"What's to be done now? What's the next move?" asked Springer.
"About what?" asked Hennesy.
"About the election and the Klan," Springer explained.
"Well, the Klan won the election and it looks to me like my next move had better be to some locality where the night gown devils have not yet made their appearance."
"What's the matter, Hennesy? Gettin' cold feet?" asked Stover.
"Well, prospects here in Wilford Springs are not looking any too bright, I'm frank to admit," Hennesy replied.
"Don't give up and quit the game. Stay with us and we'll whip them yet," McBryan assured him.
"Well, I've a good business here, as you all know, and am perfectly willing to stay if there is any chance to win; but with Dan Brown, a Klansman, elected sheriff, and C.M. Stanton, another Klansman, elected county attorney, it looks mighty bad for my line of business."
"We'll drive the Klan out of business, and when the sheriff and attorney find themselves without the support of hundreds of Klansmen whom they are expecting to back them when they take office, they will become tame enough."
"But how are you going to destroy the Klan? It's growing stronger every day," said Stover. "I don't see why people are such fools," he added.
"I had a little talk with our friend here, Mike McMichael, and he has a plan that I think will be a winner if it is carried out. I asked Mike to come down tonight and explain it to you," said McBryan.
McMichael rose, spread his legs apart, and clasped his hands behind him. (A favorite position when addressing a jury.) "Gentlemen," he began, "the situation is serious. Something needs to be done and done quickly. You boys laid a plan and executed it in an effort to carry the election. The plan seemed feasible enough, but it did not work. It was bungled in several particulars. I am attorney for Krouse in the damage suit in which he is suing the county for permitting mob violence, and it's doubtful if you fellows have furnished enough evidence to make it stick. It was a mistake to paint his back instead of whipping him. A light whipping wouldn't have hurt that husky Dutchman. At any rate, he should have been willing to submit to a mild whipping for the good of the cause."
"I think he would have submitted to it if we had asked it, but we were of the opinion that painted stripes would do just as well," McBryan, interrupting him, explained.
"Yes, and there's where you 'pulled a bone-head.' If the stripes on his back had been actual bruises you could have called in men who are not in our gang to see them who would have served as witnesses; as it is, we are going to have a hard time to convince a jury that he was actually whipped, unless we are very successful in selecting a jury.
"Now whatever is done from now on must be more regular. Mr. McBryan referred to a conversation we had in which I suggested a plan to eliminate the Klan.
"What I propose is this: The governor has an opportunity to do something before the close of his term. We will get him to start a suit to oust the Klan from the state. This can be done on the grounds that the organization is inimical to the peace and safety of the state, or that it is an organization doing business in the state for profit without a charter. We will have the governor and attorney-general hold inquisitions in those localities in the state where the Klan is strongest. These inquisitions will not only serve to get evidence of use in the ouster suit but will be the means of exposing some of the fellows who are hiding behind a mask and wielding a powerful influence."
"Like Judge Rider and Harold King," said Stover.
"Exactly so," continued McMichael. "I want to see them give this young Judge the third degree."
"That sounds goot, very goot, but suppose the governor won't act. Vat den?" Goldberg asked.
"He'll act, all right, if it is put up to him strong. He wants to run for senator, and he knows that he won't stand a ghost of a show unless the Klan is gotten rid of."
"What do you think of this idea, Stover?" Springer asked.
The banker rubbed his skinny hands together for a moment before replying.
"I think it would be worth the effort just to expose Judge Rider and that young upstart, Harold King. If the ouster suit does not come to trial soon it will have a good effect on the public while it is pending. There are a lot of folks who won't have anything to do with an organization which is being sued."
"I suggest that Stover and McMichael act as a committee to go to the capital and lay this plan before Governor Slydell." This suggestion from Hennesy met with unanimous approval.
"And tell 'em to get beezy to vonce," said Goldberg, "for ve have no need of Kluxers, the B'nai B'rith and Knights of Columbus can take care of everytings. Ain't that right, McBryan?"
"Sure, it is right," affirmed the Irish politician.
McMichael and Stover left on the early morning train for the capital city.
Governor Slydell, smarting under the defeat of his candidate for governor, was only too glad to act on the suggestion of Stover and McMichael. An ouster suit was filed in the Supreme Court and an inquisition, the first of a series, was arranged to be held in Wilford Springs the following week.
When the day for the inquisition at Wilford Springs came, a large crowd packed the court room. The interest was like to that of the old Roman populace when they assembled at the arena to witness the throwing of some Christian or enemy of Caesar to the wild beasts. On this occasion there were those present who hoped to see some prominent Klansman devoured.
Judge Rider was the first witness called. The examination was conducted by the attorney-general, who was assisted by the governor.
"You may state your name," directed the attorney.
"Clarence C. Rider."
"What is your vocation?"
