[35] On this point the testimony of Generals Forrest, John B. Gordon and E.W. Pettus, and J.A. Minnis, in the Ku Klux Report, is instructive.—Editor.
[36] Pease, "In the Wake of War," (fiction) gives a very good description of affairs in Tennessee by one who was thoroughly familiar with conditions there.
CHAPTER III.[ToC]
THE TRANSFORMATION.
Until the beginning of the year 1867, the movements of the Klan had, in the main, been characterized by prudence and discretion; but there were some exceptions. In some cases there had been a liberal construction of orders and of what was by common consent the law of the Klan. In some, the limits, which tacitly it had been agreed upon not to pass, had been overstepped.
Attempts had been made to correct by positive means evils which menaces had not been sufficient to remove. Rash, imprudent and bad men had gotten into the order. The danger which the more prudent and thoughtful had apprehended as possible was now a reality. Had it been possible to do so, some of the leaders would have been in favor of disbanding. That could not well be done, because at that time the organization was so loose and imperfect. So to speak, the tie that bound them together was too shadowy to be cut or untied. They had evoked a spirit from "the vasty deep." It would not down at their bidding.
And, besides, the Klan was needed. The only course which seemed to promise any satisfactory solution of the difficulty was this: To reorganize the Klan on a plan corresponding to its size and present purposes; to bind the isolated dens together; to secure unity of purpose and concert of action; to hedge the members up by such limitations and regulations as were best adapted to restrain them within proper limits; to distribute the authority among prudent men at local centres, and exact from them a close supervision of those under their charge.