Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/348

340 ADDRESS a union with all respectable citizens who wish to establish them- selves in this country, where we ask to be free to make any regulation suitable to our needs, with the general provision that we have some manner of redress for any grievance done us by foreigners and that our customs and our reasonable rights be respected. 13th. That we are ready to submit to a legitimate and rec- ognized government, if such come. 14th. That nobody is more desirous than we of prosperity of welfare, and of general peace and especially of the guar- antee of our liberty and of our rights. That is our hope for all who are now becoming and who will hereafter become our fellow citizens, and for long years of peace! (Here is added the Old French: li suivent les nos meaning "may we attain unto it") 15th. That it be not forgotten that laws are needed only for necessary cases. The more laws there are, the more oppor- tunity for knavery on the part of lawyers and the greater will be the trouble perhaps, some day. 16th. That, besides the members called to the legislative hall to discuss and pass regulations for the needs of the colony, every honest person shall have the right to take part in the dis- cussions and to give his opinion, since the welfare of all is at stake. 17th. That it be remembered, during a lawsuit, that import- ance should be given to ordinary proofs of fact rather than to subtle points of law, so that justice may be attained and that trickery be not practiced. 18th. That in a new country, the greater the number of men employed and paid by the public, the fewer the men left for industries. S. SMITH, JOSEPH K. GERVAIS, FRANCIS RENAY, CHAS. E. PICKETT, S. M. HOLDERNESS.