The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-01-10

to, and to protect the states frou
people thereof from all ln'asioHS
nThird. To aid and assist IN tne
execution of all constitutional avs
land to protect the people from 10
ful seizure. and from trial except ny
their Deers in conformity TO the laws
of the land 49,.
Such an organization
found itself forced TO entrust the carry
NO ont of its purposes to men Of only
the truest character. q fact "hlcn -
also made apparent in the 'Anenoeu
Prescript" as we'll as by the deeds OF
members themselves. No one unuei
the age of eighteen could be q nie,h-
hers. and the rash. the the
over-solicitious, and such as could not
meet the quiet, sane approval o. lnei!
fellows. were in the main deDaFreu
from membership.
Tn number Of members or the Or
der has been, and will continue 10 NC
a matter of uncertainty. On account
or the tactics employed by the ku
Klux themselves in their night parades
and on Of the presence OF
other similar orders such as the
"Knights Of the White Maraellia,N the
Nv hite Brotherhood" the Pale
Faces the constitutional onlon
Guards, ETC." all of whom patterned
after the ku Klux and were confused
with it by those who did not kqnoW
that there we're a number Of organiza-
lions working side By side for the
isame general end-fOr these reasons,
their number was generally greatly
overestimated. A half million is prob
ably a conservative In
speaking OF this point and Of the ma
ture of the work accom- lished by the
order. Lenter and Wilson say, on
page So Of "ku klux Klan:'
TT is an error to ppo that tine
entire male population Of the South
were Ku Klux, or that even a major
ity of them We're privy to its secrets
and in sympathy with its EXTREMIST
measures. To many of them, perhaps
to a majority, the Ku klux Khan was
as vague, impersonal and mysterious
as to the people Of the North. or
of England. They did attrib-
emember with gratitude the protec-
ton it afforded them in the most try
ing and perilous period Of their his
tory, when there was no other earth
~ source to which to appeal
Of the ORIGINAL Prescript, that is
the one published before 1868, but
one copy is known. OF the second
there are three Of which the one given
to the University Library is the most
gently discovered. Its interest, while
great for the very reason that it is
a silent witness Of the once wide
spread power Of the "Invfncible En-
pire" is equally great from the point
of view Of its origin and publication.
The former is not known, but the lat
ter is. Laps D.. McCord. in the
iAmerican Historical Magazine, volume
5, p. 4. makes the following state
ment concerning it:
This is an exact cop Of the orig
|inal Prescript (Revised and Amended
Prescript) printed in the office of the
Pulaski, (T%ennessee) Citizen, l.. w.
roo nr0nrietnr in SES a y
printer boy, and with John H. Kirk.
the father Of the Rev. Harry Kirk,
recently Of Nashville, set the type. My
brother, L. W. McCord, received a
communication one day, delivered to
him by means Of a hole in the wall
near the door. in which the Ku klux
deposited all their communications for
the paper, asking for an estimate for
printing this pamphlet, describing it.
He delivered his reply in the same
hole, and the following morning the
: copy in full, the money, and minute
directions as to the disposition Of the
books when completed. We're in the
hole. We did it all under seal of Sc
crecy and concealment. hid the galleys
of type as they were set up. stitched
them with our own hands in a back
room over Shephard's store, and trim
med them with a shoe knife on the
floor. When finished they wer tied
into a bundle and deposited late at
night just outside the office door,
where they were immediately taken
by unseen hands. I knew personally
all the o~riginators Of the Ku Klux
Khan. and the history of it's origin
its deeds, purposes and accom- plish-
ments."
Printed in this secret way the Pre-
script was sent by the Grand Wizard
to various offcers-such were the di-
rections contained in the Prescript-
lCyclops Of each Den being required
to purchase one for the Den at the
; price Of $1,000 and to read it to the
members Of the Den at least once a
month. When the proclamation was
' made for the disbandment of the Khan
on Feb. 20. 1869, all copies We're or
dered burned. For this reason and