seen that speeches in the convention for or against slavery, as an institution, or as to its adoption or rejection by the people of Oregon, would have been wholly out of place and insultingly impertinent. And, as a matter of fact, no pro- or anti-slavery speeches were made in the convention by anybody.
Early in the session Jesse Applegate, a noted anti-slavery man, introduced a resolution to prohibit the discussion of the slavery question in the convention, and this resolution was very promptly and properly voted down.
This was a tactical blunder, and rather a strange move for the "Sage of Yoncalla" to make; and there is no accounting for it except upon the assumption that he feared a trick would be played, as in Kansas, and slavery be forced upon the people of Oregon without their consent. It may be inferred that he was alarmed by the selection of Matthew P. Deady, the most influential pro-slavery man in the Territory, to be president of the convention, and the further fact that democratic partisans were largely in the majority and reticent as to their intentions concerning slavery.
I never had any other opinion at that time, and have learned of nothing since contrawise, than that the Oregon democrats intended to conform to Stephen A. Douglas's Squatter Sovereignty doctrine and give the people of Oregon a square submission of the slavery question. Only one other tactical mistake was made during the session of the convention, concerning slavery. John R. McBride had promised his constituents that he would exert himself to place a clause in the constitution prohibiting slavery, and this was very summarily disposed of—voted down by the help of anti-slavery whigs who had promised him support. Likely Mr. McBride fulfilled his promise to his constituents in opposition to his better judgment, for to have grafted such a clause in the body of the instrument would have turned every pro-slavery voter into an opponent of the constitution as a whole—would have certainly insured its defeat at the polls and kept a free state out of the Union when the political strength of a free common-
