Those who have investigated the Klan are convinced that its principal promoters are not inspired by a zeal for the welfare of the United States, but on the other hand they are certain that the promoters are in the Ku Klux Klan business to make money out of it; that they have profited by millions of dollars and that for this filthy money they have spread loose seeds of discontent and disorder that must be raked out of the body politic by the united action of all patriotic organizations and individuals. As far as its chief protagonists are concerned the Ku Klux is a huge money-making hoax--a gold mine. The poor dupes who have been "soaked" for regalia and dues will wake up some time and discover how they have been deluded and misled. In the meantime, however, it is the duty of every true American to inform himself about the Klan so that in whatever way may come to his lot he may counteract the terrible consequences of its teachings and practices. CHAPTER III HOW THE MODERN KU KLUX KLAN WAS ORGANIZED _Something about those who sit in judgment on the affairs of the "Invisible Empire"; their troubles in court._ William J. Simmons (who carries a bogus title as "colonel") is the "Imperial Wizard" of the "Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan." He organized the masked men on Thanksgiving night in 1915. Some of the organizers associated with him had belonged to the original Ku Klux Klan which rampaged in the southern states after the Civil War, killing hundreds of negroes and whites, and which was put out of business by President U.S. Grant after the states had failed to do so. Simmons and thirty-four others secured a charter from the state of Georgia on December 4, 1915. It is signed by Philip Cook, who was then secretary of state of that commonwealth. Later, on July 1, 1916, a special charter was issued by the Supreme court of Fulton county, Ga. The granting of the charters followed the organization of the Klan which occurred with midnight ceremonies on the top of Stone mountain, near Atlanta, Thanksgiving night. THAT COLD WINTER NIGHT In referring to the first ceremonies, Simmons has written as follows in the official records of the Ku Klux: "On Thanksgiving night, 1915, men were seen emerging from the shadows and gathering round the spring at the base of Stone mountain, the world's greatest rock, near Atlanta, Ga., and from thence repaired to the mountain top, and there under a blazing fiery cross they took the oath of allegiance to the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.