The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1922-02-05
CHAPTER vi.


VOOUIeUOO0 vG0t0 y0Uy8tU0yy
We have seen In the new ku klux
. parallel 10 these conditions. In that
various disorders which have Occurr-
cd. particularly ia Texas, were traced
by the Atlanta Khan Headquarters to
men who had 10 Ollcial connection
with the local Khan, and where tar
ring and feathering cases occurred
before Il was discovered by the inves-
| tigators of the Atlanta headquarters
that individual Klansmen had taken
the law into their own hands without
any authority from the ''Grand Cy-
clOps" Of the Den" Wherever this
happened the Imperial Wizard, &C.
corsling to evidence obtained at At
lanta headquarters by the writer. in
tvariably cancelled the charter Of the
"Den." and endeavored to assist the
local Ofhcers in prosecuting the
guilty. In all great organizations uD-
desirable members often secure adj
mittance. even in the churches and
I fraternal orders. This fact Is well
known to everybody who belongs to \
frRternal order or q church. The
Khan In the old days. as well as in
present times. has often been blamed
for crimes and misdemeanOrs with
which it had no connection whatever.
i THE Invisible Empire" was well
named. for it was really an invisible
empire. While its work was crude
and often violent, 1t exercised a po-
tent influence in recovering white SUI
premacy in the South, and was un
tioubtedly the chief factor in the po
litical reconstruction Of the South
: which resulted in the white people re
gaining control of their governments
The state and county governments
were in the hands Of war governor.
: and other officials. appointed from
Washington. as well as agents of ths
, Frecdmen's Bureau. and the militar,
commanders were all hostile to thu
Khan.
: Repeatedly, in nearly every section
. where Den" existed. the constitut
ed authorities made desperate effort
to obtain a list Of the members Of tn,
Khan and to break up the local Den
For former Confederate soldier I,
, be found with Khan uniform on hi
premises was nearly always fOllowe,
by immediate arrest and imprison
: ment, and in some cases the disco,
cry of the white regaiia resulted in
summary execution.
. But the Khan was SO thoroughly 81
!, ganixed everywhere and so bound 4
II gether by mutual interests that Their
is not known single instance in n
: construction where military con
mander was able to discover any &
> the secrets of the Khan or cause di.
+ bandment OF Den"
81 Klansmen practiced absolute 10,
atty to their Grand CyclOps.' an
"Den" members maintained the $,
nrx1S NJ n{s,1s
d which the order was founded. Usua
4 ly the Grand Cyclops" was the mo.
prominent citizen in his communit
and man OF standing, influence an
l. good character. His assistants wei
# nearly always OF the same type. an
!. these level-headed men were domino
n ed only with the purpose TO prever
disagreement and to punish til
r guilty in their neighborhood TIL
- was the general policy throughout a
their loca, "Dens.' There were. hoy
ever, instances Of abuse OF the pow,
possessed by Den"
A local Den" never had regul;
d meeting place. This was for the pa
l. pose of securing greater secrecy III
"a Khan nearly always met AT nigh
when there was moonlight. and MS
&c ally in woodland or abandoned fart
/, ing land. where it was unlikely an
=. one would discover the masked ride
, at assembly. Every member of Il
= Khan was obligated to hasten to Il
i meeting place when summoned I'll
.e policy that was always followed
r regard to persons who had to be &c
rected in the neighborhood was
!" consider their case at the klan's NEE
IS ny, a.id !. VA tic ii,gai'.able practi,
D. to fest serve warning on the obno
). ious one. Ii he did not speedily I
form. another meeting of the HI;
decided on his punishment. Notice
We're prepared in an illiterate ma
ner so as to mystify the recipient Il.
n better preserve the secrecy. Sue
warnings were always posted at nigl
20 From a study of reconstruction il
81 evident that the Klan's secret met
IN DDS certainly subdued or intimdat.
q the negro and bad white mon. a,
/. caused the white people to feel til
> an invisible power existed for the
! protection, under which they felt $
10