The Minnesota fiery cross. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1924-19??, 1924-03-07

NRpCAA liiC VI lONdi pOl-
iticians in over half the country,
and will have a vital and perhaps
deciding effect on the whole situa-
tion, it will be kept in the back
ground as far as possible. Neither
the Khan leaders, nor the politicians
who are either with them or against
them or on the fence, want it
brought into the open. 1t will in
evitably break out in spots, but On
the whole we face an election in
which one of the most important
and decisive factors will be almost
invisible and inaudible.
And if the Khan wins? That will
mean in the first place the enact
ment of it's national programme;
restriction of immigration and ma
turalization, vigorous encourage
ment and some reform of the public
schools, perhaps some economy and
good government" gestures, and the
barring from office of Jews, Catho-
lies and alien born. On other things
the Khan will have no hold on the Of
ficials or the legislatures, and must
let the winning party programme
take it's course.
The Khan leaders might, of course,
develop delusions of grandeur run
wild, NEEDLE with many things and
even try to prosecute some one. But
they will not do this in their present
temper, and they are very unlikely
to try. Against excuses stands in
the first place the saving sense of
fairness which held America back
time and time again in crises.
There is also the we'll known fact
that responsibility usually makes
leaders more sober rather than more
reckless. And there is the final fact,
already explained, that if they do try
to involve the Khan in new issues, it
will 60 to pieces.
They will be pressed to broaden
out" by the fanatics and grafters in
side the Khan, and by advisers out
side, who will lay before them many
and plausible schemes. Some such eff
forts are already making trouble in
side the Khan. The leaders will lose
some of their followers with each re-
fusal to support any folly, though
less if they adopt it. They will also
begin to lose as soon as they have
put through their programme, since
the Khan is a limited reform move
ment, and as Horace Greeley said Of
the Know-Nothings, at would seem
as void of the elements of persis-
tence as an anti-cholera or anti-po-
tato-rot- party" So there is a very
strong probability that the Khan,
| which almost requires a victory to
live after election, will find that vic
tory is just as sure road to destruc-
tion, if little slower.
The result in local elections will
be about the same. The Khan rec
ord so far shows that these victories
will mostly be with reform tickets,
and most of the successes it has won
have resulted in better local govern
ment. But such victories, as Ameri-
ca has dearly learned, are also short
lived, however useful. There will be
vigorous clean-ups, some economies,
some ousting of non-Klan people from
power, the fall election would seem
to be the beginning of the end of
the Khan on its present basis, whether
it wins or loses. The leaders expect
to make the organization permanent
after it's immediate issues have
passed, through it's educational and
good citizenship program and some
vague plans for government reforms.
This might be done, but this pro-
gram so far is so nebulous that it
presents no basis for forming any
conclusions. 1t would make of the
Khan a very different organization.
1t appears, then, that the Khan is a
great and growing power in politics,
a power whose sudden rise is one of
the most amazing in history-almost
incredible. Its methods in this field
are even more effective than in 9TH
ers, but largely because they are not
unusual, are less open to criticism
leveled exclusively at the Khan. They
are different chiefly in that they
have been raised to an uncanny eff
cheney.
The Klan's aims, in local cam
paigns, must usually command APP
proval, and are supported nationally
by very large body of public opin-
ion which at the same time condemns
the Khan organization and methods,
and it's standard of narrow and ex-
elusive Americanism. 1t is sharply
restricted to it's own limited field by
the nature of its membership, is
hardly likely to go outside it, and
faces sure and swift destruction
when, or if, it does. It's success will
be great unless the elements it at
tacks contrive an opposition both
solid and clever, and can be assured
almost exactly by the ability that
opposition shows. Its chance of sue
cess, finally, is considerable, but the
victory will have within itself factors
likely to lead to disorganization.
II / may go back for brief re-
view of the previous articles, it
seems that the evidence shows that
the Khan today is great power for
good or evil in every phase Of life as
we'll as in politics. 1t has made a
tremendous growth recently, follow
ing important reforms, and can no
longer be considered a gang of hood
lums, criminals, or a mob. Instead
it is respectable, largely composed Of
very decent, we'll meaning and well
behaved people Of the kind who are
the backbone Of the nation. It's lu-
matte fringe and parasitic elements
are large and dangerous, but not typ
icai or remarkable.
1t has sprung up because Of very
real grievances and evils, in response
To growing demand for reform
which WAS seeking leadership IL of