INTERESTING FROM UTAH.
LIFE IN SALT LAKE CITY.
A PROCLAMATION FROM GOV. CUMMING.
The Army at Salt Lake City.
ITS QUARTERS AT CEDAR VALLEY
RETURN OF THE MORMONS TO SALT LAKE CITY.
THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS AT PROVO.
SPEECH OF GOV. POWELL.
From Our Special Correspondent.
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, U. T.,
June 23, 1858.
To relieve the tedium of the week, we made an excursion to-day to the Great Salt Lake. Just as the ambulance was ready to start, I noticed a small, intensely black boy strolling along the side-walk. It occurred to me that we might make the trip one of philantropy as well as pleasure, and I suggested that we should offer Lee a seat beside the driver, with a view to test the effect of the water on his color. The idea was hailed with ac-clamation; Lee was hoisted to his place, and in a few minutes we were rattling over the rickety bridge across the Jordan. The point to which we directed our course was the Black Rock, which jute into the lake just at the extremity of the Oquirrh or West Mountains, which separate the plain in which the city stands from Tuilla Val-ley. The road, 18 miles long, is entirely monoto-nous, nothing but stunted sage brush, intermixed with grass, lining its whole extent A few farm houses, all deserted, were scatterd along the base of the mountain. The view of the lake grows broader and broader, and more and more picturesque, throughout the last five miles of the distance, until, when we reached the shore, the great bottom which intervenes between its margin and the foot of the Wasatch range is almost en-tirely lost sight of; the mountain slopes, their sum-mits flecked with snow, seem to descend into water on every side except the north, on which the blue line of the horizon is interrupted only by Antelope Island. The prospect in that direction is appar-ently as illimitable as from the shore of an ocean. The sky was perfectly clear, and the water as intensely blue, except where it dashed over the fragments fallen from the rock, or where some swell, more aspiring than its neighbors, had overreached itself and broken into a thin line of foam. Through a gap in the ranges along the western shore the sandy line of the Great Desert was dimly visible underneath a wavering stream of heated air. The shore of the lake was marked by a broad belt of fine sand, the grains of which are all globular. Along its upper margin is a rank growth of reeds and salt grass. Swarms of tiny flies covered the surface of every half-evaporated pool along the water-line, a few white seagulls were drifting on the swells, and half a dozen goslings, hatched under a hen from the eggs of a wild goose, were sunning themselves among the reeds—these last the property of the little whiteheaded daughter of a salt-boiler, the smoke from whose furnace was curling over the isthmus of fragments which con-nects the great Black Rock with the shore.
We undressed near a spring which bubbles into a basin constructed for the use of bathers to wash off the coating of salt which is the result of a plunge Into the lake. A Mormon Vandal with the ubiquitous name of Jones, desiring to deprive us Gentile invaders of the privilege of the bath, had torn down one side of the basin, bit we replaced the stones, and rearranged the hollowed log which conducted the water into a trough used for the same purpose. Retaining our sombreros, shirts and boots, we marched across the isthmus, chat-ting with the salt-boiler and inspecting his furnace on the way. He was ignorant of everything that had transpired in the city since last month, and asked us whether the Mormons were going to fight, though perhaps this question was suggested by the sight of one of the party, whom incessant fear of Danites had prompted to promenade down from the spring with a pair of revolvers buckled around his semi-nude corpus, a Sharp's rifle in his hand, and an ammunition-pouch swung over his shoulder. Ar-rived at the point of the rock, we disincumbered ourselves of our remaining clothing, and, exchang-ing mutual pledges not to spatter, descended by inches into the water. My companions soon be-came so absorbed in experimenting for the safest attitude in which to float without danger of getting the brine into ears mouth, nose or eyes, that Lee seemed to be forgotten by everybody but myself. But the merits of my scheme for eman-cipation had taken such hold upon my mind, that I waited anxiously for his appearance; and as soon as he had reached the ponit of the rock (he had followed modestly behind us) I seized him and ducked him. He was very slippery and soon re-gained the ledge of rock, very much terrified by a remark which somebody had made in the ambulance, that we intended to turn him into a sperm candle and burn him that very night, using his wool for a wick. I watched him drying with a delight that you cannot appreciate as he gradually whitened in the sunshine. It required much persuasion and some force to duck him a second time, and after we had succeeded he escaped from our grasp, and ran to dry in front of the salt-boiler's fire. We swam and floated, as buoyant as corks, until there was hardly one of the party who was not crying or swearing at the pungent effects of the water on his eyes. Then we resumed our pastoral attire, and scrambled back to the spring. Short as was the distance, the heat of the day was such that we dried, and found ourselves powdered with salt be-fore we reached it. The basin answered its purpose, notwithstanding Jones's malicious ravages. The cool, clear, fresh water removed every particle of salt. We ate a hearty dinner of eggs, butter, bread and sweet milk, in front of the salt-boiler's cabin, and then drove Lee, white as a snowdrop, back to the city to his master, falling asleep one by one in the drowsy sunshine which seemed to strike the ambulance before, behind and on both sides. We were awakened only by the rattle of our wheels over the rickety Jordan bridge.
JUNE 24, 1858.
The monotony of the week has thus far been un-broken by any event worthy of especial notice. There were no services in the Tabernacle on Sun-day. The only incident to mark the day was the promenade of a Mormon band of music up and down East Temple street early in the morning, and the display of bunting from the roof of the Tithing Office and one or two flag-staffs along the sidewalk. The music was stopped at last by Elder Little, who asked the band whether they were playing to cele-brate the approaching entrance of the troops.
On Monday evening there was an arrival of a missionary train from the States. The wagons were preceded by a cavalcade. The passengers were all males, 113 in number. They halted near the Quartermaster's store and received the con-gratulations of their friends, from whom some of them had been absent more than six years. The presence of these people and of parties which arrive daily from Provo, as well as from the camp, has imparted a little liveliness to the streets. But the deserted aspect of all the houses is unchanged. None of the boards have been removed from win-dows, and those Mormons who have come up from the south to witness the entrance of the army, gain access to their dwellings through back doors and sleep on the floors. The Commissioners have at last secured an unfurnished room in which they sleep, and the Secretary of State and the Superin-tendent of Indian Affairs have been invited to tem-porary quarters in the house of W. H. Hooper.
This morning the following proclamation, pur-porting to have been issued ten days ago, was found, posted near the Globe Restaurant:
A. CUMMING, Governor of Utah Territory, to the Inhabitants of Utah, and others whom it may concern :
Whereas, James Buchanan. President of the United States, at the City of Washington on the 6th day of April, A. D. 1858, did, by his Proclamation, offer to the inhabitants of Utah who submit to the laws, a full and free pardon for all treason and sedition heretofore committed; and
Whereas, The proffered pardon was accepted with the prescribed terms of the Proclamation by the citi-zens of Utah,
Now, therefore, I, A. Cumming, Governor of Utah Territory, in the name of James Buchanan, President of the United States, do proclaim that all persons who submit themselves to the laws and to the authority of the Federal Government, are by him freely and fully pardoned for all treason and sedition heretofore com-mitted. All criminal offenses associated with or grow-ing out of the overt acts of sedition and treason are merged in them and are embraced in the "full and free" pardon of the President.
