Fiery Cross, Volume 3, Number 16, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 February 1924 — Page 2
PAGE TWO
THE FIER Y CROSS Friday, February 15, 1924
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COLUMBUS, O., Feb. 9 The people of Cedarhurst, a little village just east of Columbus, got their first closeup view of the Ku Klux Klaa in action, -when at the close of a business meeting of the Cedarhurst Civic Association recently, about fifty members of the Klan marched into the meeting, and after a short and impressive ceremony, the leader presented the association with a Holy Bible and a beautiful American flag. The big surprise of the evening came when a woman who had always' posed as a Christian, stepped
to the front and objected to the acceptance of the Bible. A number of persons present, known not to be in hearty accord with the K. K. K., voiced their disapproval of the woman's objections in no uncertain terms. President Cremeans then holding the Bible aloft said, "I can't accept this Bible entirely on my own behalf, I will leave it to the people.
As for myself, I would rather lose my head than to lose this Holy Book." Thunderous applaupe went up with cries of "Keep it, keep it," while the opposition still refused to accept it and again went forward and rejected the gift. With the Klansmen filling the aisle and waiting in silence, President Cremeans left th.e decision to the vote of the pepole, asking all that voted not to accept the Bible to remain on the right of the aisle
and all that were in favor of accepting-it to cross to the left of the aisle. As a mighty cheer went up the leader of the Klansmen held aloft the Stars and Stripes and asked "What will we do with it, boys?" With shouts of "Keep it, keep it," from the left cries of "Take it out" were heard from the right of the building. One overzealous anti started forward to remove the gifts but was promptly subdued.
After the excitement had subsided
Klan Going Into Action With Amazing Amount of Success, Says The Outlook Stanley Frost Dwells on Secrecy 6f Organization irt Latest Article- Would Be Folly to Surrender Any Advantage at This Time," ; Declares Brilliant Writer "
(Copyright. 1924, by The Outlook! Company and reprinted by spe- 1 ; cial arrangement through courtesy of The Outlook.) . There has seldom been an organization so amazingly well designed for getting what it wants as is the Ku Klux Klan. .One has to go back to the unproven stories of the secret and deadly workings of the lay branch of the Society of Jesas three hundred years ago for a parallel Vojr the - Klan Is able not only Ho make Its will effective startlingly effective considering Its numbers bat to do so with almost complete
immunity and to leave those whom it attacks beating the air, helpless to strike back. This is no accident; the Klan has been planned and built for just this end. It is the offspring of extremely able brains, probably those Of General Forrest and his associates in,. the sixties, with improvements added by experience, it is devised. to ..permit
a minority, even a 'minute; minority,;
to multiply its power, to strme wfe ly and silently, and to remain seeure. So lone as its oaths hold and Its
members are steadfast It can do this
almost perfectly. - . Every least thing . about the Klan'
vs made to contribute to this. Just as its spirit is one of reform and its basic idea is native, white Protestant supremacy, so its purpose focuses in direct, militant, immediate action - to put its spirit and its ideas into effect
all along the line.- It gather together for this all the various forms of strength which have been described in previous articles its secrecy, its appeal to instinct or prejudice, its careful organization, and finally the intense emotions it fos
ters and drives the whole into effec-
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missed the meeting by asking all to repeat the Lord's prayer and the singing of "America," in which the opposition refused to join. It is unbelievable that any man, woman or child, regardless of race, creed or color, living under our beautiful banner in safety and security, should scorn its acceptance as a symbol of our protection from perils without and within.
somewhat the leader of the Klan dis-fftive works. How; successful this ac
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tion is will be told in the next article; the purpose of the present one is to study the elements of power in action which make such success pos'sible. The first of these elements is the militant and military organization, with its autocratic control. This cen
ters in the imperial wizard the power to order action without waste of time or confusing counsels, and it permits the sudden and concentrated use of all available strength that is only Possible to despotism. And that is
t In avowed object of this form of organization. Says Paul S. EtherMif, the imperial klonsel: "The form and character of our ifoiernment is both in theory and iinictioe military and in a sense -an-, itw;iiaV. W ourselves lmve made i K m. Our Imperial wizard
is our conimanaer-in-c met ana lie is i
open-air meetings so loved by farmers. jFhere were to be speeches,' bands, an Initiation and a big picnic dinner famished by women of the churches. Some 10,000 people had gathered wheSi twenty-fire of YVal ton's men appeared. They had no warrants, no official right to act even If their action had been legal as it was not. -They ordered the gathering to disperse, wared weapons, threatened the men, hustled the women, kicked orer the baskets and tables of fried chicken and pie and in general behaved as offensively
as. possible. There were enongh fighting men in the crowd to have defeated them easily Oklahoma has a good many half-reformed cowboys and the Kian officials sweat blood before they finally got the crowd broken "up In peace. The fact that daring' the whole Walton fight, with many cases like this, no single in
stance of Klan violence occurred.
