The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1899-12-23

The K. K. K, the abhorent secret
society Of the Philippines, has thriven
like a poisonous weed, surrounding it
self with a miasma of foulest crime.
sunny Italy has her dreaded Malta,
whose stilletto-clasping fingers reach
out even into other lands and claim
secretly doomed but unsuspecting vic
tins. Russia's Nihilists are a haunting
terror to her rulers and the h%aughtiest
and wealthiest of her mobiles. The
very name OF the organization strikes
with the chill of death on hearts that
know no other fear. The Thugs of In
ola do their deadly work moved by
a common impulse, emanating from a
central source-the serpent-wise, SER
pent-wicked heads of their murderous
order that live and die unknown, but
are obeyed as swiftly, unquestioningly
n as surely as Azrael himself. The
horrible scenes of the Indian mutiny
n Toussaint's instruction were
made possible by previous secret meet
ings, secret oaths and secret signals;
n in our own country the Ku Klux
Khan Of the south, the Mollie Maguires
OF the coal region of Pennsylvania and
Ohio, and the White Caps of the middle
west, have all, with intent to right
some real or fancied injury, banded
themselves together by hidden myster-
les and worked in concert for some de-
sired end. To this class If secret So
cieties does the X. K. X. of the Philip
pines belong.
In the open story OF the Philippines
and In the various books and articles
which have been written about these
islands since they sprung into unex-
pected prominence in the horizon of
national affairs, the Katipunan Ter
~roneously spelled C~atapunan) society is
spoken of as being merely a strong
political organization"-the strongest
In the Philippines" in fact. But while
1t most assuredly is this, its secret
aims, achievements and potentialities
are such as to secure for it a position
In its own peculiar way second to that
Of no organized aggregation OF op-
pressed, mutinous and ~revengeful hui
mainly In the whole wide world,
Death was it's foundation thought;
death It's countersign, its emblem, its
seal, its penalty and it's weapon. In
the days when it was first g~rudgingly
acknowledged by the Spanish rulers OF
those long-suffering Malaysian isl
ands that this rapidly growing and
widely extended organization was be.
coming a menacing power Of which it
was necessary to AXE serious account
in all their calculations and plans for
the future, every member of the order
was a legal outcast. He was, in the
estimation of the Spanish, a modern
Cain, except that he did not bear the
protecting mark of Gods brand upon
his brow.
Prescribed, hunted and prosecuted
the Katipunans held to their belief
and purposes with a tenacity that bod.
ed i'll for their oppressors. They hello
their meetings, performed their rights
and ceremonies, initiated new mem.
bers, invented new methods of action
in~augurated new movements, issued
new orders and enforced them, despite
all the efforts of those in authority tc
suppress, dispense and destroy them.
The Katipunans, though visible, are
as elusive and mocking as a will-o',
the-wisp. They appear here and there
as the fancy moves them-like tht
ignus %fatuus, proving by their very
existence the presence of something
noisome and death-dealing, and leadins
their Inflated pursuers into trackles.
morasses and deep-sunken pits where
no hope of escape or rescue can evel
come.
Under the Spanish rule the spirit o
revolt grew strong in every Filipino
breast, the owner of which was no
either a dotard or a craven. Where
crust forms over hidden and ever-in
%creasing fires that crust must sooner
or later inevitably break and expose t.
the world the raging hell beneath
The mutiny which took place OF
the evening Of January 20, 1872
in Cavite, was such a fendin!
and the breach then made neve
healed. On that evening the ma
tive soldiers stationed over this plac,
revolted, without having previousl!
given any understood sign of discon
tent or rebellion, and massacred thei
oflcers-the men whom they had fol