The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-05-28

, u
affect to entertain the belief that " 4
not properly nAtu allied. At our las
interview, before l come 10 Washington
to occupy my seat at the last session. be
, told me he thought some question would
arise on that point. l told him then thsi
| It was q matter which the House had de-
cided in the Forty fourth Congress. thai
the question had been fully examined
and sdjudicsted, and I thought there
ought To be some time in a mans life
when the statute Of repose should inter.
vene to prevent his being ANNOYED uron
a question of that kind, especially after
it had been so thoroughly investigated
I told him further that it was the pro.
vince of Congress to decide upon the
qualifications Of its members But in ac-
cordance, as l believe, with this pre-
arranged programme. he withheld from
me the certificate OF election.
l came here, as you know, and clsime1
my gest as l had done before. ! courted
investigation. / have been willing that
this charge should be- thoroughly re-
examined, although, as l So d, it was
thoroughly investigated by the commit
tee on elections of the Forty-fOurth
Congress, who unanimously reported
that was a citizen OF the United States.
Since this session began q distinguished
Republican member of the Com mistee on
Elections, we'll known, If not personally
at least by reputation, tU every member
of this House, Hen. Martin !. Townsend
told me-and l will be pardeLed for
mentioning his name because | have NO
doubt he would be quite willing should
use it-"hr. Cannon, there is nothing
whatever in this charge about you not
| being a citizen. I went to the bottom of
that case myself in the Forty fourth Con-
gress, and if you are not q naturalized
citizen / do not know where to look for
one." But at this session my case was
| referred, and fourteen of q committee
composed of fifteen members Of the
| House have decided that I was properly
elected. OF that there can be no question;
| for the governor himself in my presence
gave to the Clerk of this House last
winter his decision upon the election; and
in response to my question, in the pres
| ence Of the then Clerk OF the House,
"Governor, do you admit that this is your
official sction?" he replied that it was.
In that decision he stated land it is his
duty under the law Ito decl are the result
Of the election) that I'had received Is, 568
votes and my competitor 1857. This is
the decision also of your committee; and
further, they decide after thorough dis
cussion and examination that I am 9
citizen and, so far as election and citizen
ship are concerned, am eatitled to my
seat.
Mr.. Speaker, it is now clear, that if /
had had nay rights I should have come
here with a certificate from the Territory
of Utah under the seal of the territory.
That would have been my position If l
had not been defrauded Of my rights. /
say "defrauded;" it is not too strong q
term. / was defrauded of my rights and
thus prevented from taking my seat on
this floor; snd the country has been in
undated with falsehood since the election
eighteen months ago to make the public
believe that l was aot eligible to a seat.
l have been held in that position until
within few weeks law Of Congress has
been passed which now Gisqualifes me
In the opinion of many gentlemen on the
other side who previously favored my
case and said that / could not be kept
out of my seat on account Of any alleged
disqualification arising out of my marital
relations. have been held in this po-
sitiOn, bound hand and foot. until the
passage Of this act; and now it is pro-
posed to make this law operative against
me to expel me literally from the House,
not by tWo-thirds vote, but by ma
jori:y vote,
If any gentlemen feal that they can
vote thus 20 exclude me and be justified
because Of the clamor that is raised
about Utah and the people Of Utah and
the religion of the people Of Utah, do
not envy their feelings, but from the
bottom Of my heart l pity them. OF
course every man must be responsible to
himself and his constituency and his
God for whatever vote he may cast, l
do not question the right Of any member
to vote ss be may deem best. do not
quarrel with any man on that account.
His is the responsibility. / do not do so
now but l say it is great wrong to thus
act. Whatever may be said about my
constituents or myself does not justify
the violation Of the Constitution and the
laws IN my case.
1t is conceded by the best lawyers 10
this House If that recent law had not
been passed my case would have been
good one, notwithstanding the report OF
the committee on elections, and could
not have been kept out of my seat by
UAos tOPSAs AOA ny hnJ iOo-Ohih6 Jul
bodied In 1t. This is the unanimous
opinion ofthe best lawyers in this House.
| had no fears about the subject myself.
l was undisturbed as to what the result
would be. But when the law was passed
knew it was intended to furnish ground
Of justifcsti IN for voting against me for
many who were doubtful previously as
to what vote they should cast.
Mr.. Speaker, if religious prejudice, if
religious snimosity, if allegations against
the people of Utah are to be accepted as
the foundations upon which action In
my case Is to be based, then 1t is clear l
am to be excluded, and cannot take my
seat. If these are to be accepted why
Utah should not have representation,
then certainly all representation will be
stricken down on this floor, and the seat
of the delegate from Utah Territory,
legally elected under the laws and under
the Constitution, will be declared vacant.
But i ask you, gentlemen, all of you,
who say the people Of Utah shall obey
the law, will you who say we should
comply with the law, religion or no re-
ligion, will you set US the example By
shifting law down here, in what ought TO
De the temple of justice? Will you do
this? Will you who ask equity from the
people Of Utah do equity, or will you
deny Us equity, and say we shall not
have II because there are allegations
made against Utah Territory; because
they are falsely accused Of everything
that is vile, and charged with being bad