The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-02-07

Last fortnight Hiram w. Evans, imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, attended as an invited guest tho dedication of the new Roman Catholic pro-cathedral in Atlanta, which occupies the site of the form CT national headquarters of the klan. The event seemed to mark the end of an old order and the begir- ning of Q new era of understand ing.
 Yet today, in the new klan head quarters in the Hurt building, At- lanea. the wizard and his staff are hard at work with the old sales talk about the menace of the Pope and the Catholic church" but to which is added c new twist about tho additional menace of com munism," 1t Is declared by Ken Magazine.
 Sales Talk
 The new klan sales talk has been charged slightly because emphasis on religion doesn't pay now, the imperial wizard unwittingly revealed in an interview with an investigator for Ken. which quotes Dr. (of den- tistry) Evans at length in its Feb. 9 issue.
 "The klan now uses the Catholic church and the Pope only where 1t might help and does not try to make 1t q national issue" Ken says Evans admitted. The writer con- tinueS:
 "I'm not going to lose the klan this time as l lost it before he told me. I lost the klan over the Catholic issue in 1928, He defeated Al Smith for president but it broke the organization, so I'm not making the Pope a national issue any more It just doesn't pay
 "'What Is your issue nowF ! asked.
 "'Amerlcanism,' he said, smiling shrewdly. That's the issue today, AmerieaniSm. The people can get excited about that
 "'What's your program for put ting Americanlsn acroSS2'
 "'We're c secret organization, he said, and our program is secret We're not shouting it from the houSetops like we used to. Our pros gram is sent out as instructions to our field men and then passed on by word of mouth. We got into q lot Of trouble before by talking and writing too much.
 "'Why. we've even stopped get- ting out printed material. You know, over the years, c name crops out once in c while and ten or ib years later, when you figure eyerything's s been forgotten, the person runs for some political office and it comes Up to haunt us. Pretty near ruins tho man politically, and sometimes eco- fomically, 70 we're not putting any, thing in writing any more. No- bodys going to get anything on us this timer"
 Business Booms!
 Another highiight in the inter- view. which Ken's writer said was obtained in the course Of conversa- tons with Lvans that extended over six days, concerns the Southeastern Construction Go, which has It's of- fiee in the kan suite In tho Hurt building. ,t is, says Ken, "doing c nice little business selling road cons struction to the state Of Georgia and some municipalities" The writer continues:
 "You and Governor Rivers are very friendly, aren't you7' I asked.
 "Not more than c lot of people.
 "'Wasn't the governor afi exalted cyclops in the klan in Lakeland, da.7'
 "Yes, sir. fIe was
 He returned to tho subject Of road construction.
 "'IIas your road construction blis- mess increased since Rivers became sovernor7'
 "'Yes, quite c lot hc smiled.
 "And the company doing oil that business doesn't even have It's name on the lobby bulletin board or on on office door7'
 "Yep. That's right
 "How do people And you2'
 "'oh, they manage, "Has the kiar any political in. huence in Fiorida?'
 "'We are very strong there. It's one of our strongest states
 "poing much road construction work there2'
 "'Yes, quito c bit.'
 "dot an office in Flofida7 "Nope. No office.'
 "Tiow about Alabama and South Carolina2 Is the klan str0ng in those states7'
 "'Pretty strong,
 "Doing any road construction work in those States?' "'xep.' ,..