Evening star., 1923-12-27
ASKS, AID IF COOLIDGE
IN CRUSHING KU KLUx
Continued from FfSst Page.l

| CONTINUED from Ff-st Page)
Klux Klan, through disregard of its
high ideals, principles and purposes
/ is "A severe shock and keen disap-
pointment to me, and while / am per-
| fectly willing to assume the moral
responsibility which is rightly mine
/ as having been chiefly instrumen e !
III building of the Klan, in justicA
| to self and the hundreds of thou
SAILS of h-grade men who have
been drawn into the Klan because of
Its declaration of ideals and princi-
pies ! cannot and will not rest pas
| sive and silent and sit idly by in the
race OF such conditions and thus al
| low to fall on my shoulders the blame
| for the outrages of justice, Individual
| lberty and respect for the courts and
| the government resulting from the
| rape of the organization which has
| taken place in the past year or eight
cen months
! In the hearts of the founders, pro-
moterS and builders of the knights of
! the ku klux kIan it was never in
| tended that the organization should
De either law and order league or
d political machine, but. rather, that
IL was TO be an organization designed
TO up build and develop spiritually.
morally and physically the Protestant
! white men of America The process
through which this development was
to take place was designed to be
through scientific educational propa-
ganda inside the lodgeroom and
! through printed literature, and by the
| establishment of great educational
universities in different parts Of the
nation, and of magnificent hospitals for
the healing of the physical ills of man
kind. Included definitely among these
aims being the worlds largest white
plague sanitarium and the largest dope
curse place of refuge in America.
TT was still further} design ed
through ceremonies ins the Nlodgeroom
and through the higher development
CT character of the membership of
the organization to teach the men
| who had taken the oath of the organ
| iZatlon greater respect for law and
order, and the courts and the govern
ment, thus giving to the government
and the courts of the land body of
men that would be an unseen, but
powerful and influential moral factor.
| serving to stabilize the courts and
the government at all times, and to be
particularly serviceable in times of
| stress or trouble of any kind.
THE thing which alarms me most
in connection with the organization
Is the apparent trend of thought in
side the ranks of the membership of
| the. organization toward disregard
for law and order and the tendency
on the part of the membership to
| seek to assume local. state and ma
national political dictatorship. and in
my judgment when any powerful
| secret organization assumes either
of the above attitudes it Immediately
| becomes real menace to free gov
ernment and the rights. privileges
| and liberties guaranteed under the
Constitution to the citizens of the
| United States of America.
| Cites His Activities.
The position l am taking in this
matter is no new one for me, but is
the platform / have stood upon since
the day l first Joined the Klan and for
in harmony with the oath / took
| when I became a klansman four years
ago. When l was acting as imperial
wizard pro tenn of the organizat ton |
/ unhesitatingly revoked charters of
! branch organizations, banished klans-
men from fellowship in the Klan and
threatened at one time to revoke the
charters Of every Klan in a whole
| respected their oath as klansmen and
committed no violations of law, either
as individuals or as bodies of men
and kept themselves free from
political entanglements, except as in
dividuals voting for what they in
dividually considered right as citizens
of the country. AS matter of public
policy also / at one time prohibited
| an entire state from holding any
| further parades and restricted within
that state the wearing of the costume
of the klan exclusively to the lodge
room, because l felt that wrong
Interpretation was being placed by
the public upon the parades of the
! klan and that it was not good for
| the public morals or welfare for
klan parades to be further allowed
in that state.
In addition to official acts of this
kind OF mine, in the last three speeches
which / made for the Klan. and which
We're delivered in Pennsylvania at Erie,
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia l fearlessly
proclaimed my attitude toward certain
things. At Erie, Pa, on December 4,
1922. during the course of my speech, /
said:
Never in all my life and in all
my experience have 1 so treated the
responsibility of any task as have the
responsibility of leading klans and
klansmen over the plains and up the
hilltops to the sun-kissed mountains of
klankraft-a wonderful opportunity but
a terrible responsibility. Now.
klansmen. just few "don'ts" about
your Erie Klan and any other KIan
you may represent: Don't allow this
great and wonderful organization of
which you are a member to become de-
graded by any member or set of MEM
bers committing any acts in violation
of the law of the land: The day that
the Knights of the Ku kIux Klan be-
comes a lawless machine. that is the
day you have lost the leadership of
r. Y. Clarke in any form or shape You
don't have TO commit acts of lawless-
ness to accomplish your results We
have the finest laws in the world
Gave Warning Year Ago.
AT Pittsburgh, Pa, on December 3.
1922. L said:
Listen to me men: The day the
Knights of the Ku klux Khan be-
comes an institution operated out side
the laws of the United States of
America or disrespecting the author
ity Of the greatest country with the
greatest government in the world.
that day E. Y. Clarke. the master
builder of the organization, will turn
all of his energies to destroy it,
".At Philadelphia, Pa, on December
6. in explaining why l had come to
! Pennsylvania to make the speeches at
!. Erie, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, /
said:
"1 accepted the invitation of the
| Klans in Pennsylvania to come and
make three speeches because l felt
wanted to get into the minds OF
klansmen of Pennsylvania, if I might
the real heart and soul and spirit OF
had builded and saw the vision.
wanted to tell you men that while
ihad builded this organization that if
! this organization ever became law
unto itself, operating or attempting
to operate outside the regular con-
|, istituted authority of this country, this
state or this city, that myself would
leave it and do everything in my
power publicly and privately to crush
it, and I have made this same