o TITE SUNDAY OREGOX1AX. TORTLAXD. FEBRUARY 21. 1909. ;
ADDRESS OF HON. FRED'K N. JUDSON, OF ST.
OREGON'S SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF STATEHOOD
LOUIS. AT STATE UAfllUL, rzoKusxti ia
THR early struggles of the nations for
possession of Oregon, with the con-
fllcting claim of Spain. France.
Russia, Great Britain . and the United
States, are of profound and romantic In
terest. Spain. In her conquest of the
western world. In the fifteenth and six
teenth centuries, claimed the right of do
minion over the whole western coast of
the continent, through ' discovery and
actual occupation. Under the Florida
Treaty of 1S19 the United States acquired
the Spanish title, whatever It was, in the
Oregon territory. France made extended
claims In the new world, but vanquished
In Canada, she gave way to the superior
prowess of Great Britain, and her right
to the Mississippi and the Rocky Moun
tains paused to the United States In the
Louisiana Purchase of 1S0J.
Russia was at one time a competitor in
the struggle for this territory, but with
drew by her settlement with Great Brit
aJn on the line of 54 deg. 4 min. as
her southern boundary on the American
roast, and her rights in Alaska have since
passed to the United States. The Eng
lish claims were more formidable in a
. practical view, as they were based not
only upon exploration, but upon occupa
tion by the Hudson Bay Company of the
territory with Its armies of traders and
furriers.
Time will not permit dwellins In detail
upon the thrilling and dramatic incidents
cf the struggle of the nations for the pos
session of this territory .between the
mountains and the- Pacific The Amer
ican competition with the Hudson Bay
Company In the establishment of Astoria
by John Jacob Astor In the early part
of the last century; tho Interruption of
the War of 1S12. and the abandonment of
the American enterprises thereafter; the
anomalous Joint occupancy by Great Brit
ain and the United States; the mild rule
of the Hudson's Bay Company under the
benevolent McLaughlin: ttie Improvised
provisional government established by the
settlers, the inspiring and heroic labors of
Ie. Whitman and De Smet; and their co-
laborers, recalling the devoted work of
Marquette in the Mississippi Valley; the
procession of Immigrants slowly tolling
over the mountain passes, the tales of
Indian savagery, continually Imperiling
the struggling and isolated- settlements,
the thrilling narrations of privation and
bereavement these are all the common
places of your history, and will be the
theme of song and story for generations
to come.
OREGON A XI) VXITKI STATES
Organization of the Territory De
layed on Several Grounds.
As we are commemorating- the ad
mission of Oregon Into statehood In
the United States, It seems appro
priate to limit cur consideration of the
eventful annals to those features
which are directly connected with the
great drama of our National history.
No statt. not of the original IS, has
contributed so materially In the cir
' cumwtanccs of Its acquisition and ter
ritorial organization to the great Na
tional Issues which have divided the
country. The anomalous period of Joint
:oceupancy between the United States
and Great Britain; the Improvised self
government; the boundary settlement,
preventing a threatening war: the ter
ritorial organisation, precipitating the
engry slavery isue. which finally re
sulted In civil war- these are all In
volved In the relation of Oregon to
the United States.
The Oregon of the Oregon question
prior to the settlement of the boun
daries between the United States and
: Great Britain was geographies lly not
the Oregon which was admitted to
statehood in 1859. The Oregon coun
try Included not only what is now tiie
state of Or?gon. but also the states of
"Washington, Idaho and part of Mon
tana ana Wyoming, and all of British
Columbia west of the Rocky Moun
tains and south of the Alaska line of
B4 deg. 40 min. This area was greater
than that of the 13 colonies at the date
of the Revolution. It Included the en
tire territory between the Rocky
Mountains and the Tacific Ocean, the
Alaska boundary on the north and
that of California on the south.
Whiie there Is no' historic-il verifi
cation for the report that there was
at any time danger of the abandon
ment of Oregon by the United States.
It is tn.e tiiat the organization of the
territory was delayed by opposition on
different grounds. Until the great Im
migration of the early '41s there was
general Ignorance In the Kastern
countries as to the value of the prop
erty for settlement. Some were op
posed to a further, extension of the
Union westward, as they had been op
posed to the Louisiana Purchase, and
there was opposition in the South on
the ground that Oregon would
strengthen the free territory at the
expense of the slave states. As late
as 1S43.' Senator Alt-Duffy, of South
Carolina, In the Senate, scouted t lie
Idea of a railroad to the mouth of the
Columbia River, and was thankful that
God in his mercy had placed the Rocky
Mountains in tue way. so as to make
this country unapproachable.
