The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1921-09-15
The Nefarious Ku Klux Khan,


The New York World is doing the
country service by exposing the mod
ern Ku Klux Khan that has suddenly
risen, an ugly and sinister manifesto
ton of the worldwide stir in the mud
diest sediments of the human mind, to
challenge the country with it's malig-
nant conspiracy to inf1ame racial and
religious hate.
1t will be helpful to the fight against
this shameful thing that the Worlds
exposure shows the Ku Klux Khan to
be an institution by which :. few men
are profting hugely by playing upon
the base prejudices, rooted in evil ig-
norance, of men of stunted minds.
The original Ku Klux Khan, though
lawless, was a necessary evil. It had
needed task to do, and it did it quick
ly and effectively. Political carpet
baggers had done the just-freed negro
the injustice of putting him in power
under their leading strings-with
frightful consequences; blot upon
American history which never would
have happened if Lincoln had lived out
his second term. This work done-the
cunning way in which it was managed,
with it's subtle appeals to the terrors
of the ignorant slaves, made few
hours work in any community all that
was needed-the Ku Klux Khan fell
into the hands of hoodlums, and then
it committed real outrages. It is
these outrages, retailed in the north,
that gave the north it's unjust judg-
ment of the original Ku Klux Klan-a
| Judgment that the north should have
imposed upon it's politicians who made
the Ku Klux Khan necessary.
But this modern Ku Klux-this is
an intrusion without excuse and with
out redeeming feature. Its inspira-
ton is hate-hate Of the negro, hate
Of the Jew, hate of the Catholic. 1t
grows and prospers by cultivating and
aggravating these hates; and it plays
upon the silly human taste for mas
querade and fantastic adornment and
hidden ceremonials, charging high
ly profitable rate for the privilege of
participating in these mummeries and
Of wearing ghostly regimentals sold
for several times their cost.
The spirit of racial and religious
antagonism which blackly inspires
this organization is a spirit which
America should stamp out at any cost,
for it is deadly poison eating the
vitals Of the republic Yet in a few
months this base and despicable in
stitution has grown from handful
to a membership of half a million.
Nor is it like the old Ku Klux, which
differs from this because it had re-
deeming features, an affair Of the
south. The Worlds exposures show
that this childish though malignant
and baneful institution now has
branches in every state but three
New Hampshire, Utah and Montana
! That means that it is in Minnesota
in Wisconsin, in Michigan, in NORTH
Dakota-in our own home state anc
it's .neighbors! The south, plainly
has no monopoly Of the foul spirit Of
race hatred.
| It will be, of course, short lived
1Such infections Of the body polite are
born, happily, only to die. Physically
it has yet done no great harm; {
death or two, few injuries, a little
destruction Of property, are credited
to it's activities. If it lived and grew
of course it would greatly extend thi:
score.
Its exposure as money-makine
scheme will help to destroy it. The
end Of it probably will be in laughter
Laughter at the folly of those wht
are hoodwinked into becoming it's vic