The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-01-25
THE OGDEN CASES.
Argued Before the Suprem e
Court Yesterday.
A NATTER OF VITAL INTEREST
To all Incorporated Cities Within
the Territory of Utah-The
Cases Submitted.

The entire time of the th1es judges
was occupied yesterday, in listening to
the arguments in the cases of John
Watson, appellant, against George L.
Corey, respondent, and G. D. Hays,
appellant, against George L. Corey,
respondent. AS both cases are identi-
cal in thair nature, they were argued
and submitted together. The appellants
were represented by G. G. Richards. q.
h Rolapp and N. Tanner. Jr. and the
respondents by Ransford Smith sud J.
n Kimball
The cases involve the construction of
The municipal Incorporation bill passed
by the late Legislature. A brief history
of the Watson case is as follows:
Action was brought by the appellant
in the First District Court at Ogden in
December last, for the purpose of OBJ
tanning a writ of mandamus to compel
the respondent Corey to register the
appellant Watson as q duly qualified
voter; TO enter his name upon the
registration list; for general relief and
for costs. The writ was issued. but
later on the respondent moved to
quash the writ upon the grounds that
the allegations set forth were not suf-
fcient To entitle the appellant to the
relief asked for. Judge Henderson
sustained the motion, and it was from
this decision that the appeal was taken.
THE RrsPoNDENT's CLAIMS
are that the ordinance purporting to
have been duly passed by the City
Council of Ogden City, on the 22d day
of November, 1883, entitled IAN Ordi-
nance Dividing Ogden City into Wards.
and Providing for Registration and
Elections" is void, the council having
had no power or authority to pass such
an ordinance, for the reasons: That
the statute under which the City Coun.
Gil claims to have received power to
pass the ordinance in question, entitled
IAN Act Providing for the Incorpors-
ton of Cities" approved March g. 1888.
is Of itself a nullity, because 1t has no
enacting clause; that the Acts of Con-
gress commonly known as the Ed
munds" and the ''Edmunds-Tucker"
laws approve and make irrepeals-
BILE all the elect!on laws of
b6lS : CIIILOly cAlSIluR al buC udIc VI
the passage of those laws by Congress,
including the ordinances of Ogden City,
then in force, relating to elections;
that the sections of the statute of March
8. 1888. requiring the division of all
cities of the first and second classes into
five municipal wards, and tbs election
of members of the City Council by and
from wards are not applicable to any
incorporated city existing at the dale
OF the passage and approval of said act,
until a majority of the electors of such
city shall have petitioned the council
thereof to submit to the voters the
question whether the city should REIN
corporate under said act. and the CUES.
ton shall have been submitted 10 the
electors of the city ct a ,ey1lar num-
opal election, and the proposition to re.
incorporate accepted ~ q majority of
the votes cast; that the ordinance
of November %, 1888, Is void
for the reasons stated, and the
registration and election must be
had uuder the old ordinances OF the
city, which provided for registration
and election at large instead of by dis
tricts.