Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/146

138 F. G. YOUNG. were in two instances men of a party, or a wing of a party, having but a small following among the people evoked jealous concern for party advantage rather than whole-hearted zeal for the common good. 11 All these conditions, however, only favored a more pronounced exhibition of the ultra-individual- ism that characterized the period. The average Oregonian of this time represented the longest series of generations who had lived under frontier conditions and in whom, therefore, this attitude had become ingrained as a matter of second nature. It meant no doubt, on the whole, adaptation as the conditions then were, but with the environment transformed, traits so firmly fixed might easily become a handicap. This condition of minimum, and almost negative, public finances has its drawbacks for one who would set the facts of the period in order. The disparaging attitude towards civic affairs would naturally yield hiatuses in the financial records. Slip-shod performances and irregular conditions would be tolerated, furnishing tangles to be straightened out. Lack of development and system in the records necessitate endless labors of classification and segregation of items to make them in any degree significant. 12 Little was felt to be at stake in the operations of the territorial treasury, so there was no stimulus to make the system of accounting give real publicity. Vital and Economic Conditions. A resume of the operations of a treasury can have signif- icance only as brought into relation with the concomitant vital and economic conditions affecting the population concerned. In the decade from 1850 to 1860 the population of Oregon was very nearly quadrupled. It increased from 13,294 to 52,465, or 294.65 per cent. Only Minnesota and California had a higher rate of increase. Of this increase 16,564 were born in 11 John P. Gaines, Whig, August, 1850-May, 1853; John W. Davis, Demo- crat, December, 1853-August, 1854. 12 The reports of the Territorial Auditors jmd Treasurers on the side of "disbursements'" are merely unclassified lists of warrants drawn and warrants paid. There is no segregation as to objects supported, no appropriations 1 ' and no funds.