Some large permanent lakes occupy the troughs between faulted blocks in southern Oregon, among them Malheur and Harney lakes in Harney county, Lake Albert, Warner and Summer lakes in Lake county. All of these are salt and shallow, and shrink to small proportions in the dry season. East of the Steens mountains there is, besides a number of small alkaline lakes, a playa, or mud flat, known as the Alvord Desert, which in the spring is covered with 5o to 6o sq.m. of rain water but a foot or two in depth. In the north-western quarter of the basin, occupying a level tract som. long and 3o-5om. wide, is the Great Sandy desert. Its sur face consists of a thick sheet of pumiceous sand and dust, from which arise occasional buttes and mesas. There are no surface streams even in the wet region, and no potable waters have been found. South-west of the basin and draining the southern third of the eastern Cascade slopes is the Klamath valley and river, con taining the Upper and Lower Klamath lakes, much noted for their scenic beauty. Near the north-western boundary of Klamath county is Crater lake, whose surface is 6,239ft. above the sea. This lake lies in a great pit or caldera created by the wrecking in prehistoric times of the volcano Mt. Mazarna, which according to geologists once had an altitude of about 14,000ft. above the sea and of 8,000ft. above the surrounding tableland; the upper portion of the mountain fell inward, possibly owing to the with drawal of interior lava, and left a crater-like rim, or caldera, rising 2,000ft. above the surrounding country. The lake is 4m. wide and 6m. long, has a depth in some places of nearly 2,000ft. and is surrounded by walls of rock from 50o to 2,000ft. high. In spite of its great elevation the lake has never been known to freeze, and though it has no visible outlet its waters are fresh.
East of the Great Basin and the Blue mountains is the region tributary to the Snake river. The southern half, drained by the Owyhee river, is much like the Great Basin, being arid and plain like in character. North of the Owyhee the chief tributaries of the Snake are the Malheur, Burnt, Powder and Grande Ronde rivers flowing through small but beautiful and fertile valleys.
Climate.—Along the coast the climate is humid, mild and uni form; in the eastern two-thirds of the State, from which the mois ture-laden winds arc excluded by the high Cascade Range, the climate is dry and marked by great daily and annual ranges of temperature. Along the coast the temperature is never as high as lop° or as low as zero. In the Willamette valley a few degrees may be added to each extreme, but rarely is there freezing weather; flowers bloom at Portland the year round. Along the coast precipitation is 138in. annually; in the valleys east of the Coast Range it varies from about 2oin. at the southern end to 45 in. at Portland; along the Columbia valley east of the Cas cades, from io to I 5in. ; in the valleys and foothills of the Blue
mountains, from 12 to 25in., and, in the plateau region of central and south-eastern Oregon, from 2 to 22 inches. At Portland for 52 years ending 1923 the normal temperature for the summer months was 64° and for the winter months 40°, with extremes of —2° and 102'; average annual rainfall 45.1in., and average annual humidity 74%. In the Columbia river valley east of the Cascades, records for the same period at Walla Walla, Wash., very near the Oregon boundary, show a summer normal of 72° and a winter normal of 35°, with extremes of —17° and 113° ; average annual rainfall 17.7in. and average annual humidity 65%.
Government.--Oregon is governed under its original Consti tution adopted in 1857, though many amendments have changed it in a number of important respects. This Constitution may be amended: (I) by a majority of the popular vote if the amend ment has been passed by a majority vote of the legislature, (2) by direct initiative petition by the people or (3) by a Constitu tional Convention, which may not be called, however, unless the law providing for it is approved by popular vote. The legislative power is vested in a legislative assembly of two houses, but limited by the direct action of the people who possess the initiative and referendum. The upper house is composed of 24 senators, and the lower house of 33 representatives (the maximum allowed under the State constitution is 3o and 6o respectively), elected for four and two years respectively. The regular session is held in January of odd-numbered years. A bill not vetoed by the governor in five days becomes a law; if vetoed, it must be re-passed by a two-thirds vote in each house. The governor has a "single item veto" in addition to the general veto.
An amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1902, initiated measures which have become widely known as the "Oregon sys tem." Its distinctive features are: (I) the initiative, (2) the ref erendum, (3) constitutional amendment by direct action of the voters, (4) direct primary, (5) Corrupt Practices act, (6) presi dential preference primary, (7) campaign text-books, (8) the recall. For the initiative 8% of the number voting for justice of the supreme court at the last general election must sign petitions on which the proposed law is printed before it is put upon the bal lot at the next election. Five per cent of the voters signing such petitions secure a referendum on any law passed by the legislature, and the legislature may itself refer any law it has approved to the people at the next election for their approval. All public officials are subject to the recall, adopted in 1908. It is rarely put into practice. An important and useful feature of the "Oregon sys tem" is the campaign text-book. In the case of individual candi dates the expense is borne partly by the candidates themselves.