USA > Washington > History of Washington; the rise and progress of an American state, Vol. IV > Part 12
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should be able to say, in explaining his vote, that he had not been offered even so much as an oyster supper for his influ- ence. The contesting towns at this time were Olympia and Vancouver, and Olympia easily won.
The university was located at Seattle at this same session, but with a branch at Boisfort in Lewis County, to which one-half of the two townships of land appropriated by Con- gress for the establishment of the institution was assigned, the purpose being apparently to make the branch in all respects equal to the main institution. But it soon became apparent that this was not a good arrangement, and, in January 1858, the act dividing the institution was repealed, and it was located at Cowlitz Farms. But if Boisfort had been badly chosen as a seat for a great institution of learning, the farms were not much better. It is true that they comprised the land which had been earliest cultivated in the territory. But they were still occupied only by the Hudson's Bay people, and American settlers were not more numerous in their vicinity than in many other portions of the territory. Most of the settlers knew where the farms were, which was more than could be said for Boisfort. A majority of them had passed them on their way from the Columbia to the Sound, but this in no way recommended them to favor for university purposes. No effort was ever made to begin building there, and it soon became apparent that none ever would be made.
The legislature which had fixed the seat of government of the territory at Olympia, in 1855, also located the peniten- tiary at Vancouver, the county seat of Clarke County, pro- vided ten acres of ground should be donated as a site for it, by the citizens of that place. A similar donation had been required from the citizens of Olympia, as a site for the
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capitol. In course of time the commissioners required by the several acts to procure the grounds, have them cleared, and proceed with the erection of the buildings, were appointed and duly qualified. Edmund Sylvester, proprietor of the townsite of Olympia, donated the ten acres required for the capitol, and a similar tract for the penitentiary was offered at Vancouver. But questions of title arose which were not easily settled, and as the evidences of title were required to be sent to Washington for approval, and as many explanations were asked for, many months were consumed in the correspondence, and it was not until late in Governor Stevens' term that the expenditure of the $5,000 appropriated by the organic act for a capitol building was begun. Even then only a small part of the capitol tract had been cleared, and the clearing afterwards proceeded so slowly that in Governor Gholson's time the building was seriously threat- ened by a fire in the surrounding woods.
In the winter of 1856-57, Congress had made another appropriation of $30,000 for new capitol buildings, but it had not been possible to make use of it. The prospect of buildings to the value of $30,000, in the condition of things at that time, made the capitol more than ever desirable, and as the session of 1859 approached, a plan was very quietly laid by the representatives from Clarke County to capture it for Vancouver. Early in the session-on the 6th of December, in fact-Mr. Short introduced a bill for the pur- pose, but it attracted very little attention from the people of Olympia. They had come to regard the seat of govern- ment as already fixed in their town, although they knew that, under the law, the legislature had power at any time to change it. But since ten acres of ground had been given by one of their citizens as a site, and as the gift had been
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accepted by the territory, the ground partially cleared, and a building supposed to have cost $5,000 erected thereon, there did not seem to them to be danger that the gift would now be repudiated and the building abandoned.
But eight days later the bill passed the House by a vote of 19 to 9, and then they became alarmed, as they had reason to be. They set themselves actively to work to defeat the bill in the Council, and, to their surprise, found the nine members of that body as equally divided as they could be, and Mr. Denny, who had been their friend in the former contest, and had cast the vote which settled the matter in their favor, was now against them. He had explained, a year earlier, that he believed Olympia to be as accessible to a majority of the people, and nearer the center of popu- lation than either Vancouver or Steilacoom. But now the situation had materially changed, in his view. The gold discoveries in the eastern part of the territory were taking a large number of people into that region, and it seemed likely that there might soon be more there than were now west of the mountains. The great river would for many years afford a more convenient means of travel than could be otherwise provided, until railroads should be built, and therefore Vancouver promised to be a most central and con- venient location.
