# Portland, Oregon: Its History and Builders/Volume 1/Chapter 27

​Hams and Olney, the latter two being from Iowa, settled the matter with a pro forma decision declaring the "big blue book" to be the statute law of Oregon. As to the common law, the pioneers brought that across the plains with their families and wagons, just as their forefathers brought it across the ocean from England in ships ; and they made the statute law themselves after they got here.
To put at rest the question whether our pioneers had established a real gov- ernment the legality and binding force of the acts of the provisional government came ug in the courts. U. S. District Judge Deady held, in the case of Lowns- dale vs. City of Portland, decided in 1861 : "It is well known that at the time of the organization of Oregon territory, an anomalous state of things existed here. The country was extensively settled and the people were living under an independent government established by themselves. They were a community in the full sense of the word, engaged in agriculture, trade, commerce, and the mechanic arts ; had built towns, opened and improved farms, established high- ways, passed revenue laws and collected taxes, made war and concluded peace." And this language of Justice Deady was subsequently, in the case of Stark vs. Starrs, quoted and approved by the supreme court of the United States. And again when the same question was raised in the territorial supreme court in the case of Baldra vs. Tolmie, reported in ist Oregon Reports, p. 178, Chief Justice George H. Williams said : "Confessedly the provisional government of this ter- ritory was a government de facto; and if it be admitted that governments de- rive their just powers from the consent of the governed, then it was a govern- ment de jure."
This question has been gone into in detail for the reason that the lawful exist- ence of the provisional government, or of any government in Oregon, was dis- puted by the British ministry in making the final treaty establishing the boundary line west of the Rocky mountains. The lordly Briton could not conceive of any- body anywhere on the face of the earth having any rights that were not handed out by a king. They had not forgotten Yorktown and New Orleans ; and were not in any temper to concede anything to the Missourians in Oregon.
LAWS AND JUDGES AT PORTLAND.
There were no courts held at Portland or within the present boundaries of the city during the rule of the provisional government. And only in a single instance was the provisional government recognized at Portland. The people of Portland were busily engaged in building a city, and had neither cause or incli- nation to call for intervention of courts to settle disputes. But the provisional government recognized the settlement at Portland ; an act having been passed by the legislature in December, 1845, providing for the election of a justice of the peace in the eastern district of Tuality county. Tuality was the first name of Washington county, and that county then included the town of Portland. Under the act named, a citizen of Portland named A. H. Prior was elected a justice of the peace and duly commissioned on October 7, 1846, to discharge the duties of that office. Mr. Prior was therefore the first judicial officer or official of any kind to be recognized as such in the history of Portland.
In 185 1 Portland was given a charter by the territorial legislature, and that charter provided for a recorder with the same jurisdiction as a justice of the peace in the collection of debts, and of ofifences against the laws of the territory, and exclusive jurisdiction of offences against municipal ordinances. And under that charter W. S. Caldwell was elected the first recorder, and making him the first judicial officer under the authority of the city.
The court and jurisdiction of the recorder was maintained until 1870; and the office was filled by successive elections of the following persons until 1890 to wit: S. S. Slater, 1852; A. C. Bonnell, 1853; A. P. Dennison, 1854; L. Lame- rick, 1855; Anthony L. Davis, 1856-7; Alonzo Leland, 1858; Noah Huber, 1859; Oliver Risley, 1861 ; J. F. McCoy, 1862-5; J. J. Hoffman, 1866-8; Oliver Risley, ​
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1869; Levi Anderson, 1870. The city charter was then amended by substituting the office of pohce judge for that of recorder with the same jurisdiction — being a change in name only; and under that title the following named judges of the police court have held office, to- wit : David C. Lewis, 1871 ; Ov/en N. Denny, 1872-5; William H. Adams, 1876-9; Loyal B. Stearns, 1880-2; Samuel A. More- land, 1883-5; Ralph M. Dement, 1885-6; Albert H. Tanner, 1889.
In addition to the police judges there was provided by an amendment to the city charter in 1864 the office of city attorney, which has been filled by succes- sive elections or appointments by the following officials : Joseph N. Dolph, in 1865-6; W. W. Upton, 1867; David Freidenrich, 1868; Walham F. Trimble, 1869; Cyrus A. Dolph, 1870-1 ; Charles A. Ball, 1872; Marion F. Mulkey, 1873-4; Addison C. Gibbs, 1875; John M. Gearin, 1876-7; Julius C. Moreland, 1878-82; Samuel W. Rice, 1883; R- M. Dement, 1884; Albert H. Tanner, 1885-7; Wil- liam H. Adams, 1887.
There were also justices of the peace always in Portland from the time of A. H. Prior, elected in 1846, down to the present; and for many years the office was eagerly sought for. Away back in the seventies and eighties there were some celebrated dispensers of justice in the ancient and honorable office of "esquire" in Portland. No one, certainly not the news reporters, will soon forget "Judge" Aaron Bushwiler who dispensed justice in Couch precinct, and settled all the family quarrels in that litigious section of the city for more than a dozen years. And there is "Bob Bybee," not to be forgotten, either. Bybee would not permit any familiarity with his cognomen, and insisted he was only plain "Bob" Bybee; and always carried his precinct for the democratic party. Judge Bybee was something of a "sport," owned and ran fast horses for the gate money, and when the first velocipede was brought to the city he was by common consent selected to try its paces. The trial took place on First street after 7 o'clock in the even- ing in front of the old Western Hotel. A thousand men and boys were there to see the thing go ; and the yelling and cheering at Bybee's falls from the ma- chine might have been heard as far away as Mt. Tabor. This has not much to do with courts and judges; but it shows the kind of men that the people liked for these offices thirty years ago. There were men of different tastes, character, and accomplishments filling these petty judgships in other parts of the city. Levi Anderson, a sedate, serious man of high character, a devout Catholic, an inti- mate friend of the great General Sherman from boyhood, held the office of jus- tice of the peace in Portland for eighteen years. Squire Anderson accumulated quite a fortune, and his name will be preserved for all time by the noble charity to which he devoted his wealth. Squire Davis (H. W. Davis) held forth as justice on the northwest corner of Fourth and Taylor streets for fourteen years, a model of judicial deportment, prompt and decisive in the despatch of business.
As long as the provisional government was in power the town of Portland was a part of Tuality (Washington) county, and for some years the law business of Portland, requiring the decision of courts, had to be transacted at Hillsboro, the county seat of the county, which included Portland. But in 1854 the county of Multnomah was created by the territorial legislature, and Portland made the county seat. At that date the leading attorneys at Portland were W. W. Chap- man, Aaron E. Wait, Amory Holbrook, Edward Hamilton, David Logan and Alexander Campbell. Matthew P. Deady and Reuben P. Boise, who rose to distinction afterward, were not a part of the permanent residents of Portland at that time. Orville C. Pratt who figures in the history of those times, and was a judge under the provisional government, was never a citizen of Portland. A well educated man, a good lawyer, and possessed of great mental force and ability, he was nevertheless arbitrary, aristocratic, if not tyrannical, and the temper of the people of Oregon being incompatible with his disposition, he took himself off to California, where he became a millionaire. Campbell was also a
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DAVID LOGAN Great Advocate — Brilliant Lawyer — "Master of the Twelve" ​
THE CITY OF PORTLAND 551
practice. Mr. Campbell was a lawyer of the old school, and had the reputation of knowing Chitty's Pleadings by heart.
But of all the lawyers of Oregon of that time, or since, no man was the equal of David Logan in trying a cause, in everyday work in the court room, in readiness for every emergency, and for matchless ability in an appeal to the jury of twelve men. Logan's temperament prohibited his success in the political field. He had led the forlorn hope of the republican party in its infancy in this state, in three efforts to be elected to congress, and was beaten each time, after which he retired to his farm in Yamhill county, where he quietly passed away in 1873, at the age of 49 years. Logan was the son of a great lawyer. Judge Logan of Springfield, Illinois, who was the intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln knew both father and son intimately, and many of Lincoln's friends in Oregon felt that the great president ought to have extended a friendly hand to his friend's son in distant Oregon. Logan was sincere and honest to the core. He could not tolerate deceit. He could not beg favors or solicit votes — and for that he did not succeed in Oregon politics.
