The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-14
NIGHT RIDERS TOF FACE TRIAL DenizenS of ReelfootL Lake
 Gather. THEY IGNORE TOwNsPEoPLE Rifles and Pistols Are in Plain
 View. IId Tom Johnson, the First Leader of the Band, Expresses Belief That Riders Are Being
 Persecuted.
THEY IGNORE TowEsPEoPLE

-r.,. t.orresn,,p with ragged trousers T t,,clS aa dsen into cowslxin boots, inno- cent of noiish, with straggling bearos and huge slouch hats, but aiWays with the inevitable long barreleo IT. file or big pistol in plain view, the oen taa,ss oe the Reelfoot district are as- sambling in this quaint little town to- day, for the opening scene of the night
 They are the friends and relatives of the men who are held under mill tary guard over at the barracks, Tney ignore the townspeople or glance ~ them with scowls. When they meet one another silent nod or a wnts- s nared word is all that passes between them. Silently and sfngly, they wan der through the streets or stand for houra outside the barracks gazing curiously at the windows of the room above In which their friends are held in communicate. Sometimes they ap- proach the trim young sentries on guard below. taking careful inventory of the glistening bayonets and busi-
 They feel keenly this trouble, do these rough but simply grown.up children of the Tennessee mountains. They believe that they are being per- secuted and that the entire world Is against them. old Tom Johnson who, the state says, was the first leader of the band, but who was deposed be- cause his immense stature and mutil- ated hand made him an easy victim of Identification, expresses the belief Of them all when he says:
 Might Riders Belief.
 "Its like this, stranger. God He put them rid hills up theah. An He put some us pooh folks that he didn't have no room foh nowheah else, up An couldn't make living faTrnin, so he ordered an earthquake an the earth u,iake left big hole. Next He flied the hole with water and put dsh in 1t. Then he knew we could make a Twin between farunin' aud fashin.' But along comes these rich men who don't have to aalFA nn upfu' ans n ag tell tfs ali that we must not fish in the lake any more cause they owns the lake an the ash God put thsre for us. 1t jus naturally aint right atranger; 1t ain't no justice"
 This Is the right riders views and there are many who sympathize with them. But like all movements of this kind, the primary object was forgot fen and the organization began to be used to vent the personal spats of members and to attempt to regulate the most private and intimate affairs of everybody for a hundred miles around.
 For instance, merchants whose total sales did not exceed $2 a day, were no- tiled that they must sell goods at cost were ordered to pay no money rent but to insist on working the ground on shares. Growers of grain and tobacco were ordered to plant only so many acres of soil. Landlords were notified not to lease their property for cash rents. A woman who had left her drunken husband was ordered to return to him. And when she refused. she was taken to the woods. stripped. tied to & tree and lashed with a cat-o' mine tails until her back and shoulders were one big lacerated wound. Other women, fond of pretty clothing, were told to cease wearing it. And In every case a refusal to comply instantly was follow ed by a visit from the fearsome black struggle, a rapid ride to the depths of the Lonesome forest and then an awful whipping on barred ffeSh.
 For nearly two years. these black masked terrors of the wilderness rode nightly. For nearly two years, no man, not a member, ever retired to rest with out breathing a silent prayer that he and his dear ones be spared the horrors Of a midnight visitation. For nearly two years, no man not a member, met a neighbor in the morning without the low voiced question: "Who was whipped last nightf"
 Operations Extended.
 Then the riders extended their oper- ations. They began to visit the larger towns-Troy, Dyersburg. Union City. This was followed by the murder of Captain Rankin. Finally, the people became snraged, the Governor interfer- ed and in frenzy, the officers of the law said
 we will stamp out this deVilish or qanization, legally if we can by mobs if we cannot or we win be stamped out hv it." And so came the grand jury, bie brave Judge Jones, equally brave but slender Attorney General Caldwell. ouickIy. too, came the def of the night riders. "Dismiss the grand jury stop inc investigation, or we will send jury. judge and prosecutor to join Captain Rankin"
 The answer was the raid of the mili- tarv. 125 indictments for capital of- lenses. and the trials which open to- morrow. The issue Is clearly drawn |. There is no misunderstanding. Both sides are face to face, ready for the struggle, neither asking nor granting quarter. It Is a finish fight between organized lawlessness and organised law.