History of Salt Lake City, Part 35

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194

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western frontier between us and the Pacific, how poorly we can afford to go into the expenditure of a large amount of money to overcome difficulties that will be threatened on the passage of this bill, and then consider the little amount of sub- stantial good which will result from it, I think they will hesitate before they pass it. The impolicy of its present passage will cause my colleague and self, after con- sultation, to vote against the bill.

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read a third time.

Mr. Howard. I ask for the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill.

Mr. Sumner. I was about to make the same request.

The yeas and nays were ordered, and being taken, resulted-yeas 37, nays 2; as follows :

Yeas-Messrs. Anthony, Bayard, Browning, Chandler, Collamer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Rice, Sauls- bury, Sherman, Simmons, Stark, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Thomson, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, Wilmot, Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright-37.

Nays-Messrs. Latham and McDougall-2.

So the bill was passed.

The title was amended so as to read, "A bill to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, and disapproving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah."

In the House of Representatives, June 5, 1862-

Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. I ask the unamimous consent of the House to take up and consider at this time the amendments of the Senate to an act (H. R. No. 391) to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah.

Objection was made.

Mr. Moorhead. I ask the unanimous consent of the House to introduce a resolution of inquiry.

Mr. Wickliffe. I object.

Mr. Bingham. I call for the regular order of business.

In the House of Representatives, June 17, 1868-

The Speaker laid before the House bill of House (No. 391) to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, disapproving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah-reported from the Senate with amendments.

The Speaker. The bill and amendments will be referred to the Committee on Territories.

Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. I object to these bills being taken up for refer- ence. There is no necessity for the reference of this bill.

The Speaker. The order has been made.

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Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. I move to reconsider the vote by which the order was made ; and on that motion I demand tellers.

Tellers were ordered ; and Messrs. Morrill, of Vermont, and Olin were ap- pointed.

The tellers reported-ayes sixty-eight, noes not counted.

So the motion to reconsider was agreed to.'

In the House of Representatives, June 17-

The next bill taken up was (H. R. No. 391) to punish the practice of po- lygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, and disapproving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, with Senate amendments.

The amendments were read.

Mr. Phelps, of Missouri. I think, Mr. Speaker, that this is rather hasty legislation. I should not be at all surprised if it were ascertained that the Catholic Church in the city of Santa Fe owns real estate to the amount of more than fifty thousand dollars under grants made by the Mexican Government. I was about to submit a motion that the bill be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. I recollect very well that, in the hurry and haste of legislation, a bill passed the House to prohibit polygamy in the Territories, which indirectly sanctioned it within the District of Columbia, or inflicted no punishment for it here. I desire that this matter shall be critically examined, and therefore I think it should be referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. I am perfectly willing that the bill shall be passed over informally until the gentleman from Missouri can inform himself on the subject.

Mr. Phelps, of Missouri. I have no objection to letting the bill remain on the Speaker's table. Let the amendments be printed, and let us know what we are legislating upon.

Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. I have no objection to that.

It was so ordered.

In the House of Representatives, June 24, 1862-

An act, (H. R. No. 391) to punish the practice of polygamy in the Terri- tories of the United States and other places, and disapproving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, with Senate amendments thereon.

Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. I desire to say, in reference to the objection made by the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Phelps] last week, to one of the pro- visions of this bill, that I understand the Roman Catholic church at Santa Fe has property exceeding $50,000 in amount, but that is protected under treaty stipu- lations. His objection, therefore, is not valid. I now move the previous ques- tion on concurring with the Senate amendments.

The previous question was seconded, and the main question ordered.

The amendments were read.

The amendments of the Senate were concurred in.

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Mr. Morrill of Vermont moved to reconsider the vote by which the amend- ments were concurred in ; and also moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table.

The latter motion was agreed to.

In the House of Representatives, June 30, 1862 ---

Mr. Granger, from the Committee on Enrolled Bills, reported as a truly en- rolled bill an act (H. R. No. 391) to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, and disapproving and an- nulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah.

