OCR Text |
Show The Selectmen Cases. Space is given to the following communication communi-cation because it contains a clear statement of a cae in wnich the public generally is interested: in-terested: Editor Times Selectmen Hardy and Butler But-ler rv- appealed to the courts to defeat the actio., jf the territorial legislature and also the will of the people as expressed at the polls. Their claim is that in August, 1391, they were elected for a term of two years, and that their office cannot be legislated out of existence nor their term of office of-fice abridged. Aside from the legal proposition as to whether a state or territorial legislature has the power to take away that which it creates, I wish to say a word in relation to the personal, political and public position of Messrs. Hardy and Butter. In 1891 they were nominated by the Liberals, and gave, it out cold that "to the victors belong the spoils," and that If elected they would make a clean sweep, so far as possible, of all that was left of the old People's Peo-ple's party. The'y were elected, and it goes without saying that they kept their word, and that to Liberals were given place from county physician down to supervisor in every road district iu the county where there was a Liberal aud all patronage of the county court was at once transferred to the most pronounced Liberals. From a political standpoint, possibly, this was eminently proper. Later on we find the county conrt to consist of Messrs. Hardy and Butter, Mr. Cahoon being practically ignored. No proposition or suggestion of his being acted upon without private con- suuaiion ana agreement or me otners. in the early summer of this year thecounty funda-were running-short, the county's end of the joint building had to be kept up. The poor farm was crowded and more extensive ex-tensive quarters were considered necessary; and the proposition of voting bonds was submitted and promptly voted down. Whether the people thought tha county's poor should shift for themselves, and that work on the joint building should stop, or whether they would rather have the funds disposed by a differently constituted county conrt, are propositions I will not here discuss, but it is true that Messrs. Hardy and Butler charged the defeat of the bonds to the Liberal party, and used that as an excuse for turning their backs upon the party that had given them office and aligning themselves with the Republicans. Re-publicans. This they did in the most public manner, viz.: by interviews published in the daily press. Shortly thereafter Mr. Hardy tendered his resignation as selectman. Mr. Cahoon promptly moved that it be accepted. Not receiving a second Mr. Butter then moved that it be not accepted, which seems to have been carried. Afterwards Mr. Butter tenders ten-ders his resignation. No action was taken thereon at the time, and a few days prior to election he asked' and was granted leave to withdraw the same. Now to go back some weeks, we i find Messrs. Hardy and Butter in our Rcpub- j lican territorial convention bitterly opposing the nomination of Mr. Cannon. The clay following fol-lowing aud for weeks both these gentlemen expressed themselves as disgusted with the convention's action, aud stating that Cannon's Can-non's nomination would tend to solidify the Liberal party for all time. For weeks they were pronounced Liberals, and Mr. Hardy was an active candidate candi-date for the nomination of the Liberal party for sheriff. He worked hard to ac- couipnen trus anu oniy witnarew irom the contest a few days before the assembling of the convention personal friends advising this course, but Mr. Hardy insisting that he could have had a walk-over had he not made the mistake of going into the Republican territorial terri-torial convention. Afterwards we find him at i the chamber of commerce urging a "citi- I zona' ticket." and was there defeated for sheriff. Later he gets one-third of the vote in the Republican county convention for the same office and received votes for selectman. Mr. Butter fared better in the same convention conven-tion and was nominated for selectman. Now Mr. Hardy claims to be a better Liberal Lib-eral than his enemies and openly declares that he voted the straight liberal ticket, with but four exceptions. Now what I wish to ask is, "Can these gentlemen expect the encouragement and moral support of Republicans who are Republicans Re-publicans for principle in such 6teps as they may take to resist the law and the pronounced pro-nounced will of the people?" I think not. If they are Republicans let them be such, and we will gladly take them into our councils; coun-cils; but if Liberals, let them go where they belong; and if either, let them be manly, accept the situation and thus have at least the respect of all. Again, if the territorial legislature cannot abridge the tenure of office of Messrs. Hardy and Butter, neither can it affect that of the selectmen in the other twenty-five counties of the territory, nor the city assessor asses-sor and collector of Ogden and of this city, nor that of the mayor, council and other officers of-ficers of Salt Lake City, who were elected for two years from about the middle of February Feb-ruary of this year, and whose term of office, by the same law, is made to expire January 194. Then again, if this new election law is wrong in part must it not be wrong in all? If by it the selectmen cannot be legislated out of office, can county officers throughout the territory be legally elected in November whea by the organic act and by the laws of 1SS8 they should have been elected in August? Au-gust? So of the recently elected officers of Ogden and Provo. Hence Republicans and the best friends of Messrs. Hardy and Butter in the Liberal perty cannot afford to give thoso gentlemen encouragement in their attack on the laws, even if they themselves caanot realize the unenviable position they occupy in seeking through ths courts that which the people refused re-fused them at the polls. Republican. November 19, 1892. |