Note this clause well! "The crime of violating _this_ solemn oath" comes first! Treason against the United States of America, rape and murder are afterthoughts. Under this clause, a Klansman can go to another Klansman and confess to having committed robbery, seduction, burglary and nearly every other crime in the calendar, and the one to whom the commission of the crime was confessed would be bound to keep the information secure to himself. But, however, if a Klansman should confess to one of his fellows that he had broken his Ku Klux oath, that violation of the obligation is a crime of so heinous a nature that it is of more importance to the Ku Klux mind than the crime of treason against the United States of America, which crime comes second. The most deadly part of the oath is saved for the end. The candidate has been led up to it by high-sounding words about "Klanishness," and has sworn allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America. "Emperor" Simmons knew very well that had he started off his oath with this clause, most of his victims would have backed out, so he tacked it on at the end. It reads: "I swear that I will most zealously and valiantly shield and preserve, by any and all justifiable means and methods, the sacred constitutional rights and privileges of free public schools, free speech, free press, separation of church and state, liberty, white supremacy, just laws, and the pursuit of happiness, against any encroachment, of any nature, by any person or persons, political party or parties, religious sect or people, native, naturalized, or foreign of any race, color, creed, lineage, or tongue whatsoever."