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Show MINORITIES vi. MAJORITIES. The Tribune publishes a proposed memorial to congress, and urges all in accord with its sentiments to sign it. It asks for congressional legislation legisla-tion to remedy the grievances which it says the people are laboring under in Utah, where, it is represented, a most anomalous condition of aflairs eiisU on account of tho rule of a theocracy, whereby tho rights of a largo minority of citizens aro utterly, ignored, etc. Tho specific complaints et forth in the memorial aro, 1st, l nominations for public officers onade by ecclesiastical authority; ' M illegal votes have been recorder re-corder , , , , ballots a 9ytttern 0 marie" lates the1"1 doP11' which T"10" and leiulatoinC"iple0f SCrCt ballot . personal violent! o"0 gainst thecUur2Pm9t lhf TOtl"K who aro uonuY03 remedies asked for are ,lCse, 1st,, registration law; 2J, a so-rt. 'billut 3d, tho appointment by the governo of a United States commissioner, or homo other person notconnectcd with I the dominant party iu the county and ! miniijR camps, to act as judges of election, and to assist to count the votes. Theao aro the propositions of tho memorial stripped of its verbiage, and a few words in reference to them may not he outof place. Tiie first grievance griev-ance is that nominations for public officials aro made by ecclesiastical authority. If this be true, the fact does not debar any individuals, parties or associations from holding hold-ing meetings and nominating for all public offices men of I their own choice upon whatever platforms plat-forms they may agree. All of the avenues to political organization are as open and free in this territory as elsewhere in the United States; the freedom of the press and of public assemblage exists here to an unlimited unlim-ited extent, and there is no obstaclo, except the always and everywhere important one of tho want of a sufficient suffi-cient numberot voters, lo prevent any party from carrying the Utah elections. elec-tions. It happens in this country that tuo maJuiUy mlo i the prevailing prevail-ing law, and in this respect Utah stands on a line with most other states and territories. In a few states a system of minority representation prevails in the election of some of the public officials, a principle which the Herald would be glad to see in force in Utah as far as practicable, but neither minority representation nor any other species of legislation which might bo adopted can invest a minority mi-nority with the power and rights of a majority under our system of elections. Just as the democrats dem-ocrats hold the power in Missouri and the republicans in South Carolina, Caro-lina, by virtue of their superior numbers, num-bers, the "Mormons" carry the elections in Utah and control the local policy of the torritory as far as tho governor and congress allow them to do. If they are satisfied with the prevailing methods by which nominations for public offices are made, there seems no valid reason for complaint on the part of others. To a secret ballot the Hetlvld does not object, though the present system sys-tem of voting is similar, we believe, to that of one or more of the states. We do not believe that a change of j the law in this particular would amount to much in practice, though wo should be glad to Bee the legislature legis-lature make it, for the purpose, if for nothing else, of making this cry a dead issue, and to obviate all future complaints on this score. The recent investigation in regard to the last election in Tooele county exhibited a large amount of fraudulent fraudu-lent voting, which could not have i been received had the law been com plied with. Setting aside the ques- 1 tion of the large expense of a system of registration, however, the majority would have nothing to fear from the strictest possible registration law. Any measure that will guard the ballot box from fraud and protect the rights of all voters i3 worthy the consideration considera-tion of the legislature. As to untaxed females being allowed t(f vote in Utah, in accordance with our suffrage law, it happens to be a general custom in all parts of the country which exempts women from the payment of personal or poll taxei. This objection therefore is directed against women eufJrage per se. If the women of Utah wero not allowed to vote what a howl would go up to congress in regard to the slavery in ; which they are kept by virtue of their disfranchisement. Th&ie are , soma people who never can be 1 satisfied. j Finally, the memorial asks for the j appointment by the governor of com-; missioners not connected with the dominant party, to act as judges of elections. Whether these commissioners commis-sioners are to supersede all the ordinary ordi-nary election officers and take complete com-plete control of the ballot boxes, does not appear from the paper; but nothing short of this would probably satisfy the persons who drew the memorial, and who are now urging the enactment by congress of a law to exclude all "Mormons" from the jury boxes in tho trial of alleged "Mormon" oflences. Similar election elec-tion laws were resorted to during the southern reconstruction eia, and usually answered tho temporary purpose for which they were intended, i.e., to carry the southern states for tho republican party. But the army then occupied those states and the lato rebellion furnished an excuse for the wholesale exclusion of democrats demo-crats from the polls. There can no such excuse bo pleaded in Utah, for voting, especially in Tooele county, where Gentile officers hold control of the ballot boxes, does not appear to have been restricted in the slightest degree. It is probable that the last named provision of the memorial is the one upon which its framers mainly rely to carry out wnat iney term a iree ballot." By taking the choice of the judges of election out of tho hands of the people of the several precincts, and installing in their places appoint ap-point of the governor, they need not thereafter concern themselves about the secret ballot or a registration registra-tion law. The minority of the voters, or rather the manipulators of tho votes, would hold in their hands tho power of election, subject to no control con-trol whatever, and the little Tribune ring would become virtually omnipotent omni-potent in this territory. Thcro is little reason to fear that congress will consent to enact into a law the third provision of this memorial. memo-rial. It would be going back to a practice which once provailed in the south, but is now reprobated by most politicians, and can only be excused in any case by the oxistence of martial mar-tial law in a community. There -8 no legislation that we knowof under our present system of government that can make a minority of voters take tho place oC tho majority, and ' is is simply what ho Tribune ring -ving to get at. |
