Show THE NEW EDMUNDS BILL THE introduction by senator edmunds of therill the bill which described in this issue toay inay be taken as an indi ration that the dinara C gement chia chi ement measure may not paw pass the monstrous character of the latter atter the enormity of the injustice which it would work and aad the violence of its clashing with many vital principles of the american system of government have become so apparent during the time it has been under discussion in congress and by the press and public that a strong probability ability of the retreat of its champions has arisen the struble bill is unspeakably bad but it is scarcely any worse than the latest one fathered by senator edmunds but in reality the work of a small clique of utah conspirators what the struble bill aims to do in brazen defiance of the ibe constitution and every scruple of right or justice this new concoction seeks to accomplish by indirection it makes all county and territorial officers appointive ti true I 1 in the telegraphic synopsis of the bill bil which appears in another column r sheriffs and coroners are not named but they probably appear in the text as the evident object is to place the county govern governments government men completely in the hands of the appointing power thus th the only officers left for the ople to el choose are members of the iagal adur atur justices of the peace fence f on viewers authority is given to a board of seven comprised of the and nd members of the utah commission to redistrict district re the territory and we all know what this means ties fies that from a party which embraces only twenty per cent of the total population of the Terri territory fory a mojo majority rity of the me members mers of the legislature to is to be chos chosen enby by means of the shoo shoe string process of creating legislative districts thus the people in the true sense of the term will have the privilege of electing only the officers whose duty it la ia to pell fell animals and to ascertain if the requisite number of poles or wires have been used in the construction of a fence such wretched fragments of popular government as would be left to the people of this territory under the new thomas edmunds bill would but augment the wrong of its enactment that bill would produce actual literal item disfranchisement of an abo abdominal minal le ie lorm while hypocritically pretending to do nothing of the kind if it be urged that all political classes are treated alike in taking from the voters a and nd gi giving vi ng to the appoints appointing n g power the right to nime name the officers the answer is that one class will be partly compensated by having chosen from its members all officeholders of every description while the other class clam will be deprived of vote voice and representation ir ic the government of the territory and its counties though numbering near ly or quite four fifths of the total population this feathery compensation amounts to nothing however by the side af the political abasement that would ensue to all classes the only benefits if they could be sov so called would accrue to individuals who would be in direct favor with the appointing power there is nothing can compensate for the destruction truc tion of the right of the citizen to a voice in the selection of the rulers no american citizen of this territory worthy the name will wit without holit protest submit to an indignity and robbery so gross and unqualified such a supine attitude would be a tacit surrender of manhood if this attack upon a constitutional and republican form of government guaranteed to the people to is accepted and not opposed by the gentiles of utah then shall it soon come to a realization that the cormons mormons Mor mons syl are the only genuine supporters of the organic law of the nation this new measure bearing mr E Edmunds 5 name is substantially identical with provisions that were embraced in the edmunds tucker bill as it passed the house but senator edmunds who was a member of the confer akee commit tee insisted insist Ins istel eJ on striking them out and in response to his influence they were eliminated from the bill before its final passage the ostensible reason for this action the wrong of placing the territory so completely under the thumb of one man was a sou n 1 one but bat the aen senators present attitude would ludl indicate that he has undergone a change of heart the utah commission la is bathis by this bill given power to ordera new new registration instead of a revision anda and in connection with the governor and secretary may make and enforce such rules and regulations relative to registration and election matters as they may see fit consistent with the laws of the united states if the synopsis gives correctly the substance of this latter feature of the bill it virtually repeals the election laws of the territory and delegates to the governor secretary and utah commission power to establish legislation in lieu thereof thus into the hands bands of these seven men is given the power to control le vel and administratively y t AU 1 As 0 on afia to choose all the territorial and county officers true rrue an election woul I not under this thin bill amount to much and the privilege of participating in it would not be worth a very desperate contest but controlled as it would be by this board of seven the right to vote would be still more of if an empty shadow the principal difference between the new edmunds bill and the disfranchisement measure is that the latter pours out injustice iu in unstinted quantities upon the mor mons ff jwj and foists the gentiles into exclusive power while the former though equally unjust to the mor mons 11 makes the gentiles partial victims and raises seven men into autocratic authority over the whole territory if the struble bill is meeting with opposition from utah gentiles what will they say about the measure here under review when they come to understand its real nature if they do not make it warm for the conspirators who have sought to place both the mormons cormons Mor mons J and gentiles gentile af the whole territory at the absolute mercy of a small ring we mistake the mettle which is characteristic of at least a portion of the non comons of this territory |