Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/193

FINANCIAL HISTORY OF OREGON. 185 was no longer the simple authorization for the Secretary of War "to adjust and settle on just and equitable principles," but a direction "to examine into the amount of expenses necessarily incurred," with the suggestion that he should ap- point a commission to ascertain them and report to him. The attitude taken by General John E. Wool, then in command of the Department of the Pacific, had no doubt most to do to- wards developing opposition in Congress to prompt and liberal reimbursement for losses and costs connected with the suppres- sion of Indian hostilities in the Pacific Northwest. General Wool had requested more troops for his department, but had declared that they were needed not so much "to protect the settlers and miners" as "to protect the Indians against the white men. ' ' The unexpected magnitude that the totals of the claims for the operations and losses for 1853 and 1854 were assuming may have contributed to make Congress more cauti- ous. 95 At any rate the committee on military affairs refused to recommend for the claims of 1855-6 the usual grant of authority to the Secretary of War to settle them until the report of his commission was in. This delayed settlement a year. And when the commission, consisting of two officers of the regular army and a civilian, reported claims adjusted to the amount of $6,011,497.36 due citizens of Oregon and Wash- ington, although the Secretary of War referred to the work of the Commission in terms of commendation and held that the faith of the Government was pledged to pay the amount re- ported by it, Congress again balked. To Congressmen from eastern sections of the country who did not take into account the much higher level of prices and wages in proximity to the western gold fields, and the different relations between the supply of and the demand for commodities in this isolated region, and the distance and difficulties in transportation, 95 Claims to the amount of $258,000 were paid for services, expenditures and losses in 1853 and the cost of Jesse Walker's expedition to protect the immigrants on the southern route in 1854 was $45,000. The former sum was on the floor of the House stated as "some $300,000." See Victor's Early In- dian Wars, pp. 319, 329, and Congressional Globe.