| Show OF THE UTAH commissioners NERS FACTS sua EUG GESTi gestl AND nE COMME i DATI one OKe salt laile lalle CITY utah november 13 1882 to non hon henry 34 34 teller rulers secretary of the interior washington DC bir sir the election for delegate to congress having been held in utah territory on the ath of november under the supervision of this commission wo we deem it proper to report to your department the pro gross grosa up to this time in the discharge of our conr trust bince binco our last report dated august sisti we appointed a registration 0 officer eer for or each vot voting ng precinct of the a several counties and established bome some additional polling places with a view of affording proper facilities for all legal voters in order to conform the local law aa as far as possible to the requirements of edthe the act of congress we were obliged to promulgate rules and regulations for judges of elections election three throe for each polling place about in number the local law requires that judges shall bo be selected from both political parties if practicable ti accordingly we selected them in general from both parties but in some instances we were obliged to appoint all of them from the liberal party or from the peoples peopled party because there were no eligible and qualified per bons ko fco far aa as we were informed formea in in such precincts belonging to the other party commissions were sent to each of the judges copies coples of which together with the tue rules and regulations are herewith enclosed in order to procure such information as we deemed useful to the government ern ment we addressed circulars to the registrar sand band from their respond ses ees we learn that the total number of negi regi registered shared stared voters Is are males and are females from their reports it appears that about mon man and women are excluded from registration by reason of polygamy several of the counties of this territory are quite large in area acme ot them over a hundred miles long sparsely spare ely elj inhabited and ank of by mail or oth otherwise erwim this has occasioned considerable delay and extra exertion in preparing for election and receiving the returns rho the anomalous condition of this country and its people together with the inherent difficulty of adjusting the local laws to the acts of congress are such that they imposed upon ua u great care and deliberation lest on the one hand we should go beyond the limits of of the law or on the other hand fall short of a vigorous and effective discharge of our duties in ties iles inthe absence of or judicial decisions to aid us in the interpretation of the law pres fres prescribing crib erlb our duties we were obliged to cou consider sider it for ourselves ours elvea and in doing iu g BO so we endeavored to conform to the well known canons for the construction st of statutes having a due regard for the evident intent intention lon ion of congress ingari materia material polygamist and bigamist and persons 19 cohabiting with more than one woman are by section 8 to be excluded from voting and holding office immediately upon addressing ourselves to the discharge of our duties we were obliged to consider the scope and extent of this exclusion did congress intend that those only should shoula ba be excluded who at the cery very time of the reg neg registration or election were then living in polygamy or If unlawful cohabitation with mere mero then than one woman if BO flo such a construct construction ion Jon would render athla section a perfect nullity the means of evasion are patent to the dullest comprehension we therefore concluded that neither the letter nor the spirit of the statute required such a narrow construction and in gur gun our oun published bules eules and aal I regulations we gave the exclusion a wider scope and application we found that the local law prescribed a certain form of oath to be taken by persons applying to ba be registered aa as voters we adopted this thia oath verbatim adding a clause in regard to polygamy and bi bigamy ganay garay and unlawful cohabitation which we considered it proper to do in order to make the local law conform as far aa as practicable ables to the principles and requirements of the act of congress in short we were charged by the act of congress with the duty of excluding from the polls and from eligibility to office a certain class of pers persons onse how row this was to IQ be done was wag noi not defined to ju the act were we to exclude only those who had been convicted of the crime of polygamy in the court aThis construction would have been derided by everybody in this territory we con it was the intention of congress to leave it largely to the discretion of the Comin commission halon to determine the means of discriminating between tha legal and illegal voters this we endeavored to do in part by the prescribed oath which sets bets forth the various qualifications of a legal voter those in regard to age residence citizenship cr or naturalization aliza tion and freedom from the dis qualifications imposed by the act of congress luring during the week before tile the november election the commission made an order appointing five gentlemen of character and standing as a buard of canvas canvassers ers of the returns of the election for delegate to the forty eighth congress Cou greba gresa a copy of which order is herein on the day of november 1882 the said board of canvassers met at the rooms of this commission and canvassed the election returns from which it appeared that john T caine had received votes and philip T van zile had bad received votes john T caine calne having received a majority of all the legal votes ha he was vas declared duly elected and the certificate given accordingly eavin havin having g i eason leason to believe th that at I 1 ilis ills t Is expected by the executive that this commission will make suggestions as to any additional legislation that may be needed to carry out the principles of law under which the commission was organized organize ds we would state that in our judgment a marriage law enacted by congress would be a sufficient auxiliary in the suppression of polygamy it la Is asserted and generally believed by non mormons cormons in this territory bry that plural marriage is practiced here in secret we would cecora men that Con congress greas enact a laws law declaring all future marriages null and void unless they are contracted and evidenced in the manner provided in the act for example that all marriages shall be solemnized in certain designated public places and witnessed by such persons persona and registered in such public office aa as to 10 make the proof of marriage morally certain provided also that the person ine lne marriage cere mony together with ibe the parties patties mid and witnesses shall make their affidavits against polygamy and aud set forth the time