Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/153

Rh and though slander might seek to destroy him, it could not touch the destiny of the territory.

Between the time of the receipt of the first copy of the land bill and the writing of this letter partisan feeling had run high in Oregon, and the newspapers were filled with correspondence on the subject. Much of this newspaper writing would have wounded the delegate deeply, but he was spared from seeing it by the irregularity and insufficiency of the mail transportation, which brought him no Oregon papers for several months.

It soon became evident, notwithstanding the first impulse of the people to stand by their delegate, that a reaction was taking place, and the more generous-minded were ashamed of the position in which the eleventh section of the land bill placed them in the eyes of the world; that with the whole vast territory of Oregon wherein to pick and choose they must needs force an old man of venerable character from his just possessions for the un-American reason that he was a foreigner born, or had formerly been the honored head of a foreign company. It was well understood, too, whence came the direction of this vindictive action, and easily seen that it would operate against the real welfare of the territory.

The more time the people had in which to think over the matter, the more easily were they convinced that there were others who could fill Thurston's place without detriment to the public interests. An informal canvass then began, in which the names of