William H. Farrar was a lawyer of note in the early days of the city ; but he was more of a politician than a lawyer; and although a popular man, and hail fellow well met with everybody, he never attained the success in politics that some men of less ability and less honesty secured not long after his day.
Amory Holbrook took a prominent part in everything going on in and about Portland in 185 1-9. Not the equal of Logan in ability and natural qualifications, and beset with inborn enemies, yet Holbrook was a man of great ability and in- fluence in the community, and was highly respected to the last day of his life. He was at one time editor of the Daily Oregonian ; he was state agent for the U. S. commission, which greatly supported the union armies in the war to sup- press the southern rebellion by furnishing hospital supplies to the armies, and aid to the families of private soldiers in the field ; and he was United States dis- trict attorney.
Col. W. W. Chapman was a lawyer of ability and large personal influence in Portland always. Becoming interested in the Portland townsite before there was much law practice for anybody, his time and services were largely devoted to the city rather than to the law. But there was no man at the bar in the early days who for so many years held the attention of the people, the judges, and his fellow lawyers with such undiminished respect and confidence as W. W. Chap- man. He was a native of West Virginia, and was for several terms a member of the Oregon legislature. Col. Chapman was also the first surveyor-general of the state of Iowa, and its first delegate to congress. His chief service to the state was with his partner. General Coffin, buying the steamship Gold Hunter, which decided the contest for Portland against all its rivals ; and also his labors in pro- moting the construction of the Portland. Dalles & Salt Lake Railroad, which, but for the opposition of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and Ben Hol- laday he would have made a success. He lived to see his railroad scheme made successful by Henry Villard — dying in 1884.
Judge Wait was another man who for a long term of years enjoyed the con- fidence and respect of judges, juries and lawyers without exception. He was not a brilliant lawyer at the forum, but he always quoted an authority that suited his cause. He was known to all the profession throughout the state as the lawyer that made no mistakes. He was a little slow, but always sure. He was elected at the first state election as one of the justices of the supreme court, and was the first chief justice of the supreme court of Oregon.
Subsequently to these men above mentioned George H. Williams, L. F. Grover, Cyrus Olney, P. A. Marquam, and Gov. A. C. Gibbs, took leading parts in the legal profession. Both Williams and Olney came to Oregon with commis- sions from President Franklin Pierce, as associate justices of the territorial su- preme court, and but for these appointments might not have come at all. But justice requires the record to say, that they were intentionally both as true and ​
552 THE CITY OF PORTLAND
loyal citizens to all the interests of Oregon, from the day they landed here until death called them hence, as the state ever possessed. Both of these men had been circuit judges in the state of Iowa, both became circuit and supreme judges of Oregon, both were members of the constitutional convention of Oregon, and Olney twice a member of the legislature; so that Iowa not only contributed to Oregon its first code of laws, but also three of its leading lawmakers — Chapman, Williams and Olney.
Of the work of Judge Williams, it is impossible to speak at length in the editorial part of this work. His biography will appear in another volume. It is sufficient to say that he was the most distinguished citizen of the state, holding more official positions of honor than any other man — chief justice of territorial su- preme court, member of the constitutional convention, U. S. senator in congress, attorney-general of the United States, and member of the high joint commission to settle disputes between the United States and Great Britain, and presidential nominee for the office of chief justice of the supreme court of the United States.
Cotemporary with .Williams and Olney was Reuben P. Boise, who was for a brief period a practicing attorney in Portland. But removing soon to Salem he became one of the justices of the state supreme court, under the first election for state officers, and for almost a whole lifetime remained on the bench either as supreme judge, or as a circuit judge after the judges of the circuit and su- preme courts were elected in separate classes. Judge Boise was always esteemed as an independent, fearless and just judge. Outside of his official duties he took a leading part in the development of agricultural interests, the building of woolen factories, and of the establishment of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, of which he was for many years the highest officer in the state — master of the state grange.
Lafayette Grover came to Oregon in 185 1 on the advice of Oregon's first delegate to congress — Thurston, who promised to take Grover into partnership in Oregon. But Thurston, dying, Grover had to introduce himself, which he did with success, and had a long career in public and political life. Governor Grover was born at Bethel in the state of Maine, in 1823, and is now 87 years of age, in a fair state of health, residing in this city. On reaching Oregon he went first to Salem, and afterward came to Portland and engaged in the practice of the law in this city. He was entrusted with many public duties. He was appointed by the legislature of 1853 to gather up, compile and print all the statutes of the provisional and territorial governments, and the records of the provisional gov- ernment ; and but for his industry in this matter, the people would have been without authentic records of the first laws and legislatures. He also prepared and published a book entitled "Public Life in Oregon," which is an authority on the early days, and especially of the character and career of the leading men, all of whom are treated therein with justice and life-like sketches. Governor Grover was a member of the constitutional convention, state legislature, prose- cuting attorney, member of congress, governor of the state and United States senator. After taking his seat in the senate, Ben Holladay, inspired by his in- ability to control Grover while governor, worked up a charge before the senate that Senator Grover had been elected by improper influences. The spectacle of Ben Holladay objecting to anything that was improper in politics or religion, was simply appalling. But Grover's friends promptly demanded an investiga- tion. A senatorial commission was sent to Portland to investigate the matter, of which Oliver P. Morton, who was known as the war governor of Indiana, was chairman. The commission held its sessions in a little "shack" that stood at the southeast corner of Third and Morrison streets. Grover's enemies were invited to bring in their evidence ; and after about a week's investigation of idle ru- mors that had no foundation but the malignity of Holladay and his henchmen, Morton closed the investigation in disgust, and made a report to the senate that completely vindicated the character and conduct of Lafayette Grover as United States senator. One of the persons who had stirred up the false report ​
GEORGE H. WILLIAMS
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WILLIAM STRONG
Justice of the Supreme Courts of Oregon and Washington ​553
Senator Grover afterward became U. S. senator from Oregon himself ; and was also investigated by U. S. officials, but sad to say, he did not come out with the vindication Grover received.
Judge Philip A. Marquam was also one of the early members of the Port- land bar; and one of the most influential. Getting his title from long service to the county as county judge, during which time he laid the foundations of nearly all the public works of the county, he has always held a high place in the confi- dence and esteem of the people. Nearly all the public highways outside of the city were laid out during Judge Marquam's long administration ; and in hun- dreds of other ways he contributed to the public welfare and built up the city. Marquam hill, south of the city was one of his first purchases of real estate, and will for all time commemorate his life and work for Portland and his fellow citizens. Judge Marquam was born near Baltimore, Maryland, and while yet a lad the family removed to Indiana, settled on wild land out of which young Philip helped carve a farm. He earned the money for his own education, at- tended a law school at Bloomington, Indiana, and commenced practice in In- diana. Attracted to California by the gold fever, he settled in Yolo county, where he was elected county judge. In 1851 he concluded to return again to the old home in Indiana, and came up to Portland to visit a brother before going east; and seeing Portland and Oregon, concluded to stay. Judge Marquam is yet hale and hearty at 87 years of age, residing on the heights overlooking the city he has done so much to build.
Another influential pioneer lawyer was Edward Hamilton, more generally known as General Hamilton. In early life he was in partnership at Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) with Daniel Peck, in the practice of the law. The writer of this book married a sister of Peck's wife. Peck was afterward a law partner of Wilson Shannon, a brother of George Shannon, who came to Oregon in 1805 with Lewis and Clark; and who also was at one time a business associate of Jacob P. Lease, who came to California while it was Mexican ter- ritory, and brought the first flock of sheep to Oregon. From these associations something of the early history of Oregon was picked up before coming to Ore- gon.