And I exhort all persons to persevere in a faithful submission to the laws and patriotic devotion to the Constitution and Government of our common country. Peace is restored to our Territory.
All civil officers, both Federal and Territorial, will resume the performance of the duties of their respec-tive offices without delay, and be diligent and faithful in the execution of the laws. All citizens of the United States in this Territory will aid and assist the officers in the performance of their du ies.
Fellow Citizens—I offer to you my congratulations for the peaceful and honorable adjustment of recent difficulties.
Those citizens who have left their homes, I invite to return soon as they can do so with propriety and convenience.
To all I announce my determination to enforce obe-dience to the laws, both Federal and Territorial.
Trespasses upon property, both real and personal, must be scrupulously avoided. Gaming and other vices are punished by Territorial Statutes with peculiar severity, and I commend the perusal of those statutes to those persons who may not have had an opportunity of doing so previously.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Territory to be af-fixed at Great Salt Lake City, in the Territory of Utah, on this 14th day of June, in the year 1858, and Independence of the United States, the 82d.
By the Governor. A. CUMMING.
JOHN HARTNETT, Secretary of State.
His Excellency's style of composition has improved since the issue of his proclamation of November, 1857; but he seems to be incapable of inditing a proclama-tion absolutely faultless. In the present document he undertakes to combine judicial with executive functions, and I doubt whether his construction of the scope of the President's pardon will be sustained or respected by any but Mormon Courts.
Perhaps his intention in anticipating the action of Judges Eckels, Sinclair and Potter, was good; and much is surely to be pardoned to him when one con-siders the prerogatives of office enjoyed by his pre-decessor, which he may consider have been inherited by himself.
The absence of two of the Judges of the Supreme Court continues to cause embarrassment. A ques-tion is rapidly maturing for the action of that Court in which the constitutionality of some of the Terri-torial statutes will be tested. Mr. Elias Perry, a member of the firm of C. A. Perry & Co., sutlers to the 10th Infantry, was waited on to-day by Elder J. C. Little, the City Marshal, and informed that he will not be allowed to open a store in this city for the sale of his goods, without first deposit-ing his invoices and paying the duty levied by a Territorial statute on all goods imported into the Territory for sale. This, of course, is only a pre-lude to similar action toward the other sutlers and merchants accompanying the army. The matter has once already been tested in the Courts, and the imposition of any such tax was decided by Judge Shaver to be unconstitutional, as long ago as 1855, in a case in which the defendants were this very firm of Perry & Co., who were then sutlers to Col. Steptoe's command. It is, to say the least, un-wise on the part of the Mormons, to revive the question at a time when the relations of Mormon and Gentile are as delicate as at present.
I understand that Gov. Cumming is satisfied that the United States Law Library was not burned by the Mormons, and that he so stated during the con-ferences. Very likely all the books were not burned, but it is a fact which even his Excellency cannot smooth over, that all that portion of the library which was deposited at the time in Judge Stiles's office was destroyed by fire. There are gentlemen in this city whose reputation for veracity is at least as good as that of the persons who have "satisfied" Gov. Cumming, who saw the smolder-ing relics of those books in the privy into which the Mormons threw them, who caused some of the half-burnt volumes to be taken from the vault and cleansed, and who kept them in their possession for months as proofs of the incendiarism. Ever since Col. Kane's advent, Gov. Cumming and some of his associates whom I might name, have evinced a willingness to stake the word of noted Mormon law-breakers against the word of reputable Gentile citi-zens. It is a fact which ought to be known to the people of the United States, that Gov. Cumming is consorting more intimately with noted Mormon rebels, and consulting with them about his official movements more confidentially than with his Gentile associates in the Territorial Government.
The Mormons are making a concerted effort to secure an indorsement of the lawless proceedings of their revolutionary Legislature, which sat in Salt Lake City last Winter and passed the series of treasonable resolutions indorsing Brigham Young and sustaining the rebellion. If Mr. Buchanan's Administration yields that point, in addition to its previous concessions, it may as well take the final step, and signify its formal approval of Brigham Young's denunciation of the Territorial officers as "black-hearted scoundrels, w—e-masters and mur-derers," and of the United States army as "a mob."
There is but one luxury which we Gentiles have enjoyed in the city, and that is bathing. The water from the warm springs, which rise at the foot of the ridge just behind Brigham's residence, is conducted by pipes to a little adobe, once used for a bath-house. The building is entirely out of repair, and of course deserted. The wooden tubs and the water-pipes have shared in the dilapidation, but we con-trived to patch the holes with plugs and shreds of cloth, and at last to enjoy the most luxurious bath, of which a Mohammedan ever dreamed. I am no chemist, and cannot tell you what minerals are in solution with the water. Those curious on the sub-ject can find them all recorded by Capt. Stansbury. Neither can I tell you the temperature, for I have no thermometer. I can only testify that a single plunge repaid me for my journey of 3,000 miles. But when I emerged from the bath I realized the idleness of my temporary dream that this was in-deed the fabled Fountain of Youth. I had remained in the water too long, and it had so enervated me that I felt as old as a patriarch. Nothing but a second glance at the looking-glass could convince me that I was indeed not gray and wrinkled
With such an abundant supply of delicious water rippling through every street, and such facilities for bathing as these warm springs also afford, it sur-prises me that the Mormons are not more cleanly in their persons. Perhaps I am hasty in judging of the whole population by the few rough, coarsely dressed men who are now the only occupants of the city; but everything about them shows signs of a cleanliness which they do not evince themselves. The exteriors of the houses are well cared for, and the fences are rarely marked by gaps or chinks. The streets are smooth and not disfigured by filth or garbage. Every garden, even the smallest and humblest, shows signs of care. If I were not con-tinually conscious of the folly and fanaticism of this people, the sight of many of these abandoned garden-plots, luxuriant with verdure and flowers, while their owners are huddled in shanties and wagons a hundred miles away, would excite my pity. Those who counseled the rebellion have a long reckoning to discharge, either here or hereafter, for the misery they inflicted on their own people all through the Winter, and which culminated in the exodus to the south. The Church dignitaries could afford to leave men in charge of their dwellings and fields, but the mass of the people were forced to throw their few household valuables into wagons, barricade their windows, lock their doors, and abandon the fruit of ten years' labor to, as they were taught to believe, the ravages of a merciless soldiery.
