Arizona republican., 1910-06-16

for the consideration of the executive Storm was treasurer of Yavapai county, six years ago. He embedded public funds. Like the vast majority of embezzlers who are wearing prison stripes, he at first did not intend
 to keep the money, and so far as that was not entitled to clemency. But | the executive did find extenuating cir
 cumstances in other branches of the
 case. Storm was one of the treas
 urers of the "old regime"-the regime | of the frontier period of Arizona when custodians of public funds held
 loose notions of their obligations. He
 was only one of several treasurers who believed that their bond" pro-
 tected the public, and it was there fore no concern of the public if they
 temporarily used public funds. He happened to be one of those who went so far in wrongdoing that there was
 no escape If the inside history of county affairs could be written it would be found that not a few county
 officers temporarily" used the public funds placed in their care, succeeded in making good, and are still re- spected citizens.
 Storm was a more or less ignorant frontiersman, of upright conduct pre- vious to becoming county treasurer, and of generous instincts. To such a degree was his generosity a weakness
 that he was an easy mark for men who posed as his friends. These men, in need of money and unable to bor-
 row it at the banks or elsewhere, went to Storm and persuaded him to cash their worthless checks. They him to take their checks and carry them as cash items. Wasn't the county protected by his bond? Weren't
 the checks good" inasmuch as the makers would surely take them up later on? It has even been asserted that his own deputy, on whom he re- lied for advice, assured him that this procedure was legitimate. but what foundation there is for this assertion we don't know. Treasurer Storm found that his bogus friends did not keep their promises to redeem their
 checks Having once started on the wrong road, he was. like most em- bezzlers, led to believe that he could only extricate himself by dipping deeper into the money that was not his He was led to believe that Ee could be sheriff of Yavapai county. The miserly stipend of the treasurer would not enable him to restore the misapplied funds, but the princely revenues of the sheriffs office would and if he could get the sheriffs of
 flee he could get accommodations somewhere that would straighten his
 
 fore leaving it. Some of the men who were getting money from him encouraged him to chase the rainbow of the fat sheriffs office. But his plans went awry. At last he saw there was no escape from exposure, and he resorted to the desperate plan
 of pretending that the treasury had been robbed by burglars. He tied himself in his office. and when found
 told an absurd story of an attack upon him by robbers.
 After a fight of years. in which re- sOurceful counsel exhausted every eX- pedient to save him. he was con victed and sentenced to the peniten- year, to be sure. But for some men, confinement in the penitentiary for a single day is a punishment and a humiliation that would last through 1 life Storm, we believe, is a man of this class He is old and broken in |
 spirit Throughout the years of trial and humiliation that have succeeded This crime he has been severely pun
 ished, and sufficiently punished, We
 believe, to satisfy the spirit of the law and to vindicate the majesty of the law.
 And the proclamation of the acting governor makes it plain that these considerations were also the influen-
 tial factors with him in reaching a decision in the case.
 The acting governor fell into error, we think, in his assumption that his
 action would be harshly criticised
 The people who know George Y. Young know that he is sensitively
 conscientious.
 Wt<&I