CHAPTER VI
HOW THE DOLLARS ROLL IN[ToC]
The Klan Claims to Have 500,000 to 700,000 Members. Plan to get College Boys.
The Ku Klux Klan claims to have 500,000 to 700,000 members. As a matter of fact it is generally believed that that number is a hot air figure. It offers a basis for some interesting figures on the money that has changed hands, however.
Every person initiated must pay $10 as an initiation fee. Kleagles who have left the order say that the "initiation" fee is called a "donation" so that the Klan can escape paying income tax to the government, because dues in clubs and societies are taxable.
Of the $10, the kleagle who enrolls the member gets $4. The king kleagle, or state salesmanager, gets $1. The cyclops, or division manager, gets 50 cents. Clarke, the Imperial Kleagle, gets $3 and the office of Imperial Wizard Simmons gets $1.50. On this basis of 700,000 members, Clarke has collected more than $2,000,000. So far as known no public accounting ever has been made.
In addition the person initiated pays $6.50 for a mask, or helmet, and a robe. This he must purchase from the Gate City Manufacturing Company of Atlanta, owned by Clarke. Clarke's fortune grows every time a new member is taken in. If the Klansman rides a horse in ceremonies he must buy a robe for $14—also from Clarke's company.
WATER AT $10 A QUART
Another source of revenue to Clarke is the water used in initiations. It comes from the Chattahoochee river (Indian for "muddy water") near Atlanta. It is sent around the country as special Ku Klux Klan liquid without which an initiation cannot be held. It costs $10 a quart, money to be paid to Clarke.
Simmons and Clarke live in costly houses on Peachtree road, outside of Atlanta. It is explained that their homes were presented to them by the Klan. It also is explained that some of the money of the Klan goes to Lanier university, near Atlanta, where young students are to be trained to spread the Ku Klux Klan to every village of the country.