speaks rolumns for; the way Klansmen heartfly heed" their orders. . The third advantage derived from the military organization is the ability :pt the Klan tojeach all the memhers on yery short notice, and. to get tfteip into action -.witfi tewimeiihg
swiftness, l have 'Dot'' learned how this is done, but it is done amazingly well, lar better than aa emergency ball to a militia regiment, for: exam
ple.' There was a case la an Ohio city where the authorities illegally
had forbidden any; Klan meeting ih-
sine tae. county. . At 5 o-oiogk one day a national Klan- speaker ir lived.
word of a meeting -began to be cir
culated about 6r Sod at 8 some 15,000
men had gathered, lB;;a field twenty miles away, across the county line, though every one must have had. to
change his plans for" the evening, and though none but the leaders knew where they were going, wfieti
they started!.: .- -
Another instance of swift ;5.work
was given by the KlaiJn a Kentircky
city. On the evening- before an election it suddenly decided to put tip a candidate 5 there was one brief newspaper advertisement, but there were
no meetings and no risible campaign.
let of 12,000 rotes next day, this nn known man got 7,000!
Acts Without Confusion
Thus, with autocratic generalship
military discipline and a perfect con
tact system with obedient forces the
Klan is able to plan campaigns with
out possibility of the plans becoming
known, to act absolutely as a unit
to change instantly and without confusion. whennecRSary sjaQ to throw its whole strength without warning
and in an hour's time against what
pvpf nhitinH vs arp rhnpn iron
Mipn me within certain restrictions i erais iave had a more perfect fight01 (he constitution and his decisions, j j niachine.
decrees, edicts, mandates, rulings and instructions are of full authority
; and must be unqnestioiilugly recogI nized and respected by each and evi ery citizen of the invisible empire. "The military feature runs through all our plans of operation. S it has been pointed out that a simi- ! larity of operation exists between the I Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the j Roman hierarchy. Let it be j remembered that no form of govern, j ment has developed such proficiency in handling the masses. Some ! of the most iniquitous devices of the devil himself are operated npon plans I of the highest efficiency, but this does I not mean that the devil owns the
plans.
But this is only a part of the Klan's
strength in action; probably less than half. Its .greatest advantages come from its secrecy, and these are so tremendously effective that it is
easy to see why it holds to secrecy in the face of all criticism. It more
than doubles the chance that the Klan will accomplish the things it
has set out to do.
Dr. Evans spoke of some of these advantages in one of his talks with
me
"A force which is in the open and
can be seen and calculated is far
less feared by a corrupt official or an
anti-American propagandist than one
which he can not see," the wizard
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adopt the methods employed by the
arch-enemy which nave proven their efficiency through twenty centuries, although we denonnce the ends and. purposes to which they have been diverted? "There is another reason why our government must be military in character. Our organization is more than a secret order; Tt is a movement: in a sense, a crusade. Military discipline must be maintained because we, unlike purely civic bodies or civic governments, are sailing on uncharted seas. It be
comes essential that one general direct the march and that directlon .be
accomplished only through a rigid military program." This rigid, concentrated power is backed up in the first place, by very great control over the individual members, a discipline which is almost military in most ways. The words of the oath are clear: "8. I,
will render at all times loyal
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respect and steadfast support of the imperial authority, and will heartily heed all official mandates, decrees, edicts, rulings and instructions," and so forth. There is no limitation in this and I find none in the constitu
tion, yet there are some things the wizard could not order without
breaking his own oath and there is
much evidence that the leaders would
be afraid to attempt authority be
yond certain points. For all ordinary
purposes inside the aims of the Klan,
however, the authority is complete.
The widest proof of this Is the snd
den ceasing of night-riding through.
oat the whole Klan when Dr. Evans got control and issued his reform or
ders. Bat there hare been even clearer evidence of drastic control
in local situations, such as those where Klansmen hare submitted to riolence without retaliation. A state
wide demonstration was given in
Oklahoma when Governor Walton's gunmen made really outrageous attempts to goad the Klansmen Into seme kind of violence that would hare justified Walton's charges and bar given him an excuse for military action.
