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106 Chapter 6 George Chamberlain and the Os West Express, 1903-13 More Disappointment Oregon bubbled with optimism as the 1903 Legislature convened in Salem. The 1902 election had produced a ringing mandate of change. Male voters passed the initiative and referendum amendment, elected a reform governor, and picked Theodore Geer as the people’s choice for U.S. senator. Surely, they thought, legislators shared the public’s enthusiasm for reform. The time had finally come for Oregon to remedy its most pressing social and economic ills. The session, however, turned out to be a mixed bag, legislators as often as not ignoring public opinion. There were, however, bright spots. Electing a U.S. senator was at the top of the legislative agenda. The public held its breath. For the past 40 years, electing the state’s two U.S. senators had been the main cause of political corruption in Oregon. Senator Joseph Simon, an old machine politician, was retiring. Would legislators honor the “people’s choice” candidate, former governor Ted Geer and elect him senator? No, they would not. House and Senate Republicans “simply laughed at the people’s choice. Geer had a few friends, but the Republican machine was determined to elect another man to the Senate.”1 Lawmakers knew they were under siege: voter approval of a Direct Primary Law was on the horizon (and was likely to pass), the initiative and referendum were now law in Oregon, William U’Ren and his legion of People’s Power League supporters were pushing for the direct election of U.S. senators, and the state’s Republican majority had just elected a reform Democrat as governor. So, in 1903, the heavily Republican legislature decided it was time to take a stand: they and they alone would decide who Oregon’s next senator would be. Six prominent Republicans vied for the seat: Jonathan Bourne, Charles W. Fulton (state Senate president), Judge Henry McMinn, Oregonian editor Harvey george chamberlain and the os west express, 1903-13 107 Scott, state Senator Franklin Pierce Mays, and Theodore Geer. On the fortieth ballot and last night of the session, Astoria’s Charles Fulton was elected, beating back a last-minute attempt to elect Harvey Scott. The usual money and promises of federal jobs were traded for votes. Bourne spent so much he overdrew his bank account. Legislator Walter Pierce was offered $10,000 just to make a speech on Bourne’s behalf; he refused the offer, and remarked that “the selling , the corruption, the trading was astonishing.”2 After State Senator John D. Daly of Corvallis promised to vote for Fulton, he later became surveyor general of Oregon on Senator Fulton’s recommendation.3 Nothing had changed. Lawmakers were going to continue to elect Senators their way. But Fulton’s election sparked an immediate backlash. Using their newly won right to the initiative, William U’Ren and the People’s Power League circulated petitions to place a Direct Primary Law on the 1904 ballot.* Oregonians passed the Direct Primary Amendment 56,285 to 16,354 in 1904, using the initiative route, which confirmed William U’Ren’s unflagging faith in the initiative ’s value. With the initiative they now had the means to chip away at the legislature’s powers and change the entire system.4 Governor George Chamberlain’s inaugural address was laced with reform proposals. He called for a reform of local taxes relating to lack of uniformity among county property assessments. He called for an inheritance tax. Chamberlain also favored compulsory arbitration of labor disputes. The governor favored increased state aid for poor school districts and a plan to consolidate districts. Despite the legislature’s refusal to give up its power to elect U.S. senators, much of his program was enacted in the 1903 session. Major new acts included one that made railroads liable for worker injuries—even when the injury was caused by the negligence of another employee. Women and children gained new protections under Oregon’s first statute regulating child labor, and a second which limited a woman’s workday to no more than 10 hours. Oregon’s first State Board of Health and State Bureau of Labor were established. The passage of Oregon’s first county library law set another precedent. A provision in the recently adopted I & R amendment provided that arguments pro and con on initiative measures could be submitted to the secretary of state, who was then required to post them in a pamphlet distributed...

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