George W. Joseph

George W. Joseph (May 10, 1872 – June 17, 1930) was an attorney and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in the Oregon State Senate, and was the Republican nominee for Governor of Oregon in 1930. He died suddenly before the general election in that year, and his law partner, Julius Meier, took up his platform and became Oregon's first and only independent governor.

Quotes

I shall never seek office which will take me away from the people of Oregon. I am going to stay in the fight for them.
- Adams, Lester; Lois P. Myers (1931). George W. Joseph: His Life. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. pp. 92 pages. ISBN 1-4325-9812-0. Page 47 (lists 10/7/03.)

The Morning Oregonian, December 20, 2012

As quoted in The Morning Oregonian, December 20, 2012

I favor a liberal appropriation for the Oregon exhibit at the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco in 1915. I am a devout believer in the gospel according to C. C. Chapman, that a man, a community or a state must toot its own horn, or verily the same shall not be tooted, and Oregon should make a showing at the big fair commensurate with her importance in the sisterhood of Pacific Coast States.

While the amount may seem a trifle large at first blush, I believe that Oregon could not do better than to appropriate $500,000. She has the best location on the fair grounds, and she should have the best exhibit. That is, not necessarily the most expensive building, but the most representative showing of her manifold resources. No other state has so much to show, so many important interests that deserve adequate representation.

There's the fishing interests, for instance. The whole world demands Columbia River salmon because it knows that it is the best that is canned. The whole world will be at San Francisco, and will be interested in knowing how the rich, red, finely flavored Chinook finds its way from the sea to its tables.

The lumbering industry, and the state's latent resources in timber; the mining industry, showing the richness and diversity of our mineral wealth; the livestock industry, including dairy and fat stock, sheep and hogs, not forgetting the fact that Oregon is an ideal state for poultry; with the fruit industry in its various phases of planting, picking, and packing, and the hop industry—these are a few of the things that I would like to see 'played up' at San Francisco. Not only should their present development be emphasized, but the visitor should be made to understand that there is still plenty of room for development in all these branches.

We have the goods and we should show them. While half a million may seem like a lot of money to spend for advertising, and while it is possible that Oregon can make a creditable showing on less than that, I am sure that it would be bread upon the waters that would come back to the fold, and I shall introduce an appropriation bill early in the session calling for that amount. I notice that a similar bill, for a like amount, will be introduced in the Washington Legislature.

This is not California's fair, nor San Francisco's fair. It belongs to the whole world, but peculiarly it will be for the benefit of the three Pacific Coast states. The eyes of the world will be on us. We will be in the spotlight, and we must look our best.

External links

Encyclopedic article on George W. Joseph on Wikipedia
Media related to George W. Joseph on Wikimedia Commons