When it is considered that the origin, designs, mysteries, and ritual of the order are made secrets; that the assumption of its regalia or the revelation of any of its secrets, even by an expelled member, or of its purposes by a member, will be visited by "the extreme penalty of the law," the difficulty of procuring testimony upon this point may be appreciated, and the denials of the purposes, of membership in, and even of the existence of the order, should all be considered in the light of these provisions. This contrast might be pursued further, but our dcsign is not to connect General Forrest with this order, (the reader may form his own conclusion upon this question,) but to trace its development, and from its acts and consequences gather the designs which are locked up under such penalties. This particular organization, it may also be stated, reveals that it was to operate as the Ku-Klux do—by night.

ARTICLE I. This organization shall be three stars in the place of a name. I do styled and denominated the

not think there was any name given to it. Question. That is, when it came to the name there was a blank, and stars in the blank?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Signifying that the name was to be kept a secret?

Answer. You are to place your own construction on that.

Question. That is the way it stood-the name of the organization left blank, and stars in its place-that is the way it stood in the constitution?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Frequent incidental reference is made by witnesses, some of them members of the Klan, to General Forrest as its reputed head.

As this organization is said to have continued until 1868, we insert here extracts from the evidence of two witnesses examined in South Carolina, both of whom distinctly swear they were members of the KuKlux organizations in that year. A point of corroboration that the organizations were the same in Tennessee and South Carolina exists, it will be observed, in that the "Grand Cyclops" is the name of the chief offi cer of a den corresponding both with the "prescript" already referred to, and with the disclosures made in Memphis in April, 1868, referred to hereafter in the statement of General Thomas. Before giving these extracts in further illustration of the character of the organization and its effects upon its members, it is proper to say that one of the witnesses, John W. Tomlinson, is a physician by profession, keeps a drug-store in Yorkville, South Carolina, and is in politics a democrat. The other, B. F. Briggs, was a manufacturer, is now a farmer and a member of the house of representatives of South Carolina, supported Seymour and Blair in 1868, and is now, to use his own description of himself, politically, "a national republican anti-radical," "not a southern radical." With this knowledge of their standing and the fact that they were sepa

rately examined, the one not hearing what the other testified, the following extracts will be appreciated as exhibiting their consistency with themselves and with each other:

Answer. I do not think I can tell that. Question. But we require an answer. Answer. I am sworn to secrecy. Question. For the public interest we quire an answer.

Question. Have you any recollection of the terms of the oath?

Answer. I have not. I do not remember even the oath.

Question. Your idea, then, was that this was an organization for self-protection? Answer. That was my understanding. Question. What is your idea of the present Ku-Klux organization?

Answer. I believe the present Ku-Klux organization, from what I can learn, is a political organization.

(Page 1461.)

Question. Had your organization any ref erence to the Union Leagues?

Answer. No, sir; I do not remember of Union Leagues having been spoken of; as I told you, I never was at but few meetre-ings in my life.

pated violence by the negroes?

Question. As you understood the organi Answer. Shall I violate an oath? zation at that time, it was entirely for the Question. That will be for you to deter-protection of the members against anticimine. The act of Congress, which I will read to you, if necessary, does not relieve you from the duty of answering questions that may be necessary.

Answer. Shall I violate an oath The order are played out. I do not know what it is called-whether it was Ku-Klux. I did not attend another meeting and the thing played out.

Question. You say you do not know whether it was called Ku-Klux or not?

Auswer. He called it Ku-Klux, although in initiation I do not know what it was called. I could not swear.

Question. Who else was initiated with you?

Answer. There is another point where I am sworn to secrecy. I will tell you this much-nobody was initiated.

Question. Who was initiated at the same time?

Answer. Nobody on the same eveningno one was initiated with me.

Question. How many persons were present?

Answer. I do not know, because the room was dark, and when I went I found it was a different organization from what I thought it was and I did not attend any

more.

Question. You say you do not know how many persons were present?

Answer. No, sir, I do not, because it was dark.

Question. Was there one man, or were there ten?

Answer. I could not say, sir.

Question. What building in this town were you initiated in?

Answer. It was not in a building.
Question. Where was it?

Answer. In an old field here; I will tell you now it was in a building-I told a lie there-it was not in an old field, but I do not want to tell now. It played out.

Question. So much the easier to let us know all about it.

Answer. It was for the protection of any person against an outlaw or anything of the kind, or any good citizen that might need protection.

(Page 1463.)

Question. Did Mr. Tomlinson join before you, or afterward?

Answer. My impression is that he was a member when I joined.

Question. Are you sure that you did not persuade him to join?

Answer. I am very certain of it. Question. Did you not take him to be initiated?

Answer. I am very certain about that, that I did not.

Question. You are clear about that?
Answer. I am very clear about that.

Question. Repeat it.

Answer. The substance was this: You are sworn against the Union League; bound to secrecy; and swear that you will do all things in opposition to the Union League that you can to break it up; and also, never to vote for a man for any office that holds any position in the Union League. That was the substance of it.

Question. Had you no conversation with anybody else?

Answer. None whatever; because I took the train next morning.

Question. That one person did all the initiation?

Answer. Yes, sir; he administered the oath-that is all. I could not remember

the sign. I could not tell you now.