A typical performance was that at
the town of Comanche, where the
Klan bad called one of those big
less comfortable to undertake a conspiracy against good government or against Americanism if the conspirator has no means of knowing that the first man in whom he confides his plans may not be a Klansman. "These advantages are very real and assist in carrying out the Klan's ideals. In an open democracy they would not be necessary and might
be classed as unfair. In the present
condition of the country, when it is
necessary to combat organizations
using these and even worse methods, it would be folly to surrender any
advantage. When the time comes
that the organizations referred to abandon their secrecy, the Klan will
also willingly abandon it."
These fighting values of secrecy
are worth looking into; the imperial
wizard did not mention them all, nor say all that is worth noting of any
of them. A study of the Klan at work shows at least seven different advantages which it gains in this
way.
First is the fact that it can strike
in the dark. There is no warning before the blow falls, no certain knowledge of what is behind it. It is seldom possible to know what men
are responsible. A blow so struck is doubly effective against the man hit; it is bewildering to the onlook
ers.
In the second place, the Klan by
this means is able to claim all sue
cess and to deny any failures. If the
blow lands it can take this credit, but if it misses it either is never known or, .if known, the Klan can deny responsibility. In regard to things accomplished the advantage is the same. The Klan can take credit for actions.which the community approves or fears, and deny blame for those which have not worked out to its advantage. Thus
it is able to build up an aura of success, infallibility and social service which may or may not bo justi
fied, but is never quite so well justi
fied as appears. A thinrgreat advantage of secrecy is the one mentioned by Dr. Evans, that it confuses the enemy. A man who is thinking of fighting the Klan does not know how great the force against him may be nor how to cal
culate his chances.- It may have five members or five hundred, and all the instinct against jumping in the dark will make men keep peace with it
if they can. when it comes to an actual struggle it has all the ad
vantages so well demonstrated by Gideon's band against the hosts f the enemies of Israel. The Klan
might be beaten often if its foes
kept their nerve, but very few men
do keep their nerve against hard-hit
ting spectres..
The Klan's ability to get informa
tion is its fourth great advantage.
It is not only the fact mentioned by
nr. Lvans, that no one can be sure
there is not some Klansman included
in the roost carefully laid plot who
will lay all the details before the
Klan officials, though this is disheartening enongh. The great advantage is that there is likely to be some Klansman who will get hold of the most carefully guarded seerets of any kind, and that with men everywhere the highest Klan officials are able to run down whatever information they want, whether secret or not, with very little trouble. The
fact that the membership is secret makes it impossible to guard against
this.
I have had some contact with the
espionage and secret service systems of great governments, and it seems
to me that the Klan's is the best oi
them ail. In all my talks with Klan
officials I have been astounded at the extent and detail of their Information. It seems to cover every man
with whom ther mar have business.
from, presidents to bootleggers, and to" Include an actually complete rec
ord ot each, it covers also politi
cal and business deals, plots, logrollings, plans, performances, past,
present and to come.
An Uncanny Accuracy The Klan has a great bureau w hich
collects, sorts, codifies and prepares this material for use. It is a tre
mendous weapon. The newer which
it might give the Klan ever any man
with ft past, even over any man who does not want his whole life and business arrangements made public at any given moment, is almost incalculable, though I have not heard a whisper that it has ever been used
in this way. It is also of great value
In allowing the Klan to act with un
canny accuracy. And the very fact of its existence does have a blithing effect on all kinds of opposition. All these things combine to give the fifth advantage terror. It does not include fear of physical force, but it is none the less real. Where the Klan is active there is often actual panic among opponents. J is
like the fear of ghosts ; men who would stand willingly against heavy i odds are demoralized by a vague, unformed, unseen, intangible spec-; tre, armed with unknown weapon and unguessed knowledge and clothed with a reputation for ruthless power and unvarying success. The sixth advantage is tha secrecy protects individual Klansmen against reprisals. They can not be located, therefore can not be hurt. Thus the best known method of weakening an organized enemy "sniping" the weaker members is impossible against the Klan. Any blow which is struck in return must be aimed at the Klan as a whole. v And when such a blow is aimed, usually there is nothing there to take it. This is the final anl greatest advantage of secrecy. It is almost im
possible to hit bick at the Klan except through general legislation and
court action such as have been attempted so often and so uselessly.