On the othor hand. Mr. Jefferson,
especiall;.' alter the Lewis and Clark
Kxpetlition. was profoundly convinced
of the great ptisslbi.tties in the de
velopment of Oregon and Its availa
bility for settlement. It clearly ap
pears in the discussions In Congress
that as soon a the valuo of the coun
try became known, and the tides of
immigration began to pour in, there
was no serious question as to the pol
icy of the United States, although leg
islation was delayed through the
boundary oispnte and the complica
tions of the slavery question.
JOINT OC'ClTAXCr AGRKK.MKXT
Two Nations Averting Title to Entire-
Property.
An interesting and aucmafous feature
of the history of Oregon, or rather of
the Oregon territory, is the fact that
from 1S1?. after the close of tho War of
for some 25 years, the country re
mained under the joint occupancy of two
nations, England and the United States,
both asserting title to the entire prop
erty, and without prejudice to their re
spective claims. The United States based
its claim upon discovery and exploration
of the Columbia River by Gray in 1792,
the explorations of Lewis and 'dark, the
settlement at Astoria, and subsequently
the acquisition of the rights of Spain
tinder the Florida treaty of 1S19. On the
other hand, th Knglish claimed the en
tire country south to the Columoia River
by virtue of the actual occupation by the
Hudson Bay Company, and Its extensive
business with the trappers and furriers.
In the Louisiana purchase of 1K3 the ter
ritory ceded to Spain by France and re
turned to France in 1SW was sold to the
United States by what was In effect a
deed of quit-claim, but ns this territory
thus acquired was bounded by the Rocky
Mountains, the purchase itself was neith
er then nor thereafter asserted as a ba
sis for the title, of the "United States. In
the absence of actual settlement and oc-
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cupation. it cannot be suid that either
Great Britain or the United States had a
very convincing claim against the other.
Dr. Flske, In his Astoria address of 192
well taid:
Neither the purchase of 1!M3 nor that of
1S19 would have gone far toward Riving
Oresen to the United States, unlets the
shs'iowv. ntelaphvMral claims had been
iiDiilementtd ly the solid facts of occu
pancy and possession.
After the War of 1S12 and the sale of
the Astoria property to an English com
pany thereafter incorporated with the
Hudson Bay Company, a treaty was made
between F.ngland and the United States
in 1K18 for, the temporary occupancy of
the territory which was essentially ano
malous, and would have been Impossible
except under the peculiar conditions pre
vailing in the country- It was virtually
an agreement of joint occupancy, with
out prejudice to the conflicting claims of
the two contracting powers, as to the
boundary of their respective rights. Thus
in tliis treaty it was provided, among
other things, that the entire country
claimed by either party, and the naviga
tion of all rivers, should be free and
open for ten years to the vessels, citizens
and subjects of the two powers, and that
the agreement should not be considered
to the prejudice of any claim of either to
any part of the country. This condition
of Joint occupancy wr.s secured for ten
years, and was afterward extended indeti
nitely until either of the two powers
should give notice to the other of a de
sire to terminate it.
During this period of joint occupancy,
certainly until the organization by the
settlers of the provisional government,
hereafter referred to. the authority nec
essary for the control of the Indians and
the small white population was exer
cised by Dr. Mclaughlin, tho local gov
ernor of the Hudson Bay Company. It
was fortunate that this responsibility de
volved upon one who was exceptionally
qualified for its judicial administration.
The high character of Dr. McLoughlin,
his considerate treatment of the Ameri
can settlers and missionaries, have been
clearly shown by the president of your
society, and will cause his memory to be
honored.
SETTLEMENTS OP BOUNDARY
Happy Tage in tbe History of Ore
gon as Well as the Nation. -
The termination of the Joint occupancy
was closely associated with the assertion
of the American rights in the Oregon
Territory up to the Russian boundary
line of 54 deg. 40 min., and this was
caused by the growing recognition of the
value of the Oregon territory for occu
pation and settlement.
In the words of Mr. Benton: The great
event of this time was the movement of
the Anglo-Saxon race to the Pacific
Ocean, beginning In 1812 and largely In
creasing in mz. and this, like all other
great immigrations and settlements of
that race on our continent, waa the act
of the people going forward without
government aid, or maintenance, estab
lishing their position and compelling the.
government to follow them with its
shield and spread It over them.
