5th Amendment.
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which districts shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor and to have the assistance of counsel in his defence.”
6th Amendment.
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
8th Amendment.
Having thoroughly studied the above portions of the Constitution of the United States, I now ask the reader to again study the concluding section of the Ku Klux oath:
“I swear that I will most zealously and valiantly shield and preserve, by any and all justifiable means and methods, the sacred constitutional rights and privileges of free public schools, free speech, free press, separation of church and state, liberty, white supremacy, just laws, and the pursuit of happiness, against any encroachment, of any nature, by any person or persons, political party or parties, religious sect or people, native, naturalized or foreign, of any race, color, creed, lineage, or tongue whatsoever.”
Without comment, I merely offer the above extracts for study and comparison, and let the reader draw his own conclusions at the end of the chapter.
A large number of outrages, consisting of lawless acts of various kinds, have been reported in the newspapers as having been committed in the Southern States since early in 1921. Men have been taken from their homes and conveyed to lonely spots where they have been beaten, tarred, and feathered; women have been stripped of their clothing and covered with tar and feathers; some men have been boldly kidnapped in broad daylight and driven in automobiles to obscure places and there flogged; others have been whipped and mutilated for alleged immorality; a sixty-eight year old farmer was taken from his bed at night and beaten; an Episcopal clergyman was given a coat of tar and feathers; a New Yorker was shot and beaten; and, numerous “warnings” have been given both publicly and privately of “secret law enforcement” and of dire threats to “lay off” investigating the perpetrators.
In practically every instance of physical violence the criminal acts—committed in the name of “law and order”—have been perpetrated by men wearing disguises, described as white robes and masks.