But to return to Hamilton, we find that President Zachary Taylor sent Gen- eral Hamilton to Oregon as secretary of the territory in 1849, coming here with Major John P. Gaines, of Kentucky, as governor. The old hero of Buena Vista did not forget his old comrades ;n arms.
Addison C. Gibbs, a member of the Portland bar from 1858 to 1885 was more than a lawyer, he was a most useful citizen, a faithful public servant in high station and a most reliable and trusty friend. A self made man in every re- spect, he worked for his own education, and for his legal training, came to Ore- gon in 1850, taking up a donation land claim where the town of Gardner now stands in Douglas county. From that county he was sent to the legislature in 185 1 ; settled in Portland in 1858, forming a law partnership with Judge George H. Williams. Was nominated and elected the first republican governor in 1862, and was known as the "war governor," as he raised the troops to protect Oregon and Washington from the Indians during the southern rebellion.
He took an active part in helping elect Williams to the United States senate, and was himself the caucus nominee of his party for United States senator in 1864, and came within one vote of an election, being defeated by the treason of party friends selling themselves for coin or promises of office for another as- pirant. He was afterward U. S. district attorney, and always a forceful man. He died in London, England, while on a business trip to Europe ; and as a special honor, the legislature had his remains returned to Oregon and committed to Riverview cemetery at the expense of the state he had faithfully served.
The name of William Strong is indissolubly connected with the history of the two states of Oregon and Washington. Appointed to the office of associate justice of the supreme court of Oregon Territory by President Zachary Taylor, ​when Oregon included everything American west of the Rocky mountains. Judge Strong made a permanent impression on the laws and juris-prudence of both states. And after an honorable and useful career on the bench he took up private practice of the law and became the first great authority on corporation law in Oregon; and his ability in that field has never been surpassed since. Judge Strong was born at St. Albans, Vermont; came to Oregon in 1850; served as associate justice of Oregon and Washington for eight years; and died in this city in April 1887.
Another man of mark, highly prized and greatly honored, trusted and venerated by all who knew him, was Erasmus D. Shattuck, who for a quarter of a century served the people of Oregon as circuit or supreme judge. Judge Shattuck was not ranked as a great lawyer, or a great judge, or as even an average advocate; he was a man of practical common sense, with an extensive knowledge on so many subjects affecting the rights, interests and welfare of men, as to make him an unusually useful man on the bench and universally acceptable and satisfactory to busy lawyers. His general equipment of knowledge, information and learning so prepared him to hear, try and decide the great mass of causes affecting the great mass of people, that he did not have to be educated on any case. To all this was added the universal confidence of lawyers, juries, and litigants that the man was absolutely fair and just, without respect to rank, wealth, politics or position; and that the poorest and humblest would get justice just as surely and certainly as the highest and richest man in the state. And as a mark of respect and honor, the Multnomah County Bar Association had a lifelike and elegant oil painting portrait executed of the veteran jurist, and hung in the court room where he so long presided.
Judge Shattuck was born in Vermont in 1824, and educated in that state. Taught school for some time and was admitted to the bar in 1852. Came to Oregon in 1853, and became professor of Latin and Greek in the Forest Grove College. Was county judge of -Washington county, member of the constitutional convention, member of the legislature, and elected a circuit and supreme judge in 1862; and reelected for four terms, and died in office.
No history of the attorneys of Portland could overlook Joseph S. Smith. Mr. Smith did not pursue the law steadily throughout his active career, but when he did appear in the courts he was one of its most conspicuous characters. The old adage "that the law is a jealous mistress," did not seem to apply to him. He always had the best of clients whenever and wherever he opened an office. He arrived at Oregon City in 1845, and commenced studying law soon after his arrival, supporting himself by teaching school and manual labor. He was the first law student in Oregon. After being admitted to the bar he went to Puget Sound and for a period served as prosecuting attorney, and was afterward by President Buchanan appointed to that office for Washington territory. In 1858 Mr. Smith returned to Oregon and practiced law at Salem, until his removal to Portland in 1870, and was for a number of years a member of the law firm of Grover, Smith & Page; and at the same time he was promoting the manufacture of wool in Oregon, and held large interests at Salem and Ellendale. In 1868 he was elected to congress, and it was to his efforts, and especially to his able advocacy in the house, that congress passed the act granting lands to build a railroad from Astoria to Forest Grove and McMinnville. And at the same session of congress, while the Northern Pacific land grant v^^as before the house for amendment, Mr. Smith drew up and had attached to the grant an amendment requiring the company to build its main line down the Columbia river to the city of Portland, and thus establishing the fact that Joseph S. Smith was the original "North Bank" railroad man, antedating Mr. James J. Hill just forty years.
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ERASMUS D. SHATTUCK
A greatly iKUKjred and trusted judge for twenty-five years
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as to catch and hold the attention of jurymen. He could quote law on all sides of a case, and always quoted enough on his own side to show the jury that the other lawyer had no case at all. If there was ever a man at the Portland bar who could make "the worse appear the better cause," it was W. W. Page. But like Logan, he was his own worst enemy; pursued his profession in a desultory way, and while he was made a circuit judge for a brief term, he never made a per- manent impression on the life of the city. His best client was the Bank of British Columbia, and when Edwin Russell, the manager of the bank, laid out the town of Albina in 1874, he named it in honor of Page's wife, a most estimable lady — ■ "Albina V. Page."
Another attorney of the early days was Cornelius Beal. Beal's great dis- tinction was that of a divorce lawyer. He was a thorough believer in peace in the family circle ; and if it could not be had in any other way, then divorce the parties. He kept a list of the divorces he had obtained for unhappy couples, and at the last count before he died it was over five hundred. He was also the first apostle of temperance legislation in Oregon to regulate the saloons. He was for many years at the head of the order of Good Templars, and canvassed the whole state several times in the interest of more drastic laws to control the liquor traffic. He was a hard-headed, broad-shouldered, powerful man physic- ally, and not afraid of a grizzly bear in a fight. In or about 1872, Beal under- took to put an end to a bunch of street fights one night, the result of a bit- terly contested election ; when a saloonkeeper that he had prosecuted, thought he saw his chance to put an end to Beal slipped up behind him and struck him a powerful blow with a club, enough to knock a bull down, and then ran. It made no impression, and Beal went on slinging the fighters right and left as if toys. But after it was all over, and while describing the fighting to the late Ellis G. Hughes, he suddenly removed his hat and rubbing his head, said with surprise, "Why, I believe somebody must have hit me !"
Mr. Beal was the discoverer, so to speak, of "Council Crest." He bought that tract of forty acres from the original donation claimant, built a road up to it, planted an orchard and erected a house and lived there for many years ; and al- ways said that some day the city would buy it for a park, and that it would be- come known all over the world. There have been poorer prophets than Cor- nelius Beal Good bye, brave man, true friend, kind heart — Good bye.
Ellis G. Hughes, referred to above, was one of the lawyers that made a great success in a financial way. He was methodical, exact, and always safe in the transaction of business. He was the first lawyer in Portland to reduce the real estate abstract to the terms of an exact science. He got his cue on this business from the Scotch lawyers who safeguarded the first investment of foreign capital in Oregon real estate loans. These loans were first passed on by the firm of Gibbs & Hughes, and afterward by Hughes, the attorney for William Reid's Dundee Company. And in the management of this very large business, Mr. Hughes got opportunities for investment which the growth of Portland so ap- preciated as to make him a comfortable fortune. He was also the attorney for William Reid's railroad enterprises in Oregon.
