The marshal was, in one case, a _ci-devant_ teamster, who could hardly write his own name. Besides the vileness of their characters, their cliqueism and violent hostility have led to prostitution of justice; a Mormon _accusé_ was invariably found guilty by them, a Gentile was invariably acquitted. Thus the Probate Courts, properly jurisdictors of the dead, were made judges of the living in all civil and criminal cases, because justice was not obtainable from the Supreme District and the Circuit judges appointed by the federal government. To the envenomed reports of these officials the Saints attribute all the disturbances in 1857-58, and sundry high-handed violations of the constitutional liberties and the dearest rights of American citizenship. For instance, the Indian war of 1852 cost them $200,000; they repeatedly memorialized Congress to defray, strictly according to precedent, these expenditures, and yet, from 1850 to 1855, they have received, in payment of expenses and treaties, grants and presents, only the sum of $95,940. Though Utah Territory has practiced far more economy than Oregon or California, the drafts forwarded by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs to the Treasury at Washington are totally neglected, or are subjected to delays and frivolous annoyances. The usual treaties with the Indians have not been held by the federal government. The Mormons’ requisition for becoming a state is systematically ignored, and this ignoble minorhood is prolonged, although they can show five head of souls for three possessed by California at the time of her admittance--another instance of a “rancorous persecuting spirit, excited by false and malicious representations.” He who lifteth up an ensign on the mountains is now “about to destroy a certain nation under the name of the sour grape (Catawba?);” and the Mormons see in the present civil war at once retribution for their injuries, and the fulfillment of the denunciations of Joseph the Seer against the “Gentile land of strife and wickedness.” Assuredly Fate has played marvelously into their hands.

[175] The Utah correspondent of the “New York Herald,” writing from
Salt Lake under date of April 26th, states that the fall of Fort
Sumter and the secession of Virginia had created intense interest
among the “Saints.” The news was read in the Tabernacle by Brigham
Young, and the disciples were asked to believe that this was merely
the prediction of Mr. Joseph Smith about the breaking up of the
American Union.

The federal officials retort with a counter charge against the Saints of systematically obstructing the course of justice. A Mormon must be tried by his peers; however guilty, he will be surely acquitted, as a murdering fugitive slave in the North, or a thievish filibuster in the South; that it is vain to attempt jurisdiction over a people who have an ecclesiastical Star-Chamber and Vigilance Committee working out in darkness a sectarian law; that no civilized government could or would admit into a community of Christian states a power founded on prophethood and polygamy, a theodemocracy, with a Grand Lama presiding over universal suffragators; that all accusations of private immorality proceed from a systematic attack upon the federal Union through its officers; and, finally, that, so thin-skinned is Mormon sensibility, a torrent of vituperation follows the least delay made with respect to their “ridiculous pretensions.”

The author speaks. Of course there are faults on both sides, and each party has nothing better to do than to spy out the other’s sins of omission and commission. The Americans (_i. e._, anti-Mormons), never very genial or unprejudiced, are not conciliatory; they rage violently when called Gentiles, and their “respectability,” a master-passion in Columbian lands, is outraged, maiden-modesty-like, by the bare mention of polygamy. On the other hand, the Latter-Day Saints, who now flourish in the Mountain Territory, and who expect eventually to flourish over the whole earth, “are naturally prepared to hate and denigrate all beyond the pale of their own faith.” If the newly-arrived judge fails, within the first week, to wait upon Mr. President, he or his may expect to be the subject of an offensive newspaper article. If another live among his co-religionists at Camp Floyd, he is convicted of cliqueism, and is forthwith condemned as a foe. Whatever proceeds from the federal government is and must be distasteful to them; to every address they reply, “To your tents, O Israel!” “Their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them,” is the shaft which they level against the other party, and which recoils upon themselves. The result is that if the territorial judiciary sentences a criminal, he appeals to the federals, and at once obtains cassation--and _vice versâ_. The usual procedure in criminal cases is to make oath before a magistrate, who thereupon commands the marshal to take the accused into custody, and “them safely keep,” so that he may produce their bodies before the first sessions of the United States District Courts; if the magistrate be a Mormon, he naturally refuses to prosecute and persecute a brother Saint--and _vice versâ_. Thus many notorious offenders, whom the Mormons would, for their own sakes, willingly see cut off from the congregation--in simple words, hung--escape with impunity after the first excitement has settled down: the most terrible crimes are soon forgotten in the party fight, and in the race to “go ahead;” after five years they become pabulum for the local antiquary.

