Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-14
Exposure
OF k. X. K.
Filed Here
North Carolina Organization
Just Machine to Collect
Initiation Fees, For
mer Head Ayers.
Declares Order Is Fraud

Copies of the expose of the Ku
klux Klan chapter in North Caro-
lima by Maj. Bruce Craven when he
resigned as Grand Dragon of the
Klan in that state have been turned
over to E. w. Byrn, jr, chief in
charge of the bureau of the United
States Department of Justice in
Omaha.
These copies have been filed in
Chief Byrn's office.
Il am making no investigation
into the Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska"
said he, 'but l am filing away FOR
future reference all information of the
organization which comes to my at
tention." .....
Shown to Kinsler.
Copies of the Craven expose also
were shown United States District
Attorney J. c. Kinsler.
Maj Bruce Craven is a lawyer,
financier and writer of Trinity, N. C..
and is a son of the founder of Trim
ity college.
'The new organization of the Ku
klux Klan, as at present conducted
if North Carolina, is an organization
engaged exclusively in collecting
initiation fees under false pretenses,
without any legal standing in the
state, and is in my opinion failure
and fraud" was the bombshell
which struck North Carolina August
5, when Major Craven announced,
with bitter statement, his resigna-
ton effective at noon, as Grand
Dragon of the Klan there.
Excerpts From Expose.
Excerpts from a copy of his ex-
pose forwarded to Chief Bryan for
Omaha and Nebraska, follow:
1T is foolish for me any longer
to keep up the bluff of secrecy. /
have never been more than the titu1ar
head in the state, and while the whole
thing is a sore subject to me and will
remain painful memory, ! have no
apology to make except this open
statement.
My name has been used to collect
money under false pretenses. | my
self have made promises that cannot
be fulfilled. They were based on
my faith in the high officials. That
faith has been broken and | have
no way of making amends but this
Notified Wizard.
Il notified the imperial wizard,
Colonel Simmons, in Atlanta. exact
ly what l was going to do and asked
if there was anything to show my
ideas erroneous. He made no at
tempt to answer.
Every person before admission is
given the right to sever the connec
ton at any time. Accordingly l
have made my resignation direct to
the imperial wizard, to whom only
am answerable both as Grand Dra-
gon and as Klansman.
"The secrecy is nothing at all be-
cause there isn't any. The only Sc
crets of consequence known to me
concern a multitude of lawless acts
which I was unable to prevent or
suppress, but the full particulars of
which | know, but which | am not
likely to tell since I was sworn to
fraternity with the criminals and am
therefore, morally, if not technically
legally. a particeps criminis.
Can't Prevent Outrages.
There is no possibility of keeping
the organization from unlawful out
RACES, nor out of politics. was in
the presence of the imperial wizard
when another high official made the
statement that he wanted everything
urged toward the consummation of
national organization which could
select a presidnt of its own and there
was general agreement with the SEN
timent expressed.
There are at the present time per-
haps 5000 in the state who have paid
their initiation fees, many of whom
when they got in and saw who was
there kissed their money goodbye
and quit. Some of the best citizens
have joined and finding there was
no restriction whatever in admitting
members except the money consider
alton, they left never to return and
were labeled traitors to the sacred
cause.
"One of them, a prominent busi-
ness man, protested against the
wholesale admission of thieves and
bootleggers, and he was sur1marily
'banished' without a trial, and sup
posedly in disgrace, by the organ
izer and without consulting me. In
another town, the most notorious
criminal in the county got in by
paying for it and when the decent
element protested l ordered that if
the man did not deny the facts his
money would be refunded and he be
notified that he was dropped from
the rolls. This the organizers re-
fused to do and kept him in because
he was bringing in others of the
same kind at so much per head
Prefers to Lose.
Personally l prefer to lose with
out protest what have put into it.
Why did l fall for it? We'll. l am
a credulous enthusiastic sort of
person, with lot of prejudices and
so forth, and I think the professions
of this thing met all the require
ments of ali. the foolish ideas | pos
sessed. ...
Even then | held back a long time,
and never entered until l was shown
what they claimed was the whole
system. They told me fer instance,
that Senator Simmons was one of
Turn to Page Two, Column Slx.)