This article is about Charles A. Sprague, the Oregon Governor. For the accountant, see Charles E. Sprague

Charles Arthur Sprague, (November 12, 1887-March 13, 1969) was the Republican Governor of Oregon from 1939 to 1943. He was also the editor and publisher of the Oregon Statesman from 1929 to 1969. Sprague High School in Salem, Oregon is named after him. The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Charles H. Martin, Governor of Oregon, 1935-39. ... Earl Snell (July 11, 1895 - October 28, 1947) was an American Republican politician. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... The Douglas County Courthouse anchors the south end of Lawrences downtown. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Flag Nickname: The Cherry City Location Location in the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Government County Marion County, Polk County Founded 1842 Mayor Janet Taylor Geographical characteristics Area     City 120. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... Charles E. Sprague was an American accountant. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... This article is about the modern United States Republican Party. ... The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. ... Official language(s) None Capital Salem Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 9th  - Total 98,466 sq mi (255,026 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 2. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Statesman Journal is the largest daily newspaper of Oregons state capital of Salem. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Charles A. Sprague High School is a secondary school located in the Sunnyslope neighborhood of Salem, Oregon. ... Flag Nickname: The Cherry City Location Location in the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Government County Marion County, Polk County Founded 1842 Mayor Janet Taylor Geographical characteristics Area     City 120. ...

He was also distantly related to two Rhode Island Governors, William Sprague III and William Sprague IV. List of Rhode Island Governors Nicholas Cooke None 1775-1778 William Greene None 1778-1786 John Collins None 1786-1790 Arthur Fenner Anti-Federalist 1790-1805 Henry Smith Unknown 1805-1806 Isaac Wilbur Unknown 1806-1807 James Fenner Dem. ... William Sprague, also known as William III or William Sprague III, (November 3, 1799–October 19, 1856) was a politician and industrialist from the U.S. state of Rhode Island, serving as Governor, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator. ... William Sprague, (also known as William IV or William Sprague IV) (September 12, 1830–September 11, 1915) was governor of of the U.S. state of Rhode Island from 1860-1863, and U.S. Senator from 1863-1875. ...

Early Years

Charles Sprague was born in Lawrence, Kansas, as the son of Charles Allen Sprague, a grain-elevator operator, and Caroline Glasgow. He grew up with his brother, Robert Wyatt, in Columbus Junction, Iowa, where he attended public schools and worked for his father. He enrolled at Monmouth College in Illinois and paid his expenses by reporting part-time for regional newspapers. When his income proved inadequate, Sprague took a leave at the end of his sophomore year and spent two years as a high school principal and teacher in Ainsworth, Iowa. On his return to Monmouth, Sprague served as editor of the student newspaper. From then on, he had aspirations to go into journalism. Following his graduation with honors in 1910, Sprague became superintendent of schools in Waitsburg, Washington. Two years later, he married Blanche Chamberlain, the principal of a local grade school; they had two children. Sprague was soon named assistant superintendent of public instruction for the state of Washington. The Douglas County Courthouse anchors the south end of Lawrences downtown. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Columbus Junction is a city located in Louisa County, Iowa. ... Monmouth College is a four-year coeducational private liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Ainsworth is a city located in Washington County, Iowa. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Waitsburg is a city located in Walla Walla County, Washington. ... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,824 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 6. ...

His term as Governor

As governor, Sprague was an innovative progressive. With backing from both labor and industry, he moved quickly to improve the state's employment services and launched vocational-training programs to aid the jobless in efforts to lift Oregon out of the Great Depression. He modernized the state school system by pushing through legislation that provided for the consolidation of rural school districts. He reduced the state debt by $12 million and balanced the budget while increasing social welfare services. Sprague helped maintain peace in labor disputes by his forthright opposition to an antipicketing law that was later held to be unconstitutional by the Oregon Supreme Court. He lost the political backing of organized labor, though, as a result of his policy of awarding state contracts to the lowest bidder, whether or not they were union firms. Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in 1929 (although its effects were not fully felt until late in 1930) due to the ant farming clapse of 1835 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ...

Republicans expected smooth sailing legislatively and politically. Nevertheless, he vetoed so many special interest bills passed by his fellow Republicans that opponents initiated a recall move. It failed, but his own effectiveness had been reduced.

During Sprague's administration, Oregon became the first state to initiate control over logging operations to insure enforcement of progressive forest practices. These practices included reasonable protection of trees from slash burns, not harvesting immature trees during cutting operations, and retaining some mature trees for seeding purposes. In addition, a state forestry research program was adopted. He also established a forestry research program and obtained authority for the state to acquire abandoned cut over land for replanting. "Wise handling of natural forest lands," he declared, "calls for their consolidation under public ownership except for those lands in the hands of strong private interests capable of carrying them through long growing periods."