I have thus attempted, with feeble hand, to divide the blame between both the great contending parties, and may fairly, I hope, expect to be unanimously rejected by both.

[CORPORATION OF GREAT SALT LAKE CITY.]

The ordinance to incorporate Great Salt Lake City was approved by the General Assembly of the State of Deserét on the 19th of January, 1851, and the body municipal was constituted, like Fillmore, Ogden, and other cities in the Territory. The City Council consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and one common councilor per ward--formerly there were but nine; they are elected by votes, with the usual qualifications; are sworn or affianced to support the federal and territorial Constitution, and retain office for two years. They collect the taxes, which, however, must not exceed 1·50 per cent. per annum upon the assessed value of all taxable property, real and personal.[176] They appoint their recorder, treasurer, assessor, collector, marshal, and supervisor of streets, and have sole charge of the police. They establish and support schools and hospitals, regulate “hacking,” “tippling houses,” and gambling and billiard-tables; inspect lumber, hay, bread and provisions, and provide against fires--which here, contrary to the rule throughout England and the Eastern States, are rare and little to be feared; direct night-lighting and the storage of combustibles, and regulate streets, bridges, and fences. They have power to enforce their ordinances by fines and penalties. Appeals from the decisions of the mayor and aldermen are made to the Municipal Court, composed of the mayor as chief justice, and the aldermen as associate justices, and from the Municipal Court to the Probate Court of Great Salt Lake City.

[176] The property-tax, like tithes, forming the Church funds and the
revenue of the civil government, are general; the octroi ($20 for 100
lbs. of every thing entering the Territory from the east, and $25
from the west) and water-tax are local, and confined to towns. I can
not find any other recognized imposts. The anti-Mormons declare that
the Saints are overburdened with taxation. The Saints assert that
their burden is light, especially when compared with the Mormons’
taxation of the Atlantic cities, which averages from double to treble
that of London and Paris--a little drawback to Liberty when she must
be bought for her weight in gold.

In the Auditor’s report accompanying the Governor’s Message of 1860,
there are some items of general interest to people outside, as well
as to those in the Territory. The report states that “the total
valuation of property assessed in the Territory for the year 1860
(Green River and Carson counties excepted) amounts to $4,673,900.”
Assessors in Utah are, I presume, like assessors every where, not
likely to obtain an exaggerated estimate of the value of property,
as on that estimate assessments are made. Property, therefore, may
be set down at a much larger figure than that given in the above
extract. The Territorial tax at one half of one per cent. is .3,369
50. As an evidence of the increase of population and of improvement
in property, the excess of Territorial tax is over that of last year
$13,278 33--five sixths of which is collected in Great Salt Lake
County, and that chiefly in this city. Of the other counties, the
report states, “The counties of Weber, Box-Elder, and Juab each show
a decrease in the valuation of property, compared with the assessment
for 1859, of 16 per cent., and Iron County a decrease of 33 per
cent., while the counties of Beaver, San Pete, and Cache show a more
than corresponding increase in the following ratio, viz.: Beaver,
36; San Pete, 50; and Cache, 900 per cent. The increase in the three
last-named counties, especially Cache, may account in some measure
for the decrease in the other counties named, from the fact that,
during the fall of 1859 and the spring of 1860, very many wealthy
families moved with their stock and effects to form new settlements
in Cache and San Pete counties, and probably the same may be said of
Beaver.”

The tax of all the counties amounts to .3,369 50; the totals of
auditor’s awards issued $19,184 88, which, together with $5450 95
payable on appropriations heretofore made, shows that the Mormons
have the good sense to keep clear of a Territorial debt.

[INDUSTRY OF GREAT SALT LAKE CITY.]

In the young settlements of the Far West there is a regular self-enforced programme of manufacturing progress. The first step is to establish flouring or grist mills, and lumber or saw mills, to provide for food and shelter. After these _sine quâ nons_ come the comforts of cotton-spinning, wool-carding, cloth-weaving, tailoring, and shoemaking. Lastly arise the luxuries of life, which penetrate slowly into this Territory on account of the delay and expense of transporting heavy machinery across the “wild desert plains.” The minor mechanical contrivances, the remarkable inventions of the Eastern States--results of a necessity which removes every limit to human ingenuity--such as sewing-machines, cataract washing-machines, stump-extracting machines, and others, which, but for want of hands, would never have been dreamed of, are not unknown at Great Salt Lake City.

