POLITICAL PARTIES IN OREGON 257 the Statesman and defending themselves. Bush carried Stout's name at the head of the ticket in the Statesman. He did noth- ing- for his election, however, merely damning him with faint praise very faint, indeed. Almost the entire editorial space of the Statesman was devoted to the detraction and defamation of Smith and Lane, vituperative and scurrilous to the last de- gree ; especially when directed against Delazon Smith, or "De- lusion" Smith, as he was universally referred to by his political enemies. This tendency of Oregon journalism towards the Billingsgate, which had always been pronounced and which became known as the "Oregon Style," reached its height, or rather, depth, during this period. David Logan was a very conservative Republican, to say the least. He could almost as truly be termed a Douglas Demo- crat. But he was the logical candidate to run upon the Repub- lican platform adopted in April. It had declared for popular sov- ereignty, "in deference to the prevailing public sentiment" as Bush said, 1 and Logan, in harmony with a few independent Re- publicans like Eli Thayer, was a hearty supporter of the doc- trine, which he now freely proclaimed. In this he was strong- ly supported by the Oregonian which declared that the Repub- lican party of Oregon stood firmly pledged to non-interven- tion. 2 It is not to be presumed that this position upon the ques- tion was pleasing to all the Republicans of the state, by any means. A very different class of men rallied round the Repub- lican standard in 1858 and 1859, from those who had set up that standard in the Territory, and who for their devotion to the cause of human freedom had been known by the inelegant but expressive term "dam-Black Republican." The growing success of the party in the East, and the admission of Oregon to statehood, which would bring Oregon Republicans in direct con- nection with the National organization, was exerting a decisive influence. Many, who had taken no active interest in the great moral issues at stake, seeing an opportunity to aid in the defeat of the Democratic party and to advance their own fortunes, i Statesman, Aug. 2. 2Oregonian, Aug. 6.