In the House of Representatives, July 2, 1862 ---

A message was received from the President of the United States, informing the House that he had approved and signed an act (H. R. 391) to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States and other places, and disapproving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah.

In the House of Representatives, on the 9th of June, 1862, Hon. J. M. Bern- hisel, Delegate from Utah, presented the Constitution of the State of Deseret and the memorial accompanying it, asking for admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, which were received and referred to the Committee on Territories. On the 10th the Vice-President presented the same in the Senate, when Mr. Latham, of California, moved to print the constitution and memorial, and to admit the senators-elect, Messrs. W. H. Hooper and George Q. Cannon to the floor of the Senate, which motion was referred to the committee on Territories, in that branch of the National Legislature. The next day Mr. Latham offered a resolution to admit Messrs. Hooper and Cannon, claiming to be senators from Des- eret, to the floor of the Senate, which was laid over.

CHAPTER XXX.

FOURTH OF JULY PROCLAMATION BY THE CITY COUNCIL. THE CITY'S LOY- ALTY. THE TWO GOVERNORS. GREAT SPEECH OF GOVERNOR HARD- ING. THE CITY HONORS THE CALIFORNIA SENATOR. THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION. A CHANGE IN GOVERNOR HARDING'S CONDUCT.

Great Salt Lake City this year deemed it a duty to make special call for the Fourth of July, whereas, formerly, either the Governor of the Territory, or the Lieutenant-General of the militia, made proclamation and gave the order of the day. It signified that Salt Lake City was, with well-considered for- mality, making a record that it upheld the Union as an everlasting covenant of the

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American States. The following Preamble and Resolutions were passed by the City""Council of Salt Lake City, June 28th, 1862 :

" Whereas, While we lament the deplorable condition of our once happy country, the independence of which was purchased by the best blood of our sires, we hail with pleasure the approaching anniversary of the birthday of the Nation, and in view of perpetuating our free and liberal institutions which have for so long a time inspired the patriotism of every true American citizen, and the strangers of other climes, who have sought an asylum under the protecting ægis of our glorious Constitution ; therefore,

"Resolved, That we will celebrate the eighty-sixth anniversary of our National independence.

" Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed, in behalf of the City Coun- cil, to arrange the programme and order of celebration.

" Resolved, That Lieutenant-General Wells and staff be respectfully solicited to co-operate in the celebration of the day, with such of the military of the district, and the several bands, as may be deemed proper.

" Resolved, That the State, Federal, Territorial and County officers be invited to take part in the celebration and join in the procession, and that the invitation be extended to strangers and citizens generally, to participate in the ceremonies at the Bowery.

"The following appointments for the occasion were then made, viz :

"Committee of Arrangements : Messrs. Wm. Clayton, J. C. Little, Theodore Mckean, Enoch Reese, and Nathaniel H. Felt.

" Furnishing Committee : Alonzo H. Raleigh, Elijah F. Sheets, and Isaac Groo.

" Marshals of the Day : Col. Robert T. Burton and Majors John Sharp and Andrew Cunningham.

ROBERT CAMPBELL, City Recorder."

On the 7th of July Stephen S. Harding of Indiana, the new Governor of Utah Territory, arrived in the city and received a hearty welcome ; Judges Waite and Drake arrived a few days later.

The Pioneer Day of this year was celebrated with a grand pageantry and ex. traordinary enthusiasm. The procession halted in front of ex-Governor Young's mansion, where with his counselors, H. C. Kimball and Daniel H. Wells, he joined it, accompanied by Governor Harding, Secretary Fuller, Judges Waite and Drake, Superintendent Doty, Mr. Fred Cook, assistant treasurer of the Over- land Mail Co., Mr. James Street, of the U. P. Telegraph Co., and H. S. Rum- field, Esq. It may be said that the " forces of the Gentiles " united this year to celebrate the anniversary of the Utah Pioneers. It was computed that there were under the branches of the "Old Bowery" five thousand persons, besides the thousands congregated outside. The most unique feature of the day was the in- troduction and speech of Governor Harding.

