“We repeat, the situation in Pensacola affords the K. K. K. and its Imperial Wizard an opportunity to show that their organization does not stand for lawlessness, that its members are law abiding, and that the organization will not countenance crime or its concealment by its members.”
Simmons, of course, has never complied with this challenge, as far as has been reported in the newspapers, and it is doubtful if he ever will. He has issued a long-winded, verbose statement since that time rehashing the same platitudes that have characterized all his writings and speeches, but has not turned over to the authorities the names of his local members. The charter of the Pensacola Klan has merely been suspended, although the offense committed was far more flagrant and specific than the case of the Mobile Klan, and it is quite likely that should the matter “blow over” the Pensacola organization will be reinstated.
The third case in which the “Emperor” found it necessary to take public action against one of his Klans which had gone too far in publicly advertising the “noble cause” occurred in Beaumont, Tex., and attracted newspaper attention on a nation-wide scale in the month of July, 1921. It was the first time that a Klan openly and publicly admitted its participation in an overt act of lawlessness. The case was so brazen that the “Emperor” revoked the Klan’s charter.
It appears from an examination of the facts in the case that masked men entered the office of one Dr. J. S. Paul, in the city of Beaumont, on the night of May 7, 1921, forced the physician to accompany them to a waiting automobile, conveyed him to the country, whipped him, tarred and feathered him and ordered him to leave town. A short time after that, similar treatment was meted out to one R. F. Scott, described in the dispatches as a veteran of the Marine Corps. Much excitement prevailed in Beaumont, until on July 21, 1921, a communication was received by the local newspapers under seal of “Klan No. 7, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,” of Beaumont, accompanied by a long statement of alleged facts in the cases of the two men who had been beaten.
Frankly admitting that its members had attacked Paul and Scott, the statement went into details as to the characters and conduct of the two men. It was charged that Paul had, for a long time, been making a business of criminal operations on women, of the sale of drugs and whiskey, and had waxed fat and powerful in this alleged illicit business. It was charged that for the past five years repeated attempts had been made to have him indicted and convicted, but that on account of wealth and political influence, he had succeeded in evading the law. The climax of his alleged practices was reached in the case of a young woman, her name was not given in the statement, who was brought to Paul for an alleged operation. It appears from the charges made by the Klan that Scott was involved in the matter. According to the statements of the Klan, an operation was performed, from the results of which the woman was caused to suffer severe consequences, it being claimed that death nearly resulted from her condition. It appears further from the allegations that the woman called to see Doctor Paul and demanded financial assistance, asking for $1000 to reimburse her for her expenses incurred during her illness. This, according to the statement, Paul refused to pay, offering instead $500, which was refused, after which the woman was said to have been ordered out of the office. The rest of the story, told in the exact words of the Klan reads:
“Following this visit to Doctor Paul the girl visited the county attorney and related her story to him, but she pleaded that her father and mother be spared the shame of parading her misfortune to the world. She was assured by the county attorney that he was powerless to act unless she herself would file the complaint and testify against Doctor Paul. This she felt she could not do and left the court of law in despair. Then followed several days of unceasing agony the sufferings of the pangs of hunger and the remorselessness of a conscience that had been violated. The depths of despair were reached, suicide was the next logical step. The anguish-laden cry of that poor girl was heard by men who respect the great moral law more than the technicalities of the legal code. The heavy hand of the Ku Klux was laid upon Doctor Paul.
“For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingles in selfish strife, Lo! freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting justice sleeps.”
(Ku Klux Ritual)
“The eyes of the unknown had seen and observed the wrong to be redressed. Doctor Paul stood convicted before God and man as the murderer of unborn babies, the despoiler of little children, the social leper who sells the life of a human being for a money consideration. His victim was a poor girl. Doctor Paul was wealthy. Between the two stood the majesty of the law, draped in the technicalities of changes of venue, mistrials, appeals, postponements, eminent counsel skilled in the esoteric art of protecting crime and interpreting laws involved in a mass 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 Man is justice.
“Doctor 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. In a cowardly, whimpering plea, he plead 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 that it was the will of the Klan that he should leave the city within forty-eight hours. Upon the return of the party to Beaumont, Doctor 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. Doctor 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 under the constant surveillance of the Klan.”
When Doctor Paul returned to Beaumont, according to the statement, he was invited to appear before the Grand Jury for the purpose of testifying about his attackers, but upon appearing before that body, he was confronted with the girl in the case, who, it appears, for some reason not mentioned in the statement, had decided to make a public complaint against Doctor Paul in the manner prescribed by law. Why it was any more improper for the woman to have testified before the Grand Jury in the first place than in the second the Klan does not mention, but, according to its explanation, Doctor Paul was indicted on several counts, along with Scott, the other man involved, and was released on bail. Here follows some very excellent Ku Klux humor: