[6] The dozen or so delegates elected a chairman and secretary and conducted routine organizational business, naming Albany as the first headquarters city for the fledgling organization.

[9] The fledgling SPO was able to field broad slates of candidates around the state for the June 1902 general election, with the statewide ticket headed by R.R.

As historian Carlos A. Schwantes notes, Portland was "conservative, business oriented, with a tendency towards smugness among its elite" and consequently the Oregon labor movement was correspondingly more cautious than were the shipping and mill workers of Puget Sound.

[13] An evening speech on September 14 by Debs at the Exposition Auditorium on Washington Street attracted more than 10,000 spectators, erupted upon the appearance of the candidate in the hall:

"[14]Radical SPO State Secretary Tom Sladden made particular note of the 3,000 person procession in Portland which preceded Debs' appearance and expressed optimism about the party's prospects for an increased vote in November:

[17] There a crowd estimated by a supporter at 4,000 people heard speeches and sang together "The Red Flag" and "The Marsellaise," before adjourning to Finnish Socialist Hall for singing and dancing until midnight.

[16] In June 1910 Klamath Falls in Southern Oregon became the site of the first "Socialist Encampment" in the Western United States with the establishment of "Camp Progress."

Socialists and their friends camped together, attending politically oriented meetings in the evenings in which they sang, watched plays, listened to speakers and debates, and were entertained by a 12-member "Encampment Band.

One Oregon Socialist in attendance saw the 1910 Encampment as a large step forward for the party organization: "As I looked nightly over the immense throng in the Big Tent, noted the striking absence of dissent to the utterances of our speakers, even the most revolutionary, heard the at times uproarious applause, I recall the time four years ago when the handful of members of Local Klamath Falls held their meetings in a lumber yard.

* * * "What impressed even the most casual observer at the Encampment was the Spirit of Comradeship that was so plainly manifested, the atmosphere of equality and freedom from conventionality that prevailed."

"[20] An initial membership of 1,000 was dubiously reported in the press,[20] an error resulting from sloppy misreporting of a January 21 open air meeting in Portland at which "nearly 1,000 men raised their hand in response to the query as to how many were unemployed.

[25] Many of the top leaders of the Finnish Socialist movement were ultimately driven into political exile in subsequent years by the Russian Tsarist regime.

[26] The needs of the Finnish fishermen were for cooperation, coordination, and collective social activity and they were generally not pitted against ruthless capitalist enterprise as were their countrymen engaged in mining and timber work in the Upper Midwest.

[31] Thereafter a split of the pro-syndicalist left wing of the Finnish Socialist Federation dampened the membership level slightly, with 210 members remaining in the club in 1916.

[33] The first issue of the new paper, named Toveri ("The Comrade") appeared on December 7, 1907, under the editorship of Aku Rissanen, formerly on the editorial staff of Raivaaja.

[37] In Astoria this took the form of the establishment of a sewing club, designed for both social and fundraising purposes, and the foundation of a special weekly newspaper for socialist women, Toveritar ("The Woman Comrade").

The lengthy existence of their two papers and the ongoing role they played in workers' education were believed by the Finnish Socialists of Astoria to be among their greatest achievements.

The elections of 1912 and 1914 followed a similar pattern, with full Socialist tickets put forward topped by native English-speakers while the English and Finnish branches each contributed downticket candidates.

[43] In the election two years hence, the high-water mark for membership in the Astoria Finnish Socialist Club, no ticket was nominated,[43] owing perhaps to war hysteria discouraging the participation of native English-speakers while Finnish-speakers were preoccupied with revolutionary events in the old country and Soviet Russia.

[44] On January 14, 1919, a criminal syndicalism statute authored by conservative legislator Kaspar K. Kubli was introduced as House Bill 1 at the opening of the 1919 session of the legislature.

"[45] Anyone editing, printing, or circulating a newspaper or pamphlet advocating such doctrines or assisting in formation of an organization or society in support of such activities was to be subject to the law, which called for penalties of up to 10 years in prison and potential fines of up to $5,000.

At its national convention held in Waukegan, Illinois from December 25, 1920, to January 2, 1921, the Finnish Socialist Federation decided to withdraw from the SPA and to instead continue as an independent organization.

[47] While it had previously pursued as neutral a line as possible regarding factional scuffles, Toveri under editor Elis Sulkanen came down firmly in favor of an independent existence for the SSJ.

In 1934, the SPO, under the leadership of Albert Streiff and George Buickerood, lead the state organization out of the Socialist Party of America under the pretext that the SPA was "too radical.

The Social Democratic Party of Oregon, loyal to the Chicago headquarters, held its first state convention on Thursday, July 12, 1900, at the Washington Hotel, located at Third and Flanders Streets in Portland, for the purpose of selecting Presidential electors for the November ballot.

[54] In accordance with this decision, a convention call was issued for a gathering at WCTU Hall in Salem for Wednesday, September 21, 1901, in order to form a permanent state organization and adopt a formal platform.

[59] The convention unanimously named John W. Ingle, a 53-year-old Corvallis farmer who had previously served as superintendent of schools in Umatilla County as its nominee.

[61] SPA National Organizer John W. Brown was in attendance and spoke to large crowds at public meetings in Portland on the evenings of March 2 and 3.

[64] County conclaves were held around the state throughout the month of March, naming full tickets for local office across much of Western and Southern Oregon.

[citation needed] The Party has achieved a few recent electoral successes (although has not won a partisan elective office since re-organization): Albany Astoria Grants Pass Medford Milwaukie Portland Salem