OCR Text |
Show , Commentary on the edi-yi edi-yi .,.! published in the Clipper i. ,,N0v. 22, 1978, entitled: ( Si Lis Voters Cast Ballots to I'noress their Feelings, by iafyR- Blodgett. i For some of us who have J 'mdied the political scene in Tavis County over the last ten It iears there was little that ,as surprisin8' with the ex-' ex-' ; aiion of the wide margins,' v ihich prompts this commen- OjS LSO, FOR some of us, ad-n ad-n mittedly a minority group i.lio like to think and reason I i.I or ourselves, there is a sad-ifl'XeS5 sad-ifl'XeS5 in observing what has I I lycome of the status of what l a) to be a two-party "juruy, ith equal oppor-"nry oppor-"nry for each one. Most of the reasons given in editorial for the republican landslide were ,sonable and logical. They iso were fuel for reasonable )inii logical thinking and """ -ollection. BECAUSE OF the . jnomic necessity for ob- I' jining positions in our ;,fcsions, our family resided resid-ed California during the ;ars between 1940-1970. It .is a long anticipated oc-irence oc-irence when we were able to ;;um to Bountiful to live. As my husband had been a 't)'i..S. Civil Service employee, ' had been unable to par-ipate par-ipate in any form of poli-:al poli-:al activity except to vote. ; had to sit back and watch, :h approval, my participa-i participa-i in the different phases of ction campaigns. Later, he uld only watch while our .o daughters were of an r fwhen they could join me J.'-' jomeof these activities. i.LWAYS WE regarded it a insurable duty to God and ,r country. Many of the ididates were our close 0. --nds, both inside and out-:e out-:e of tlie LDS Church. Although listed as -n.bers of the Democratic -y, we campaigned for the ,fi 'we felt could fulfill the Ii ::ion in the best manner. f iom have we voted a ' :ght ticket. Going ;:er as mother and ;rers to give our reasons e fell a candidate was - worthy of a considered vote was an enjoyable experience WHOEVER WON the election, elec-tion, it was taken in good spirit with the feeling of satisfaction sat-isfaction that we had been a part of it. None of us can remember any incidences of the types of "feelings," that are evident in our Utah experiences. If these "feelings," existed here when I campaigned with and for my father before leaving Utah, they were not apparent to me. As the volunteer secretary for him during his many years as both city of Bountiful and Davis County Justice of the Peace, never was I aware of the infractions of the laws of the land as have been rampant in the elections since we have returned. This is not to say that they did not occur. SINCE BECOMING involved, in-volved, I have consulted many books in our substantial personal per-sonal library as well as those in city and county libraries, on the subject of the History of Politics in Utah. The authors have been both LDS authorities and the works of other historians. The majority agree that politics in Utah have often been full of feelings and high in emotions. But were they also so full of vindictiveness as is evident today? I can only hope to the contrary. OUR RETURN to Bountiful . was made possible by an early retirement of my husband hus-band from his government position. We were enthusiastic enthusias-tic about the possibilities of being able to participate more readily in temple and genealogy activity. When news of Mass Meetings Meet-ings arrived at our doorstep, my husband's reaction was that at long last, he would be eligible for political participation. par-ticipation. He returned from that meeting full of enthusiasm and anticipation although somewhat puzzled as to why he had been given not one, but two positions. They were that of Registration Registra-tion Agent as well as Judge of Elections. NEITHER OF us realized the harassment and intimidation in-timidation in store for anyone new to political participation, par-ticipation, that we have since experienced. Neither of us had yet experienced the reluctance of Democrats to declare themselves as such, nor of the reprisals in store for one who does. We have learned first hand at just how effective these tactics can be and that they most certainly do exist. At first we thought it might be because he had never lived . in Bountiful himself before this time, although his heritage heri-tage goes back to the earliest pioneers throughout Davis County. However, it wasn't long before he realized some things were happening that were on the off-side of being lawful, and refused to be part of it. NO ONE took him seriously when he told them he wanted out of the whole situation. As a result, they were short of a Registration Agent right at the last moment. He still would not work under circumstances cir-cumstances that he felt were not right, nor were they fair. I was asked to do it and not knowing the things he knew, said I would take his place as Registration Agent. This was a slow year, and nothing too unusual happened. But now we both have learned that opposing op-posing a Republican in Bountiful Boun-tiful can be detrimental to physical health as well as destructive to peace of mind. AT THE conclusion of the elections of last year, we agreed that if we were to continue to live in Bountiful, a place I love dearly, except for the bewilderment about what happens here at election time, it would be necessary to keep politics at a minimum. We still respect the admonitions ad-monitions of our authorities in the church to vote, but we can not recall that any of them have said, "vote Republican, or vote Democratic, because I am of that party." They say, "Vote as you have studied the issues and candidates, then go to the polls to vote the way your conscience dictates." However, we have heard many others say in various forms of communication, that we must vote this way or that because our leaders have said we should. Are these the words of our church authorities, authori-ties, or are they those who say they speak for our leaders? The truth is evident! IN WRITING this article, I have broken our pledge to play "low key." However, while reading your article and analyzing what happened from other accounts, I cannot help but be a conscientious objector because of the strenuous compaign to "vote straight Republican to get rid of that Democrat Congressman, Congress-man, so we can have legal control of the polls again," as - was repeated to me by more than one honorable (?) prominent citizen. This had the effect of voting out candidates with the wide margins who could not possibly possi-bly be that bad at their worst, and in all probability, the best at their best. . WE DECLINED several invitations in-vitations to speak to groups about our experiences of others taking the law into their own hands with political advantage or personal gain as the objective, - but we exchanged low key to gain peace of mind. That was a price far too high to pay, and both were lost. Yes, Davis County has become notorious all right. There was evidence of this through a conversation overheard at a Salt Lake library last week as follows: FIRST PERSON: I asked a good friend of ours who recently moved to Bountiful how he was enjoying the new situation. He said that his family really loved it, but were puzzled by some of the political activity out there. Second Person: I think I can guess what he told you as he spoke to me as the same thing. He said that it seemed that most of the people out there wait to hear the Republicans tell them to jump and then.... FIRST PERSON: Then the people say, "how high, how high," Laughter; me (silently), How true! How true! Although I send this letter after much soul searching, it will be a surprise if it goes to print. The defense rests its case. AND YET, may it soon be said among the children of men, that the people of the beautiful city of Bountiful study, think and reason for themselves for the betterment better-ment of all. Mrs. Lucille Hill Williams |