EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 11, 1886_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
The last general appropriation bill passed by the legislature of
Utah was vetoed by the then governor of that Territory. It made an
appropriation of money for the support of the district courts of the
Territory, including the pay of reporters, jurors, and witnesses, and
for the completion and maintenance of the Deseret University and the
education of the deaf mutes therein. It also appropriated for the
support of the Territorial insane asylum, as well as the salaries of
Territorial officers, including that of the superintendent of the
district schools, the auditor, the librarian, and the treasurer of the
Territory. It also provided for internal improvements, such as roads and
bridges.
The appropriation for the district courts, for the payment of witnesses
and jurors in criminal cases, was $40,000; that for the Deseret
University and the deaf mutes was $66,000, and for the insane asylum
$25,000.
The board of regents of the Deseret University have borrowed money for
the completion of the university buildings which were authorized by
legislative action, and which is now due and no provision made for the
payment. The act appropriating for the benefit of the Territorial insane
asylum passed by the legislature was also vetoed. This included the sum
of $13,000, which had been borrowed by the board of directors of the
asylum for its completion and furnishing, and which now remains due and
unpaid. It also included the sum of $3,548.85 for the care and
maintenance of the indigent insane.
The legislature of the Territory, under existing law, will not again
convene for nearly two years, there being no authority for a special
session. In the meantime, under present conditions, the good order of
society will be jeopardized, educational and charitable institutions
will be paralyzed, and internal improvements stopped until the
legislature meets and makes provision for their support.
A determination on the part of the General Government to suppress
certain unlawful practices in this Territory demands neither the refusal
of the means to support the local government nor the sacrifice of the
interests of the community.
I therefore recommend the immediate enactment of such legislation as
will authorize the assembling of the legislature of that Territory in
special session at an early day, so that provision can be made to meet
the difficulties herein suggested.