FINANCIAL HISTORY OF OREGON. 141 the decade, however, the inevitable reaction from such over- excitement had brought on hard times. California, too, had begun the development of her own supplying industries. The condition of Oregon henceforth for a generation was that of a community rich in undeveloped resources where the means for a rude existence are easy, but which was without the salutary influence of neighboring communities of advanced activities and conditions of life. To the mines opened up in new lo- calities were shipped the products of farm and ranch. The gold received in return was paid out for imported staples. In the course of years this system of circulation seemed to drain their coffers lower and lower. It was not laying the founda- tion for a permanently progressive community. The wiser heads were urging the introduction of manufactures. 24 II. Public Expenditures of National Funds. Special Appropriations. The civil law and order secured through the agency of the Provisional Government had been paid for by the Oregon people without any aid from outside sources. When, however, the authority of the officials of that government came to an end early in 1849, a large part of the fiscal burden for the civil establishment, as is the rule under a territorial organization, was assumed by the federal treasury. The appropriations by Congress for Oregon Territory were disbursed through two distinct agencies. The special appro- priations for the creation of a territorial library, for the building of a penitentiary and for a state house, were audited by the successive governors. Those to meet the current ex- penses in maintaining the different departments of the govern- ment passed through the hands of the Secretary of the Terri- tory. The Territorial Library. The five-thousand-dollar appro- priation for a territorial library incorporated in the act organizing the Territory 25 was quite naturally placed at the 24 See Messages of Governor Whiteaker. 25 Statutes of Oregon, Second Session, p. 46.
