Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 23.djvu/258



210 VERNE BLUE

a settlement of Oregon, so readily, let us say, as they had undertaken the settlement of Kentucky or the Ohio River country.

However, Benton, now in the Senate, took action to keep the Oregon affair alive. On February 14th he proffered a resolution inquiring as to the expediency of enabling the President to take possession of the United States territory on the northwest coast. 32 February 17th it was amended and agreed to. Thus was the torch kept burning. Oregon's friends, beaten in the first fight, were girding themselves anew for the second battle.

The course of this first period of action has been given thus fully, and perhaps dully, as an accompanying circumstance, in order to show the actual amount of in- terest and consideration given to Oregon, to show the untiring activity of Floyd, and to indicate that which is more interesting than important, that Congresses of one day differ little from those of another.

To trace the details of the next campaign would not be extremely fruitful notwithstanding that it met with a half-success. A brief summary will suffice: "The pioneer work of the 17th Congress was actively followed up by its success. The not too discouraging results of 1822-23 were the prelude of the more determined assault in 1823-24, followed by the campaign of 1824-25 which resulted in the passage of the bill by the House." On December 23, 1824, Floyd had the satisfaction of seeing his bill authorizing the President to occupy with a mili- tary force and to set up a territorial government, passed by a vote of 113 to 57.

The cause for this change of heart on the part of the House can be explained by the fact that the weight of government approval was given to the bill. Both the Secretary of State and Monroe had simply been biding their time waiting to get other matters off their hands which to them seemed more important before turning

32 Op. ciL, pp. 235-246.