| Show TJTAIT COXSTITUTIOSr 4 The Denver Republican has the follow I Ing to say apropos of our convention un I dtr the heading of The Utah Constitu ion A convention is In session in Salt Lake ity for the purpose of framing a con titutlon for the new state of Utah Its proceedIngs will too watched with great interest for the people want to know what kind of constitution Utah will adopt One of the most important questions to bo disposed of is in relation to the status of polyBamists Of course a provision will be embodied in the constitution makIng mak-Ing polygamy a penal offense for the peo pIe of Utah would not at this time have the assurance to go before the country With a constitution leaving It within the I power of the legislature to legalize polygamy poly-gamy The polygamy problem will be dIsposed of in this way but it is possible that It will not be a final disposition fort for-t may be that some future legislature wIll defy the stipulation in the enabling I act that polygamy shall be forever prohibited libited It may submit an amendment to the constitution legalizing plural marriage mar-riage and It ia questionable what action ho supreme court of the United States would tales In regard to the right of a state to disregard a condition named in its enabling act It is probable however that immigration tion will In a few years settle the quOs tion against the Mormons It may bo expected tlmfUtah will In consequence of statehood increase vapidly In population and that a majority of the new comers will be Gentiles opposed to polygamy In regard to other provisions in the constitution the convention should avoid the mistake so often made by constitutional constitu-tional conventions in rceent years of attempting at-tempting to provide for every possible contingency that may arise Sufficient power should be conferred upon the governor gov-ernor and the legislature to enable them to give the new state a real government Restrictions upon the power of mo governor gov-ernor and legislature tend to weakness and weakness is a serious defect In most state governments Thereshould be room rt the existence of a policy on the part of the governor Limiting the length of a legislative term and payIng the members a certain amount for each day they may top in session has been found to be very Defective Placing a limit upon tlie session Is a restriction which brands the legislature as unworthy un-worthy of confidence and that tends to prevent men of the best class from seeK ins election The per diem system is wrong for with an unlimited session the evil might bo broupht about whIch Is sought to be avoided bY placing a limit upon the length of tho session Oho proper way is to pay the members a fixed salary per annum just as is done in the case of members of Congress and then let them remain in session as long as necessary |