The residences of most of the prominent Mormons are in the Thirteenth Ward. Brigham's mansion and offices, and his Lion House, and Heber Kim-ball's row of houses, occupy an entire square, in one corner of which are included, also, the Church Store and the Tithing-Office. Each of the squares into which the city is regularly divided contains ten acres. The mansion is, of course, an adobe, but it is covered with white plaster. It is built in the style of those villas which infest New-England towns, with piazzas supported by Doric columns, and an ugly cupola, which is surmounted by a bee-hive, the national emblem of Deseret. The Lion House stands with a gable-end toward South Tem-ple street. It is covered with plaster and painted cream color. Over the porch is the image of a large recumbent lion, hewn from sandstone. On each side which looks out on the garden, ten little windows project from the roof, just above the eaves. Heber Kimball's houses are scattered about the north-western corner of the square, directly behind the Tithing Office. They are ugly piles of adobe, of the ordinary drab color, and look like factory-boarding-houses. The whole square is surrounded by a cobble-stone wall, ten or twelve feet in hight, marked by unmeaning and useless buttresses, at intervals of thirty or forty feet. Directly opposite the Lion House is the office and dwelling of George A. Smith, the "Historian" of the Church. Close in the vicinity, all of them fronting on East Temple street, are the houses of Ezra T. Benson, one of the Apostles; the late Jedediah M. Grant, who was succeeded in the First Presidency by Daniel H. Wells, and Bishop Hunter. The Temple square is surrounded by a lofty adobe wall, plastered and painted drab, and divided into panels. The Taber-nacle stands in the south-western corner, the En-dowment House in the north-western. The cellar of the Te-mple has been filled with dirt, so that the line of the foundation is hardly discernible. A branch of the City Creek flows through the square from east to west. The two principal entrances of the square are barricaded with blocks of stone hewn for the foundation of the Temple.
The houses which I have described are used for headquarters by the fathers of the church, but al-most all of them have other dwellings in different parts of the city. George A. Smith, for instance, has three or four houses in which his wives reside, located in as many different streets. Even Brig-ham's Bee-Hive mansion and Lion House are not spacions enough to contain all his family. Mrs. Cobb and her daughter occupy a separate tenement close in the neighborhood.
JUNE 25, 1858.
The mail which left St. Jo on the 5th inst. ar-rived last evening, in 19 days from the Missouri frontier. The mail for Placerville under the new contract will start from here on July 4. If it shall accomplish its trips with such rapidity as the east-ern line has attained under Mr. Hockaday's con-tract, the practicability of overland communication with California in 30 days by a central route, will be fully demonstrated. There is no reason to doubt that as soon as stations on the line are all establish-ed, Mr. Hockaday will be able to push the mail from St. Jo to this city in 18 days with ease and regularity.
The army has not yet emerged from the kanyons, but its camp to-night will be so near us that we ex-pect it to enter the city to-morrow noon. It will be marched immediately to a camp upon the Jordan, where wood for its use has already been provided.
The number of Mormons in the city has been swelled to several hundred by the arrival of those curious to witness the advent of the troops. They are all males. I have not seen a woman since my arrival, with the exception of one venerable old lady, of whom I caught a glimpse one day at an open window on Emigration street. As soon as she saw that I observed her, though she was nearer eighty than eighteen, she shut the window with a slam, and let the curtain drop.
There is a man, named MacNeil, now at large in the city who says that he was kept in irons by the Mormons throughout the Winter, and treated with great barbarity. He claims to have acted as a guide to the 5th Infantry from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Laramie, and then to have proceeded in advance of the army toward the valley until he was taken prisoner. He says that he was conveyed to the Penitentiary, about four miles from this city, by James Ferguson, and that George D. Grant riveted the chains on him. A personal altercation which he had with Ferguson this evening in front of the Globe Restaurant seemed to attach some credibility to his statements. I prefer, however, to investigate them before crediting them so far as to repeat them to the public.
None of the chief dignitaries of the Church are present among the crowd of Mormons assembled to witness the entrance of the army.
Dr. Forney, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, believes that he has found a clue to the wherea-bouts of the children who were saved from the fate of their parents in the great massacre of emigrants on the Santa Clara last autumn. He intends to proceed to that country and negotiate with the In-dians for their rendition. He has engaged for his guide Gen. Hunt, formerly at the head of the Mor-mon stake at San Bernardino, and for many years a member of the California Legislature.
GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, U. T.,
June 28, 1858.
The army arrived on Saturday, occupying ten hours in its passage through the city to the camp beyond the Jordan. The advanced guard, com-manded by Bvt.- Col. Smith of the 10th Infantry, consisted of Capt. De Saussure's company of the 1st Cavalry, Capt. Marcy's of the 5th Infantry, and Capt Gardner's of the 10th, and a section of Phelps's battery, under Lieut. Howard. The head-quarters moved with the advance. Gen. Johnston was attended only by his regular staff, and by the Commissioners, who rode out from the city at an early hour to meet him.
The advance emerged from Emigration Kanyon about 7½ o'clock, and after a brief halt on the bench directly above the city, descended into the streets and pursued a route toward the Jordan, which led it past Brigham Young's mansion and Lion House, the Council House, the Temple Square, and the House of W. C. Staines, at which Gov. Cumming is a guest. It was followed by the 10th Infantry, Phelps's Battery, the 5th Infantry, Reno's Battery, Col. Loring's Battalion (consisting of companies of the 6th and 7th Infantry and of the mounted riflemen), Col. Bee's Volunteer Bat-talion, and the 2d Dragoons. Each regiment and battalion was followed by its wagon train. The sun was just setting when the dragoons crossed the bridge ever the Jordan.
All the flags which had been flying ever since last Sunday from the staffs on Main street, were struck by the Mormons during the passage of the troops. Most of the men who had been attracted from the south by curiosity, watched the proces-sion through the cracks between the boards with which their windows were barricaded. The city seemed as dead as on the day our little party of Gentiles entered it a fortnight ago. The only groups of visible spectators were on the corners rear the Temple Square. The few laborers who were busy in the gardens and fields kept at their work with an indifference which was affected and amusing. In one little plot I noticed a father and his boy weeding a patch of onions. The man bent over his hoe and chopped at the weeds as steadily as if nothing was going on in the street in front of him; but the boy was continually dropping behind the father's back and casting stealthy glances at the column. Whether acting in pursuance of orders or not I am unaware; but it is certain that members of the armed Mormon Guard, which is stationed in the city under Gov. Cumming's sanction, told per-sons during the morning to retreat into their houses, and not show themselves while the army was pass-ing. I have the names of two persons who were thus commanded.
