Ku Klux Klan Secrets Exposed Part 8

"That I will in voting always vote for a K. of C. in preference to a Protestant, especially a Mason, and that I will leave my party so to do; that if two Catholics are on the ticket I will satisfy myself which is the better supporter of Mother Church and vote accordingly.

"That I will not deal with or employ a Protestant if in my power to deal with or employ a Catholic. That I will place Catholic girls in Protestant families, that a weekly report may be made of the inner movements of the heretics.

"That I will provide myself with arms and ammunition that I may be in readiness when the word is pa.s.sed or I am commanded to defend the church, either as an individual or with the militia of the Pope.

"All of which I, ---- ----, do swear by the blessed Trinity and blessed sacrament which I am now to receive to perform and on my part to keep this, my oath.

"In testimony whereof, I take this most holy and blessed sacrament of the Eucharist and witness the same further with my name written with the point of this dagger dipped in my own blood and seal it in the face of this holy sacrament." (Excerpts from "Contested election case of Eugene C. Bonniwell against Thomas S. Butler," as appears in the Congressional Record ---- House, Feb. 15, 1913, at pages 3215, &c., and ordered printed therein "by unanimous consent." Attached thereto and printed (on page 3216) as a part of said report as above.)

The above spurious oath, and others like it, have been found to be fraudulent, both by the courts and by an investigation made by Masonic bodies. The above oath made its appearance according to a book published by Maurice Francis Egan, for eleven years United States Minister to Denmark, and John B. Kennedy, in 1912. Messrs. Egan and Kennedy explain it as follows:

"It was filed by Mr. Eugene C. Bonniwell of Pennsylvania in his charge against Thomas S. Butler before the Committee of Elections No. 1, in Congress, when Mr. Bonniwell stated that it had been used against him as a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus in an election contest. Mr.

Butler, in his defense, stated that he had refrained from condemning the 'oath,' until election day, although he did not believe it to be genuine, because he feared to give it notoriety.

"Far from being disconcerted by the airing of this delectable doc.u.ment in Congress, those profiting by its circulation seized upon its inclusion in the Congressional Record to give it an air of authority by printing on future copies the annotation 'Copied from the Congressional Record, &c.,' not pausing, however, to explain the circ.u.mstances under which it was allowed to appear in that official journal."

EDITORS ARE CONVICTED

A.M. Morrison and Garfield E. Morrison, editors of the _Morning Journal_ of Mankato, Minn., charged E.M. Lawless, editor of the Waterville, Minn., _Sentinel_ with having taken the bogus oath.

Lawless took the case to court and the two Morrisons were convicted.

The foreman of the jury was a Methodist minister.

In 1914 the bogus oath came to light in California. The Knights of Columbus asked a committee of two, 32nd and 33rd degree, Masons, Past or Past Grand Masters of Masonry of that state, to make an investigation of all the rituals, pledges and oaths used by the Knights of Columbus. The Masonic committee gave out a report saying that they had made such an investigation. They found that the ceremonies of the Knights of Columbus were embodied in four degrees "intended to teach and inculcate principles that lie at the foundations of every great religion and every great state."

WHAT MASONS REPORTED

Their report continued:

"Our examination was made primarily to ascertain whether or not a certain alleged oath * * * which has been printed and widely circulated was in fact used by the Order and whether * * * any oath, obligation or pledge was used which was or would be offensive to Protestants or Masons. * * * We find that neither the alleged oath nor any such oath or pledge bearing the remotest resemblance thereto in matter, manner, spirit or purpose is used or forms a part of the ceremonies of any degree of the Knights of Columbus. The alleged oath is scurrilous, wicked and libelous and must be the invention of an impious and venomous mind. * * * There is no propaganda proposed or taught against Protestants or Masons or persons not of Catholic faith.

* * * We can find nothing in the entire ceremonials of the Order that to our minds could be objected to by any person."

_The Searchlight_, official organ of the Ku Klux, contains many articles that misrepresent the Catholics. For instance, of Feb. 26, 1921, _The Searchlight_ had an article which was captioned: "Facts Gathered by the Knights of Luther from the Washington Bureau of Statistics":

CHARGES OF "KNIGHTS OF LUTHER"

Without one word to support them, the following were printed as "facts":

"The National Democratic Committee is by majority a Roman Catholic body. It usually has a Roman Catholic President and secretary.

"Catholics influenced the national campaign which elected Wilson.

"The President's private secretary is a Roman Catholic.

"Over 70 per cent. of all appointments made by President Wilson are Catholics. Their influence is so powerful it compels the homage of those in authority.

"Five States now have Catholic Administrations.

"Thirty-one States have Roman Catholic Democratic Central Committees.

"Twenty thousand public schools have one-half Catholic teachers.

"Over 100,000 public schools now contribute a part or all of the school tax to Catholic Churches and schools.

"Six hundred public schools use Catholic readers and teach from them the Roman Catholic catechism.

"Sixty-two per cent. of all offices of the United States, both elective and appointive, are now held by Roman Catholics.

"New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston now have 75 per cent. Catholic teachers in their public schools.

"In all the cities and towns of the United States of 10,000 or more inhabitants an average of over 90 per cent. of the police force are Roman Catholics.

"Roman Catholics are in the majority of the City Council of 10,000 cities and towns of the United States."

MORE OF THE SAME STUFF

_The Searchlight_ continues:

"We will now look at the results of Catholic teaching on vice and virtue. The history of a.s.sa.s.sins of heads of Governments in the past is a history of murderous Roman Catholics. In 90 per cent. of the cases where criminals are executed for crimes committed, the victims of the execution have a priest at their elbow to administer the last sacrament.

"The man who shot Roosevelt was a Roman Catholic.

"The man who shot President Garfield was a Roman Catholic.

"The man who shot President Lincoln was a Roman Catholic.

"The plot that took the life of Lincoln emanated from Roman Catholic influence in the house of a Roman Catholic.

"Abraham Lincoln said, 'I do not pretend to be a prophet but, though not a prophet, I see a very dark cloud on our horizon, and that cloud is coming from Rome. It is filled with tears and blood. The true motive power is secreted behind the walls of the Vatican, the colleges and schools of the Jesuits, the convents of the nuns, and the confessional boxes of Rome,' and such opinions cost the Nation his life.

"Over 65 per cent. of prison convicts of all grades and of all kinds of prisoners are Roman Catholics, while less than 5 per cent. are graduates of our public schools.

"These statements are astounding when we remember that only about 12- per cent. of the entire population of the United States are Roman Catholics, while the other 87- per cent. are not."

CHAPTER IX

KU KLUX KLAN AND THE MASONS

_Iowa and Missouri Jurisdiction Grand Masters Issue Public Denunciations Against the Klan_.

Promoters of the Ku Klux Klan brag that most of its members are Masons. Whether this is true no one on the outside can tell. It is known, however, that the kleagles or salesmen, who solicit members in a community try to play upon the Masonic spirit to help along their game. That this is done with the disapproval of the leading Masonic bodies of the country is shown by the action of the grand commanders of the Iowa and Missouri jurisdictions. They have issued public denunciations of the operations and purposes of the Klan, especially that feature that resorts to the masking of members when they are taking part in Klan rites. The examples of Iowa and Missouri are being followed by Masons in other states.