Fiery Cross, Volume 2, Number 34, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 July 1923 — Page 1

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o "THERE IS NO FAILURE EXCEPT FAILURE TO SERVE THE PURPOSE" VOLUME II, NUMBER 34 INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1923 FIVE CENTS PER COPY

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ALL ROADS TO K0K0M0 MEET JULY FOURTH

Preparation Complete for Gi

gantic Celebration by Klansmen Ninety-two Charters to Be Granted Delegations From Distant States to Be Present.

His Picture Promised Here It Is!

LIMBER Lunged LEW (

Imperial Officers to Deliver Speeches During Day Ladles of Ku Klux Jtlun to Have Part In Ceremonies

Crowd of Quiirter Million Is Ex-

petted at Mammoth Jleet.

(By Stuff Correspondent) KOKOMO, Ind., July 2 With but a very few minor details, all Is In readiness for the great influx of Knights of the Ku Klux Klaa who will begin arriving here Tuesday for the mammoth Klan tri-tate celebration to be held in this city on July

Fourth. Plans for the handling of the Riant crowd, which it is estimated will reach well beyond the 21)0,000 marl;, were completed some time ago and since that time the details have been steadily worked out by expert?. That Kokomo will entertain a throns; in excess of any ever before entertained by any Indiana city, not excepting Indianapolis on Speedway day, is conceded by all. Those iu close touch with the arrangements, confidently predict a crowd of a quarter million persons. While the meet will be a tri-state flair for Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, Kliinsnicn from many other states will be in attendance. Word has been received from states as far away a3 Colorado, Louisiana, Maine and New Mexico, that members from those states will.be present to tako p;.rt In the gigantic Klan celebration. To Center on Indiana Indiana will hold the center of the stage, however, duo to the fact that during the celebration the establishing of a state organization for the lloosiers will take place. There will be charters granted to each and

every county in Indiana, a total of ninety-two. Americanism ha3 enculfed the Hoosier state and the

growth of the Ku Klux Klan ia In

diana has been as a tidal wave-

The charters will be delivered by Imperial Wizard Dr. H. W. Evans In person. Other imperial officers

will be present and deliver speeches during the day and evening. Never before has such a wholesale grant-

(Continued on Page 2)

A Mighty Voice! RKPI.Y TO ADDKESS OF WELCOME BY "GEO.," THE LITTLE MAN WHO DOE'S BIG THINGS I.N KLAN DOM.

. Kjy J! Mouse Breakers ";kkSKr sVST'' Crooked PolMcian

LEW'S BUILDING

COMMISSIONER NOWUNDERFIRE

Building Permits Granted In Violation of Law Is Alleged More Light on City Hall Tactics.

Special Interests Secure Bpeefal Favors and Concessions General Conduct of Building Commissioner Hamilton's Office Shows Startling and Amazing Situation Payment of Political Debt Established In . Appointment of Hamilton.

JeffersonviJfe Chief

Peru Crooks Huntingdon Crooks Evansvife Crooks

Mad Paf.O'DonneJI Murta'e Officials Gary Officials Henru U Johnson Portland Offcias

raveHe Officials

EVANSVULE JUDGE DENOUNCES TACTICS USED BY ATTORNEYS

Lawyers With No Other Defense for Bootleggers Vilifv Ku Klux Klan

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Man Who Wants to Bet There Will "Be Acquittal Is Said to Have Paid Attorney Fees

Today marks an eventful occasion In the history of Indiana and in the history of our nation. For upon this day, the one hundred and fortyseventh anniversary of the declaration of American independence, a

day which is eaered in the minds of all true patriots, a clarion call is bfnr.g Botmded in this commonwealth which will find its echo in every remote coruer cf the United States. This call comes as a single mighty voice from the united thoughts of four hundred thousand red-blooded m-n who have given themselves unselfishly to the preservation of the prlccli'S", ideals and institutions of the atet country God has ever to lie fashioned. Men who believe that Christianity can be consistently practiced as well as it can be preached and who respect the

rich heritage of the spirit of toleration which provides ,that we may worship according to the dictates of our own conscience. Men who hold high the virtue of woman and be-Ih-vo that the sanctity of the home Is fundamental. Men who are not afraid of the truth and who believe that the education made possible through our public schools will light the way to happiness and peace. The call which rings forth from hero today will sound the alarm to itill-Kli:mbering, yet honest Ameri

cana that mis is a ume ior action and it will awaken them to the realization that we are here an invisible, gigantic, silent, ever-working bulwark between the God-given principles set forth in that famous document bequeathed to the world on July 4th, 1776, those principles and ideals which were written lnt the foundation of this great Protestant nation by those great Protestant patriotic forefathers who won the Revolution and who made our freedom possible, a bulwark between those principles and those un-American, un-Chrtstian and un-patriotic

forces which are gnawing at the

very life of this country.