The troops, the officers included, wore the rough undress usual on a march. There was perfect order in the ranks, no cheering or laughing, nothing calcu-lated to aggravate the feelings of the Mormon popu-lation. No one was allowed to leave the column for a moment, and the order was so rigidly enforced that a surgeon in the 10th Infantry, to whom I ap-plied to visit a sick man in a house within a block's distance from the line of march, was unable to leave his place in the regiment, but after reaching the camp, rode back five miles to see the patient. The regimental bands played during the march, but it was noticed that the music was suspended when they passed by the porch on which Gov. Cumming was standing, and that no salute was paid to his Excellency.
The camp extends along the river-bank for at least two miles. It is hot, dusty and inconvenient. The soil is so parched by the sun that every step taken within a tent raises a cloud of dust. The ground on which it is established was used as a church pasture, and this morning Lewis Robinson, the Quartermaster-General of the Mormon army, demanded the payment of $150 per day for its occu-pation. The demand was singular, not to say more, in consideration of the fact that all the land in Utah Territory is the property of the United States, and not a foot of it is yet subject even to preemption. The Mormon title to the soil is the lowest known to the law—that of mere occupancy. In order to prevent contact between the troops and the Mormons, which seems to be much dreaded by the latter, a guard is stationed at the Jordan bridge, and no soldier is allowed to pass toward the city without producing a written permission, signed at headquarters. A great many officers have ridden across to-day to see the city, and their demeanor caused a great deal of trouble to some of the Mor-mon militia generals, whom they appear to have treated with perfect civility, but without extreme deference to their exalted military rank. In every instance of ill-feeling, however, which has come to my knowledge, the source of the trouble has been the interference of the Mormon gentlemen in com-pany and conversation where their presence was not desired. There are so many Mormon generals riding about town, all of them ranking Gen. John-ston, that the safest course for a Gentile who wishes to aid the Governor in his plan for “harmonizing" the Territory is to apply the title of "General" to almost every Mormon whom he meets.
A great deal of excitement was produced on the evening of the arrival of the army, by the discovery of the fact that Gov. Cumming had mailed to Washington, that very morning, a petition for the removal from office of certain of his civil associates. Who were the signers of the petition, and what was its wording, is not yet positively known. Gov. Cumming and Dr. Jacob Farney, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, both saw it. According to my information, which I be-lieve to be accurate, the officers whose removal is solicited, are: Hon. D. R. Eckels, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; John M. Hockaday, District Attorney; Dr. Garland Hurt aud Mr. C. L. Craig, Indian Agents; and Mr. H. F. Morrell, Postmaster of Salt Lake City. The appointment of Mr. Seth M. Blair to be Chief Justice in the place of Judge Eckels, is recommended. Mr. Blair is a Mormon Major in the Nauvoo Legion; he has four wives, and he was the engineer of the fortifications in Echo Kanyon.
The allegations against Judge Eckels are founded on a charge delivered by him to the Grand Jury of the United States District Court for the Northern Judicial District of the Territory, at Fort Bridger, on the 5th of April, in which he alluded to polygamy and adultery.
In the letter which I mailed to you on the 19th of June, I stated my belief that secret pledges were given by the Governor and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs to leading Mormons, during the progress of the conferences, upon the subject of polygamy. I will state to you now the name of my informant. It was the Superintendent himself. In a conversation, on the 16th of June, he asserted that not only were such pledges given, both by the Governor and himself, but that he had assurances that any Judge will be removed from office who shall attempt to interfere with the institution of polygamy in this Territory, even if, in the discharge of his official duties, believing polygamy here to be an offense against law. Since that date, Senator Powell has stated to me, speaking both for him-self and for Maj. McCulloch, that such pledges, if given at all, were given unknown to the Com-missioners.
The petition which Gov. Cumming took in charge and deposited in the mail, makes a direct issue therefore between himself on the one side, and Judge Eckels on the other, and it rests with Mr. Buchanan to choose between them. The position assumed by Judge Eckels in his charge, and from which as an upright Judge he can never retreat, is as follows:
Among the Territorial statutes there is no act legalizing polygamy, nor any affixing a definite pun-ishment to that practice. Neither is there any act defining what constitutes marriage. Consequently, whether the old Spanish or common law is the basis of jurisprudence in this Territory, the definition of marriage recognized by both is to be received here, i. e., the union of one man with one woman; and also, the definition of adultery common to both, i. e., the connection of either the man or the woman with a third party. Among the Territorial statutes there is an act affixing a definite punishment to adultery, which act it is the duty of Grand Juries in the Territory to recognize, and it is also their duty to inquire whhether it has been infringed by parties liable to their inquisition.
I may have stated the point less lucidly than it was explained by his Honor in his charge, but I believe that I have stated it accurately and con-cisely. Of course it "interferes" with polygamy in this Territory, and it now remains to be seen what value is to be attached to the "assurances" that a Judge so interfering, shall be removed.
You are aware that what constitutes polygamy here is not exactly what would constitute that crime in the States. Here each successive wife taken after the first is a "spiritual," and the pro-cess of uniting her to the husband is called "seal-ing." The first wife only is married. The marry-ing can be performed by almost any magistrate, a judge, a justice of the peace, a clerk of the courts, etc. Sealing, however, can be executed only by the First Presidency, and by two of the Twelve Apostles, who are specially endowed by Brigham with authority for that purpose. Formerly the process of sealing was performed by Brigham alone, but during the "Reformation" of 1856, the cases became so frequent that it was found necessary to divide the labor. At first there was no charge for the performance, but now, I am told, the payment of $10 is required for each "spiritual" sealed.
By the process of sealing a wife is united to a man, as the Mormons express it, for "time and eternity;" but by the process of marriage only for "time." Therefore, after the first wife has been united by the civil ceremony of marriage, the ec-clesiastical ceremony of sealing is often performed in addition in order that she may be possessed for eternity as well as time.
It has been rumored that the practice of polygamy is about to be discontinued in the Church. I attach no credit to the rumor. I am informed by a Mor-mon that only yesterday his niece was sealed as a fifth spiritual, at Provo, to Lewis Robinson, the Mormon Quartermaster-General. The girl's age was only fifteen years.
I have already written to you what an extraordi-nary state of peace and harmony has been effected. There is not a Gentile in the city, an opponent of the Governor's policy, who lies down to sleep without a revolver under his pillow. Both Mormons and Gentiles carry weapons openly in the streets. Trade between them is still interdicted by the au-thorities of the church, although the Globe Restau-rant, which is church property, remains open to furnish Gentiles with meals at $3 per day. No Gentile can yet rent a house in the city. The premise of one was secured for the accommodation of the Chief Justice, but the day before the army arrived the owner stated that he had "taken coun-sel," and could not let the building even for a month. The few apostates who turned back toward the city from Fort Bridger under the protection of the army have been assailed with hooting and yelling when they have crossed the river from the camp-ground and attempted to ride through the streets. The houses are still barricaded, the gardens of the poorer inhabitants neglected, and beginning to be choked with weeds. There is not a Mormon fam-ily within a circuit of twenty miles. The Governor is consorting intimately with the most noted Church dignitaries, and quarreling with his Gentile asso-ciates in office, sending on petitions for their re-moval, making malicious remarks concerning them, and denouncing the army.
