If the psychologist, looking over the diversified and conflicting interests and classes of the American people, attempted to find a common state of mind, he would probably discover one thing that applies to all American men, without regard to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” He would learn that there is a common American trait possessed by the white man and the negro, the Jew and the Gentile, the Catholic and the Protestant, the native and the foreign-born—in fact by every conceivable group of the males of the United States.

They are all “joiners”!

One has to search far and wide for an American who does not “belong” to some sort of organization, and who would not, under proper circumstances, join another.

I am a joiner-by-birth.

My joining developed at the early age of ten, when I organized a secret society among the boys at school. We had an awful oath to which we swore, and in imitation of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, sealed it with our blood. We had no fees or dues, but each boy was required to contribute a copy of Nick Carter or Diamond Dick or Old Cap Collier. The organization survived a brief period and was then ruthlessly destroyed by an irate parent who disapproved of its intellectual standards.

I had scarcely reached the age of twenty-one and started life in Chattanooga as a newspaper reporter, when I took up seriously the habit of joining fraternal orders. In five years I had taken degrees in practically every one to which I was eligible. I became a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow, a Red Man, a member of the Junior Order United American Mechanics, of the Royal Arcanum, of the Woodmen, an Elk, an Eagle, an Owl, and an associate member of the Theatrical Mechanics Association.

The last “order” I joined was the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

I went into this one partly because I was a joiner and was curious to see what it was all about, but principally because I thought it was a fraternal order which was actually a revival of the original Ku Klux Klan which played so important a part in the history of the South during the days of the Reconstruction. That old organization has always had a certain glamour for me as it has for every Southerner, and I could see no reason why a fraternal order commemorating the deeds of the original Klansmen should not fill a need in the country today. I knew absolutely nothing about the structure of the new Ku Klux Klan, took it on faith, and assumed that in its government and administration, it would function like any other of the standard fraternal orders. I thought, from the meager information with which I was furnished, that I was thoroughly in accord with its principles, and that it would be more or less a pleasure to belong to it.

In the case of the Ku Klux Klan I took an immediate interest in the work of the organizer, brought him into touch with prominent friends of mine whom I induced to join, and did all I could to make his work a success. Shortly afterward I was made one of the organizers, and in this capacity devoted nearly all my time for three months to the work, conferring degrees, talking to people who were in favor of the Klan and to some who were opposed, and carefully studying the entire system of organization.

The fraternal order man who can really visualize an organization is the man who absorbs its work by observation and study, and there is no better method of doing this than performing the duties of an organizer. In my work as an organizer for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, I was first impressed with the fact, that, on account of its radical nature, it was dangerous. The first thing to which a candidate is enjoined is absolute secrecy. This is carried to the utmost extremity. A newly made “citizen” must not tell his wife or his family that he belongs to the organization, and must give no hint of it to his most intimate friends and business associates. I at once saw that any movement built along such a line was dangerous, regardless of its intentions, because secrecy of this sort places upon the organization the vital necessity of receiving as members only men of the highest character whose positions and reputations in the community would be an absolute safeguard against mischief. A secret organization composed of men of a low standard of civic responsibility would be the worst thing that could get into any community.

My experience as a fraternal order man has been that the personnel of the order varies with different localities. Therefore, while it might be perfectly proper to build a strictly secret organization in Kingsport, Tennessee, there might be, in another town an entirely different class of membership which would cause the movement to jeopardize the peace and dignity of the community. The potential danger of the Ku Klux organization in this respect was the first thing that dawned upon my consciousness, and it made me careful of the class of people whom I permitted to become members.

My duties took me into several towns, and night after night I administered the obligation and put on the degree work until I became thoroughly familiar with the mechanical end of it. Gradually, however, a feeling developed within me that there was something wrong with the organization—that it was not the sort of “fraternal society” to which I had been accustomed for nearly twenty years. I thought at first that this was due to the fact that I had done so much lodge work in my lifetime that I was growing stale. But certain portions of the obligation, which at first had seemed merely perfunctory, stood out in my mind and challenged serious thought and consideration.

I studied everything I could find to help me in my work; I received printed matter from the organization: I talked with Klansmen from other cities; and I delved deeply into the origin and history of the original Ku Klux Klan. But business men of standing and prominence in the places where I worked asked me pointed questions about the organization, questions that I could not answer and on which I could get no satisfactory answers from above. Slowly my vague fears that there was something vitally wrong crystallized into stronger belief. I spoke to a few close friends in the organization, and asked them to give me their frank opinions about it. Without any prompting from me they voiced the same thoughts and gave expressions to the same doubts I had myself.

After much thoughtful deliberation, I reached the decision that the Ku Klux obligation was radically wrong. It was not the kind of obligation men take in fraternal organizations—it was a political obligation. I saw that the ritual, which had previously been to me merely a badly written mass of words was really a sacriligious mockery. I realized that the whole scheme was vicious in principle, and a menace to the peace and safety of America. The basis for these conclusions can be stated briefly:

First: While the organization was incorporated under the laws of the State of Georgia, as a fraternal order, the claim being advanced by the promoters that it should have similar powers to the Masons and Knights of Pythias, it is not a fraternal organization in the sense usually understood, but an attempt to create in this republic of ours an “Invisible Empire,” entirely political and military in nature and designed to function bodily.

