Political Rights of Utah.
The history of the Bill establishing the Ter-ritory of Utah is not generally known. It was after the passage of the Compromise Resolu-tions introduced by Mr. CLAY, at the First Session of the Thirty-first Congress, in 1850, on which Mr. WEBSTER made his celebrated speech of the 7th March of that year, that the question of the admission of California into the Union came up on the President's Message. As compromise was then the order of the day, a Bill whs introduced in May, reported from the special Committee of Thirteen, "For the admission of the State of California, the es-tablishment of Territorial Governments for Utah and New-Mexico, and making proposals to Texas for the settlement of her western and northwestern boundary." This Bill was called the "Compromise Bill." So numerous and difficult were the questions involved in and arising from the nature of the Bill, that it was debated in Congress until the 31st of July. The debate finally merged into the questions of the power of Congress over the Territories, and the doctrine of non-intervention, denying the right of Congress to legislate so as to pro-hibit or establish Slavery within the Territories. The admission of California for the time, was even lost sight of, while the necessity for estab-lishing a Territorial Government in New-Mex-ico, was strenuously urged. It is strange to say that Utah was hardly mentioned in this debate, except in regard to the amendments offered relating to Slavery, and the fixing of her boundary. The settlement of the boun-dary question between Texas and New-Mexi-co suddenly seemed to absorb every other con-sideration, and Mr. WEBSTER, who was of the Committee of Thirteen in his speech on the Bill, said: I shall never consent to leave this Session of Congress until same provision be made for New-Mexico, Utah is less impor-tant. Let her repose herself on her salt plains, on the borders of her salt lakes, another year, if it be necessary."
It is remarkable, however, that this "Com-promise Bill" gradully dwindled down by mo-tions to strike out, until only the provision for Utah was left, and which finally passed on the 1st of August, 1850, Separate bills were afterwards introduced for the admission of Cali-fornia and the Territory of New-Mexico.
The act establishing the Territory of Utah provides "that all that part of the territory of the United States bounded on the west by the State of California, on the north by the Terri-tory of Oregon, on the east by the summit of the Rocky Mountains, and on the south by the 87th parallel of north latitude, be, and is here-by created into a temporary government, by the name of the Territory of Utah; and when ad-mitted as a State, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the Union, with or without Slavery, as their Con-stitution may prescribe at the time of their ad-mission: Provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed to inhibit the Government of the United States from dividing said Terri-tory into two or more Territories, in such man-ner and at such times as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from attaching any portion of said Territory to any other State or Territory of the United States."
The fifth section provides that the right of suffrage, and of holding office, shall be exer-cised only by citizens of the United States, in-cluding those recognized as citizens by the Treaty with the Republic of Mexico, concluded Feb. 2, 1848.
If it be true that nearly nine-tenths of the Mormons are not naturalized citizens, they are certainly incapable, under this act, of forming a government, and all the proceedings of their Council and House of Representatives become a nullity, from the fact that they cannot have been legally elected according to the provisions of this act. The Mormons, then, not being le-gally capable of establishing for themselves a government as provided, no legally-authorized government can be said to exist, and Congress may so declare, and repeal the act; for it is provided by the sixth section, "That the Leg-islative power of said Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the Constitution of the United States and the provisions of this act; but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil. All the laws passed by the Legisla-tive Assembly and Governor shall be submitted to the Congress of the United States, and, if dis-approved, shall be null and of no effect."
There can hardly be a doubt, under these circumstances, that Congress has power to re-peal this act, but a more effective course still, perhaps, for breaking up the Mormons, would be to detach portions from this Territory, and annex them to the State of California, and the Territories of New-Mexico and Oregon, leav-ing them but a small district of a mile square. In this act, Congress appropriated $20,000 for public buildings, and $5,000 for a Govern-ment library, to be expended by the Governor and Legislature, very little, if any, of which is now left!
The Governor receives a salary of $1,500 per annum, and $1,000, as Superintendent of In-dian Affairs, By the treaty made with the Utah tribe of Indians, on the 30th December, 1849, they acknowledged themselves exclu-sively under the jurisdiction and power of the United States, and the Territory occupied by the Utah Indians was annexed to New-Mexico, as now organized. The Mormons consequently will hardly be able to exercise any great power or influence over the Utahs, nor can they be permitted to occupy any portion of the lands of the Utahs, which are now annexed to New-Mexico, The repose which Mr. WEBSTER was at one time anxious to give to the Mormons, on the borders of the Salt Lakes, could the result have been foreseen, he would hardly have been willing to grant, and as it was, he seemed to have doubted the policy of creating the Ter-ritory of Utah at all.
