The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-06-04


WIN all respect for my honored associates
mat regard this doctrine as contraEen.
ing all authority sud precedent, unseuno
Ia principle and misehievous in practice.
Objection is made, or intimated. toa'
the new act is &c post fGcto. But the OBJ
Iecter must have forgotten that the inhlol'
ZION against that class of legislation re-
lAtes only to laws affecting crimes. IL is
said that statutes must be construed as
prospective only in their operation, unless
they are clearly designed to be retroae
tive. L admit the rule of law to De SO.
But the eighth section is prospective SO
fer IS it Gays that q polygamlst, ETC.,
shall not be eligible for election" Pot
when it ssys Tor be entitled to hold
these four words bring the present case
within that rule. If the delegate was IN
his seat the words would have their pros
pectiVe effect the same as if "hereAiter"
was In it. 1t is now a part of the here
after since the act was passed. Under
the act Gn occupant would be required TO
vacate his seat. Much more can we say
that an. applicant shall not be permitted
to take a seat which he could not right
fully hold. Whether it be harsh to I'm
seat man who had been duly elected
under a prior law the requirements OF
which he answered is not the question.
That was an argument proper to be urged
against the bill before it became . law.
1t was urged in the Senate and vain
attempt was made to amend it il that re-
gard on the expressed construction that
otherwi Q it would exclude delegate al
ready elected.
The whole policy of the act was to strike
8 blow upon the institution of polygamy,
and that presently, on the theory that the
evil was present and pressing, and that
it was case demanding an efectual and
severe remedy. The subsequent sections
of the act indicate az intention that in
cumbents of office are to YScste at once.
Hence the intention is plain that the act
should take effect now. It is not neces-
sarily by way of punishment and pain
or penalty, giving it the nature Of bill
of attainder, as is urged, but only adds
another disqualification, like saying that
9 delegate should be man Of good moral
character, and if net he must vscate his
seat. It may be partly by way Of re-
buke to a vicious institution, it is true,
but may properly be regarded only as a
safeguard for the good of the Offices and
the territories. Within the ordinary
province of such legislation Congress is
supreme in case like this, and may ex-
ercise an arbitrary power if it wills. The
whole argument made by our friends
upon the other side against the doctrine
of the majority Of the committee is that
Congress has power to fix qualifications,
and that statutes passed for that purpose
are binding on this House. And so far
agree with them. But, strange to say,
when another statute has been passed in
the same line of legislation, fixing an
other qualification, they proceed to ATTACK
that, and say they will not heed it, re-
sorting to arguments which seem to me
less tenable than the grounds assigned
By the majority of The committee as an
argument to get rid of the effect of the
prior statute.
Every statute passed by constitutional
authority is binding on this House and
the courts Sc much as on the humblest
citizen, as is admitted in the views OF the
chairman, and If the statutes fixing the
qualifications of delegate have the force
of law, this House has no right to disre-
gard them nor any part Of them. The
power Of Congress to erect territorial
governments and secure the right Of re-
presentation by the creation of the Office
of delegate, and providing that he shall
have a seat in the House of Representa-
tiYes, is not denied but conceded by the
majority. And if this is conceded do
not see why il does not follow, as surely
as night follows day, that the general
power conferred to create the Office and
TO regulate the election Of delegate en-
braces within its scope as one of its ma
turAl and proper elements an authority
to fix the conditions of eligibility, such
as citizenship, age and residence. They
are a part of the needful rules and regu-
lations Of the office, and they were when
fixed in the Constitution for full menu
bers.
But if this concession is not accepted
by the House, and any member Is Gis-
posed, as strict constructionist or what
not, to contend that Congress had no
power under the Constitution to impose
by statute the presence Of delegate
upon this House or any future House if
they did not wish to receive him, who
ever or whatever he might be, that is
quite different question, and If main
tanned it would lead to the result reached
by 8 majority Of my associates. This
question, sir, is not new, and the COM
mittee could hardly find warrant for
maintaining such proposition, 1t was
suggested and urged by Mr.. Swift in the
Third Congress, when James Madison
was q member of the House, and voted
down. It was involved in a contest for q
seat by q delegate in the Fourteenth Con-
gress, when Daniel Webster was Q mem
Der of the House, and the rights and po-
sition Of delegate as 0 member Of the
House, and the rights and position of 8
delegate as q membe or otherwise, were
discussed and found no favor.
It appears that the celebrated ordin-
snes of July lS, 1877, provided for
delegate to Congress with the same
rights as given now; that it WAS in force
under the confederation when the O9n-
stitution WAS adopted; and one OF the first
things done in the Fifth Congress was to
adapt it to the Constitution Il StSt., so,
eh. 81 with no demur or pretense that
its provisions conficted with it in any
respect. In the act of March 8, 1917, the
Office was further regulated without
any such claim being made, and
made applicable to all present and all
future acquired Territories. The provis-
ions Of the said ordinance, the other
ordinance relating to the Territory south
of the Ohio River, the said statutes, and
all others smendatory or supplementary,
have been observed and kept to this day
ssfecuring rights aRd not as 'persuasives"
on this House.
In three cases of contested elections,
which occurred in 1850 or theresbout, in
thematter. of Doty Us. MesserVy, and Bab-