I ran for the Lower House of the Legislature in Jackson County and I was fairly elected, but was counted out; not unjustly, I do not mean to say, for on the face of the returns I was defeated by six votes. The County was largely Democratic, and I ran as a Republican. I said that I was fairly elected, because there was a contest in one of the precincts for the office of Justice of the Peace; I was the contestant's attorney, and he succeeded in his contest because he conclusively showed that thirteen illegal votes were cast against him. To have thrown them out on a contest would have elected me by seven majority. I refused to contest the election, and the matter dropped. Subsequently I ran in that County for the office of County Judge. After I took the field, the Democrats became alarmed, and they withdrew the candidate nominated by them, in convention, and placed in his stead a Mr. Duncan, one of the strongest and most popular Democrats in the County. He beat me by sixteen votes. The other Democratic candidates were elected by majorities ranging from three hundred to four hundred. At the time Mr. Harding was elected United States Senator for Oregon I was without consultation, or being present, put in nomination for the position, and I lacked only two votes of an election. Thus, while I was a hard man to beat, I was always beaten, fairly, or unfairly. I was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Washington Territory in 1869. Less than a year afterwards, by unanimous recommendation of the members of the Territorial Legislature, I was appointed Chief Justice of that Court, and at the expiration of that term was re-appointed Chief Justice. During this last term I was nominated by the Republican party and elected Delegate to Congress. At the expiration of that term I was renominated and re-elected. To make an account of my official career complete, I ought to state that I was a member of the Territorial Council (the equivalent of a State Senate) of Washington for one term; also Mayor of the City of Seattle for one term; and Regent of the Territorial University of Washington for ten years, and Treasurer of the Board of Regents all of that time. As a member of the Territorial "Council" I was appointed chairman of the judiciary committee, and also chairman of the committee on education. The work on these committees was almost continuous. It absorbed all of my time for nearly every evening of the session. The iniquitous gross earning tax law, as applied to railroads, was repealed at this session. The vote on its repeal in the "Council" was close--and if I were not a modest man--I would say, that I contributed largely to its repeal. I made the only elaborate argument in the "Council" against its unequal, unjust, inequitable and partial provisions, discriminating in favor of centralized wealth and organized power. It was a close and hard fight in the "Council" but repeal won.