As things then were, the argument appeared to have merit, and the friends of Vancouver seemed to have the battle won. The friends of Olympia and Steilacoom charged that the people of Portland were really directing the campaign for removal. They hoped, it was said, by transferring the capital to Vancouver, to give that town an impetus that would sometime make it part of their own, or failing that, that everybody who came to do business at the capital of
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Washington would bring business to the metropolis of Oregon. The newspapers at Olympia and Steilacoom made as much as possible of this argument, during the short time that the matter was pending in the Council, and finally, when the vote was taken, Olympia won again by a single vote.
But the fight for the capital was not ended by this vote, though most of the people seemed to think it was, and those in Olympia rested easy for the time being. The peniten- tiary commissioners proceeded to clear the ground they had secured at Vancouver, and to have stone hauled to it for the foundations of the proposed buildings. Plans for these buildings, and for the capitol at Olympia were prepared and sent to Washington for approval. During the year $4,143 was spent on the site for the penitentiary, and $1,720 on the capitol grounds.
Under the law the governor was made the custodian of the funds appropriated for both buildings, and was required to give bond as such, but Governor Gholson had never attended to this formality, as he feared that it might put him in an embarrassing situation. After the removal bill was defeated, the legislature had appointed three commissioners to direct the erection of the capitol building, with a provision that one of them be "acting commissioner," and the capitol fund was to be disbursed under their direction. Gholson was not willing to give bond for the proper disbursement of money that was to be disbursed at the order of somebody else, although it was reasonably apparent that nothing would be done until after the next meeting of the legislature, about disbursing any of it. Of the three commissioners appointed, one, E. S. Fowler, was from Port Townsend, and another, George Gallagher, was from Steilacoom, and Gallagher had been made acting commissioner. Steilacoom still hoped to
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be made the seat of government, and Gallagher very frankly told the governor that nothing would be done during the year to get the building started at Olympia. When Gholson returned to Kentucky a few weeks later, McGill* became acting governor, and being a man of more force and decision of character than Gholson, he set to work to expedite matters. He first filed the required bond, and on July 3d notified the commissioners that he had received part of the money which Congress had appropriated for the building. But the com- missioners showed no inclination to proceed with the work. Indeed Gallagher informed him that they were elected "not to go on with it," and McGill accordingly removed him and appointed R. M. Walker in his place.
But the new commissioner was able to do nothing. Ghol- son's letter had alarmed the authorities in Washington, and on August 22d the controller wrote McGill to make no ex- penditures for either the capitol or penitentiary, except for clearing the ground, until further instructed. He was also notified that the bureau of construction of the treasury department would prepare plans for both buildings.
So matters stood when the legislature assembled in Decem- ber 1860. By that time the capital location question had been so generally discussed that public interest in it was fully awakened. The partisans of the several towns seeking to secure not only the capital but the other public institutions were well organized, and had their plans perfected. Early in the session a bill "to permanently locate the seat of government," and declaring that it "shall be and remain at Vancouver in Clarke County," was introduced and easily passed. Other acts relocating the university at Seattle,
*Letter of Gholson to the controller of the treasury, February 23, 1860. Sec. House Journal, 1860, p. 115.
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and "permanently" locating the penitentiary at Port Town- send, soon followed. The dates of the passage of the capital and university acts are not given, but they are first and second in the volume of session laws for that year, and the penitentiary act is third, and its date is December IIth. As the House was not fully organized and its committees ap- pointed until the 6th, this must certainly be regarded as fairly expeditious legislation.
On January 30th an act instructing the librarian to remove the territorial library to Vancouver, the new seat of govern- ment, was passed, and one day later, which was the last day of the session, "an act requesting the vote of the people of the territory of Washington relative to the seat of govern- ment," was also passed.
