The cases of lawlessness set forth in the foregoing chapter have been laid at the door of the “Invisible Empire,” but “Emperor” Simmons has denied that the acts involved were committed by members of his organization. There have been, however, three specific cases where outrages have been proven to have been committed by members of the “Invisible Empire,” and in these cases the “Emperor” has been forced to take action against his own Klans, revoking charters in two instances and suspending the charter of the third. This action on the part of the “Emperor” has been extensively advertised by him as a guarantee of good faith that he intends to keep his “Invisible Empire” free from the control of lawless characters; but, public opinion, in the shape of widespread editorial comment of leading newspapers, does not agree with his point of view. Editors agree that no matter how altruistic may be the claims of the “Invisible Empire,” a movement of secret government, acting extra-legally cannot be held in control; and it having been demonstrated in three specific instances that the Ku Klux Klan has been guilty of lawlessness, thus necessitating the “Emperor’s” summary action, it follows that the whole system has no place in American affairs.

Believing that these developments in the Ku Klux situation fully sustain my position that the “Invisible Empire” is not a fraternal order, but a combination seeking to govern the American people by intimidation and force, I shall take up these cases in detail, the facts in each instance having been fully verified by the New York World in its investigations.

The first instance of lawlessness developed in Mobile, Ala., when people of that city awoke one morning in the spring of 1921, to find Ku Klux warnings on many billboards, trees, and telephone poles, and in other public places. Most of them laughed, but some of the negroes took the signs seriously and prepared to leave the city. A Northern exodus was threatened, but with all the excitement the newspapers of the city remained silent, not even printing the notice found stuck up about the place, although a New Orleans paper carried the story which was read by the negroes of Mobile. Fearing the action of public opinion, “Emperor” Simmons revoked the charter of the Mobile Klan.

The warning read:

If the Mobile Klan really had twenty-five hundred members at the time its charter was revoked, it means that it had paid $25,000 into the coffers of the Ku Klux agents, to say nothing of some $16,000 paid to the Atlanta office for robes. It seems rather unkind of the “Emperor” not to have allowed the Mobile outfit something in return for its heavy outlay. Had it been permitted to continue, it could easily have beaten and tarred and feathered a few helpless women, driven out of town some of the taxi drivers and gamblers, and mutilated a few negro men. As it turned out, the Klansmen suddenly found themselves “all dressed up and no place to go,” and in pretty much the same position as a lot of little boys who have been playing pirate and whose stern parents ordered them to come home.

The second instance of admitted lawlessness on the part of the national organization occurred at Pensacola, Fla., and was a particularly brazen attempt on the part of secret mob government to assume to enforce its own laws. About half past eight o’clock on the night of July 8, 1921, a delegation of the local Ku Klux Klan drove in automobiles up to the cafe of Chris Lochas, three cars loaded with Klansmen, wearing white robes and helmets, while other cars, similarly filled, stopped on the corner of the street. Three members of the Klan walked into the cafe and handed a letter in an envelope to Lochas. The message read:

When the letter was handed to Lochas, Captain Harper of the Police Department was standing inside the cafe, talking to the proprietor. Lochas opened the letter, looked at it and put it into his pocket, and thinking the matter a joke paid no attention to it. A few minutes later some negroes, who had seen the members of the Klan and recognized them for what they were, came into the cafe and their stories of the Klan caused Lochas to examine the letter more carefully and show it to the police. After delivering the message, the three members of the Klan walked out of the cafe, entered their automobiles and the three cars drove away into the night. The street was crowded at the time of the visit and hundreds of people saw the men in white robes halt their cars in front of the cafe and on the street corner, saw the messengers enter and leave the cafe and saw the cars drive away. In addition to the police captain who was on the inside of the cafe, a uniformed policeman was on duty immediately outside the door, yet neither the police nor any person present noted the license numbers of the cars or made any attempt to interfere with the visitors.The Pensacola News in an editorial printed July 9, 1921, said:

As a result of indignation of the best citizens of Pensacola, Simmons suspended the charter of the Pensacola Klan, and offered to aid in discovering the perpetrators of the lawlessness, issuing a long statement which appeared on the front page of the Pensacola morning paper July 14, 1921, wherein he stated, with his usual sanctimonious whine that his organization stood for “the supremacy of pure Americanism without fear and without reproach,” and gave expression, in his usual bad English, to his usual platitudes.

The Pensacola News in an editorial the same day challenged the “Emperor” to aid the authorities in detecting the criminals by giving the names of the members of the local Klan so they could be called before the Grand Jury and be examined under oath, and the names of the guilty parties thereby ascertained. The News further said:

Simmons, of course, has never complied with this challenge, as far as has been reported in the newspapers, and it is doubtful if he ever will. He has issued a long-winded, verbose statement since that time rehashing the same platitudes that have characterized all his writings and speeches, but has not turned over to the authorities the names of his local members. The charter of the Pensacola Klan has merely been suspended, although the offense committed was far more flagrant and specific than the case of the Mobile Klan, and it is quite likely that should the matter “blow over” the Pensacola organization will be reinstated.

