The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-10-24
WAS KUKLUxIsM JUsrIFIABLEf
An Eloquent Divine Of New Orleans
Says That It Was.

Sitting On the broad piazza of the
hotel here, away from the promenaders,
l listened last night to a passionate.
earnest justification of KuKluxism in
Louisiana and other southern States,
writes a Warm Spring, n. c., CORES
pondent of The New York Star. The
story of the wrongs and outrages, the
violation, ruthless and rough, of all that
men hold most dear and sacred, as IL
came pouring in burning words from
the lips of one of New Orleans most
eloquent dIvines, was In striking con-
traSt to :: e perfect peace which wrapped
the valley in deep silence. The loon
was shining with brilliancy seen only
in southern climeS, and the clearly
defined mountains were patched with
alternate light and shadow as the clouds
drifted By. The conversation had drifted
on southern topics, and as the preacher,
whose faith is a firm belief in the faith
erhoOd Of God and the brotherhood of
man, warmed with his sub rect his ply
sic l ills were for the time forgotten and
the mentality that has stirred many a
congregation with it's fire burned and
gloWed like molten iron. WAS Kuklux-
ism justi6able?" he said, in answer to a
question. Yes, sir; and if the doctrine
that the end justifies the means was
ever correct it was during the reign of
terrorism in the Southern States, when
KukluXism was rampant. Remember,
sir, that at the close of the war, and
during the reconstruction period, the
white men in the south were disarmed,
and it was a penal offense for them to
have fire arms in their homes. The
negroes, however, were armed. Our
streets and highways were patrolled by
negro Soldiery who were but set o.
barbarians and saVages, worse than are
the savages to-day in the interior of
Africa. 1t got so that a white woman
dare not cross the threshold of her
house lest she be assaulted by one of
these brutes, while white men had TO
abandon the roads to the negroes and
make their way across the fields as best
they might. To appeal to the Law was
useless, for the judges were carpet bag
GERS and sustained the negroes.
1T was this state of affairs-when we
saw our civilization and all the rights
and privil. ges of society being swept
away and our dear ones exposed TO
fate worse than death-that gave birth
to KukluXism. Self preservation is a
fundamental law, and, recognizing that
naDght but heroic measures would uuell
the growing evil, the white men quietly
organized, and IN armed bottles began
the redress OF the wrongs from which
they were suffering. Do not imagine
that e Ku klux were recruited from
the criminal classes. Such | know is !
the prevalent northern idea, but it is
absolutely false. The members of the |
K. K. K. were gentleme.. of fine educa
ton, struggling mantullv to retain and |
sustain their manhood and give to taeir |
children as a heritage of the war |
higher civilization than perhaps they |
themselves had enjoyed. In many
instances that was the only legacy they
had to give, for all else had been swept |
away in the storm of shot and shell |
that had for four years been sweeping
over the land.
How did the bands work."
Negroes, like sheep, require leader,
and the bands quietly noted the leaders
and where they lived. At night they
visited their cabins and called the men
out. The most brutal were either shot
or hanged; others thoroughly whipped
and ordered 10 leave the country. In
this way a reign of terror was created
the negroes. and the white men
gained control. Why, sir, even the
Federal troops that were sent down to
suppress Kukluxism refused in many
instances IN Interfere and in some cases