Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/35

Rh U T I U numerous short branches in the mountains, making a total length [ of 876 miles in operation at the close of 1885. Adminis- The executive is administered by a governor and a secretary, ap- tration. pointed by the president of the United States, and by a treasurer, nominated by the governor. There is a legislature, the members of which are chosen by the people. The judiciary consists of a chief justice and two associate justices, together with a United States district attorney and a marshal, all appointed by the pre sident of the United States. The Territory has no debt. The taxable property was assessed in 1885 at $34,821,957. The rate of taxation was $1 - 20 per $100. One-fourth of the sum raised is for the support of common schools. Recent While in some respects the influence of the Mormon Church legisla- upon its communicants is for good, in promoting industry, eco- tion. nomy, and sobriety, there are other features of it which are not only objectionable but dangerous. Polygamy is but an incident of the system, and the only objectionable one which can be success fully combated. The all-powerful influence of the church in things temporal as well as in things spiritual is a dangerous feature, and one which can only be corrected by slow-moving social influences. For many years Congress has been trying to frame legislation which would destroy polygamy in Utah, but until recently the action of the courts was frustrated and the laws nullified by the power of the Mormon Church. All elective offices were filled by Mormons. Juries were necessarily made up mainly of Mormons, whose obliga tions to the church were superior to any Gentile oath. The Ed munds Bill, passed in 1882, was the first efficient piece of legisla tion. This measure declared all elective offices vacant, and consti tuted a commission to oversee elections and appoint the judges and other officers of election. It disfranchised all polygamists. It annulled the action of the Territorial legislature in extending the ballot to women. It disqualified from service on juries all who accepted the dogmas of the Mormon Church regarding polygamy. Under the operation of this Act the leading polygamists have either been sent to jail or have gone into hiding. A bill of a still more drastic nature was passed by Congress in 1887. It annulled all Acts of the Territorial legislature designed in the remotest degree for the protection of polygamy. It provided that in trials for poly gamy the wife may be a competent witness, that every marriage ceremony shall be made a matter of public record, and that all illegitimate children shall be disinherited. It annulled all Acts of the legislature incorporating and continuing the charters of the I, Mormon Church and of the Perpetual Emigration Fund Co., and confiscated their property, with the exception of the church build ings and parsonages, devoting it to the support of common schools in the Territory. History. The area of Utah was acquired by the United States from Mexico in 1848, under the provisions of the treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo. It was organized as a Territory in 1850, and at that time it com prised all the country lying between the eastern boundary of Cali fornia and the western border of the Great Plains. The subsequent creation of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming reduced it to its present limits. In 1847 the Mormons, under the leadership of Brigham Young, had commenced to make settlements in Salt Lake valley, and they rapidly extended themselves over the fertile valleys of the Territory. Prior to the advent of railroads very few Gentiles settled in Utah ; but in recent years, as this once remote region has become easily accessible, the Gentile element has greatly increased. For further details of the history of the Territory, see MORMONS. (II. G*.) UTICA ( Irt /o/), an ancient Phoenician colony in Africa near the mouth of the Bagradas (Majerda), about 20 miles north-west of Carthage. The site, which is still covered with ruins, including those of a vast amphitheatre, lies on a hill which is now 8 or 10 miles from the coast, but in ancient times a bay ran close up to the city, and the remains of quays can still be traced. Founded 1101 B.C. (see vol. xviii. p. 806), Utica was nearly three centuries older than Carthage. The two cities were generally allies; but Utica, jealous of its neighbour, sometimes acted inde pendently, and in the Third Punic War it made a separate peace with Rome, and reaped the fruits of the destruction of the greater Punic city, becoming the emporium of Roman trade and the capital of the province, till Carthage was re built by Caesar in 44 B.C. It was here that the younger Cato killed himself. Utica received the Roman civitas from Augustus, was made a colony by Hadrian, and received the jus Italicum from Septimius Severus. The city was finally destroyed by the Arabs. The name of Utica is probably Phoenician, and is generally taken to stand for HpTlJJ, the &quot;old&quot; city, perhaps as distinguished from Carthage, the &quot; new city. &quot; Olshausen, however, suggests the form T R 21 (&quot;colony&quot;). The ruins at Bu Shatir were identified with Utica by Shaw. For plans and a reconstruction, see Daux, Emporia Phenicicns, and atlas to Tissot, Geoy. Prov. Horn. cCAfrique (1888). UTICA, a city of Oneida county, New York, United States, about 1 80 miles north-north-west from New York City, is situated on the south bank of the Mohawk, about 400 feet above sea-level. The site of the city has a gentle slope towards the river. The surrounding country i.s thickly settled, the principal industries being the manu facture of cotton, woollen, and iron goods, the production of butter and cheese, and the raising of hops. Utica is the chief market for cheese in the United States. The city is touched by five railroads, the New York Central and Hudson River ; New York, Ontario, and Western ; Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg ; Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western ; and New York, West Shore, and Buffalo; and by the Erie Canal. The city is irregularly built. Of the manufacturing industries, which are varied, the most im portant is that of clothing, and next to it is that of boots and shoes. One of the State lunatic asylums is in Utica. The population of the city in 1880 was 33,914, an increase in ten years of less than 12 per cent., and in 1887 it was estimated at 40,000. The first settlement at Utica was made near the middle of the 18th century. In 1798 the village was incorporated, and it received a city charter in 1832. UTILITARIANISM. See ETHICS, vol. viii. pp. 605-7. UTRECHT, a province of Holland, bounded north by North Holland and the Zuyder Zee, east by Guelderland, south by Guelderland and South Holland, and west by South Holland, has an area of 534 square miles and a population (1886) of 212,454. It belongs chiefly to the basin of the Rhine : the Neder Rijn, which skirts its southern border, after sending off the Kromme Rijn at Wijk, becomes the Lek, and the Kromme Rijn, in its turn, after sending off the Yecht at Utrecht to the Zuyder Zee, assumes the name of the Oude Rijn. The north eastern portion of the province is drained by the Eem, which falls into the Zuyder Zee. In the west the province is flat and in many places below sea-level ; towards the east, where the Veluwe begins, it is more undulating, and at Zeist reaches a height of 164 feet. The more produc tive region is in the west ; towards the east the soil be comes sandy and heath-clad. Nearly half (46 5 per cent.) of the total area is under grass ; the chief agricultural pro ducts are corn (buckwheat) and tobacco; bee-keeping is extensively carried on in the east, and there is a bee market at Veenendaal. The province is traversed by rail ways to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leyden, and The Hague, Bois-le-duc, Arnheim, Zutphen, and Zwolle, all converging in Utrecht; it is also amply provided with navigable water-ways. Of the total population 62 per cent, are re turned as Protestant, 37 per cent, as Roman Catholic, and 1 as Jewish. Besides UTKECHT (see below), the capital, only one other town, Amersfoort, has a population exceed ing 5000 (15,178 in 1887); but in density of population Utrecht ranks third among the provinces of Holland. UTRECHT, capital of the above province, 22 miles by rail south-south-east from Amsterdam, 38 north-east from Rotterdam, and 35 nearly west from Arnheim, is situated at the point where the Kromme Rijn bifurcates into the Vecht and the Oude Rijn. The town is traversed by two canals or arms of the river, which are crossed by numerous bridges ; it is surrounded by strong forts and strategically covers Amsterdam, though its old ramparts were de molished in 1830 and have given place to shady promen ades. The streets are more regular, the squares more spacious, and the canals fewer than in most Dutch towns. Of its twenty churches the most important is the old cathedral of St Martin, a large Gothic building erected in 1254-67, on the site of the original structure founded by