Show wro WHO ARE ABE THE lawbreakers I 1 wun qun which took iaac fore the canvassing board in kh ence to the counting of vote rote w 06 for territorial th ft decision that h li made the mat matter way wry ewels a far as tho the board WM vu zone ezri bat the principles piea plea dispute are alre baill subjects folt foik folk debate and ought to be get benalli understood it is well known that the gea gei of commissioners to locate i sity alty lands land territorial auditore Audi torm territorial treasurer have act of the legislative been made elective by thi the heoji pe the auditor and treasurer we for many years elected law by the joint vote of iw assembly but bat at the A fret 1878 those offices were mahe maffe to a tive live by popular vote as commissioners to locate aereal lands had baen been since MS in giving notice of tt election of thib thia year the co cona appointed under tat tal visions of the edmunds acid took to declare the laws cf oll invalid which made elective and therefore the y r not ann anu announce ounce them agolli offices to bo ba filled the terrt ten ter central committee of the pe party took a different vies view vie vig that entertained by the tho con oon blo bio si nent onera and were sustained 10 in i opinion by bv the best legal utah considering that the tie ft had the right to vote for thes ettz eTez officers if they chose chosed cho eho bbb seb 60 A they asked the Commis 21 they held that the names of persons to fill tha thes dl I 1 upon the general ticket fir fIs the ticket the Com coman compass nasi nali plied that it would that ll 11 would such votes be not coata the territorial officers nominal they would be ba rejected al fop top and thus the votes upon thea thep the 0 ticket for county and precinct co cE would be cast out it was the decided that the nam names of w for territorial offices should her ber only on a few tickets enough elect thomm thom without votes for the other officer offic ers erg it 0 T the counting of the ing the names of territorial 01 that was under dispute before i canvassing board we claim that the COM oom colw took improper ground whole proceeding in the mst mgt that body had bad no do rig nig right ht to de deca as upon the validity of a jaw law of t territory the proof of thio thic is ninth section of the edmunds W lari lali firl here it in beo bec 9 that ail all tho the hsi and election offices of every dee crip dalf inthe territory of utah sire are kriby declared vacant antl anti each pd ad every duty relating to the registration of voter the conduct of sections the receiving or rejection rf i votes and the canvassing and re tilling nuin of f t the he same and the issuing rf J cert certificates boates or other evidence or of feo beo ejection fec tion in said terni terri until lher iber ther gher provisions be made by the sisla gisla illative tive assembly of said terri ivy dry bry as is hereinafter by this bec beo M provided be ba performed under E a existing laws of the united antes ea and of said sald territory by proper I 1 ler ter sons who shrill shall be appointed to hecate such offices and perform 3 ach duties by a board of five per 3 tinb ms to be appointed by the prest ent nits aits niti by and with the advice and gasent of the enot more than iree tree to of whom shall be members of BB e political party and a majority whom shall bo be a quorum the abers of said board so appointed 3 the president shall each receive receives eslary halary salary ea lary iary at the rate nate of three thou r bind dollars per pen annum and shall bhail i ea dinue in office until the legisla 3 ve a assembly of said territory shall ake provision for filling bald baid offices therein 1 ene ane n authorized prized the secretary 3 a ithe the territory ahall be the secre bry pry y of said boar dand keep a journal I 1 fita fits ada ads proceedings and attest the ac ution fon don of said board under this section llie ilie tie the canvass and return of all the votes roles at elections in said territory itt jact members of the legislative as aa hembly thereof shall also be returned to a aid baid boand board which shall canvass all inch mch returns and hsue issue certifies certificates as ot of fec dec election tion for those persons who being eligible for such election shall ap I 1 pear to have bean lawfully elected f which certificates shail shrill be the tho only evidence of the right of euch each persons to bit sit in such assembly provided 3 that said board of five persons shall 3 tot hoi exclude any person iother lothen otherwise wise egl egi gIble to vote from the polls on ac gatof nt of any opinion such person ia j entertain on the subject of hizny or polygamy nor bhail shall they jerns re lasto to count any such vote on oa amant of the opinion of the the subject of bigamy OT at polygamy yu each esch horae of 0 such asi memble embly after atter nub tion don shall have power to decide upon the elections and qualifications of its members and at or after the irit frit meeting of said legislative as embly whose members shall have leen been elected and returned according to of this act bald baid legislative I 1 assembly may make such la ws we conformable to the organic act of said territory and not inconsistent Incon bist alst with other laws jaws of the united as it shall thail deem deom proper con aming the filling ot of tha offices in nid kid id territory declared vacant by US act approved 3 march 22 1892 hat that section created the commis co and defined its powers it contra conia not a shadow of judicial author A by Y by specification or implication oaly only a bourt court can pass upon the validity of an act ol of congress or of the legislature the utah commission to Is not a court its powers are within plainly harked barked limits the edmunds iw hy has vacated all the registration kd sad election elec tian offices in the territory ud ind authorized the commission to proper persons to fill them ahe commissioners have no right to call elections regulate elections disfranchise citizens prescribe oaths cath change laws or reject them or pass upon their validity canvass votes say bay what officers are to be elected or who bas was ben been elected in fact have nothing whatever to do with the conduct of elections but to I 1 appoint the registration and election officers except in hi the sole case of the tte election for members of the legislative assembly the returns I 1 af which go to the commissioners to fa te be canvassed and they are to is tab tub certificates of election to those who being Ing eligible appear mohave to have been lawfully elected if they have any other legal powers than those we have named whence have they derived them they are not named or hinted st at in the ninth section lection of the edmunds law 9 and nothing elso oiso in existence from which they can obtain any legal authority ize ile next x they were wrong in lat U tempting m p ung ong t to 0 prevent the beope of t thia bis territory from casting their vote tote for territorial officers whether the latter are arc really reany not iet lai year the thi ruled th tta the presence lof of the name of a candi candidate alite for the term of the congress on the ticket for te 0 election ellion to the