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So Bright the Dream: Economic Prosperity and the Utah Constitutional Convention
Attracting business and industry to Utah was part of the statehood "dream" for many. The intersection of Main Street and Second South in downtown Salt Lake City shows limited development near the time of statehood. USHS collections.
So Bright the Dream: Economic Prosperity and the Utah Constitutional Convention
BY JEAN BICKMORE WHITE
WHEN UTAH'S CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION MET ON MARCH 4, 1895, to write the document that would usher in Utah statehood, the delegates were not entirely happy to be meeting in the Salt Lake City and County Building Although the imposing structure was practically brand new, delegates voiced a litany of complaints about it. The location was too far from the downtown business district. The meeting place, a courtroom on an upper floor, was hard for the older delegates to reach, since there was no elevator. After meeting for a few days in the room they had many more complaints—about the lack of desks, the poor ventilation, the limited space for visitors.
To add insult to perceived injuries, the windows over the doorways read "Criminal Court Room." This led to no end ofjokes about the character of the delegates. The committee on arrangements reported that they could find no other suitable meeting place, and the price certainly was right: Salt Lake County offered the room free of charge. Since Congress had appropriated only $30,000 to spend on all the expenses of the convention, the delegates decided to make the best of it
Within a few days the room was festively decorated by Salt Lake County. The Deseret Evening News reported on March 14 that the alcove above the president's chair had been "artistically arrayed in the national colors, and reaching out from it in all directions were more flags than any delegate cared to count." Immense streamers of bunting ran from the chandeliers in the center of the room to the corners. Large steel engravings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and the current president—Grover Cleveland—adorned the walls.
The 107 men elected to write a constitution for Utah faced the job with both hopes and fears. Although they were diverse in background, interests, political philosophy, and financial means, they were united in these hopes and fears Even though they had an Enabling Act passed by Congress the year before to guide them, they still had a lingering fear that somehow the new constitution could be rejected, either by Utah voters at an election in the fall, or by President Grover Cleveland.1 Neither fear was welljustified, for there had been sweeping changes in the territory during the previous five years. The 1890 Manifesto of the Mormon church urging its members to obey the anti-polygamy laws had paved the way for dramatic political and economic changes in Utah and had helped to foster a new and improved national image for the territory. It had also made possible a new atmosphere in which Mormons and many prominent nonMormons could work together to break down religious, political, and economic barriers that had long divided them.2 By 1895 both Mormon and gentile leaders had concluded that continuing as a territory was untenable Future population growth and development of the area's vast natural resources were unlikely without statehood.
Achieving statehood was the primary goal of the convention. The fear that they might somehow lose this prize, now that it was almost within their grasp, motivated delegates to be cautious and conservative. They shunned experimentation and generously copied older constitutions, reasoning that these documents had survived presidential scrutiny and had "safe" provisions.3 To guard against rejection by the voters at an election in the fall, they tried to keep taxes and debt low. This was considered wise by local newspaper editors who claimed to feel the public pulse.
The Salt Lake Tribune, in a March 7 editorial, bluntly told the delegates that "The people cannot stand much added burdens in any form, and the more that are provided in the Constitution the greater the danger of its rejection." In a list of "do's" and "don'ts," the Tribune urged (among many other things): Do let taxation be as little felt as possible.
Don't provide for extravagance.
Don't attempt to reform the world.
Don't put in fads and frivolous provisions.
In short, provide the framework necessary for a State government, and when you have done that, squelch all else and quit.
The Salt Lake Herald noted in a March 21 editorial some fears that statehood would not be approved because of the shift of many expenses from the federal to the new state government. Delegates should not put anything in the document that would feed these fears, they cautioned.
This fear of rejection was not the only emotion that drove convention action. From the start there was an exuberant feeling that the future of Utah as a state would be far different from its turbulent territorial history—if only it could attract business and industrial development to augment its agricultural economy. Delegates dreamed that statehood—which now seemed so close—would bring an influx of new capital to spur mineral and other industrial growth and open a bright new era of economic prosperity. The need for outside capital was clear One writer on the West has pointed out that development of the economy of the region matured only as it absorbed "massive inputs of Eastern capital and technology."4 Frank J. Cannon, Utah's delegate to Congress, expressed a common sentiment when asked whether he thought statehood would benefit Utah to any great extent:
The future also looked bright to the Salt Lake Tribune. On March 8, as the convention was getting down to business, crowds of spectators gathered at the southeast corner of Temple Square to see a gas torch lighted, completing the transmission of natural gas into the city. The event prompted an exuberant editorial the next day in the Tribune.
Given the depressed state of Utah's economy in 1895, it took a giant leap of imagination to see Salt Lake City as a pristine-air Pittsburgh. Utah's economy was still primarily agricultural. It was augmented by a struggling mineral industry, but the need for outside capital limited the full exploitation of the area's metal mines. The territory was sadly short of the manufacturing firms that could absorb her increasing workforce and bring in much-needed dollars from outside her borders.