One of the most popular and attractive personalities in the recent history of the legal profession of Portland was that of Lewis B. Cox. His death in the midst of his usefulness, and in middle life and with all his great humanities reaching out to help his fellow man, was most pathetic ; and was suf- fered and regretted by not only the entire profession, but by all who knew him as a great loss to the city. He was not only a leading attorney with a large business, and a leading citizen taking even more than his share in the duties of citizenship, but he was carrying great responsibilities in the moral and civic life of the city. He was active in hospital development, the sanitorium for consump- tives, and in his church. His brother attorneys extended their sympathies in his last sickness as never before to any other case. And when he felt he must fall before the great destroyer, his message to his friends and professional brethren ​
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for larger sympathies and greater help to those who need, should be recorded in gold.
Some weeks before his death, Mr. Cox asked for paper and pencil and wrote a farewell message to his friends. He was very weak at the time and said : "That is very poor, I am afraid, but it is the best I can jdo now. Maybe I can change it when I am stronger." It was suggested that a number of copies be made and sent to friends, to which he made reply : "No, that is not what I want. I do not want it to reach just those friends who have been in to inquire for me, or send me flowers, but to all of my acquaintances in every walk of life. I want it published with my funeral notice or mention of my death in 'The Oregonian,' " Here is the message :
"To my friends: A little more than 21 years ago I came to Oregon, with- out acquaintances, without experience in my profession and without means. I am now lying on a sick bed, of which death can be the only termination. During the intervening weeks and days there has come to me one unvarying story of love and sympathy from every walk in life, and every stage of acquaintanceship. So sweet a spirit of peace and joy has filled my room that I cannot go without giving some feeble expression to it. I am overwhelmed with the human sym- pathy which has reached out to me from so many different directions ; but I must take it only as a manifestation of an inexhaustible well-spring of love which can refresh and inspire the whole world.
Let me pray that not to me only, but to all others, your loving tenderness may be shown ; not to those in sickness only, but as well to those in health. Give a helping hand and a word of comfort and hope to your struggling brother; clear his path of difficulties, rather than beset it with obstructions ; help him to be a better man, and by so doing you will help yourselves to be better men.
It cannot be that all the love you have shown me comes from perishable life. I cannot believe that it will pass away with my consciousness and be lost. We shall meet again in a land where love will reign supreme, and where in eternal sunshine all clouds will have passed away.
L. B. Cox."
Lewis Berkley Cox was born at Berleith, D. C, in 1856, moved to Virginia, graduated at Washington and Lee universities, in 1878; came to Oregon in 1880; practiced law at Pendleton, and came to Portland in 1886, and practiced with W. W. Cotton and Wirt Minor until 1898. Died April 12, 1901.
One of the most forceful lawyers of the Portland bar, was Joseph N. Dolph, the first partner of John H. Mitchell. Of rather an austere temperament, Mr. Dolph did not make acquaintances as fast as Mitchell; but he was a much better business man, and while Mitchell spent money as fast as he made it, Dolph was carefully husbanding his resources for the future. On Mitchell's election to the senate, Dolph became the head of the firm and chief counsel to all the railroad companies then in Oregon. And after accumulating a fortune, he was elected to the senate himself, defeating his old partner in 1882. He served twelve years in the senate, a part of the time Mitchell was his col- league. His career was distinguished as an advocate of the single gold stand- ard for circulating money.
It is somewhat remarkable that the law firm founded by Mitchell and Dolph should have furnished so many U. S. senators — Mitchell, 22 years in the senate, Dolph 12 years, Mr. Simon 4 years, and John M. Gearin 2 years. One law firm serving forty years in the aggregate in the U. S. senate, and having now in the firm Cyrus A. Dolph, as good a lawyer as Mitchell or J. N. Dolph; Rufus Mal- lory, ex-member of congress, lawyer and statesman — the oldest practicing lawyer in Oregon, the honored nestor of the legal profession in Oregon in 1910; Joseph
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THE CODE MAKERS 1— Matthew P. Deady. allies K. Ivellv. ?, — Charles 1j lou Ijelliiiger. 4 — ^^'illianl Lair Hill. 5— William P. Lord ​U. S. senator by ap- pointment.
THE LAWMAKERS.
Notice has been taken of bygone practicing lawyers and early judges. Let us now consider the men who made laws, and some of the men who administered them. At the head of this list, or of any list of Oregon's great judges, must always stand the name of Matthew P. Deady. Judge Deady was called to the bench so early in his career in Oregon that no estimate of his ability as a prac- ticing lawyer can be made. He studied law in St. Clairsville, Ohio, the county seat of Belmont county, when that county contained the ablest lawyers not only in Ohio, but in all the country west of the Alleghany mountains. His preceptor was William Kennon, who had been a member of congress, a justice of the supreme court, and one of the three commissioners that prepared the iirst Ohio code, being the second state code in the United States to abolish the common law forms of pleading inherited from England. At the same bar was practicing Wilson Shannon, twice governor of Ohio, territorial governor of Kansas, mem- ber of congress, minister to Mexico, and a promising democratic candidate for the presidency; and as has been already stated, a brother of George Shannon of the Lewis and Clark expedition. And members of the same bar were Daniel Peck, the most eminent chancery lawyer in the west, the chairman of the judic- iary committees in the conventions that made the constitutions of both Ohio and West Virginia; and Benjamin F. Cowen, a distinguished judge, and member of congress with an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln. Young Deady was also frequently brought in contact with Edward M. Stanton who appeared at the same county town in big cases, and who was afterward attorney-general under President Buchanan, secretary of war under Lincoln, and associate justice of the supreme court of the United States. In addition to Deady 's native talents, and his natural and acquired qualifications for the law, he had the example and the teachings of these greatest lawyers in the nation ; and he made the most of his opportunities. His biography will appear in detail in another volume of this work.
Judge Deady 's life work was on the bench of the United States district court. He had been honored by offices before going on the bench; notably that of the presidency of the constitutional convention ; but it is the work he per- formed as a judge, and as a maker of the statutes of Oregon, which establishes his fame for all time. He was appointed a judge by President Franklin Pierce in 1853, at the same time Judge Williams was appointed, and continued to serve as a U. S. judge until the day of his death in 1893, making a longer term of serv- ice on the bench than any other federal judge on the bench at that time. During this long term of service all manner of questions and causes were brought before him for decision. And the volume of his decisions, containing decisions in the most important cases, is unquestioned authority in all the courts, state and na- tional, in the United States. The condition of the country and its system of laws brought before him many new questions which had to be solved and decided from the original principles of justice in a republican form of government; and on these cases he made a notable record. He was the first judge to decide in either England or America that one corporation could not be allowed to incor- porate in the name of another corporation. In statute law he revised and re- wrote all the laws relating to the Code of Civil Procedure, making an entirely new code, as code commissioner for the state, which was adopted by the legis- lature of 1862; and also the Code of Criminal Procedure, in 1864. He also, af- terward, by authority to the legislature, collected, revised and rearranged the laws of Oregon with notes and references, which were published in book form in 1874. Many of the important statutes of Oregon are wholly the work of Judge Deady's brain, notably that providing for the formation of private cor- porations; the Oregon statute on this subject being the first law in the United ​
558 THE CITY OF PORTLAND
States or England to authorize three private persons to form a private corpora- tion without special charter authority from a legislative assembly. AH this work, and a vast amount more which cannot be enumerated here, has qualified and entitled Matthew P. Deady to be regarded as the greatest man and greatest lawyer of the legal profession west of the Rocky mountains.
OTHER CODES AND BOOKS.
The next work of codifying the laws of Oregon was that of William Lair Hill. Mr. Hill is still a practicing lawyer at Oakland, in the state of California, and his code takes him out of the category of those that cannot be noticed in history until they are dead. Hill's code was commenced as an independent en- terprise of his own, but was afterward recognized, indorsed and purchased by the legislature of the state. Coming in after Justice Deady's work, and after most of the states of the union had adopted the reformed practice and had created codes of civil procedure, Mr. Hill had tlie advantage of a large body of material to draw upon in preparing his work for the Oregon legal profession. And being well equipped, both from education, literary attainment, professional study and large practice, he was enabled to and did produce a very valuable work entitled, "Hill's Annotated Statutes of Oregon," which was published in 1887. Many of the young lawyers in Oregon have started in practice without much more of a library than Hill's book, and done good work in the profession; Hill's citations being very full and always to the point. Mr. Hill's work remained the authority on statute law for about fifteen yeslrs^ and entitles the author to a high place and permanent fame among- 'th-eHa\Vgivers lof Oregon. Mr. Hill also prepared a code of the laws of the state of Washington, which was adopted by the legislature of that state, making him the only lawyer preparing codes for two separate states.