The third case in which the “Emperor” found it necessary to take public action against one of his Klans which had gone too far in publicly advertising the “noble cause” occurred in Beaumont, Tex., and attracted newspaper attention on a nation-wide scale in the month of July, 1921. It was the first time that a Klan openly and publicly admitted its participation in an overt act of lawlessness. The case was so brazen that the “Emperor” revoked the Klan’s charter.

It appears from an examination of the facts in the case that masked men entered the office of one Dr. J. S. Paul, in the city of Beaumont, on the night of May 7, 1921, forced the physician to accompany them to a waiting automobile, conveyed him to the country, whipped him, tarred and feathered him and ordered him to leave town. A short time after that, similar treatment was meted out to one R. F. Scott, described in the dispatches as a veteran of the Marine Corps. Much excitement prevailed in Beaumont, until on July 21, 1921, a communication was received by the local newspapers under seal of “Klan No. 7, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,” of Beaumont, accompanied by a long statement of alleged facts in the cases of the two men who had been beaten.

Frankly admitting that its members had attacked Paul and Scott, the statement went into details as to the characters and conduct of the two men. It was charged that Paul had, for a long time, been making a business of criminal operations on women, of the sale of drugs and whiskey, and had waxed fat and powerful in this alleged illicit business. It was charged that for the past five years repeated attempts had been made to have him indicted and convicted, but that on account of wealth and political influence, he had succeeded in evading the law. The climax of his alleged practices was reached in the case of a young woman, her name was not given in the statement, who was brought to Paul for an alleged operation. It appears from the charges made by the Klan that Scott was involved in the matter. According to the statements of the Klan, an operation was performed, from the results of which the woman was caused to suffer severe consequences, it being claimed that death nearly resulted from her condition. It appears further from the allegations that the woman called to see Doctor Paul and demanded financial assistance, asking for $1000 to reimburse her for her expenses incurred during her illness. This, according to the statement, Paul refused to pay, offering instead $500, which was refused, after which the woman was said to have been ordered out of the office. The rest of the story, told in the exact words of the Klan reads:

When Doctor Paul returned to Beaumont, according to the statement, he was invited to appear before the Grand Jury for the purpose of testifying about his attackers, but upon appearing before that body, he was confronted with the girl in the case, who, it appears, for some reason not mentioned in the statement, had decided to make a public complaint against Doctor Paul in the manner prescribed by law. Why it was any more improper for the woman to have testified before the Grand Jury in the first place than in the second the Klan does not mention, but, according to its explanation, Doctor Paul was indicted on several counts, along with Scott, the other man involved, and was released on bail. Here follows some very excellent Ku Klux humor:

Here is Ku Kluxism in all of its glory. “In open defiance of the law,” utterly repudiating the Bill of Rights of both Federal and State constitutions, which guarantee a man the right of trial by jury, this organization had abducted a citizen, tried him secretly, convicted him, and punished him and then whines because its former victim armed himself as a protection against further mob violence. Regardless of any and all of the allegations against Doctor Paul, the assumption of any set of men to secretly handle the law enforcement of a community is nothing more or less than anarchy.

It is very interesting and illustrative of the Ku Klux state of mind to study this remarkable document, for which reason I am giving copious extracts. It appears that efforts of all kinds according to the Ku Klux, were made by Paul and Scott to kill the case, and the Klan claims that Scott was persistent in his efforts to induce the woman in the affair to leave town. The statement continues:

The statement concludes by an attack on Scott’s army record, and the allegation that he had served a prison sentence, adding:

Immediately following the publication of this frank statement, “Emperor” Simmons revoked the charter of the Beaumont Klan, and announced his intention of sending investigators to Texas for the purpose of looking into the various cases that had been reported where men in disguise had taken the law into their own hands. Up to the time that this was written, however, no such investigations have been made or attempted, so far as the public has been informed through the press.

The American people should view with alarm the propagation of any organization, the result of which has been the establishment of one unit which assumes to itself the secret regulation of law enforcement. Yet, when one studies the ritual and the oath of the Ku Klux Klan but little blame can be attached to the men in Beaumont for obeying what seemed to them the teachings of the “Invisible Empire.” They had sworn to “use any and all justifiable means and methods” and, taking the literal construction of the oath, they saw what appeared to them a bad condition existing in their community, which they proceeded to rectify. The prime responsibility for the Beaumont case rests upon William J. Simmons for having solicited men to take an obligation that is in itself a violation of the letter and spirit of the laws of this country. His action in revoking the charter was forced by the publicity given to the case, and by the frankness and openness of his followers in assuming the blame for their acts. Speaking in ordinary street parlance, the action of the “Emperor” was merely “passing the buck” to his own people who had been “caught with the goods.” When men are given a dangerous explosive to play with, the blame for the explosion that follows should be placed upon the person or corporation that gave it to them.