| Show THE GOVERNOR HAS RETURNED GOVERNOR THOMAS has returned from washington where he has been engaged in lobbying in favor of legislation to deprive the overwhelming wh elming majority of the people of utah of their civil rights and privileges the best evidence of the the object of his visit boand to and stay in the capital to is what he did while there the testimony as to one of his lead ing purposes is beyond the province of dispute it is further borne out by his bis own statement since his return as he has been interviewed by a representative of a local the following being credited to him as his bis expression slin in my opinion the cullom or t ruble bill will become a law I 1 know that a majority of the committee on territories in both house and senate favor the bill and I 1 think a majority of both bodies will vote for it after the decision of the supreme court of the united states that the idaho test oath was constitutional it seemed to the leading members of congress who have always manifested an interest in utah affairs that here was the solution of the mormon problem and in a manner that would be lawful as well as effective and that it was but right that the mormon in utah would be placed on the same political footing as the mormon in idaho hence the favor with which mr baskins bill was received I 1 authorized the chairman of the house committee mr struble to say for me that I 1 believed the great majority 0 of f the gentile citizens in utah would alvel welcome come the passage of the billand that I 1 was in favor of any le legislation isia tion that az w would destroy the pol political tower power of the mormon church that I 1 had so recommended in nty my annual i leport for 1889 1 I was absent in pittsburg at the time the committee met and could not make the statement personally governor west and mr baskin remain in washington and will probably not return until matters have assumed definite shape in this connection I 1 want to say that every gentile in utah owes a debt of gratitude 1 to delegate dubois of idaho H he e haa been under all circumstances circumstance san an ever willi willing friend and will continue to be so its his eminent services for idaho have commanded general attention and recognition senators edmunds cullom stewart platt paddock Man manderson mandelion Mande denion raon ion joaie x sanders and othera are earnestly in in favor of the test oath bill and so are the leading representatives in congress especially mckinley struble baker dorsey Dorse yand and speaker reed tt it will be observed that mr thomas brought a number of influences to bear upon the committee his own as governor that of the chamber of commerce he being in washington as paid agent for that body for another purpose and that of the great major majority iky of the gentile citizens of utah the chamber of commerce claims to have sent him to washington and paid the expenses of his trip and visit to a abt t in a nonpartisan non partisan capacity quite a number of the members of the organization being cormons mormons Mor Morn mons ions he accepted the appointment and the five hundred dollars including the non ship understanding and a discriminating public can judge how bow he has lived up to the agreement mr thomas 1 own organ scouted the allegation made in reference to his bis political part izan movements when it was first made indignantly asserting that it would be a betray al of a trust of which he was incapable since his conviction and personal confession the same journal has been seeking by a horrible process of contortion to give an act of treachery a meritorious colonl coloring ng to the no small disgust of many Lib liberals brals the right of mr thomas thomsas to place the cathe great majority of the gentile citizens of utah in the light in which he exhibited them is open to question even aside from the trust betrayal connected with the chamber there is a strong sentiment of opposition opposition to disfranchisement among the class whose influence he be used in favor of the un american political abomination in the city of ogden the repugnance toward the measure Ts almost universal among tho the non c mornion mormon population the same attitude is becoming m more ore and more pronounced here bere and there is therefore a strong question as to the truthfulness of the representation made to the committee in that regard the childishness of mr thomas rhomas in charging mr caine with having force I 1 him into a declaration in favor of the struble bill is almost sickening it is so disingenuous ous the episode before the committee simply brought out the fact that while he had as mr caine that his post tion upon the measure tufts vian Z one of neutrality he had been working in the other direction in the gi glass assi having declared in favor of it to members of the committee on territories in private art mr dubois in whose praise the governor sounds a few notes ol of worshipful adulation stated that such was the case came the did this much it forced mr thomas into the open because it disclosed what he hail had been doing in the dark indeed his proceedings as a whole wear such a double shuffle aspect as to reflect no credit upon him from any standpoint in the interview already referred to the governor had something to say in relation to the bill recently introduced by senator edmunds and whose purpose is to constitute him arthur 1 I king of utah with the utah commission as am an auxiliary force in the shape of a cabinet we quote the bill authorizing ahe governor to appoint certain county officers is still in the hands of the judiciary committee I 1 did nat hear a single reference to it in m washington and anc I 1 do not think it will be pressed pending the consideration of the test oath bill though its fate will be decided by mr edmunds and I 1 dont know his purpose in the matter doubtless the assertion in relation to mr thomas blissful ignorance regarding this later measure will be received with a grain of salt there are several reasons for this being the case one of these is his usual operandi operand another is that the bill is based on a recommendation men dation made by himself and that it almost ern embodies bodies his own language an A third maybe may be noted in the fat fact fa t that he be left washington immediately previous to its introduction thus a very slender appearance of ignorance was given to lift A general aspect still another fact way may be cited in this connection he being the autocrat the measure aims to construct at his ow own u suggestion how could he be possibly know anything on the subject tt it appears from mr thomas statement in relation to the probable future of this latest measure that he regards mr edmunds as the entire senate committee on territories if not dot indeed the senate itself because speaking of the bill in question he says its fate will be decided by that astute politician and statesman J some public interest will be taken inthe in the approaching report of the governor to the chamber of commerce in relation to his doings while acting as its agent at washington and the use of the five hundred bundred dollars paid him by that body to meet the expenses of his trip |