It was at this time of the uncertainly
of the titles bf the respective countries
that the assertion was made of the
American right to tho whole Oregon coun
try up to the Russian border of 04 deg. 40
min.'. and this became a political Issue,
which was adopted by tho Democratic
- VfY c.o h , rw- ilv ji
v :ff'J -I t ' -, ' A I' . h x). f'm '
M ' ' Si : . -fiSB OREGON AS A
convention- of 1S41, in its platform, where
on President Polk was elected.
At one time this Issue threatened war
wKh Kng!and. and the danger was the
greater becajise it was complicated with
the other political issues of the time.
War with Mexico was then impending
through the annexation of Texas, which
the South wanted for the extension of
the slave territory, and certain politi
cians of the West demanded the whole
Oregon country, even at the risk of war
with England.
This boundary question was aggra-
fvated by the demand for the termination
of the Joint occupancy. It may be true,
as suggested by Dr. Fiske in his essay
on Andrew Jackson, that the movement
of American Immigration info the Ore
gon territory would in time have given
the United States tho entire country up
to the line of 64 deg. 40 min. It was
the wise counsel of Mr. Calhoun to
leave the adjustment of the boundary
question, as well as the Joint occupancy,
to the working of these allent forces
which would make the country Ameri
can. But such speculations are Idle, as
tho United States , was at that ti'me notJ
only in no position to make war on
Great Britain over the Northwest boun
dary, as It had neither army nor navy
on the Pacific Coast, nor the means of
COL.. JE. 22. J3yCJZ..
transporting which could enable it to
cope with Great Britain; but the United
States was really estopped In good morals
by its own prior assertion of the line of
49 degrees as the limit of Its northern
claim. Great Britain claimed to the line
of the Columbia River by reason of
actual occupation.
ABLE TO GOVERN OURSELVES
Signal Proof of Oregon Pioneers
Capacity for Sclf-Government.
A most interesting period of the his
tory of Oregon is the so-called Provi
sional Government, which was estab
lished by the settlers during the latter
years of the Joint occupancy and Its ter
mination until the organization of the
territorial government in 1849. A body
of laws was adopted by the joint ac
tion of the Immigrants of the state and
of British subjects, which, amended
from time to time, was in effect the
organic law until the territorial organi
zation by the United States in ISM. At
first there was not a single executive
head, but an executive committee of
three, and no provision for taxation, the
expense of administration being paid by
voluntary subscription. As the popula
tion increased, thfse primitive arrange
ments proved inadequate, and a gover
nor was elected, and that essential of
organized government a system of taxa
tionwas provided.
This improvised government is an in
teresting study for political philosophers.
The government rested literally upon the
consent of the governed. It was an Illus
tration of the social contract to which
such philosophers as Locke and Rous
seau ascribed the-origin of all govern
ment. These settlers in a wild country,
separated from civilized states by thou
sands of miles and all but impassable
mountains, surrounded by savage In
dians, found it necessary to surrender in
part their individual liberty for their
mutual protection, the maintenance of
order, and security of property.
An anomalous feature of this provi
sional government was Its creation and
maintenance by men who owed allegi
ance to different sovereignties, whdse re
lations were at times strained even to
the point of threatened war. The oath
of the officials of this government ex
pressly reserved tho duty owing as a
citizen of the T'nited States or as a sub
ject of Great Britain.
The laws of this provisional government
show clearly that however primitive and
wild the conditions in which they are
placed, men of Anglo-Saxon- ancestry
carry with them as their inheritance the
fundamental conceptions of liberty and
justice. Thus, in this social compact the
freedom of religious belief and worship,
the right of habeas corpus, and trial by
jurv were guaranteed. Justice and the ut
most good faith were enjoined in the
treatment of the Indians, whose landri and
property wero not to be taken without
their consent. Kducatlon was encouraged
and flavery was prohibited. Provision
"was- frradrj-f5rThc pTom'pt "administration
of justice and for regulating and record
ing land claims.
Factional differences may have devel
oped among these settlers struggling with
the hard conditions of pioneer life as they
have developed in modern settled commu
nities. Nonetheless, however, the success
ful organization ami wise administration
of this provisional government, whereun
dcr life and property were secured, justice
orderly administered, the settlements suc
cessfully defended from the Indians, and
the national prejudices of alien popula
tions effectually controlled during these
critical years will rcmuin for all time
signal proof of tho capacity of the Oregon
pioneers for self government.
