The day following the gift of the two hundred dollars to Mrs. Armstrong, Willard Jackson, who owned a large clothing store and was considered one of the most conservative men in town, met Springer, the editor of the Journal. "Say, Jackson," said Springer, "wasn't that incident that happened the other night a disgrace to our city?" "To what affair do you refer?" "The mobbing of that negro by members of the Ku Klux Klan." "If the facts were as stated in your paper it was an incident to be regretted, and if the Klan is responsible for it, it is to be condemned." "There's no question about the facts as reported in the Journal, and no question but what it was done by the Kluxers." "Did they say they were Kluxers?" Mr. Jackson asked. "No; they didn't say so, but the one who threatened the negro with the gun wore the Ku Klux robe and mask." "Springer, I do not consider that any proof at all. Anyone could have put on a white robe and mask." "Well, when the Klan insists on wearing those masks they should be willing to take the blame for all damage done by masked parties. If they are not directly responsible for all the depredations committed by masked ruffians they should take the blame for wearing the masks." "Did you ever stop to think that there were more whippings and applications of tar and feathers by masked men before the Klan came into existence than there has been since? Reverend Benton stated in his lecture that it is the purpose of the Klan to prevent lynchings." "That's not true," said Springer, getting excited. "The Klan practices lynching and encourages mob violence." "I noticed in the Eagle that the Klan gave the Union Avenue Colored Church a two hundred fifty dollar donation to apply on the church debt and the pastor a donation of fifty dollars, but I never saw any mention of it in your paper." "I heard something about it, but it was not officially reported to me. It is the policy of the Journal not to print rumors. We only print news from reliable sources." "I heard today that the Klan gave the Widow Armstrong a donation of two hundred dollars. Now if that is true, it sounds mighty good to me. I don't belong to the Klan or know much about it, but I am in favor of giving everybody a square deal." "The Klan never gave anybody anything. If the Widow Armstrong got a donation it is safe to say it wasn't from the Klan. The gifts to charity that are reputed to be from the Klan are not from the Klan at all." "Who gives them, then?" "The organizer does it for advertising purposes." "I shouldn't think that he could afford to make so many gifts." "This Klan business is a great money-making scheme. You see the organizer makes ten dollars on every member he secures." "How much does it cost to get into this organization?" Jackson asked. "Twenty-five dollars," the newspaper man replied. "That's news to me."