As matters now stood the legislature had enacted that the capital of the territory should henceforth "be and remain" at Vancouver, and then asked the qualified voters to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with what it had done. Whether it was the expectation of the members that their successors would rescind their action by repealing the act, in case the vote should be unfavorable, cannot now be determined. It seems probable rather that they, or a majority of them at least, realized that they had exceeded their authority, and they hoped to get the approval of the people to confirm or strengthen their action, if not to excuse it. The organic act provided that they might locate the seat of government, but that the location should still "be subject
to be changed by said legislative assembly."
It was clear,
therefore, that their attempt to make the location at Van- couver final would fail unless approved by the popular will.
A vote was taken at the ensuing election and the removal was not sustained. Of the 2,316 votes cast, 1,239 favored
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Olympia, 639 Vancouver, and 253 Steilacoom; the remain- der were divided between Seattle, Walla Walla and Port Townsend.
When the time for the next legislature to assemble arrived, in December following, the members were in doubt as to where they ought to assemble, just as some of those in Oregon had been in doubt when the capital of that territory was removed from Oregon City to Salem. Most of them went to Olympia, and met and adjourned from day to day until a quorum should arrive. Some went to Vancouver, but they did not, as Columbia Lancaster and his associates had done on that earlier occasion, attempt to organize a hopeless minority, or prepare any futile memorials. The question of the validity of the removal act had been made up for submission to the supreme court, and the court had assembled at the earlier seat of government. Thither the minority of the members soon betook themselves.
Soon after the legislature which had passed the acts remov- ing the capital, and submitting the question of removal to a vote of the people, had adjourned, it was found that the former act, as enrolled and signed by the president of the Council and speaker of the House, was without date, and had no enacting clause. These omissions, it was contended, made it null and void. It lacked identity and authority, and was in fact, in the language of the court, "without paternity." So far as any evidence it bore upon its face was concerned, it might be the act of a town council or any other unauthorized body.
When the case came on to be heard, a question of juris- diction was interposed. It was contended by those seeking to establish the validity of the act that the court had no authority to hear and determine the matter at Olympia.
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It was required by law to meet at the seat of government, and that had been removed to Vancouver. The question then raised affected all other cases on the docket, and it was agreed by counsel, and the court consented, that the decision made in this case should be decisive of all others.
The argument consumed three full days, and several of the most prominent lawyers of that day took part in it. The public interest in it was very great. The court was then composed of Christopher C. Hewitt, chief justice, and Ethelbert P. Oliphant and James E. Wyche, associate justices. Justice Oliphant delivered the opinion of the court, which was concurred in by the chief justice, Justice Wyche dissenting. The majority's opinion held that the legislature had exceeded its powers in declaring that the seat of government should "be and remain" at Vancouver; that the act had been made contingent upon the decision of the people, by the subsequent act requesting a vote at the next general election, and that an act without an enacting clause and without date is void. Justice Wyche, in his dissenting opinion, held that an enacting clause was not essential, where the act was published by authority, and where such a clause was not specifically required by the rules of the legislative body, or the organic law. He also held that the court had no authority to try cases at Olympia, and should adjourn to Vancouver.
So the capital question was settled for the time being, and it was not raised again until the territory was about to pass to statehood. Seattle got the university and kept it, but Port Townsend did not get the penitentiary, then or after- wards, nor was the penitentiary located or built until more than a dozen years later, when the government built one on McNeill's Island. Meantime the convicts were kept in
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the jails of such counties as had jails. Pierce County for several years had a majority of them in its jail at Steilacoom, and Sheriff Egbert H. Tucker was authorized to employ them in any reasonable way to help pay for "their board and keep."
The custom house had been removed from Olympia to Port Townsend in Colonel Ebey's time, and now the town was to lose it for a time, in a most unexpected way, and its people were to have no end of worry, anxiety and excitement before they should recover it again.
