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

Klan controlled the political action
of it's members.
None whatsoever, so far as actual
control is concerned" he replied.
No obligation of a Klansman, moth
ing in his oath or understanding re-
quires of him or contemplates that
he shall accept the information and
educational facts presented to him
through the Khan as final. The whole
thought is to develop a mind that
will express itself through an cleo
torate fully informed"
"The actual strength of the Klan,"
he went on depends upon the ex-
tent to which klansmen have been
educated to their duties as citizens
and how they respond to information
given by Khan officials. This is al
ways uncertain but experience indi-
Gates that these are generally &C
cepted, and will be so long as they
represent in the minds of the Klans-
men themselves true American
ideals. In the present state of public
opinion this means that the Khan
can profoundly influence results in
twenty-one states"
There will be more states in that
list before election.
So far as l can learn DR.. Evans is
correct in saying that the Khan does
not give orders but information. Ger
tainly it has much information to
give and it takes great pains in put
ting it out. Since it is secret it
would easily be possible to give false
information of kind that might be
exceedingly dangerous, but l cannot
find that it does So at least so far
as actual candidates are concerned.
| have learned of several instances
in. which it has circulated just be-
fore an election report on cand-
dates much like the reports put out
by Citizens Committees and similar
bodies. / saw one such and have re-
ports on others. They were all start
lingly detailed, intimate and exhaus-
tive, but rather amazinly fair. The
in the heat of bitter fight, but
there was no trace of partisanship
visible. 1t gave both the personal
and political record of each man, his
affiliations in business, society, reli-
gion and politics, and his relations
with the Khan. l was particularly
impressed with the fact that when
man had joined the Khan under cir
cumstances which indicated that his
purpose had been to get political
support that fact was indicated. In
several such cases the advice was
that he should be beaten. So far as
l could judge by that report, it was
valuable and trustworthy guide for
any voter.
Incidentally, even if the advise
given is bad, the training given vot-
ers by this system is very consider !
able service to the community. If
the Khan should succeed in teaching
its members to Judge candidates on
any other basis than that of "regu-
larity" and back-scratching and pie
gathering ability, it would do much
for the future of democracy.
The actual political attitude of
Klansmen as l have seen them an
pears to be much more docile and de-
pendent than DR.. Evans states, how
ever. Even on the night before cleo
ton they are likely as not to know
what they are going to do at the
polls; they are waiting for the
word" Possibly this is merely in
formation and advice DR.. Evans des-
cribed, but the attitude was that of |
soldiers waiting for and ready to car
ry out orders. So it seems that in |
political practice as it was with the
application of boycott, it makes
little difference in results whether
"the word" is a command or a hin IF |
information or advice.
There Is, on the other hand, some
doubt about how far the Klansmen
will follow the lead given. In one
case in Oklahoma a Klansman and
a man whom the Khan opposed, run
ming on the same ticket, finished ON.
ly few hundred votes apart. There |
have been other cases where the an
parent voting strength Of the KIan
was nil. But these are exceptions'
possibly due to lack of "education'
or more subtle factor; they do prove
that the Klansmen seem TO feel nm
der no obligation 10 follow their
leaders In politics beyond a noint
which they--the individual Kiansman