TERRITORY
Conflict With Hie New Developing
Slavery Agitation.
The settlement of the boundary question
and the termination of joint occupancy
left the Oregon that Is. the territory south
of the 49 degrees and between tho Rocky
Mountaina and the Paeifio' Ocean, as an
organized territory of the United States.
During the period of the settlement of
the boundary question. Immigrants had
been pouring in through the passes of the
Rocky Mountains, so that there were now
several thousand American Inhabitants
who had settled upon the land and were
living only under the l.iwa made by them-
.nlvac a rH the ilpntnn I lor dVHp.i I rfn-
tcction by formal organization as j. tcrri
! tory became. imperative.
It was at this time tint this recognized
I necessity for the orcrajiuation of O'egou
as a territory came m conflict with the
new-developing slavery agitation wh:ch
finally ended in Civil War. . . .
The organization of Oregon with the
exclusion of slavery was finally effected
by the adoption of the provisional laws
enacted by the territory and also subject
ing' the territory to the provisions of the
Ordinance of 1787, which excluded slavery.
An attempt was made to defeat the bill
by filibustering, but it was finally passed
on the last day of the session, August 14,
1S48, through the alertness of Senator Ben
ton in seizing an opportunity to call for a
vote on the. bill. It was promptly signed
by President Polk, who announced his
approval in a message, saying that if it
had prohibited, slavery south of the line
of 36 degrees 30 minutes, fixed by the Mis
souri Compromise, his action would have
been different.
The solutions of Mr. Calhoun, though
never brought to a vote in the Senate,
proved a veritable pandora box in the
politics of the country. When introduced
in the Legislature of Missouri and adopt
ed, tliey were repudiated by Mr. Benton,
and this resulted in a division of the
Democratic party in that state and the re-
tirement of Mr. Benton from the Senate
three years later.
OREGON'S ADMISSION" AS STATE
Complex and Inflamed Condition ot
National Politics at the Time.
The territorial organization, despite the
perils and sufferings of Indian warfare,
was followed by a rapid increase in popu
lation, and under the same self-reliant
pioneer spirit, which had organized tho
provisional government of 1S43, a Consti
tutional Convention wae held, without any
authority from Congress, and a Constitu
tion adopted by the people November 9.
1S57. On the 14th of February. 1859. the
Act admitting Oregon was approved by
President Buchanan, and it was admitted
as the thirty-third state in the Federal
Union.
During the ten years of territorial or
ganization events of far-reaching impor
tance had been enacted on the broader
National stage. It was not the same Ore
gon which had been admitted in 1848. as
Washington with its present boiuidaries
had been carved from It In 1S63. Tlio agi
tation of the slavery question had gone on
unceasing since 184S. The admission of
California, the Clay Compromise, the Fu
gitive Slave Act of 1SW), the Kansas-Nebraska
Act of 1S04. the Dred Scott decision
of 1S.M. the border war in Kansas, the in
tense development of anti-slavery In the
northern slates all these had followed in
rapid succession. This profound political
revolution had had its effect upon party
organizations. The old Whig party, after
its crushing National defeat in 1$C2, had
disappeared from the National arena. A
new party organization sprang into exist
ence opposing the slavery extension in the
territories, while a division sprang up In
the Democratic party In the struggle over
Kansas, a large section of the Northern
Democrats following Senator Douglas In
his demand for popular sovereignty In the
territories, so that the issue of slavery
should be determined In the territories by
vote of the p?ople therein. When the
bill for the admission of Oregon was pre
sented in the second session of the Thirty
fourth Congress in 1SS9. Senator Douglas
had just returned to the Senate from his
successful campaign for re-election in
Illinois, where he had been defeated In
the popular election by Abraham Lincoln,
who had thus risen into National prom
inence as the leader of the new antl-slav-erv
opinion of the country. y
In this complex and Inflamed condition
of National politics. Oregon made Its Ap
plication for admission as a state in w-9.
As slaverv had been excluded in its orig
inal organization, as a territory, so H'as
excluded In its State Constitution. This
Constitution also contained clauses. Arti
cle 1. Section 35. and Article 2. Section 6.
which have since been nullified by the
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitu
tion of the United 'States (and which I
Understand have never been enforced, and
in fact have been repealed!, not only ex
cluding free negroes and mulattos from
voting, but also from making contracts or
living in the state.
