OREGON. 



613 



the u r nnMi.| that it was inequitable, and that the 



liiihcl Slates should not, at this late date and 



after such long nonaction and acquiescence, 



ill Ic to the lands or claim a forfeiture of 



the same. 



Mount Hood. A petition was sent to Wash- 

 ington liy the Alpine Club in June, asking that 

 the entire Cascade range from Columbia river 

 south be withdrawn from settlement and made 

 a reservation ; or, in the event of that being im- 

 possible, a tract embracing Mount Hood and 

 vicinity, and extending to the limits of Bitter 

 Lake reservation, or, at least, Mount Hood and 

 vicinity. The main object is to establish a na- 

 tional park and to protect the game and fish. 



Improvement of Water nays. A commis- 

 sion was created by the Legislature, and author- 

 it y given to it to issue bonds to the amount of 

 $500.000 for the purpose of making permanent 

 improvements in the channels of the Willamette 

 and Columbia rivers from Portland to the sea. 

 The work has been performed, and the commis- 

 sion has closed its office and disbanded its engi- 

 neer corps, after expending $366,537.78. There 

 have been built 43,000 feet of dikes for contract- 

 ing the channel, and 159,500 cubic yards of 

 material have been dredged. The benefit of this 

 work is already apparent in the fact that during 

 the last three months of 1892 42 grain vessels 

 were dispatched from Portland docks, and but 

 3,600 tons were lightered, while during the same 

 period in 1891 8,200 tons were lightered for only 

 25 vessels. 



Orders have been given by the Government 

 for work for which the following appropriations 

 have been made : 



Entrance and harbor at Coos Bay, continuing $210,000 



Harbor at Yaquina Bay, continuing 85,000 



Tillaaiook bay 15,000 



Upper Columbia river, including Snake river, as far 



np as A - ii i n. continuing 16,000 



Ooquille river, continuing 25.000 



Mouth of Siuslaw river, continuing 20,000 



Upper Coqnille river, between Coqullle City and 



Myrtle Point, to be used in deepening channel to 



4 feet at mean low water 5,000 



Upjier Snake river, between Hunting bridge and 



Seven Devils' mining district 20,000 



Nasel river, completing improvement 1,500 



Willapa river and harbor, of which $6,000 may be 



used for closing Mallboat slough 18,000 



Political. The State election was held on 

 June 6. A Supreme Judge and Representatives 

 in Congress were to be chosen, and also State 

 Senators and Representatives. The question 

 arose whether there would be a vacancy in the 

 office of Attorney-General. The last Legislature 

 created that office, and the Governor appointed 

 George E. Chamberlain. One section of the act 

 provided that an Attorney-General should be 

 chosen at the election in June, 1894, and another 

 that the Governor should appoint a suitable per- 

 son to fill the office until the next general elec- 

 tion. The question arose whether the regular 

 biennial election of this year came within the 

 meaning of the act, or whether Mr. Chamber- 

 lain should hold over until 1894. It was decided 

 that the intent of the act was that the Govern- 

 or's appointment was to hold until the people 

 should have an opportunity to choose, and that 

 that opportunity was afforded by the election of 

 this year. Only the Republican and Democratic 

 parties made nominations for the office. 



The State Convention of Republicans was held 

 "ii April 6. Following are the more significant 

 declarations of the platform : 



We reaffirm our devotion to the Republican doc- 

 trine of protection for our home industries against 

 injurious foreign competition, and recognize th<- 

 McKinley bill as the ablest expression ot that prin- 

 ciple, enacted in fulfillment of Republican promises, 

 and as affording equal protection to the manufactur- 

 ers, the mechanics, and workingmen of America 

 from an unjust and degrading competition with the 

 pauperized and poverty-stricken labor of European 

 countries, and as preserving American markets for 

 the products of American labor. 



We denounce the Democratic doctrine of free trade 

 in so-called " raw materials," while insisting upon a 

 high protective tariff on goods manufactured there- 

 from, as calculated to benefit entirely the foreign at 

 the expense and to the great injury of the American 

 producer. We regard the reciprocity clause of the 

 McKinley law as a wise and masterly stroke of Re- 

 publican statesmanship, under the operation of which 

 protection guards the home market, while reciprocity 

 reaches out to the foreign market. While protection 

 establishes, builds up, and maintains American indus- 

 tries, reciprocity opens a new outlet for the surplus 

 products of our farms, workshops, and factories. 



We demand protection for the wool industry equal 

 to that accorded the most favored manufacturer of 

 wool, so that in due time American wool-growers 

 will supply all wool of every kind required tor con- 

 sumption in the United States. 



Thoroughly believing that gold and silver should 

 form the basis of all circulating medium, we indorse 

 the amended coinage act of the last Republican Con- 

 gress, by which the entire production of the silver 

 mines of the United States is added to the currency 

 of the people. 



We are heartily, in favor of the passage by Con- 

 gress of the bill providing for a boat railway at the 

 Dalles of the Columbia river, which has been twice 

 passed through the Senate by the efforts of Senators 

 Mitchell and Dolph. 



We demand the appropriation by Congress of a 

 sum sufficient to complete the work at the cascade 

 locks, and that the work of completing the same be 

 let by contract. 



We are opposed to the immigration of Chinese la- 

 borers to the United States, and demand such an ex- 

 tension of existing laws as shall effectually and for- 

 ever exclude Chinese laborers from American soil. 



We are in favor of an amendment to the Constitu 

 tion of the United States providing for the election of 

 United States Senators by a direct vote of the people. 



Following were the nominations: For Su- 

 preme Judge, Frank A. Moore; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Lionel R. Webster; members of Congress, 

 Binger Hermann, W. R. Ellis. 



The convention of Democrats, held in Port- 

 land, April 21, left its delegation to the national 

 convention uninstructed, though declaring in 

 favor of Mr. Cleveland's nomination. The plat- 

 form reaffirmed the doctrine of the Democratic 

 national conventions of 1884 and 1888, pointed 

 with pride to the administration of Grover 

 Cleveland, and condemned the extravagance of 

 the "billion-dollar Congress "and the McKinley 

 bill. On the subject of the tariff it foreshad- 

 owed the platform of the national convention 

 by denying the ' right of the Government to levy 

 a protective tariff except as incidental to the 

 raising of revenue to defray the expenses of the 

 Government economically administered, or for 

 any consideration save those of public welfare." 

 It demanded that " all money coined or issued by 

 the United States should be of equal monetary 



