The Judge Who Lobbied for the Church

One of the most equitable features of the revenue bill which became a law upon the 9th day of the past month was that which imposed taxation upon all kinds of property, save that of the Territory or the several counties comprising the same, together with cemeteries for the interment of the dead. But the bill taxed church property and a rattling fight was made to exempt it. The founders of our government never designed that church property should go untaxed to build up a sacerdotal aristocracy of non-producers. The bill reached the House where it was besieged by a hungry lobby—prominent among whom were several local clergymen—and the bill was amended to exempt all church property. The House would never have amended the bill, save for the remarkable efforts of Hon. Roger B. Greene, Judge of the Second Judicial District, in whose handwriting all the amendments were written. This judge, who was not a citizen of the Territory at the time of his appointment, went into the House during a recess and harangued the members, telling them that taxation of church property was unconstitutional, which he knew to be a falsehood. It is seldom that one sees the judicial ermine so badly sullied, for lobbying is a most despicable avocation. In the name of thirteen members who voted for the taxation of church property, we ask the President for a new Judge for the Second Judicial District.