Judge Deady was succeeded on the bench by Charles Byron Bellinger, a mem- ber of the law firm of Dolph, Mallory,' Simon and Bellinger. As it was a great dignity, high honor, and life position, there was a scramble for the office among the democratic lawyers, Grover Cleveland being president. Bellinger was al- ways a protege of the banker, Asahel Bush of Salem. Bush was personally ac- quainted .with the president, and was the sort of a man that could get the presi- dential ear. So that in this contingency, Banker Bush wasted no time in making a visit to Washington to see the president and recommend a man for U. S. judge of the district of Oregon. It is also supposed that the two United States sen- ators from Oregon — Mitchell and Dolph — did not fail to support the man who was a member of the law firm they had erected. And so Mr. Bellinger was ap- pointed U. S. judge.
The most notable and useful service Judge Bellinger performed while on the bench was the preparation of a new edition or code of the laws of Oregon ; which he did prepare in connection with Attorney W. W. Cotton. This work was com- menced about the year 1898, and completed soon after; and was approved and purchased by the legislature and used by the profession and the courts. Judge Bellinger took great pride in and bestowed great labor on this work. It is very much larger than any former edition of the laws of Oregon ; and the vast number of decisions of the supreme court of the state requiring far greater time and study to apply them to the interpretation of the statutes placed upon Judge Bel- linger a load of care and labor that told heavily on his physical strength, and pos- sibly hastened the breakdown which resulted in his death May 9, 1905.
Judge Bellinger had for a short time filled the office of circuit judge for the district of Multnomah County. He was quick, bright and alert in the practice of his profession, with a great fund of humor that made him a delightful com- panion and universally popular with his professional brethren; and his demise was greatly mourned by all who knew him.
The work of Mr. W. W. Cotton on the "B & C." code as it is now cited, was very considerable. His very extensive practice, robust constitution and great ​ ​
JOHN H. MITCHELL Twenty-two years in United States Senate from Oregon ​
THE CITY OF PORTLAND 559
capacity for hard work enabled him to accomphsh more work than Judge BelHnger and in less time, and with less wear and tear of body and soul. Unlike Bellinger, Cotton had never wasted any time on politics, but had been, ever since his admission to the bar, continuously storing away mental capital in the form of fundamental principles of law and leading precedents of judicial decisions. With this equipment, his part of making the great code was not a laborious job.
Another edition of the code of the Oregon statutes has been authorized by the legislature. An act was passed authorizing the supreme court to select a suitable person to revise the laws, arrange it in the form of a code and super- intend its publication, and William P. Lord selected by the court to do that work.
William Paris Lord was born at Dover, Delaware, in 1838, a graduate of Fairfield College, N. Y., and a graduate of the Albany law school, 1866. Joined the union army on the breaking out of the southern rebellion, and served as major in the Delaware cavalry under Gen. Lew Wallace ; and after the war at Forts Alcatraz and Steilacoom, and in Alaska. Resigned his commission in 1868, and commenced practicing law at Salem, Oregon. Member of state senate in 1878; member of supreme court in 1880 — served twelve years; elected governor of the state, served four years ; and was then appointed by President McKinley as min- ister to the Argentine republic ; served four years, and is now code commissioner of the state of Oregon.
THE LAWYER-POLITICIAN.
Oregon has, like every other state, had a full supply of the lawyers who es- sayed political distinction. From the earliest times, the majority of public men have been taken from the ranks of the lawyers. This statement holds good from the presidency down through congress; cabinet ministers, governors, foreign min- isters and legislatures east of the Alleghany mountains. The Oregon legislatures have always had a majority of farmers and tradesmen. Of the thirty-six men who have represented Oregon in congress, thirty have been members of the legal profession. Of the governors under the territorial government none of them were lawyers ; but of the governors under tthe state organization, seven have been lawyers, two farmers, one merchant and one savi^mill man. It is not in- tended to go into the record of any living lawyer of Portland who has made politics the main object of his ambition. And of those deceased, the greatest of them have already been noticed. But as this book is written to not only tell the facts of life and progress or decay, as affecting this community and this city, it is necessary to refer to at least one, and that one the most remarkable career that has ever transpired in any American state.
And there could be no justification in referring to the life of John H. Mitchell if it did not teach a great lesson. And while charity should spread its mantle over the faults of him that has fallen, justice to all and the safety of society re- quires that those who supported and contributed to the corrupt system, or tamely surrendered to the vicious public opinion that made Mitchell's career possible, should be shown the evil of their own guilty part. The misfortune of it all in this world is, that we love the evil we do until we suffer from it ; and that the evil we do does not die with us. If we could see the end from the beginning, we might, as Shakespeare says :
"Gather honey from the weed,
And make a moral of the devil himself."
For forty years it was an open secret that Mitchell's political ethics justified any means that would win the battle. And he could not have succeeded in the face of all the bitter opposition to him if the majority of the electors in the state were not either openly in favor of his style of politics or silently consent- ing to it. He was seven times a candidate for United States senator before the Oregon legislature and won in four of the contests; and if he had lived to serve ​
560 THE CITY OF PORTLAND
out his time in the senate, would have served twenty-four years in the senate — twice as long as any other senator from Oregon.
Mitchell was not a great orator; he was not a profound reasoner; he was not a statesman; he was not consistent in anything but his personal desires for public office. But he accomplished more for the state, and had more influence and success in the senate, and satisfied more people by his public service than any other man Oregon ever sent to the senate. He was handicapped by changing his name ; he was kept poor by the political leeches that fed upon his bounty and threatened his ruin unless they were fed; he was bitterly opposed by men of great wealth; and by men in his party of great power and influence, and by newspapers read by all the people ; and over and against all of it he triumphed against all odds and against opposition that would have destroyed any other man. When republicans rebelled at his leadership and repudiated his acts, he called in democrats and beat down his own party leaders with the club of their political opponents. What was the secret of it all? A kind heart, a generous disposition, a friendly sympathetic handshake, untiring industry and sleepless vigilance and persistence. He has imitators, and some of them are succeeding with precisely the same tactics. But not for long. There was but one Mitchell, and there won't be another for a hundred years.
John H. Mitchell was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1835, and baptized in the name of John Mitchell Hippie. He was admitted to the bar in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in 1857; came to Oregon in i860, quickly secured a large law practice; was elected to the U. S. senate in 1872, and had his name legally changed by the county court to John H. Mitchell in 1874, al- though passing under that name from the time he came to the state.
The best sketch ever made of Mitchell's political career was that made by Mr. Scott of the advisory board of this history, and which is hereto appended:
"It would perhaps be difficult in all the history of American politics to find a man whose political career equaled that of Senator John H. Mitchell. Men whose political careers have been as full of turmoil and strife as that of the dead senator have sprung before the nation's eye, but they only bloomed and flourished for a brief time, and their names became forgotten with the flight of time. Not so with Senator Mitchell. He became a factor in Oregon politics when the '60s were young, and almost from the day on which he was elected state senator, his name has been one tO' conjure with in the history of things political in Oregon.
