The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-09-10
THE COMMISSION.
Their BepOPE 30 the InterIOP
Department..
The Progress Made By Them
mp 90 Date.

ooJ "AACC tnC1A arrival Il6Te,
meetings have been held each day.
A strong disposition with some
nOn-MOrmOn citizeAs against pre-
pairing for the election of a dele
gate to Congress manifested itself
before the work Of preparation there
for was commenced; but upon in
vestigatiOn as to the condition of |
affairs and an examination as to the
state Of the law and the duty of tie
commission Hereunder, the follow
ing preamble and resolution were
adopted:
Whereas. it is provided by the Re-
Vised Statutes OF the United States, Mag |
2, 1852. that every territory shal! have
the right Of delegate to the House Of |
Representatives of the United States, |
and ss il is further provided, section 2
that such elections shall be held in sll
the territories OF the United States Ga
the Tuesday after the first Monday in
November. therefore,
RsSO,Ved, That in order TO prepare for
sHch election IN the Territory Of Utah
on tho day 80 established, the connie
sion will proceed forthwith TO appoint
registration officers TO revise the regis-
tration lists now on Gle in the Office Of
the clerks Of each OF the several counties
in the msnner described By Law.
In pursuance of this resolution
the Commission proceeded with
great care and deliberation 20 pre-
pare rules and regulations for the
guidance Of registration, and select
ing of the officers to be appointed.
This was q difficult and delicate
task, because of the necessity of
framing rules and regulations gov
erning the registration Ot voters
and the conduct Of elections, TO con-
form to the principles of the re-
quiremehtS of the act of Congress,
rs we'll as the laW OF the territory.
We. inclOse printed copy
Of the same, together with
the ferns of afidavits. ETC.,
provided by the Commission. The
matter Of appointment of reglstra-
tiOa officers for the several counties
in the territory was then taken up,
and one for each county has been
duly appointed and commissioned.
In addition to these. deputy, OF as
sistants, IN each voting precinct OF
the territory will I've Immediately
appointed. Our selections have.
and must necessarily be, Influenced
In considerable degree by the sug.
| gestionS and recommendation of
leading citizens here. Emb4rrass-
ment: in this direction have been
| great, but the Commission have en-
deavOred TO secure the very best
available aid for the rejection, of
course, of all persons who are in
eligible uader the law. From
present indications it appears the
class OF persons who are deprived
of the right Of suffrage by the act
/ of Congress will not attempt TO
register or vote. These will num-
Der, male ana female, probably TO-
600 voters. Many of the Eon-MOr-
mons have hitherto refraired from
voting, but it is believed at the
November election that they will
cast much larger vote than at any
time heretofore. However, the
business Of the Commission, as
understood by the members
thereon, relates not to the ques-
tlOns of parties nor candidates
but to securing, so far as possible, 3
fair registration and an impartlally
conducted election. Under the
law, as before suggested, the Com
mission have encountered many en-
barassmentS and complications
The opposition made at the outset
by some On-MOrmOns of respect
ability and influence against hold
} ing a regular election for delegate
in Congress, as required by law II
November next. was an IN
pleasant feature Of the situa-
ton, cat there does not appear
to be under law any discretion
whatever for the commission. The
law demanded the election. The
people of the territory were clearly
entitled 10 a representation in Con-
: greSS, and if the same could be Sc
! cured through due observance Of
the restrictions imposed in relation
. to bigamY and polygamY, We did no
!, see how we could excuse the OEais
, sion Of being present and prepared 4
! proceed with the work assigned us
We should not even attempt TO es
cape this manifest duty, and it wa
decided 10 prOce d. 1t was deemel
advisable, even If the power was il
: the CODmissiOn-cOnc whicl
}. there is some d0ubt-tO commend
de ROUO the registration of voters @
the territory, but after very care
full consideration it was decided {
order revision of the existing n
r gistratiOn lists in September as II
!. Quired by the territorial law, al
, plying the same to the gOvernin
: principles of the Edmunds acts. w
q think the regularity of this process
= ing cannot be questioned. 1
. effectiveness viii be equal
n aB entirely new registration an
4 we believe the Tesult Of the eectiC
= will so dem0nStra ?. In the pre-
aration OF tue rules and regulation
a. 10 govern the registration and q
"A conduct OF the election, as befo
20 stated, the labor Of estimating q
i, acts of Congress and local elects
ga laws, was tedious and Perplexin
Involving much greater response
40 lily than was Agreeable to the Coz
= mission 10 assume, bnt 10 acco'