The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-11-23

Mr.. Jacob Morgan. 1908 National City
Bank Bldg, indianapolis. Ind
Dear Sir: have a letter, signed
by you as president, purporting 10 be
written me under date Of November
18th, 1923, by order of the American
Unity League. in which my attention
is called to the fact that the time is
drawing near when Senator-elect May
field will appear in Washington to
claim his seat in the United States
Senate" and in which certain ques-
tons, numbered from l to 6, inciu-
sive, are propounded to me.
BY question l you desire to know
II 1 regard Senator-elect Mayfteid's
membership in the Ku-Klux Klan as
consistent with loyalty to the laws
and the Constitution Of the United
States"
BY question you ask il I regard
Senator-elect Mayfield of Texas as
worthy Of a seat in the Senate OF
the United States. since Senator Gull
bertson and others charge him with
having received vast sums Of money
from the treasurer Of the Ku-klux
Kan to bring about his nomination
and election.
Quizzed On Mayfield
our third question is: will you
vote for the seating of SenatOr-Elect
Mayfield, when the question comes up
before the Senate of the United
States7"
The above questions all call for my
opinion on matters, which L assume
from your letter, that you believe
will come before me after have taken
my oath of office, to be passed upon
by me in a quasi judicial way, and if
you are right in your assumption, l
am going to do you the honor Of say
ing that your sense of justice is such
that you will not. on further reflection.
want me TO PREJUDICE, as a judge, any
mans case that shall be submitted to
me for a hearing. For me to do so
would, of course, be a gross violation
Of official duty, and would render me
unfit to hold a seat in the Senate.
You profess devotion to the Consti-
tuition and to Americanism. May
ask you. therefore, to reflect on the
fact that it is a basic principle Of
Americanism that every marshall be
EUlllEu
impartial tribunal before conviction
for an offense, or the infection of
penalty upon him. Certainly your
love for justice is such that it would
shock you to know that 1 had de
nberately taken on a frame of mind
that would render it impossible for
me to give Senator-elect Mayfield
fair and impartial hearing.
Does Not Belong
Your fourth question is: Are you
a member Of the Invisible Empire of
the knights of the Ku-Klux Khan, or
of the organization known as the
Royal Order of Lions, which is
affiliated with the knights Of the Ku-
Klux Klan?"
Ny answer Is, that 1 am not now,
and never have been. a member of
either of these organizations. I do
not want to be offensive. but 1 feel
that I should say to you that from
the information I have, and have had
for some time, 1 think I am justified
in believing that you knew. or had
strong teason for believing before
you propounded your questions to
me, that l was not a member OF
either of these organizations. Perhaps
in full candor 1 should add, that I am
a Master Mason, Sahara Grotto
Mason, a Knights of Pythias, an Elk,
a Presbyterian, and a Democrat.
Your fifth question reads as follows:
do you believe in the officially an
nounced program Of the Knights Of
the Ku-Klux Khan, which openly de
cIares that Jews, Catholics, negroes