Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 23.djvu/400



350 CHARLES HENRY CAREY

they have determined to govern themselves until the United States Government shall extend its jurisdiction over them; the religious condition of the country, the present state and prospects of our mission in that far off region, and the great importance of the Oregon Institute, both to the country and to the mission. With a few unimportant omissions, this document was published in three successive numbers of the Christian Advocate and Journal, where all the various topics may be seen fully and interestingly elaborated. We extract only that por- tion which relates to our mission. The views here pre- sented, it will be seen, go strongly to sustain the course of our Superintendent in relation to the secular affairs of our mission. The following are the extracts:

"THE M. E. CHURCH IN OREGON. It is not my design to trace the history of the Oregon Mission through all its different stages of prosperity, adversity and revo- lution, from its commencement to the present time, how- ever interesting such an exhibit might be ; but simply to present it in its present state as it regards numbers, piety and efforts for the promotion of the cause of Christ. In this it will be necessary to speak of some of the changes which have taken place since the arrival of Rev. G. Gary, our present Superintendent. These changes relate principally to the fiscal concerns of the mission. These concerns existed in the different departments of land claims to large tracts of land, amounting in all to thirty-six sections, claims to city lots, farming, merchan- dising, blacksmithing, carpentering, cabinet-making, grazing, horse-keeping, lumbering and flouring, with the constant trading, hiring and paying, attendant upon all these branches. It is only enough to mention this un- heard of amount of temporal business in connection with any mission, to convince all that it must be a very great clog to the performance of any spiritual work. The in- fluence of the multiplicity of business, and the accumu- lation of care and perplexity occasioned by the different