Second: The “Invisible Empire” is under the control of one man who openly calls himself an “Emperor,” holds position for life, and exercises despotic control over the affairs of the organization.

Third: Candidates—designated as “aliens”—who are received into the organization, are not regarded as “members,” but as “citizens” of this “Invisible Empire,” and instead of being “initiated,” as is usually the case in fraternal orders, are “naturalized” and become “subjects” of the “Emperor.”

Fourth: Membership is restricted to a limited class of American citizens, including only white, Gentile, American-born Protestants, all other Americans being ineligible.Fifth: In propagating this “Invisible Empire,” the work, which is being done all over the United States by a highly paid and highly efficient field force, is being carried on by stirring up prejudice and hatred against the Catholic, the Jew, the negro, and the foreign-born American citizen.

Sixth: Under the claim of the enforcement of “law and order,” the “Invisible Empire” is attempting to take into its grasp the entire law-enforcing machinery of the United States, including the officers and men of the Regular Army and Reserve Corps, the National Guard, sheriffs and their deputies, mayors, police officials and men, judges and all persons connected with law administration, with the exception of those ineligible under the rules above stated.

Seventh: The “citizens” of the “Invisible Empire” are urged by the organization to purchase white robes and helmets, which are used for the purpose of going abroad in disguise for the concealment of the identity of the wearer, and in many localities there have been parades and demonstrations of strength made by the organization, all having the effect of intimidating certain classes of people of these communities.

Eighth: The sale of these robes is a monopoly in the hands of the Gate City Manufacturing Company, a concern associated with the organization, and from this monopoly somebody is deriving an enormous revenue.Ninth: The propagation of the organization is being conducted in such a way that it is clearly a money-making scheme run for the benefit of a few insiders.

Tenth: The claim that this is the “genuine original Klan” is a historical fraud, not supported by the history and prescript of the old Klan which are available for public inspection.

Eleventh: The Ku Klux propaganda is vicious, un-American and evil and will have a tendency to stir up racial and religious hatred in this country to such an extent as to result, unless checked, in a serious religious-racial war.

Twelfth: The ritualistic work, while clumsy, ignorant, plagiaristic, and poorly written is an attempt to use the cloak of religion to promote the financial fortunes of the insiders; and its principal feature—the ceremony of “naturalization”—is a mockery and parody on the sacred and holy rite of baptism.

Thirteenth: The organization should be exposed for what it is, and the Congress of the United States should enact suitable legislation to make it illegal and bar its literature and propaganda from the mails.

Fourteenth: Suitable and necessary legislation should be enacted by Congress and the State legislatures of a general nature which will forever prevent the organization and operation of a secret movement of this character.

The portentous nature of my conclusions, however, weighed heavily upon me, and after the most serious consideration, I finally decided to repudiate the entire organization, and as an American citizen to expose the whole system, calling public attention to what seems to me to be the greatest menace that has ever been launched in this country.

My decision to take this step was a most difficult one to reach. In the first place, to give to the public the facts and inside workings of the “Invisible Empire” means to subject oneself to the penalty of death for disclosing a secret of the order. This is stated unequivocally in the secret Ku Klux ritual. It also means becoming the target for a torrent of abuse that is likely to tear one to shreds before it has spent its fury.

The most disagreeable feature of the whole procedure is the absolute necessity of going on record publicly as violating a solemn oath, a pledge of honor, and an obligation that would ordinarily be considered sacred. Is a man, having taken an oath, ever justified in breaking it? In my opinion, when one is convinced that the oath in question is illegal, and that a certain portion of it is of a nature to incite riot and lawlessness, a man is not only justified in breaking it, but is morally required to break it. It is a public duty he owes the state. The inherent strength of the “Invisible Empire” lies in the fact that its “citizens” having once taken its vicious obligation will not dare to violate it.

I have, therefore, deliberately and with careful thought, decided to violate and repudiate this obligation, with the exception of a certain portion pledging allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and my State, which portion is, in my judgment, mere camouflage for the purpose of concealing the fangs of the rattlesnake. The question as to whether I am right or wrong is one that will have to be decided by public opinion. If I have divulged facts and exposed the secret workings of what is merely a fraternal organization, then I am unquestionably guilty of reprehensible conduct. If I am wrong in my viewpoint, I do not deserve to be allowed to mingle with honorable men and women, and should be set apart from my fellows as a social outcast.

On the other hand, if I am right in the stand that I take, that the Ku Klux Klan is a secret, political, military machine, actually developing into an “Invisible Empire” and possessing potentialities that may undermine the very idea of representative government; if I am correct in my position that the whole scheme is an attempt to create class hatred and antagonism, which in the end will array race against race, class against class, and religion against religion; if my contention is just that the proposition is a money-making scheme; and, if the public adopts my viewpoint to the extent of demanding that the organization be legislated out of existence and made an outlaw in the world of open things, then I shall feel satisfied that the violation of this oath has been a public service.

There is no middle ground. I am either entirely right, or else I am entirely wrong.