Evening journal., 1922-11-22
j. 5. To CLEAN
OUT KLANSMEN
No Government Jobs for
Men Who Wear the
Mask
TO ACT IN THE
STATES LATER

Department of Justice is planning
drive against the Ku Klux Klan tina
is intended to put 1t out of business
or confne it separations TO the re.
spective states in which 1t operates
The first move will be to dismiss
from the employ of the Federal Gov
ernment all Klan members. Many
men holding positions in Washington
and other places are active in the
Ku Klux Klan.
During the recent campaign some
of these persons participated In
| Congressional, state and county elec-
tions. The Klan was on-partisan
In its fight for positions. In one
southern state a Democratic candi-
date was defeated because he was OF
Jewish extraction. Representative
Clinton Macarthur (RepY ore.) was
defeated by the Ku Klux Klan and
its Affiliations in Portland and the
nearby country. In Ohio, Indiana
and Kansas the Klan was busy and
rallied many voters in close districts
Department OF Justice officials bo-
lieve they now have sufficient groun
for going after this secret organiza-
tion under Federal statutes.
Governor John NJ. Parker Of Louis
lana left Washington for his home
with the distinct understanding that
II he was unable TO stop the out
RACES OF Klansmen and bring those
guilty Of crimes to justice the Fed
eral authorities would act. First
4. L n afA9n
bad situation there, but failing he
will have the support of the Depart
ment OF Justice.
Reported conditions in Louisiana
have caused much excitement here.
Senator Ransdell denied stories
printed locally as to the extent OF
Ku Kiux Khan activities in his state,
but Senator Walsh (Mass.), present
ed TO the Senate letters showing that
Governor Parker had indicated days
ago that he would ask for the aid of
the Department OF Justice.
1t Is said by Louisiana people here
that there is some politics in the
Louisiana situation, where Gov. Par
ker is considered a candidate for the
place now held in the Senate by Mr..
Ransdell. Gov. Parker formally de-
MED stories In the Washington Post |
on conditions in his State, but in a
letter to Joseph Morningstar OF New I
York he asked for assistance in his
plan TO gee Federal action.
Rising to a point of personal privi-i
lege, Senator Ransdell said he was
shocked and gffeYed 10 read in the |
Post "a most remark
able story OF crime, lawlessness and
in Louisiana"
III the stories in these articles |
were true the plight of my state
would be sad, indeed" he added,
but they are very far from the
truth. / cannot conceive how such
sweeping. libelous, extremely dam
aging statements In regard TO en-
tire Southern State. not TO some |
thereof. could have been
given even ordinary publicity in a 4
reputable newspaper. but when |
placed on the front page of one OF
the greatest journals in America.
Issued at the nations capital under
headings so large as 10 attract uni
versal attention. It IS utterly incom-
prehensible. cannot believe the I
Post set out willfully and deliber-
ltely to slander and destroy the /
good name OF Louisiana. but unless
retraction is made by Il
IN the same conspicuous way that
he libel was uttered the effect is
,ertain 10 be most Injurious.
u have Travelled over several parts
of Louisiana during the last six
weeks and met a great many OF its
,itizens. Conditic ms seemed to be
normal everywhere; the courts were
as usual the people were
attending fair sand Armistice Day
celebrations with apparent relish;
business was excellent in many
places and poor in others: there was
no general unrest; the press was {
rec and outspoken on all subjects,
including the Ku Klux Klan.
There was no more crime than 4
Usual. heard much comment {
bout the Mer Rouge outrage, which
resulted in the murder OF
-wo men under dastardly circum- |
and gossip connected in
iividual members OF the Ku Klux
<lan with this crime. l say prob
bile murder, as the two men refer
ed 20 disappeared months ago and
lave never been heard from since
nd there is every reason to believe ]
hey were fully murdered.
This deplorable affair was an
solated one in a thinly populated I
community and it cost but two hu- {
nan lives and the cruel beating OF
wo other persons.
No one has been tried for Il vet 7
'ut l am assured that evidence Is
'eing secured and when obtained !
hat the murderers will be brought I
o justice and prosecuted with all
he power which the attorney gem {
'ral Of the state and the local au-
horities can muster.
This Mer Rouge crime, by odds
he worst that has occurred in Louis
lana within the last four years.
oales into insignificance when com
pared to the horrors OF the race
-iots OF 1920 in Chicago the West
Virginia miners civil war Of 1921 !
and the Herrin. H.. wholesale muir
iers of helpless men because they
wished TO work only a few months
ago. II would have been a very un-
lust slander on the states of West
Virginia and Illinois because of their .
terrible crimes. TO say their courtl /.
had ceased to function, their citi-
sens We're in terror. their press had
been silenced. outrages against per-
sons were frequent and never pub
ished, etc.
And yet when a crime small in .