The subjoined extract from the list of premiums of the Deserét Agricultural Society[177] will explain the industry at Great Salt Lake City in 1860--will prove that the infant colony has supplied all its actual wants, and will show what energy and perseverance can effect against time and all manner of obstructions. Besides the industries mentioned below, there are stores, cutlery shops, watch-makers and jewelers, painters and glaziers, brush-makers, cabinet-makers, and skillful turners--for the most part English. Iron and brass founderies are in contemplation, and a paper-mill is coming across the prairies. The cutlery is good, the swords, spears, and Congress knives, the pruning-hooks, saws, and locks are yearly improving, and the imitations of Colt’s revolvers can hardly be distinguished from the originals. The distilleries, of course, can not expect prizes. The whisky of Utah Territory, unlike the Monongahela or rye of Pennsylvania, and the Bourbon, or maize brandy of Kentucky, is distilled from wheat only; it is, in fact, the korn schnapps of the trans-Rhenine region. This “Valley Tan,” being generally pure, is better than the alcohol one part and water one part, colored with burnt sugar and flavored with green tea, which is sold under the name of Cognac. Ale and cakes are in higher flavor than the “villainous distillation:” there are two large and eight small breweries in which a palatable Lager-bier is made. The hop grows wild and luxuriant in every kanyon; and there is no reason why in time the John Barleycorn of the Saints should not rival that of the sinners in lands where no unfriendly legislation tries, or will, it is hoped, ever try,

“To rob a poor man of his beer.”

[177] The act incorporating the society, which was established
“with a view of promoting the arts of domestic industry, and to
encourage the production of articles from the native elements in this
Territory,” was approved on January 17, 1856. The Board consists of a
President, six Directors, a Treasurer, and a Secretary--the latter,
my friend Mr. Thomas Bullock.

CLASS E.--FARMING IMPLEMENTS MADE IN THE TERRITORY.

Awarding Committee--Ira Eldredge, Daniel Carter, Levi E. Ritter.

Best plow $5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.
Best subsoil plow 5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.
Best harrow 5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.
Best field-roller 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best drill and irrigator 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best corn-planter 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best 1 horse corn cultivator 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best grain-cradle 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best horse-rake 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best garden-rake 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best hay-rake 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best hay-fork 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best manure-fork 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best scythe-snath 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best set of garden tools 3 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best shovel 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best spade 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best hoe 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best wheel-barrow 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best cheese-press 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best churn 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best butter tub and firkin 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best washing machine 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best spinning-wheel 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best 6 corn brooms 2 00
2d do. dip.

AGRICULTURAL MACHINES.

Best reaping machine $10 00
2d do. 5 00
3d do. dip.
Best threshing machine 10 00
2d do. 5 00
3d do. dip.
Best fanning-mill 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best corn-sheller 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best corn and cob mill 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best hemp and flax dressing machine 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best hay and straw cutter 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best vegetable root-cutter 5 00
2d do. dip.

CLASS F.--MACHINERY.

Awarding Committee--Frederick Kesler, John Kay, William J. Silver.

Best steam-engine $10 00
2d do. dip.
Best fire-engine 10 00
2d do. dip.
Best garden-engine 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best balance 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best lath machine 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best stave machine 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best stone-dressing machine 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best stone-sawing machine 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best pump for a well 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best water-wheel for raising
water for irrigation 5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.

CLASS G.--LEATHER.

Awarding Committee--Seth Taft, John Lowe, Francis Platte.

Best side sole leather $3 00
2d do. dip.
Best side upper cowhide 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best kip-skin 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best calf-skin 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best Morocco-skin 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best side harness 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best side skirting 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best saddle 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best light harness 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best heavy harness 5 00
2d do. dip.
Best bridle 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best pair gentlemen’s fine boots 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pair gentlemen’s stoga boots 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pair gentlemen’s fine shoes 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pair ladies’ bootees 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pair ladies’ shoes 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best blacking or polish 1 00
2d do. dip.

CLASS H.--CLOTHES, DRY-GOODS, AND DYE-STUFFS.

Awarding Committee--E. R. Young, John Needham, N. H. Felt.