When Senator Mitchell first made his hand felt in Oregon politics, he entered a tempestuous conflict. How he weathered those storms that repeatedly broke around him, how he persistently fought and overcame the apparently overwhelm- ing political tides which ever threatened to destroy him, made men marvel for almost half a century. Beginning with the famous bolting caucus of September, 1866, Senator Mitchell has been an issue in Oregon politics to this day. But a handfull of men who mixed and mingled in the political strife at that time are alive today. Only a few of the men whose names are at present on the political horizon are familiar with that part of Oregon's political history. Mitchell had been elected state senator, had served one term. That was the beginning. It was in 1862. In 1864, just two years after he was elected president of the senate. Even as early as this. Senator Mitchell had his political star directed to the United States senate. His political aspirations were in the nature of a whirl- wind, and the harvest of that whirlwind was reaped when he was finally elected to the upper house of congress. Before his ambitions were gratified came the tempestuous days of the legislature, which met in September, 1866,
BOLT DEFEATS GIBBS.
Salem, then as now, was the center of all political storms. Addison C. Gibbs ]
was then governor, and the avowed candidate for senator. It was claimed that 1 ​
THE CITY OF PORTLAND 561
Governor Gibbs was the choice of forty-five republicans, and this was borne out when he was nominated at the caucus. Mitchell was also a candidate, and he was charged with having engineered the bolt which followed the nomination of Governor Gibbs at this caucus. Not only that, but from that day to this, certain republicans have followed this lead, and have never felt bound to follow out the mandates of a caucus. Mitchell's plan of overriding the wishes of that republi- can caucus was unique. Mitchell, who was charged with having manipulated the primaries of Multnomah County, had elected the men he had nominated. It is a matter of record that Multnomah delegates voted straight through the caucus for Mitchell. In joint conventions four men — all Mitchell's supporters — bolted. Two of these were from Multnomah.
It was suspected that Mitchell was behind a revolt, and a trap was laid to catch him. A deal was made with two democrats with the understanding that if Governor Gibbs received enough votes to elect him, their votes were not to count. Again the vote was taken. W. W. Upton, a prominent Multnomah County lawyer in those days, was the last to vote. He voted blank, and it was found that Governor Gibbs was short one vote. The story of that day had it that Senator Mitchell gathered around him seventeen faithful adherents. It was agreed that all but five would remain silent, and that five were to stand outside and that if there was a defection among the five, one of the silent twelve was to step into the breach. It was this which caused the political pot to boil over, and with this incident began the factional fights in the republican ranks which have never been healed. The result of the "bolting" was the election of Senator Corbett.
The campaign of 1872 saw Senator Mitchell and Senator Corbett the prin- cipal figures of one of the most bitter political fights in the history of the state. The factions were lined up for deadly combat. At that time, and for that mat- ter, for many years previous, Ben Holladay was Oregon's railroad king. Hol- laday was behind Mitchell. Mitchell was the issue of this battle. The Holladay crowd charged Corbett with having opposed certain railroad measures. Cor- bett's friends disputed this with might and main, and declared that Mitchell was tied hard and fast to Holladay. Then the Corbett followers, as a campaign slogan, quoted an utterance made by Mitchell which was, "Whatever is Ben Holladay's politics, is my politics, and whatever Ben Holladay wants, I want."
MITCHELL DEFEATS CORBETT.
In spite of this Mitchell was elected to the senate and Senator Corbett was defeated. This was the beginning of his long senatorial career. His term ex- pired in 1878. Here the political map of Oregon was changed, and the democrats went into power. Mitchell was a candidate, but the toga went to James H. Slater, a democrat. In 1880 there was no session and the battle was stilled until 1882. Once more the candidacy of Senator Mitchell was an issue in Oregon politics. The struggle between the Mitchell faction and the Corbett followers was bitter, but the contest which followed in 1882 caused that memorable event to pale into insignificance. Many republicans opposed to the candidacy of Sen- ator Mitchell were elected, but Mitchell had the majority of republicans. The solid eighteen was born, nine of them came from Marion County. Neither side would give or take, and the battle waged throughout the entire session of the legislature. It took forty-six to elect, and Mitchell started out with forty votes, and held them with hardly a single loss.
The result was that Mitchell went down to defeat, and J. N. Dolph was elected. When it came time for the next senatorial election, the time of the meet- ing of the legislature had been changed. January was set for the time of hold- ing the election in the odd year, so the 1885 election took place in January in- stead of September. Senator Mitchell was not a candidate, but he held a po- litical hand that was formidable. He rallied his forces for Sol. Hirsch. Here ​
562 THE CITY OF PORTLAND
followed another struggle. So determined and unyielding was the character of the fight that the session adjourned without electing a senator.
DEMOCRATS VOTE FOR MITCHELL.
The following fall Governor Moody called a special election and right early in the session the politicians being weary of the protracted turmoil, Senator Mitchell was elected by a combined republican and democratic vote, some sev- enteen democrats casting their ballot for him. In 1891 Senator Mitchell was returned to the senate without opposition. Then followed the free silver craze. Senator Mitchell became a conspicuous and persistent advocate for the white metal and another schism in the republican party followed. In 1897 the legislature met. A caucus was assembled and nominated Mitchell for senator. But the gold republicans joined with the democrats and populists in a refusal to organize the lower house, and what was called the famous legislative hold-up came into being. There was no election of senator from Oregon.
In the special session called in 1898, Mitchell was not a candidate. Joseph Simon was elected by the gold wing of the party. In 1901 G. W. McBride, an ally of Senator Mitchell's, was a candidate for reelection. He was supported by Senator Mitchell, but he was defeated, and he turned his strength to Mitchell. The session lasted forty days, and Senator Mitchell was elected at the last hour. He was serving this term when he died. Four times he was elected to the sen- ate, thrice he was unsuccessful. In all of his contests but one, there was much strife and acrimony.
IMPORTANT LEGISLATION ORIGINATING AT PORTLAND
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT LAW.
A large number of new propositions in law making and government have got their start in the United States, at Portland, Oregon. The corruption of the bal- lot box by the open purchase of votes of irresponsible and corruptible electors had obtained such a degree of scandal and criminality by the year 1890 that re- form at the ballot box was loudly demanded. As a sample of corrupt practices, at elections, prior to that time when electors voted by handing a printed ticket to an election judge, folded up, which was then dropped in a box, long lines of pur- chased voters might have been seen proceeding to the ballot box conspicuously holding up in the right hand a ballot that had been given them by a party or can- didate agent. If the ballot was faithfully kept in sight of the "spotter" until it was dropped in the box, then the "honest voter" could go around the corner to the saloon and get two dollars and a half. At that time ward bullies herded up voters like cattle at the round-ups to be branded, and sold by them at so much per head. And an instance is recollected when seventy-five "honest voters" were "rounded up" in a basement saloon at the corner of Front and Morrison streets, the whole of one election day waiting for the highest bidder to take them. The business was rather nauseating to the average American citizen, and Jacob Stit- zel, an old time sheriff, and on that day the captain general in rallying the re- publicans to the polls, decided to teach the vote sellers a lesson, and told the vote herder to safely keep his men in the cellar, and not let one of them get away, for they would be needed surely about six o'clock p. m., at five dollars a head. By this strategy Stitzel kept the opposition from getting hold of the "cattle" until it was too late in the day to vote them ; and then when he went around and told the "boss" that he did not need them. The panic was terrible — no cash, no whisky, and dead beat at their own game.
To remedy this corruption of the ballot box a league was formed to agitate and promote the adoption of the system of election voting then recently adopted in the British colony of Australia; which is the system now used in all the states in the union. It was first adopted in Oregon, and the reform was brought
I ​
THE CITY OF PORTLAND 563
about by this Australian ballot league formed here in Portland ; and of which Edward Bingham, an attorney here, and Charles H. Woodward, a druggist, and afterwards a state senator, were the active promoters — Woodward giving money as well as time.