Governor Young invited Governor Harding to address the people ; and on the two Governors taking the stand, there was a perfect stillness in the vast assembly; but, on Governor Young saying, " I have the pleasure of presenting

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Governor Harding, who will make a speech," the stillness of the multitude was broken and the Governor was greeted with cheering.

SPEECH OF GOVERNOR HARDING.

" FELLOW CITIZENS-And in that word, I mean all of you, of all ages, sexes and conditions-I am pleased at being with you to-day, and of being introduced in the agreeable manner you have just witnessed. I have desired the opportunity of looking upon such a vast concourse of the people of Utah, at one time ; and, as such an occasion now presents itself; it is right and proper that I should say a few things to you.

"You have doubtless been informed before now that the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, has appointed me to the office of Governor of this Territory. I have come amongst you to en- ter upon the discharge of the high and important duties that have devolved upon me, and when I greatly distrust my own ability, yet I cannot but hope that, with your assistance, I shall be able to discharge those duties to your satisfaction, and with strict fidelity to the Government, whose servant I am.

" If I know my own heart, I come amongst you a messenger of peace and good will. I have no wrongs-either real or imaginary, to complain of, and no religious prejudices to overcome-[applause]. Believing, as I do, that the Con- stitution of the United States secures to every citizen the right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience; and holding, further, that the Constitution itself is dependent for its support and maintenance on the preserva- tion of that sacred right, it follows, as a corollory, that, under no pretext what- ever, will I consent to its violation in this particular, by any official act of mine, whilst Governor of this Territory-[tremendous applause. ]

" In a Government like ours, based upon the freest exercise of conscience, religion is a matter between man and his Maker, and not between man and the Government, and for the honest exercise of duties inculcated by his religious faith and conscience, so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of others, equally as sacred as his own, he is not responsible to any human tribunal, other than that which is found in the universal judgment of mankind [hear hear]. If the right of conscience of the minority depended upon the will of the majority, then, in a government like ours, that same minority in a future day might control the conscience of the majority of to-day-when by superior cunning and finesse a political canvass had been won in its favor, and thus alternately would it be in the power of either when elevated to the seat of the law-makers to impose a despot ism upon the conscience of its adversary only equalled by the ' Index Expurga- toris' against which the Protestant world so justly complained [applause].

" It has long been a maxim and accepted as true by our people, ' That it is safe to tolerate error, so long as truth is left free to combat it.' Who are in error, and in what that error consists in matters of speculative theology, are questions only cognizable at the bar of heaven. It has been the fate of pro- pogandists of new ideas and religious dogmas, without regard to their truth or falsity, to meet with opposition, often ending in the most cruel persecution. Hoary-headed error, claiming for itself the immunity of ages, glares with jaun-

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diced eyes upon all new ideas, which refuse to pay to it its accustomed homage. I know of no law of the human mind that makes this age an exception to the rule. Nevertheless, he who founds his ideas and theories on truth, correlative with his physical and spiritual being, and consequently in harmony with the law of nature, must ultimately succeed ; whilst he who builds upon falsehood must share the fate of him who built his house upon the sand. This is not only a declara- tion of divine truth, but is in accordance with all human experience. The great highway of man's civilization and progress is strewn with the wrecks of a thou- sand systems-once the hope of their founders and challenging the confidence of mankind [hear, hear]. But I must limit this dissertation, and will sum up in a few words what I have intended to say on this branch of the subject.

" The founders of our Constitution fully comprehended these ideas which I have so briefly glanced at, and they clothed the citizen with absolute immunity in the exercise of his rights of conscience, and thence the protecting shield of the Constitution around him, and over him, in all the diverging paths that lead the enquirer in his researches after truth in the dim unknown of speculative theology.

