[1899] Sources of revenue: (1) sale of the Prescript to Dens for $10 a copy, of which the treasuries of Province, Dominion, and Realm each received $2 and the treasury of the Empire $4; (2) a tax levied by each division on the next lower one, amounting to 10% of the revenue of the subordinate division; (3) a special tax, unlimited, might be levied in a similar manner, when absolutely necessary; (4) the Dens raised money by initiation fees ($1 each), fines, and a poll tax levied when the Grand Cyclops saw fit.
[1900] The Revised Prescript made all officers appointive except the Grand Wizard, who was elected by the Grand Dragons,—a long step toward centralization.
[1901] It was by virtue of this authority that the order was disbanded in 1869.
[1902] The judiciary was abolished by the Revised Prescript.
[1903] “We had a regular system of by-laws, one or two of which only do I distinctly remember. One was, that should any member reveal the names or acts of the Klan, he should suffer the full penalty of the identical treatment inflicted upon our white and black enemies. Another was that in case any member of the Klan should become involved in a personal difficulty with a Radical (white or black), in the presence of any other member or members, he or they were bound to take the part of the member, even to the death, if necessary.”—Randolph.
[1904] “Terrible, horrible, furious, doleful, bloody, appalling, frightful, gloomy,” etc. The Register was changed in the Revised Prescript. It was simply a cipher code.
[1905] The Revised Prescript says “the constitutional laws.” Lester and Wilson, p. 54.
[1906] Compare with the declaration of similar illegal societies,—the “Confréries” of France in the Middle Ages,—which sprang into existence under similar conditions seven hundred years before, “pour defendre les innocents et réprimer les violences iniques.” See Lavisse et Rambaud, “Histoire Générale,” Vol. II, p. 466.
[1907] See also Lester and Wilson, pp. 55, 56.
[1908] I have before me the original Prescript, a small brown pamphlet about three inches by five, of sixteen pages. The title-page has a quotation from “Hamlet” and one from Burns. At the top and bottom of each page are single-line Latin quotations: “Damnant quod non intelligunt”; “Amici humani generis”; “Magna est Veritas, et prevalebit”; “Hic manent vestigia morientis libertatis”; “Cessante causa, cessat effectus”; “Dormitur aliquando jus, moritur nunquam”; “Deo adjuvante, non timendum”; “Nemo nos impune lacessit,” etc. This Prescript belonged to the Grand Giant of the Province of Tuscaloosa County, the late Ryland Randolph, formerly editor of the Independent Monitor, and was given to me by him. It is the only copy known to be in existence. He called it the “Ku Klux Guide Book,” and states that it was sent to him from headquarters at Memphis. An imperfect copy of the original Prescript was captured in 1868, and printed in Ho. Mis. Doc., No. 53, pp. 315-321, 41st Cong., 2d Sess., and again in the Ku Klux Rept., Vol. XIII, pp. 35-41.