  Before presenting, for the thoughtful consideration of the reader, the facts to be set forth in this chapter, I submit for comparison certain portions of the Constitution of the United States, and the concluding portion of the “oath of allegiance” of the “Invisible Empire,” Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The former consists of what is known as the “Bill of Rights,” and read: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” 4th Amendment. “No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” 5th Amendment. 6th Amendment. “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” 8th Amendment. Having thoroughly studied the above portions of the Constitution of the United States, I now ask the reader to again study the concluding section of the Ku Klux oath: “I swear that I will most zealously and valiantly shield and preserve, by any and all justifiable means and methods, the sacred constitutional rights and privileges of free public schools, free speech, free press, separation of church and state, liberty, white supremacy, just laws, and the pursuit of happiness, against any encroachment, of any nature, by any person or persons, political party or parties, religious sect or people, native, naturalized or foreign, of any race, color, creed, lineage, or tongue whatsoever.” Without comment, I merely offer the above extracts for study and comparison, and let the reader draw his own conclusions at the end of the chapter. A large number of outrages, consisting of lawless acts of various kinds, have been reported in the newspapers as having been committed in the Southern States since early in 1921. Men have been taken from their homes and In practically every instance of physical violence the criminal acts—committed in the name of “law and order”—have been perpetrated by men wearing disguises, described as white robes and masks. In several cases of violence the white caps, after finishing their work, have left on the bodies of their victims the letters, “K. K. K.” either burned on the body with acid, or printed on placards tied to the person maltreated. In cases where private warnings have been sent through the mails the same letters have been used, and in public warnings placards have been posted conspicuously bearing the actual name of the “Ku Klux Klan.” Taking these facts into consideration, the evidence shows that the outrages were committed by men actuated Charters were about to be granted to three Klans in upper East Tennessee. I asked the King Kleagle this question: “My people want to know what to do when they get their charters. What shall I tell them?” “Tell them to clean up their towns,” he replied. Among the first reported cases of violence on the part of masked men occurred in Atlanta, Ga., the headquarters of Ku Kluxism, the home of the “Invisible Empire.” J. C. Thomas, a white man, received an anonymous letter advising him to “leave alone” a certain woman named Myers, upon penalty of action, but paid no attention to the warning. One night Thomas was enticed into entering a motor car in which were several strangers, the false representation being made that the “Chief of Police wanted to see him about some bad checks.” The car was driven to Lakewood, an amusement park, and Thomas was ordered to get out. He refused to obey the order, drew his knife, and put up Simmons admitted that Thompson was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Numerous cases have been reported in Atlanta where threatening letters have been sent and received. A young Scotchman was threatened for making improper remarks about social equality, while a physician was warned on account of alleged neglect of his family. According to J. H. Leavitt, an Atlanta lawyer, who was himself threatened, not only was he himself marked for violence but included in the same category were Dr. C. B. Wilmer, the Episcopal clergyman and Ex-Senator Hoke Smith. In Durham, North Carolina, a Greek restaurant proprietor received an anonymous warning signed “K. K. K.” ordering him to leave town. It appeared that he had permitted the intermingling of the races in his place of business. The Greek refused to take the matter seriously, employed a lawyer and laughed the incident out of town. Nothing came of it. After a careful and searching investigation made by the New York World, there have been disclosed a large number of cases of violence and lawlessness in the South, and a study of the synopsis of these cases is interesting. It will be noted that the majority of outrages have occurred in the State of Texas, where the masked A chronological summary of the published cases of lawlessness in the South, indicating the methods of Ku Kluxism, is as follows: February 5, 1921.—In Houston, Texas, B. I. Hobbs, a lawyer, was seized, had his hair clipped and was ordered to leave town, the charge against him being “too close fraternization” with negroes. Hobbs then went to Alvin, Texas, a short distance away, and on February 8, 1921, was run out of that town by eight masked men. March 3, 1921.