Evening star., 1927-10-16
FLOGG|NG PROBE
ENDS; 45 INDICTED
102 True Bills Returned by
Grand Jury, Which Attacks.
Leaders of Klan.

By the Associated Press.
ICNERNE, Ala, October 15.-1n-
quiry into masked violence and the
workings of the ku klux klan by
special grand jury ended tate today
with 102 indictments against men
charged with completely in 20 or more
lashings in Crenshaw County. The
grand jury also made sweeping
charges that men high in the councils
of the Invisible Empire" were "un-
worthy of trust"
All indictments except one were
against members Of the ku klux
Khan, and the jury, which spent a
week in the inquiry, reported that
with single exception all the masked
lashings were committed by members
of the klan. wearing hoods and robes
of the order.
Likcned to lnquisitiOn.
Iikening conditions in Crenshaw
County to those which existed during
the Spanish inquisition the grand jury
pointed an accusing finger at James
Esdale. grand dragon of the Klan in
Alabama: Cecil Davis, former grand
titan of the Southern province of the
order; Rev. +. a. Nails, former head
of the Gecrgiana Klavern of the
klan. and Ira e. Thompson. said 70
be cyclops of the Luverne unit of the
organization.
In its report to Circuit Judge A. F..
Gamble, who presided at the hearing
the grand jury said they "were der.
lict to their duty as citizens in then
conduct OF Khan affairs: if they hac
afforded the leadership in the Ku
klux Kan. which should have been
given by them, these outraees never
would have occurred :"
This harbaric terrorism Of the rule
Of the mask and the lash" the report
continued. "can he attributed directly
to evil leadership in the ku Klux
klan. at war with all constituted au-
thorities.''
Blame Put OH Minister.
The grand jury emphatically
stressed the position of Esdale and
Nails in directing the policies of the
klan, and said:
IF Rev. L. A. Nails had been as
continuously engaged in serving his
congregation as in serving brutal
f1oggings to defenseless men and wom-
en- and attempting to regulate moral
ity behind a ku Klux Klan mask
many of these crimes would not have
been committed.
IF he had been less of a lash
wielder and more of preacher of
peace, conditions in Crenshaw County
would have been better"
In it's report the grand jury ex.
pressly stated that it did not intend
to charge that there are within the
l<lan the men who do not measure up
to the true standards of citizenship.
explaining:
I'VE do not presume to suggest that
every man who is a member of the
Klan is there because of some sinister
motive. But still we have found what
we believe to be an organization which
has either gotten completely out of
control of those who control it, or else
it has gotten into control. at least in
part, of certain men who in our judg-
ment are unworthy of trust"
IS Persons Indicted.
In conclusion the grand jury passed
Its work on TO the petit juries, urging
them not to forget the solemnity of
the law in dealing with these cases
and mot to be swerved by friend or
foe
Attorney General Charlie C. Mccall
of Alabama, who personally directed
the grand jury investigation, said 45
persons were mentioned in the 102
indictments thirty-seven of these are
residents of Crenshaw County he said.
while eight live in Butler County.
Names of all indicted men and the
charges against them will not he
known until warrants are issued for
their arrest