EDUCATION IN CONVENTION OF 1857 221
population to move there in a short time. This with the natural hindrances in the earlier beginnings of educa- tion were sufficient to defeat the issue from a practical point of view. As a result in two years the provision for a state superintendent of public instruction was re- pealed. Growing out of this system two counties 3 hav- ing more concentrated population, in 1854 organized their school systems and divided the counties into districts. The prominent feature resulting from Rev. Atkinson's system was the preparing of public opinion and senti- ment for the progressive constitutional measures that were adopted with little opposition in the state conven- tion.
The importance of the work of the convention is very evident when the influence of the constitution in shaping the future is considered. The constitution outlines and directs the educational development. The main prin- ciples remain in the educational system. The constitu- tion was very difficult and expensive to change, requiring a majority vote of the people, after the legislature rec- ommends it for the people to vote on. Legislative laws merely required a majority vote of their bodies to change or repeal them.
Oregon being among the later group of states to de- velop and form a constitution, naturally her constitution was modeled after the earlier ones. Oregon was settled largely by people from older, more developed states and consequently her educational system would be similar to the systems of the older states. In the older states there are three types of constitutional provisions for education that served as a basis for Oregon. These types are rep- resentative of three periods 4 of development. The first period, beginning with the nation's independence and lasting up to the year 1803, was characterized by short
3 Marion and Multnomah counties.
4 Following Hindsdale's Report of U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1892-93, Vol. 2, p. 1312.
