, 1852-12-11
No. IA.
MEMORIAL.

sssembled.
The memorial Of the undersigned, dele
gates Of the citizens of Northern Oregon in
Convention assembled, respectfully Tepre-
sent to your honorable bodies that It Is tfie
earnest desire of your petitioners and Of said
citizens that all that portion Of Oregon Ter
ritory lying north of the Columbia river and
west of the great norihefn branch thereof,
should be organized as a separate Territory,
under the name and style Of the I" Territory
Of Columbia"
lnsupport Of the prayer oflhis memorial,
your petitioners would respectfully urge the
following among many other reasons
/. The present Territory Of Oregon,
containing an area of 341 900 square miles,
is entirely too large an extent Of territory 10
be embraced within the limits Of one Slate.
2. The said Territory possesses a sea-
coast Of 65O miles in extent; the country
east of the Cascade mountains is bound 10
that on the coast by the strongest ties Of in
terest-and, inasmuch as your petitioners
believe that the Territory must inevitably
be divided at no very distant day, they are
Of opinion that it would be unjust that one
/ u
the exclusion Of that in The interior.
8. The territory embraced within The
said boundaries Of the proposed " Territory
of Columbia" containing an area of about
$4,000 square miles, is. in the opinion of
your petitioners, about q fair and Just medi-
um Of territorial extent to form one State.
4. The proposed " Territory Of Colum-
bia "presonts natural resources capable of
supporting population at least as large as
that of any state in the Union possessing
IN equal extent Of territory.
5. Those portions Of Oregon Territory
lying respectively north and south Of the
Columbia river, must, fiom theirgeographi-
cal position, always rival each other in com
mercial advantages, aud their respective
citizens must, as they now are and always
have been, be actuated BY spirit of oPPO-
sition. q y
6. The southern part of Oregon Terri
tory, having a majority of voters, have con-
trolled the The Territorial Legislature, and
Northern Oregon has never received any
benefit from the appropriations made by
Congress for said Territory which we're sub
jeet to the disposition Of said Legislature.
Z. The seat of the Territorial Legisla-
ture is now situated, by the nearest practi-
cable route, at distance of 500 miles from
large portion Of the citizens Of Northern
Oregon.
s. "A great part ofihe Legislation suitable
to the south is, for local reasons, opposed 10
the interests Of the north, and inasmuch as
the south has a majority of voters, and rep
reseniatives are always bound to reflect the
will Of their constituents, your petitioners
can entertain no reasonable hopes that their
legislative wants will ever be properly re-
garded under The present organization.
9. Experience has, in the opinion of
your petitioners, well established The prin-
ciple, that in States having a moderate sized
territory, the wants of The people are more
easily made known to their representatives,
there is less danger of a conflict between
SECTIONAL interests, and more prompt aad
adequate legislation can always be Obtained.
In conclusion, your petitioners would re-
spectfully represent that Northern Oregon,
with its great natural resources, presenting
such unparalleled inducements TO emigranls,
and with its present large population, con-
stanlly and rapidly increasing by immigra-
tion, is Of suficientimportance, in a national
point Of view, to merit the fostering care of
Congress; and its interests are so numerous
and so entirely distinct in their character
as 10 demand the attention Of separate aud
independent Legislature.
n Wherefore your petitioners humbly pray
that your honorable bodies win, at an early
day, pass law organizing the district Of
country before described under Territorial
Government 10 Be named The Territory Of
Columbia"
Done in Convention assembled at the
town Of Monticello, Oregon Territory, this
Goth day Of November, A D. 1852