The Minnesota fiery cross. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1924-19??, 1924-02-29
Sparks from the Fiery Cross
By JOHN EIGHT POINT
"The modest motive is the public good.

that Anne Louise Howard, who has
been graphing single-handed and
alone since December, 1922, with the
largest and most tragic relief prob
lem in all Europe's dreary expanse
Of hunger, hatred and suspicion, re-
Gently was attacked and injured on
one of the principal streets of her
field of operation by political and
religious miscreant who might have
done serious harm had his aim been
better" And this causes the Klans-
man in ordinary to remark mildly:
IF the lady had been at home toiling
for Americas needy millions, leav-
ing Europe's problems to Europe her
self she might possibly have escaped
bullet and encountered nothing
more savage than a brickbat." With
out abating our natural sympathy for
our European brothers who have suf-
fered, would it not be more to the
practical point to spend little OF
that energy now given to Russia
upon our own hungry, destitute and
ignorant children of the mills and
mountains? What a noble gift to
the nation to turn into American cit
liens the human waste product OF
our own broad land.
The Wheeling Intelligencer says:
"The difficulty in turning immi-
grants into good Americans is to find
a model to work by" Is that so?
Abraham Lincoln is a pretty fair
model.
Already there are splinters on sew
eral of the legislative blocs--and
there are knot holes in most Of the
rest.
Shakespearian foreheads are going
out of style owing to the teapot
Dome Investigations.
If the loan of arms of Mexico
should eventually lead to the loan
of troops, the Klansman might come
to view the policy with wondering
eyes. What would it mean to station
American troops in small garrisons
here and there throughout the length
and breadth of Mexico? Would it
not lay America open to the charge
of imperialism? To extend the Platt
amendment from Cuba to Mexico
would be a serious responsibility and
an experiment the outcome of which
could not be guessed. AS we see it,
this problem is not really an Ameri-
can problem-and, as citizens, we
can only be interested in what vitality
concerns our national progress.
Maint aiming order in Mexico at the
the expenditure of national energy
which might be better used in
strengthening American bulwarks of
statescraft and the enforcement of
federal laws afford the Klansman
subject for debate.
Race prejudice" says the San
Diego Tribune, "is most acute in that
part of the higher race that is near
est the lower" AS usual the para
grapher is wrong. Race prejudice is
most acute in the imaginations OF
those who perpetually accuse some
body of building race antagonism.
Three-fourths of the talk about race
prejudice is bunk and one-fourth is
premeditated malice on the part OF
people who are hunting trouble.
Coinincidental with the rise of the
Khan has been the reduct ion Of the
number of lynchings in the country.
In 1923, the year when the Khan be-
gan a most victorious march IN
membership, the number Of lynch
ings was 81 per cent less than In
1922. thus proving conclusively that
the wiseacres who have connected
thoughts of violence with every act
of the Khan were basing their opin-
ions upon the malicious utterances
of Khan enemies. In point OF fact
the Khan. as a patriotic and social
betterment organization devoted to
broad ethical and educ ational ideals,
influenced the country vitality last
wear toward cleaner and saner gov
eminent locally and nationally. In
this way it had its proud share IN re-
ducing serious acts OF violence IN
the year 1928.
In a wide world photograph of An
ton Lang, the protagonist is shown
with inscrutable inquiring eyes and
a panied, bewildered face. America
is too much for him, evidently, and
his hair flies about his shoulders in
emotional gusts. Probably the Chrlst
whom Anton endeavors to portray
in the Oberammergau Passion Play
would have a panied, bewildered face
if he should come to America today.
=
Missouri proposes to amend her
constitution. The Western Watch
man, of st. Louis, Catholic pupil,