‘eve. World’ Comments on Unmasking of Klan

Commenting on the unmasking of the Klan, the “New York Evening World” states editorially:

“It is not easy to understand just what the Ku Klux Klan has in mind in the changing of its ritual and in the outlawing of the masks. It has been suggested that bootleggers have been operating under masks in the unloading of their wares, and some of these may not have been members of the Klan. It is more probable that the increasing resentment of the privilege accorded these people of meandering about at night with their faces concealed, manifesting itself here and there in legislative action, had led to the abandonment of the bed-sheets and pillow-cases. Something has been accomplished in forcing the removal of the masks.

“There is nothing, however, in the new ritual, as published, to explain the necessity or the sense of the reorganization. The Klan apparently remains the custodian of all anti-American prejudices and hates. The only plausible explanation is found in the fact that the members must again pay an initiation fee. As a money-making proposition for some few it has its points. Thanks to the credulity and ignorance of thousands, some leaders of the Klan. who could not otherwise have made a decent living, have lived on the fat of the land. Perhaps there is need for replenishment.”