"In view of the foregoing, I hereby officially declare and proclaim that such organization does now exist in prospect. Plans, methods, ritualism and regulations of same are now in process of formation and will be perfected at an early date and officially announced.

"I do farther proclaim that in order to have the proper a.s.sistance in the formation and perfecting of this organization, I have this day and date selected and officially appointed Mary Elizabeth Tyler of Atlanta, Fulton county, Ga., to be my grand chief of staff, to have immediate charge of work pertaining to said woman's organization under my authority and direction.

"Further information will be duly and officially communicated from time to time.

"Done in the Aulic of His Majesty, Imperial Wizard, Emperor of the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in the Imperial City of Atlanta, Commonwealth of Georgia, United States of America, on this, the ninth day of the ninth month of the year of our Lord, 1921.

"Duly signed and sealed by His Majesty,

William Joseph Simmons, "Imperial Wizard."

CHAPTER XII

ATROCITIES COMMITTED IN THE NAME OF KU KLUX KLAN

_Ku Klux Klan Knights of Beaumont, Texas, issue a justification for taking the law into Their own hands._

Confession that the Ku Klux Klan uses tar and feathers and the lash to punish persons whose actions it condemns is made by the Klansmen of Beaumont, Tex. The Beaumont Ku Klux Klan organization tarred and feathered Dr. J.S. Paul and R.F. Scott and later acknowledged, under its official seal, that its members did the job.

"Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, No. 7, Beaumont, Texas," admitted taking the law into their own hands in a statement dated July 21, 1921. This statement was made to the editors of two newspapers of Beaumont. It sought to justify the "tar and feather party" and gave warning that the "heavy hand of the Ku Klux Klan" was waiting to yank other persons from their beds in case they came into its displeasure.

SHOW SIMMONS MISREPRESENTS

Grand Wizard William J. Simmons has declared publicly that the Ku Klux did not indulge in midnight raids on defenseless victims whom it tarred and feathered. He has defended the Ku Klux Klan by ascribing these unlawful actions to imposters who use the regalia of the Ku Klux. The Beaumont incident proves that the Ku Klux not only was responsible for a.s.saults on Dr. Paul and Scott, but that it boasted of its exploits with them.

LETTER ADMITS USE OF TAR

The Paul-Scott "party" occurred on May 8. Its details were telegraphed all over the country. The letter to the two Beaumont newspapers the following July read:

"Your publication since the organization of the Ku Klux Klan in the city of Beaumont has on various occasions published information concerning and pertaining to the affairs of this organization. We believe, as you do, that a newspaper should serve the best interests of its const.i.tuency and that all legitimate news should be given the public through its columns. During the past two months items have appeared in your paper relative to the case of the Ku Klux Klan and its connection with Dr. J.S. Paul.

"Now, that you and the public may be fully informed of the true facts in the case, the Klan has a.s.sembled and herewith hands you an intelligent, true and correct history of the entire matter. The Klan suggests that this summary of facts be published in the columns of your paper not later than Sunday, July 24, 1921, and that it be published verbatim, according to the enclosed copy, typographical errors excepted.

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan."

PHYSICIAN IS ACCUSED

The "intelligent, true and correct history of the entire matter" was a lengthy statement. It accused Dr. Paul of being a physician who for years had sold whisky and narcotic drugs and had performed illegal operations on women. Because he had political and financial backing grand jury proceedings against him had been squelched.

About the middle of December, 1920, R.F. Scott, who lived in Deweyville, Texas (Scott was a former member of the United States Marine corps), consulted Dr. Paul and arranged for an illegal operation. The statement declares the girl became seriously ill as a result of malpractice on Dr. Paul's part and was taken from her residence to a hospital, where a serious operation was performed.

After this occurrence the girl demanded that Dr. Paul a.s.sist her in defraying the extra expense due to his negligence, and he offered her $500 to leave Beaumont. This bargain he broke and is accused of having threatened to cause her arrest for attempted blackmail, or with death if she exposed him.

MORAL LAW ABOVE WRITTEN

Her predicament was reported to the Klan and the statement says her cry was heard by men who respect the "great moral law more than the technicalities of the legal code."

The statement goes on:

"The eyes of the unknown had seen and had observed the wrong to be redressed. Dr. Paul was wealthy. His victim was a poor girl. Between the two stood the majesty of the law, draped in technicalities of changes of venue, mistrials, appeals, postponements, eminent counsel skilled in the esoteric art of protecting crime and interpreting laws involved in a ma.s.s of legal verbiage, the winding and unwinding of red tape, instead of the sinewy arm of justice, wielding the unerring sword. The law of the Klan is JUSTICE.

"Dr. Paul was approached in his office by three men on the night of May 7 and instructed to go with them. He was placed in a waiting automobile and escorted a few miles out of town. The judgment of the Klan was read to him and charges were related to him, none of which he would deny.

"LASHED, TARRED AND FEATHERED"

"In a cowardly, whimpering plea, he pleaded that others were as guilty as he. The lash was laid on his back and the tar and feathers applied to his body. He was then informed of the will of the Klan that he should leave the city within forty-eight hours. Upon the return of the party to Beaumont, Dr. Paul was discharged from an automobile at the intersection of two of the main streets of the city, that he might be a warning to all of his ilk that decent men and women no longer wanted him in the community.

"Dr. Paul complied with the instructions of the Klan that he leave the city and returned for a few days to his former home at Lufkin. During this time he was constantly under the surveillance of the Klan. Within a few days he had surrounded himself with relatives and hired hench-men of his own tribe and character and returned to Beaumont.

SCOTT ALSO TARRED AND FEATHERED

"Scott, who had been constantly watched by the Klan, whose number is legion and whose eye is all-seeing and whose methods of gathering information are not known to the alien world, was apprehended and punished in the same manner Dr. Paul had been dealt with. He was taken to the woods and guarded until nightfall. His captors during this time treated him with kindness and consideration. They provided him with food and fruit to eat and ice water to drink. During the day he was questioned and admitted all the charges the Klan had accused him of.

The judgment of the Klan was that he was to be given ten lashes across the bare back and that he was to be tarred and feathered.

EYES OF "UNKNOWN" ON HIM

"Scott left Beaumont on Monday, July 18, and spent the major portion of the day in Orange parading the streets and proclaimed the diabolical lie that he had been subjected to the tortures of the inquisition. He posed to the gullible public and sensational newspapers as a patriot and a hero. All these things the eyes of the unknown have seen and their ears have heard. We can not be deceived and JUSTICE will no longer be mocked."

The seal of the Beaumont Klan was attached to the end of the statement.

Rev. Caleb Ridley, known as the imperial chaplain of the order, acknowledged that the Klan's purpose was to set itself up as prosecutor, jury, judge and sheriff.

PASTOR GIVES WARNING

On Aug. 26, 1921, he issued to the citizens of Dallas county, Texas, the following warning:

"To the Citizens of Dallas County, Greetings: This organization has caused to be posted the following proclamation:

"Be it known and hereby proclaimed

"That this organization is composed of native-born Americans and none other.

"That its purpose is to uphold the dignity and the authority of the law. * * *

"That this organization * * * recognizes * * * that situations frequently arise where no existing law offers a remedy.

"That this organization does * * * not countenance and will not stand for social parasites remaining in this city. It is equally opposed to the gambler, the trickster, the moral degenerate and the man who lives by his wits and is without visible means of support.