THE _World's_ EXPOSURE
I turned over to the _New York World_ early in July, 1921, the facts and
documentary evidence I had in my possession, and initiated the exposure
with the understanding that the paper would make a complete investigation
before printing a single story. Under the direction of Mr. Herbert Bayard
Swope, the Executive Editor and Mr. William Preston Beazell, Assistant
Managing Editor, the investigation was immediately begun. Mr. Rowland
Thomas was assigned to handle the investigation and direct the efforts of
the force which began working on it. This work was done for two months,
during which time I acted as an assistant to Mr. Thomas.
On September 6, 1921, the _World_ began the publication of its series
exposing the Ku Klux Klan. Associated with the _World_ were thirty other
newspapers covering practically the entire United States, and for
twenty-one days the exposure of Ku Kluxism held over five million
newspaper readers spellbound in their absorbing interest in the story of
the organization. The series comprised twenty-one articles, and occupied
the front page in the _World_ to the exclusion of every big piece of news
of national or international importance.
The exposure covered in the main facts and documents which I submitted to
the paper. It fully substantiated and vindicated the charges made by me in
my letter of withdrawal that the organization was un-American, that it was
being propagated by spreading religious and racial hatred, that it was a
money-making scheme for the benefit of a few insiders, that its oath was
illegal and its ritual a sacrilege, and the various other matters referred
to by me which are set forth in my letter in a previous chapter. With but
few exceptions the entire American press agreed with my position in the
matter by endorsing the _World's_ exposure, and a vast number of the most
prominent men and women in America publicly expressed themselves as
gratified over the action of the _World_ in showing up the Ku Klux Klan.
One of the most interesting developments made by the _World_ in the course
of its exposure was its publication of facts collected by the paper in
connection with the relations of Edward Young Clarke, the Imperial Kleagle
and head of the Southern Publicity Bureau, and his business associate Mrs.
Elizabeth Tyler.
On Saturday, September 10, 1921, four days after the _World_ commenced the
publication of its series, Mrs. Tyler arrived in New York and engaged an
elaborate suite of rooms in one of the most conspicuous hotels in the
city. She had obviously been sent by Clarke for the purpose of securing
favorable publicity for the Klan, and immediately upon her arrival gave a
story to an evening paper as "bait" for the Sunday papers. Although her
mission was but a partial success, she did succeed in getting her picture
in a few papers, together with prepared statements deploring the "unjust
attacks" that had been made on the organization, and expounding its "noble
aspirations." She was particularly emphatic on the proposition that one of
the main objects of the Klan was to "protect the purity and chastity of
womanhood and to preserve the sanctity of the American home." She stated
that women were to be admitted to membership, that she had been made the
first woman member, and that she would have charge of the women's
department. While she was in New York "Emperor" Simmons issued one of his
typically bombastic proclamations, composed in pure Simmonsese,
designating Mrs. Tyler as his "Grand Chief of Staff." This proclamation
read as follows:
"To all Genii, Grand Dragons and Hydras of Realms, Grand Goblins and
Kleagles of Domains, Grand Titans and Furies of Provinces, Giants,
Exalted Cyclops and Terrors of Cantons, and to all citizens of the
Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in the name of our
valiant and venerated dead, I affectionately greet you:
"In view of our Nation's need and as an additional force in helping
on the great work of conserving, protecting and making effective the
great principles of our Anglo-Saxon civilization and American ideals
and institutions, the Imperial Kloncilium, in regular session
assembled, after deliberate care and earnest prayer, decided that
there shall be established within the bounds and under the supreme
authority and government of the Invisible Empire an organization that
will admit the splendid women of our great national commonwealth, who
are now citizens with us in directing the affairs of the Nation.
Which decision of the Imperial Kloncilium I have officially ratified
after serious, careful and devoted consideration of all matters and
things involved by this move.
"In view of the foregoing, I hereby officially declare and proclaim
that such organization does now exist in prospect. Plans, methods,
ritualism and regulations of same are now in process of formation and
will be perfected at an early date and officially announced.
"I do further proclaim that in order to have the proper assistance in
the formation and perfecting of this organization, I have this day
and date selected and officially appointed Mary Elizabeth Tyler of
Atlanta, Fulton County, Ga., to be my Grand Chief of Staff, to have
immediate charge of work pertaining to said woman's organization
under my authority and direction.
"Further information will be duly and officially communicated from
time to time.
"Done in the Aulic of His Majesty, Imperial Wizard, Emperor of the
Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in the Imperial City
of Atlanta, Commonwealth of Georgia, United States of America, on
this, the ninth day of the ninth month of the year of our Lord, 1921.
"Duly signed and sealed by His Majesty.
"WILLIAM JOSEPH SIMMONS,
"Imperial Wizard."
Mrs. Tyler went back to Atlanta, complacently happy in the proud
consciousness that she had "pulled" a wonderful piece of publicity.
On Monday, September 19, 1921, however, the _World_ and its associated
newspapers printed a story that sent a shock of consternation into the
hearts of the entire Ku Klux organization, stripped the mask from Mrs.