After the murder of Colonel Ebey, Morris H. Frost of Steilacoom became collector, and at the end of his term of four years, C. C. Phillips of Whidby Island held the place for something less than one year, when, in August 1861, Victor Smith of Ohio was appointed. Smith had been a neighbor of Secretary Chase, and appears to have enjoyed his confidence to a considerable degree. Before leaving Washington, Smith had received some general instructions, or suggestions, from Chase, who always felt that an unduly large share of responsibility for running the government rested on his shoulders, in regard to observing the general manage- ment of affairs in the territory, particularly as to the expendi- tures of public funds, that impressed him with the idea that he was to be a confidential agent of the government in the territory, as well as collector of customs for the Puget Sound district, and that as such he was an official of unusual authority and importance. Mr. Schuckers, who was Mr. Chase's private secretary, and also his biographer, says of Smith that he was a man of perfectly good character, but "not very likely to become popular on the Pacific Coast- or anywhere else. He believed in spirit rappings, and was an avowed abolitionist; he whined a great deal about
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progress; was somewhat arrogant in manner and intoler- ant in speech; and speedily made himself unpopular in office."
His conduct aroused opposition from the very beginning. His outspoken views on the slavery question made him objectionable to some; his arrogant manner was disagreeable to all who came in contact with him. He so evidently regarded himself as the sole representative of the national authority in the territory, and interfered so frequently in matters with which he had no concern, that he was soon in disfavor with other officials, and people generally began to complain. The mail service on the Sound had never been satisfactory, but it had recently been somewhat im- proved by a contract with the steamer Eliza Anderson. This famous pioneer vessel had been built on the Columbia in 1857-58, and first made her appearance on the Sound in the spring of 1859, where for a dozen years she was not only a carrier of persons, merchandise, produce and live stock, but a floating bank, and general agent for the people of the entire Sound country as well. She was paid well for every service rendered. The rate per passenger from Olympia to Seattle was $6.50; to Port Townsend $12.50; to Victoria $20. Horses and cattle were carried at $15 per head, sheep and hogs at $2.50, and merchandise and general freight at $5 to $10 per ton, measurement. An empty barrel, had one been shipped, would have paid the same rate as a full one, and a box of feathers as much as one of the same size filled with dry goods or hardware. The owners made money so rapidly and so regularly that a mail contract was probably not a matter of much importance to them, but as she visited most of the towns and settle- ments on the Sound regularly about once a week, it was
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a great satisfaction to the settlers to have her carry the mail.
But Mr. Smith, acting on what he assumed to be his general authority to supervise all matters pertaining to the expenditure of government money in the neighborhood, decided that the revenue cutter Shubrick could carry the mails and deliver them as frequently as people had need for them, and although he had no authority from the post office department whatever, discontinued the arrangement with the Anderson and had the mails carried by the cutter. But the cutter made no regular trips in any direction. She was frequently, if not constantly, employed in the service of the customs department, and sometimes did not visit some of the points to be served for weeks together. The new arrangement, therefore, speedily gave rise to most vigorous complaints.
Sometime later the new collector applied to the military authorities for leave to use the buildings at Port Townsend, which had not been occupied since Major Haller's company had been sent to San Juan Island, for a marine hospital. The commandant at Fort Steilacoom granted the authority temporarily, reporting his action to his superiors with a recommendation that it be approved. The arrangement thus made was continued for some time, but finally, as the collector's unpopularity increased, it was charged that he was renting the buildings to a private hospital, which charged the government $1.50 per day for each poor mariner who found his way there, while Smith was putting the $218 per month rent in his own pocket .* In the letter making this charge, the writer says: "I have reported Victor Smith to
*Letter of Lieutenant J. H. Merryman to General Alvord, May 26, 1862-War of the Rebellion, Official Record, Vol. L, Part II, p. 1099.
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the Secretary of the Treasury for embezzlement of the sum of $4,354.98, and for official misconduct of the most dis- graceful character."
