The Minnesota fiery cross. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1924-19??, 1924-02-29
MNS EFFECT UPON COMMUNITY SAID TO Be FINAL TEST OF ITS JUSTIFICATION

fiicted for the mere fact OF oppos-
! ing the Khan when there were no
charges of crime or misconduct.
Here again the situation is foggy.
Undoubtedly there have been cases
of mob violence when there was no
least justification for il, and many
of these have occurred at times and
places where the Khan was active.
The klan's denial of responsibility
in such cases is not convicin since
the conditions which make such out
RACES possible, if not the outrages
| themselves, are due to the Khan. In
fairness it must be added that the
proportion of these cases to the total
activities of the Khan is very small,
and that most of them that | have
heard of took place before the
Evans reforms.
One more point: DR.. Evans and
the other leaders are now trying to
stop "meddling" with the private
conduct of people, as they have
stopped night-riding. The rule has
been laid down that the Khan shall
never take direct action, and that
no case shall be acted upon except
| through the regular law officers I'M
der enacted statutes. Dr. Evans be-
lieves that 'meddling" largely has
been stopped, but | am forced to
disagree with him. The cases | have
cited are all recent and in northern
and eastern states. There is reason
to believe that the evil is decreas-
ing considerably, but it is far from
| dead.
1t will be observed that all these
methods of the Khan, including those
disapproved by the leaders, are en-
| tirely violence. 1t is hard to attack
them in the abstract even on moral
grounds since they are, in the last
analysis, nothing more than an or
| ganized exercise of the right to like
whom we please, assoc late with whom
we please, and do business where we
please. All OF us dc that. We have
heard a good deal lately about the
immense good to be done by public
opinion and social and economic
pressure" Here we have IL; the Khan
has made IL a science!
The objection, of course, is that
this is private justice, outside the
law, without trial or the chance for
defense. True, but the same can be
said of the personal verdicts and pre-
ferences which each of US passes
and enforces daily. AS to the use of
rumors, we all act constantly on un-
proved rumors, and make people
suffer from them. The Khan has or
ganized both rumor and opinion and
it would seem at first that there
could be no very well-founded OBJ
lection nor very strong condemna-
ton for merely doing better things
that we all do.
Yet there is objection. Almost
everywhere that the Khan appears
there soon develops very bitter oppo-
sition. This comes not merely from
the vicious and criminal classes hit
in the reform campaigns. That Is to
be eXpeced and Is good symptom.
1t comes also, of course, from Catho-
lies, Jews and aliens and has appar-
emily resulted in strengthening the
unity of these classes, thus producing
an effect directly opposite to that
at which the Khan aims. / say ZAP
parently" because while there are
many statements that this is the
case | have been unable to obtain
from the Knights Of Columbus or
the B'nai Birth answers to letters
asking for the facts. But this oppo-
sition also was to be expected, and
in so far as parts of these classes
have been working for class or anti
American interests, it is also whole
some.
Entirely apart from this, however,
there is strong opposition and in
tense feeling against the Khan in
many places among the native, white
Protestants to whom it is expected
to appeal The reasons for this are
rather obscure, since it seems to be-
based only in small part on charges
that the Khan has been unjust in in
dividual cases land is frequently &C
COMMANDED by the admission that IL