Best made suit of clothes $5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.
Best made suit of buckskin 5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of colored flannel 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of white flannel 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of white jeans 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of colored jeans 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of white Linsey 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of colored Linsey 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of kersey 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of woolen cloth 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best pair of woolen blankets 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best piece of woolen carpet 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best piece of rag carpet 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best coverlet 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best hearth-rug 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best woolen shawl 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best 5 yards of linen 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best 1 lb. of linen thread 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best fur hat 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best fur cap 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best cloth cap 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best fur muff 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best fur cape 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best 1 lb. indigo 10 00
2d do. 5 00
3d do. 3 00
4th do. dip.
Best 1 lb. madder 10 00
2d do. 5 00
3d do. 3 00
4th do. dip.
Best colored cloth from any
materials produced in this
Territory, aside from indigo
or madder 10 00
2d do. 5 00
3d do. 3 00
4th do. dip.

CLASS I.--FURNITURE, COOPER-WARE, ETC.

Awarding Committee--Miles Romney, Archibald N. Hill, Thomas Allman.

Best bureau $3 00
2d do. dip.
Best sofa 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best bedstead 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best six chairs 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best centre-table 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best dining-table 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best ladies’ work-stand 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best office-desk 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best rocking-chair 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of wood carving 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen French polish 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen cooper’s ware 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of glue 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best gallon of varnish 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best gallon of castor-oil 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best gallon of linseed-oil 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best gallon of turpentine 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 lbs. of rosin 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 lbs. of lampblack 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.

CLASS J.--PAINTING, ENGRAVING, ETC.

Awarding Committee--James M. Barlow, James Beck, John H. Rumell.

Best specimen of sign-painting $3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of graining 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of printing 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of book-binding 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of paper 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best landscape of Great Salt Lake
Valley 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best bird’s-eye view of Salt Lake
City 3 00
2d do. dip.
Best oil painting 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best transparent window-blinds 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best piece of sculpture 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of turning 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of engraving 2 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of penmanship 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of penmanship in
Deserét character 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.

CLASS K.--CUTLERY, HARDWARE, ETC.

Awarding Committee--Levi Richards, Zechariah B. Derrick, Jonathan
Pugmire.

Best specimen of cutlery on a card $3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best pruning shears 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best rifle 5 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best revolving pistol 5 00
2d do. 3 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 lbs. gunpowder sil. med.
2d do. dip.
Best axe 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best door-lock 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best shovel and tongs 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best andirons 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 lbs. of cut nails 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best 5 lbs. of wrought nails 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 50 yards of rope 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of twine and cord 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of whips 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of baskets 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of combs made of horn,
bone, and mountain mahogany 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of glass sil. med.
2d do. dip.
Best specimen of earthenware 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best sand-paper 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.

CLASS L.--WOMEN’S WORK.

Awarding Committee--Mrs. Fanny Little, ---- Taft, Marion Beatie,
Sarah Brown.

Best ornamental needlework $1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of Ayrshire needlework 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best ottoman cover 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best table cover 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best worked shawl 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best worked collar and handkerchief 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best worked cushion 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best lace cap 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best group of flowers 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of wax flowers 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best ornamental shell-work 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best pair worked slippers 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best pair woolen hose 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best pair cotton hose 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best embroidered shawl 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best variety of crochet-work 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best worked quilt 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best patch-work quilt 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of knitting 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.
Best straw hat 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best straw bonnet 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best specimen of braid straw or grass 1 00
2d do. 0 50
3d do. dip.

CLASS M.--PRODUCE.

Awarding Committee--Richard Golightly, George Goddard, Eli B. Kelsey.

Best 5 lbs. of butter $2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best cheese 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best ham 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best 10 lbs. of sugar 10 00
2d do. 5 00
3d do. dip.
Best gallon of molasses 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.
Best home-made wine 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best preserves, pumpkins 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best preserves, tomatoes 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best preserves of any kind 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pickles, cucumbers 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pickles, tomatoes 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pickles, cabbages 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best pickles, onions 1 00
2d do. dip.
Best 5 lbs. of soap 3 00
2d do. 2 00
3d do. dip.
Best 3 lbs. of starch 2 00
2d do. 1 00
3d do. dip.

CLASS N.--ESSAYS.

Awarding Committee--President and Board of Directors.

Best essay on agriculture $10 00
2d do. sil. med.
Best essay on horticulture 10 00
2d do. sil. med.
Best essay on home manufactures 10 00
2d do. sil. med.

By order of the Board of the Deserét Agricultural and Manufacturing
Society.

EDWARD HUNTER, President.

THOMAS BULLOCK, Secretary.
Great Salt Lake City, May 13, 1860.

Hand-labor obtains $2 per diem, consequently much work is done at home. The fair sex still cards, spins, and weaves, as in Cornwall and Wales, and the plurality system supplies them with leisure for the exercise of the needle. Excellent blankets, the finest linens, and embroidered buckskin garments, varying in prices from $75 to $500--a splendid specimen was, at the time of my stay, being worked for that “Champion of oppressed nationalities,” M. Louis Kossuth--are the results.

