| 329 may form the central idea of their legislation, wherein the subject with which they deal is clearly defined, "The crime of polygamy."
A peculiar condition grew out of the regular election of November, 1880, in Utah. Elder George Q. Cannon was the candidate for Congress of the Peoples' Party (or church party) the opposition known as the Liberal Party, chose as their standard-bearer Mr. Allen G. Campbell. On the face of the returns Mr. Cannon was elected by an overwhelming majority, receiving eighteen thousand five hundred sixty-eight votes to Mr. Campbell's thirteen hundred fifty-seven votes. Nevertheless, Mr. Campbell entered a protest against Mr. Cannon receiving the certificate of election on the grounds that Mr. Cannon was not a citizen, being foreign born and unnaturalized. Governor Murray sustained the protest, denying the certificate of election to Mr. Cannon and granting it to Mr. Campbell. After much agitation over all the country and a long delay the House committee on elections, to whom the contest had been referred, on February 25, 1882, decided to report Campbell not elected, Cannon not entitled to a seat, and that a vacancy exists in the representation of Utah.
At the time that Governor Murray denied the certificate to Mr. Campbell, The Saints' Herald expressed itself editorially, being of the opinion that Governor Murray had made a mistake, that it was his duty to have issued the certificate in harmony with the face of the returns; and that Mr. Campbell's redress was in contesting Mr. Cannon's seat before the Congress. The editor further expressed himself, as follows: "We believe that Congress would be justified in evicting Delegate George Q. Cannon, alleging as a reason, what Mr. Cannon can not deny, that he is a polygamist, having more than one wife, and therefore a bigamist, who should be expelled from the legislative halls of the nation."
Congress, however, failed to meet and settle this question in 1881 and 1882, and hence the necessity of it being settled more recently when confronted with the case of Brigham H. Roberts.
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