Uprising Against a Commissioner in Haller City
Over 200 residents of Snohomish County petition for the removal of U.S. Commissioner George Morrill, citing alleged graft and dishonest land-filing practices.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A move is on foot by 233 residents of Snohomish county, living in and near Haller City and Arlington, to secure the removal of United States Commissioner George Morrill, editor of the Haller City Times. Morrill is accused of abusing his office by making exorbitant charges to settlers who desired to prove up on their lands, and it is also alleged that he gained his appointment by placing on his petition names of persons who were not residents of the state. L. N. Jones, an insurance agent of Arlington, filed the charges and supporting affidavits with Judge Hanford in Tacoma. While Morrill has denied the accusations, Jones maintains that nearly the whole country in and about Haller City is crying out for his removal.
“Morrill is accused of abusing his office in making exorbitant charges to settlers who desired to prove up on their lands.”
The conflict over land claims and administrative corruption in the growing settlements of Snohomish County highlights the high-stakes reality of frontier life, where a single corrupt federal official could determine the economic survival of local families.
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