Genealogy of the Olmsted family in America : embracing the ...

Biographical 451
the Commonwealth Mr. Olmsted, although a Republican, should be retained
in office,
in-law.
but the incoming Auditor-General elected to appoint his own son-
Upon retiring from the Auditor-General's office, Mr. Olmsted was offered
a position in the Insurance Department, a position in the Treasury Department,
and a position in the office of the Secretary of State, as well as one or
two desirable business positions, including the cashiership of a large National
bank. But, declining them all, he chose to read law with the late John W
Simonton, at Harrisburg, who afterwards became President Judge of the
Twelfth Judicial District. He was admitted to the bar of Dauphin County
November 25, 1878, to the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania May 16,
1881, and to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States November
12, 1884. From the very beginning, important clients came to him in great
numbers from different and distant parts of the State and from other States,
and he soon had an extensive and lucrative practice in the State and federal
courts, chiefly in cases invelving questions of constitutional and corporation law.
When scarcely of age he was elected Borough Auditor of Coudersport,
but never served, having taken up his residence in Harrisburg, where he was
elected and served for a brief period as a member of Select Council.
In 1891 the people of the various districts of Pennsylvania were called
upon to elect delegates to a proposed Constitutional Convention, and also to
vote whether such convention should be held. Mr. Olmsted was elected a
delegate from his district, but in the State at large the majority voted against
the holding of the convention.
In 1896, he was, by an overwhelming majority, elected to Congress from
the Fourteenth District, comprising the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon and
Perry. Although from the beginning of the Government no congressman had
represented the State capital district for more than two terms, Mr. Olmsted
has been elected eight times—twice more from the Fourteenth and then five
times from the Eighteenth District, which was the same as the former except
that Cumberland County was substituted for Perry. At each of the eight
elections he ran far ahead of the candidates on the State and local tickets.
He has taken an active and prominent part in the important legislation
of Congress since he has been a member of that body. His speeches on the
tariff, in particular, have been extensively quoted from in campaign textbooks
in Congressional and Presidential years.
As chairman, for a number of terms, of the Committee on Elections, he
helped to rescue the determination of contests for seats in the House from a
mere political controversy, and to convert the Committee into a judicial tribunal
wherein contests were decided upon their merits without reference to
political considerations. He acquired an enviable reputation for fairness in
that committee, and also in his rulings in the Chair, where he was frequently
called to preside over the House of Representatives.
As a member of the Committee on Revision of Laws he assisted in the
preparation and passage of a law for the government of Alaska. As a member
and, later, as Chairman of the Committee on Insular Affairs, he was prominent
in promoting and passing laws for the government of the Philippines and
Porto Rico, and particularly the " Olmsted Bill," which, withstanding attacks
in the court, settled a deadlock between the two legislative branches in Porto
Rico which threatened to block the wheels of government.
At the present time he is also a member of the Committee on Appro,
priations, perhaps the most important of all the Committeees of the House.