The Panic of 1893 and the recession of the 1890s were as keenly felt in Utah as in the rest of the nation.6 Local agriculture in Utah was in the process of transition from small farms—the backbone of Brigham Young's plan for a self-sufficient Mormon economy—into commercial farming.7 Mining, which would transform some proudly independent prospectors into a cadre of millionaires, needed outside capital in the 1890s. Surface ores had been exhausted and, as Dean L. May observed, "Further development depended upon deeper, lower-grade ores, which could be mined only with considerably greater investment."8 Manufacturing of finished products for export outside the territory was slow to develop; most manufacturing in Utah involved the conversion of local farm and mineral products for use by Utahns or intermediate processing of these products for export.9 A combination of circumstances was changing the economic climate in Utah. The two separate economies analyzed by LeonardJ. Arrington—Mormon and gentile—that had existed throughout most of the history of the territory were moving closer together.10
The desire of Utahns to parlay their natural resources into prosperity created a need for expanding export industries The territory was becoming interdependent with the national economy and needed financial assistance for further development. Some industrial development was stimulated by the Mormon church, notably in the sugar industry, hydroelectric power systems, and salt production from Great Salt Lake.11 The church, however, had financial problems of its own; eventually its leaders found it unadvisable to use church credit to shore up the Utah economy. 12
Considering the high unemployment and fragile economy of the territory in the early 1890s, it is not surprising that concern with economic matters should occupy so much attention during the Constitutional Convention of 1895. It is surprising that there was so much optimism about the economic prosperity delegates thought would arrive after the attainment of statehood Running through the debates was a feeling that if the right climate could be fostered under the constitution, both home industries and new, scarcely dreamed-of enterprises funded by outside capital, would thrive in the new state.
The delegates represented a broad spectrum of the territory's population, and it seemed that all of them dreamed of prosperity for Utah Since 1894 had been a strong Republican year, the fifty-nine delegates from that party outnumbered the forty-eight Democrats, but generally issues were not decided along party lines. Delegates ranged in age from a twenty-five-year-old teacher to a seventy-sixyear-old builder; those in their forties made up the largest age group Voters in 1894 had elected men who were prominent in their communities and veterans of government service as mayors, city council members, county selectmen, county attorneys, probate judges, justices of the peace, and other local offices. Several delegates had served in previous constitutional conventions and others in the territorial legislature Farmers and stock-raisers made up the largest occupational group, followed by merchants and manufacturers, then lawyers and men with mining interests Three newspapermen, three bankers, three builders, and a handful of other occupations rounded out the delegate roster.13
In religious representation the 1895 convention marked a departure from the constitutional gatherings of the past, which were instigated and dominated by Mormons.14 Voters elected twenty-nine non-Mormons, including several who were prominent in mining and others who were leading lawyers. Mining men included Thomas Kearns, who later became a United States senator He did not dominate debate but promoted several progressive labor measures and was an effective voice for mining interests. The most prominent lawyer and a recognized expert in constitutional and statutory law was Charles S. Varian, a former U.S. district attorney. He had built his career prosecuting polygamists during territorial days but was considered fair and even-handed.15 Another non-Mormon greatly respected for his knowledge of law was Dennis C Eichnor, a prolific writer of bills on a variety of subjects Other gentiles in the convention included a contractor, a banker, a brewer, two newspapermen, prominent Ogden businessmen Frederick J. Kiesel and Charles N. Strevell, and a Methodist Episcopal minister from Sevier County, the Rev George P Miller.16 Stanley S Ivins, who carefully counted the number of speeches by each delegate at the convention, observed that as a group the gentiles were "much more active than the Mormons. With only twenty-eight delegates, they contributed 46 percent of the speaking, versus 54 percent for the seventy-nine Mormon delegates."17 Perhaps that is because they had two-thirds of the lawyers.
The Mormon church was represented by several of its highest ranking members, including apostles John Henry Smith (who was unanimously elected president of the convention) and Moses Thatcher, Presiding Bishop William B. Preston, and Brigham H. Roberts, one of the presidents of the Seventy. A host of lower-ranking church leaders guaranteed a voice for church interests.18 Other Mormons at the convention who were active in business and the law were Samuel R Thurman, an articulate lawyer and future state supreme court justice; Franklin S. Richards, a longtime attorney for his church; George M. Cannon, a Republican party leader; and Heber M. Wells, a banker who would soon become Utah's first governor.
