Graham guardian., 1909-09-03
SEPTEMBER 8, 1909.
THE COUNTY POOR FARM

Inc DOarQ OF SUPERVISORS nave
agreed to buy a tract of land in the
valley for county poor farm. This
may be all right in one sense of the
word, but wouldn't it have been
just as we'll to have waited until the
county was divided and then let
each county build their own? Per-
haps these good supervisors are
afraid that the new board of Green
lee will not have judgment enough
to build such thing. Here Gra-
ham County has been all these years
without county poor farm and now
when it stands upon the eve of
division the lower end must have a
poor farm. 1t appears to an out
slider like the board of supervisors
are afraid that the people of the
valley will all have to go to the poor
farm when the mining interest in
the east end is taken away from
them. Still some one hollered graft
not long ago. ."-Morenci Leader.
The board of supervisors need no
champion to fight its battles, it is
composed of men fully capable to
look after the interests of the people
of Graham County, and there can be
no doubt but that the board will do
its full duty in every undertaking
looking to the betterment of con-
ditions in this county.
For several years past the county
hospital has been a disgrace. When
the inside walls of the old building
fell and demolished the interior,
making the place unfit for habita-
ton, it was thought that a new
building would be secured without
delay, equipped with modern and
sanitary methods to take care of the
unfortunate sick, but for some rea-
son this was never accomplished,
and the crying need for a better
building has been passed up to the
present board, which has now acted
in the matter by acquiring suitable
buildings and land enough to main
tain the INDECENT sick of the county.
From an economical and business
standpoint. the board has acted
wisely and well in providing a poor
farm at once, without waiting for
county division. To take care of
the poor and sick is humane, and a
duty which falls to every one, and
the idea that the people should wait
for several years more, until the
time set by selfish interests for the
enactment of law to allow cor
porate interests to control the ma
chinery of the government of a
county for themselves and their own
purposes, should not be consider for
one moment in matter of this
kind.
There is no reason to believe that
the board of supervisors will not
provide a poor farm for the east
end of the county. There is every
reason to believe that the present
board will do everything that is
right and honest and for the best
interest of the people of Graham
County as a whole, without any dis
play of sectional feeling, and with
out any desire to graft at the ex-
pense of one section of the county
in favor of another section.
1t is also safe to say that the
people of the Gila Valley will not be
candidates for the poor farm when
the east end of the county falls into
the clutches of the corporate inter-
ests which will have full control of
that end when county division
comes.
There may be several poor farms
in Greenlee County in the years to
come, but we hope such a direful
result from county division will
never result.
We heard no protest from the
people of Graham County when
good many thousand dollars, enough
to provide for several poor farms,
was spent last year for q new Jail at