The condition of affairs is entirely unnatural, and it is impossible for it to last a month longer, now that the army has entered the Valley. The Com-missioners have fulfilled their duty, which was sim-ply to exhort the Mormons to unconditional submis-sion, repeating at the same time the assurances of the President's proclamation, that it is not the in-tention of the Government to molest them in their worship, control them in their ecclesiastical affairs, or even to influence them in their religious opinions. Whatever may be the personal views of the Commis-sioners respecting polygamy as a religious institu-tion, I have the assurance of Senator Powell that those views were not expressed. The views of the Governor and the Superintendent, however, it ap-pears, were expressed outside the conferences, to the effect that polygamy is covered by the Presi-dent's declaration of non-interference with religion. Acting, it seems, upon these outside assurances, the Mormons stated their willingness to submit, protest-ing at the same time that they were always loyal citizens.
The work of the Commissioners being over, that of Gov. Cumming has begun, and the recital of the condition of affairs which I have made above, shows how successfully it has been prosecuted. At last, Judge Eckels, and at the same time the army, make their appearance on the scene, the distrust of the Mormons is revived, the petition is prepared and handed to the Governor for transmission, and the confusion becomes almost complete. His Excel-lency has started for Provo this morning, accompa-nied by James Ferguson, Wm. H. Hooper, and W. C. Staines, to endeavor, I understand, to persuade the Mormons to return to Salt Lake City. If Brig-ham Young is obstinate about that matter, it will hardly be completed.
No one can look on this condition of affair with-out the most extreme regret—discord among the civil officers, distrust and, to a great extent, non-intercourse on the part of the Mormons, and an army present whose commander is about to be superseded by a General whose acquaintance with the history of events and capacity for action under such circum-stances is yet untried. The future of this unhappy Mormon people rests in part with the National Ad-ministration. Unity among the civil officers is es-sential to their welfare as well as to the dignity of the nation, and Mr. Buchanan is called upon by the peti-tion to effect it. It rests in a greater degree with themselves. Their true policy is to return to their homes, resume their intercourse with Gentiles, en-deavor by orderly demeanor and conversation to re-move the prejudices which prevail against them, reconcile themselves to a government which their leaders still regard as an usurpation, and admit the fact that it is hard to kick against the pricks. They cannot emigrate from the Territory. The presence of the Army settles that fact, even if an almost im-passable desert did not bar their path to Sonora. Whatever may have been their designs last Winter respecting an emigration, they concede now that they are all abandoned.
It is a misfortune that Senator Wilson's bill for the construction of a telegraphic line to Utah met with such a fate in the Senate. At the present time its assistance would have been invaluable. As it is, the Summer will have nearly elapsed before communication can be had with Washington.
JULY 1, 1858.
The Governor returned from Provo yesterday, and with him Brigham Young. This indicates an improvement in the disposition of the Mormons. Last Sunday Young preached in the Provo Bowery concerning the the entrance of the troops and the condition of his own people. He complimented Gen Johnston cordially for the order which had prevailed in the army on its march. With regard to a return of the Mormons to the northern settle-ments, he stated his desire that nobody should move without his permission. The impression is that there will be a general movement from the south as soon as the troops are definitely located. As it is, the great "State" road which leads to Lake Utah, and which can be followed with the eye more than twenty miles southward from this city, has been clouded with dust, both yesterday and to-day, from the teams of returning saints. It is noticeable, however, that no families come with these teams. I have observed at least thirty of the wagons loaded with furniture, but only one was accompanied by a woman.
Last Monday morning (the 28th ult.) Gen. John-ston started to examine Tuilla, Scull, Rush, Cedar, and Yuab Vallies, with a view to the selection of an encampment. His escort consisted of a squad-ron of cavalry, and he was accompanied by Maj. McCulloch, Col. C. F. Smith, Lieut. Col. Cooke, Capt. Newton, Capt. Marcy, Maj. Porter, Dr. Gar-land Hunt, and Mr. David A. Burr. Mr. Burr and Dr. Hunt are thoroughly conversant with the country. The route which the party proposed to take, will lead it through a circuit of nearly 250 miles, and its return is not expected till Saturday. The Mormons have been unanimous in their repre-sentations that Cache Valley, which lies in the heart of the Wasatch range, northeast from the Salt Lake, and at least 90 miles from the city, is the most suit-able place for an encampment. The very urgency with which they pressed the idea, cast suspicion on the motives of their recommendation. There is no probability that the army will be located there. It is very difficult of access, and although it abounds in all the requisites for a good Summer camp, the Winters in its neighborhood are represented as un-commonly severe.
Col. Lorin of the mounted riflemen wintered some thousands of animals there while on his pas-sage to Oregon many years ago, and the result was the loss of a large proportion of the stock. While Gen. Johnston was on Bear River he dispatched Capt Newton of the engineer corps to make re-connaisances in that vicinity, but I am not aware what report was made by the Captain on his return.
At one time, in anticipation that it might, after all, be selected for the camp-ground, a remonstrance was prepared for presentation to the General, pro-testing against the location of the army in any place or places not speedily accessible to the settlements, and especially to Salt Lake City. This had been signed by all the Gentile civilians present here, when its circulation was stopped by the report that the encampment will certainly not be made north of Ogden City.
Col. Alexander is left in command during the General’s absence, and on the 29th he marched the army from the dirty, dusty church pasture on the Jordan to a camp about twenty miles southward, nearly halfway to Provo. Judge Eckels remained two days, during which every effort was made to rent or buy a house in the city for him, but no Mor-mon would let without "counsel." The only accommodation which he could have procured would have been in the house of Marshal Dotson, which comprises two small rooms and a pantry, in which twenty-one persons are sleeping nightly. So the Judge followed the army southward yesterday.