Most delegates were active in politics. In the 1870s and 1880s Mormons had served in their church-run People's party and gentiles in their Liberal party After these parties were disbanded in the early 1890s, national political parties began to flourish. Many former Liberals joined the Republican party and Mormon church leaders encouraged Mormons to do likewise, to avoid repeating the pattern of political division along religious lines.19
Most of the main issues at the convention did not divide the delegates along religious lines In fact, there was an effort not to revive the old Mormon-gentile animosities.20 The most divisive issue of territorial days, polygamy, was taken off the agenda before the convention began; the Enabling Act passed by Congress mandated a provision banning polygamy "forever." It also required guarantee of "perfect toleration of religious sentiment" and establishment of public schools "free from sectarian control."21 Several other provisions in the Declaration of Rights and education articles addressed concerns of the non-Mormon minority relating to freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
Fortunately, the delegates were united in their dream of a brighter economic future. The hope for a massive infusion of outside capital after statehood drove much of the debate. Delegates hoped to create a hospitable economic atmosphere that would nurture existing industry and be a magnet for new 7 enterprises. To this end they tried to ensure a frugal government, with a low tax structure, strict limits on public debt, and a framework for peaceful businesslabor relations.
Although their goals were clear, delegates often disagreed about the means for reaching them The first contest over promoting much-needed industry came during consideration of the legislative article (Art 6), and it turned out to be one of the few that brought out partisan feelings The issue was state financial aid to business; Republicans stood for subsidies or "bounties" to help businesses, and Democrats opposed them. The Democratic minority members of the Committee on Legislative raised the issue with a report recommending that any grant or appropriation of public property or money by the state or any political subdivision, or any lending of credit to any individual, association, or corporation be prohibited.22 No one questioned the need to encourage business and industry, but should the new state use tax money to do so? Attorney Franklin S. Richards, leading the floor fight for the Democratic proposal, thought the answer was clear:
During the rapid growth of industry and transportation networks, state legislatures sometimes had incurred crippling debts by subsidizing railroads and other enterprises. Horror stories of states plunged into a morass of insolvency were recited by Democratic delegates, while Republicans countered that sometimes only modest assistance by the state could keep an enterprise alive and provide much-needed employment. George M. Cannon made the Republicans' case for leaving to the new state the power to use "bounties" for business:
One great benefit, Cannon maintained, would be employment. "What will you do with a man who has an education if he has not the means by which he may earn that upon which he may live?" Cannon asked.25 This was a potent argument at a time when unemployment in the territory was high, population was increasing, and local governments and the Mormon church were trying to alleviate the problem.26 The Democratic minority, however, raised another fear Brigham H. Roberts suggested that large trusts would clamor for subsidies to come into the state and exploit its resources but provide little benefit to the average citizen:
If the Republican majority had held together on the issue of subsidies, they could have defeated the proposal. Their most respected member, however, had strong doubts about the wisdom of incurring debt to stimulate rapid growth. Charles S. Varian, in a long, thoughtful speech, recommended that "the people make haste slowly" and not have a too-rapid growth. "There are evils attendant upon this sort of financial mislegislation that cannot be calculated," he warned.28 In a vote to reconsider the previous defeat of the Democratic measure, Varian and a dozen other Republicans joined the Democrats in voting for a provision that ignored the direct subsidy issue but prohibited the state or its local governments from lending credit or subscribing to stock or bonds "in aid of any railroad, telegraph or other private individual or corporate enterprise or undertaking" (Art. 6, Sec. 31).29 Although it left open the matter of direct subsidies, this provision meant that the state and its subdivisions could not lend their credit to a private business, and they were unlikely for many years to have a revenue surplus that would permit bounties for business.30
Echoes of the debate on bounties and the fear of debt were to be heard later when the taxation and public debt articles were written. Delegates had good reasons to consider carefully every provision in the two articles. There was a lingering uneasiness about voter approval of the constitution. Speaking against proposals to leave tax rates to the legislature, Cache County delegate I. C. Thoresen warned: "The question of the rate of taxation is the important question connected with statehood. . . . That is a question that people ask, 'Is it not going to increase our rate of taxation?' And I say unless we have a provision in here guarding that point, there will be more doubt about the people assuming a Constitution, than any other point."31
Delegates were well aware that in a depression economy the possibility of open-ended taxation would be risky—if not disastrous. To be safe they set an 8 percent limit for the state, to be lowered as the value of property within the state ina eased. Only a vote of propertytax payers could increase taxes over this limit, which delegates felt would be reassuring to voters.32
