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4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL December 30, 2015 O PINION Offbeat Oregon History Oregon’s own would-be fascist dictator: Gov. Charles Martin BY FINN J.D. JOHN For the Sentinel R emember General Jack D. Ripper, the character from the 1964 movie “Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Wor- rying and Love the Bomb”? Can you imagine what might have hap- pened if General Ripper had been elected governor? For Oregonians, just a few years ago, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. In 1934, voters elected a retired major general named Charles Henry Martin — known to the soldiers assigned to his care during the First World War as “Old Iron Pants.” And although Martin isn’t known to have gone on any anti-fl uoridation rants or spluttered about “precious bodily fl uids,” his political style was more than a little reminiscent of Ripper’s … and, of course, it’s not a work of fi ction. “If things come to a crisis,” he wrote to a sympathetic fellow military man in 1937, while dis- cussing the likelihood of a Com- munist takeover in America, “there are enough strong men left in the country to handle it properly. … The Italians wouldn’t submit; they organized their blackshirts. The Germans wouldn’t submit, so they had their brownshirts and Hitler. I don’t believe Americans will sub- mit.” Left unmentioned in this remark was any suggestion for who might play the role of the American “strong man” analogous to Musso- lini or Hitler, but it was clear that he felt himself to be up to the chal- lenge. Charles H. Martin stands athwart Oregon history like a cartoon su- per-villain, a larger-than-life cari- cature of a would-be fascist dicta- tor. He established his own forces of secret police; his agents infi l- trated every leftist organization in the state with undercover agents tasked with reporting, provoking and occasionally soliciting per- jured testimony. He responded to at least one labor strike by deploy- ing the National Guard and State Police with orders to shoot to kill. And according to historian Gary Murrell, he gave offi cial support to a plan to euthanize 900 inmates at the Oregon State Institution for the Feeble-Minded as a cost-saving measure. These are just a handful of the most egregious things Mar- tin is remembered for. On the other hand, we have him to thank for the federal gov- ernment’s decision to build the Bonneville Dam and establish the Bonneville Power Administration in 1934. Ironically, his attempts to reserve the benefi ts of Bonnev- ille for his plutocrat friends was a signifi cant factor in his eventual downfall. But Oregon, and America, would have to wait a long time for that downfall, and a lot of dam- age would get done before it hap- pened. Charles Henry Martin was born near the town of Grayville, in southern Illinois, during the Amer- ican Civil War. He was the third of 10 children, with two older broth- ers, and his father was determined that his oldest boy would pursue a military career. Charles was hap- pily pursuing his goal of becom- ing a gentleman-farmer and writer when the unthinkable happened: His two older brothers drowned in the Wabash River. One of them got in trouble, the other dove in to save him, and both perished. A titanic clash of wills ensued. But in the end, the old man had his way, and Charles reluctantly went off to West Point. Charles had a rough time at West Point, characterized at fi rst by ex- treme homesickness and misery, but he eventually graduated 19th in a class of 65. He was assigned to an infantry regiment stationed in Fort Vancouver, just across the river from Portland. During the decade in which he was stationed in Vancouver, Mar- tin put down roots in the Portland area. In 1897, he married a Port- land girl — Louise Jane Hughes, daughter of Portland attorney Ellis G. Hughes. The very next year, when the Spanish-American war broke out, the young offi cer — by now a cap- tain — was sent to the Philippines to help organize, with the Filipino rebels, resistance to the Spanish. Shortly after that, when the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China, he was dispatched to China to help with that. These operations — especially the experience in China, where the allied European and American troops storming through the Chi- nese countryside looking for re- belling “boxers” adopted a sort of “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” attitude — seem to have Please see OFFBEAT, Page 5A CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS Cottage Grove City Councilors: District: 007 900 Court Street NE Suite H-379 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: (503) 986-1407 Fax: (503) 986-1130 Email: rep.cedrichayden@state.or.us Mike Fleck, At Large: 942-7302 Oregon State Senate: Jake Boone, Ward 1: 653-7413 Sen. Floyd Prozanski (DEM) District: 004 900 Court Street NE Suite S-319 Salem, OR 97301-0001 Phone: (503) 986-1704 Fax: (503) 986-1080 Email: sen.fl oydprozanski@state.or.us Cottage Grove City Hall: 942-5501. www.cottagegrove.org/ Cottage Grove Mayor Tom Munroe: 942-5501. Jeff Gowing, Ward 2: 942-1900 Garland Burback, Ward 3: 942-4800 Amy Slay, Ward 4: 942-5501 Lane County Commissioners: Governor: Faye Stewart, East Lane Commissioner Lane County Public Service Building 125 East 8th Street Eugene, OR 97401 Phone: (541) 682-4203 Fax: (541) 682-4616 Oregon State House of Representa- tives: Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, Oregon 97301-4047 Phone: (503) 378-4582 Fax: (503) 378-6827 United States House of Representa- tives: Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (DEM) District: 004 United States House of Representatives 2134 Rayburn House Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20515-0001 Phone: (202) 225-6416 Fax: (202) 225-0032 Email: http://www.house.gov/formde- fazio/contact.html United States Senate: Sen. Ron Wyden (DEM) District: 0S1 United States Senate 230 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20510-0001 Phone: (202) 224-5244 Fax: (202) 228-2717 Email: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/ Sen. Jeff Merkley (DEM) District: 0S2 United States Senate 404 Russell Senate Offi ce Building Washington, DC 20510-0001 Phone: (202) 224-3753 Fax: (202) 228-3997 Email: http://jmerkley.senate.gov/web- form.htm Rep. Cedric Hayden (REP) The path to a healthy new year BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD For the Sentinel However, the festivities often present us with tough choices — tempting, unhealthy foods are everywhere. It has become accepted in our culture to use the holiday season as an excuse for a six-week binge on danger- ous foods loaded with sugar, fat and salt. Maybe overindulging while celebrating the holidays has left you feeling unhealthy and T h e holi- day season is a joyous time when we cel- ebrate with our family and friends. $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM 116 N. Sixth Street · P.O. Box 35 · Cottage Grove, OR 97424 ADMINISTRATION: JOHN BARTLETT, Regional Publisher.............................. 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No subscription for less than Ten Weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know. Call 942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2015 Cottage Grove Sentinel. regretful in the past. When you are not in good health, it ex- acerbates every other problem in your life and contributes to emotional unrest. Don’t wait for the New Year to make a resolu- tion — now is the time to make changes. If you are serious about caring properly for your body — the only body you will ever have, you’ll need to make the commitment to stay on the road to wellness and longevity, even through the tempting holi- day season. No excuses. Only you are in charge of your future health. The holiday eating frenzy causes more than a few extra pounds. The holidays are also associated with trips to the emergency room and deaths due to dangerous eating. The emergency room doctors call it “holiday heart” — the busi- est times at hospitals are when heart attacks, strokes and other emergencies occur the morning after a big holiday meal. I take bad nutrition seriously because people die from it. Junk food, including the traditional, dis- ease-promoting foods served at the holidays, may produce mo- mentary pleasure, but the results continue on to compromise your health for a long time to come. As a fi rst step, remember the acronym G-BOMBS: Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries and Seeds. These are the most health-promoting foods in existence — build your diet around them. Watch out for addictive, disease-promoting foods: white fl our, sugars, arti- fi cial sweeteners, oils and pro- cessed meats. These foods are not only disease-causing but also addictive. Here are some strategies for staying on track, during the hol- idays and all year round: Always keep your kitchen stocked with fresh and frozen produce. Keep disease-causing foods out of your home to avoid temp- tation. Budget time: plan out when you will shop for groceries, cook, exercise, relax, and spend time with friends and family. Bring healthy dishes to share when you attend gatherings. Cook warming vegetable bean soups in large batches, and store leftovers in the refrigerator so you can quickly heat some up for lunch or dinner later in the week. Stay focused on your health — eating right is self-care. Do not allow the ubiquitous un- healthy foods around you to de- rail you from your health goals. Find a healthy living buddy. Commit together to your food and exercise goals. Getting sup- port from a friend will fi rm up your commitment to yourself. Don’t give in to “food bul- lies.” Friends, family or co- workers will inevitably push unhealthy foods on you; re- main confi dent in your pursuit of excellent health and decline unhealthy foods in a kind and loving manner. Not only will you be pleased with your food choices, you will give the bul- lies a chance to learn from your example. Fast forward to next year’s holiday season: you will effort- lessly make the best choices; the ones that will allow you to achieve overall health and qual- ity of life. You’ll be celebrating your health instead of simply indulging in the “traditional” destructive foods. As you eat for optimal health and vitality, you’ll be able to more fully en- joy the special times with fam- ily and friends. You will fl ourish and it will be the most enjoyable holiday season you’ve ever had. There will be no need to “start over” next Jan. 1. You will al- ready be committed to your health, and feel pleased with yourself for maintaining your healthy habits over the holi- days. Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and a family physician special- izing in lifestyle and nutritional medicine. His newest book, The End of Dieting, debunks the fake “science” of popular fad diets and offers an alternative to di- eting that leads to permanent weight loss and excellent health. Visit his informative website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit your questions and comments about this column directly to news- questions@drfuhrman.com. Letters to the Editor policy The Cottage Grove Sentinel receives many letters to the editor. In order to ensure that your letter will be printed, letters must be under 300 words and submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters must be signed and must include an address, city and phone number or e-mail address for verifi cation purposes. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters must be of interest to local readers. Personal attacks and name calling in response to letters are uncalled for and unnecessary. If you would like to submit an opinion piece, Another View must be no longer than 600 words. To avoid transcription errors, the Sentinel would prefer editorial and news content be sent electronically via email or electronic media. Hand written submissions will be accepted, but we may need to call to verify spelling, which could delay the publishing of the submission.
