The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-06-18
WHY.

Some people cannot understand
why the HERALD has all the time
been so anxious that the Utah com
nlssioners Le gentlemen from
abroad. They say there are plenty
of men here equal to the duties that
viii Gevolve upon the commission
who are thoroughly acquainted with
the situation and therefore know
better how to deal with the Quss-
tons that must arise, and who are
as honest, conscientious and free
from bias as any who can be sent
here. They argue that citizens OF
the Territory would be apt to adj
minister the law so as to create as
little disturbance as possible, their
interests being here.and they would
necessarily be affected with the rest
from anything that unsettled val
ues or disturbed society. The
HERALD admits all this. The as
sertlOns are true and the logic good.
But those who wanted the
commission mace up Of Utah men.
and who expressed the ideas re-
peated above, did not reflect far
enough. Any Of us could name q
grand commission of local men.
We could select five gentlemen who
would do the least harm possible
under the Edmunds law, aud who
would be entirely satisfactory to
nInety-nine hundredths Of the peo-
pie. 1t so happened, however, that
President Arthur and not Utah
people had the naming of the COM
missiOners, and necessarily he must
be guided in his selections by GER
tain rules and influences known in
political and official circles. We
believe he has disregarded those
rules and influences as far as is con-
sistent with a republican President;
yet others beside him have had the
say in making up the commission.
Now, if he had chosen Utah
gentlemen, the choice would
almost certainly have fallen
upon persons specially offensive to
the masses of the people. They
would have been men of set pref
udices. In confirmation of this, one
needs but go over the list of perhaps
twenty names of Utah men that
were urged upon the President or
frequently spoken of in connection
with the commission, Most Of them
are names of men who would, either
from innate meanness or unconQuer-
able bias, have done the most pos
sible harm and the least possible
good. Several of them have no
interest whatever in the territory.
Their local possessions can be put
into a grip-sack without straining
the fastenings of the receptacle. If
any Utah men were likely to get the
places, they were these because of
their supposed "infuence", the
great lever moving in mat
tiers of this kind. They are
the very persons nobody should
want to see in offices of such i'm
portance and upon the fair and
righteous administration of which
so much depends. If the commits
siOners could have been selected
from fsir-minded, intelligent Utah
men who are materially interested
in the territory, nobody would have
been better pleased than The
HERALD; but as that could not be,
this journal, with everybody else
who wants to see peace and pros
peTity reign in Utah, was anxious to
have a commission from the out
side, when the officials would be less
liable to be affected in their actions
by local prejudices. We believe Mr..
Arthur has exercised great care in
making up this important board,
and are well pleased with the COM
mission.