Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-04-07
PLEA FOR RECEIVER
CHARGES KHAN HAS
NO LEGAL LEADER
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NU LE0AL EEAUEn
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idge and DR.. Evans denying in tot
| charges made by e. j. Jones of al
legged waste of Khan funds.
Announcement by leaders of the
| Simmons faction of the receipt of
| hundreds of kilograms from all parts
of Texas, pledging support to Colo
mel Simmons in his fight to regain
| control of the order.
! A conference of members of the
Simmons faction held in the offices
of J. o. Wood. editor of the Search
light, which was executive.
A statement from Colonel Sim
mons denying charges that he sought
to gain control of the khan for
| mercenary reasons only.
| The hearing on the modified order
before Judge Thomas, which was
scheduled to begin at o'clock was
expected to be completed during the
| day. All evidence had been intro
duced when the court recessed late
| Thursday, and following arguments
of attorneys for both sides, Judge
| Thomas was expected to render his
| decision.
Arguments Ordered
| Attorney Etheridge moved to dis
pense with the arguments, but Judge
| Thomas declared he wished the case
argued as he wanted enlightenment
on a number of points.
In making his declaration con.
corning the trial of Messrs. McKin-
non and Furney, Attorney Etheridge
| declared F'urney never touched one
| cent of the money he is alleged to.
| have, taken from khan headquarters,
but that it had been entrusted to
an official of an Atlanta bank, who
| gave Mr.. Furney a receipt for it.
"I intend to find out where Mr..
Jones. obtained his information re-
| garding the amounts of money these
| two men are alleged to have taken
| in the warrants he swore out for
| them charging larceny after trust
| Mr.. Etheridge said.
| '"The money was removed from
| khan headquarters at my direction.
| The men are not guilty of taking
| one cent, nor is anyone, because it
was removed to a safety deposit
vault for safekeeping until the
court has decided who shall have
COntrOl OF the kldn.'
Local Khan Backs Simmons
Other developments Friday were
| the announcement that the Nathan
Bedford Forrest khan, No. 1, of At
! lanta, had voted to stand behind
| Colonel Simmons in his fight to re-
| gain control of the order; q state
ment from Colonel Simmons replying
to charges made by the Evans fac
| ton that he was seeking to regain
| control of the order for mercenary
reasons only, and announcement by
| Attorney Etheridge that he would
| issue a statement later in the day,
replying in detail to charges of E,
| J. Jones of the alleged waste OF.
| khan funds.
kloncilium Meeting
| According to reports of the meeting
Of the Kloncilium, members were
| hastily summoned together Monday
nigiE while DR.. Evans was out OF
| the city, 1t is said that the meeting
unanimously voted to give tits sup
port to Colonel Simmons.
| DIR. Evans was said to have been.
| in New York at the time, laying
plans to defeat the revolution from
within the ranks Of the khan. ~
Attorney J. V. Poole, representing
| Colonel Simmons, declared there was
quorum at the meeting and its &C
tons were entirely legal.
Attorney Etheridge, in denying
any meeting was held, pointed out
| that the kloncilium that was in
| power during the Simmons regime
| resigned on January l of this year
and that ar entirely new personnel
| was appointed.
mo meeting could have been
held without the sanction of I'm
perial Wizard Evans" Attorney
Etheridge said, "and I know none
of the present members Of the
| the kloncilium and I most assured
ly did not attend, nor did L hear
of any such meeting. If it was
| held. it was purely a wildcat meet
| ing"
Declaring "the invisible empire
has become a government by black
mall" and denying he had any
mercenary motive whatever in at
tempting to regain control of the
khan, Colonel Simmons issued a de-
! tailed statement late Thursday in
reply to charges made by the Evans
| faction.
Constructive Plans Scrapped
| Colonel Simmons statement fol
| lows:
at has been alleged that I have
asserted my rights to govern the
organization because Of a. lust for
power. or a lust for money or for
both. There is nothing in the entire
| history of my connection with the
| order to justify such charges. It has
| been my proud distinction to re-
main much of the time in obscurity
and all of the time in poverty, while
| others became conspicuous anu
! rich.
| THE impel1ing motives behind my
action were to correct the gross
Encouragement Of affairs on the
| inside and to arrest the abuse of
authority.
THE knights of the Ku Riux
| Khan is an eleemosyrary institution
founded by myself for patriotic, fra
| terna! and benevolent purposes. Ev'
cry dollar coming into the treasury
of the order is trust fund. 1t was
| designed by me in the beginning to
reinvest all funds that accumulated
| in the treasury Of the order in a
service of helpfulness to the Ameri-
can people. Every program that
| have made for such service has been
scrapped. No constructive plan has
been inaugurated.
1.-THE administration has been
characterized by extravaganza and
waste. Money that should have been
utilized for educational and benevol-
ent purposes has. been used to pay
| for junketing trips all over the
country. Enormous sums have
| been expended in luxurious living in
hotels in a number of cities, and the
hotel s6pense accounts have been