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Show A STATE CENSUS NEXT YEAR. Under tho provisions of article 9, section sec-tion 2. of the Stato Constitution, the Legislature is required to provide for an enumeration of the inhabitants of tho State in 1905, and decennially thereafter. The same section provides that at the Legislative session next following fol-lowing such enumeration, and also at the session next following an enumeration enumera-tion made by the authority of tho United States, the Legislature "shall' revise and adjust the apportionment for Senators and Representatives on the basis of such enumeration according to ratios to be fixed by law." Under the mandatory provisions of this section, a revision and readjustment readjust-ment of the apportionment for Senators and Representatives ought to have been made by tho Legislature in 1901. A bill for such reapportionment was introduced, in-troduced, but was never acted upon, the report beinC that Governor Wells discouraged dis-couraged any action to obey the Constitutional Con-stitutional requirement in this matter. How it happened that all whose duty It was under their oaths to obey the Constitution, refused to carry out this mandate of that Instrument, we have never heard explained, but so it was. A census of Utah was taken under Territorial auspices in 1S95, that was well done. It showed the total population popula-tion to be 2-17,324, which was midway between the 207,905 of 1890 and the 27C,-749 27C,-749 of 1900. Tills proves that 'there is good ability in the State for this work, and that by the selection of the proper man to supervise the work, we can have a census every whit as good and accurate as the Federal census. Doubtless important changes will be due in the representation of the different differ-ent parts of the State by reason of next year's census. Every county Is entitled under the Constitution to at least one Representative, no matter how small Its population. The census will show, however, that some localities are over-represented over-represented and some under-represented. In order to meet the requirements require-ments of the case, doubtless some increase in-crease in the number of members of the Legislature, especially of the lower branch, will be found advisable. This city and county have smaller representations repre-sentations than their population entitles en-titles them to "under the Federal census cen-sus of 1900. We think that in the revised re-vised scheme for apportionment, this city ahoukl be made a legislative unit, electinjr its pro rata of Senators and Representatives without connection with the settlements outside, and that the county dutslde the city should be another unit, electing whatever It is entitled en-titled to by its population. The nearer wo can get to the people in small districts dis-tricts the better. v This subject will be one of the most Important to come before the Legislature Legisla-ture of 1907, as the census itself will be with the legislature of 1905. |