There was intense discussion of what to tax in the new state. Early in the session a letter to the Deseret Evening News predicted that taxation of financial instruments might cause eastern capital to withdraw entirely from Utah.33 Although this raised some concerns, delegates had to face up to the issue of fairness; exemption of some kinds of property (such as stocks and bonds) would dump the tax burden on others. They decided to tax all property not exempted under United States law or the state constitution: "moneys, credits, bonds, stocks, franchises and all matters and things (real, personal and mixed) capable of private ownership"—except for taxation of stocks held by individuals when company stock has been taxed (Art. 13, Sec.2).34
Utah's mineral treasures promised untold wealth if they could be developed But how should they be taxed? As in other western states, the issue of taxing mines proved difficult. Gordon M. Bakken observed that in western constitutional conventions most delegates "believed that the industry was environmentally unique, needed encouragement, and required marketplace stability," but they were forced to consider the relative burden for that industry.35 Until the minerals were extracted and sold many mining properties, patented for about $5 an acre, were virtually worthless. A small but influential group of delegates representing the mining industry (including Thomas Kearns) argued for taxation limited to machinery and improvements on mining claims and on net proceeds when a mine began to produce—not on the amount paid for the land Kearns warned that taxation on claims "kills the industry in its infancy for the prospector." Eloquently he described the plight of the prospector seeking a small stake to buy bacon and beans, as well as the dire effects of taxing patented claims: "If you do [tax claims], gentlemen, you will strike down one of the grandest industries ever started in our new State, and I leave it to your generosity to relieve the poor prospector. Go into the cities and ask capital to go there and invest before the shaft is sunk, it will laugh at you."36 Banker George M. Cannon, who chaired the Committee on Taxation and Revenue, defended the committee's proposal, which was copied from Montana's 1889 constitution. He maintained that Montana was eager to develop mining but felt that the industry "should bear itsjust proportion of taxation and of the burdens of the State."37 The committee version was approved; mining claims patented by the U.S. government would be taxed as other real property, in addition to taxation of improvements and net proceeds (Art. 13, Sec.4).38
Agricultural interests fared better than mining advocates in the convention. Ditches, canals, and flumes used for irrigating lands were exempted from taxation, an incentive to spur development of land for farming and stock-raising (Art. 13, Sec. 3; now Sec. 2 (5)). Although this might be attributed to the superior numbers of farmers and stockmen in the 1895 convention, this provision was also in the 1887 constitution sent to Congress during the struggle for statehood, and it reflected the dominant position of agriculture and the crucial role of water in the territory.
Delegates did not trust future legislators or local officials to resist the temptation to borrow. A few felt that the new state should be on a "pay-as-you go" basis for all expenses and capital improvements. The majority, however, could see the need for some bonding to meet future building and infrastructure needs; they just wanted to put some brakes on it The new state would start with about $750,000 in territorial debt and a property valuation of only $100,000,000.39 It is easy to see, then, why the convention was concerned about piling up more debt To prevent this, they limited indebtedness of state government to $200,000, an amount clearly inadequate to meet future needs.40 Local governments also had debt limits, based on a percentage of property assessments There was some flexibility for cities, with their growing populations and hopes for future development. They could double their basic debt (with a vote of local property-tax payers) to provide necessary capital improvements—water, artificial light, or sewers (Art. 14, Sec. 4).
Both in taxation and in public debt provisions, Utah's Constitutional Convention did what it could to force frugality on the new state from top to bottom The shift from territorial status to statehood meant a shift of expenses from the federal to the new state government, and delegates wanted to make the transition appear as painless as possible.
Delegates faced some painful decisions themselves when they dealt with the education article (Art.10). Throughout the territory it was difficult to finance grammar (elementary) schools for a full school year; only larger cities had high schools; and the Agricultural College and University of Utah were modestly funded. There were strong pressures to assure free schooling only on the grammar school level. There were also those who argued that a good school system was essential, not just to educate the state's young people but as an advertisement for capital to come to Utah. C. C. Goodwin argued that the people of a state arejudged by the character of their schools: "A man from the east with capital and with a family reads [the provision for free high schools] over and says, 'Yes, they are providing there for high schools and universities, that will be a good place to go to. . . .'" He said that postponing the provision for a better school system could be disastrous; it would advertise to the world that "maybe after a while, in two or three generations, they will be able to give their children a decent education, but they cannot do it now."41
Although other issues forced some difficult decisions, the corporations article presented the delegates with unique and complex problems. As the great monopolies and trusts developed in the 1870s and 1880s they inspired fears of economic domination throughout the nation. In the West, capital-hungry states faced a dilemma. They wanted to attract eastern corporations but did not want to see home industries devoured by them or victimized by monopolistic practices, such as price-fixing. In 1895 the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was not being vigorously enforced, and western territories coming into the Union felt compelled to deal with the problem. Utah was no exception. Although regulation seemed necessary, some requirements for doing business in the state were likely either to drive away attractive industries or harm local businesses— or both. A requirement that firms engage in only one business, for example, would hurt ZCMI and other cooperative stores that were moving into manufacturing as well as retailing. Delegates often seemed divided between hopes and fears. Beaver County rancher John R Murdock spoke out against negative attitudes toward corporations: "I realize this fact, that perhaps this State has a great prejudice against corporations . . . but I am in favor of corporations for the benefit of the general whole, and I do not believe in fencing them out so strong and so persistently as to stop our own moving ahead in this business."42 Other delegates vigorously championed legislative power to curb corporate influence. Ogden lawyer David Evans quoted Abraham Lincoln's warning about corruption by the "money power" and asserted that powerful corporations had "taken from the people many important rights through legislative franchises unrestricted by constitutions."43
