History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

462
UTAH AS A TERRITORY.
ceeded to California. The next batch of officials
were, as chief justice, John F. Kinney; associate
and
judges, George P. Stiles and W. W. Drummond ;
secretary, Almon W. Babbitt, who were appointed
in 1854-5. Of these, Stiles and Babbitt were Mormons,
though the former was not in harmony with
the priesthood, and, as we shall see, Kinney and
Drummond play a prominent part in
the saints.
the history of
Although there were no funds wherewith to pay
the members, the sessions of the legislature were continued,
with occasional adjournments, until February
1852, when a special session was ordered by the governor,
48 and lasted until the 6th of March. The laws
enacted by the assembly of the state of Deseret were
declared to be in force, so far as they did not conflict
with the organic act. 49
Other laws were passed relat-
ing to the punishment of crime, the organization of
courts, the administration of estates, the training of the
militia, the incorporation of cities, the distribution of
lands, the construction of roads, bridges, and canals,
and such matters as lay within the range of territorial
legislation. 50
It was determined to remove the
site of the capital from Salt Lake City 61 to some
point in the Pahvan Valley, and a committee appointed
for that purpose selected the town of Fillmore.
Memorials to congress were also adopted, one of
which asked that provision be made for the construc-
tion of "a national central railroad from some eligible
point on the Mississippi or Missouri River to San
Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Astoria, or such
48 As the 40 days allowed by the organic act were about to expire, and
further time was required for the completion of the necessary business of the
session. For copy of proclamation, see Utah, Jour. Legist., 1851-2, 166.
49 By joint resolution, approved Oct. 4, 1851. Utah, Acts Legist, (ed. 1866),
108.
50 They will be found in Utah, A cts Legist (ed. 1855), 120-232. * It is ques-
' whether any
tionable,' says Richards in his Hist. Incidents of Utah, MS., 8,
of the sister territories had a code of iavvs framed by its own legislature that
would compare favorably with those enacted during this session.'
61 The foundation for a state-house was laid in S. L. City Sept. 1, 1851.
Utah Early Records, MS., 133.