The Dictionary of American Biography wrote further, of his term in office:

In 1940, Sprague chaired the favorite-son presidential bid of Senator Charles L. McNary, but when the Republican National Convention deadlocked in Philadelphia, Sprague helped nominate Wendell L. Wilkie by delivering Oregon's votes on the sixth ballot. He encouraged McNary's selection as Wilkie's running mate, and that fall he campaigned in nine western states for the Republican ticket. In the months before World War II, Sprague cautioned against isolationism and was among the few Republican governors who consistently supported Roosevelt's foreign policy. He endorsed lend-lease aid to Britain early in 1941 and later that year, called for the repeal of the Neutrality Act. While the nation's attention was focused on the hostilities in Europe, Sprague alerted Americans to the threat of imperial Japan. Speaking in Boston at the National Governors Conference in July 1941, he noted that the United States was vulnerable to Japanese aggression. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor five months later, Oregon's aircraft-warning system was already in place. Sprague mobilized the state's war effort, organizing civilian defense units and increasing the size of the National Guard to accommodate local defense battalions.

He was defeated for renomination in the 1942 Republican primary by Secretary of State Earl Snell. "Governor Sprague worked so hard on state problems and had so little time for the small amenities -- or perhaps was distrustful of the," the Oregonian observed, "that the result was political defeat." As a private citizen, Sprague remained active in state and civic affairs, serving as president of the Oregon War Chest, which raised more than $1 million for war agencies in 1943. He narrowly lost a special election in 1944 for the United States Senate and never sought another public office. On leaving the governorship, Sprague returned to the Statesman and began writing a daily front-page column called "It Seems to Me", as well as most of the newspapers's editorials on state and national issues. Described by Richard L. Newberger as "the conscience of Oregon," Sprague was an outspoken defender of civil liberties. using his column as a forum to denounce the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans and the red-baiting tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy. In 1951 he led the opposition that killed a state loyalty oath for teachers. While he maintained a Republican editorial policy, Sprague often crossed party lines to support Democrats. He gave strong editorial support to President Harry Truman in his unpopular firing of Douglas MacArthur for insubordination in the Korean War. In 1952, Truman appointed Sprague as an alternate delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. President Dwight D. Eisenhower named him in 1954 to a three-member national emergency railroad board and in 1955 to a committee on Labor relations in nuclear power plants. Sprague's natural aloofness and reserve were disadvantages in his political career, but he mellowed in later years and was gracious and often witty. a lifelong Presbyterian with what friends referred to as a stern sense of Calvinism, he neither smoked not drank, and his newspaper would not accept advertising for hard liquor. An avid outdoorsman, he climbed the highest mountains of the Pacific Northwest and, in his seventies shot the rapids of the Colorado River. He died in Salem. Charles L. McNary Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874 - February 25, 1944) was a U.S. Republican politician from Oregon, best known for serving as Minority Leader of the United States Senate from 1933 to 1944. ... The Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Republican Party, is held every four years to determine the partys candidate for the coming Presidential election and the partys platform. ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... Wendell Lewis Willkie (February 18, 1892 - October 8, 1944) was a lawyer, born in Elwood, Indiana on February 18, 1892, the only native of Indiana to be nominated as the presidential candidate for a national party, having never held any sort of high elected office. ... Earl Snell (July 11, 1895 - October 28, 1947) was an American Republican politician. ... For the victim of Mt. ... Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 – April 5, 1964) was an American general and Medal of Honor recipient, who was Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II. He led the defense of Australia, and the recapture of New Guinea, the Philippines and Borneo. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung Il Kwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung Choi Yong-kun Peng Dehuai Strength Note: All figures may vary according to source. ... United Nations General Assembly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American soldier and politician. ...

See also

• George Turnbull, "Governors of Oregon" (1962);
• and profiles by Richard I. Neuberger in the "Sunday Oregonian", Mar. 18, 1951, and the "Nation", Jan. 26, 1952; and by Malcolm Bauer in the New York Herald-Tribune, Dec. 1, 1960.
• obituary in the New York Times, Mar. 14, 1969.
• Dictionary of American Biography edited by Dumas Malone, Volume XVII, Charles Scribner & Sons, New York, Volume XXI, Supplement Eight 1966-1970, page 616.
• Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States: 1789-1978, Volume 3, pages 1281-1282
• Official Oregon Biography and other Information
• McKay, Floyd J. An Editor for Oregon: Charles A. Sprague and the Politics of Change. Oregon State University Press, 1998.

Governors of Oregon
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