And yet this call which sounds that alarm will also toll the death

knell to corrupt politics and the pa-

(Contlnued on Page 5)

EVANSVILLE, Ind., July 2. Con-

I timied attacks upon the Ku Klux ! Klan in police court, used in an ef

fort to free defendants arrested on liquor charges, prevailed on Saturday. However, the attacks were veiled by Attorney Lorin Kiely, following an order from Special Judge W. Lee Smith that Kiely refrain from mentioning the Ku Klux Klan.

Kiely, who wanted to read a copy of

the Fiery Cross to the jury, was

again adaaonished by Judge Smith

when he referred to "the Invisible

Empire."

Saturday morning City Judge Ireland, immediately before the opening

of court, called Police Sergeants Barrett and Sullivan before his bench and scathingly denounced the tactics used by an attorney for the defense of a man charged with a liquor offense, and said that no more such scenes as occurred in court on Friday should be repeated.

After telling the sergeants that

they should not allow disorder among the audience and that he wished the court conducted In the same businesslike way whije he was gone, that he would conduct it while on the bench, he said: "Lawyers are subject to conduct themselves decently. I hope in the future they will do so." . The attorney who CTeated the scene in the courtroom on Friday, when Lewis Gordon, charged with the illicit sale of liquor, was on trial, tacitly admitted on Saturday that Gordon had no defense and that his

(the attorney's) only hope was to

create sentiment In the jurymen against the Ku Klux Klan, which is

(Continued on Page 6)

Back to the Constitution

Where There Is No Vision, the People Perish", Says "The

Old Man", in a Stirring and Remarkable Address at Kokomo Birth Certificate of Nation Reaffirmed Beloved of Klansmen Delivery Stirring Address, Received

Amidst Remarkable and Inspiring Demonstration

Patriotism, Science, Industry, Transportation and Human

Affairs, with Their Parallelism to the Knights of the Ku

Klux Klan, Set Forth KOKOMO, Ind., July 4. Before the mighty hosts of Klandom gathered here today, a throng beyond the comprehension of the human mind, "the Old Man," beloved of all Klansmen, delivered the keynote address this morning, which follows: "Since our first Fourth of July, iu 1776, we have-rown from less than fonr million to one hundred and ten. In science, industry, transportation and territor,-, viewed retrospectively, oar progress is like a dream. Bnt all that we have gained, through education, discovery, invention, organization and wealth, can not compare with or compensate for one single quality of that pioneer period : Those who lived then had the wisdom to understand that public affairs wore paramountly important; they had a vision of sovereignty and society

merged into ne; and back of that conception was the unselfish coarage to face any disaster, even death, to gite it reality upon the continent of America. In signing the birth certificate of this nation, onr forefathers pledged "their lives, iheir fortunes and their sacred honor'' to the new republic. The creation of a state, the building of a 'government, was not new or unusual. What mnrked that event was the comprehension of its consequences to humanity, the willingness to suffer and sacrifice, which attended its conception end consecrated its achievement. There was divine knowledge en the part of those patriots that government was the all-important element in human life. Therefore, all that they had, all that they were and hoped to be, unfalteringly thej gave to the new earthly enterprise of freedom and liberty. Upon two eternal verities did they build : "The consent of the governed" was the foundation of their structure; and it was undeniably their intention that every development, every utility of that construction should meet one supreme test, which was Hhe common welfare."

NEWSBOYS, SELLING

THE FIERY CROSS IN

GARY, ARE ATTACKED

Policeman, Convicted in Coa spiracy Cases, Alleged to Have Been Witness

Sentiment Waxes Strong as Outrages

Continue Through Acts of Aliens

(By Staff Correspondent)

GARY, Ind., July 2. An arrogant mayor, playing the game of political

expediency, and a gang of alien In

dividuals, intent to do bodily harm

upon two newsies, featured the news transpiring in local Klan circles last

week. The mayor refused a permit for a public meeting. His action climaxed a week of conferences and deliberations. It concerned the first effort (Continued on Page 3)

(By Eyewitness) Charges of gross malfeasance la office and violations of the criminal code under permission of Building Commissioner Francis F. Hamilton as part of the Limber Lunged Lewconduct of city affairs became ru-

niorea this week. From threats by Hamilton, son of "Dollar Bill" Lew Hamilton, of notorious reputation in previous political campaigns, stating that "every man In his employe who was a Kluxer would have to get out" An un-American threat which was followed by orders to building inspectors to violate their bonded duty ia alleged: These orders to lnsneetnn h-r

Hamilton, to violate the criminal code in order to Grant sneclal favors

to Individuals and corporations was

anegert to be a matter of record, and In such instances work was allowed

10 proceed without records at all, hi order that none would appear, evlncntly .wlth the Idea of making the contractor and builder the oat,"

m case mere was any ilare-back.

jiecoros snow mat building permits were never issued, the matters were entirely ignored on orders of both

Arnutage and Freeman, it is nl.

leged.