Non-Partizan Judges. Now in this year of 1910 the bar association of Portland, Oregon, has launched the proposition that Oregon ought to have a non-partisan judiciary composed of republicans and democrats, and nominated and elected without respect to politics. The democratic party being in the minor- ity has of course approved of this proposition ; and the nominees by the bar as- sociation for judges of the supreme court at the late election comprised two democrats — William Rufus King and James T. Slater — both being members of the supreme court by appointment of a democratic governor, and one republi- can, Thomas A. McBride, also at present a member of the supreme court by appointment of the acting governor, secretary of state, Benson. Judge Martin L. Pipes, a prominent lawyer in practice having been put forward by the bar association to advocate the non-partisan judges, Mr. C. S. Jackson, of Rose- burg, replies to Judge Pipes as follows, which is a sample of current discussion:
"Judge Pipes gives as another reason why political judicial selections should not be made, 'that it narrows down the judicial timber from which judges are selected, to a mere clump.' I do not so view it. His suggested system of nomi- nations destroys competition and allows but one selection from the whole avail- able timber. As it now is, we have two, and perhaps three or more 'clumps' to select from, and each one of these 'clumps' are represented before the people in the choicest selections, li the majority 'clump' selects a rotten or 'punk' piece of timber, the people are gratified to know there is sound timber on the market, and available. But if there is but one 'stick' chosen from one 'clump' as a whole, and the persons making the selection are dealing largely in 'punk,' what show has the common people to accept, but 'punk?' The woods may be full of good, sound timber, but under such a system as suggested, of what use would it be?"
DIRECT LEGISLATION BY THE PEOPLE,
Next after the provisional government organized by the pioneers in 1843, in point of importance in the history of legislation and government in the state of Oregon, comes the agitation in favor of and final adoption of what is known in general terms, "Direct Legislation by the People." This movement, com- menced in 1892 and agitated and discussed continuously for ten years, resulted in the adoption of the system by the people at the general election in June, 1902. The principle was presented to the people for adoption or rejection, by a proposed amendment to the state constitution, providing that the people might initiate or propose legislation as an original proposition, and that they should have the right and power to reject or approve any act of the state legislature. The popular vote on this amendment to the constitution was 62,024 in favor of it, and 5,668 against it.
Under that amendment to the constitution laws have been proposed by the people, or adopted or rejected by the people on referendum from the legislature as follows : ​
564 THE CITY OF PORTLAND
YES NO
1904.
Direct primary law with direct selection of United States
Senator— a 56,205 16,354
Local-option liquor law — a 43,316 40,198
1906.
Omnibus appropriation bill, state institution — b 43i9i8 26,758
Equal suffrage constitutional amendment — a 36,902 47-075
Local-option bill proposed by liquor people — a 35,297 45-144
Bill for purchase by state of Barlow toll road — a 31,525 44,527
Amendment requiring referendum on an act calling con- stitutional convention — a 47, 661 18,751
Amendment giving cities sole power to amend their
charters — a 52,567 19,852
Legislature authorized to fix pay of state printer — a 63,749 9,57i
Initiative and referendum to apply to all local, special, and
municipal laws — a 47,678 16,735
Bill prohibiting free passes on railroads — a 57,28i 16,779
Gross earnings tax on sleeping, refrigerator, and oil car com- panies — a 69,635 6,441
Gross earnings tax on express, telephone, and telegraph
companies — a 70,872 6,360
1908.
Amendment increasing pay of legislators from $120 to $400
per session — c 19,691 68,892
Amendment permitting location of state institutions at places
other than the capital — c 4i,97i 40,868
Amendment re-organizing system of courts and increasing
supreme judges from 3 to 5 — c 30,243 50-591
Amendment changing general election from June to No- vember — c 65,728 18,590
Bill giving sheriffs control of county prisoners — b 60,443 30,033
Railroads required to give public officials free passes — b . . 28,856 59,406
Bill appropriating $100,000 for armories — b 33-507 54,848
Bill increasing fixed appropriation for State university from
$47,500 to $125,000 annually — b 44-ii5 40-535
Equal suffrage amendment — a 36,858 58,670
Fishery bill proposed by fish wheel operators — a 46,582 40,720
Fishery bill proposed by gill net operators — a 56,130 30,280
Amendment giving cities control of liquor selling, pool rooms,
theatres, etc., subject to local-option law — a 39-442 52,346
Modified form of single tax amendment — a 32,066 60,871
Recall power on public officials — a 58,381 31,002
Bill instructing legislators to vote for people's choice for
United States senators — a 69,668 21,162
Amendment authorizing proportional-representation law — a 48,868 34-128
Corrupt-practices act governing election — a 54-042 3i'30i
Amendment requiring indictment to be by grand jury — a . . 52,214 28,487
Bill creating Hood River County — a 43-948 26,778
a — Submitted under the initiative.
b — Submitted under the referendum upon legislative act.
c — Submitted to the people by the legislature.
It probably would not have been possible to have secured the results shown by the above popular votes had not the movement been preceded by the adoption of the Australian ballot law as related in a proceeding part of this chapter ; and also by the law requiring a registration of voters preliminary to the right to vote at the election. This registration law was adopted in 1899.
Oregon was the first state in the union to adopt this form of law making. The movement started at the little town of Milwaukie six miles south of this city. It is the most remarkable application of civil government since the forma- tion of the federal union in 1789. It lacks only the experience of time and trial to show how far it is useful to American society and institutions. Thirty- two measures, involving all sorts of questions and subjects are now upon the ballot to be passed upon by the people at the general election to be held Novem- ber 8, 1910. The result of that election will be added hereto, as this chapter is written before the election. The movement has now spread to many other states in the union, and has been in some degree adopted by some of them, while the agitation in its favor sometimes is in nearly every state.
Of the value of the "referendum" part of direct legislation, there can be no doubt. It will never be given up. On this item, the late Harvey W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian, tersely stated its manifest importance and merits in the fol- lowing words :
"The referendum is an obstacle to too much legislation; to surreptitious legis- lation; to legislation in particular interests; to partisan machine legislation, and to boss rule. No predatory measure could be carried before the people. The legislative lobbyist would be put out of business."
While the original movement in Oregon is in general the work of many minds its propaganda was almost solely the work of one man, who but for his dogged perseverance and unyielding courage might have been worn out with delays and financial difficulties. To William S. U'Ren an attorney of Oregon City, a grower of fruit trees at Milwaukie, and an enthusiast of the highest type, is due the honor and credit of following up, this movement — call it a reform or what you please — year after year, through good and ill report, and against all sorts of op- position from secret enmity of political bosses to open ridicule of scholastic wise- acres, until the great mass of the voters were informed and converted to the support of the principles of direct legislature by the popular vote of the electors.
Mr. U'Ren having been requested to give some history of the movement, sub- mits the following:
"A. D. Cridge in the Oregon Vidette, and Max Burgholzer, a native of Switz- erland, in the Pacific Farmer, advocated the initiative and referendum in news- paper articles in Oregon as early as 1886. I settled in Oregon in 1890. Alfred Luelling gave me the first copy I ever saw of J. W. Sullivan's work on direct legislation in Switzerland. I had heard of the initiative before. The Milwaukie Farmers' Alliance on my motion asked the state executive com- mittee of the Farmers' Alliance to take the matter up and invite the State Grange, the Portland Chamber of Commerce, The Portland Federated Trades, and the Oregon Knights of Labor to combine in appointing a joint committee of one from each organization to agitate and educate for the initiative and referen- dum in Oregon. I think this was in November, 1892. The invitation was ac- cepted by the state executive committee of the Farmers' Alliance ; the Portland Chamber of Commerce never acknowledged the invitation. The first committee was composed of Hon. W. D. Hare of Hillsboro, from the State Grange, chair- man ; Hon. W. S. Vanderburgh, from the Knights of Labor ; A. I. Mason, from the Portland Federated Trades, and W. S. U'Ren, secretary from the Farmers' Alliance. The Federated Trades was afterwards represented on the committee at different times by Charles E. Short, T. E. Kirby, and G. G. Kurtz, all of Port- land. These men constituted the committee until September, 1898, when a state non-partisan direct legislation league was organized. O. C. Sherman, of Salem, was elected president, and there was an executive committee of seventeen mem​
566 THE CITY OF PORTLAND
bers. In the fall of 1900, I think Mr. Sherman went to Washington, D. C, and a little later Hon. George H. Williams accepted the presidency of the league; Judge Williams was the first man, so far as I know to propose the system in the United States. He offered a resolution for that purpose in the Oregon constitutional convention of 1857. Judge Williams was president of the league until the amend- ment was accepted by the people in 1902.
