Salt Lake City,
March 17th 1871
Hon. Wm. H. Hooper
Washington, D.C.
Dear Brother:
Your letter of the 6th inst received & read with great interest. I immediately procured the information regarding rooms for U.S. Courts and telegraphed you. I will now write more fully. The Courthouse belongs to Salt lake County and the County Court and the Probate Court hold their respective Courts therein. There are also rooms for the clerks, Sheriffs & County Assessor and Collector offices & prison cells in the basement. Now it is not proposed to give the U.S. Marshal the control of the building, but he can have the large court room upstairs and two good and convenient rooms for jury rooms for not exceeding two dollars a day; the rooms will be warmed and lighted when they are wanted, and swept and kept in order by the county. This is not ten dollars a day by the year, but only the days actually used. Heretofore when the U.S. Courts have been held the first six days of the term or so much thereof as was devoted the cases assigned <arising> under the U.S. Laws was charged to U.S. Marshal and when so much of the time as was devoted to cases arising under the laws of the Territory was paid by the Territorial Marshal and appropriated for by the Legislature.
The Legislature required the contingent fund for Court expenses to be disbursed by the Territorial Marshal, who gives bonds and is responsible to the Territory, which the U.S. Marshal is not, and has not quite yet obtained the priviledge of putting his hand into the Territorial treasury, and this is "What's the matter" with them, I mean the Judges, Marshals, Attorneys and balance of the ring. By ruling out the laws & usual mode of selecting jurors and the Territorial officers, this riding over and setting aside the laws and organization of the Territory they have forestalled them selves; and are thus hindering the progress of business, -- but to return to the accomodations for the court, they have never been denied to either of the courts of <or> the U.S. Marshal, but last spring Mr. Patrick tried surreptitiously to obtain the keys of the Courthouse, but failed to get them, and then went and procured another place as you are aware over Faust's stables.
Previous to this for many years I do not remember how many, these courts have been held in the county court house and they might have continued there all the time if the Court and the Marshal had been a mind to. You will readily perceive that the share of the rent payable by the U.S. Government would be very small, whereas if those Courts should hold the full time of 6 days each term, say four times in the year, which they have so far never done, and there is no probability of them ever doing it, would only amount to 240 Dollars per annum; - and even including all the Courts has not heretofor amounted to but a little over four hundred Dollars a year, and I am informed that so far as the U.S. Marshal is concerned, that J.M. Orr paid thirty Dollars, while he was the acting U.S. Marshal, and that is all and the only rent for rooms that has been paid to the county for the last five years, though they have regularly held these Courts there, during all that time.
How much cash the U.S. Marshals and other officers have pocketed for rents never paid, might be an interesting question for the Comptroller's consideration. I know that when Gibbs was Marshal I signed vouchers for rent of rooms in the Council House, which he never paid, though I suppose the Government paid it to him, but enough of this. The decision of the Slossen case has not yet been returned to the Land office in this City, consequently the sixty days given for appeal is not running on; please direct the attention of the commissioner to this fact. Perhaps that his lawyers Britton & Co. do not intend to carry it up; if this is the case why not say so and the Department let the entry be made. It will not do to enter excepting the pieces in contest as it would be relinquishing those portions to the government, and then the contestants would have it all their own way; your suggestion for them to relinquish and let the entry be made and then contest their claims if they have any before the courts is the only correct view of the case, and this the department can and should direct and be eternally entertaining these vexatious claims and only to hinder and for purposes of speculations. The register and receiver here should never have entertained any of the contesting claims for one single moment, and would not only to gratify their animous and to annoy and shall I say it as I believe to extort money. I notice in the Internal Revenue Record of March 4th a report of Mr. Commissioner Pleasanton on the Suit of the Pireot Case in which Utah is set down $26.982.00 I observe that Nevada, Nebraska, New Mexico, & Dacotah are reported as having satisfied their direct tax it might perhaps be well to ascertain how these Territories satisfied their direct tax. If I recollect right these taxes were never paid by these Territories, the money being appropriated to said Territories for various purposes. I would wish to direct your attention to this matter, you will recollect that if the government propose to move in this matter that we also have claims vs the government. Excuse my long scribble, I hope and trust that your health is improving All is well. May God bless you
Your Brother
Daniel H Wells