"Attorney-at-law. At present I am judge of the district court."
"Are you a member of the Ku Klux Klan?" There was a death-like stillness in the room as the eager listeners waited for the judge's reply.
"Yes, I am," came his reply in a firm voice. There was applause from the Klan supporters, and the attorney rapped for order.
"Do you hold any official position in the Klan?"
"Yes."
"You may state what that position is."
"I am the Exalted Cyclops of Wilford Springs Klan."
"How many Klansmen belong to the Wilford Springs Klan?"
"Thirteen hundred fifty."
"Thirteen hundred fifty! No wonder this county turned up a big majority against Perdue!" the governor exclaimed. Uproarious laughter greeted this outburst of Governor Slydell. The attorney-general again pounded for silence.
"Is not this organization of which you have testified that you are the head given to acts of lawlessness?"
"No, sir."
"Isn't one of its purposes to take the law into its own hands?"
"No, sir; just the opposite is true. One of its aims is to prevent lynchings, whippings, tar and feather parties and all such unlawful acts."
"You know that members have committed acts of violence."
"I know nothing of the kind."
"The members of the Klan wear masks."
"Klansmen are permitted to wear masks only in ritualistic work and with the consent of the Grand Dragon or Imperial Wizard when on peaceful parades or when doing acts of charity."
"Won't the wearing of masks, even in this way, encourage the wearing of masks by either members or non-members when wishing to commit crimes?"
"I don't think so. Masks have been worn by men in the commission of crimes ever since there was a law."
"I would like to ask the Judge a few questions," said Governor Slydell.
"All right, governor. I'll turn the witness over to you," the attorney-general replied.
"Judge, you know that the mayor of Freeburg was whipped by masked men, don't you?"
"No, I do not. I know that the Journal stated he was whipped. Do you know that he was whipped by masked men, governor?"
"Yes," the governor answered.
"How do you know it?"
"By the evidence of Mayor Krouse himself and such honorable and credible witnesses as Pat McBryan, Springer and McMichael."
"Governor, do you know who did it?"
"No, or I would prosecute them."
"After you had had special detectives in Freeburg for three weeks and they had given up their investigations you made a speech in another state in which you said that the Klan did it."
"I believe yet the Klan did it."
"Yet you have no evidence on which to make arrests."
"No."
"Governor, did your detectives report to you that they could not secure any evidence or did they report that the whole affair was a frame-up?"
"I'm not on the witness stand," said the governor, coloring. The court room roared with laughter.
The attorney again pounded the table and announced, "If there is any more laughter or applause I will have the sheriff clear the room."
"What is the necessity for the members of the Klan concealing their identity?" the governor asked, now becoming the questioner again.
"In order that they may secure evidence to furnish the officers and thus assist in the enforcement of law. They have the same reason for concealing their identity that the secret service men of the United States have."
"Who asked the Klansmen to become secret service men?"
"It's the duty of every citizen to help enforce the laws. And he should use the method that will make him most efficient."
"Doesn't the Klan arouse race and religious hatred?"
"Certainly not, purposely."
"Does not the very fact that Catholics, Jews and Negroes cannot become members arouse racial and religious prejudices?"
"It should not any more than it ought to arouse religious and racial antipathies for the Knights of Columbus, the B'nai B'rith and the African Brotherhood to refuse to admit white Protestant Gentiles to their organization. I have never heard that those who were excluded from these organizations ever objected."
"Judge, isn't religious toleration one of the principles on which this government is based?"
"Yes, it is. The Klan believes in toleration. We believe that Catholics, Protestants and Jews have a right to worship God as they please; that the Catholics have a right to have the Knights of Columbus; the Jews the B'nai B'rith, and the Protestants the Ku Klux Klan."
"The Klan advocates the further restriction of immigration, does it not?"
"Yes."
"Does that not antagonize other races and nationalities? Were not our forefathers foreigners?"
"The Klan insists on further restriction of immigration in order to protect our American institutions, and not to arouse the opposition of other peoples. In America we have today twelve million of voting age who are foreign born. They came to America with different ideals and standards of living than ours. In the last one hundred years thirty-four million foreigners came to America. Many of them settled in colonies where they preserved their language, customs and ideals. America is now a land of many alien tongues. The foreigners have been coming faster than we can assimilate them."
"Many of our most desirable citizens come from foreign lands."
"Yes, but there is a decided difference in the character of the immigrants of today and formerly. Edward Alsworth Ross, Professor of Sociology in the University of Wisconsin, who is perhaps one of the greatest sociologists in the world, states in his 'Principles of Sociology':
"'A stream of immigrants may be representative, sub-representative or super-representative of the people from which it comes. Religious or political oppression is likely to start up a current of super-representative migrants because it is chiefly the superior who refuse to conform to the will of the powerful. The English Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, the Scotch Covenanters, the French Huguenots, the German sectaries who settled Pennsylvania and the refugee German liberals of 1848 were among the super-representative elements which came to America. Discrimination against a people or a race generally causes a representative outflow, e.g., the Scotch Irish and the Scotch Highlanders of Colonial days as well as the streams of Armenians, Syrians and Russian Hebrews which have come to us latterly.
