“It is agreed that the said second party shall advance, from time to time, as may be necessary the office rent and all other expenses incident to the proper conduct and furnishing of the main office of the aforesaid corporation, and in addition thereto a sum of not less than $75 per week and traveling expenses of the said Imperial Wizard (President) of the aforesaid corporation, reimbursing himself for such expenditures out of the $2.00 due by him to the aforesaid corporation on account of each member received into the aforesaid corporation by him and his duly appointed and commissioned subordinate organizers.
“Duly executed in duplicate in the city of Atlanta, Ga., on the day and date above written.
“KNIGHTS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN, INC.
“By W. J. Simmons, Imperial Wizard (President).
“Edward Young Clarke.”
As is well known the new Ku Klux Klan, like the old, depends to a great extent upon concealing the identity of the members by the means of long white robes and a white peaked helmet, with hangings in which eye holes have been cut. In the old Klan these robes were made by members of the Klansmen’s family, but in the new order of affairs the work of supplying these robes is a monopoly entirely in the hands of the national organization.
Members are not actually required to possess a robe, but it is generally the case that every man who comes into the movement is childishly eager to acquire one, whether he can use it in public or not. The organization does not “sell” the robes to members; it merely rents them, and members upon leaving the organization are required to return them to the head of the local Klan. The price charged a member for a robe is $6.50, while the Kleagle must pay $12 as his robe has more trimming. Made in large quantities, as they are being made, there ought to be a profit of at least $5 per garment, although I believe a New York garment maker could show a larger profit than that. According to “Emperor” Simmons, the present output is about six hundred robes a day. Orders are taken for the garments by Kleagles and Exalted Cyclops of the different Klans on measuring blanks printed especially for the purpose. The order is made out and addressed to the “Imperial Wizard,” but it is filled by the “Gate City Manufacturing Company” of Atlanta, Georgia. The records of Fulton County, Georgia, show that application for charter for this corporation was filed June 9, 1920, with C. B. Davis and Lottie B. Davis as incorporators. It shows a capital stock of $25,000, and states that “more than $5,000 has been paid in.” It also asks the right to increase its capitalization to $50,000. Its powers indicate that it is to engage in the manufacture and sale of lodge supplies, paraphernalia and equipment of all sorts for the use of lodges, secret societies, etc. The corporation apparently lay dormant for a year, as an order of court allowing the petition was only allowed on August 19, 1921. Until the incorporators met and organized there could have been no legal organization of the corporation. No reports as to business done had been filed in Fulton County up to the date of the court order above mentioned. This concern, however, has been doing business for several months prior to that time, as I received several shipments from them in April and May 1921. Who owns the Gate City Manufacturing Company? What connection has it with the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan? What becomes of the enormous profit derived from the sales of robes?
During the summer of 1921, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan purchased the handsome, colonial home of H. M. Durant on Peachtree Road, about five miles from Atlanta, at an approximate cost of $75,000. The purchase comprises a block of land about four hundred feet square. Extensive improvements, worthy of a real emperor’s palace are contemplated for this property, and it will be the headquarters of the “Imperial Palace.” The land will be cut up into gardens, small lakes and building sites. It is estimated that $30,000 worth of marble alone will be used. A handsome statue of General N. B. Forrest will be erected, and also a statue of “Emperor” William J. Simmons. There will be electric fountains, electric fiery crosses, lakes, boat houses and tennis courts. According to the “Emperor”: “There will be no manufacturing handled at the Palace. We now have a paraphernalia plant here turning out six hundred robes a day, in addition to other equipment, and we expect to erect in a short time a building with railroad frontage to be devoted exclusively to manufacturing.” It is also planned to take over a large printing plant. If this extensive program is carried out, there will be a huge enterprise with all the combined activities costing not less than $3,500,000.
While the organization has been buying land and engaging in real estate transactions, the Imperial Kleagle, as a side line, has also gone into the real estate business. On June 27, 1921, a petition was filed for charter for the “Clarke Realty Company” with Edward Young Clarke and Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler as incorporators, with authorized capital stock of $10,000 with privilege of increasing it to $100,000. The corporation seeks the right to deal generally in real estate. Just what real estate the “Clarke Realty Company” has bought, sold, leased, rented, or exchanged or acted as brokers for, has not appeared in print.
The functions of Clarke appear to be exclusively to propagate the work and organize Klans, after which they are turned over to Simmons. According to a statement made by Clarke to the World the organization has one thousand chartered Klans, it requiring the services of two people engaged every day to write charters. After the Klans are chartered they are turned over to Simmons. In this connection, it would be well to turn back to the charter and note that under Section 7, the “business of the society shall be under the control of the Imperial Wizard (President),” etc. This control is so thorough that in the secret constitution of the organization the term of office of the president is for life, and he can be removed only by the unanimous vote of his Imperial Kloncilium. The constitution also provides as follows:
“Article I, Section 2. The government of this order shall ever be military in character, most especially its management and control; and no legislative enactment or constitutional amendment hereafter forever shall encroach upon, effect or change this essential, fundamental principle of this order—The Invisible Empire.
“Section 2. The government of this order shall be invested primarily in the Imperial Wizard, as Commander-in-chief or Emperor of the Invisible Empire.”