Out of a tedious, divisive, and hair-splitting debate, the convention approved a long, detailed article on corporations that contained the same restrictions found in surrounding states' constitutions (Art. 12).44 Much of the article contained detail that would have been left to legislatures if the subject had not aroused such strong emotions. Given public knowledge of corporations' abuses, and some delegates' play on those fears, the result could hardly have been different.45 Delegates knew they were writing legislation but they wanted their imprint on this important aspect of Utah's future development. A short labor article (Art. 16) declared that "The rights of labor shall have just protection through laws calculated to promote the industrial welfare of the State." It established a Board of Labor, Conciliation and Arbitration to "fairly represent the interests of both capital and labor," limited employment in underground mines and use of convict labor, and set an eight-hour day for governmental workers It also tried to stop "blacklisting" of workers, although this provision was recognized as almost impossible to enforce. Each of these provisions met opposition, and some delegates felt the whole article was useless; but it was retained with support from those who thought it would prevent abuses of labor and avoid the labor strife (such as the 1894 Pullman strike in Illinois) that would discourage industrial development.46
Along with their efforts to lure outside capital, delegates frequently showed their determination to sustain any industries already established in the territory. This was an important reason for dodging the touchy subject of prohibition, despite strong opposition to the use of alcoholic beverages by most of the religious denominations in Utah Prohibition had strong support from Mormon, Catholic, and Protestant leaders, who had formed a committee that sent letters to every delegate before the convention met The committee, which included the LDS First Presidency, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, and the Protestant Ministers' Association, urged the convention to submit an article to be voted on separately at the fall election; it would ban the manufacturing or importation of intoxicating liquors, or their sale, "or gift, barter or trade as a beverage."47 Despite this impressive support from the state's ecclesiastical power structure, petitions from all parts of the territory bearing thousands of signatures, and the fervent backing of many delegates, the move failed. On April 19 both the majority and minority members of the Committee on Schedule submitted reports to the convention. The minority report, signed by Methodist Episcopal minister George P. Miller and two Mormon delegates, urged adoption of a separate article The majority of the committee, mostly Mormons, carefully crafted a report to address two major concerns of the convention—nurturing local industries and avoiding experimentation First, they argued that prohibition would involve "the destruction of so much property, injury to established business enterprise, and the disturbance of vested rights in property" that it ought not to be dealt with hastily. Also, governmental prohibition was deemed "but an experiment" and should be dealt with by legislation.48
Debate on the reports was lengthy and impassioned. St. George delegate and future Mormon apostle Anthony W Ivins blamed virtually all the social problems of the territory on drinking Juab County delegate Louis L Coray argued that the whiskey business was inseparably connected with the underworld and the gambler: "They are triplets, from the same mother, and I think when a man fights one he is fighting the interest of the other, and any man or any set of men who will stand up here and defend the whisky business, I consider their just reward will be to live to see their children and their grandchildren gamblers, drunkards, illegitimate, and prostitutes."49 In less colorful rhetoric, many other speakers rose to denounce Demon Rum. But others feared the destruction of an apparently thriving industry. Salt Lake delegate Andrew Kimball and Apostle Moses Thatcher both strongly supported the case for not preventing the manufacture of liquor. Kimball pointed to the difficult employment situation: "It is an evident fact that there are hundreds and hundreds of people out of employment, and I believe there are thousands and thousands of dollars that are paid out;annually here to our employees and for the materials that are grown on the soil, for making this product let us not prohibit the manufacture of it."50 Apostle Moses Thatcher asserted that the liquor industry might "lift up our sugar factories out of their present condition of bondage and debt."51
There was more than one reason for the reluctance to put prohibition on the ballot, including the difficulty of enforcing it and the desire not to experiment in the constitution. But the prevailing sentiment against damaging any local industry brought pressure to leave this delicate matter to be dealt with by future legislatures.52 Had the delegates heeded the advice of critics and left more policy decisions to future legislatures, they could have written a basic document and adjourned long before they did But each felt keenly a responsibility to help chart a new start for the territory as the forty-fifth state, putting old animosities behind them and laying the groundwork for a prosperous economy.
