The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-12-24
GERRYMANDERING PLANS.

Ilon OF TcADportlOnlnc luo t'nIo i"i
various purposes, congressional and leg
islativc. Tho plans of rcapportion-
mcpt arc pronounced by the san Fran.
cisco Chronicle to bo absolutely inde-
fensible. TO be thoroughly permcatcd
with the gcrrymandcriuG idea. aud TO
bo in themselves of completely job
| bing character. On this point tho
Chronicle says:
But never IN the history Of this state,
and possibly never in history. has there
been GerrymanderinG so shameless, SO
so rccklessy Inconsistent with oath-
| bound obligations. so surchargeh With
| personal and political maiienitN' SO dis
| gracefully dominated by petty and con
| IcmptlbIc political intrigue rs ,hat which
| is now going on at Sacramento at the
hands of a LEGISLATURE which claims TO
as the driven snow and the representa-
| tive OF perfect purity and political sweet
ness and light.
| II is 81 programme Legislature such as
| this state has never been cursed With be-
| fore, and Will do what ii Is bid To do,
regardless OF anything but orders. and
| this is not written with any expectation
| that II viii i'm the slightest degree affect
! legislative action. but merely as an act
of journalistic service in giving voice 10
| the universal feeling OF eXeCration and
| contempt.
That is pretty severe arraignmcnt
of the apportionment plans; but prob
ably the arraignment is quite Just, for
legislature would do just that sort
Of thing.
The State OF Missouri is in the
throes Of precisely such gerryman-
dering swiudlc; and the st. Louis Globe
Democrat is out In loud daily protest
against the political rascality involved
| therein. and denunciations of the ger
rymanderiug are wide and loud in both
States. Tho gerrymandering complained
Of consists in the proposed new appor-
tionments whereby great inequalities
in population are manifest, and where
a given population in one locality re-
ceives double or even treble representa-
tion as compared with a like number
of people in another locality.
| But there is yet another form of
gerrymaDderiug which is equally rep
rehensible and even more unjust to the
people. We refer to that form of 1T
which VIC have in Utah, which refuses
to make any reapportionment at all,
thereby putting as severe a handicap
as possible upon the progressive por-
tions Of the State, Furnishing them for
their progress. The effect in either
case is precisely the same. The popu-
lation Disseminated against in the
failure TO rcapportiou, as justice and
constitutional mandate requires, have
even greater cause OF complaint by rea-
son Of this iuactou than have those
people in other States who are discrimc
mated against by new apportionments;
because In the latter case there is al.
ways more or less recognition given to
growing parts of the State, and the
increased population gets at least some
advantage from its increase. In Utah,
however, this is not the case. The pro.
gressiye parts Of the State arc abso.
lutely held down, aud get no adyau.
tage whatever from this progress and
growth. They arc deuicd absolutely
that which, evcu under the meanest
form Of gerrymaudcr IN California, in
! Missouri, or any other State, is rec.
ognized at least in some degree
| In Utah we are operating, so far
as legislative apportionmcnt is con.
cerned on the census of 1890. taken
twepty-oue years ago. At that time
salt Lake City had population Of
| II ,Si5; by the census of 1910 1t had
population of 92,777; aud yet it is
represented in the legislature on the
basis in the population Of less than half
Of what il actually has Ii may be
replied that other portions of the State
have also grown, and that salt Lake
/ City has no reason 10 complain in this
respect. IL is true that other por.
tions of the State have grown; but no
portion OF the State has grown in any.
thing like the degree that Salt Lake
has grown. In 1900 the population Of
the state was 910,779. The population
Of salt Lake City was Ii,s43, 50 that
the city bad a little more than one
! fifth Of the population of the State
| At the census of 1910. however, the
| city, having population OF 92,II7,
had onc,fourth Of the population of the
State. Other Inequalities could he
pointed out; but above all, the consti-
tuition of tho state makes 1t absolute.
| Is mandatory upon the legislature 10
make = rcapportiopmcnt for both
branches Of the legislature after
! Federal census. And yet, under the
maligu and nullifyiug tactics of the
! Federal bunch, (which regards neither
law nor hight. the Utah legislatures Of
! 1901 and of 1911. the members OF
which were all sworn 20 perform their
duty under the constitution and obcy
is mandatcs, absolutely aud scanda
lousy refused TO pass any resVpOrtiou.