Brigham's return is not yet attended with favor-able effects on house rent. The only two buildings which have fallen into Gentile hands are the Mar-shal's "mansion," already mentioned, and another house of the same size, which the Californians, Messrs. Brookie and Clarkson, who came here on Col. Kinney's business, succeeded in renting yes-terday. Neither is trade any more lively, nor have the prices at the Globe fallen. It is hard to deter-mine whether this state of affairs is more discredit-able thanludicrous or more ludicrous than discred-itable. There are two large merchant trains parked on the public square, belonging to Messrs. Gilbert & Gerrish and C. A. Perry & Co. They are full of groceries and clothing, and though every other Mormon one meets is in rags, and has perhaps not tasted coffee, tea or sugar for six months, and would walk barefoot ten miles for a plug of tobacco, yet these merchants cannot procure stores in which to open their goods for sale; and if they could, the Mormons, naked and hungry though they might be, would not buy of them without "having counsel," which means, in plain English, getting leave from Bro. Brigham. The Church has made several efforts to purchase portions of these goods—parti-cularly the goods of Gilbert & Gerrish—but with-out avail. The merchants prefer to retail them themselves, and it is for the advantage of the bulk of the population that they should. I have no per-sonal complaint to make of my sleeting accommo-dations. The day after I mailed my last letters to you I took my blankets to a spacious freight-wagon, where I am now writing, and in which I am com-fortably lodged. The white cover shields me from the sunlight as well as from the night air. I sleep cool and in a good atmosphere. From one end of the wagon I command a view of Brigham's Beehive Mansion and his Lion-House, the numerous little windows on the roof of which indicates the peculiar domes-tic architecture of the interior. There I shall re-main till Brigham shall ameliorate and permit his people to let a suite of rooms in some adobe to a Gentile. I took a look at a suite this afternoon, which would suit me, and engaged the refusal of them as soon as the proprietor shall be "counseled" to let the premises. His embarrassment, when I made the proposition, was evident, and he pledged me to solemn secrecy, extorting the pledge while I was in the cellar, under circumstances of extreme dampness and solemnity.
The washing accommodations of most of my Gen-tile friends are very aboriginal. There being no stores open at which they can procure basins and pitchers, or even pails, the majority perform their ablutions in the gutter. Do not imagine that the water is muddy. It is pure, clear, and cold. The City Creek flows down from the mountains which rise to the north-east of Brigham's square, and is guided between his establishment and that of Bro. Kimball, which are on the highest ground within the city walls. From there it is distributed through every street, the slope of the land allowing this to be successfully accomplished. My Gentile friends wash at a risk of $5 per morning—there being a city ordinance wisely imposing that fine on all per-sons caught fouling the water.
Though the City Creek supplies the means of cleanliness, the facilities for godliness are not so plentiful. There has never heen a Christian preacher in Salt Lake City. An agent of the Bible Society, named Van Emmons, and find his way hither a year or two ago, with a wagon-load, of good books de-signed for sale and distribution. He was kindly received and treated courteously until it was dis-covered that the character of his books was more godly than his own. He induced a woman to make him a suit of endowment clothes, by the aid of which he proposed to do things allowable only to initiated Saints. The fact became known, and a search was instituted for the clothing, but he had received a timely warning and nailed it all into a cigar box, which he hid under a counter in a grocery-store. Among his numerous ex-periences he was once bullied into presenting a $16 Bible to Porter Rockwell. At last, he found it advisable to close his missionary labors and return to the States. If the Bible Society or any other association for propagating religious truth will only turn their attention to Utah, they will find in its present condition a more profitable field for labor than Borrioboola-Gha or Quashee-boo-la-ghee. Only let them be careful in the selection of their agents. There is also no chaplain present with the army of Utah, although I notice by the latest Eastern papers that a Roman Catholic priest has been assigned to that duty—a selection which ought to receive public approval, for three-fourths of the men subject to his ministrations are of his own religious faith.
The advent of half a dozen zealous Christian mis-sionaries of unimpeachable integrity, and the estab-lishment of an independent Gentile newspaper in Salt Lake City, moderate but decided in its tone, and unconnected with a political party, will do more to reform any social abuses which prevail in this community than the efforts of 500 Governors and Judges. It is the examples of such religionists as Van Emmons and such civilians as Judge Drum-mond that have contributed to the growth of the enmity which the Mormons have displayed toward all the Gentiles who have settled among them.
JULY 2,1858.
Last night, from dusk to dawn, a string of wagons rolled into the city from the south. The whole First Presidency of the Church have arrived. More than thirty wagons, I am told by those who were stirring early in the morning, discharged their contents—furniture, provisions and women—at Brigham's alone. From the airy lodgings which I occupy I could hear, beside the rattle of wheels, the incessant tapping of hammers all night long. The windows of Brigham's offices and of the front of his Lion House appeared entirely disencumbered of their board barricades this morning. I took a stroll around some of the principal squares to-day, and through open doors and windows I could see that the female population of the city had been considerably augmented within twenty-four hours. To-night, I presume, we shall have a similar immi-gration.
Contrary to anticipation, Gen. Johnston re-turned to his camp to-day, having limited his reconnoissance to Tuilla, Rush and Cedar Valleys. It is regarded as certain that the army will go into cantonments in the latter. In the present unset-tled condition of affairs, it will probably be con-sidered unadvisable to divide his force, which, now that the re-enforcements on the road are stopped, will be reduced by the expiration of the enlistment of the volunteers, and by the return of Col. Loring's battalion to New-Mexico, to about 1,400 men. Ce-dar Valley is the most central valley in the Terri-tory, with reference to the settlements. It lies on the east of Rush Valley (in which is the Military Reserve), and south-east from Tuilla Valley. It is readily accessible to both of them, as well as to the great Valley of the Jordan, and it is about equi-distant from Salt Lake City and Provo. It appears now that Gov. Cumming, while in the city with Col. Kane, caused the Military Re-serve in Rush Valley to be resurveyed by Mr. Fox, a Mormon, who is the Territorial Surveyor-General, and has been acting in the same capacity pro tem. for the United States since the seizure of the effects of Surveyor-General Burr by Brigham Young. This reserve was first laid out by Col. Steptoe, and afterward reserved by Gen. Burr when the public survey of that valley was made. Mr. Fox's survey differs in a singular manner from those of his prede-cessors. He has run his lines so as to exclude a great part of the most valuable land in the valley, and throw it into the hands of Mormons, who will claim to hold it under grants from the Territorial Legislature. It is to be hoped that the army will be so augmented, by recruits and otherwise, before Winter sets in, that a different disposition of is may be possible. But no one can foretell what may hap-pen before Christmas. There is not a Gentile in the Territory who does not regard the renewal of the rebellion as one of the contingencies of the morrow.
The Indians south of Provo have become very troublesome during the last fortnight and committed many depredations and some murders. It is be-lieved that their unruly disposition is attributable in part to the circulation among them of a rumor that Dr. Forney, the Superintendent of Indian Af-fairs, intends to abandon the farm on Spanish Fork established and conducted formerly by Dr. Hart. It is due to the inhabitants in their neighborhood that they should be promptly checked and the of- fenders arrested. Dr. Forney started for the farm from Salt Lake City last Tuesday. On Wednesday he tarried at Provo and held a singular conversa-tion with some of the Saints. Among the partici-pants in it was Heber C. Kimball, who advanced to the Doctor's carriage and blessed him and Gov. Cumming and Col. Kane, stating that he had a right to bless them "in the name of Israel's God," and that he should always pray for them. "I pray also for my enemies," said he. "Yes," said the Doctor, who is an enthusiastic Episcopalian, "that's right; that shows a Christian spirit." "I pray that they may all go to hell," was the conclusion of Heber's sentence.
