The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-01-03
THE BOYD CASE.

1PE Onlteu states supreme court has
agreed to a decision to the effect that
JAMES E. BOYD is citizen Of the United
States and of the State of Nebraska. and
this decision will relnstate the gentleman
named in the Office of governor. This
case Is important in other than political
sense Mr.. BOYD, Democrat, was duly
elected governor of Nebraska in 1890.
There was no question as TO his plurality of
votes. His success was astonishing to the
Republican politicians, who never dreamed
that the state could fall under the control
of any other party. They were literally
astounded when the votes were counted.
but their discontinue did not deprive
them of resource. True to their training
ard in line with their party's practices they
set out to hold by bulldozing and fraud
what they had lost in fair contest
They raised the point that the governor
elect was not citizen, neither he nor his
father having been naturalized, and there
fore he was not qualified to hold the Office.
Mr.. BOYD came to America when he was a
boy and his father took out declaratorv
papers, but not his second OF full citizen.
ship certificate. However, young BoYp
was a resident of Nebraska when the
! territory was admitted to the union, and
the act Of admission made him
and all other residents at the time citizens.
He served in the army during the war and
had held various offices, and the matter of
his citizenship had many times been called
to his attention; he could at any time have
gone into court and had the question set
tied beyond dispute, but he pointed to the
act making Nebraska a state and said that
was better naturalization paper than any
court could give; he would not cast doubts
upon that act by taking other proceedings,
especially as a great many other citizens
were in exactly the same boat with him.
There was principle involved and he in
sisted upon standing bv the law.
The question having been raised
between the election and the
time for Inauguration, THAYER, the
Republican governor and a crank, by the
way-undertook to decide the case without
troubling the courts, his decision being
that BOYD was not a citizen, and this being
true no governor had been chosen, hence
he CTHAYER) would hold over under the
provision of the law which said the cover
nor should continue in Office until his sue
cessor had been elected and qualified. He
refused TO surrender the executive offices
in the state house. and generally acted the
part Of usurper. However, BOYD took
the oath and proceeded upon the perform
ance of the gubernatorial duties. Be
ing recognized by the legislature and
the state officials as the defacto governor
BOYD had the inside track, whereupon
THAYER carries the case 10 the supreme
court Of the state, which being an eight-to-
BOYD was not citizen, that his election
was void, aud THAYER was governor under
the hold-oyer provision in the constitution.
There was not lawyer of any repute in
the state who agreed with the court. and
those of the bar who had the courage to do
so openly denounced the decision as an
outrage on the law and discredit to the
highest tribunal in the state.
Mr.. BoYD, however, submitted to
the decree, retiring from the Office
but carrying the case to the United States
supreme court, all the time conscious of
the legality of his position aud never for a
moment douDtlng that IN the end he would
triumph, as he has now done. THAYER
has acted the part of governor, but has lost
the respect of all the fair-minded people in
the state. he has been ignored by all
classes whenever it was possible to be so
without giving offense to the law and sh ow-
ing disregard for the constituted an
thority, whereas respect has been shown
to BOYD on all occasions, his right to the
Office being recognized even by those of
his political opponents whose partisanship
did not destroy their sense of justice and
fairness.
The supreme court decision is important
IN that IL gives to Nebraska a Democratic
governor with an undoubted title, and also
in establishing the status of all foreign
born residents of the state at the time of
Nebraska's admission to the Union. 1t ia