The Snowflake herald., 1916-05-12

OAANJ al y OOAAAONt 0OOS 1IlO III 10 OC-
lieved that with a man like Mr..
Olney heading the ticket, that
the party will be so solidifed
that it will be impossible for the
republicans to elect any officer,
either state, county or munich
pal.
1t is particularly gratifying to
the people of Graham county
that Mr.. Olney's first official an
nouncement is made in his old
home paper. Everyone in this
section of Arizona is friend of
George A. Olney. He lived in
Graham county from 1881 up to
about seven years ago, when he
moved to Maricopa county, so
we know him, and if there is a
true AriZonan, one devoted to
all of its interests, he is of the
type of George A. Olney.
The Guardian could write vol
umes about him, of his private
life among his neighbors, and in
Graham and Greenlee counties
we are all his neighbors, but in
political campaign, it is only
fair to the voters to give the
candidates official records, so
here goes:
George A. Olney was born in
Texas. In 1881, while a very
young man, he came to Arizona,
which was about the time Gra-
ham county was created, being
carved out of Pima county. In
1881 he was appointed under
sheriff for the east end of Gra-
ham county, which now embraces
Greenlee county. He served in
this capacity for four years. In
1890 he was elected sheriff of
the county and served two terms
and then refused to run again.
While he was under sheriff and
sheriff of Graham county it re-
quired man who was all man
to be sheriff.
In 1893, by popular demand,
Mr.. Olney became a candidate
for the legislative council, and
the majority he received made
the republicans turn green with
envy. Mr.. Olney's record in
that council is a matter of pub
lie record. During the 60 days
session there was not an idle
moment on his part, all of it be-
ing devoted to the development.
advancement and betterment Of
the condition of the people of
the territory.
Following his services in the
legislature, he was appointed a
member of the territorial board
of equalization by Gov. Brodie.
At that time everyone knows
that the big fellows were paying
on an assessment ridiculously
low, compared with the mer-
chant, cattleman, farmer and
workingman. Mr.. Olney saw
this injustice and attempted to
remedy it. He showed clearly
the injustice of the scheme of
taxation in vogue at that time,
yet the other members of the
oard refused to act and Mr..
Olney resigned, stating that he
could be of better service to the
people of Arizona elsewhere.
He was mistaken in this, altho
he guessed better at that time
than he knew, for here is what
followed:
In 1905 Mr.. Olney was ap-
pointed, by a demand from the
people of Graham county, to till
the unexpired term of Eugene
Barruthers as a member of the
board of supervisors of Graham
county, the people realizing that
the time had arrived when an
equitable assessment of property
must be made. He filled the
unexpired term aad then was
elected to the same position for
the long term and remained in
the same position for four years.
During his term of office as a
member of the board of super
visors the only real fight over
taxation, as between the rich
man and the poor man, came off.
Mr.. Olney stood square for an
equitable assessment, the result
being that in 1906 the tax rate
in this county was just one-half
the amount it had been before.
When Mr.. Olney and his fami-
lv decided, about seven years
ago, to become residents OF
Maricopa county, we knew we
were losing a family hard to re-