"'Subduers of the wilderness generally surpass in energy and venturesomeness their kinsmen who stay where they were born. It is the trout rather than the carp that find their way out of the pool into the swift water. The American pioneering breed had rare courage and initiative, and the European immigrants who came to settle in the Great West may well have topped the average of their people in these traits. Those who follow the lure of high wages in a foreign labor market will sub-represent their people in ability. The educated, the propertied, the established, the well-connected, having prospects at home, have no motive to submit themselves to the hardships of the steerage. The children of the successful abide in their father-land; only the children of the unsuccessful migrate, and it is very unlikely that such a stream will constitute a good sample of the beauty, brains and initiative of the stock.
"'Even the difficulties of a distant migration have a selective value. The first-comers from a people probably have more initiative than those who come later, after the channels of immigration are worn deep and straight and smooth. The poorest stuff is that which migrates in response to a ticket-selling campaign by steamship agents who go about and excite the ignorant and gullible with fairy tales. Woe to the land which serves as a dumping ground for a commercialized immigration.'
"Governor," said the judge leaning forward in his chair, "the United States is now that dumping ground."
"A very interesting discussion," commented the governor, who had apparently forgotten that the judge was on the witness stand.
"You remember, governor, that President Roosevelt warned the people of this country of the dangers of race suicide."
"Yes, I remember that," the governor replied.
"President Roosevelt did not tell the people of the sociological and economic causes of the great decrease in the birth rate among native stock. In this same work from which I have just been quoting Professor Ross says:
"'Bringing his own inherited low standard of living, the foreign born outbreeds his native competitor, whose standard of living reflects the better prospects of the newer country. The former will be ready to marry before the latter feels justified in doing so. The former will beget eight children while the latter does not see how he can do right by more than four. The higher standards of cleanliness, decency and education cherished by the native element act on it like a slow poison. William does not leave so many children as "Tonio" because he will not huddle his family into one room, eat macaroni off a bare board, work his wife barefoot in the fields, and keep his children weeding onions instead of at school. Subjection to competition with low-standard immigrants appears to be the root cause of the mysterious "sterility" which has stricken in turn the Americans and each of the Americanized immigrant elements. Down to 1830 the Americans were as fertile a race as ever lived, and their decline in fertility coincides in time and locality with the arrival of the immigrant flood.'"
"How much have the native Americans decreased in fertility?" the governor asked.
"F.S. Crum in the 'Bulletin of the American Statistical Association' for September, 1914, gives the average number of children per wife, based on 'Twenty-two Genealogical Records of American Families.' Previous to 1700 the average number of children per wife was 7.37, 1800-1849 it had decreased to 4.94; 1870-1879 show an average of only 2.77 children per wife.'"
"Have you statistics showing the relative fertility of the native born women and the foreign born women in America?"
"Yes. I have it here in a note book." He took a small book from his pocket and read:
"In 1890 in American cities a thousand foreign born women could show 565 children under five years of age to 309 children shown by a thousand native women. By 1900 the contribution of the foreign born women had risen to 612, while that of the native women had declined to 296."
The governor thrummed on the table with his fingers. "Judge," he said, "that is serious."
"Yes, it is serious, and what the Klan purposes to do is to influence the government to erect a wall to keep out this foreign flood."
The mention of the Klan brought the governor back to the purpose of the investigation. "Isn't your connection with the Klan likely to interfere with your duties as judge?"
"Not in the least."
"In case a Klansman should become a litigant in your court wouldn't you be prejudiced in his favor against the man who is not a Klansman?"
"There would be no more probability of my being prejudiced in his favor than in that of a Mason or a member of my Bible Class. In none of these organizations am I obligated to support my brother when he is in the wrong."
The Judge was now excused and Harold King was called. After King was questioned other men more or less prominent about town were called. The examination disclosed nothing that the public could not have known without an investigation except that it revealed positively who a few of the Klansmen were. When at the end of two days the investigations were brought to a close the anti-Klan forces were disappointed with the results.
As the crowd left the court room after the close of the investigation, Springer asked Captain Smith, the commander of the American Legion, "What do you think of a judge being the head of a Ku Klux Klan?"
"I think it must be a mighty good organization with Judge Rider at the head of it."
The reply was not what Springer desired, consequently he made no reply nor asked any more questions of the captain, but hastened to his editorial den to write a modest request that since the investigation had disclosed the fact that Judge Rider was a Klansman he be requested to resign at once from his office.