The degree of reliance that can be placed upon the testimony of those who have been or are members of the order, when called upon to testify about it or its doings, may be gathered from these contrasts.

Before leaving this subject it is proper to add that William K. Owens, a member of the Ku Klux in Yorkville in 1870 and 1871, swears (page 1364) that Tomlinson was at that time a member; that the leader of his (Owens's) Klan informed him that Tomlinson participated in two murders, and he (Owens) met Tomlinson and knew him as a participant in the raid upon the county treasury in March, 1871, the purpose of which was to capture and kill the county treasurer, (pages 1367–68.) Without citing further from the testimony, the foregoing is sufficient to establish that the organization existed from some time in 1866 until 1868. Its operations during that period, the number and character of its victims, its spread through all the insurrectionary States, its disguises, arms, mode of summoning and disciplining its members, we do not propose to follow in detail. The magnitude of the work prevents the attempt, as many thousands of pages of testimony scattered through the reports of contested election committees, legislative committees in the States, judicial examinations, reports of the Freedmen's Bureau, and department commanders, would have to be examined and condensed to ascertain even approximately the number of those who have been outraged, scourged, and murdered by this lawless organization.

We can but briefly refer to some of the sources of information covering that period before proceeding to speak of the testimony taken by the committee showing the present condition of those States.

TENNESSEE.-Complaint is made in 1867 of the operations of the KuKlux in Tennessee. (See Appleton's Cyclopedia, 1867, article, Tennessee.) A special session of the legislature of the State was called in 1868 to provide means of protection against this organization. A committee of the legislature which investigated the subject reported numerous instances of these lawless acts, and say in their report to the legislature,

which is incorporated in the report of the contested election case of Sheafe against Tillman, (pages 309-10,) as follows:

The murders and outrages which have been perpetrated in many counties of Middle and West Tennessee, during the past few months, have been so numerous, and of such an aggravated character, as almost baffles investigation. In these counties a reign of terror exists, which is so absolute in its nature that the best of citizens are unable or unwilling to give free expression to their opinions. The terror inspired by the secret organization known as the Ku-Klux Klan is so great, that the officers of the law are powerless to execute its provisions, to discharge their duties, or to bring the guilty perpetrators of these outrages to the punishment they deserve. Their stealthy movements are generally made under cover of night, and under masks and disguises, which render their identification difficult, if not impossible. To add to the secrecy which envelopes their operations, is the fact that ng information of their murderous acts can be obtained without the greatest difficulty and danger, in the localities where they are committed. No one dares to inform upon them, or take any measures to bring them to punishment; because no one can tell but that he may be the next victim of their hostility or animosity. The members of this organization, with their friends, aiders, and abettors, take especial pains to conceal all their operations. The moving principle by which they are actuated would appear to be hostility to the State and national authorities; and in the minds of these men, to have voted for "Brownlow," or the "republican ticket," or to be a "radical," is the greatest of crimes. Your committee believe that during the past six months, the murders, to say nothing of other outrages, would average one a day, or one for every twenty-four hours; that in the great majority of these cases they have been perpetrated by the Ku-Klux above referred to; and few, if any, have been brought to punishment. A number of the counties of this State are entirely at the inercy of this organization, and roving bands of nightly marauders bid defiance to the civil authorities, and threaten to drive out every man, white or black, who does not submit to their arbitrary dictation. To add to the general lawlessness of these communities, bad men of every description take advantage of the circumstances surrounding them, and perpetrate acts of violence, from personal or pecuniary motives under the plea of political necessity.

General Thomas, in his report dated October 1, 1868, (report of the Secretary of War for 1868-69, pages 144, 145,) says:

With the close of the last, and beginning of the new year, the State of Tennessee was disturbed by the strange operations of a mysterious organization known as the Ku-Klux Klan, which first made its appearance in Giles County. Within a few weeks it had spread over a great part of the State and created no little alarm. Accounts of it from many sources were received at these headquarters; the newspapers recognized its existence by publishing articles on the subject, either denunciatory or with an attempt to break its proceedings as harmless jokes, according to the political opinions of their editors.

I did not think it necessary to take any action on the information furnished until the month of March, when a member of the legislature of Tennessee sent me a written statement of the doings of this organization, saying it carried terror and dismay throughout the country; that the civil authorities were powerless and appeared terror-struck; that his own life was threatened, and asked if something could not be done by the general Government to protect the community; if not, there was danger of a bloody collision.

That portion of the press of the State whose greatest labors are to bring odium upon all who aided to save the Government from being destroyed by the late rebellion, hastened to deny the truth of the statements made to me, reflected with severity upon their authors, and to fortify their assertious procured and published the certificates of a few amiable persons of northern birth who were living in Nashville, under the protection of a well-organized police force, that the alarm was a false one. But this only caused to be added further evidence confirming the truth of the original statements. From this time forth, I was in receipt of stories of oppression and outrage committed by these midnight prowlers. It was evident that the old spirit of proscription was far from having died out; it had remained a latent fire ready to burst forth with violence upon the least occasion.

Just at this time also the Metropolitan Police of Memphis arrested the members of one of the dens at their meeting, seized some papers containing what purported to be the oaths and obligations of the members of the society, which being published caused considerable excitement, as by these papers one of the objects of the society appeared to be the assassination of all who interfered with their plans.

The publication of the oaths at the time here referred to (New York