As the convention reached its final days, the delegates were tired. Some had sacrificed a great deal to spend two months in Salt Lake City and were eager to get back home. Attendance became a problem On Saturday, May 4, the sergeant-at-arms was instructed to notify the forty-four absent delegates to appear the following Monday for the final reading of the entire document On Monday, May 6, the constitution was adopted by a vote of seventy-two for, thirty-four absent, and one member excused. They adjourned at 1:05 P.M. SO the delegates could enjoy a final respite from the wearying debates—an afternoon at Saltair. On the following day, May 7, they finished up details and made plans for publication of the document and the convention proceedings. On the final day, Wednesday, May 8, the clerk brought out the elaborately inscribed document over which they had labored for so long. He began reading the text at 9:40 A.M. and finished at 11:55 A.M., after which a final vote was taken. It showed ninety-nine ayes and eight absent. The convention had consumed all but $1.10 out of the $30,000 allotment from Congress, but there were still unpaid expenses of more than $17,000.53
Each delegate received a small flag to commemorate the occasion. Each lined up with his own pen to sign the document—so he could keep the pen as a souvenir. The Tribune reported that the signing was slow, lasting from 12:10 to 1:40 P.M. It noted: "The magnitude of the honor of signing the great Charter of the State or a too anxious desire to make their signatures specimens of their very best penmanship, caused most of the delegates to write their very worst. The hands of nearly all the members trembled, and those of a few shook as if afflicted with palsy."54
Inevitably there were speeches on this last day—by Territorial Governor Caleb W. West, convention President John Henry Smith, and others. An address to accompany the constitution to the nation's capitol, written by a special six-member committee, summarized the convention's accomplishments. It noted that the new constitution was designed to assure economy in the new state government, keeping salaries of officials "close to the danger line of extravagant economy." The constitution limited future taxation and "guaranteed against the possibility of any future great indebtedness." It also "provided for the full development of our manifold industries, in such a way that in their expansion they will not feel any harsh friction from unjust laws."
"If with statehood there will be a slight increase in taxes," the address continued, "the compensating advantages will cause the increased expense to be forgotten." It proudry predicted:
Although this sounded more like a euphoric hope than a cool appraisal of the new constitution, it captured accurately the visions of the future expressed frequently during the convention. Had the delegates chosen to follow the advice given by the Salt Lake Tribune on the eve of the convention, the document would have been much shorter and would have been amended much less frequently during the next one hundred years. They chose instead—perhaps unconsciously— to see constitution writing as something more than designing the structure of government. They were living in hard times, and they wanted a blueprint for something much better in the future.
One scholar of state constitutions has suggested that—among other things—a constitution defines a way of life toward which a people is aiming.56 Utah's constitution writers in 1895 were aiming to preserve the essential values of their culture while pursuing a bright dream of future economic prosperity. The dream did not immediately come true. It took decades to build anything even faintly resembling the industrial economy envisioned during the convention Salt Lake City did not become a smokeless Pittsburgh, and Utah struggled for much of its first hundred years—with essential help from the federal government—to build an economy strong enough to support its population.
Yet the dream survived through those one hundred years—and it still lives.
NOTES
Dr White is emeritus professor of political science, Weber State University.
1 An Enabling Act is not necessary for statehood and does not guarantee it It does list conditions that should be met by a territory, and in Utah s case—after the rejection of previous constitutions—it set forth requirements to be met in its 1895 document Utah's act is in Ch 1328, Statutes at Large, 107. It is also printed in the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Star Printing Co., 1898), 1:3-8 (hereinafter Proceedings).
2 Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are called Mormons or Saints Utahns who are not members, including Jews, are commonly known as gentiles The economic, political, and social polarization of the territory on religious lines and the gradual accommodations achieved by the two groups are discussed in Jean Bickmore White, "Prelude to Statehood: Coming Together in the 1890s," Utah Historical Quarterly 61 (1994): 300-315.
3 The constitution written in 1895 cannot trace its ancestry to a single document Delegates were given copies of all forty-four state constitutions, and they frequently referred to them. They paid close attention to constitutions of the six western states that had been admitted in 1889 and 1890: Washington, Montana, North and South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming, but also to New York state's new constitution, which had been rewritten in 1894 The Washington State Constitution of 1889 was frequently quoted and copied.
4 Gene M Gressley West by East: The American West in the Gilded Age, Charles Redd Monographs in Western History, No 1 (Provo, Ut.: Brigham Young University Press, 1972), p 2.
5 Salt Lake Herald, April 16, 1895 Like many others, Cannon tended to let enthusiasm run ahead of the facts Utah's population was recorded at just 210,779 in the 1890 census and did not reach 300,000 until after the turn of the century The 1970 U.S Census was the first to record more than a million residents. Allan Kent Powell, ed., Utah History Encyclopedia (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994), p 431.
6 The impact of the 1890s depression on agriculture and the effect of the gold standard on silver are discussed in Harold Underwood Faulkner, American Economic History, 8th ed.(New York: Harper & Row, 1960), pp 519-23 For the effect of the depression in Utah see Leonard J Arrington, "Utah and the Depression of the 1890s," Utah Historical Quarterly 29 (1961): 3-18.
