Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/55

 POLITICAL PARTIES IN OREGON 47 The Union State Convention of 1866 met at Corvallis, March 29. A young man from Multnomah County served as secre- tary of this convention. Since May of the preceding year he had been editor of the Oregonian and had already given evi- dence of that ability which was to give that journal the political prestige in Oregon which had been held by Bush and the Statesman and which has later given the editorial page of the Oregonian a national reputation. The young man was Harvey W. Scott. The platform adopted was a clever piece of political strategy, in which its framers succeeded admirably in their evident de- termination to be as vague as possible on the struggle between Congress and the President and on the issues confronting the country. 60 It declared that as to the best plan of restoring the late revolted states to the exercise of all their functions in the Union and as to the legislation necessary to freedmen, loyal men "may honestly differ." A remarkable echo, this, sugges- tive of the days of the old Democratic regime when good Democrats were accorded the privilege of honestly differing on the slavery question. That "obstinacy and pride of opinion" was rebuked, where or by whom displayed, that would give strength to the enemies of the Union through discord and di- vision among the friends. The third resolution expressed a desire for a full recognition of all civil and political privileges to the people of the revolted states, as soon as compatible with national safety and the protection of the loyal people in those states. 61 Imprecations were heaped on the men or party who would countenance repudiating the national debt. A further evidence of the attempt to suit both the strict and loose con- structionists in the Union party was found in the declaration - "We will as we ever have, support the State Governments in 60 Proceedings, in Statesman, April 2. 61 Deady, April 6, to Bulletin: "This is evidently the work of those who sympathize with Congress and at the same time are not disposed to dogmatize, so as to leave no room for those who lean toward the President to act and vote with the party. It assumes rather than asserts that the relation of the 'late revolted states' with the Union is a matter within the authority and power of Congress. In the end, much depends upon the instincts and personal proclivities of the candidate who stands upon it."