In the popular vote upon the Constitu
tion these clauses prohibiting slavery,
and excluding free negroes, were sepa
rately voted upon. Thus, on the slavery
question, there were 2M3 for slavery and
7727 against slavery, while upon the ex
clusion of free negroes there were SOW
in favor of the prohibition and 10!7
against: and upon the adoption of tha
Constitution, the ayes wero 71Hj and th
noes 319.".. It was thus clearly Indicated
that the opposition to slavery was maln-lv-
economic reasons; that Is, It was
deemed unsuited to the climate and in
dustries of the state, while the feeling
of opposition to negroes was then held
in common with the other free states of
the Northwest, though It is said t.iat
some voted for the exclusion clause as a
concession to the strong pro-slavery senti
ment.
The slavery question as a National issue
now came to the front on this question
of the admission of Oregon, as it had
on the question of Its territorial organiza
tion 10 years before. But the far-reaching
changes of the Intervening period had
so complicated the existing party politics,
that although Oregon applied for admis
sion as a free state, the opposition in
Congress to her admission came mainly
from the anti-slavery and not from tho
pro-slavery members. It Is true that an
other free stato added to the Union, mak
ing tho number 18 to 15, still more ef
fectively destroyed the equilibrium be
tween the free and slave states, which
had been lost by the admission of Cali
fornia, followed by Minnesota: and it
was seen that the admission of Kansas
could not be long deferred. No slave
state had been admitted since Texas. In
1S48. and the march of events had shown
that it was improbable that any new
slave state could bo created. In the ad
mission of Texas it hud been provided ns
a concession to the pro-slavery demands
that three new states could be made out
of that territory, but the sentiment of
state pride ' has made it impossible to
carry this into effect, and no serious at
tempt was made to take advantage of It
during the period of slavery acilntlon. So
Hopeless, therefore, had oecoinc tlie.strug
gle. against the increasing predominance
of the free states, that any opposition to
the admission of Oregon an a free state
seems to have been overborne by the then
controlling political conditions.
It was known In I'M, when the bill for
the admission of Oregon was ponding,
that the state in existing party divisions,
was aligned with the administration wing
of the Democratic party. Two Demo
cratic Senators had been elected, one of
them General Joseph Tne, who had been
Governor of the territory. The' S4th Con
gress, then holding its second session, had
been elected In 1S.W. and was Democratic
in both Senate and House. The division
between Senator Douglas and the admin
istration and the growth of tho Repub
lican partv, had resulted in very material
gains for" the latter In the election of
Congressmen in 18.A so that there was
doubt as to the ixdltiral control of the
next House of Representatives.
The approaching Presidential election
of 1800 furnished another controlling po
litical consideration. In the then not im
probable contingency Of the election of
the next President devolving upon Con
gress on account of tho failure or either
partv to secure a majority In the electoral
college, the vote of Oregon would equal
that of New York or any other stale,
both in the vote In the House for Presi
dent and in the Senate for Vice-President.
The opposition to the admission was
mainly from the anti-slavery sources,
and was based chiefly on the ground of
the discrimination against the negroes
and the alleged Insufficiency of popu
lation The vote on the admission was
somewhat on party lines; 114 to 10S in
the House and 35 to 17 in the Senate.
The anti-slavery view 'of the constitu
tion of Oregon Is found in the work of
ex-Viee-President Henry Wilson, "The
History of the Rlso and Fall of the Slavs
i 1 1 .i anvs:
j i i . . . .
In 18" Oreiton framed a constitution and F
anolled for admission to fie l.'nion. Thoim-li f
the constitution waa in form frt-c. it was
thoroushly imbued with the spirit ol
iiaverv and though four-dftlis of the votei V
cast were for the rejection of slavery,
there were some seven-eighths for the ar
ticle excluding entirely people of color. Ai
their leaders were mainly pro-slavery men,
it is prohable that the reason why they
excluded slaverv from the constitution wai
their fear of defeat in their application lor
admission.
While it is true that the sympathies
of the people of Oregon were then
lare-clv with the Sou til. tho conclusion
is unwarranted that the prohibition of
slaverv was inserted for the purpose!
of securing admission. Slavery was ex
cluded in Oregon as it was In Callfor-
(.Cancludcd on I'age 6 )
X
fx