The Washington herald., 1907-01-20
WORKED IN SECRECY.
Operations of Ku Klux KIan Always Mystery.

Few OF those who have heard Of the
appeIlation, the Wizard Of the Saddle. -
applied to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
the prince Of Confederate cavalrymen. are
aware of its origin It is commonly sup
posed that the wonderful dash and daring
Of the great Memphian. which led natu-
! rally to the almost uninterrupted success
/ Of his exploits at arms. and which In
spired the unquestioning devotion OF his
men, was primarily responsible for IL
But such is not the case, says the New
I Orleans Times-Democrat.
/ The truth is that II came from his con-
nectiOn with the Ku-klux Khan, OF
which organization it is asserted def
nitely that the big hearted. big-brained
and mighty-thewed Confederate was com
mander-ln-chief The title which the Ku-
klux Khan applied to its head official was
simply the grand wizard"
What was the Ku-kluX Khan?
No authentic history of the organiza-
ton has ever been written. Much has
/ been limited at. More has been suspected.
But OF definite and authentic information
there has been a sorry dearth.
And there was a good and sufficient
reason for the fact
II was one of the articles Of the oath
to which every member of the Ku-klux
Khan subscribed before being received into
the ranks of membership Of that mysteri-
Gus body that he should never admit be-
ing a member Of the order, nor to possess
ing any positive and definite information
concerning it or the works which it
wrought
And It has not been urIttn the passage
Of years has thinned the ghostIy ranks
Of the weird brotherhood, and until seen
in the perspective Of the past. the reasons
which underly the obligation TO secrecy
were recognized as dwindling and passing
away-nay. not until a new reason arose
with the flight Of years eogently com
handing speech in order that the memory
Of one of the most worthy secret Organi-
cations might be cleared Of the unjust as
PERSONS Of its calumniators that there
have been found among its members those
who are willing. speaking in quasi-ccnd-
Dental terms 10 those who love and re-
spect the memory OF their departed COM
rades. to voice at length the inner his
tory Of this uncanny brotherhood. And
these speak only with quietly smiling
faces Of the things they have heard"
VIII Die a Mystery.
Not one Of them Will say TO you: Il be-
longed TO the order. I saw these things
done. I know whereof I speak" Nor
does one Of them consent TO have his
name given. even in this oblique connec-
ton with the matter. A mystery the Ku-
klux Khan was born. a mystery it lived
and died. and mystery shall forever
haunt its grave. This is the dictum OF
its votaries. They have nothing 20 fear
from disclosures Of its secrets. either
from the Federal authorities or from the
social world. In fact, throughout the
Southland to-day the leaders in profess
sionaI and business life. the chief person
ages IN social life, the best men in the
churches and In every department OF life
are among the members of this weird or
ganization. which appeared. acted out its
little career. and disappeared as mex
plicably as It came.
This much. nevertheless, is assured. The
Ku-klux Khan came into being n the
year 1851 for definite purpose. II passed
out OF actual organization IN the year
1859, dying as soon as its purpose had
/ been achieved.
The purpose was the preservation Of
/ Caucasian civilization at time when its
/ foundations were threatened from within
and without. To fully understand this 1t
/ Is necessary 20 recall conditions as they
we're in the South just after the close Of
I the civil wax and during the recOustruC-
ton period.
The vast bulk Of the white men OF ;he
South had served In the Confederate
army. Under the laws Of the time they
were disfranchised and held incompetent
10 testify before the courts. The admin
istration Of the laws by which the coun-
try was governed was in the hands OF
the "carpet-baggers. time-serving poll
ticians from the North, who fattened upon
the helplessness Of the reconstructed"
States.
During the war there had sprung into
being a lawless set Of white men, who
chung to the Confederate cause or 10 that
Of the Federal army as the varying for
tunes Of war dictated, for the purpose Of
proving upon the helpless. These were
STYLED guerrillas. or bushwhackers- After
the close OF the war. in the unsettled state
OF the country, these men too frequently
Welded to the temptation TO harass IN
protected negroes and white people. One
Of the objects of the Ku-klux Khan was
to bring these villains TO account
The Freedmen's Bureau.
Tit. negroes were also a source OF dan
ger against which the Khan Tended When
the reconstruction of the South began
the organization known as the Freed
%aff f-
every county seat throughout the recon
structed States. This representative was
almost always a discharged Federal sol
der. His ostensible purpose was to see
that the freed negroes had the cOntrac-
tuai and other rights guaranteed them
under the sixteenth amendment and the
laws passed by Congress for their beneht
subsequent to its adoption.
one OF the means by which these rep
resentatives of the Freedmen's Bureau
sought to accomplish their avOwed puT-
poses was the organization Of the negroes
into a secret order, known as the Loyal
League. The organization had its ritual
and regalia, held its secret and its open
meetings, fostered the idea of indepen-
dence of his former master in the mind
of the negro, and was leading TO irregu-
larities which called for suppression with
strong and certain hand.
Necessity Is the mother Of invention.
Out OF the necessity OF the time the Ku-
kluX Khan was born. The superstition OF
the negro was then, as now, one Of his
most pronounced characteristics. And IL
was decided by those who had the matter
in hand 10 play upon this rather than re-
sort to arms OF show of force TO subdue
the dangerous tendencies which were be-
ing fostered by the Loyal League.
The methods of procedure employed by
the Ku-klux Khan were very simple
,rhfv were Organized under the cnnfrnl Of