, 1886-03-18
The Fight for Law and Order in
Portland, Ore.

Inc f1BnL lOr LAW ana OrOer In
Portland, Ore.
PORTLAND, March l7.-This has been
a day of considerable excitement over the
anti Chinese agitation. Mayor Gates
called a meeting Of citizens here at .
O'Clock this afternoon, at the court house,
for the purpose of considering the alarm
ing growth of lawlessness consequent upon
the agitation of the question of unlawfully
drying out the Chinese. The call con-
Guided as follows:
1T seems to be high time for all good
people to come out and show the disrepu-
table outlaws that the local authorities
will be sustained by the people, and that
law and order must and will be maintained
in Portland"
About | o'clock, while the state circuit
court was still in session, Chinese agitat-
ors, numbering about 500, entered the
our room and took possession. They
came by a preconcerted movement from
Aiding, Fast Portland and other sur
rounding places. The court room will
hold about 800 people; so when the cit
zens arrived, only 300 could gain admis-
sion. About 2 o'clock an assemblage of
l,500, composed of the best elements Of
the city, gathered in the halls of the
smaller court rooms and on the outside Of
the buildings. The meeting was called to
order in the county court room, Mayor
Gates presiding. After a suitable pream-
BILE, the following resolutions were unani-
mouslY adopted:
Resolued By the citizens of Portland,
in mass meeting assembled, that it is our
duty to uphold law and order in this com
munity and that we will sustain and aid
the legal authorities in maintaining the
same; that we will maintain and sustain
the fundamental principles Of liberty and
humanity, as adopted by the founders of
the republic; that man has an inalieniable
right to life, liberty and the pursuit Of
happiness; and that these are inherent
rights Of which no one can unlawfully be
deprived, and that we will not allow any
one to be prevented, through violence or
intimidation, from working for a livell-
hood or be driven from house or home;
and we pledge our means, and If neces-
sary, our lives, to uphold these principles,
and that we will do all in our power to
bring condign punishment on any and all
who may be found engaged in riotous and
unlawful conduct
ResoluSd. That the chairman OF this
meeting appoint a committee OF fifteen
whose duty it shall be to consult with the
proper authorities and adopt such lawful
measures as they may deem advisable
under the circumstances, to the end that
peace and good order may prevail.
Tha agitators in the main court room
passed a series of buneombe resolutions,
declaring the city and county in a state Of
peace; declaring all attempts to incite one
class of the community against another as
inimicable to good order; promising to aid
in pulling down lawlessness, and conclud-
ed by declaring the Chinese must go.
The crowd endorsed the action of the
anti Coolie congress of Feb. Is, in boy
cotting the Daily Oregoaias, giving as a
reason that except for the bold stand
taken by the Orrgoaian the Chinese
would have been driven out long ago.
The Ore0onian tomorrow will, if posi-
Bile. be holder in its defiance of the mob and
its battle for law and order than before.