The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-02-19
TEE MANDATE

THH HERALD will not say that Il expscte
tie tuandamns case against Cauyasse
SELLS TO go as it has gone, for it did not 8
expect Until the supreme court decided
Two or three weeks before the election
chat for election purposes Salt Lake mus
be regarded as 4 city Of the first class with
in the meaning of the 1888 incorporate,
act, we thought that the city was proceed
ing properly in going ahead to choose it.
ofdcers in the old way under its distinctive
cnarter. The court having interpreted tht
statute to mean that Salt Lake must have
no more aldermen, and should choose as
municipal officials fifteen councillors and
i've Justices Of the peace, that interpreta-
tlon, as a matter of course, had to stand. Il
necessarily followed, in the mind of a Law
man, that if the new law applied as to the
persons to be elected it must also apply as
TO the manner of electing them; that is &c
say, that the councillors and justices shall
be CHOSEN by the voters of the respective
wards, instead of at large, as under
the old law. This view, we
say, necessarily impressed itself upon
the mind OF the person not learned in the
ways and mysterious readings OF the laws.
But there are so many queer and peculiar
Ihlngs ABOUT law, SO many interpretations
ana SO many ways Of making statutes do as
they are desired to do, that we had little
faith in the success of the proposition that
the wards should elect their own iustices
and their own representatives to the NUM-
cipal Legislature. The chief justice. how
ever, has given the layman's reading to the
statute, and issued a mandate recurring the
canvasser to certify to the election of
the candidates for councilmen and justices
OF the peace who received the highest
number OF votes in their respective wards
rms seems fair and square on its face. It
seems like good law, the recent ruling bv
The supreme court in the case of BYNoN
VS.. PAGE beng good law. We sincerely
nope the chief Justices mandate will stand.
and that what IL means will prevail. We
hope there is no string to it, and that the
Peoples councilmen and Justices from the
Third and Fourth wards will be installed.
The Liberals profess great reverence for
the law ''as interpreted by the courts.
We shall now see whether that protestation
is genuine or hollow mockery. They
are eternally demanding that when court
decides there shall be immediate and une-
quivocal compliance, and a continuance To
object IN the courts is held by them to be
defiance of judicial authority and little less
Than treason to the government. We viii
now have an opportunity to learn of the
sincerity of what has been said OF this sub
lect IN the past, and to also learn if the
Liberal mind is so constituted that it all
depends upon whose OK is gored.
We know that it was the intention of the
Liberal leaders to ask the court to decide
for them and in favor of the candidates in
the two wards certain to give Liberal ma
lorltles, this same question and in precisely
the same way that it has been decided on
the petition Of the People We also know
that the Liberals never doubted that in the
event OF failure to carry the entire CITY
they could seat at least six OF their non1i-
nees TO the council. Now, are they willing
TO accept the decree in the same manner
and IN the same spirit that they would
have demanded its acceptance by the PEG
pie had the situation and conditions been
reverseds The graceful thing, the decent
thing for the Liberals to do will be to bow
to the decree and let the law as they once
wanted 1t TO be interpreted prevail.