But all causes of dissatisfaction with, and opposition to, the new collector became matters of only minor considera- tion with the people of the lower Sound region, when it was discovered that he was planning to have the custom house removed from Port Townsend to Port Angeles. This plan he evidently began to prepare soon after his arrival. The reason he gave for urging removal was that the harbor at Townsend was not as favorable in all weathers as that of Port Angeles, and he urged this so forcibly upon the notice of the secretary, and upon Congress, that the removal was authorized in June 1862, less than a year after he had arrived in the territory.
But before this authority was obtained, Smith was com- pelled to go to Washington to defend himself against a charge of being a defaulter in the sum of $15,000. This charge he was able to disprove. It was also charged that he was seeking to profit by the increase in value of Port Angeles town lots, that would naturally follow the location there of the port of entry for Puget Sound. A company had been formed which had claimed and surveyed the townsite, or a part of it, for a city to be called Cherburg, and Smith was shown to have a fifth interest in the enterprise, the owners of the other four-fifths being H. A. Goldsborough and P. M. O'Brien. But this charge he was able to explain to the satis- faction of the secretary, and late in July he returned tri- umphantly to his office.
But he was not able to obtain possession of it without difficulty. On leaving for the capital he had appointed Major J. J. H. Van Bokkelen inspector and deputy-collector,
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and installed him in charge. But not long afterwards Captain J. S. S. Chaddock, of the revenue cutter Joe Lane, assuming no doubt that the collector would be removed, took possession of the custom house, and put Lieutenant J. H. Merryman in Van Bokkelen's place. So matters remained until Smith returned late in July, when he appeared in the harbor after nightfall on board the Shubrick, and forthwith made demand upon Merryman for his office. For reply the lieutenant refused to deliver unless Smith first presented some written authority, showing that he had a right to possession of it. Smith refused to make any such exhibit and, returning to the Shubrick, sent her commander, Lieu- tenant Wilson, to present his demand, and to say that if it were again refused, he would take possession by force. Fifteen minutes only were allowed Merryman for reflection, and he was told that the guns of the cutter had already been shotted, and the custom house would be fired upon as soon as he returned to the vessel, unless his demand were complied with.
To a demand so peremptorily made, Merryman could make but one reply. It was then so dark that he could not see whether the guns of the cutter were already trained on the building as Wilson said they were. He could not presume that this threat made by one officer to another wear- ing the same uniform was an idle one, and he was well aware of Smith's arrogant and importunate character. If the custom house were fired upon, the lives of the inhabitants of the town would be endangered, for their homes were all closely huddled about it. Believing therefore, as he claimed, that he could prevent the town from being fired upon only by giving up the office, he yielded to the demand, and all the books and papers were at once taken on board the cutter.
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News of what was going on soon spread through the town and much indignation and excitement followed. Governor Pickering was appealed to. The appeal reached him by the Eliza Anderson, on the afternoon of August 2d, and he at once wrote one of his most voluble letters to Major Patten, in command at Fort Steilacoom, in which, after narrating what had transpired as he had been informed of it, he closed by saying: "And now, sir, I beg leave to respectfully request you will go with me to Port Townsend, for I shall indeed be glad to enjoy the favor of your company, and I shall also feel thankful for the favor and benefit of your experience and advice upon the complicated and delicate questions of law and conventional usage, or professional etiquette, always to be rightfully observed between officers representing coör- dinate branches of the same government."
On the next trip of the Anderson the governor, accom- panied by his private secretary, the United States marshal, Ex-Secretary and Acting-Governor McGill, who was now a United States commissioner, and several citizens of Olympia, left for the scene of these recent hostile actions. At Steilacoom they were joined by Major Patten and several prominent res- idents of that town. They arrived at Port Townsend on the evening of August 1Ith, where, learning that Merryman had gone to Victoria, the governor continued on to that place in order to learn the particulars of what had occurred from him, before interviewing the collector. The remainder of the party stopped at Port Townsend to await the arrival of the Shubrick, which they found was hourly expected.
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