Show HAVE IT TESTED It occurs to THE HERALD that immediate I imme-diate steps stiould be taken in Idaho to 1 judicially determine the question of the right of Mormons in that Territory t o register and vote Some of the registrars regis-trars are assuming and exercising the functions of judicial officers and as such are ruling adversely against the right of the class named to register Other registrars accepting the opinion of AttorneyGeneral Johnson as authoritative are placing on the list all who voluntarily subscribe to the election elec-tion oath ai it is printed in the law Still others are plying men who apply for registration with questions of their own devising and construction and which are nowhere contemplated in the statute While the law seems plain and unmistakable and should be applied ap-plied the same everywhere there is the widest irregularity in its interpretation interpreta-tion and application Especially is this true in the southern counties where no two registrars perform their duties in the same way though all are acting under the same law Furthermore Further-more in at least two counties arrests have bean made on the charge of perjury per-jury of persons who have taken the oath and sworn that they are not members of an organization or society which teaches therightfulness of the practice of polygamy polyg-amy or bigamy In one county there have been several of such arrests the parties being placed under bonds to abide by the action of the court in their cases The result is that numerous numer-ous persons have been deterred from registering they holding that it is not worth their while to attempt to vote if the effort 13 going to cost them a criminal crim-inal prosecution The franchise is worth a good deal to an American citizen citi-zen but in the esteem ornot a few It is not worth the price which some of the Idaho registrars and district attorneys are putting upon it If it were liie rule that the voting right had tt b3 secured I by the individual baring the cost and i trouble of a defense in a criminal prosecution pros-ecution there would be comparatively few votes even in this county where a man regards himself as a slave if he cannot cast one free ballot at every election If it is possible a case should at once be carried before the Idaho courts and the matter of the judicial right of the citizen definitely determined If the courts shall say that a Mormon must not be registered though he is willing to take the oath the registrars and the people should understand and know it and there will be an I end to offers to register If the courts shall say that a Mormon who t swears that he is not a member of an organization which teaches the right tfulness of polygamy is guilty of perjury then the people should be apprised of the fact before they have ignorantly committed an offense which will subject sub-ject them to fine and imprisonment The election is only a little more than a month distant and unless the matters in dispute shall be settled definitely very soon the vote in Id Iho will fall short materially of what we hope it will bs r |