of strengthening whatever purpose the English had of looking out for their own interests. But they were clearer and more forcible announcements of the view of the American people than England could get through the diplomatic service.
In the history of civil government in Oregon there are two distinct movements, that of the regularly organized government, and that of the people themselves. They serve as the complement of each other, and act and react upon one another in a multitude of ways. Every time that the question was before congress it reacted upon the people, and the impetus thus set in motion again reacted upon a slower moving congress. In the westward expansion of our territory the movement of people has always preceded that of the national government. In the case of Oregon, through remoteness of the territory, and the difficulties arising from the joint claim and occupancy, the quicker movement of the people was more marked and the corresponding slowness of the government more irritating. This feeling of restriction is expressed by Floyd in the words: "All governments, republican as well as royal, take upon themselves the exclusive privilege of thinking for the people, of checking the progress of population in one direction or fixing the boundaries to it in another, beyond which they are not permitted to pass."
It had often been stated in the debate that a superior power had set the Rocky Mountains as the western boundary of the United States, and it is interesting to know that the following reply came from a representative of Massachusetts: "As we reach the Rocky Mountains, we would be unwise did we not pass the narrow space which separates the mountains from the ocean, to secure advantages far greater than the existing advantages of all the country between the Mississippi and the
