Arizona weekly citizen., 1889-08-17
WEEKLY CITIZEN.
SATURDAY AUGUST r, 1889
THE MAKING OF STATES.

four embryo States are about to con-
 clude their labors. The outlines of theiI
 several Constitutions have been fore
 shadowed. Idaho is also holding Con
 stitutional Convention, and will in due
 time apply for admission. It is formu- ,lating a Constitution, which provides
 that polygamists shall have no voice in
 the government when that Territory
 becomes state. During the last three
 or four years the drift of Mormons from
 Utah to Idaho has been a strong one.
 It was predicted that they would be-
 come the ruling element. This provision
 of the organic law, should Idaho be ad-
 mitted, will for time prevent any such
 result. Only small part of the Nor
 mons are polygamists in practice. But
 they all believe in the doctrine as one of
 the cardinal principles of their faith.
 They will support polygamists for office,
 and will at all times work for the estab-
 Gshmeht and vindication of a Mormon
 policy. The denial of the voting fran
 chise to Mormon polygamists will not
 exclude the great body of that faith
 from voting. All polygamists in Utah
 Territory are, by Federal statute, ex-
 cluded from the electorial franchise.
 And yet, until recently, the Mormons
 have carried most of the local elections
 by large majorities. The election which
 has just occurred in Salt Lake City re-
 suited in small majority for the Gen
 tiles
 The cutting of of the polgyamist vote
 and female suffrage in that territory will
 account in part for the change, but not
 wholly. The Gentle element is increas- ing. Utah is candidate for admission
 into the Union as state. It is certain that admission will never be granted un- til there is the most positive assurance that the state will never lapse into poly gamy. The best assurance that can be given is large gentle majority. AS a sovereign state, in the absence of any clause in the Federal Constitution for bidding poligamy, that state might adopt it in revised constitution. The instru- ment already framed on which the claim of Utah to admission has been based. forbids the practice of polygamy. But in 90 days after admission, the state constitution could be changed so that poligamy could be sanctioned if there were a strong majority in favor of that measure. That would also be true of any of the other new states. Only in the case of Idaho would there be any consi- derable Mormon element, and that one, as it now appears, has incorporated in its proposed organic law an anti-polygamy provision. But in this instance. no more has been done than the Mormons of Utah did 4n putting 8 similar clause in the constitution, which they framed as 8 precedent step to admission. In most of the state constitutions, there is no clause forbidding polygamy, because such a crime had never been contemplated. l The local statutes punish bigamy, and that is all the safeguard that is requir- l ed.
 The Montana convention has defeated | a proposition to limit suffrage. Many of | the northwestern states have made i strong bids for immigration. and among others the privilege of voting when i'm migrants have resided in the state six months or year, and have declared | their intention of becoming citizens. In this way, immigrants have been permit ted to take part in framing the laws of | the state before they have become citi- | zens. It's grave error. and now that it | has been found such in practice, the | wonder is that it should be repeated. | The peasant of Europe, who cannot speak word of English, is thus placed | on the same footing with American citizens who have obtained the voting | franchise until a reasonable residence | has made them acquainted with the in stitutions of the country. The Montana voted down the proposition | requiring all voters to be able to read and write the English language.
 In the Territory no part of the public | lands are available for educational pur- poses. After State has been carved | out of the Territory, it is usual to obtain, under Federal Statute, the sixteenth and thirty sixth sections of land in each | for public school purposes. The people of Dakota Territory, having | no available lands, have in the last five years raised by direct taxation and ex- pended s1O,575,117 for public schools. | This amount stands for the undivided | Territory. In South Dakota there are 2.6S0 schools. While the illiteracy of | the United States is set down at 11.9 per | cent, that of South Dakota is only 4.2 per | cent. The Secretary of the Dakota Board of Education believes that the educational system there::adopted is the best in the world. In South Dakota it l is proposed to hold all the school lands | for at least ten years. The prediction is made that if this policy is adopted by the two Dakotas ''they will have the most magnificent school endowment ever known" One of the State officers pro vided by the South Dakota Constitution is a Commissioner of Schools and Pub lic T.ands- The Dakotans Drefer to tax themselves roundly for the present in order that they may get the full benefit 1 of the public land endowment at fu- ture day. The four Constitutional Con ventions, representing the Dakotas, Montana and Washington, have provided that the public school system shall be- come part of the organic law. Moth ng in this respect is left to the caprice