RESIGNATION OF THE CHIEF JUS-TICE OF UTAH.
In the New Orleans Courier of the 3d inst. we find a letter signed by W. W. Drummond, addressed to the Attorney General of the United States, in which he resigns the office of Chief Juctice of the Territory of Utah.—Judge Drummond's letter sets forth so plain-ly and directly the whole enormity of the outrages and crimes of Brigham Young and his satellites, that we copy a portion of it.—After announcing his resignation, Judge Dru-mond says:
In the first place, Brigham Young, the Governor of Utah Territory, is the acknowl-edged head of the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," commonly called "Mormons," and as such head the Mormons look to him, and to him alone for the law by which they are to be governed; therefore no law of Congress is by them considered bind-ing in any manner.
Secondly. I know that there is a secret oath-bound organization among all the male members of the Church, and to acknowledge no law save the law of the "Holy Priesthood," which comes to the people through Brigham Young, direct from God, he, (Young,) being the vicegerent of God and prophetic successor of Joseph Smith, who was the founder of this blind and treasonable organization.
Thirdly. I am fully aware that there is a set of men set apart by special order of the church to take both the lives and property of persons who may question the authority of the Church—the names of whom I will promptly make known at a future time.
Fourthly. That the records, papers, &c., of the Supreme Court have been destroyed by order of the church, with direct knowledge and approbation of Gov. Brigham Young, and the federal officers grossly insulted for presuming to raise a single question about the treasonable act.
Fifthly. That the federal officers of the Territory are constantly insulted, harassed and annoyed by the Mormons, and for those insults there is no redress.
Sixthly. That the Federal officers are daily compelled to hear the form of the A-merican government traduced, the chief exec-utives of the nation, both living and dead, slandered and abused from the masses, as well as from all the leading members of the church, in the most vulgar, loathsome and wicked manner that the evil passion of man can possibly conceive.
Again: That after Moroni Green had been convicted in the District Court before my colleague, Judge Kinney, of an assault with intent to commit murder; and afterwards, on appeal to the Supreme Court the judgment being affirmed and the said Green sentenced to the penitentiary, Brigham Young gave a full pardon to said Green before he reached the penitentiary; also that the said Governor Young pardoned a man by the name of Ba-ker, who had been tried and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the penitentiary for the murder of a dumb boy by the name of Whitehouse, the proof showing one of the most aggravated cases of murder that I ever knew being tried; and to insult the court and government officers, this man (Young,) took this pardoned criminal with him, in proper person, to church on the next Sabbath after his conviction, Baker in the meantime having received a full pardon from Gov. Brigham Young. These two men were Mormons.
On the other hand, I charge the Mormons, I and Gov. Young in particular, with imprison-ing five or six young men from Missouri and Iowa, who are now in the penitentiary of Utah, without those men having violated any criminal law in America, but they were anti-Mormons, poor uneducated young men, on their way for California; but because they emigrated from Illinois, Iowa or Missouri, and passed by Great Salt Lake City, they were indicted by a Probate Court, and most brutally and inhumanely dealt with in addition to being summarialy incarcerated in the saint-ly prison of the Territory of Utah. I also charge Gov. Young, with constantly interfer-ing with the Federal Courts, directing the Grand Jury whom to indict and whom not; and, after the Judges charge the Grand Juries as to their dirties, that this man, (Young,) in-variably has some member of the Grand Jury advised in advance as to his will in relation to their labors, and that his charge thus giv-en is the only charge known, obeyed, or re-ceived by all the Grand Juries of the Federal Courts of Utah Territory.
Again, Sir, after a careful and mature in-vestigation, I have been compelled to come to the conclusion, heart-rending and sicken-ing as it may be, that Captain John W. Gun-nison and his party of eight others were murdered by the Indians in 1853, under the order, advice and directions of the Mormons; that my illustrious and distinguished prede-cessor, Hon. Leonidas Shaver, came to his death by drinking poisonous liquors given to him under the order of the leading men of the Mormon Church in Great Salt Lake City; the late Secretary of the Territory, A. W. Babbitt, was murdered on the Plains by a band of Mormon marauders, under the partic-ular and special order of Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and J. M. Grant, and not by the Indians, as reported by the Mormons themselves; and that they were sent from; Salt Lake City for that purpose, and that only; and as members of the Danite Band they were bound to do the will of Brigham Young, as the head of the Church, or forfeit their own lives.
These reasons, with many others that I might give, which would be too heart-rending to insert in this communication, have induced me to resign the office of Justice of the Ter-ritory of Utah, and again return to my adopt-ed State of Illinois. My reason, Sir, for making this communication thus public is, that the Democratic party, with which I have always strictly acted, is the party now in pow-er, and therefore, is the party that should now be held responsible for the treasonable and disgraceful state of affairs that now exists in Utah Territory. I could, sir, if necessary, refer to a cloud of witnesses to attest the reasons I have given, and the charges, bold as they are, against those despots who rule with an iron rod their hundred thousand souls in Utah, and their two hundred thousand souls out of that notable territory, but shall not do so for the reason that the lives of such gentlemen as I should designate in Utah and in California would not be safe for a single day.
In conclusion, Sir, I have to say, that in my career as Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah Territory, I have the consolation of knowing that I did my duty; that neither threats nor intimidations drove me from that path; upon the other hand, I am pained to say that I accomplished little good while there; I that the Judiciary is only treated as a farce. The only rule of law by which the infatuated followers of this curious people will be gov-erned is the law of the church, and that em-anates from Gov. Brigham Young, and him alone.
I do believe that if there were a man put in office as Governor of that Territory who is not a member of the church (Mormon), and be supported with a sufficient military aid, that much good would result from such a course; but, as the territory is now gov-erned, and has been since the administration of Mr. Fillmore, at which time Young re-ceived his appointment as Governor, it is noon-day madness and folly to attempt to administer the law in that Territory. The officers are insulted, harassed and murdered for doing their duty, and not recognizing Brigham Young as the only law-giver and law-maker on earth. Of this every man can bear incontestible evidence who has been willing to accept an appointment in Utah, and I assure you, Sir, that no man would be will-ing to risk his life and property in that Ter-ritory after once trying the sad experiment.
With an ardent desire that the present ad-ministration will give due and timely aid to the officers that may be so unfortunate as to accept situations in that territory, and that the withering curse which rest upon the pe-culiar and heart-rending institutions of the Territory of Utah may be speedily removed, to the honor and credit of our happy country,
I now remain your obedient servant,
W. W. DRUMMOND,
Justice of Utah Territory.
March 30, A. D. 1857.
