Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/193

Rh rived for the next session of the legislature it found a large majority of both houses and one Justice of the Supreme Court sitting at Salem, with the rest of the supreme bench, the Governor and his appointees sitting at Oregon City.

The situation was a difficult one, and it was not relieved until on May 4, 1852, Congress settled the matter by confirming the "location" act and went on to declare that all proceedings had under it were done in conformity to law.

Thus the matter was settled and the third session of the territorial legislature, which had met at Salem pursuant to their own action, was relieved of the matter for the time being.

The territorial capital once being located, the next question was that of a building. Some money having already been appropriated by Congress for that purpose, a building committee was provided for, and the building began in 1854. According to the first plans, the building was to be a stone structure of Ionic style. After the foundation had been laid, the legislature became concerned that there would not be enough money to finish the building according to the original plans, so they changed the specifications from stone to wood, and from Ionic to Grecian-Doric style.

In 1855, at the sixth session of the territorial legislature, an act was passed relocating the seat of government at Corvallis, and also providing for a new building commission to erect suitable buildings at the newly chosen place. This was done, in spite of the fact that the new State House building at Salem was almost completed. The only argument advanced for the change was that Corvallis was at the head of navigation on the Willamette and was probably nearest the center of population of the territory.

The seventh session met at Corvallis, pursuant to law. About this time the officers of the United States Treasury Department ruled that no money appropriated by Congress for building at Salem could be expended elsewhere, nor could money appropriated for the mileage and pay of members, officers and clerks be paid them if a session should be held elsewhere than at Salem. This caused consternation among