The Constitutional Convention met in August of 1857, at Salem, and was in session for four weeks. It consisted of sixty delegates. It was early agreed to leave the question of slavery to be decided by the people themselves, at the same time that they acted upon the constitution, and thus the greatest danger of obstruction and delay was removed. The discussions, as reported in the newspapers of the time, indicate considerable party spirit, but, for the most part, they were harmonious and marked by fairness and deliberation. Little difficulty was experienced in framing the main features of the constitution, providing for the organs of government. A general disposition favorable to economy was manifested throughout. That it sometimes went to extremes would be indicated by the dry humor of the suggestion that the chief executive of the state be requested to board around, in the good old schoolmaster fashion.
Many of the most important subjects passed with little or no discussion, but enough questions to excite differences of opinion arose to occupy the time. One of the earliest discussions was upon the boundary of the state. The sentiment was nearly all in favor of a large state, yet a proposal was made to bound it on the east by the Cascade Mountains, which were held to be the natural boundary. This, it was thought, would leave room for the creation of more states and a larger representation in the United States Senate from the west. The speeches in opposition were interesting. One of the delegates in advocating a large state expressed himself in the following words: “I am in favor of extending the area of this state as far east as we can go, go to the Missouri, if possible. I would like to take in Utah, if we could do them any good.”[[20]] Another said: “I like a large state; I was born and raised in one—the Empire state. Although the people of Rhode Island and Delaware may be very good people, yet I rejoice to know that I was not born in either. I do not like little states; they may have votes in the senate, but they have no political influence. Mr. Seward, black republican as he is, when he speaks in the name of the great state of New York, speaks with an authority and a weight that a Webster could not command speaking from Rhode Island.” Another discussion pertained to the introduction of a clause prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, a proposal which was finally rejected. Perhaps the longest discussion arose upon a clause rendering the stockholders of a corporation liable for its debts and obligations. It drifted into a consideration of the subject of corporations in general. The opinions expressed ranged all the way from a desire to protect the farmer against “smart gentlemen representing to them glittering schemes” to “that broader question, whether the resources of the country shall be developed or not, whether we shall have the means and facilities for creating a market here, at home, for our surplus products, and whether the capital that shall come into the country shall receive such protection as will cause it to be productive.”
In most particulars the constitution resembled, both in form and substance, those of other states of the Union. There were some distinguishing features, however. The question of slavery had been decided in the negative by vote of the people, and a clause excluding slavery introduced. There was a feeling, quite common throughout the west, against free negroes, and clauses were introduced to keep them out, by a denial of the right of suffrage, of holding real estate, and the maintenance of any suit in the courts. A somewhat similar policy was pursued toward the Chinese. The assembly was given the right to restrain and regulate immigration, although the conditions of suffrage were made easy for the foreigner. The state was saved the experience of a wildcat medium of exchange, by denial of the right to charter any institution to issue such money. The state was prohibited from being a stockholder in a corporation, and such enterprises could only be established under general laws. The danger of extravagance in the development of the state was prevented by denying the right to incur an indebtedness beyond $50,000.
This constitution, upon being submitted to the people, was adopted by a majority, and application was made to congress for admission, under its provisions. The constitution, though conservative in the main, provided well for existing needs, and for a safe and steady growth. There was nothing in it to encourage a hasty development or a speculative and harmful condition of industrial life. There is every reason to appreciate the good judgment of those who framed it and did much to mold the character of the commonwealth, as conservative, as sound in its social and industrial policy, and to be depended on for sober and considerate action. Located, as the State of Oregon is, upon the Pacific Coast, where much of the history of the next century must be made, itself the product of an enlarged national life, it must, of necessity, exercise a greater influence in the national policies of the future than it has in those of the past. Some of the provisions of the constitution have, of course, been made of no effect by the amendments to the National Constitution. No sufficient cause has yet arisen to make imperative its own amendment, but the growth of the state may render necessary some changes in the near future.
When the question came before congress the bill was passed without great delay in the senate and submitted to the house. It became the occasion of discussion, but was finally passed and received the President’s signature February 14, 1859. The principal objection made to its passage was the denial of a requisite population. No census had been taken since 1855, and approximations had to be made. The delegate from the territory, Joseph Lane, gave it as his opinion that there were from ninety thousand to one hundred thousand people, and his authority was finally accepted. An effort was made by some to join it with the Kansas question, and refuse it admission because that state, with a larger population, had been refused. Some opposed it because it prohibited slavery, and some because it prohibited free negroes; some opposed one specific clause of the constitution and some another, while some opposed it on party grounds and would not vote for a measure introduced by the democratic party. The final sentiment, and the one most generally prevailing, was well expressed by the representative from Massachusetts. “There are provisions in her constitution which, were I to vote upon them, could never receive my sanction. But I do not consider myself as responsible, in the vote which I give for her admission, for each and every item in her constitution. I vote for her admission on general principles. Her constitution is republican in form, and slavery is excluded from her territory forever. I regret with sadness that the people have deemed it expedient to adopt the article they have relative to free negroes, but I must regard it as but temporary and inoperative. I find no state west of New York ready to grant full rights and privileges of citizenship to free blacks; therefore it would be inconsistent to reject Oregon for this clause in her constitution. Oregon, at no remote day must be admitted as a state. If we delay her admission, no man can foresee what intervening circumstances may occur to embarrass and embitter future proceedings.”
As we have followed, one after another, the steps in the genesis of political authority and of a commonwealth government in Oregon, we have seen the heroic efforts made by some who have stood out conspicuous as leaders; we have seen the no less heroic efforts of many whose names have received no mention, but whose part in the result has been as great; we have seen the influence of forces which were powerfully working with or against the efforts to achieve the result. We have seen a locality well fitted for the home of man pass out from the condition of a wilderness, through all the stages of development, to that high state of civilization where every individual enjoys the privilege of citizenship in a great nation, as well as all the liberties of local freedom. And although we have been engaged upon a theme of local history, in its unfolding we have beheld at the same time a gradual enlargement of national life, and a steady progress toward greater things.
JAMES ROOD ROBERTSON.
Chapter Footnotes
[1]. Act of Parliament in appendix to Greenbow’s History of Oregon.