—At Houston, Texas, J. La Fayette Cockrell, a negro dentist, was mutilated by masked men for alleged association with white women. A race riot nearly resulted from this attack. March 7, 1921.—A. V. Hopkins, a merchant of Houston, Texas, was mutilated, tarred, and feathered for annoying high school girls. April 1, 1921.—Alexander Johnson, a negro bell boy, of Dallas, Texas, was taken out by masked men, whipped, April 10, 1921.—Gus Beck, stock man, of Webster, Texas, was tied to a telegraph pole by masked men, beaten and left there all night. April 10, 1921.—At Houston, Texas, J. S. Allen, prominent attorney, was seized in a crowded downtown street by masked men, and conveyed to the country in an automobile. He was there tarred and feathered. He was then returned to the city, and was dumped from a car into the middle of a street in the most prominent business section, in a nude condition except for the coating of tar and feathers. In the reports of the case there is no record of police interference. April 15, 1921.—Bill Harris, negro bell boy, at Dallas, Texas, was beaten by masked men for alleged insult of white women. April 26, 1921.—At Houston, Texas, J. W. McGee, an automobile salesman, was whipped by masked men for annoying high school girls. May 1, 1921.—“Red” Kemp, a jitney driver, was whipped, tarred and feathered by twelve masked men at Goose Creek, Texas. May 4, 1921.—Sam King, Marshal at Brenham, Texas, was tarred and feathered. He then resigned his office. May 7, 1921.—At Beaumont, Texas, Dr. J. S. Paul was seized by fifteen masked men, whipped, tarred, and feathered and given forty-eight hours in which to leave the city. At the same time R. F. Scott, a Marine Corps veteran of Deweyville was given the same treatment. These two acts were publicly admitted by the Beaumont Klan, and their charter was revoked by “Emperor” Simmons. May 20, 1921.—One thousand men marched through the streets of Dallas, Texas, at night, mounted and unmounted, all of them attired in the Ku Klux regalia. They carried a fiery cross, and several banners bearing these words: “The Invisible Empire,” “White Supremacy,” May 21, 1921.—At Sour Lake, Texas, Joe J. Devere, a justice of the peace, was tarred and feathered. May 23, 1921.—Ku Klux Klan paid $10 fine in police court at Dallas, Texas, for tacking signs on telegraph poles. May 23, 1921.—At Dallas, Texas, John Moore, white, was seized in his home by masked men, taken to the out-skirts of the city, stripped of his clothing and lashed with a horsewhip. He was accused of attacking a twelve-year-old girl. He fled town. May 23, 1921.—At Houston, Texas, Ira McKeown, taxi driver, was beaten. May 24, 1921.—At Dallas, Texas, John Parks was flogged by masked men. May 25, 1921.—Jack Morgan, of Shreveport, was tarred and feathered by masked men. June 8, 1921.—Dr. R. H. Lenert, at Brenham, Texas, was whipped, tarred, and feathered by eight masked men. He was charged with “disloyalty during the war” and with “speaking German.” June 8, 1921.—At Waco, Texas, K. Cummings was taken from his home by masked men, but escaped from his abductors. June 8, 1921.—At Sea Breeze, Fla., Thomas L. Reynolds, a New Yorker, was assaulted while in his hotel by masked men, and beaten and shot. June 13, 1921.—At Dallas, Texas, Edward Engers, filling station proprietor, was flogged by masked men and ordered out of town. June 14, 1921.—At Houston, Texas, J. W. Boyd, a lawyer, was taken from his office by masked men and June 17, 1921.—At Belton, Texas, James Collins, a negro, was given sixty lashes by masked men, and a placard, “Whipped by Ku Klux Klan,” placed on his back, following his release from jail after a Grand Jury had failed to indict him on the charge of making insulting approaches to white women. June 18, 1921.—At Goose Creek, Texas, E. L. Bloodworth and Olan Jones, oil field workers, were whipped, tarred and feathered by masked men, who charged their victims with being “undesirable citizens.” June 20, 1921.—At Goose Creek, Texas, W. Stewart, a jitney driver, was whipped, tarred, and feathered by twelve men after three passengers had lured him to a lonely spot. He was then ordered to leave town. June 25, 1921.—At West Columbia, Texas, an unknown man was tarred and feathered and ordered to leave town. June 21, 1921.—At Wharton, Texas, Henry Schultz was whipped, tarred and feathered after being kidnapped by masked men. June 26, 1921.—At Yoakum, Texas, a white man, name withheld, citizen of the place for twenty years, was found on a lonely road, tarred, feathered and blindfolded. June 27, 1921.—At Austin, Texas, Ku Klux Klan placards were posted warning against violation of moral codes. July 1, 1921.—At Fort Worth, Texas, a white man whose name was not printed was taken from his home at 9 P.M. and given twenty lashes for alleged mistreatment of his wife. July 4, 1921.