" But I must not detain you, I leave this part of the subject, and address myself to the occasion that has called together this mighty multitude.

"On every hand I behold a miracle of labor. Fifteen years ago to-day, and your Pioneers, by their heroism and devotion to a principle, consecrated this valley to a civilization wonderful 'to the stranger within your gates,' and in the developments of which a new era will be stamped not only upon the history of our own country, but on the world. You have indeed 'caused the desert to blossom as the rose.' Waving fields of gold; gardens containing all that is necessary for the comfort of civilized man ; 'shrubberies that a Shenstone might have envied ;' orchards bending beneath the promise of most luscious fruit,-now beautify the fields which your industry has filled with new life, and where but fifteen years ago the genius of solitude, from yon snow-capped peak, stood marking on her rocky tablets the centuries of desolation and death that rested on these same fields, since the upheaval force of nature formed the mighty zone that separates the two oceans that wash the shores of our continent.

" Wonderful progress! wonderful people! If you shall be content, as I doubt not you will be, to enjoy the blessings with which you are surrounded, and abide your time, and enjoy your privileges under a benign and just government, 'Imperium in Imperio' and not attempt to reverse this order of things absolutely necessary under our form of government ; and above all things, if you will act up to the line of your duty contained in that one grand article of your faith, ' We believe in being honest, true, chaste, temperate, benevolent, virtuous and up- right, and in doing good to all men,' you cannot fail to obtain that ultimate suc- cess [applause] which is the great desideratum of your hopes. Honestly conform to the standard of your creed and faith, and though you may for a time be 'cast down,' you cannot be destroyed [great applause]; for the power of the Eternal One will be in your midst, though no mortal eye may behold the ' pillar of cloud and of fire' [applause]. As the Great Master of sculpture gathered and com. bined all the perfections of the human face into one divine model, so you, in

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that one grand article, have bound into one golden sheaf, all the Christian vir- tues that underlie our civilization.

" But this must suffice. I, perhaps, have said more than I ought to have said, and yet I cannot see how I could have said less. If my words shall be as kindly received by you as they have been honestly and frankly uttered by me, and we will act accordingly, my mission among you cannot fail of being alike profitable to you and to the government that I represent [hear, hear].

" This is the hour when your loyalty to our common country is most ac- ceptable and grateful to the heart of every patriot. Be but content and abide your time, and your reward will be as great as it is certain. Duty to ourselves, to our God and our country calls upon us to cast aside every prejudice and to rally around the Constitution and the flag of our fathers, and if need be, to bap- tize them anew with our own blood. The Constitution will not perish, that flag will not trail in the dust, but they will both come out of the present fiery ordeal, redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled, by the genius of universal liberty and justice [great applause ]."

In view of Governor Harding's subsequent course the foregoing speech will presently assume the character of a page of Utah history.

Senator Milton S. Latham, of California, passed through the city early in November on his way to Washington. The City Council in its session on the evening preceding his arrival, adopted a preamble and resolutions tendering him the hospitality of the city during his sojourn here. The Senator was waited upon by Councilors Little, Felt and Groo, to whom he returned his thanks for the complimentary resolutions of the Council, but his short stay prevented his ac- ceptance. Latham and McDougall, California's two Senators, were the only ones who voted " nay " on the passage of the anti-polygamic bill of 1862. The honor shown to Senator Latham signified that Great Salt Lake City was returning thanks to California for her minority vote in protest of the bill.

Towards the close of the year 1862, an entire change of feeling came over Governor Harding towards "his Mormon people," especially those of the leaders; and singularly enough it began with his following

THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION :

" Man, in all ages of the world, in the development of his moral nature, has demonstrated that he is not less a religious than a social being.

