Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/364

Rh sion on the organization of a temporary government, the student of history can arrive at but one conclusion. The first object of the Missions was to secure large tracts of land. Having made their choice, finding the United States government slow to act in the matter of boundary and title, and fearing the encroachment of immigrants who might dispute with them their right to a land monopoly in certain localities, it was their only recourse to secure the establishment of a temporary government, or even an independent one, which should confirm by law the claims already taken or that might be taken under the law. It was not their policy to seem to be more anxious than other men, but rather to strive to make the settlers anxious about their welfare, and to use them to promote their own ends.

The scheme of government framed by the legislative committee of 1843 had a political significance imparted to it by Robert Shortess, which was not comprehended by the majority of American settlers who voted for it. By making its basis the ordinance of 1787, passed by congress for the government of the territories north of the Ohio River, besides its other excellent provisions, it was intended to settle the question of slavery west of the Rocky Mountains, as had been done in the north-western states. Also by extending jurisdiction over the whole of Oregon up to the time the United States should take possession of the country, the right of Great Britain to any part of it was ignored—a step in advance of the position publicly taken at this time by the government itself.

It is doubtful if, when all was done, the British residents of the territory, even McLoughlin himself, fully recognized the importance of what had taken place. This was the mistake which he often made in regard to American enterprises. He was slow