—At Austin, Texas, Governor Neff, chief executive of the State in an address before the Rotary Club said that a crime wave had struck the State and that “the entire administration of the criminal code had broken down.” On the same day warnings of the Ku Klux Klan were posted on the State Capitol grounds. July 5, 1921,—At Fort Worth, Texas, Benny Pinto was July 8, 1921.—At Glidden, Texas, Harry Adams, a gardener, was beaten and choked by masked armed men. Then found to be the wrong man, he was released. July 12, 1921.—At Enid, Okla., Walter Billings, a motion-picture operator, was given a coating of cotton and crude oil, after being whipped by masked men. July 14, 1921.—One hundred masked men gathered at the jail at Greeneville, Texas, and unsuccessfully attempted to lynch Matt Olizen, negro, charged with killing Orbie Standlee. July 14, 1921.—A delegation from Duncanville, Texas, warned the Dallas authorities that if Archie Holsome, charged with attacking a white woman was released, he would be lynched. July 16, 1921.—At Tenaha, Texas, Mrs. Beulah Johnson, a white woman, was seized from the porch of a hotel, taken to the woods, stripped of her clothing, tarred and feathered preceding which her hair was clipped. Masked men wearing white uniforms attacked her, the woman said. They drove up to the hotel in three automobiles. Mrs. Johnson had been arrested on a charge of bigamy at Center, Texas, and was out on bond when she was seized. July 17, 1921.—At Nacogdoches, Texas, J. M. McKnight was beaten by masked men. July 17, 1921.—At Miami, Fla. At the close of his evening services, eight masked men waylaid the Rev. Philip S. Irwin, archdeacon of the English Episcopal Church, and head of the work of that church among South Florida negroes, carried him into the woods, whipped him, and then applied a coat of tar and feathers to his body. He was placed in a sack and taken in an automobile to a spot in the center of the town and dumped into the street. The following Tuesday, in response to a telegram from Rev. R. T. Phillips, rector of Trinity “About the middle of the afternoon, while I was consulting with the mayor and the circuit judge, the commander of the local post of the American Legion came in and stated that he had reliable information that if Archdeacon Irwin remained in the city he would be lynched, and that in all probability church property would be burned and numerous lives lost. He therefore asked that Archdeacon Irwin should agree to leave the city that afternoon.” The charge made by the mob against the clergyman was that he had preached “race equality” and “intermarriage.” Bishop Mann declares unequivocally that Archdeacon Irwin does not hold to social or political equality for negroes in the United States, has never taught it, and in his missionary work has incurred disfavor with some negroes by his opposition to societies and movements which upheld the doctrine. It was reported in the papers that the judge who brought the case to the attention of the Grand Jury told that body that, while the right of free speech is guaranteed, strangers should not defy the sentiments and traditions of the public. July 16, 1921.—At Bay City, Tex., W. M. Hoopengarner, a banker, was tarred and feathered and beaten. The reason alleged was domestic infidelity. July 18, 1921.—G. C. Benson beaten at Dickinson, Tex. July 18, 1921.—E. H. Peters, of Athens, Tex., was dragged from his room, beaten, dumped out of an automobile and seriously hurt. July 19, 1921.—At Tenaha, Tex., J. W. McKnight was seized a second time by masked men. July 22, 1921.—At Hillsboro, Tex., a note from the Ku Klux Klan was received and published in the local paper as a “warning to some married men who should spend more time with their own wives.” July 26, 1921.—At Topeka, Kan., a warning was sent to Senator Capper’s newspaper to “leave the Ku Klux Klan alone.” July 29, 1921.—Ben Wiley, of Lufkin, Tex., was put into a sack and tarred and feathered. In the State of Missouri, a farmer aged sixty-eight years, was taken from his bed at night, removed out of doors and severely beaten by masked men; and a woman in Birmingham, Ala., was also maltreated by a mob composed of the same sort of individuals. In most cases local sentiment appears to have been strongly with the perpetrators of the outrages, this being especially true at Waco, Tex. A man was assaulted by masked men at that place, but the victim succeeded in escaping from his attackers, recognizing three of the men who had seized him. He had them arrested, and they were bound over to await the session of the Grand Jury. Five preachers and the President of a Texas University signed the bonds of the men accused of mob violence. In some parts of Texas, however, the depredations “To the citizens of North Texas and the Ku Klux Klan: “The Anti-Ku Klux Klan of North Texas announces its being in the form of a mob. “We intend and will do no violence unless the Ku Klux Klan shows violence. We are in being and in