OREGON. 



617 



A Farmers' Convention was held at Salem on 

 the 10th of April, and was well attended by 

 delegates from all parts of the State. A series 

 of resolutions was adopted, advocating meas- 

 ures in favor of the agricultural interests of 

 the State. On the 24th of September a con- 

 vention of the Patrons of Husbandry of Oregon 

 and Washington Territory was held at Salem. 

 Thirty-nine Oregon and five Washington Ter- 

 ritory Granges were represented. The condi- 

 tion and aim of the order was thus reported 

 by the committee on that subject : 



That, notwithstanding our order having been but 

 recently organized in Oregon and Washington Ter- 

 ritory, we nave accomplished much toward the fur- 

 therance of our objects and principles, and, from the 

 earnestness with which our people are entering into 

 the movement, we feel confident that we can and will 

 succeed in carrying out our purposes. 



SetolwJ, That in addition to the various purposes 

 of the Patrons of Husbandry, as get forth in tho 

 Constitution and By-laws, looking to our social, 

 intellectual and material advancement, we, as the 

 State Grange of Oregon and Washington Territory, 

 believe it our duty to mature and put in practice, 

 through our Subordinate and State Grange, at the 

 earliest possible date, the most feasible plan for ac- 

 complishing the following objects : 



1. The establishment of a cooperative system of 

 trade, by which producers and consumers shall deal 

 as directly with each other as possible. 



2. Tiie purchase of farming implements, machinery, 

 and sacks, at the manufacturers' lowest rates, making 

 no invidious distinction in the mode of purchasing 

 headers, mowing-machines, and farming implements. 



8. The disposal of our grain and other farm pro- 

 ductions at the highest market value, or direct ship- 

 ments on the most favorable terms, or the storage of 

 our grain at low rates, drawing upon it advances to 

 the largest amount practicable, at the lowest rates of 

 intercut, receiving sack for sack in its delivery. 



4. The establishment of Grange stores. 



5. The gradual substitution of cash for credit sys- 

 tem. 



6. The eventual introduction of shipment in bulk. 

 Ketolced, That we believe it our duty to endeavor 



to secure by all legitimate means such legislation as 

 will bent protect us against all ills of which we may 

 justly complain, to labor for reduction and regulation 

 of railroad freights and fares, and the reduction and 

 regulation of ocean freights by reducing port charges, 

 by abolishing the present system of rechartering 

 ships, by giving timely information to ship-owners 

 throughout the world of the amount of freight we can 

 furnish them, with a view to chartering sufficient 

 tonnage for our own purposes, and by offering other 

 inducements to draw to our coast such shipping as 

 will amply meet the requirements of each season, 

 including among these inducements the importation 

 to our State of the best classes of European laborers. 

 Xaaleed, That the interests of farmers, mechanics, 

 and our laboring-classes, are too closely allied to ad- 

 mit of any estrangement, and we deem it our duty 

 to patronize home mechanics in preference to foreign, 

 and would hero say that ours is not an organization 

 for the purpose of reducing or degrading mechanical 

 or field labor, but we consider it our best interest 

 to bestow liberal patronage and fair remunerative 

 wages on the mechanical and laboring skill of the 

 country. Although we propose to dispense with the 

 services of the middle-men, and buy directly from the 

 manufacturer, while we ship direct to the consumer, 

 we fail to see in what way the mechanic or laboring 

 man is to be injured. Our experience already 

 proven there it a material difference between the 

 manufacturers' prices and those of the retail dealer ; 

 also between the producers' prices and those of the 



European consumer. These differences being in our 

 favor, when we deal directly with the manufacturer 

 and consumer, we have money left to pay for other 

 manufactured articles, and extend our various en- 

 terprises, thus increasing, instead of diminishing, 

 the demand for mechanical and other skilled labor. 



Resolutions were adopted favoring the im- 

 provement of the Willamette and Oregon Kiv- 

 ers as measures of vital importance to the farm- 

 ers of Oregon. 



A convention of the Oregon State "Woman's 

 Suffrage Association was held at Portland in 

 February, when speeches were made and reso- 

 lutions adopted, urging that the right of voting 

 be conferred upon women. 



The Democratic State Convention assembled 

 in Portland on the 9th of September, and after 

 nominating J. W. Nesmith as a candidate for 

 Congress, adopted the following platform: 



The Democratic party of tho State of Oregon, in 

 convention assembled, do declare : 1. That we re- 

 cognize and support the legal and constitutional au- 

 thority of the Federal Government, but insist upon 

 the strict construction of the Federal Constitution as 

 necessary to the preservation of the inherent rights 

 of the people ; that we oppose centralization as the 

 most insidious and dangerous enemy of popular 

 rights, and will continue to denounce it in every 

 guise in which it may appear, that the several de- 

 partments of our Government, legislative, executive, 

 and judicial, are independent in their respective 

 spheres under the Constitution, and any attempt by 

 any one of them to usurp authority is destructive of 

 the constitutional rights and independence of the 

 others, and should be rejected as dangerous to civil 

 libertv. 



2. That justice demands a revision of our tariff 

 laws, with a view to secure revenue alone, and not 

 to tax the community in general for the benefit of 

 particular interests, and to the detriment of the labor- 

 ing-chesses of the community. 



8. That the wealth of the country is the product 

 of labor, and that we heartily favor such legislation 

 as has for its object the protection and support of 

 the producing and laboring classes. Capital protects 

 itself, while labor in its numerous and diversified 

 forms needs, and must havcj the fostering care of 

 prudent and skillful legislation, and particularly is 

 this true at this time, when the profits of production 

 are being swallowed up in extortionate rates of trans- 

 portation. 



4. That all corporations are subject to legislative 

 control ; those created by Congress should be re- 

 stricted and controlled by Congress, and those un- 

 der State laws be subject to the control of the States 

 creating them; and all corporations should be so 

 controlled as to prevent them from becoming en- 

 gines of oppression ; and also the property of all 

 corporations should be assessed and taxed at the 

 same rate as the property of individuals. 



6. That we view with great apprehension the wide- 

 spread corruption and dishonesty that has recently 

 marked pur public service, and considering as shame- 

 ful and iniquitous the recent act of Congress grant- 

 ing an increase of salaries, we demand its immediate 

 repeal, and we denounce every member of Congress, 

 Democrat or Republican, who supported the meas- 

 ure, and also the President of the United States, by 

 whose approval the infamous act became a law. 



6. That the act of the President in Betting up by 

 the bayonet a government in Louisiana not desired 

 by her people, and having no title whatever to rule 

 them, was a flagrant violation of her rights under the 

 Federal Constitution. 



7. That every department of the Government be- 

 ing in the hands of the Republicans, they are justly 

 responsible for the evils and wrongs in legislation 



