Julius Meier

Julius L. Meier ( born December 31, 1874 in Portland, Oregon; † July 14, 1937 in Corbett, Oregon ) was an American politician and from 1931 to 1935 the 20th Governor of the State of Oregon.

Early years

Julius Meier studied beyond primary school until 1895 at the University of Oregon law. He then spent four years as a lawyer before he became manager of a family-owned department store. This department store was the largest of its kind in the former Oregon. Meier remained until 1930 Manager and then became president of the company. During the First World War Meier was regional director of the National Defence Council. After the war, he supported the French reconstruction.

Political rise

By 1930, Meier was politically hardly have appeared. This year, his friend George W. Joseph was nominated as the leading candidate of the Republican Party for the gubernatorial elections. Joseph died but before the election and the Republicans nominated Phil Metschan, the son of a former Minister of Finance of Oregon, as their new candidate. However, this represented some points very different policy objectives and the late Joseph. Meanwhile, supporters thronged Meier, as an independent candidate with George Joseph election program to run for governor as well. Meier was persuaded and finally won the election with a clear majority: He won 54.5 percent of the vote, Democrat Ed F. Murphy 25.1 percent and Phil Metschan only 18.8 percent. This election victory was viewed as a clear signal to the public use of the water power of the Columbia River to generate electricity. This topic had been one of the most important campaign issues both Joseph and Meier.

Governor of Oregon

Julius Meier took up his new post on January 12, 1931. In his four-year tenure, he could not realize his plan on the Columbia River This is because the federal government had assumed the development of this river, but he managed, in the midst of the great Great Depression to stabilize the financial situation of the state. During his tenure, an independent police force was established. In addition, an unemployment commission and a new Agriculture Committee emerged. Another Commission was created to control the consumption of alcohol by the federal government in 1933 after the abolition of the prohibition law. For health reasons, Meier declined in 1934 from a bid again. Therefore, he resigned from his post on 14 January 1935.

Another Journey

Meier received by both the Democrats and the Republicans support for a candidacy for election to the U.S. Senate assured. However, he declined the offer. He retired into private life, according to Corbett, where he died in July 1937. Julius Meier was married to Grace Mayer, with whom he had three children.