Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/43

Rh The establishment of the Oregonian, under the editorship of Mr. Dryer, marked a change in the political sentiment of the population. With the growth of the whig party the early political conditions were changed.

With the growing prominence of the slavery question and the formation of the republican party the change became greater still and the majority were ranged on the side that stood for the Union and against the institution of slavery. Every interest of Oregon became in some way involved in this great question, as in fact did the interests of every commonwealth. There was a strong Southern element in the population that had come from Missouri and there was some hope that the public opinion of Oregon might be made to count for secession and slavery. General Lane, a favorite son of Oregon, was candidate for the vice presidency upon the extreme Southern ticket. Nothing redounds more to the credit of Oregon than her stand against slavery and secession. The vote taken at the time that the question of slavery was submitted to the people for action, previous to the submission of a constitution to congress for ratification, shows the division of opinion, while the clause still kept in the constitution prohibiting free negroes is a historic reminder of the sensitive Southern spirit that could not endure to look upon a free negro if prohibited from keeping one in bondage.

A study of the social evolution of a community would not be complete without some mention of the institutions which arise among a population in response to the higher needs. Those impulses which lead to the broadening of the mental and the deepening of the moral nature are of