withdrawn, at the request of Applegate, McCarver withdrew his resignation, and matters went on more smoothly.
A resolution of Applegate's, that the people of Oregon were not, in, the opinion of the house, morally or legally bound by any acts of their officers or agents not expressly sanctioned by the instrument by virtue of which they had their official existence; and further, that the house could not assume in behalf of the people the payment of any debt, or the refunding of any funds borrowed, or otherwise unlawfully contracted or obtained, without first obtaining the consent of the people[1]—was adopted in a committee of the whole, three members, Gray, Foisy, and Straight, protesting formally on the ground that such expressions by the legislature tended to destroy the confidence of the people in their agents.[2] Applegate, who was determined that the temporary government should not be made a burden, but a blessing to the colonists, cared little for so flimsy a protest, well knowing that the people could discern who were guarding their interests.
Ever since the departure of the United States exploring expedition, there had been a feeling of dissatisfaction in the minds of the American colonists on account of the disposition made of the Peacock's launch by Wilkes, which became stronger as the political horizon grew darker, and as the needs of the colonists for all the means of the transportation were more pressing.
McClure of Astoria offered a resolution that a committee of three should be appointed to wait on Mc-
- ↑ Grover's Or. Archives, 93. This resolution appears to have been aimed at the disposition made of the estate of Ewing Young by the legislature of 1844. It was, however, in consonance with the spirit of a resolution by Garrison at the previous session, that the legislature had no right to tax the people without previously having obtained their consent, and which was adopted. Perhaps the suggestion of the governor that farms should be taxed as well as merchandise and live-stock was also referred to, the opposition to taxing land being very strong among the settlers.
- ↑ Grover's Or. Archives, 98-9; Gray's Hist. Or., 429.
