Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/466

448 and Matthew P. Deady delegates, with John K. Lamerick, John F. Miller, and John Adair as alternates; with instructions to use all their influence to procure the nomination in the Charleston convention of Joseph Lane for the presidency. Blinded by partisan zeal and the dangerous flattery of southern men and women, Lane had staked all on this desperate hazard; while the unwise action of his friends in allowing eight counties to be driven out of the Eugene convention apparently deprived him of any reasonable expectation of carrying his own state should he receive such nomination.

Under the state constitution the legislature and state officers were to be elected biennially on the first Monday in June. The first election having been held in 1858, there could be no other before June 1860; therefore, after the democratic convention of November, the people might have enjoyed exemption from the noise of politics had it not been that a cloud of party journals had fallen upon the land. Concerning the newspapers which sprung into existence about the time of the admission of Oregon, I have gathered the following chiefly from the Statesman, Argus, and Oregonian. Many of them had a brief existence, or so frequently changed their titles that it is difficult to follow them. Early in 1858 the Democratic Standard, which was established by Alonzo Leland in 1854, changed hands, and was edited by James O'Meara, as we have seen. It suspended in January 1859, but resumed publication in February. Not long after, the press was removed to Eugene City, where a paper called the Democratic Herald was started by Alex. Blakely, to be devoted to the interests of the Lane democracy. It survived but one year. Previously to this removal to Eugene, there had been a neutral paper published at that place called the Pacific Journal. This paper was purchased in 1858 by B. J. Pengra, and published as a republican journal under the name of The People's Press. A semi-weekly, called the Franklin Advertiser, was for a short time published in Portland by S. J. McCormick. Subsequently, in 1859, Leland of the Standard stated a paper at Portland, called the Daily Advertiser, 'got up as the Standard was, to crush out the Salem clique.' It was pro-slavery and anti-Bush. After running a few months it passed into the hands of S. J. McCormick as publisher, Leland withdrawing from the editorial chair. Geo. L. Curry became connected with it, when it was enlarged and published weekly as well as daily, McCormick introducing a steam press into his printing establishment. Previous to starting the Advertiser Leland had established the Daily News, the first daily paper in Oregon, in connection with S. A. English & Co., publishers. Hardly had it begun before it passed into the editorial charge of E. D. Shattuck, and a little later into the hands of W. D. Carter. The News then published a weekly, independent in politics, which had a brief existence. In December The only