"Once more they would expose everybody; whether criminal or not, to disguised tyranny. "And they call it Americanism--this semi-barbaric horseplay that gives its victim no chance, that comes upon him unawares, that shuts his mouth and overpowers him by force. "Innocent, or guilty, he has no privilege but to accept the inevitable, and that is what they call loyalty to their country and their country's institutions. "Two women have been stripped and flogged, and this they say was done in the name of chivalry. "Their names are written on a secret roster and their faces are covered, and this they assert is in keeping with those traditions of frankness, candor and open dealing which have been essentially characteristic of the United States. "'Those eyes that see everything' and 'those ears that hear everything' are evidently blind and deaf to the great struggle and dearly bought experiences by which Anglo-Saxon civilization has struggled from a state of tribal law to organized justice. "A law that cannot be written is not fit to enforce. A charge that cannot be proved in an open manner is not fit to be made the basis of punishment. "Persons who will not make accusations in the daylight are not fit to be believed. "A theory of justice that does not afford the accused any time or right of defense is not fit to be defended. "We are face to face with a mad conception of government, with an impossible basis of law enforcement. "There can be no compromise with it, no half-hearted attitude. Either this idea of a secret cult purveying the morals of the people must go, or the sovereignty of the State will cease to exist. "When a legislator defends the 'Invisible Empire' his allegiance is manfully divided. He is serving two masters--one of them created by the people, the other by a class within the people. "True loyalty permits of no such divided allegiance, true patriotism recognizes but one master. Unless the overthrow of this government is intended, there is no place or excuse for the 'Invisible Empire.'" CHAPTER XIV SIMMONS FORCED TO ACT