Twenty-six sacks of back mails, weighing 5,500 pounds, arrived from the East at the end of last week. They contained only old Patent-Office re-ports and Congressional Globes under the frank of Mr. Bernhisel. The cost of their transportation to the Territory was just about $10,000.
Several large droves of sheep have arrived from New- Mexico, part of them belonging to a Mexican named Otero; the rest to Timothy Geodale, who was one of Capt. Marcy's guides across the mount-ains last Winter. They have been driven on to the army.
I am unaware what preparations, if any, have been made by the Mormons to celebrate the Fourth of July. Probably a sermon will be preached on that day by Brigham in the Tabernacle.
To my certain knowledge Brigham Young signed his name to an official paper, as late as the 16th of June, as “Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs."
Together with MacNeil, whom I mentioned in my letters to you last week, Col. Fabens, of Nica-raguan notoriety, has been a prisoner in the city throughout the Winter. The facts in his case are briefly as follows: He was traveling across to Cali-fornia on business connected with his Nicaraguan project, and arrived at Salt Lake City on his way. There he remained some days, and at last left for the south of the Territory, and stayed a while at Springville. He was arrested there upon suspi-cion of being a spy. Being released from this arrest, he made an effort to strike eastward across the mountains north of Salt Lake City to Fort Bridger, but was captured and carried back to the city. At the time of his capture, both he and his companion (MacNeil) were reduced to great distress by hunger, and had boiled a pair of buckskin pantaloons for food. Fabens was confined in the city in a small adobe close in my neigborhood. I visited the house a few days ago, the gate being off its hinges. It contained one small square room, an entry, and a cell, the floor of which was covered with straw, and the window set with iron bars. A bottle, a desk and a rough bench constituted the sole furniture of the establishment. On the latter were the squares of a checker-board marked with ink, and the checkers were scattered around on them, with which the guard of the prisoner had amused themselves. MacNeil was taken to the Pen-itentiary and chained. It is needless to say that neither he nor Fabens entered the valley as spies, nor in any way in connection with the army. Col. Fabens intends to make a written statement of his case.
July 3, 1858.
I inclose to you a report of the speech delivered by Gov. Powell at Provo, by request, after the conclusion of the conferences at Salt Lake City. You may rely upon this report as accurate, for it has been revised by Gov. P. himself.
Two Mormon phonographic reporters were pres-ent at the conferences, and took full notes of the proceedings. It was only day before yesterday that these notes were submitted to the Commis-sioners, and they were found to abound in errors and omissions which render it unadvisable to give them publicity in their present form. Among other things, the speech of Elder Snow, to which I alluded last week, and all the remarks which fol-lowed it, are entirely omitted. It is unfortunate that some Gentile was not present at those confer-ences who could have reported the exact language used there to the public prints. This would have been the case had not Gov. Cumming laid an em-bargo upon the gentlemen connected with the New-York press who proposed to travel at that time from Camp Scott to the city.
In justice to Gov. Powell, I must state that both then, as well as during the conferences, and ever since, he has been anxious that every act done and word said officially by the Commission, should be open to public inspection and criticism. He has regarded himself as a public agent, whose actions are as much the property of the people of the United States as the acts of any private employee are those of his employer.
At a meeting in the Bowery, at Provo, U. T., on Wednesday, June 16, 1858, Ex-Gov. YOUNG intro-duced Gov. POWELL, one of the Commissioners to Utah, who addressed the audience in substance as fol-lows:
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF UTAH: It is with pleasure that I appear before you this evening under the pecu-liar circumstances which surround us. Only a few days ago a dark cloud hung over the inhabitants of this Territory, which threatened the most direful ca-lamity that can befal a free people—intestine war. It is pleasant to me and to you, and will be to all liberty-loving men throughout the Union, that that cloud has been dispelled.
My gallant colleague, Maj. McCulloch, was deputed with myself by the President of the United States to make known to you the disposition of the National Government toward this people. We have come to this Territory, and after the fullest and freest conver-sation with your chief men, every matter likely to cause misunderstanding between the people of Utah and the Government of the United States seems to be adjusted; and now, fellow-citizens, there is no reason why any relation should exist between that Govern-ment and this people other than the profoundest peace. We are grateful that we have been agents in the hands of Providence to accomplish so desirable a result.
The Federal Government demands nothing of you, fellow-citizens, to-day, which it does not require of the inhabitants of every State and Territory within the Union, that you shall be obedient to the laws of your country, that you will respect the civil authority, and that its officers shall be received by you, and enter on the discharge of their duties unmolested. All this, I am happy to say, you assure me you are willing to yield, and you claim that you never have been other-wise. Another matter—the stationing a portion of the National army among your settlements—was a topic of debate. The President claims, and will exercise the right to send the army whenever he pleases wherever his judgment directs. Indeed, it is necessary for him to have that right in order to perform the functions of the office. His intention in sending troops to this Valley, was not to despoil you of any rights, civil, political, or religious, but to see that the authority of the nation was respected, and the laws executed in this Territory.
In a few days, fellow-citizens, the Army of Utah will be among you; but when it comes do not fear—it does not come as an enemy. When you hear the roll of its drums do not tremble. Be assured that its purpose is not to disturb you. It comes to protect loyal citizens in all their rights, if necessary by force of arms. I know that a fear exists in some quarters that that army will not respect your rights, but I en-treat you to entertain no such apprehension. There is no cause for it. I know the commander of that army. He is a brave and honorable officer. He will not have the stain rest on his character that any portion of the troops under his command have injured the person or property of any loyal citizen of the United States. I assure you it will be his studious endeavor to guard against any such result as some have anticipated. Allow me, fellow-citizens, to say another thing. It is the inten-tion of the President to secure to you your constitu-tional rights, and to use the army to protect you in their possession, just as readily as if you ware inhab-itants of any other portion of the United States. All the National Government claims of you is obedience to the Constitution and the laws. That it is ever its duty to require. Its right to that you acknowledge.
If war had ensued I cannot count the ills which might have befallen not only the people of this Terri-tory, but the whole nation. It might save resulted in the extermination of part of this people, and what a spectacle that would have been to the other nations of the earth. Liberty loving men throughout the world would have mourned at the sight, while despots would have rejoiced, for we are hated abroad for the princi-ples of our forefathers by Kings who fear that their people may be contaminated by our love of liberty. They call it contamination. But there is a Providence which has disentangled this country from many such difficulties. It is God who rules our destiny. When the feelings of sections of our country have become virulent against each other, and civil war has seemed to threaten, it has needed but a few friend-ly words to restore harmony and peace. Like the rings which ripple the surface of a stream around the spot where a pebble has been thrown such difficulties often look greatest the instant before they disappear. In the early days of the Republic George Washington found it necessary to send an army into Pennsylvania to enforce the laws, and com-missioners to exhort the people to submission. Men yet live who were implicated in that rebellion, who are now the firmest supporters of the National Gov-ernment, and as for Pennsylvania, they call her now the Keystone of the Union. Within the memory of most of us, South Carolina assumed an attitude of re-sistance to the Federal Government, and before it submitted Gen. Jackson was obliged to assure the people that the laws should be be enforced there, if necessary, by the bayonet. Perhaps this Utah diffi-culty may result like those, in general good. It will surely make us know each other better, and the better all loyal citizens of this confederacy know each other the more mutual regard they ought to acquire.