"A host of men helped very greatly in various ways in this work. Among others that I recall are the late Nathan Pierce, W. W. Myers, L. H. McMahan, George Weeks, A. Hofer, Mr. Waggoner, Hon. Stephen A. Lowell, and at least a hundred others whose names I cannot recall at the moment and perhaps have not even among any printed or written memoranda I have. I never made any effort to keep papers or printed matter with the idea of ever being called on for a history of the work.
"Among the staunchest supporters of the movement were the late Seth Luel- ing, and his wife and daughter. J. D. Stevens also rendered valuable help.
"Among others who helped also in the preparation and circulation of litera- ture were many of the families, and especially wives and daughters of Milwau- kie. I recall particularly Mrs. F. C. Harlow, Miss Edna Ross, Miss Helen Kerr, Mrs. Young and three daughters, whose first names I probably never knew.
"If I could have time to think of this matter and look up old newspapers and records, I could give the names of many who ought to be mentioned in this work if anyone should be. The late H. W. Scott rendered very valuable aid.
"It is impossible for me to do even partial justice to the men and women who have helped and who are certainly worthy of mention in any history of the adoption of the initiative and referendum and other progressive legislation in Oregon.
W. S. U'Ren."
At the recent state election, November 8, 1910, of the thirty-two laws pro- posed by the people's initiative, eight were adopted by the popular vote and twenty-four defeated. The total vote in Multnomah County was 32,474. The vote on the proposed laws, was as follows :
Woman suffrage, yes, 8,614, no, 18,630; Eastern Oregon Insane Asylum, yes, 15,899, no, 9,262; constitutional convention, yes, 8,189, ^'^> IS»682; separate sen- atorial and representative districts, yes, 7,720, no, 15,112; Grange tax amend- ment, No. I, yes, 13,042; no, 10,381; state ownership of railroads, yes, 10,461, no, 13,517; Grange tax amendment, No. 2, yes, 10,740, no, 11,379; salary of Baker County circuit judge, yes, 5,895, no, 10,850; Nesmith County, yes, 8,364, no, 13,754; Monmouth Normal school, yes, 15,314, no, 9,302; Otis County, yes, 6,348, no, 14,863; Clackamas County annexation, yes, 7,651, no, 16,739; Wil- liams County, yes, 5,365, no, 15,318; county tax regulation, yes, 12,695, no, 10,- 695; home rule, yes, 17,076; no, 11,228; employers liability, yes, 17,064, no, 8,963; Orchard County, yes, 5,556, no, 15,064; Clark County, yes, 5,604; no, 14,- 800; Weston Normal school, yes, 11,876, no, 11,409; Washington County an- nexation, yes, 6,550, no, 16,600; Ashland Normal school, yes, 11,499, "o, 11,758; prohibition amendment, yes, 9,931, no, 19,175; prohibition law, yes, 9,457, no, 19,845; employer's liability commission, yes, 10,211, no, 13,707; Rogue river fish- ing prohibition, yes, 15,942, no, 7,234; Deschutes County yes, 6,856, no, 14,173; new county act, yes, 10,356, no, 11,227; ^ct increasing maximum debt for roads, yes, 16,480, no, 6,180; primary nominations for presidential elections, yes, 12,- 994, no, 10,447; State Gazette, yes, 7,835, no, 13,364; proportional representa- tion, yes, 12,265, no, 10,740; three-fourths jury verdicts, yes, 13,442, no, 9,873.
The total cost to the taxpayers of the state was about $7,000 for each meas- ure adopted ; or $56,000 for the eight adopted laws. The total cost of salaries for members at one session of the legislative assembly is only $10,800. The state officials estimate that for printing and circulating the initiative and referendum pamphlets, there was an expense of approximately $20,000. Extra counting ​
THE CITY OF PORTLAND 567
caused by the initiative measures, will cost the people of the various counties approximately $25,000 and printing of the ballots cost approximately $7,000. This makes a total of $52,000 as estimated expense, and if anything, the estimate is conservative, as there are numerous miscellaneous items which will swell the total.
The actual cost for printing the initiative and referendum pamphlet was $8,951.96, according to a statement just filed by L. R. Stinson, state printing ex- pert. In addition to this is the cost of paper, postage, clerk hire, and numerous other expenses, bringing the estimated total conservatively to $20,000.
In addition to these items must be added the cost to candidates for office under the new system. From sworn reports filed with the secretary of state, the state officials estimate the total election expenses of all the candidates and committees at the recent state election, and the primaries precedent thereto, to have been $150,826. Of this amount the "Home Rule Association" to regulate the liquor traffic spent $40,000 — mostly saloon money. The Prohibitionists spent $15,000 trying to shut up the saloons. The Fels Fund Commission spent $15,- 000 to promote the Henry George principle of the single tax on land values. This of course is all the candidates and promoters will admit. But the candi- date that is defeated, or the man that spends a very large sum to get an office is not likely to recollect all that he spends for such a purpose. The first man elected to the United States senate under the popular vote system expended
CHAPTER XXVII.
1858 — 1910.
The first military organization of the city of Portland was the "Jefferson Guards" organized at a meeting of the citizens held "in the council room corner of Washington and First streets, May 24, 1858."
At this meeting Charles S. Mills was elected captain, and J. D. Cremen, secretary. This organization was founded on a muster roll signed by the following persons : John Donovan, William Grooms, Joseph Meagher, John Tomlinson, Rufus W. Henry, William Best, Joseph D. Cremen, Thomas Farley, Aaron Bush- wiler, E. C. Smith, John Castle, J. F. Farley, Steuben Commins, T. Thompson, Frederick Paine, Charles Mulholland, Samuel R. Holcomb, Walter H. Manley, John Williams, James L. Sims, Isaac Waggoner, Charles S. Mills, Joseph A. Jemison, Arthur Gray, Lansing Stout, Samuel Andrews, Patrick Maher, James Wilson, John Hornbrow and T. Goldin.
To this list various other persons were added from time to time by election until the guards attained a membership of about 60. The minutes of the proceedings of the guards, kept in good shape by the secretary, Joseph D. Cremen, and kindly loaned to the editor by his daughter, Miss Annie Cremen, are still in perfect condition, and show from what modest beginning every institution of the city has grown.
But prior to the organization of this first military company, Portland had to the full extent of its ability and population taken an active part in the expedition to punish the Indian murderers — the Cayuses — in the Whitman massacre, and in the Indian war of 1855. The expedition against the Cayuses in 1848 was organized mainly at Oregon City, and in pursuance of a special message of Governor Abernethy to the provisional legislature on December 8, 1847. Action was promptly taken on the governor's message, J. W. Nesmith moving that a company of fifty riflemen be organized by the government; and on the evening of the same day at a citizens' meeting in Oregon City forty-five volunteers were enrolled on the spot ; and the next day started up the Columbia to the Dalles to be in position to protect the settlers with a total muster roll of forty-eight men.
It is not intended, as it is not the province of this history to enter into any detail of the Indian wars ; but only to note that in that as in all other matters affecting the interests of all this region the citizens of Portland have always taken an active part. Col. W. W. Chapman, one of the Portland townsite proprietors took an active part in the Rogue river Indian war; while Stephen Coffin, another of the Portland townsite proprietors, had, as brigadier general of the militia, the command of the state forces during the war to suppress the southern rebellion.
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REPRESENTATIVE OREGON INDIANS Left hand above — Joseph. Chief of the Nez Perces, Statesman and General. Right hand above — Fish Hawk, war chief and fierce fighter of the Cayuses. Below — Paul Show- a-Way, the dandy.