Speech #470053179

Cannon was denied a certificate of election by the governor. who. unable in the face of the conspicuous and indisputable fact that Cannon had been elected by a vote of nearly twenty to one over his competitor. Mr. Campbell. organized himself into a judicial tribunal. decided that Cannon was not a naturalized citizen of the United States. that Campbell was a citizen. and gave the certificate of election to Campbell. Now. the governor. while he wore the ermine and figured in the judicial instead of the executive branch of the government. might have correctly decided. so far as I know. that Campbell was a citizen of the United States. but how he ever brought his judicial mind to the conclusion that Campbell had been elected. and thus moved his executive mind to give him a certificate of election. is what no one ought to be expected to understand who is not able to combine within himself the judicial and executive abilities of the remarkable public functionary appointed by the President governor of Utah. .and appointed by himself a special judge to pass on the questions of naturalization and polygamy as they presented themselves to his dual mind in Cannons case. The committee. in their report. reverse his honor on the naturalization question. and hold that his excellency slightly erred in giving a certificate of election to a man who only missed an election by a failure to get the votes of the people he .aspired to represent. But they affirm the court on the polygamy .question. The error of his honor in deciding that Cannon was not naturalized. and of his excellency in refusing him a certificate of .election. has so far kept Cannon out of a seat to which. under the law. he was as much entitled as any member upon this floor. and his exclusion is to be made final if the House should adopt the resolution proposed by the majority of the committee. As before intimated. the committee admit that Cannon is a naturalized citizen of the United States. and that he was duly and legally lected a Delegate to represent the Territory of Utah in the present Congress. They also admit that he possesses all the qualifications which the Constitution of the United States prescribes for amember of Congress. One would very naturally conclude after these admissions that the committee would find no obstacle and raise no objection to the admission of Cannon to his seat.