Governor Whiteaker called a special session of the legislature in May, 1859, and stated in his message that the object of the session was to adapt the existing laws to the new state government, and elect a United States Senator in place of Delazon Smith, whose term had expired. General Lane had drawn the long term which ended March 3, 1861, and Smith the short term which ended March 3, 1859. On the fourteenth day of February, 1859, Senators Lane and Smith and Representative Grover took their seats in congress. This special session, after a good deal of wrangling, adjourned without any election.
Preparatory to the June election in 1860, a republican state convention was held at Salem, at which David Logan was again nominated for congress. The resolutions were similar to those of 1859, with a strong protest against the Dred Scott decision. A democratic convention was held at Eugene City, at which there was a serious disagreement among the delegates. Several counties had decided that the state democratic convention had not given them the number of delegates to which they were entitled, and as the convention decided to adhere to the apportionment made by the committee, several delegates withdrew from the convention, after which George K. Shiel was nominated for congress, and Joseph Lane, M. P. Deady and Lansing Stout were chosen delegates to the national democratic convention, and instructed to vote for General Lane as the democratic candidate for president. Shiel was elected with seventy-six majority over Logan. The agitation of the slavery question had now reached a crisis. The good Lord and good devil style of politics had become disgusting. I made up my mind that, as far as my opportunities allowed, I would resist the further aggression of the slave power and oppose the election to office of those who favored it. Accordingly, in the month
