Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1930-09-04


ed in lumber camps and on farms.
He was a strong youth who respond
de energetically to the working de-
mands OF outdoor occupations.
lumber camp calls for work, and so
does a farm. These jobs taught the
youth the value of systematic living
and physical fitness, a lesson which
! he was always to remember so that
at So he is in wonderful trim, raw
boned man who weighs It's pounds,
without an ounce of surplus weight,
and with waist line as trim as any
athlete of 21
Not long ago farmer in southern
Ohio wrote a letter to the editor OF
Marietta paper He said that sew
eral years ago he was grading wheat
when two men, who had driven up
to the fence at the roadside, stopped
to watch him. He went about his
work energetically in order to dem
onstrate his skill at the task. FL
naly, one Of the men said to him:
Let me try my hand with that era
/ die" With a wink directed to his
helper, the farmer turned the instru-
ment over to the stranger in antic-
lipation OF enjoying his discontinue
And he who intended to scoff re-
manned to admire the strangers
/ proficiency. The stranger was George
White, And so the farmer wrote the
editor that White is the kind Of man
he admires one who has remember
ed his early training, has never lost
his fitness and, by virtue Of hard
work and first hand acquaintance
with the stern lessons of life, is able
TO understand and appreciate the
! problems Of the average man.
In 1903 White moved from
Woodsfield 10 Marietta, in Washing
/ ton county, and two years later
was elected to the state LEGISLATURE
from the strong Republican county.
His neiehbors didn't let partisan
ship stand between him and their
votes; they were satisfied with him
as a man.
He made his impress upon the
general assembly in his first term,
not through the glamor of ora
tory. but through his good judg
ment, hard common sense and mark
ed ability He did things, rather
than talk about doing them He
wrote important bills. He got them
passed, ofttimes against the op-
position OF powerful opponents. He
made few enemies, and many
friends. Invariably he was to be
found on the side of legislation that
can be termed progressive.
One of his first acts was to write
a bill 10 end the oil inspection
graft There were two jobs as oil
inspector, one for the northern part
of Ohio and the other for the south
ern district. They were the biggest
political plums in the state The sal
airy wasn't so high but the fees were
wonderful The fees, you see, didn' t
go into the public treasury They
went into the pockets Of the inspect
ors. Whites bill made it compulsory
for all fees to be turned over to the
state OF Ohio. where they belonged
Now this was right, of course. but
it didn't make sense for some
powerful political interests Here
were two fat Jobs that were about
to be despoiled Hereafter. the in
spectors were merely drawing a sal
airy comparable to the work they did.
Some politicians never like TO work
for what their services are worth,
Moreover the inspectors could al
ways be depended upon for large
campaign contributions. Certain poll
ticians of high and low degree in
both parties stepped out to do bat
tie with this newcomer who had the
nerve 10 introduce such a bill.
Well. what happened is long
story. Let's make it brief White
won, and the bill became a law.
The next thing done by White was
to introduce resolution whereby
the legislature Of Ohio asked the
congress Of the United states to
submit constitutional amend
ment providing for the direct cleo
ton OF United States senators by the
people instead Of by the legislature
Here was another juicy plum which
would be sacrificed if Whites res
olution was adopted There were
rich emoluments to be gained by
some LEGISLATORS when wealthy men
wanted votes once again White won.
His bill was passed, signed and sent
to congress-. where it was one of
many factors that contributed to the
success of this progressive amend
mcnt
White was a member Of congress
when a bill for submission Of the
amendment came before the House.
He had the pleasure Of voting for
that measure which had been ask
ed for by the Ohio legislatures res
olution. which he wrote
Ohio was the first state TO provide
for the railroad fare of two cents n
mile AS member of the state legis-
lature White voted for this bill. He
voted for the law which requires
banks to pay interest on state funds.
Prior to that time the banks held
large sums on deposit for the state,
and never paid one penny interest.
1t was generally understood that q
few state officers benefited finan-
cially from this arrangement Under
/ the new law the banks paid inter-
est into the state treasury He was
the author of bill which provided
/ for the publication of streams, and
thus early evidenced an abiding in
terest in the outdoor life of Ohio and
the conservation of its natural re-
sources.
These things endeared George
i White to the people he represented
/ in Washington county and gave him
widespread reputation as man
/ who made good on his promises and
really got things done. And so quite
naturally he was nominated for con-
gress in the Fifteenth Ohio district
and elected. This was more of
matter than this statement makes it
seem to be- In that year, 1910, the
district was composed of Washing
ton. Guernsey, Noble, Morgan and
Muskingum counties: each and
eyery one Republican county,