Senate bill No. 107 read first time and passed to second reading without question. House bill No. 133 read second time, was considered engrossed and went to its third reading in order. Mr. Laughlin offered, by consent, house joint memorial No. 4 ast follows, which on motion of Mr. Laughlin was adopted: HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 4, With memorial introduced by Mr. Laughlin at the fourteenth biennial session of the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon. Be it resolved by the House, the Senate concurring: That the following memorial to the congress of the United States is hereby adopted, that the Secretary of State furnish to our senators and representative each a copy of the same, and that they are hereby requested to present the same to the fiftieth congress: To the Honorable the Congress of the United States: Your memorialists, the legislative assembly of the State of Oregon, respectfully calls attention to the fact that the original Oregon Territory, now comprising the State of Oregon and the Territories of Washington and Idaho and the western portion of Montana, is a vast area of rich and valuable territory, equal in extent to the six New England States and Ohio combined, and whose resources and adaptation for the habitation of civilized communities is scarcely excelled by any portion of the Union. That this area of territory, as vast and valuable as it is, was, by the simple encouragement of the United States, taken possession of and secured to our Government solely by the indomitable and persevering energy of frontier pioneers. That they traversed the continent with their families in early days, and demonstrated to our Government the value of the country and the practicability of its becoming a part of the American Union of States at a time when the problem was much doubted by officers high in the authority of the Government. That no soldiery preceded or accompanied them, and the coming of any troops for the protection of the settlers from the merciless savages was slow and inadequate. In the years 1855-6, in the ordinary course of events in the settlement of the new country, an Indian war arose of great proportions and in which there was an evident concert of action amongst all the numerous tribes upon every side of the white settlement. That not only were settlers and their families and travelers remotely situated massacred and their property destroyed or driven off, but merciless depredations were perpetrated in the villages and near to the larger towns. It Only in the denser settlements of the Willamette valley was there felt to be any safety, and even there there was an apprehension of the possibility of danger from the Indians. The regular troops in the Territories were wholly inadequate in a united encounter by the Indians; but as the common mode of Indian warfare is to disseminate in small wandering bands and wreak the merciless savagery upon the unprotected, the United States troops that were in the Territories numbering but a few hundred were almost of no avail for the defense of the many hundreds of miles of frontier. In addition to the actual difficulties that were arising, the commanding officer of the small number of troops in the Territories was unsympathizing and inconsiderate of the needs of the embryo communities. The Governors of the two Territories, I. I. Stevens and George L. Curry, in accordance with general public opinion, wisely concluded that the crisis would admit of no delay when there was such an evident uniting and combining of all the Indian tribes for the purpose of war. Mature reflections upon the events, after many years, and the experiences of later Indian wars here and in other States and Territories, show that the Governors acted in the very highest wisdom in calling forth a sufficient force of volunteers to visit early punishment upon the numerous tribes that had united for war. is beyond the possibility of a doubt, and particularly with the unwise policy of the commanding officer of the regular troops not to make a [winter] campaign, that without the services rendered by the volunteer forces not only would the depredations have been carried to such an extent as to almost if not entirely destroy the settlements, but all the regular troops that were in or that were subsequently sent into the Territories would not have been able to quell or withstand the combined tribes. Without the winter campaign by the volunteer forces at the commencement of hostilities, the war could not have been in any way terminated within a year of the time it was, or without a result that would have been appalling. It is a well known fact that by their familiarity with the mountain passes and their ability to readily move the small amount of property they possess from place to place, it is usually difficult to terminate any Indian war in a single campaign of a winter or summer. In no other Indian war on the Pacific coast, and in few if any others elsewhere in the past half century, have there been any near comparison of the number of Indians engaged that there were in the war of 1855-6 in Oregon and Washington Territories; and experience in the Indian wars of Arizona, the Nez Perces and Modoc wars, the Custer campaign and Colonel Wright's campaigns, show that the services of the Oregon and Washington volunteers were far more than commonly successful, and that the expenses, as audited allowed by the commission, consisting of Generals Rufus Ingalls and A. J. Smith of the United States Army, and Hon. L. F. Grover, appointed under an Act of congress of 1856, were not extravagant or unreasonable, but were justly due. In a war that taxed the utmost capacity of the new and small community in a remote and