force. If necessary we will travel in force to do business in the form of open warfare. “The law will have its chance to show that we have laws against mobs, white-capping, and acts of violence. But we warn that being in Rome we do as the Romans do. “We are unknown and unknowable. We will remain that way. We hope that we will not have to resort to populating lamp posts and using cold steel, but if so, Oakland and Greenwood will boast of much activity and the price of black crepe will rise. ‘Anti-Ku Klux Klan of North Texas.’” A similar organization was announced from southeast Texas. In an Associated Press dispatch from Beaumont, under date of July 27, 1921, it was reported: “Organization is said to have been effected of a band of men to combat the alleged activities of the Ku Klux Klan, in South East Texas, with the announced intention of conducting open warfare against the members of the Klan if necessary ‘because officers have not the nerve or desire to place under arrest its members who have violated the law.’ “First announcement of the new organization was set forth yesterday in a communication addressed to the Ku Klux Klan and sent to a local newspaper for publication. ‘Squads of special service men,’ the notice stated, “‘We have formed a club, or mob, you may call it, of more than one hundred fearless men and we are going to stop you people with hot lead and hot steel at the first opportunity, and that will not be far off. We have sworn vengeance on such people and will shoot down like a mad dog men whom we learn to be members of the Klan.’” Some of the newspapers of Texas have fearlessly taken a stand against the widespread epidemic of masked violence, even going so far as to charge them directly to the Ku Klux Klan. Notable among these has been the Houston Chronicle. In an editorial printed in August, 1921, under the heading “Law, or Secret Cult,” it said: “Once more the nation comes to a parting of the ways. “The issue is clearly defined. No one but the unimaginative can misunderstand it. “Constituted authority must prevail, or we are in for a reign of masked and irresponsible terror. “The fine phrases with which apologies for the Ku Klux Klan defend it fall flat before what happened to that woman in Tanaha and that other woman in Birmingham. “‘Law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear,’ they declare, but what does that amount to when any citizen can be accused, seized and violently used without a hearing? “Why do we bother about trial by jury, if the evidence of an angry and impulsive mob is sufficient to convict? “Why have we built up a complicated system of justice, except to protect indicted citizens? “Once more they would thrust us back on the evidence of passion, and conviction by emotion. “Once more they would rob the defendant of his right to be heard, to summons witnesses, to appeal to an impartial tribunal. “Once more they would have punishment decided upon and inflicted by a council that cannot be held accountable. “Once more they would expose everybody; whether criminal or not, to disguised tyranny. “And they call it Americanism—this semi-barbaric horseplay that gives its victim no chance, that comes upon him unawares, that shuts his mouth and overpowers him by force. “Innocent, or guilty, he has no privilege but to accept the inevitable, and that is what they call loyalty to their country and their country’s institutions. “Two women have been stripped and flogged, and this they say was done in the name of chivalry. “Their names are written on a secret roster and their faces are covered, and this they assert is in keeping with those traditions of frankness, candor and open dealing which have been essentially characteristic of the United States. “‘Those eyes that see everything’ and ‘those ears that hear everything’ are evidently blind and deaf to the great struggle and dearly bought experiences by which Anglo-Saxon civilization has struggled from a state of tribal law to organized justice. “A law that cannot be written is not fit to enforce. A charge that cannot be proved in an open manner is not fit to be made the basis of punishment. “Persons who will not make accusations in the daylight are not fit to be believed. “We are face to face with a mad conception of government, with an impossible basis of law enforcement. “There can be no compromise with it, no half-hearted attitude. Either this idea of a secret cult purveying the morals of the people must go, or the sovereignty of the State will cease to exist. “When a legislator defends the ‘Invisible Empire’ his allegiance is manfully divided. He is serving two masters—one of them created by the people, the other by a class within the people. “True loyalty permits of no such divided allegiance, true patriotism recognizes but one master. Unless the overthrow of this government is intended, there is no place or excuse for the ‘Invisible Empire.’” |
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