2 THE AGRICULTURAL BLOC 



not once did the Governor accede. When his 

 own son, Earle, decided to volunteer for the 

 army, Governor Withycombe sent him to 

 me with a note asking merely that I inform 

 the young man what to do. I sent him to Cap- 

 tain Cicero F. Hogan, in charge of the state's 

 central recruiting station, and Captain Ho- 

 gan enlisted the young man as a private of 

 engineers. The examining surgeon turned 

 down the enlistment because of defective 

 eyesight, but Earle went on to the next re- 

 cruiting station and was passed by the sur- 

 geon there as a private soldier, in which 

 worthy grade he served through the war.'' 



No incident that might be chosen more 

 clearly measures the rugged honesty of 

 James Withycombe's patriotism and char- 

 acter. Such was the man who held the helm 

 of state throughout Oregon's war emerg- 

 ency. In Governor Withycombe's character 

 is to be found the staunch foundation of 

 justice and fairness that is credited to Ore- 

 gon's early war preparation. 



So every man that received a commission 

 was from the enlisted ranks of Oregon's citi- 

 zen army. In the formation of the new 

 units the captains were elected by their 

 comrades from among the ranks of the new 

 unit and these new captains in turn ap- 

 pointed the lieutenants from the ranks. 

 There can be found no single exception to 

 this procedure. Had it been otherwise — 

 had the leadership of units been political — 