isolated country, it may well be expected that prices of supplies, equipments and transportation and the services of the volunteer forces would be costly. But that war and those services were an absolute necessity on the part of the white settlers in the country, and could not have been conducted otherwise than as they were or more advantageously, notwithstanding the disapproval of General Wool; and was conducted as economically as any of the wars, either Indian or other, have been since that time. After the discovery of gold mines on the Pacific coast it is well known that prices of everything for many years rated vastly higher here than in the older States. It is unreasonable to fix the compensation of the volunteer soldiers enlisted for a few months from a sparse community of settlers in a remote country by the compensation provided by law for the soldiers of the regular army who are enlisted in the over-populated cities, and probably mostly from the ranks of the newly arrived foreigners. While the General Government recognized its liability for such expenses, nevertheless by the scaling process adopted, prices were reduced to an equality with the lowest eastern markets, and so as to amount to no remuneration in the locality for the expenses incurred. The losses naturally ensuing from such a combined and continued state of Indian hostilities were injurious and damaging enough to the young communities, but when, in addition, they were compelled to maintain the burden of the heavy expenses of the war, the injury became lasting, and the effects are still manifest on those of their descendants who suffered losses by such war, or who furnished supplies to or assisted in the volunteer service. Your memorialist respectfully calls attention to the fact that while the settlers and inhabitants of this Territory have ever been peaceable and industrious, their main avocations, besides the products of their mines, have been and now are in producing the cereals and other commodities in large quantities for foreign markets, while being themselves practically without any manufactories, they have always been and still are very large purchasers annually of all kind of manufactures and goods from the older States, whence our whole supply comes and for which we always pay the cash. The original Oregon Territory is scarcely, if any, less valuable than the territory acquired from Mexico after a bloody war, costing but little less than $20,000,000 besides the $15,000,000 paid for it by treaty. Wherefore your memorialist respectfully prays your honorable body, in the name of justice to the pioneers who settled and saved the Oregon Territory to our Government that the expenses of the volunteer forces of Oregon and Washington Territory in the great Indian war of 1855-6 be paid, as allowed by the able commission, consisting of Generals Rufus Ingalls and A. J. Smith and Hon. L. F. Grover; that such claims as were not audited by such commission be allowed on a similar basis and that pensions be provided for those wounded in such war. Your memorialist further represents that the Cayuse war of 1847 was one in which honorable services were rendered by Oregon volunteers, for which the congress of the United States made prompt payment. Your memorialist respectfully prays that the survivors of such war may be pensioned in the same manner as the survivors of the Mexican war have been. MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE. SENATE CHAMBER, Mr. Speaker: I am directed by the President to inform you that the senate has passed senate bill No. 62, being a bill for an Act to repeal title 3 of chapter 29 of the miscellaneous laws of Oregon, etc. And the same is herewith transmitted to you for the consideration of the house. E. G. HURSH, Chief Clerk. Senate bill No. 62 read first time and passed without question to second reading. Adjourned. AFTERNOON SESSION. House called to order at 1:30 P. M. by the Speaker in the chair. The roll was called and all the members were present except Messrs. Crook, Goodsell, Holland, Harris, Haley, I. D. Miller, Noyer, Pomeroy, Pendleton, Roberts, Summers and Wilson. The committee on railway and transportation reported as follows: REPORT. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SALEM, February 2, 1887. [ Mr. Speaker: Your committee on railways and transportation, to whom was referred house bill No. 36, beg leave to report that they have had the same under consideration, and would recommend an amendment of section 3 in line 3 by inserting after the word Act "on conviction;" and further, would respectfully report the bill back without recommendation. D. MACKAY, Chairman. On motion of Mr. Bilyeu the report was adopted and the bill considered engrossed and passed to third reading in order. Mr. Osborn moved to reconsider the vote by which the amendments were adopted to house bill No. 132, and the motion carried. Mr. Osborn moved to strike out $800 opposite Benton county and substitute $600, and the house sustained the motion. The other amendments were adopted. Mr. Henry moved to call up house bill No. 94 from committee on education and refer to committee of the whole. The motion carried, and the house went into committee of the whole with Mr. Henry in the chair. After deliberation the committee arose and reported as follows: Mr. Speaker: Your committee of the whole to whom was referred house bill No. 94 would recommend the bill do pass. B. R. HENRY, On motion of Mr. Little the report was adopted. Chairman. On motion of Mr. Mitchell, was ordered considered engrossed and passed to third reading. Mr. Munger presented petitions and moved to refer to Multnomah delegation. Mr. Bilyeu moved to amend by referring to committee on Chinese labor. |