Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1922-11-02
THE XII kLUX KHAN.

pleasure oil spending several mounts
of each year in your delightful To-
cality, and for many more years
have enjoyed reading the Register
You can well un :erStand, therefore.
that ! am much attached 10 Shepherds
town and deeply interested in the wei
fare OF its people.
! haze read, naturally, your report
! of the recent meeting of the Ku Klux
Khan trcre and, in your issue of Oc-
tober 18th, the proclamation of the pro
tenn Imperial Wizard of the Khan. As
| the subject of the Khan is one of wide
. interest, and has been given much
thoughtful attention and investigation.
VIII you allow me to give in your val
liable columns some OF the reasons
/ why the Klan is vigorously opposed By
: many people?
/ 1t calls itself protestant Chris
tian," but its platform is one of bitter
intolerance, utterly opposed to the
teachings OF Luther and of Christ, and
/ strongly conducive to racial and re-
/ llgious prejudice. "Other sheep |
| nave which are not Of this fold" said
/ the Christ Who made the Khan
| Judge among religious organizations ?
| God hath made of one blood all ma
tions of men, for to dwell on all the
face of the EARTH" said Paul Who
made the Khan the Judge among the
negro and other races Of men? WHY,
II Christians, act as judges at all?
Some of the Severest COMBINATIONS
OF Christ were for those who sat in
Judgment on others. Let him that is
without sin among you cast the first
stone" also said Christ
: ,ha
on which the Khan bases its orpani
cation.
In regard to the principle of ordi
nary justice, 1t has been proved again
and again that men and women have
oeen assaulted by the Khan, "pun-
iShed," to use its own words, without
an opportunity of hearing or knowing
OF what they were accused, whereas
even the Jew, whom the Khan despises
says: Does our law Judge anv man
before it hear him ?'' Surely, "the
| foundatIon-Ston of government and
constitutional liberty in our land is
the right of a man to be confronted bv
his accusers and to hear the evidence
brought against him."
The Khan is certainly un-American
and its methods are totally unlike those
OF the men who settled and founded
this country, the men who have sus-
tanned 1t to this day, and made il one
OF the greatest nations of the earth.
| hey have not needed masks or child
ism, ghost-like garbs to hide their
identity, but have worked bravely and
openly, proud to be seen and known.
by both friends and foes.
The klan methods, it is well said.
Dear no semblance to those of any
government but Bolshevist Russia. a
decree of the Khan, handed down bv its
wizards, IS as abhorrent to democracy
ana AmerlcaniSm as a decree of the
soviet government, handed down by
Lenine. One is as much a menace to
ORDERLY government as the other ?"
/ mat these DEGREES are indeed much
more man a menace has been proved
again and again. Wherever the Khan
mas oeen active violence and lawless
ueeds nave prevailed, and while the
Man mas disclaimed responsibility for
tneSe, as rule, the garb used by il
gives opportunity for the lawless ele-
ment in any locality to commit anv
and al! crimes. '
various States have suffered widely
and deeply from those activities. and
the records may be obtained bv those
VINO desire them. The Saturday Eve
nlng fost OF September 23d contained
III the form of story, called "Tar and
featherS' an account of atrocities SINH
lar to those that have occurred in var
ious localities in the South. In some
secnons, so outrageous have been these
doings that Anti-Ku Klux Klans have
been organized, and war to the death
upon members of the Khan proclaim
ed H'"''''-
is the Klan helping them to pro-
mote the righteousness of which il pro-
tesses to be the chief exponent in this
land? Verify, it is itself, to use ire
own words, seeking to undermine the
very fundamentals of the nation"
spies, detectives, suspicion. distrust.
diScord, racial hatred, religious dis,
sensions, intolerance, these are amono
our people wherever the Khan has
iourished.
Does quiet, peaceful, law-abidinp
ShepherdStOwn want such an oreauiza'
tion! On the contrary, does il not he.
hooVe good men and women there and
everywhere, to oppose the coming OF
the Klan into their midst?
II the laws are not what thew should
De, see that better ones are secured
II inc laws are good but not enforced,
see that officers are elected who will
have them enforced. For what pur.
pose is the vote put into the hands OF
our citizens? The community the
government. that needs the help of the
ku Klux Khan is in a pitiable condi-
non. and needs to "set its house in or
der" at once,
And the Christian men and women
to whom the Khan appeals, let them
remember whose followers they pro-
TESS to be. and know that justice, kind
ness, peace and love to God and m