Those whom the Klan attack can
never know when or where or how
or against whom to launch their
counter-attacks. They must remain
forever on the defensive which is
the surest road to final jdefeat.
One more advantage of secrecy
not of immediate fighting value but of great help to the Klan as a whole should be mentioned. This is that
it goes far toward preventing indi
vidual Klansmen from exploiting themselves, from nsing the Klan to further their own ambitions. This keeps the Klan campaign and pur-
poses nnihed, prevents perversion of
aims and waste of strength' in side-
issues. They do occur, ot course, but the rule of secrecy greatly limits them m& the weaknesses that come from them. There are two other great elements of strength in the Klan in action, neither directly due to either secrecy or organization. One is the careful spread of information among
members ; "education," as the leaders
call it. This information is generally correct, but it does always support Klan purposes. The Klansmen are
given reports about men and events
from all over the country reports that Bmack of "inside dope" which
strengthen their purpose and just
ify their actions. This helps much toward unity, intensity and effective
ness.
Last and by no means the least Is
that the Klansmen themselves oe
Here not onlr In the righteousness
of their cause and Its methods, bat in its actual success. They believe
that they are doing the things they
set out to do. and can do them every
where If they will hold together and take enongh trouble. Thus they have
the morale, esprit do corps, eclat of
a victorious army with an its mcai culable valnfe
There is room for. only one example of-this kind of belief that success
is being won; an excerpt from a let ter written by a clergyman in i
state where the Klan has been heard
from so little that few people know
it has any member there. . Since I
nave no Knowieage or tne lacis,
suppress the names, and give the letter merely to show how Klansmen
believe the Klan is winning.
"For two decades," this minister
writes, "Bishop Blank has held the state in the hollow of his hand by
cleverly manipulating the Catholic
vote. Those - ballots have been
handed to anyone who would be most convenient and accommodating to Rome. But when the Klan came matters immediately changed and the haughty Bishop received what rightfuly belonged to him and the church and nothing more. You are doubtless familiar with what has
been done in this city in a political way. Senator Richard Roe has been, the leader in the movement to take the management of city and state affairs out of the Bishop's hands and place them in the keeping of all the people. This great work will certainly result in his being elected governor in the November election. Home's political machine here has been wrecked." So we find the Klan going into action with an amazing array of the accoutrements ot success unity, secrecy, immunity to reprisal, the ability to inspire panic, wide information and faith in victory. With such equipment it is no wonder that it is accomplishing much, that it is expecting to do much more, that it
is drawing mcreasmg numbers into its march and that its leaders set no limits to what may be done.' Given another year or two at the present rate of growth, and the possibilities of its power stagger the mind. Actions Are Praiseworthy This summary has taken no consideration of the fairness or viciousness of these elements of the Klan strength. It will be observed that
none are illegal, that many are of the
kind that are highly praised when
tound in organizations which we
happen to approve, and that the worst of them are measures which are always held to be justified in
warfare, no matter how despicable
they may be in themselves. The Klan practices espionage, a sort, of mental terrorism, a secret propaganda attack from ambush. These are not new methods; every combatant does them in wartime and they are not unknown to political and other organizations ' in this country even in peace. Judgment on them must depend on one's judgment as to the motives and
purposes of the Klan. The methods are undeniably dangerous, they are unfair, in all ordinary circumstances as Dr. Evans himself practically' ad
mitted. The Klan's justification is
that war is neededj that it requires such methods, and that the Klan is not the first to use them but has adopted them as the allies adopted
poison gas, since it has merely done the same things that are "constantly being done by those whom it classes as enemies of the country. From this point of view its only fault is that it has done them better! It can claim also In. mitigation that its own aims "are. open, while those of the anti-American bodies and workers are not. So it seems that if one agrees with the Klan that the situation is serious enough to call for a vigorous campaign along .the lines of the Klan program, then the organization and strategy it uses can not he seriously condemned. But Jt follows also .that they must, be abandoned at the earliest possible moment, and one must, believe that the danger is very great and very eminent to justify such methods even temporarily. It will be recalled from Dr. Evans' statements that he admits both judgments. The success the Klan has had in actual operation and the details of the methods by which it makes this great strength effective, will be taken up in the next article "The Spectre's Heavy Hand."
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