The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-05-21
SOMETHING WRONG.

If THE HERALo's Washington CORES
pondent has been correctly informed re-
garding the decision of the House Commit
tee on Appropriations in the matter Of the
Utah commission, some explanations
should be forthcoming. The correspon-
dent says that after listening to the pleas
of Chairman GODFREY of the commission
and Governor THOMAS, HOLMAN and others
OF the committee decided not to disturb the
salaries of the commission, and to recon-
mend the appropriation as usual. The
committee seems to have been converted to
this action by the bald statements of
THOMAS and GODFREY that the Utah COM
mission had done good work and it was
necessary to continue the board a little
while longer, as its good workn
was not yet completed. Just what
that good work was was not
| brought out and why the mere assertion of
1t should have convinced so careful and
cautious man as Mr.. HOLMAN is what
puzzles us. The chairman Of the commit
tee Knows. or he did know, that the Utah
commission is an utterly useless body, and
an exceedingly expensive one. He knows
that there is absolutely nothing for it to do
which cannot be better done by residents
and citizens of Utah without cost to the
government. Mr.. HOLMAN knows, or he
ought to know, that whereas the commit
tee should be a non-partisan board it is
the most partisan body in the United
States, its every act since its organization
ten years ago being in the interest of a
faction in so far as it was possible
to make it so under the law, and at
times the courts have been compelled to in
terfere TO protect the people against par
tissn acts which outraged decency and de-
he'd the plain reading Of the law. Only a
year ago the commission, in It's partisan
| zeal, wss guilty Of perpetrating what in
any other place in America would be de-
nounced as little less than crime. We re-
Ter to the scoundrelly gerrymander of
legislative districts. If MIR. HOLMAN could
have seen map of the territory as sliced
and mutilated by the UNANIMOUSLY partisan
( board in the interest of a faction with
which the commission trains and from
which it is suspected it takes its orders,
we do not believe the chairman of the ap-
preparation committee would have con-
sented to continue the commission in
power day. We take it Mr. HoL-
MAN is too good a man and too good a
Democrat to want to reward such out
rsgeous conduct. Unless our opinion of
the Indiana obiector has been formed from
misconception of his true character he
has been deceived in this matter, assuming
that he has consented to the paying out of
the public money to men engaged in doing
dirty work for q faction of hungry NAL
contents and infiicting great wrongs upon
community which has ever been proud to
admire Mr.. HOLMAN as q Democrat and q
man bent on seeing that not a dollar of the
peoples cash is wrongfully appropriated
THE HERALD hopes that the correspon-
dent has been misinformed; but in the
event of the story which he sends being
absolutely correct, we suggest that it
stands our people in hand to take steps for
defeating the appropriation in the House.
This should not be difficult, in view Of the
fact that the sending of GODFREY and his
associates back to this territory will
naturally and necessarily be regarded by
our people as direct slap in the face by
the party in control of the popular branch
| of Congress. The majority of this COM
munity have been led to believe that the
Democracy of the nation were disposed to
treat them fairly, and for that majority to
be now told that they are wrong in com
planning Of the oppressive and wrong doings
of the Utah commission, and that the latter
has done good work' and must be con-
tinued because there is more good work of
the same kind to be performed, will not
have pleasing effect.