Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1922-10-20
Prejudice
Against Catholics and
| Jewish Merchants
First Plea
Capitalized by Klansmen
Organizing knights Of
Knightie and Pillowcase
In Portland
By Harry N. Grain.

81 paramount has been the po-
3 litical activity of the Ku Klux
4 Klan in Portland, and 80 cosmo-
nolitan has become its membership
that the public generally has lost
sight Of the origin Of the move
ment there in the maze of issues
Championed and capitalized by the
Kluxers in their campaign for po-
litical power. Judging from the
4 diversity of uses to which the
4 hooded organization has been put
it is not entirely improbable that
Fred L. Clifford, George Branden-
I berg and other leaders in the
movement have themselves allow
ed their original vision to become
obscured by the possibilities of
more extensive and, therefore,
more remunerative operations.
Came Of Own Accord.
The khan in Portland, unlike the
organization in most other Oregon
communities, was not brought in
by designing local influences for
a specific purpose--it came in of
its own free accord as a part of a
nationwide drive for members
and more graft by Imperial Wiz
ard Simmons and his cohorts. l..
B. Galloway, wandering kleagle,
is credited with organizing the
Portland khan.
Galloway had no visions Of
building up political machine in
Oregon, He was interested simply
in Fleeing gulliable persons OF
anti-Catholic, anti-alien and anti
Jewish prejudices out of $21.50
donations. The marked success of
his early work was due principal
ly to the hold he secured in the
Federated Patriotic Societies, COM
prlsing most Of the anti-Catholic
lfraternal orders, including the
Orange lodge. To the extent that
Eall of the survivors of the A. p. A.
sfiasco of bygone years lined up
Immediately with the new organ
sAation, it might be said that the
kan in Portland was, during it's
d ft,..1
llrst days, but a revival of the
A. P. A.
Jewish Sentiment Capitalized.
But the khan went farther. 1t
made capital of the anti-Jewish
sentiment incident to the strong
Aoid which the Jews have on Port
lahd In a business and commercial
way, Wild stories to the effect that
lhe Jews and Catholics were in
secret alliance to starYe the Pro-
.estant out of Portland being free
" circulated. One of these MASTER
pieces of khan fiction was the
s'ofy that a Catholic department
aead OF Meier & Frank discharged
IVY Protestant girls without cause
Bor complaint and replaced them
with Catholic girls.
n Scottish Rite Invaded.
= view of subsequent develop
ments 1t is interesting to know
slat II was under Callaway's direc-
aOn that the Scottish Rite lodge of
Masons in Portland was first In
'0ueu' In this move the klansmen
.'ea went SO far as to claim the
slsslole empire to be a branch of
tSV'tisn - Rite Masonry, pointing to
sue tact that Imperial Wizard Sim
-Ols and the members of his i'm
Cae uiaIe imperial family are all
u.ottsh Rite Masons and that the
Anlghts of the Ku Klux Khan was
sO,h within the Scottish Rite
'0uge of Atlanta, Ga.
u was about this time that Gif-
H. ana Brandenberg, who are,
~, .ne way now leading warning
tha;. ,o1s Is within the khan, made
sa 80 ilrst appearance in the or
~ su.Aatlon. Major L. o. Powell,
I'm, I'm Alng kleag1e Of the Oregon
tbI au' also made his debut during
I'M period Of the movement, in
80 1871 Powell, Missourian