« In a local community [in the United States] a citizen may conceive of some need which is not being met. What does he do? He goes across the street and discusses it with his neighbor. Then what happens? A committee comes into existence and begins functioning on behalf of that need . . . All of this is done by the private citizens on their own initiatives. . . . — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America An Idea Whose Time Has Been by John Ferrell When Dr. John McLoughlin established Fort Vancouver in 1825, he determined that the new post, across the Columbia from present-day Portland, would not be dependent on distant sources of food. He brought 27 cattle from another Hudson's Bay Company fort and secured a few potatoes, two bushels of peas, a bushel of wheat, a bushel of barley and some Indian corn. He stipulated that none of the cattle could be slaughtered (except one each year to supply rennet for cheese) until the herd was built up sufficiently to serve the needs of the fort. In the meantime, fish, venison and wild fowl would have to suffice. By 1828, both the cattle herd and the small initial planting of grains and vegetables had multiplied enough to meet McLoughlin's goal; community self-reliance in food production. That the settlers who followed McLoughlin and established the new city of Portland in the 1850s were self-reliant to some extent goes without saying: it was a condition imposed upon them initially by geographic isolation. But did the same spirit carry over to the more civilized Portland of the late 19th and early 20th centuries? To learn how citizens worked together to solve Portland's problems in an earlier day, we will focus on events which occurred during two years: 1893 and 1933. The theme which ties these two years together (and also makes a link to our own day) is one of response to unfavorable economic conditions. In both of these years, there was a new president in the White House, working to restore national prosperity at a time of financial panic and high unemployment. In both years Portlanders were joining together—through their churches, labor unions, ethnic associations, clubs and neighborhood groups—in many innovative programs designed to combat economic hardship and meet community needs. The special spirit of self-reliance evidenced by Portlanders in 1893 and 1933 was frequently reminiscent of a similar spirit among the city's earliest settlers. It was also remarkably predictive of the spirit shared by many present-day Portlanders whose community activities are described in the Resources Section of this book. 1893 The volunteer fire fighters of the Sun- nyside Hose Company were faced with a serious dilemma: how could they continue their essential service to the community now that the city had cut off their $20 monthly appropriation? They had depended on this small stipend to pay for coal oil, wood, repairs and janitorial services needed in their neighborhood firehouse, and now they were being forced to dig into their own pockets as well as show up at fires. The company scheduled a meeting for September 20 to consider what action to take regarding withdrawal of the appropriation. But as City Fire Commissioner J.H. Steffen reminded them, times were hard. The Sunnyside Hose Company was not being discriminated against; there simply wasn't enough money to go around. A new president, Grover Cleveland, was attempting to grapple with a nationwide economic crisis and Portland, for its part, was faced with the effects of local bank closures and widespread unemployment. Conditions had changed drastically in a few short months. In January the Portland Chamber of Commerce had heard its president, George B. Markle, Jr., exclaim that the city was experiencing its "highest level of prosperity." Indeed, it was easy for Portland's business leaders to be smug. In recent years the city had witnessed the founding of many new banks, installation of the Bull Run water system, completion of three bridges across the Willamette, and the awarding of a number of street railway franchises. As Oregonian editor Harvey Scott had observed in 1891, Portland was a "well balanced civic and social organism": it had no dirty industry, little permanent unemployment, and few unassimilated immigrants except for the Chinese. It was abundantly clear by the latter half of 1893 that the civic and social organism had grown seriously ill. Jobs were drying up and laborers were searching for some means to feed their families. Where could they turn for relief? The Oregonian had a ready answer; "there are no poor in Portland who need to be hungry or cold," it assured its readers. "Our rich men have always shown beneficence of a large and judicious kind." Indeed the "rich men" were contributing generously to the charities which fed the city's destitute. But many Portland residents clearly did not believe that noblesse oblige was sufficient to deal with either the economic crisis or the other needs of their community. The movement for change in Portland extended to labor rights, neighborhood improvement, control of local resources, access to education and the empowerment of women. Labor The working people of Portland were seemingly too stunned by the events of 1893 to know immediately how to react. 31
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