7 Charles S Peterson points out that during the 1890s "Farming became a business rather than a way of building the Kingdom Technology became increasingly important and manpower less so." See "The Americanization of Utah's Agriculture," Utah Historical Quarterly 41 (1974): 122-23 There were increasing indications, Peterson concludes, that "an almost desperate quest for commercial success characterized the lives of progressive farmers."
8 "Towards a Dependent Commonwealth," in Richard D Poll, ed., Utah's History (Provo, Ut.: Brigham Young University Press, 1978), p. 223.
9 Ibid., p 235.
10 Arrington described the divided economy as a "two-decker economy" until the turn of the century, one based on farming and manufactures for home use, the other on mining and trading From Wilderness to Empire, University of Utah Institute of American Studies, Monograph No 1, 1961, p 14.
11 See Arrington, "Utah and the Depression of the 1890s," pp 12-18, for a discussion of measures taken by Mormon leaders to solve employment problems and promote industry in the face of the 1890s depression.
12 See Ronald W Walker, "The Panic of 1893" in Powell, Utah History Encyclopedia, p. 413 Although church-financed enterprises, including the building of Saltair resort, helped to provide jobs, they were contrary to the desires of many gentiles to minimize the role of the Mormon church in Utah's economy and foster an open field for private enterprise See Arrington, "Utah and the Depression of the 1890s," p 18.
13 The Stanley S Ivins Papers, Utah State Historical Society Library, Salt Lake City, are a major source for information on the religious, occupational, and political status of delegates They also include Ivins's notes on the convention proceedings and a tally of the number of speeches by each delegate Another source of information on the delegates is the Report of the Utah Commission to the Secretary of the Interior, June 30, 1895 (Washington, D.C: GPO, 1895) In some cases these sources disagree on the occupations of delegates, probably because some delegates pursued more than one occupation The decision on which occupation to count as primary was made after further research in a variety of biographical sources.
14 The 1872 Constitutional Convention of Utah Territory was an exception Several gentiles, including the convention president, Gen. E. T. Barnum, served as delegates, bringing a perspective lacking in previous conventions See Jerome Bernstein, "A History of the Constitutional Conventions of the Territory of Utah from 1849 to 1895" (M.S. thesis, Utah State University, 1961), pp. 40-55.
15 Varian had come to Utah in 1883 as an assistant U.S attorney after serving in Nevada as a county clerk, state senator, and U.S attorney After serving as U.S attorney in Utah he went into a private law practice and was elected to the Utah Territorial Assembly in 1893 He made more than a thousand speeches during the 1895 convention and frequently was called on to settle questions of law A long-time Republican, he often exhibited independent views and was the most respected and influential of the delegates See Stanley S Ivins, "A Constitution for Utah," Utah Historical Quarterly 15 (April 1957): 95-116.
16 The newspapermen were Charles C Goodwin, editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, whose sardonic wit enlivened the proceedings, and Noble Warrum, who later wrote a history of Utah Both were trained as lawyers but switched to journalism The brewer was Jacob Moritz, who had come to Utah in 1871 and by 1883 had established the largest brewery in the Intermountain West, according to Juanita Brooks, The History of theJews in Utah and Idaho (Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1973).
17 "A Constitution for Utah," p. 114. Ivins noted that eleven delegates did 53 percent of the speechmaking—Charles S Varian (with 1,129 speeches), David Evans, Samuel R Thurman, George B Squires, George M Cannon, Franklin S Richards, Dennis C Eichnor, Brigham H Roberts, Charles H Hart, C C Goodwin, and William F.James Ibid., p 113.
18 Stanley S. Ivins listed two stake presidents, eight counselors to stake presidents, eleven bishops, and a handful of other local church officials among the seventy-nine Mormon delegates "A Constitution for Utah," p 100 Ivins's father, Anthony W Ivins, a delegate from St George, and Orson F Whitney, a Salt Lake City delegate and author of a four-volume Utah history, later became counselors to church presidents.
19 Both of the major national parties had strong supporters during the territorial period, and in the 1888 election the Sagebrush Democrats had nominated Samuel R Thurman for delegate to Congress Many Mormons leaned toward the Democratic party because of a perception that Democrats had been kinder to them during the territorial period Mormon leadership feared that a concentration of church members in the Democratic party would be detrimental to their efforts to woo Republican leaders to the statehood cause and might re-create a party system based on religion This concern is shown by Apostle Abraham H. Cannon in his journal entry for July 9, 1891: "The danger of our people all becoming Democrats is feared It is felt that efforts should be made to instruct our people in Republicanism, and thus win them to that party. . . . " Abraham H. Cannon Journals, Special Collections, University of Utah Marriott Library.