" Whether we study his attributes at the shrine of Isis in her ancient tem- ples ; at the rude altar of the wandering Hebrew amidst his flocks and herds ; in the fierce games of the warlike Greek and Roman, or in that simple and more touching act of the Hindoo husbandman, as he lays a portion of his harvest at the feet of his rude idol, still do all these acts of devotion, rude and unseemly as they may appear to us, demonstrate his character as a devotional being-that his spiritual nature cannot be satisfied ' with bread alone,' but requires ' that manna of consolation that comes down from above.'

" That without this, the soul is ever crying out like a wandering outcast,

" ' Oh, Father of Life, withhold not thy mercies from me.'

" If these manifestations have been in all ages of the world, ere the shep-

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herds of Gallilee heard the song of ' Peace and good will to men,' much more should we feel it to be our duty, as a Christian people, to inculcate even a higher spirit of devotion, and manifest by our acts, our dependence upon God, the God of our fathers, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, from whose bounteous hands ' proceed every good and perfect gift.'

" He has kept the people here, guarded by His eternal ramparts, as in the ' hollow of His hand.' He has said Peace, Peace, and the troubled elements be- came still. The angel of his mercy has stretched out her burning scepter, and the elements became purified ; disease and mildew and blight vanished to their silent caves, and Plenty poured out upon you from her abundant horn. Your granaries are full to overflowing; no scourge has fallen upon you, but the God of Peace has reigned triumphantly in your midst, while in other and fairer portions of the land, the Demon of Civil War has driven his blood-stained chariot over desolated fields and deserted cities-the plowshare has been beaten into a sword, and the pruning-hook into the murderous knife, and waving harvests, ready for the reaper, have not been gathered into barns, but ' plowed under'

"'' By gory felloes of the cannon's wheels.'

" It is meet that at such a time as this, that the good people of this Terri- tory, following, not only the examples of their fathers, but a precedent set by its first Governor, should dedicate, and set apart at least one day in the year, for thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God for the manifold mercies and blessings that he has vouchsafed unto us, and that He will continue his mercies. That He will put it into the hearts of our rulers to rule in righteousness, and that ' Judg- ment may not be turned aside in the streets.' That peace may again return to our bleeding country, and that the institutions of our fathers may come forth purified from the sins which have weighed down a nation, and brought the keen displeasure and wrath of God upon us.

" Therefore, I, Stephen S. Harding, Governor of the Territory of Utah, do hereby set apart Thursday, the first day of January, proximo, as a day of THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE TO ALMIGHTY GOD, for all His mercies to us as a people, and recommend and request a general observance of it to that end, that here, on the threshhold of a New Year, we may manifest in a proper spirit our dependence on Him, and supplicate HIS OMNIPOTENT POWER to continue to pro- tect and guard us from future evils, as a nation and people.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused

[L.S.] the seal of said Territory to be affiixed.

"Done at Great Salt Lake City, in the Territory of Utah, this second day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two. (Signed) STEPHEN S. HARDING. " By the Governor,

FRANK FULLER, Secretary."

. This proclamation, which greeted Great Salt Lake City with a classic swell, was passed unheeded, not only by our city, but by the entire Territory. Gov- ernor Harding took the non-response of the citizens, not only as marked per- sonal slight to himself, but also as a scoff at the Federal power embodied in his

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Excellency, Stephen S. Harding. But the citizens, in not holding high "temple service for Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God," on the day appointed by Governor Harding, intended no personal slight towards him or scoff at Federal authority.

But the salient point of the history to the secular mind would be that, the non-observance of this Thanksgiving Day, brought Stephen S. Harding to the full realization of the fact that, though he was Governor of Utah, Brigham Young was still Governor of the Mormon people. Therein was the intolerable offence to his Excellency.

A few days afterwards the Utah Legislature met. In the State House, Ste- phen S. Harding could teach the people that he, and not Brigham Young, was their Governor. At least such was the intent of the lesson conveyed in his mes- sage. Mr. Stenhouse notes the example thus :

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History of Salt Lake City, Part 35

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194