Show NORE MORE EXECUTIVE DESPOTISM thim THE full text of the bill passed by the legislative assembly for the purpose of complying with the laws of congress relative to elections in utah will be found in this issue of the WEEKLY accompanying the bill to is the governors message vetoing this important measure the reasons for this legislation have been already explained in these columns but we will again refer to them Seo section tiou nine of the edmunds act provides that all the registration and election offices of every description in the territory of utah are hereby declared arod vaca vacant iak aldach and every duty relating to the registration of voters the conduct of elections the receiving or rejection of votes and the canvassing and returning of the same and the issuing of certificates or other evidence of election in said territory shall until other provision be made by the assembly of said territory as is hereinafter in this section provided ded be performed under the ox ex asting laws of the united states and of said territory by byi proper persons who shall be appointed to execute such noa offices and perform such duties by a board of five persons to be appointed by b dice the president by and with the advice V and consent of the senate etc the provision referred to in the above is contained in the closing part of the section as follows and abdat at or after the first meeting of of said legislative assembly whose members shall seail have been elected and returned according to the provisions of this act said legislative assembly may make such laws conformable to the organic dob act of said territory and not inconsistent with other ia wis of the united wates as it ft shall deem proper the filling of the offices in said declared vacant by this bot act 9 the thai i congressional provisions by implication at least impose upon the utah legislature re the duty of pro providing vid for the filling of these registration and election offices and they expressly affirm the power and authority of the legislature to do this the plain and direct object of the act of congress in which these provisions appear was to prevent poleg amista and persons who cohabited with more than one woman from voting or holding office in utah A legislature was to be elected by monogamous voters and composed of monogamous citizens for this purpose the utah commission was created when that object should be achieved the now new legislature either at the first or some subsequent session iwas was to enact a law to regulate election matters and then the Coia mission was to become defunct the purpose of its creation having been accomplished assembly elected luiei the edmunds act did at its first meeting make and pass an election law as authorized authorised by that act but as was anticipated it was vetoed by the governor who offered several alleged objections at the next session of the legislature another election law was passed in which all the objections of the governor but four were squarely met and the causes removed and these four were shown to be without foundation unable to point out any real defects in the second bill the governor vetoed it without offering any specific reasons the edmunds tucker act of 1887 made this additional provision sec 23 that the provisions of section 9 of said act approved march 22 1882 1 in regard to registration and election officers and the registration of voters and the conduct of elections and the po powers were and duties of the board therein mentioned shall continue and remain operative opera dve until the provisions and laws therein referred to to be made and enacted by the legislative assembly of said territory of utah shall ishall have been made and enacted by said Aimin assembly bly and shall have been approved by congress the bill which is now published wm was framed in accordance with this provision andio ando overs all the ground for which it was designed irwill it will bear the closest investigation it runs counter to no law of congress lb not in violation of the organic act however broadly or narrowly construed and does not transcend any legitimate power of the legislature it to is a necessary just and impartial measure it is fair to all parties it cannot be consistently objected to except by those notorious who favor and foster the supremacy of a part izan minority and toe the political robbery of the majority mojo rity of qualified electors the governors pretended objection will be found on examination to be even less jess substantial if possible than the quibbles of his predecessor under similar circumstances the bill bil he say a provides for choosing all officers not otherwise provided for and attempts but fails to show that this with the repealing clause of the bill casts a doubt upon its meaning however he admits further on that he has not carefully examined all the details of the act one of the causes of difference between the legislature and the executive in this territory has baa been the construction and interpretation of section seven of the organic act in reference refe reAce to the appointing power of the governor in territorial offices that bone of contention having been removed by the he decision of the supreme court of the united states it was supposed that harmony would now prevail on OB that question the council of the assembly which has recently adjourned jour ned made no resistance to the executive in his appointments although they believed he went beyond his powers in reference to some soine of the officers whom he claimed the right to nominate they were all confirmed this should have been proof proofs enough that the old grievance was gone the present governor had no reason or right to resurrect it the attempt to drag into the veto this settled question to is simply eon temp tible the very words to which he offers boners a doubting objection should have been sufficient to prevent quibbling the bill relates to the choosing of officers not provided for does not that exempt officers who are appointed whether by executive or i any other authority this flimsy i effort to make it appear that the bill conflicts with the organic ac to have been too transparent denb for even the most bitter or brainless too foe of the liberties of the people of etab to endorse the laws which prova aided for the election of territorial officers are dead and were buried by bly the supreme court deci almi they cannot be rai ceol either ad veritable realities or as phantoms ao supply a governor with tho the ghost of a reason for playing the autocrat the governor says the repealing clause is very careful in its terms isthan a objection to it why he declares aies in another place that this is what ought to be and intimates that the legislature has not been careful enough but lot let us look at this wonderful repealing clause which at the same time iu in the gubernatorial mind to in too comprehensive and yet not comprehensive enough the provisions of all acts haats and parts of acts superseded by orin conflict with any of the provisions of this act are hereby repealed Is not this one of the commonest and plainest of rePe repealing aUng clauses used in modern legislation lt it is to be found in acts of Con congress grew and the laws of states and means all and no more than just what it says any one who perceives a bugaboo in it must have a most vivid and disordered imagination now i i as to the omis omission siou of provisions for elections in cities this objection is on as low a level as the rest accompanying this bill wad another dealing especially and ex idu with elections in cities that bin bill the governor also vetoed it specifically repealed the very provisions which he now cites as by the bill under present consideration both bills are now published and both the messages that vetoed them lot let the thought nil ful reader leader compare and judge and form his own opinions of the shifting and dodging that had to be resorted to in order to frame excuses for killing those relative co and necessary and careful enactments the gist of the governors governor message is to be found in the closing paragraph like a winged insect which it resembles it carries its sting in its tail this bill if it should become a law he says would serve to prolong a conflict which under existing conditions and progressive influence is rapidly solving itself 12 exactly leave the laws althey as they are now administered without any further safeguards against fraud chicanery injustice and illegal voting cleave leave the election machinery to be manipulated in the interests of a party which the governor supports wand and to the influence of whose leaders he humbly bows and the conflict will soon be over for all practical purposes As to the process cessor of a conflict solving itself w l we leave lea veto to the governors message makers to or explain plain we are not daml li arvith that sort of chemistry the bill although unapproved by the governor willander lunder wil the proviso provi tons ions of the edmunds tucker act quoted above be J forwarded warded or to the Con congress gresh of the thea united states if the governor and his advisers V and apologists do not like this it iannot cannot be helped the utah legislature did not make the provision and it does not argue much for the consistency of those who kick against it to find and fault with the assembly for oom corn plying with it the provision is better far fair than the shameful absolute veto monstrosity thereto the veto power under constitutional and republican restrictions is a wise and beneficent executive endowment without those restrictions strict ions it is a menace to liberty and human rights in the hands of an impartial and official it might prove a barrier to bad legislation wielded in the interests of a faction or in hostility to a clash class it to is a weapon of death wherewith to stab to the heart any vital measure essential to the health of the body holide polide pol and is to be ranked with the knotted club or the sharpened tomahawk of the savage who beats out the brains braina or cleaves through the skull of his bound and helpless victim it 11 is a disgrace to modern civilization and its arbitrary use is worse than imperial despotism |