814 



UTAH. 



last few years, and some progress has been made 

 under the auspices of Zion's Cooperative Fish 

 Association. 



The total receipts into the Territorial Trea- 

 sury for the two years ending December 31, 

 1877, amounted to $94,410.66, including $532.- 

 24 on hand at the beginning of the period ; 

 the disbursements were $94,325.33. The as- 

 sessed value of property in 1877 was as fol- 

 lows : 



COUNTIES. 



Total value of 

 property assessed. 



Salt Lake... . $5,171,820 



Weber 2,105,428 



Utah 2,083.904 



Box Elder 1,827,580 



Cache ],20,%:36r 



Tooele 1,060,160 



Summit 863/86 



Davis 812,132 



Sanpete 664,072 



Washington 6n5,572 



Juab 453,296 



Iron 446,056 



Morgan 423,928 



Kane 343,944 



Beaver 41 0,320 



Millard 300.816 



Sevier 287,523 



Wasatch -. 183,760 



Eich 163.940 



Piute 1 19,512 



Total $22,553^60 



The school population (six to sixteen years 

 of age) reported at the close of the school year 

 1877 was 30,792 ; the enrollment, 19,779 ; aver- 

 age daily attendance, 13,420 ; number of schools, 

 327. 



The amount of Territorial appropriation annual- 



lyis $20,000 00 



The amount paid to teachers annually is 77,48i) 68 



The amount of taxes for schools annually is 3 ),115 94 



The amount of building fund raised in 1377 is. . . 30,717 26 

 The amount of Superintendent's salary par 



yearis 1,50000 



The amount of stationery, printing, etc., per 



year 250 03 



Making a total annual exponditur3 of $160,063 83 



Increased by salaries paid private and mission 

 school teachers, approximate 50,030 00 



Total expended on schools in the Territory.. $210,063 88 



The reported value of district school proparty in 

 the Territory is $323,202 89 



The value of property owned by private schools 

 isabout 75,000 00 



Which makes the reported value of school prop- 

 erty $398,202 89 



The Superintendent, however, thinks the ac- 

 tual value of school property is not less than 

 $600,000. 



The Mormon Conference met in Salt Lake 

 City in April, and also in October. At the 

 former meeting the report of the Trustee-in- 

 trust for the year ending December 31, 1877, 

 was presented, from which the following fig- 

 ures appear : Amount of tithes received, $444,- 

 902.81 ; number of tithe-payers, 15,032; dis- 

 bursed to Indians and the poor, $21,385.54; 

 to bishops and their clerks, $40,315.15 ; local 

 disbursements, $90,925.83 ; turned into the gen- 

 eral tithing office, $302,168.30. The statistical 

 reports of the Conference show 22,574 priests 



of various degrees, 51,072 lay members, and 

 32,975 children under eight years of age. 

 At the October Conference the report of a 

 committee appointed to investigate the ac- 

 counts of the late Brigham Young was pre- 

 sented, the material portion of which is aa- 

 follows : 



It was known to everybody that inconsequence of 

 Indian wars, bad legislation, violence and hostility 

 of the General Government, vindictiveness of the 

 Federal courts, bitter assaults from unprincipled per- 

 sons, and malignant prosecution and persecution from 

 all sides, our late revered and beloved leader had 

 transferred certain property from the possession of the 

 Church to his own individual possession. It was done 

 for the sole purpose of preserving it from the spolia- 

 tion of the enemy ; and now that all danger is over, 

 it has been transferred back to the Church with the 

 aid and counsel of President Taylor, the Twelve 

 Apostles, and the executors. When any doubts have 

 arisen as to the ownership of any property, we have 

 given the estate the benefit of that doubt, and we 

 hope the Saints of the living God will support us in 

 our action. Of course we have found errors and 

 omissions, but the accounts are nevertheless correct. 

 The duty of investigating these accounts has been 

 very unpleasant and onerous, but after the exercise 

 of the utmost vigilance a satisfactory conclusion of 

 our labors has been reached. 



The recent decision of the Supreme Court of 

 the United States in the case of Reynolds vs. 

 United States involves the whole question of po- 

 lygamy in the Territories and the constitution- 

 ality of the laws passed by Congress for its sup- 

 pression. Reynolds was indicted by the grand 

 jury for contracting a bigamous marriage. He 

 was tried in the Third Judicial Court of Utah 

 and found guilty. He appealed to the Supreme 

 Court of the Territory, and finally to this Court, 

 which now affirms the judgment of the lower 

 tribunals, and decides that the plea of religious 

 conviction is not a valid defense ; that polyga- 

 my is not under the protection of the clause 

 in the Constitution which prohibits interfer- 

 ence with religious belief; that Congress had 

 power to pass laws prohibiting polygamous 

 marriages in Utah, and that such laws are con- 

 stitutional. The view taken of this decision by 

 the Mormons may be seen by the following ex- 

 tract from a Salt Lake paper, written, it is re- 

 ported, by Bishop Taylor : 



The question that naturally arises in the public 

 mind is, " What are Mormons going to do about it?" 

 So far as we understand their views and feelings, 

 we should say they will leave the matter in the hands 

 of the Almighty. The Church of Jesus Christ of 

 Latter-Day Saints is composed of people who are 

 chiefly citizens of the United States; Many of them 

 came 'from foreign lnds. When they took the oath 

 of allegiance to the Constitution and Government of 

 the United States they made no promise of submis- 

 sion to any interference with their religious liberty : 

 neither did they agree that Congress or any court 

 should decide what might or might not be consider- 

 ed a part of their religious faith. The celestial mar- 

 riage, including the doctrine of a plurality of wives, 

 was revealed directly to them from God. It does not 

 matter who may^ dispute this as a fact. They have evi- 

 dence of it, which to them is complete, leaving no 

 room for doubt. Congress, many years after this 

 doctrine became an integral part of their religious 

 creed, the practice of which was commanded by the 