congress ii not ot invalidate the ballot bailot although they had bad decided there a to be no election for aired term this was common sense and good law bat this year they arbitrarily decided that they would reject all ballots ballot that contained names for any other offices than those which they had designated this is contrary to their ruling of last year and has no warrant in law or common usage if a voter pleased to put on his ballot for county officers the name of governor ramsay for president of the united states that would not legally ju invalidate his vote for county officers onn off leeis ceis eels the presence of the name of an officer not to be voted for will not render void the ballot for such officers as are to be voted for next they were wron wrong g in presuming to regulate the count by the can earsing board after the registration and election omm off meers officers are appointed the commission has no more right to interfere with any of them in the discharge of their duties than the great body of citizens have the law says they shall proceed under the laws of congress and of the territory of utah the only difference in the situation under the Commiss commission loii and that before its creation is the officers are appointed instead of elected to perform certain ertain duties detles the duties remain the th same osame the officers are independent in their sphere the commission has no legal control over them the officers appointed to give notice of the election merely took the place of tho county clerks for that business Du siness and the commission had no more right to say that certain offices made elective by law should not be voted for than tb the 0 county courts or the people at large had and on the same some principle the commission had nothing whatever to do with the canvassing board except to appoint it coming to the duties of the canvassing board we tind find nothing noth ingin in the law which gives it any but ministerial functions it obtained no powers from the thel edmunds act beyond thom those conferred by the lawa laws of utah it had no right to go behind the returns it merely oce mccu u pled pied the position ot the county court for this special purpose pur put pree its f plain duty daty was to canvass the returns band sand and issue certificates accord angly the sight tight of 0 the persons I 1 ejected to be elected or to hold the office atter after being elected was was waa a subject entirely beyond the jurisdiction of the canvassing board that body had no right under the law to refer the two cases of dispute to the thu commissioners if it had where Is the law for I 1 it t not a line can cau be found the lot that is to becart be cast to determine who is the justice of the peace for granger ought not lobe bote to be made in the presence of the commissioners ners but of the canvassing board the commissioners have nothing to do with it bee bee see laws 0 1878 p sl 34 and where Is their authority to judge of the right of curtis E Z bolton to the office of county clerk of plute flute county a matter referred to them also b by y the canvassing board there la no law sor toe it and their decision will wili not amount legally to a pinch of snuff anuff if we are wrong in this just give us the law for it and we will acknowledge the error at once the canvassing board had no authority but to neceph accept the re returns turnEy unie unless so there was any lri irregularity or discrepancy therein and then issue the certificate tiff cate ente any inquiry to bettle bettie the question of irregularity or discrepancy affecting the right of a person voted for could only be legally made before the canvassing board the Commissio have nothing to do with it in any way whatever by what means can they adjudge the elected candidate gull guilty ty or not gull ruil guilty ty of polygamy who gave them the right to siu sit on hia hla case for any pur par pose the canvassing board made a great mistake in referring the matter to the commissioners and they will make a bigger blunder t than ever if they attempt to bit sit as a court to adjudicate the case but bat apart from the excess of authority which the commissioners have assumed through a mistaken notion of the extent of their powers they erred greatly in ruling that the laws of utah in reference refe renco to the election of the territorial omm off meers officers named la ia invalid they claim that section seven of the organic act which provides that certain territorial of acers acerb not named shall be nominated by the governor and appointed by and with the advice and consent of the legislative isla tive council connell renders void the tho legislature which provide for the election of commissioners to locate university lands and of territorial auditor and fend treasur on en let us see fee con congress gress passed a law on an the slat of february 1855 providing for the appointment of a surveyor general for utah the setting apart of certain sections for school purposes and including the following bec bee 3 and be it further enact enacted eda that when the lanz lanb a in said territory shall be surveyed as aforesaid I a quantity of land equal to two townships shall be and the same Is hereby reserved for the establishment of a university unive ralty rally in said territory and in the state hereafter to be created out of the same to 0 o be selected under the direction of me the legislatures in legal subdivisions of not less than one half section and to be disposed of as said legislature may direct mark the words which we have italicized well in accordance with this act of congles congress the legisla cure on tha of january 1859 passed the act providing for the election of commissioners to locate university lands the commissioners ners appointed under the ed munds Act bave brive simply run against the act of our legislature and the act of congress even if they had the ghost of a vestige of right to decide on the question at all I 1 they hey have taken a course to make void the law whereas the act which created their office says that all proceedings ce in relation to elections here shall be performed under the existing laws of the united states and of said territory we have on a previous occasion shown under what circumstances the offices of audi tor and treasurer were made elective and that the supreme court of the united stated had decided in another case with similar principles involved that the laws of this territory being subject to the approval or disapprove al of congress become equal to ia the acts of congress if not disapproved by that body the law under which the auditor and treasurer are made elective was passed feb 22 1878 has never been disapproved ls is ten ister isten ter than any other law bearing on this matter and Is therefore in force lt lev it be borne in mind that the mormon people who are charged with lawlessness have bowed without resistance to the provisions of the edmunds act and also to the dicta of the tha commissioners while those who are sent to execute the law have not only exceeded is provisions but opposed and prevented thu the action of 0 the laws by lhoir their arbitrary rulings ow then who are the lawbreakers law Jaw breakers |