Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-08-19
INSULTING THE POOR.

The geniass that reels off political
paragraphs for the salt Lake Tribune
takes many wild flights Of fancy which
he palms of for news But about the
worst of many such efforts is one on
Thursday labeled, "Paupers should Not
Vote at Primaries This Is a pointer
to an imaginary state Of affairs IN the
Fifty-third district, which Is set forth
as IAN ugly matter drawn into the con-
test for state delegates Simmered
down to something near tangibllity 1t
amounts to a rumor and an alleged
quotation. 1T is said that the dis
trict is strongly opposed to sending
delegation to the State convention fay
orable to the candidacy Of one Of the
Aubernatorial candidates" Awful. is II
not? Is the Fifty-third the only dis.
trlct that is not favorable to some
Candidacy" And II It is not go ia
vorable, what is to hinder its sending
q delegation that viii voice its favor
or dlsfaVorl but the county inhrmary
IS located In the district" and Is stated
TO be under the management Of j Il.
Jones" wen, no such person is In
charge of IT, but that Is only small
blunder of the paragrapher, He goes
on 10 state that Superintendent Jones
is quoted as saying that he has been
advised to take the paupers to the
primary and vote them for a particu.
lar slate" Who quotes the Superinten-
dent In that way? Who has heard him
say anything Of the kind? How could he
take the paupers to a primary and
vote them for particular slater
Who advised" him to do so? The
whole mess of nonsense was manufac-
tured by the scribe who wrote It, Tho
Superintendent OF the inhrmary denies
the entire story. Nobody has so ad-
vised him; he never stated that he had
received such advice; he hasn't in
uured into the politics Of the inmates
OF the institution; he doesn't know
whether any of them want to go TO the
primary or to the polls, and he
wouldn't know how to vote them for
a particular slate" II they were there
But all that doesn't matter much,
on this assumed ugly" state Of at
fairs. 1t is claimed that Taxpayers
Justly resent" the Insult that ranklcs
in their breasts" at the thought that
paupers will be allowed to vote at the
primaries That Insult" we are told,
"ls mrsed until it becomes living
force Frlghtful is 1t not? We should
think ."the property-owners Of the dis
trict' had better Quit that sort OF
nursing" before the alleged insult be-
comes too much OF a force within
their breasts, or they might burst with
that resentment which the Tribune man
has manufactured for them lie has
worked up a terrible bugagoo which he
calls "paupcr domination and threat
ems what will happen II It appears in
tho convention.
The facts In the case are. that a
number OF the inmates Of the inhrm-
airy are too feeble to take part in pc
lltlcal meeting There are others who
might wish to attend, and who have
Just as good a right to do so as the
richest citizen Of the district There
are men there who have fought for
their country and are pensioned by the
government. There are some who paid
taxes as long as they were able to do
so, and were once in a position to pay
more than many whose names now ap.
pear on the assessment rolls. 1t would
be impertinent perhaps 20 compare
those amounts with the sums charged
on the rolls against the Tribune in
suffer OF the INDECENT But II is an
open question whether he is a taxpayer
at all. and If not, where does his kick
against the paupers come In?
Now where is the law or rule or
custom which forblds an INDECENT per.
son from voting at an election? what
does the Constitution Of our state
mean when It provides mo property
qualification shall be required Of any
person to vote or hold Office except as
provided In this Constitution" Art I,
Sec 4. The exceptions relate only to
voting on property questions II a clt-
lien can vote at the polls he can vote
at a primary, II he does not own a
cent ne is as free to cast a ballot as Is
millionaire. Calling him pauper
hoes not take away his political rights.
II only rich men and women and those
who pay taxes were permitted to vote
az primaries, the meetings would be
nightly thnned out and the purchas-
ID votes that are brought into use