OREGON. 



675 



vatc right and promotion of justice should be the 

 principal aim ; that taxation should bo equal and 

 uniform, and extravagant expenditures of the pub- 

 lic revenues be avoided. Economy should be the 

 watchword, and rigorous laws be enacted for the 

 management and preservation of the various funds 

 belonging to the State. 



10. That, we are in favor of improvement by the 

 General Government of the rivers and harbors of the 

 State ; of the opening of the Columbia River at the 

 Cascades and Dalles ; of the improvement of the 

 Snake River, and of a subsidy for the Portland, Salt 

 Lake, and South Pass Railroad ; of an extension of 

 time to complete the Northern Pacific Railroad under 

 such reasonable conditions as will preserve the 

 rights and interests of the people of the State, and 

 the settlers upon the lands donated to it. Also for 

 a subsidy for the speedy completion of a railroad 

 connection between Oregon and California. 



11. That universal education and the general dif- 

 fusion of learning being the principal bulwark of 

 American liberty, we are in favor of sustaining and 

 protecting our public school system for the faithful 

 education of the rising generation. 



The Republican State Convention assembled 

 at Portland on April 17th, and was organized 

 by the appointment of J. 0. Peebles as Presi- 

 dent. The following nominations for Con- 

 gress and State officers, were made: For Con- 

 gress, H. K. Hines; for Governor, C. C. 

 Beekman ; for Secretary of State, R. P. Ear- 

 hart ; for State Treasurer, E. Hirsch ; for State 

 Printer, W. B. Carter ; for Superintendent of 

 Schools, L. J. Powell. The following plat- 

 form was then adopted : 



1. The Republican party of Oregon in Conven- 

 tion assembled look with pride upon the general 

 conduct and history of the party, and reaffirm our 

 devotion to the fundamental principles upon which 

 the Republican party was founded. Among these 

 are unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and per- 

 petuity of the Union; the preservation of the liber- 

 ties and equal rights of all citizens throughout the 

 nation, and the impartial administration of the laws 

 in every part of the country, for the protection and 

 enforcement of public and private rights and the 

 punishment of violence and crime ; pure and eco- 

 nomical administration of every department of the 

 Government, State and National ; and we pledge the 

 support of the Republican party to all measures 

 honestly proposed and wisely designed to promote 

 the prosperity of the people. 



2. That a well-instructed people alone can be per- 

 manently free. It is therefore essential that the 

 public school system shall be maintained in order 

 that every child may; receive such education as will 

 pave the way to useful citizenship, and we are un- 

 alterably opposed to any diversion of the public 

 school money. 



3. That while we are in favor of a revenue for the 

 support of the General Government by duties on 

 imports, sound policy requires such adjustment of 

 those duties as to encourage the development of 

 the industrial interests of the whole country, and we 

 commend that policy of national exchange which se- 

 cures to the workingmen liberal wages, to the agri- 

 cultural, coal, and wool-growing interests remunera- 

 tive prices, and the nation commercial prosperity 

 and independence. 



4. That we are in favor of such legislation on the 

 part of Congress as will authorize settlers to appro- 

 priate such amounts of timber as may be necessary 

 for their use. 



5. That we are in favor of judicious appropriations 

 by the General Government for the improvement of 

 our rivers and seaports, as well as for the construc- 



tion of such lines of railway communication as will 

 develop the resources of the country and connect 

 our State with other parts of the Union, under such 

 restrictions as will amply protect the rights of the 

 people from unjust discrimination and extortionate 

 charges ; and that in the grants of lands to railroads 

 we favor the sale of the same by the Government to 

 the people at the lowest price for public lands, giv- 

 ing the proceeds only to the corporations. 



6. That we are in favor of maintaining the public 

 faith and credit by the honest fulfillment of our na- 

 tional contracts in their spirit as well as in the letter. 

 That the present condition of our public credit, and 

 the fact that resumption of specie payments has al- 

 ready been practically accomplished, demonstrate 

 the wisdom of the financial policy of the Republican 

 party, and we are opposed to the repeal of the re- 

 sumption act and to repudiation in any form ; that 

 we favor a uniform currency, founded upon a coin 

 basis, interchangeable and convertible at par at the 

 pleasure of the holder. 



7. That we condemn in the most positive manner 

 the reckless and corrupt Democratic administration 

 of our' State affairs, which has in the last eight years 

 heaped up a State debt of nearly $1,000,000 in direct 

 violation of the Constitution, and that has created 

 new offices and increased officers only to eat up the 

 substance of the people, and which has robbed and 

 mismanaged the State school and university funds, 

 loaning them to partisan favorites on straw securi- 

 ties. 



8. That the office of State Printer ought to be 

 abolished, and the contract let to the lowest respon- 

 sible bidder. 



9. That the attempt by the leaders of the Demo- 

 cratic party of Oregon to defraud the people out of 

 an electoral vote was an outrage unparalleled in the 

 political history of the State, and deserving the con- 

 demnation of all fair-minded men. 



10. That we heartily endorse the efforts of the 

 members of Congress from the Pacific coast to so 

 modify the existing treaty with China as to restrict 

 it to commercial purposes only. 



The result of the election was as follows : 

 For Congress Hines, Repub., 15,593; J. 

 Whiteaker, Dem., 16,744; T. F. Campbell, 

 Gr., 1,183. For Governor C. C. Beekman, 

 Repub., 16,152 ; W. W. Thayer, Dem., 16,196 ; 

 M. Wilkins, Gr., 1,377. For Secretary of State 

 R. P. Earhart, Repub., 16,333; T. G. 

 Reames, Dem., 16,042 ; W. A. Cates, Gr., 1,- 

 447. For Treasurer E. Hirsch, Repub., 16,- 

 643 ; A. H. Brown, Dem., 15,571 ; F. Suth- 

 erlin, Gr., 811. For State Printer W. B. 

 Carter, Repub., 16,430; A. Noltner, Dem., 

 15,856; D. W. Craig, Gr., 1,437. For Su- 

 perintendent of Public Schools L. J. Powell, 

 Repub., 16,159; T. J. Stites, Dem., 16,097; 

 W. W. Parker, Gr., 1,437. The total vote of 

 the State was 33,920, being an increase of 

 4,047 over that of the Presidential election in 

 1876. 



The Oregon Legislature is composed of 30 

 Senators and 60 members of the House ; 15 Sen- 

 ators held over from the last session, of whom 

 10 were Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 1 Inde- 

 pendent. The session commenced on Septem- 

 ber 9th. The Senate consisted of 18 Demo- 

 crats, 10 Republicans, and 2 Independents, 

 and was organized by the election of John 

 Whiteaker for President. The House, consist- 

 ing of 33 Democrats, 25 Republicans, and 2 

 Independents, was organized by the election 



