The Modern Ku Klux Klan

by Henry P. Fry

I venture to express the opinion that this is the first time in the history of the United States that a ritual of a secret order, genuine or alleged, has ever been copyrighted, and the very fact that it is copyrighted suggests pertinent questions. As a general rule the protection of the copyright laws is a matter of dollars and cents to an author, and the first question that suggests itself is: what royalty does Simmons get from the “Invisible Empire” for the use of his printed productions? Then comes the further question: in whom does the title to the copyright rest? does Simmons own it, or has it been assigned to the corporation? If Simmons owns the copyright, and should die, would the title to the ritual pass to his heirs or would the members of the Klan have anything to say as to the ownership of the secret book of their organization? If the question be answered in the negative the curious spectacle would be presented of an organization paying a royalty to people not members of that organization. Another consideration is the fact that as the law requires two copies of a book to be deposited in the Library of Congress, the pages of this “secret” document are open to the study of any one who cares to go to Washington to examine them. Therefore, in his desire to secure unto himself the property rights in the ritual, Simmons, who took the oath not to divulge any of the secrets of his organization, violated his obligation from the very beginning. As I am no longer a member of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, I have no interest whatever in the relations of Simmons to his organization, but merely suggest these questions for the benefit of the members who may be interested in the financial side of their own movement.

The name of the Ku Klux ritual is the “Kloran.”

Before discussing this name, which has an interesting story, it is necessary to state that in all of the Ku Klux lingo, many words have been formed by the placing of the letter “L” after the first letter of a word. Thus we have “Klavern,” the meeting place of the Klan, from “Kavern;” Kloncilium, from Koncilium; Klaliff, from Kaliff, etc., etc. The name “Kloran” is the word “Koran” with the letter “L” placedafter the “K.”

The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is an “Invisible Empire” composed of none but Protestant Christians, yet it appropriates the name of the Mohammedan Bible for its sacred book.

The “Kloran” is called the “white book,” and on its front cover bears the inscription “K-Uno,” from which is inferred that it is the first degree of Ku Kluxism. There is a hint in the “sacred and inspired” pages that there are other degrees to be taken, after the member has thoroughly imbibed the pages of the “Kloran,” and has passed an examination upon the same. What these “higher degrees” are, no man, as far as I can learn, knows save only him, who “for fourteen years” communed with the gods and prepared himself for the sublime mission of saving the United States from nearly half of its own citizens.

On the inside cover is the “Ku Klux Kreed” which is borrowed from the creed of the original Klan, with such further additions as Simmons in his infinite wisdom saw fit to add, and this is followed by the “order of business,” which is similar to the average secret order, but expressed “Simmonsly” and not in the usual plain language of other organizations.

The officers of the Klan as then set forth are “The Exalted Cyclops,” who corresponds to the President; the “Klaliff,” to the Vice-President; “Klokard,” the lecturer; “Kludd,” the Chaplain (borrowed, by the way, from the name of the high priest of the ancient Druids); the “Kligrapp,” the Secretary; the “Klabee,” the Treasurer; the “Kladd,” the conductor; the “Klarogo,” the inner guard; the “Klexter,” the outer guard; the “Klokann,” the investigating committee; and the “Night-hawk,” who has charge of candidates.

The text of the “Kloran” starts off with an “Imperial Decree” written in the “Simmons” language, and signed by “His Majesty,” telling the members that this book is “the book” of the “Invisible Empire,” and that the decree to preserve it, and study its sacred teachings is as binding as the original obligation. Then follows a complicated diagram of the “Klavern,” or meeting-place, showing the stations of the numerous officers and the routes taken by candidates when going through the floor work.

The “opening ceremony,” which is supposed to be inflicted upon the Klan every time it meets, covers eight closely printed pages of the “Kloran,” and is filled with tiresome and boring conversation between the various officers. An opening “klode,” to the tune of “Greenland’s Icy Mountains,” with its chorus “Home, Sweet Home” is then to be sung, and this is followed by a long-winded prayer ending with a petition to the Lord to “bless our Emperor.” After more words, the poor Klan at last finds itself open.

Then follows the “closing ceremony” which contains five pages of the same sort of wordy discourse, with a verse to the tune of “Blest be the Tie that Binds,” a prayer for the success of the “Invisible Empire,” and the weary Klansmen are then allowed to go home.