and place and other particulars tic ulars relating to the marriage or allow marriages to bo be solemnized in private but with the like guarantees of registration affidavits witnesses witness eq etc and in either cae ca cne e providing penalties for violation of the act by any of the persons concerned therein in making this suggestion we omit the details which can readily be supplied by reference to the marriage acts of most of th eStates in our former report we adverted to the laws jaws of this territory conferring on women tho the right of suffrage this law was enacted by the terri legislature some 12 years ago of cauree it Is competent for con gress to repeal or annul this law without expressing any opinion on the question of woman suin suir suffrage rage in general wa we aro arc satisfied that owing to the peculiar state of affairs in utah this law is an obstruction to the speedy settlement of the vexed question in the prosecution of polygamous cases here it Is difficult t to prove the first or legal marriage we would suggest aa as a remedy that the first or legal wife be declared by act of congress a competent witness in such auch prosecutions under the act of congress by virtue of whose provisions this commission was appointed the people or olah utah A to be put upon probation until a X csia laUve ati ve assembly elected under the provisions of the act shall meet and pass the requisite laws concerning registration and election the election for members of the legislative assembly will be held next augusts august and that body will hold its session iu january 1884 1881 it is to be hoped that it will comprise a buff bunn sufficient lelent number of members who will be disposed to bring this territory into harmony with wite the sentiments of the people of other parts of the country we have been engaged in the dis ds charge of our trust only a few months not long enough to fully test the operation of the liw as to its ultimate results but BO 00 fari fars far it tas IBS been a decided success in excluding polygamists from the exercise of auf suffrage frage and ana we are of the opinion that the tha steady and aud tinned untied enforcement of the law will place polygamy in a condition of gradual extinction and that the domination that is complained ot of by non mormons cormons in utah and elsewhere will at no distant dambe day be much ameliorated in accepting tho the trust committed to w it was not expected by the tho commission and we suppose not anticipated by Cong rees reea nor the executive department of the government that the desired results would be ba accomplished at once nor in the brief space of a few months but there is reason to believe that the operation ot of this law laws and other influence influences are setting strongly in the direction of reform and that the hitherto dominant faction will be supplanted by young utah in the control of public afra affairs irb irs there is io vo doubt that the enactment ot of the law of congress under which this commission was appointed has hag agitated the public mind in this territory to a remarkable degree hitherto there has been very little public discussion of political questions and aud in ju general the people have not attended political meetings in large largo numbers but we are gratified to end in the campaign campaigns preceding the november election for delegate to congress as the people of all classes have mani festad a lively interest in public af ain alff and have attended the political meetings in large numbers many of these meetings have been held by both parties in iu various pans paris of the territory and able addresses have been oe livered delivered by speakers on i bolh bosh bides sides it is in an encouraging sign that many of the liberal mee meetings have been beau largely attended by mormons cormons Mor mons and in amny instances they have composed the chief part of the audience it is proper to add that so far as we have Je arned learned chuse meetings have been characterized by exceptional good order good humor and decorum on saturday night before the election both parties heid held largo large mass meetings in bait salt lake bake city and vied with each other in the display of national a flags and patriotic music our attention has been called to the propriety ity aty of our recommending congressional legislation of a radical character but we are not inclined to advise such measures unless upon further observation and esperi anet unet of buch such legislation shall shau be demonia demonstrated trat the area of thia this territory is square miles the population is about about being non mormons cormons many of whom are axe so called af apostates apostates from the themon mor mon church the people are arc generally engaged in agricultural pursuits prior to the completion of the union pacific and central pacific railroads there were few mon reside rits in the territory since 1869 theu the lousiness siness of mining has become an important interest and from that time the total output ia Is over in silver lead and gold there are also valuable deposits of coal iron copper and other minerals the mines give employ ment to a great many persons and have been the means of attracting a large non mormon population to the territory many of the non mormons cormons or Gentl lesO are doing a prosperous business in bankin banking 9 m mining ining and merch merck mercantile pursuits ursulta ur suits the legier legislation tion of congress as we understand it is not mot enacted against the religion of any portion of the people of this territory the law under zinder which we are acting is directed against the crime of polygamy fo tor ton r the extirpation of which this commission will freely use uso all the powers delegated to us and will from time to time suggest to the government such supplemental from suggest to the government such supplemental legislation as may aid in suppressing thib thia reproach to the civilization of this age and country we trust that thle this object will be accomplished without resorting to measures destructive tive to local sel self government punishing hing the whole people the innocent as well as the guilty with political ostracism ai guv unwilling to advise such auch a course until the act of congress under which we are acting shall be more fully tested besides a proper respect for the legislative branch of of the government would restrain us from impeaching the wisdom of their enactments enactment at the very threshold of the work committed to us no and long before the time timo expressed in the act of congress if however the next session of the legislative assembly elected under the act of congress shall fall to respond to the will of the nation congress should have no hesitation in wing ming measures to compel the people of this territory to obey the laws of the land I 1 for the tho commission AIEX alex RAMSAY chairman |
