UTAH. 





Regulating the sale of oleomargarine. 



Providing for the management of herds. 



To prevent pooling by corporations, combina- 

 tions, etc.. for the purpose of keeping up the price 

 of commodities. 



Prohibiting the sale of liquor to Indians. 



A bill to abolish capital punishment was de- 

 feated. Memorials to Congress were adopted, one 

 asking for the annexation of parts of Coconino and 

 Mohave Counties in Arizona to Utah, one censur- 

 ing Ambassador Bayard and demanding his recall, 

 and others asking for silver and tariff legislation; 

 another petitioned for the gift by the Government 

 to the State, for educational purposes, of the land 

 that was formerly occupied at Fort Cameron. Beaver 

 County. It is desired to establish a normal school 

 at that place. 



The Mormon Church. A resolution to restore 

 the real property of the Church was passed by Con- 

 gress in March, "and the cases involved were sent to 

 the Supreme Court of the State for final disposal. 

 This property is valued at $285,000. The personal 

 property, which was also confiscated under the Kd- 

 munds 'act, and was valued at $450,000, had been 

 previously returned. 



Great surprise and indignation were created by 

 the publication in April of a manifesto issued a't 

 the general conference of the Church and signed 

 by leaders of the Church, including the first presi- 

 dency, ten of the apostles, and others. After say- 

 ing that the authorities of the Church were misrep- 

 resented and misunderstood during the election 

 contest of 1895 (see " Annual Cyclopaedia" for ls!<5. 

 pa ire 7 :!!)) and charged with using Church influence 

 in political matters, the document goes on to say 

 that the leading authorities never have attempted 

 or desired to have the Church in any manner en- 

 croach upon the rights of the State, or to unite in 

 any degree the functions of the one with those of 

 the other. The part of the manifesto which has 

 been the subject of discussion is the following : 



" We unanimously agree to and promulgate as a 

 rule that should always In- observed in the Church, 

 and by every leading official thereof, that before 

 accepting any position, political or otherwise, which 

 would interfere with the proper and complete dis- 

 charge of his ecclesiastical duties, and before accept- 

 ing a nomination or entering into engagements to 

 perform new duties, said official should apply to 

 the proper authorities and learn from them whether 

 he can. consistently with the obligations already 

 entered into with the Church, upon assuming his 

 office, take upon himself the added duties and 

 labor? and responsibilities of the new position. To 

 maintain proper discipline and order in the Church, 

 we deem this absolutely necessary, and in asserting 

 this rule we do not consider that we are infringing 

 in the least degree upon the individual rights of a 

 citizen. We declare that in making these require- 

 ments of ourselves and our brethren in the minis- 

 try, we do not in the least desire to dictate to them 

 concerning their duties as American citizens, or to 

 interfere with the affairs of the State." 



The discipline and order of the Church were the 

 subject of an address by Joseph F. Smith, a mem- 

 ber of the first presidency, at Pro vo. shortly after 

 the general conference. He said that the Church 

 authorities had the right to dictate both spiritually 

 and temporally. The two were inseparable. If a 

 man has a million dollars or a 160-acre farm, and 

 should be called on a mission, and by going would 

 lose all he possessed, it would be his duty to <ro on 

 the mission. President Smith dwelt at great length 

 on the discipline of the Church, and in closing told 

 the Saints that the manifesto lately read and 

 adopted at the general conference in Salt Lake 

 City would be read to them for their approval or 



disapproval, aa they -.iw prop . "But," 



the >peaker said, "all who vote agaiiiM it have not 

 got the spirit of the Go>pel ; ,t h- 



In connection with thc-e declarations, the depos- 

 ing of Moses Thatcher from his position 



the apostles was reganli-i :i- - 



. 



Political. The Republican- held a convention 

 at Salt Lake City. April 7. and ado ( /ions 



in favor of free coinage of -ihvr. The del. _ 



ii to the national conventi..; 



structed for any candidate. The party was divided 

 after the national convention, and 2 i-oiivei/ 

 were held Sept. 24. The regular Republican- 

 in Mount Pleasant, and the Independent (silver) 

 Republicans at Salt Lake City. The latter accepted 

 the candidates for presidential electors named the 

 same day by the Democratic convention at Provo, 

 and nominated Lafayette Holbrook for member of 

 Cong: 



At the Mount Pleasant convention the follow- 

 ing resolution was adopted : 



"We indorse the platform of the Republican 

 convention held at St. Louis, and make it a part of 

 this platform, with the exception of the financial 

 question. We renew the promises which have been 

 made in former platforms of the Republican party 

 of Utah. We believe in bimetallism, and thereby 

 we mean the use of both gold and silver as standard 

 money and free and unlimited coinage of both 

 metals at the ratio of 16 to 1. 



Candidates for presidential electors were named 

 at this convention, but the candidate of the Inde- 

 pendent Republicans for member of Congress, La- 

 fayette Holbrook. was nominated at another con- 

 vention held in Ogden the 26th. 



Two Democratic conventions were held : at the 

 first, held June 6. in Salt Lake City, six delegates 

 were chosen to the national convention. Of the 

 alternates named, three were women. Delegates 

 were instructed to vote in favor of a free-coinage 

 platform and candidates pledged to that principle. 

 At Provo, Sept. 24. W. H. King was named for 

 member of Cont: 



Warren Foster was the candidate of the People's 

 party for member of Congress. 



The legality of the election. Xov. 3. was disputed 

 on account of alleged irregularity in the passing of 

 the election law. A rule of the House provides that 

 no bill or joint resolution shall be amended after 

 its third reading, and the records showed that the 

 House accepted amendments proposed by the Senate, 

 and after that the bill was then sent back to the 

 Senate and regularly engrossed and signed by the 

 presiding officer. It was also alleged that the bal- 

 lot had not been secret as required by law. But 

 the Supreme Court held that the points of the con- 

 testants were not well taken, and the election was 

 declared valid. The grounds for the decision were 

 that the election bills were signed by the presidents 

 of both houses, and the Governor was the best judge 

 as to whether they had been properly enacted : that 

 the ballot system was secret, the method providing 

 for tracing ballots being only applicable to fraudu- 

 lent ballots, and that the use of party emblems on 

 the ballots was proper. 



The result of the election was an overwhelming 

 victory for the Democratic party. The presidential 

 vote (unofficial) was (U.S.")1 for Bryan and 13.461 

 for McKinley. Of the 3 electors. 1 was for Watson 

 for Vice-President and 2 were for Sewall. For 

 member of Congress. W. II. King received 47.217. 

 Lafayette Holbrook 27.503. and Warren Foster 

 2.2(12. The State Senate is entirely Democratic. 

 including: 2 Populists elected on a fusion ticket. 

 In the House the Republicans have 3 members out 

 of 45. One woman was elected to the Senate and 1 

 to the House. 



