, 1889-11-14
sPOKXNE FALLS NOR. II. 1ss
STATE OF WASHINGTON.

The mantle of statehood has fallen
upon Washington, and the labors of
q generation find consummation in
the highest type of government.
That the change has come SO quietly,
without perceptlble jar in the ma
chinery of government, is strong
proof of the value and stability of
American institutions. The 1lth
day of November has become a
chronological mark that time can
never efface. Other days rich In
memory and historic Importance
will come to us with the rolling
years, but none, nor all, can obliter-
ate the day that brought the bloom
of sovereignty to the fair state OF
Washington.
In this hour of triumphant admis-
sion to the union of states 1t is well
to take backward flight and look
upon the birth Of the territory
whose development into the full
powers of statehood we now cele-
brate, and briefly to review the
causes that have led to this magnifi-
cent contamination. Soon after the
conclusion of the treaty Of 'joint oc
cupation," In 1918, Great Britain he
gan to assert her claim to all that
territory north of the Columbia
river, and even below that stream,
and finally made overtures looking
to compromise by which she
would have placed under her
flag all of the territory now
embraced within the state of
Washington. This assertion was
reinforced by the outposts of the
Hudson Bay Fur Company, with
headquarters ut Vancouver, upon
the southern border.
A wise stroke of craftsmanship
upon the part of the administration
at Washington undoubtedly swept
aside the claims of England, and
forever placed that fair domain, then
an almost worthless wilderness, un-
der the sovereignty of the flag of the
United States. The passage of the
donation land act, under which
every man and wife could secure
title to one square mile of rich val
ley land, in region of favored eli
mate, sent a stream of hardy immi-
grants out of the then border states,
which paused not until the shores
of the Pacific interposed barrier to
their westward movement. Against
this argument of actual occupation
by American home-seekers the
claim of Great Britain was as a
broken reed. The history of Oregon
territory, out of which Washington
was afterwards created, Is familiar
to most of our readers, and need not
be dwelt upon at this moment. In
1S49 the territory was organized, and
four years later Washington was cut
away and formed into the territorial
government which ended yesterday
afternoon at 5:27 p. NJ, Washington
time.
From 1859 to 1858 Washington
comprised the greater part of Idaho,
but since the latter date 1t has had
its present boundaries
Primarily we owe our existence as
state to-day to the Anglo-Saxon
instructive desire for land, which
caused n hardy, fearless class OF
Americans to sever ties of home and
kindred, and to brave the perils OF
a long journey through a wild
region, peopled only by wandering
bands of Indians and an occasional
trapper, in order to reach fair but
distant country where man and
wife could gain $40 acres of the best
land in the United States. In this
hour of fruition of our hopes, when
Washington takes her place In the
circle of the sisterhood of states,
and Columbia adds another star to
the azure field Of her beautiful ban.
ner, let us turn with feelings OF
gratitude to the bravo and manly
pioneers who wrcsted this ia.r land
from the claim of England, and
made possible that which we now