Your last difficulties I do not propose to discuss. I have only to say to you, that the causes which led you to leave your homes, and induced your young men to take to a camp-life among the mountains, have ceased to exist. I exhort you to return to your homes, and in peace enjoy the fellowship of your friends, quietly and decorously. You can return to your city without fear of harm. and enjoy the fruits of your labor without molestation.
I have been struck by one thing on coming into your midst, which is truly complimentary to you. It has been recorded by your worst enemies, and you have enemies I assure you, who speak in no very honied words about you. They concede that the Mor-mons are an industrious people. Nobody can travel through the Territory without seeing abundant evi-dences of that fact; and nobody can reflect upon it, and consider your remoteness from all the conveniences of the world which are calculated to make a people from with rapidity—the barrenness of your soil, the difficulties of your position, and your poverty when you arrived here—without acknowledging that the Bee Hive which I see emblazoned on your public buildings is an appropriate emblem of the people of this valley. The elements of your prosperity are evi-dent—industry and economy. But necessity has brought distress upon you. The road has been blocked up so that you could not procure anything from your neighbors. This prohibition has now been removed, and you can enjoy the blessings and the benefits of trade. If you continue loyal, peaceful, industrious and economical, you must in time become a great and powerful people, reflecting glory upon this confede-racy, and redundant with prosperity to yourselves.
Fellow-citizens, reverting to a topic on which I have already spoken, it has been exceedingly gratifying to me that in the various conversations I have had wth you, both public and private, I have not heard a single expression of disloyalty to the Constitution and the union of the States—not one word against the Union. I have listened to harsh words against officials, but to none against the Government. I have been gratified, because I did not expect to hear the people of Utah speak in favor of the Government. I speak plainly. I did not expect it. Allow me to say that you display sound judgment when you extol the system of govern-ment of the United States. I have been a careful observer of the systems of government which prevail among the nations of the earth, and there is no one which extends to its subjects such liberties as you and I enjoy. It guarantees to every citizen every right which a government can bestow on man to make him prosperous and happy. The development of the confederation in wealth, population, industry and virtue, is the proof and the evidence of its bless-ings. Since the day—the 4th of July, 1776—when our fathers righted all our wrongs at once, when a nation sprang into existence by the stroke of a pan, and, armed cap-a-pie, like Minerva from the brain of Jove, leaped into the arena of battle to maintain its right to existence through a seven years' war, how stupendous has been our progress! Then we had four millions of inhabitants; now we have over thirty millions. We then had thirteen States, and we now have thirty-one—no, thirty-two, God bless Minne-sota ! I had not forgotton to baptize her. The army of Utah will have to put another star upon its flags, and I hope that star will follow star. A nation badly governed would have been incapable of such progress Why then should there be any people, here or else-where, who should hesitate to acknowledge their loy-alty to that Government and its institutions? There may occasionally come a little difficulty; but I tell you that whether it comes in Pennsylvania, South Carolina or Utah, it will die out. I know there is pa-triotism enough in the nation, if any part of the peo-ple refuse obedience to the laws, to enforce submis-sion. But I believe that there ought never to be oc-casion for the Government to use force to compel its children to submit. It is a Government whose right to existence is the love of the people, and if it ever ceases to deserve that love, then farewell to the Con-stitution and the union of the States!
I have told you what the Government requires of the people of this Territory, and you have told me that you will comply with its requirements. I assure you now that it will sustain you in all your constitutional rights, will listen with patience and attention to the details of any grievances of which you may complain. It will protect you in all your rights guaranteed by the National Constitution, using its military power for that purpose if necessary. Should it fail in these pro-mises I will be the foremost to denounce it. I believe that I express the feelings of the President of the United States upon this subject. His desire is that you will submit quietly to the laws. He asks nothing more of you. He has acted in this matter according to the du-ties imposed on him by his official oath. But I trust that all is settled. I hope that seeds of contention will not germinate among the people of this Territory. War is a calamity which I ever would avert, but if we do ever come to war, I hope it will be to vindicate the honor of our National flag. I want to see our sol-diers facing the enemies of the Republic, but Ameri-can fellow-citizens never! If this day the Nation should be so unfortunate as to become involved in war, and the Government should call on the people to fly to arms to maintain our Republican unity and glory, I hope there would be more than one Mormon battalion to rally to battle for our common country. [Cheers.]
Gov. Powell, in conclusion, expressed his thanks for the courtesy with which the Commission had been treated at Provo, and for the attention which had been paid to his remarks. Maj. McCulloch was then called upon to address the audience, but excused himself with a brief apology. Then Gov. Powell again arose, and spoke substantially as follows:
FELLOW-CITIZENS: One single word more. When I spoke of the army, I was perhaps not so explicit in my remarks as I should have been. I said that the President of the United States would exercise his right to send the army wherever its presence, in his judg-ment, would contribute to the general welfare of the country. But when I said that it would soon be in your midst, it was not with the intention of conveying the idea that it would be quartered in this town. I am advised that the President has ordered the estab-lishment of additional military posts in Utah Territory. [Turning to ex-Gov. Young, he inquired the number. Ex-Gov. Young replied: "One; but not more than two."] He has ordered the establish-ment of one or two more military posts in this Territory for various purposes, bat chiefly to protect travelers from Indian depredations. While he claims and will exercise the right to send the army wherever he may please, his object is not to make an encampment in any of your cities. Gen. Johnston told me that he did not wish his army to be stationed near a city. He said that it would corrupt the morals of the army, as you know is always the case when an army is in such a neighborhood. I am not advised where the army of Utah will be stationed, but if Cache Valley is the best place for an encamp-ment as you inform me, I believe that he will take them there. I believe that he will be very prudent in the disposition of the troops. If I were at the head of the army, I would wish to station it where it would be convenient to protect the great highways to the Pacific from Indian depredations, and where it would have grass, wood and water in abun-dance. In relation to the large force now under orders to march to this Territory, I have no idea that so large an army will be permanently stationed in Utah, if the Territory shall remain at peace. It is needed to garrison the forts along our sea coast, from Texas to Maine, and to guard our frontier all along the British line. I have said this much to correct any misappre hension which may prevail in your minds as to the dis-position of the army, but as to the exact places where the General may establish his posts, I am unable to give any information.