Statements thrft Hamilton, TW:3

building commissioner, Issued orders to building inspectors to "Let that Job on M?.ssacl,""'et.ts avenue go ahead. I iix" , ;ui them when they were iu nere" is' a fair sample of the conduct of the Limber Lunged Lew administration pertaining to this particular department. That

Hamilton, upon having other specific violations of the criminal code. In which were both the possible hazard of fire as well as human life, -called to his attention, madehe statement to the building inspector that '. "1 was nore of hia (the inspector's) business" and that "I, the building commissioner, have the right to do as I please," are charged. Upon having it called to his attention that it was a matter of the criminal code ad that the inspector was under bond to secure the enforcement of the law, and questioning the right of the commissioner of build ings to grant special permission and special concessions, It was emphasized that Hamilton was a law unto

Himself. Violation, not of the city criminal code, but of the state housing law in granting special permission and concessions in the construction of a flat building on the north side, is (Continued on Page 3)

Klonklave in Buckeye State July 12 The greatest Kn Klux Elan gathering ever held In Ohio will take place on July 12 near Mewark. It is expected that 100,000 Klansmen from Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky will be In attendance. The Klonklave will be featured by speeches delivered by Imperial officers ot the Klan. The Women's Organization will have a port In the celebration held on that day.

Every subsequent public problem has its origin in some violation of their fundamental attitude, and like

wise, correction and remedy can be

accomplished only through retracing our misguided steps to the stand-

rds established by them. Condi

tions change, but the principles proclaimed on July 4th, 1776, sustained in a conflict that was both civil war and revolution, and then embodied in a federal constitution the like of

which man has never seen, are as sacred now as they were then, and as much more- essential to thfi common welfare today as our modern

life is more complex than was the

simple life they led.

It humbly seems to me that we

here should set up the compass of

truth they used In charting the

course of this nation and endeavor to discover, in the light of their thought and deeds. Into what oceans

of difficulty false or Incompetent

pilots hare-misdirected the ship of

I state.

The Doctrine of Independence Out of the second continental Con

gress at Philadelphia, on July 4th,

ame this declaration:

"We hold these truths to be self-

evident, that: all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their

Curator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit ot happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, de

riving their just powers from the

consent of the governed. That when

ever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it

is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation

on such principles and organizing its powers in sueh form as to them shall seem most , likely to effect their

safety and happiness."

This doctrine was new . to that

periodVbut not to that historic oc casion.

Already its spirit and purpose had

found expression ia the Virginia

Bill of Rights, a document outdaring and antedating all others of its kind in America.

H&ving pointed and led the way

months before, Virginia, not yet

translated from colony to common

wealth, instructed her delegates at

Philadelphia to strike for deliver

ance and freedom. Accordingly, on July 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee

moved that the united colonies be

declared "'free and independent

states. h

In all vital matters, throughout

the entire period of federal concep

tion and birth, states' rights were scrupulously observed. Each colony

was regarded as a 4init of power.

Therefore the continental Congress at once commanded all uninsfcructod

delegates to go back to their respec

tive colonies for specific authority'to decide the epochal Issue. At the same time a committee waa appointed to draft a declaration of Independence, pending and dependent upon the adoption of Lee'a rescf(Continued on Pago 7)

WHAT IS THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE KLAN?

An Editorial by "Nick Nickleby"

The writer has studied and tried

to understand the things for which the Klan stands; also the effect of the teachings of the principles of the Klan and its effects upon our1 government.

If the things for which the Klan

stands are wrong, then the princi

ples of law upon which our government is founded are also wrong, and the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States are likewise

wrong. In support of this statement, which may seem to the reader to be very broad, please consider the following facts: The chief argu

ment against the Klan Is that it dis

criminates between races or classes

an denies to men equality before

the law, and as a result of this stirs

np bad feeling, thereby encouraging

trouble. Supreme Court Decisions Cited

The Supreme. Court of the United

States recently decided that a Japanese can not bo naturalized in the United States and can not become a

citizen of this country. In--an exhaustive analysis of the history of

the various legislation on the subject

the .court held that naturalization

was limited to "free white persons

and those ot African descent Naturally this decision would not meet with the approval of many Japanese,

but it is the law of this land as de

clared by our court of last resort and is based upon principles upon which

this government rests and whether verybody likes It nr not is imma

terial. Furthermore, we do not all like the same things generally, but our likes and dislikes do not determine the correctness of a given thing.

Another recent decision of ennal

importance by the Supreme Court of the United States is the oae in which

tney upheld the so-called "Jim Crow" law of Mississippi. In Mississippi they have a statute which

prohibits negroes riding in a passenger coach with white people and "the

validity or this statute was challenged and the Supreme Court of

our land upheld the statute as a

proper exercise of legislative authority and in so doing affirmed the

principles expressed by Justice Brown in the famous case of Piessy vs. Ferguson, in which he said: "Legislation is powerless to erH.

cate racial instincts, or to abolish

aisuncuons based upon physical differences, and the attempt to do so can only result in accentuating taa difficulties of the present situation." . In this case three white men were awarded J400 damages for --being compelled to ride In a passenger.' coach with negroes. There are many other similar cases, where similar distinctions are made but the two reeent cases abovo cited seem to illustrate my point, and the. point is this, that the lav always has and probably alwaya

will recognize differences and distinctions between people and In so (Continued on Page 19, Section S)

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