Show UTAH COMBUS commission SION they report to the department of t tie e interior tho the progress of their labors th by W U telegraph Telez raph washington WASHINGTO N sept A rep report ort from the ME utah commissioners hat has been received at tho the interior department dated salt calt lake utah august 31 they yive the tile kno known wn retails details of their their meetings and organization and bay since their arrival chete meet inga have been held cadi each day A atron barons disposition with bome pon against preparing for the election oi ol a delegate to congress Diani manifested rested iteli before tho work of 01 preparation ther efow was waa comme ced but u upon n invests investigation ai as to the condition of affairs air ant and ait air examination as to the state of and the duty of the commission diere tho the fril following lowing preamble reabble reamble ano an i evolution were adopted adopt adopted ex whereas it is provided by the revised statues of he the united states may that every territory fidall have the right of a delegate to the house of representatives of the united states and as it is further provided section that such elections shall be held in all the territories of the united states on the tuesday after the first monday in november therefore revolved that in order to prepare fo for r such election in the territory Tein tory of utah on the tho day so established the commission will proceed forthwith to appoint registration officers to revise the registration lists now on jaile file in the office vf the clerk of each of the several counties in the manner described by law in pursuance of this resolution the commission proceeded with creat care carp and deliberation to prepare rules and regulations for the guidance of registration and selecting of the officers to be appointed this was a difficult and delicate task because of the necessity of framing rules and regulations governing the registration of voters and the conduct of elections to conform to the principles of tho the requirements of the act of congress as well as the law of the territory we a printed copy of the same together with the forms of affidavits affidavit etc provided by the commission the lie matter of appointment of registration officers for the several counties in the territory was then taken up and one ond for each county has been duly a appointed anted and COMMiS commissioned SiGned in addition to n to these deputies or assistants in cadi each voting precinct of the territory will be immediately appointed our ae selections have and must necessarily be influenced in a con considerable ble degree by tile suggestions and recommendations of lending leiding citizens liere here em barrass ments in this direction have been great but lie the commission leayo endeavored to secure the very best available aid for the rejection of f course of all persona persons who are ine ili g ible under alie law in dictations it appears tho the class of per sons who aro are deprived of the right of suffrage by the act of congress v will ill not altein attempt t t to r register e akister or vote these will number I m male cand and female probably v oters voters many of the non cormons mormons Mor mons have hitherto refrained from voting but it is believed nt at the Nove november election that they will cast a much larger vote than at a any ny time heretofore however the business of the commission as understood by the members thereof relates not to tho the question of parties nor candidates but to seeming securing so far as possible blea a fair registration and an impartially conducted election under tile jaw ng as heretofore sugg suggested ested the commission have encountered many embarrass embarrassments ments and complications tho opposition made at the outset by some non mormon Mor mons of respectability and influence against hol holding dinga a regular election for delegato in congress as required by law in november next was an unpleasant feature of the situation but there does not appear to be under law adv any discretion whatever for the Com commission the law demanded the election the people peo of the territory were clearly entitled to a representation in in congress and if the same could be secured th through rough duo due observance of the restrictions strict ions impose I imposed d in i r relation elation to bigamy and polygamy wo C did lid not see how we could excuse the omission of being present and prepared to proceed with the work assigned us we should not even attempt to escape this manifest duty and it was decided to proceed it was deemed advisable even if the power was in the commission concerning which there is some doubt to commence de denovo not noto O the of hotop of the territory but after very careful consideration it waa was decided to order ordera a revision of the existing registration lists in septem her as required by the territorial law applying the same to the governing principles of the edmunds act acl wo JVe think the regularity of this proceeding cannot be questioned its effectiveness will be equal to an entirely new now registration and we believe the result of the election will so demonstrate in the preparation of regulations to govern the registration and the conduct of tho election as before stated the labor of assimilating the acts bof of congress and local election laws was tedious and perplexing p plex I exi i ing ng involving much greater responsibility than was agreeable to tho commission to assume but to accomplish glish the results by the provisions of edtion of of the edmunds act it became necessary to use all the powers iaz conferred A later embarrassment came in the form of a demand on the part of certain non mormon citizens of high character that the commission should assume jurisdiction and decide the local statute authorizing women to vote to be illegal wo concluded it was not competent for the Commission to repeal or modify that statute in the manner suggested lic principle of the fiti camalo nale suir suffrage rago is in no respect in conflict with the purpose of the I edmunds amunds law and therefore that the commission had nothing whatever to do with the subject moreover we found on olt investigation that 01 e ehlt uto ute lind been in force twelve years without being adjudicated in tile courts of the Terri territory tonit or disturbed byi by c congress r e 1111 in conclusion C ion permit us cosay osay that we believe the results result will swill be readied reached through tho the careful registration already read I insured n and the important elee election tta n which can hardly fail to follow will be satisfactory to Government and the country in closing clos this report it is due tho the territorial secretary who is ex officio secretary of tho the commission arthur L thomas to eay say the commission lias has rec received elved from him valuable blo assistance in the work particularly in the matter of a te election lection of registration officers very respectfully your obedient servants AIEX ALEX AI EX RAit sitty A S PADDOCK L A B CA alto z J R rET HOREW |