[PRICES AT GREAT SALT LAKE CITY.]

As in India, the mere necessaries of life at Great Salt Lake City are cheap: the foreign luxuries, and even comforts, are exorbitantly dear. A family may live almost for nothing upon vegetables grown in their own garden, milk from their own cows, wheaten bread, and butter which derives a peculiar sweetness from the bunch-grass. For some reason, which no one can explain, there is not, and there never has been, a market at Great Salt Lake City; consequently, even meat is expensive. Freight upon every article, from a bar of soap to a bar of iron, must be reckoned at 14 cents (7_d._) per lb. coming from the East, and 25-30 cents from the West. Groceries and clothing are inordinately high-priced. Sugar, worth 6 cents in the United States, here fetches from 37¹⁄₂ to 45 cents per lb. Tea is seldom drunk, and as coffee of 10 cents per lb. in the States here costs 40-50 cents, burnt beans or toasted corn, a caricature of chicory, is the usual succedaneum. Counterblasters will be pleased to hear that tobacco fetches $1 per lb., and cigars from 5 to 6 cents each--a London price. Servants’ wages vary from $30 to $40 per mensem--nearly £100 per annum; consequently, master has a strong inducement to marry the “missus’s” Abigail. Thus the expense of living in Utah Territory is higher than in the Eastern States, where again it exceeds that of England. In Great Salt Lake City $10,000 (= £2000) per annum would be equal to about £500 in London. Fortunately for the poor, the excessive purity of the air, as in the Arabian Desert, enables them to dispense with, and not to miss, many articles, such as stimulants, which are elsewhere considered necessaries. The subjoined “nerrick” of prices current at the General Tithing Office in Great Salt Lake City will best explain the state of things in 1860. A remarkable feature, it will be observed, is the price of wheat--$1 50 per bushel--more than double its current value in the Mississippian States.[178]

[178] General Tithing Office Prices Current, Great Salt Lake City:

Wheat, extra produce tithing $1 50 ⅌ bush.
Wheat, labor and produce tithing 2 00 „
Barley 1 50 „
Corn 1 50 „
Rye 1 50 „
Oats 1 00 „
Buckwheat 1 25 „
Peas and beans 2 00 „
Potatoes 0 75 „
Beets 0 50 „
Carrots 0 50 „
Parsnips 0 50 „
Onions 2 00 „
Turnips 0 25 „
Tomatoes 1 00 „
Cabbages $0 02 @0 10 each.
Pumpkins and squash 0 02 @0 08 „
Melons 0 02 @0 10 „
Cucumbers 0 01 „
Pigs, four weeks old 3 00 „
Chickens 0 10 @0 25 „
Ducks 0 15 @0 25 „
Beef, 6¹⁄₂ average.
Hind quarter 0 07 ⅌ ℔
Fore quarter 0 06 „
Tallow 0 10 @0 20 „
Pork 0 12¹⁄₂ @0 20 „
Lard 0 15 @0 20 „
Mutton 0 08 @0 12¹⁄₂ ℔.
Veal 0 03 @0 05 „
Bear 0 08 @0 12¹⁄₂ „
Tea 1 50 @3 50 „
Coffee 0 40 @0 60 „
Sugar 0 35 @0 60 „
Milk 0 10 ⅌ qt.
Eggs 0 18 ⅌ doz.
Butter 0 25 ⅌ ℔.
Cheese 0 12¹⁄₂ @0 25 „
Salt, fine 0 04 „
Salt, coarse 0 10 „
Cast steel, warranted 0 37¹⁄₂ @0 50 „
Spring steel 0 37¹⁄₂ „
Blister steel 0 18 @0 30 „
Iron 0 10 „
Molasses, good 3 00 ⅌ gall.
Vinegar 0 50 @0 75 „
Lumber, extra produce tithing 4 00 ⅌ 100.
Lumber, labor tithing 5 00 „
Shingles, best 10 00 ⅌ 1000.
Shingles, 2d quality 8 00 „
Shingles, cotton-wood 8 00 „
Shingles, 2d quality 6 00 „
Doves 0 12¹⁄₂ each.
Turkeys 1 50 @2 50 „
Fox and wolf skins 0 75 „
Ox hair 0 50 ⅌ bush.

EDWARD HUNTER, Presiding Bishop.