Tyler and Clarke, and sent a ripple of merriment and disgust from one end
of the country to another.
The story, which has been fully verified by the _New York World_, read as
follows:
(_Special Despatch to The World from a Staff Correspondent._)
"ATLANTA, September 18.--The _World's_ exposure of Ku Klux took an
astounding turn here yesterday when a staff correspondent obtained
evidence of the truth of rumors which have long been matters of
gossip in Atlanta. This evidence proves that:
"1. A few days prior to October 31, 1919, Edward Young Clarke of
Atlanta, who is at present, by appointment of Imperial Wizard
Simmons, the Imperial Kleagle or boss organizer of the Ku Klux Klan,
and Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler of Atlanta, who recently, also by
appointment and proclamation of Imperial Wizard Simmons, was made
Grand Chief of the newly formed woman's division of Kluxters, were
arrested at midnight and in their sleeping garments, in a notorious
underworld resort at 185 South Pryor Street, Atlanta, run by Mrs.
Tyler, and taken to the city prison, where Clarke was immediately
placed in a cell and where Mrs. Tyler, after being searched, was also
locked up.
"2. The two prisoners gave assumed names, as 'Jim Slaton' and 'Mrs.
Carroll,' respectively, and being unable to obtain bail at that hour,
were imprisoned until morning, when Francis Clarke, now managing and
then city editor of an Atlanta newspaper and brother of Edward Young
Clarke, now Imperial Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan, appeared at the
city prison and by giving $50 bonds effected the release of both
prisoners.
TRIED UNDER REAL NAMES
"3. On October 31, 1919, 'Jim Slaton' and 'Mrs. Carroll' were brought
into the Recorder's Court in Atlanta for trial on charges of
disorderly conduct. After consultation with Policewoman Davis, who
had participated in the raid and arrests, Recorder George E. Johnson
ordered the prisoners docketed under their real names of Edward Young
Clarke and Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler, and under those names they were
tried, found guilty of disorderly conduct and sentenced to pay $5.00
fines or each work twelve days on the streets or other public works
of Atlanta. They paid the fines.
"4. Additional charges of possessing whiskey, based on the finding
and seizure of such liquor by the police in the Pryor Street resort
at the time of the raid, stood against both Clarke and Mrs. Tyler,
but were dismissed when J. Q. Jett of Atlanta, the son-in-law of the
Mrs. Tyler who is feminine chief of the Ku Klux Klan, came into the
Recorder's Court, claimed ownership of the seized whiskey and was
fined $25 by the court.
"5. Clarke, Imperial Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan, in its drive for
$10 'one hundred per cent' Americans, consecrated and baptized to
uphold and enforce the law and protect the sanctity of American homes
and the chastity of American womanhood, at this moment stands on the
public records of the Fulton County (Ga.) courts and the Atlanta City
police courts as a man who has deserted and abandoned his wife and
child and has not to this day denied these charges.
TESTIMONY GIVEN BY POLICE
"Imperial Kleagle Clarke and Mrs. Tyler were arrested at midnight in
their bedclothes in the resort, according to the testimony of the
witnesses, Policeman Jameson, since dead, and Policewomen Davis and
Voss, still on active duty. The resort was at 185 South Pryor Street,
corner of Fair Street, and it was operated by Mrs. Tyler. The raid
occurred a few days prior to October 31, 1919, which is the date of
the hearing before Recorder Johnson, at which the verdicts of guilty
were rendered and sentences imposed. The numbers of the cases of the
City of Atlanta versus E. Y. Clarke and the City of Atlanta versus
Mrs. Elizabeth Tyler on the Recorder's docket are 17,005 and 17,006,
and the page number of the 1919 docket upon which they are listed is
305.
"Most surprising in view of Clarke's efforts then in progress to make
America dry by collecting funds to help the Anti-Saloon League is the
fact that the police found whiskey in the house and seized it.
"But next morning as stated the super-Prohibitionist and the Ku Klux
feminist were absolved from the legal responsibility involved in the
discovery of liquor on the premises when Jett claimed the whiskey and
paid the fine of $25."
This story created one of the greatest sensations of the whole exposure,
and was a blow to the entire propagation department. One Kleagle, A. B.
Bate of New Jersey, wired to "Emperor" Simmons demanding the immediate
removal of the offending pair. In reply to his telegram he was summarily
dismissed as a Kleagle by Mrs. Tyler herself. For a few days chaos reigned
in the Ku Klux Kamp. Clarke at first denied the truth of the story of his
arrest, then made excuses, and then sent in his resignation to the
"Emperor." Mrs. Tyler issued a statement branding Clarke as a "weak-kneed
quitter," and repudiating him entirely. Simmons, knowing that the pair of
professional publicity uplifters had made his organization declined to
take any action against either of them, declaring that he had heard rumors
of the story, but attached no credence to it.
Aside from showing up the records of a precious pair of "uplifters," the
Clarke-Tyler episode has no great bearing upon the menace of Ku Kluxism.
