"The Attorney for the Mormons labored assiduously at Washington, and, contrary to the usual custom in the Supreme Court, the forthcoming decision had been whispered to some grateful ears. The Mormon anniversary conference beginning on the sixth of April was continued over without adjournment awaiting that decision."—"Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 688.
"Thus stood affairs during the winter of 1870-71. The Gentiles had the courts, the Mormons had the money. In the spring Nevada came over to run Utah. Hon. Thomas Fitch of that state had been defeated in his second race for Congress; so he came to Utah as Attorney for the Mormons. Senator Stewart and other Nevada politicians made heavy investments in Utah mines; litigation multiplied as to mining titles, and Judge McKean did not rule to suit Utah.... The great Emma mine, worth two or three millions, became a power in our judicial embroglio. The Chief Justice, in various rulings, favored the present occupants. Nevada called upon Senator Stewart, who agreed to go straight to Long Branch and see that McKean was removed. But Ulysses the Silent... promptly made reply that if Judge McKean had committed no greater fault than to revise a little Nevada law, he was not altogether unpardonable."—Beadle, "Polygamy," p. 429.
The Supreme Court decisions left the federal courts in Utah practically powerless, and President Grant understood this. On February 14, 1873, he sent a special message to Congress, saying that he considered it necessary, in order to maintain the supremacy of the laws of the United States, "to provide that the selection of grand and petit jurors for the district courts [of Utah], if not put under the control of federal officers, shall be placed in the hands of persons entirely independent of those who are determined not to enforce any act of Congress obnoxious to them, and also to pass some act which shall deprive the probate courts, or any court created by the territorial legislature, of any power to interfere with or impede the action of the courts held by the United States judges."
In line with this recommendation Senator Frelinghuysen had introduced a bill in the Senate early in February, which the Senate speedily passed, the Democrats and Schurz, Carpenter, and Trumbull voting against it. Mormon influence fought it with desperation in the House, and in the closing hours of the session had it laid aside. The diary of Delegate Hooper says on this subject, "Maxwell [the United States Marshal for Utah] said he would take out British papers and be an American citizen no longer. Claggett [Delegate from Montana] asserted that we had spent $200,000 on the judiciary committee, and Merritt [Delegate from Idaho] swore that there had been treachery and we had bribed Congress."*
* The Mormons do not always conceal the influences they employ to
control legislation in which they are interested. Thus Tullidge,
referring to the men of whom their Cooperative Institution buys goods,
says: "But Z. C. M. I. has not only a commercial significance in the
history of our city, but also a political one. It has long been the
temporal bulwark around the Mormon community. Results which have been
seen in Utah affairs, preservative of the Mormon power and people,
unaccountable to 'the outsider' except on the now stale supposition that
'the Mormon Church has purchased Congress,' may be better traced to the
silent but potent influence of Z. C. M. I. among the ruling business men
of America, just as John Sharp's position as one of the directors of U.
P. R—-r,—a compeer among such men as Charles Francis Adams, Jay Gould
and Sidney Dillon—gives him a voice in Utah affairs among the railroad
rulers of America."—"History of Salt Lake City;" p. 734.
In the election of 1872 the Mormons dropped Hooper, who had long served them as Delegate at Washington, and sent in his place George Q. Cannon, an Englishman by birth and a polygamist. But Mormon influence in Washington was now to receive a severe check. On June 23, 1874, the President approved an act introduced by Mr. Poland of Vermont, and known as the Poland Bill,* which had important results. It took from the probate courts in Utah all civil, chancery, and criminal jurisdiction; made the common law in force; provided that the United States attorney should prosecute all criminal cases arising in the United States courts in the territory; that the United States marshal should serve and execute all processes and writs of the supreme and district courts, and that the clerk of the district court in each district and the judge of probate of the county should prepare the jury lists, each containing two hundred names, from which the United States marshal should draw the grand and petit juries for the term. It further provided that, when a woman filed a bill to declare void a marriage because of a previous marriage, the court could grant alimony; and that, in any prosecution for adultery, bigamy, or polygamy, a juror could be challenged if he practised polygamy or believed in its righteousness.
* Chap. 469, 1st Session, 43d Congress.
The suit for divorce brought by Young's wife "No. 19,"—Ann Eliza Young—in January, 1873, attracted attention all over the country. Her bill charged neglect, cruel treatment, and desertion, set forth that Young had property worth $8,000,000 and an income of not less than $40,000 a year, and asked for an allowance of $1000 a month while the suit was pending, $6000 for preliminary counsel fees, and $14,000 more when the final decree was made, and that she be awarded $200,000 for her support. Young in his reply surprised even his Mormon friends. After setting forth his legal marriage in Ohio, stating that he and the plaintiff were members of a church which held the doctrine that "members thereto might rightfully enter into plural marriages," and admitting such a marriage in this case, he continued: "But defendant denies that he and the said plaintiff intermarried in any other or different sense or manner than that above mentioned or set forth. Defendant further alleges that the said complainant was then informed by the defendant, and then and there well knew that, by reason of said marriage, in the manner aforesaid, she could not have and need not expect the society or personal attention of this defendant as in the ordinary relation between husband and wife." He further declared that his property did not exceed $600,000 in value, and his income $6000 a month.
Judge McKean, on February 25, 1875, ordered Young to pay Ann Eliza $3000 for counsel fees and $500 a month alimony pendente lite, and, when he failed to obey, sentenced him to pay a fine of $25 and to one day's imprisonment. Young was driven to his own residence by the deputy marshal for dinner, and, after taking what clothing he required, was conducted to the penitentiary, where he was locked up in a cell for a short time, and then placed in a room in the warden's office for the night.
Judge McKean was accused of inconsistency in granting alimony, because, in so doing, he had to give legal sanction to Ann Eliza's marriage to Brigham while the latter's legal wife was living. Judge McKean's successor, Judge D. P. Loew, refused to imprison Young, taking the ground that there had been no valid marriage. Loew's successor, Judge Boreman, ordered Young imprisoned until the amount due was paid, but he was left at his house in custody of the marshal. Boreman's successor, Judge White, freed Young on the ground that Boreman's order was void. White's successor, Judge Schaeffer, in 1876 reduced the alimony to $100 per month, and, in default of payment, certain of Young's property was sold at auction and rents were ordered seized to make up the deficiency. The divorce case came to trial in April, 1877, when Judge Schaeffer decreed that the polygamous marriage was void, annulled all orders for alimony, and assessed the costs against the defendant.