20 Although the lengthy fight against woman suffrage was initiated by non-Mormons, who raised the specter of a new political alignment based on religion, the most vocal opponent of the female vote was the eloquent Mormon orator Brigham H Roberts In the end, women won the vote handily with support from both religious groups. See Jean Bickmore White, "Woman's Place Is in the Constitution: The Struggle for Equal Rights in Utah in 1895," Utah Historical Quarterly 42 (1974): 344-69.
21 The polygamy provision was unique to Utah's Enabling Act; the mandates for religious toleration and schools free from sectarian control were standard provisions in the enabling acts of other western states.
22 Proceedings, 1:394. The report was signed by Lorin Farr, Edward Partridge, Charles H Hart, Edward H. Snow, Brigham H. Roberts, Franklin S. Richards, and William J. Kerr.
23 Ibid., 1:889.
24 Ibid., 1:994.
25 Ibid., 2:985.
26 Salt Lake City, for example, was hiring workers for a week, then hiring another set of workers for the next week in order to spread the work around. Salt Lake Tribune, March 17, 1895.
27 Proceedings, 1:900.
28 Ibid., 2:1000 Varian estimated that Salt Lake City had a debt of about $3.5 million Salt Lake County also had a large debt and was trying to refinance about $400,000 in warrants Salt Lake Herald, March 18,1895.
29 In essence, this provision still is part of the Utah State Constitution.
30 The Republican Salt Lake Tribune on April 16 lamented the defection of the Republicans on the bounty issue, while the Democratic Herald praised the action on the same day: "It is gratifying to know that a dozen Republicans could be found who would not cringe to the party lash, and who voted on their convictions, irrespective of caucus policy." After a slight change in wording this section was amended in 1973 to become Section 29 in Article 6.
31 Proceedings, 2:1109.
32 The rate of state property taxation would eventually decrease to a limit of four mills on the dollar, unless property-tax payers approved a higher tax. A vote of property-tax payers was also required for municipalities, counties, or school districts to create debt in excess of taxes for the current year, a requirement later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U.S 701 (1969) and Phoenix v. Kolodzieski, 39 S.S 204 (1970) The taxation section was later repealed; the local debt provision remains in the constitution but is unenforceable; all voters now may vote in bond elections.
33 Deseret Evening News, March 15, 1895.
34 The difficulty of taxing intangible property led to an amendment of the constitution to allow the legislature to exempt it, or to tax it at a rate not to exceed five mills on each dollar of valuation (Art 13, Sec 2 (10)).
35 Rocky Mountain Constitution Making (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1987), 51.
36 Proceedings, 2:1078.
37 Ibid.
38 Subsequent changes in this article allow the legislature more flexibility in determining valuation of mining property.
39 Estimates on the amount of state indebtedness varied, but the $750,000 figure was generally accepted. Proceedings, 2:1116-1118.
40 Art 14, Sec 1 This was amended in 1911 to a debt limit of 1.5 percent of the value of the taxable property of the state Exceptions were made for debts "to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in war" (Sec 2).
41 Proceedings, 1:388 After a long discussion it was agreed that high schools could be free if local citizens were willing to pay the cost beyond their share of the state school fund. The Agricultural College and University of Utah were to continue as separate institutions, although there were vigorous efforts to save money by combining them.
42 Proceedings, 2:1474.
43 Ibid., 2:1466-67.
44 A review of the corporations articles in other western states' original constitutions written in 1889 and 1890 shows a consistent pattern; future legislatures were prohibited from granting special franchises, and corporations were to be regulated to avoid price-fixing, monopolies, trusts, or other combinations in restraint of trade.
45 The corporations article had to be extensively revised over the years Only one original section remains; five others have been significantly revised and fourteen have been repealed.
46 Debates on the labor article are found in Proceedings, 2:1032-68 and 2:1163-76.
47 Deseret Evening News, January 5, 1895 One delegate, Mormon stake president Edward Partridge, responded by saying that he supported what will curtail "the evils of intemperance" but wanted people to consider the issue intelligently and would not commit himself at that time Edward Partridge Journals, January 9, 1895, Utah State Historical Society Library.
48 Proceedings, 2:1182-83.
49 Ibid., 2:1464.
50 Ibid., 2:1457.
51 Ibid., 2:1446.
52 The issue was revived by Utah's first non-Mormon governor, Simon Bamberger, who spearheaded the successful drive for a state constitutional amendment on prohibition Passed by the legislature in 1917, it was ratified by the people in 1918 but repealed in 1933.
53 Congress eventually paid these expenses Constitutional Convention Records, Utah State Archives, Series 3212, Box 2, Folder 45.
54 May 9, 1895.
55 Proceeding, 2:1848.
56 Donald S Lutz, "The Purposes of American State Constitutions," Publius: TheJournal ofFederalism 12 (1982): 36.