But the aftermath of the story's publication developed two sinister things
that make necessary its introduction into this narrative. One of these was
the printing in the _Searchlight_ of a violent article which was
practically a call to arms against the Catholics and others who were
attacking the Klan. The other was the theft of the police records in the
city of Atlanta, covering the cases against Clarke and Mrs. Tyler,
obviously an inside job and showing the extent to which Ku Kluxism had
control of the public officials of that city.
The incendiary article in the _Searchlight_ from the pen of one Carl F.
Hutcheson was headed "American Patriots, Hark!"
"American patriots! The womanhood of this country has been criminally
assaulted in the most diabolical and satanic manner known to the
human race--_an attempt_ has been made to ruin the character of a
good woman by the most dastardly methods of current times. That
dastardly, cowardly and infamous instrument of murder comprises
certain daily and powerful newspapers of this country!
"Murder! Yes, murder of the worst type! Those murderers who wield the
pen, and strew infamy throughout every nook and corner of this nation
by their millions of papers with their thunder-bolts of publicity
against fair woman! Every word written in opposition to a great
patriotic woman of Atlanta reeks with the blood of a grand innocent
lady of Southern birth and standing. A woman's character destroyed
(only temporarily), but that arch enemy of Americanism, the _New
York World_, and its string of subsidized, patronizing, fawning and
syncophantic sheets through America, commonly called 'newspapers,'
but which are nothing more than organs, _and specialists as character
assassins of the most despicable, contemptible and depraved sort_!
"The unwarranted murderous attack sprung from the brain of Pulitzer,
who disgraces the name of his great father. His paper is located in a
city and community where woman's virtue is played with, and her fair
name is no higher regarded than a mere chattel lying upon a
crockery-shop shelf for sale at a few pence. Had the so-called editor
above referred to, and his blasphemous sheet, had any measure of
fairness, justice, and just common canine decency, an effort to
materialize effort in its opposition to the Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan, he and his corps would never have focused their salacious and
foul guns upon a lone, defenseless woman! I said alone? Defenseless?
Not yet. By the eternal gods of justice, she is not alone and
defenseless, as every mother's son of true Southern manhood and those
of every other section of this country is aroused! We issue the bugle
call to all of you to buckle on your armor, and defend this good
lady, even with your lives!
"To you American patriots, we address ourselves! Unleash your dogs of
war and make these hounds of convict stripe pay penalty for the great
injury done. To you we appeal! Southern womanhood has been
slaughtered! No woman's good name is safe from the glaring spotlight
of a pernicious newspaper and its set of hirelings. Your mothers,
sisters and daughters are unsafe from the millionaire newspaper
owners, who prostitute their columns by crushing to death the fair
name of a woman. They hesitate at no methods, regardless of how low
in order, to carry out their designs as a means to their ends!
"Who is back of the damnable juggernaut which extinguishes a woman's
life, character and reputation, in order to carry on the fight
against the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan?
"Who is back of William Randolph Hearst's local paper, the _Atlanta
Georgian_, which lifts from the _World_ the false charges against our
beloved woman, and defames her in her home?
"Whose tremendous influences, with their serpentine poison, inflames
the negro of the North and East against the whites?
"Whose hands are seen beneath the cover of this murderous and
slanderous propaganda?
"What manner of man was he who came into Atlanta for the _World_ and
wired back lies of the falsest and basest sort against an honest
woman?
"By what license does a newspaper use its news columns to assert
false charges as true?
"Who are the cowardly assassins in the background, who are pushing
forward the fight against real Americans, by using weak-kneed
Protestants and others?
"Who are the real murderers before and after the fact in the case of
the fair woman murdered?
"Patriots, I take pleasure in tearing from their demoniacal faces,
the masks!
"Patriots, _view the hellish countenances of Hundreds of Thousands of
Knights of Columbus and millions of members of the Roman Catholic
Church_! The latter despise real Americanism, hate our government,
hate you, Patriots! They class your mothers, sisters and daughters as
harlots, while the former is the monstrous iron wheel upon which the
Roman Catholic Church hopes to crush America, American government,
American institutions and purity of our women for the sake of the
Dago on the Tiber--the hope of the Roman Catholic Church!
"Patriots, if ever red blood ran through your veins for pure American
womanhood, innocent and undefiled Southern womanhood, for the purity
of your home and household, let it run now with a warmth that knows
no quenching! Yea, let your blood spurt fire!
"If there must be war with the Roman Catholics, the Knights of
Columbus, and the hireling newspapers, editors and reporters, let it
come! We are ready!"
The theft of the records from the police court occurred about ten days
after the _World_ had printed the Clarke-Tyler story. The representative
of the paper, in getting the evidence of the arrest of the two persons had
procured certified copies of the record, and had personally seen the
original entries in the books. Upon going back again to look over the
books, he found that all traces of the original record had been
obliterated, the pages having been cut out and removed. The records were
supposedly in the custody of the proper public officials who were
responsible for their safety and their preservation from mutilation. No
other organization aside from the Ku Klux Klan would have had the
slightest interest in destroying the records.