In addition to this "pledge of loyalty" to "Emperor" Simmons, I was also required to sign an application for an indemnity bond, which was an agreement, not to indemnify the organization from loss, but to indemnify _William J. Simmons_ in the sum of one thousand dollars. The application for employment, which in my case, was made after I was employed, was also directed to the "Emperor." CHAPTER III MY WITHDRAWAL It is doubtful if one could find anywhere in the country a finer, cleaner or better lot of men than those among whom I worked as an agent of Ku Kluxism. As individuals they were successful business and professional men, nearly all of them devout church members, married men with families, and just the sort of men to make up a prosperous community; yet, in spite of all this it seemed to me that the protection afforded by membership in an ultra secret movement like the "Invisible Empire" tended to inculcate lawlessness even among some of them. There is but little original law-breaking in this world. Most of it is due to precedent or suggestion. The power of suggestion is one of the most potent factors in every phase of human activity, and I believe that the mere fact of being a member of an organization that can go abroad in the land white-robed and masked is a suggestive force that encourages men to take the law into their own hands. Two striking illustrations of this point recall themselves to my mind. In one case a man who stood very high in the Johnson City Klan was talking with me about a public demonstration. He stated that he was not in favor of making any show of strength until the Klan had at least five hundred members, then he wanted to have everybody put on their robes, pile into automobiles and parade the streets. I called his attention to the provisions of the Code of Tennessee in reference to wearing masks in public. "Oh, that's all right," he replied, "when we are fully organized the Klan will control the politics of this town. We will apply for a permit, and if we don't get it, we will parade anyhow. Nobody will dare stop us." The other instance was a conversation I had with a man with whom I was most friendly. He was a younger man than the one just mentioned, but is considered a person of responsibility and good judgment. It happened that the largest restaurant in Johnson City is owned and operated by Greeks, and this man seemed to be especially hostile to foreigners. In discussing them one day he said to me: "I don't like to see these Greeks make such progress here. They are driving good Americans out of business. We've got twenty-eight robes in our lodge room, and I am in favor of getting a bunch some night, breaking open their restaurant and dumping all their fixtures and merchandise into the streets. That will serve as an object lesson that they are not wanted in Johnson City."