The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-12-01
A HORRIBLE PLAY.

The Ku Klux Khan was organize
for a noble purpose, and accom-
plished great good. II became
necessity after Thad Stevens an,
other northern devils Of the abolitiol
and vindictive stripe had organize
their Union Leagues and attemptec
TO put black heels on white neck.
throughout the Frustrated and bleed
ing South. 1t was a great order
and the brave men who organized j
and carried out its purposes, can on
ly be regarded as public benefactors
for it did more than all other agen'
cies to break up the negro leagues
that were so numerous after the war
and to make the negro understand
that the unconquered and invinciblt
white race intended TO rule the
South.
The purpose being good, and the
works OF the ku Klux being salu,
tary and beneficial, it is to be regret
ted that for the sake of paltry dol,
lars that a lot of money sharks should
have put their heads together to
construct a drama, "The Clansman,'
from the excellent material Of the or
der, and put on the stage a play fill
ed with horrible and revolving scenes,
and whose greatest merit lies in the
fact that it was Kissed, and its auth
or booted, in South Carolina, where
the original scenes were laid--a tri-
butte to the people of the home of
Calhoun, Hayne and Wade Hampton.
1t deserved a Kissing, and public
opinion should become so strong that
it would drive the revolving and dis
gushing spectacle from the stage, or
force the author and his associates
to modify and cut out scenes that
shock manhood, offend womanhood,
and blunt refined sensibilities. As
the play stands, its production
should be forbidden in every South
ern State, especially now, when the
negro question is accute, and which
has been stretched to its utmost ten
sion by public writers and public
speakers.
THE Clansman" is intended to
illustrate and recall an era that it
were best to let rest and sleep. It's
revival can do no good and must be
productive of evil. The novel is bad
enough, in many chapters most
shocking, but the portrayal of the
scenes described is positively often
sive to Southern eyes and ears, to
any man or woman of the proud
Eagle race; and must fill the negroes
who witness the piece with thoughts
that can only result in their EXTERN
lnation when attempted.
The object Of "The Clansman'' is
ostensibly to show the work of the
ku klux Khan, and to serve as an
apology for an organization that was
outlawed, but the real purpose was
to put money in Dixon's purse. II
has done both. 1t is the old argu-
ment of the Leopard Spots" and
other books of that class, because the
idea was old when Dixon applied it
that Northern fanatics preach So
cial equality but decline to practice
it, that they hold that ~nter-marriage
OF the races is not Objectionable till
brought home to them, as it was to
odd Stoneman" in the play, sup
posed to be Thad Stevens. 1t also
illustrates the carpet bag era of the
South when there were alien whites
and negroes in high office, of its
overthrow and punishment, and ret
ribution Of the "Stonemans."
No excuse can be offered for the
first scene of the third act of "The
Clansman'' where a negro brute is
shown attempting to entice from her
home and outrage a sweet young
girl, and his arrest and the hypnotic
performance in which the monster
described unconsciously the scenes
of his villainy.
Equally bad, and almost as revolt
ing, is the fourth act, where the au-
1ianpa 10 cbnokad h., thn uno