DURING the summer several public meetings of the Klan were held near Wilford Springs. Ruth accompanied Harold to one of these and remarked, when she saw some Klansmen in robes, "I would like to wear one of those myself. I think it would be fun!" However, she continued to express a desire that Harold would not become one of them, not that she did not believe that the principles were all right, but she heard so much adverse criticism of the Klan and condemnation of the men who were suspected as belonging that she was afraid that in some way he would suffer from joining. Occasionally it was reported that a fiery cross had been seen on mounds near the city, and a number of times passing cars had seen men in robes and masks guarding the entrance ways into woods or pastures.
Springer continued to fire broadsides at the Invisible Empire through the columns of the Journal. He published all of the alleged reports of acts of lawlessness that he could secure from far and near. Occasionally he tried ridicule and referred to the Klansmen as the "boys who parade in nighties," and the "pillow slip boys." He said that there were only a few, a very few, in Wilford Springs, who belonged or who were in sympathy with them.
The mayor of the city frequently warned the city employees that if it became known that any of them belonged to the Klan they would be dismissed from the employ of the city. One or two industrial plants gave like orders.
As the spring election drew near there was a great deal of interest manifest, also a feeling of uncertainty pervaded the camp of the Stover-McBryan-Springer bunch who had dictated the politics of the city so long that they had come to regard their rights to dominate as inherent. There was the usual interest in the control of the affairs of the city and the public patronage, but in addition to that there was added interest because the city was to vote on the issuance of five hundred thousand dollar bonds for the purpose of erecting a municipal building and auditorium. One afternoon, about two months before the election date, McBryan was transacting some business in the Wilford Central State Bank. Stover noticed him at the cashier's window, and said, "Mac, when you're through there I would like to see you in the office." When McBryan came into the president's office, Stover said, "Do you realize that it's only two months until election?"
"Yes, I know it, and we had better get busy at once."
"Let's have a little caucus here in my office tonight and fix up a slate."
"Whom shall we ask to be present?"
"Not many. It doesn't take many to do the head work, we want the rabble to do the voting. I think we should have Hennesy; he controls the votes of the roughnecks, and Thompson should be invited."
"Does Thompson want the nomination again for mayor?"
"No, it would be useless for him to try again. There is too big a 'holler' about the non-enforcement of law. Abe Greene has announced himself as a law-enforcement candidate, and he will be a hard man to beat. We must get a man that there is nothing against. I told Thompson that he'd better not try it and that we would take care of him in some other way. Of course we want Springer present."
"All right, you notify Thompson and Springer, and I will see Hennesy. What time shall we meet?"
"Nine o'clock. We want to keep this meeting secret. There are a lot of people who resent slate fixing, but there must always be leaders."
"Sure, there must be leaders," replied McBryan, as he left the room.
That night McBryan, Hennesy, Springer, Thompson and Stover met in the bank office. "Let's see, are we all here? Here's Thompson, who has a big personal following, and Hennesy, who has a lot of good patrons whom he can control, Springer furnishes the publicity and shapes the opinions of the general public and McBryan represents the Catholic vote. We have a real lineup. They can't beat it," remarked Stover, rubbing his skinny hands together and smiling one of those hungry smiles of the avaricious before devouring a meal.
"We need a good lineup," said Springer, "the insurgents are going to make a desperate effort to control the election and have put up a strong man for mayor."
"That's so," replied Stover, "Abe Green will not be an easy man to beat. He has always trained with the prohibition crowd, and in addition to that he is a successful business man. What we must do is to get a candidate for mayor who can divide the dry vote with him."
"We ought to have Isaac Goldberg here, too. We can't afford to neglect the Jews," said Springer.
"That's right," Thompson affirmed.
"We simply overlooked Goldberg. I will call him and ask him over."
Stover went to the 'phone and called Goldberg, and in a few minutes the little Jew came puffing in. "Vat is it, vel, vel, vat is wrong? Has anytings happened to the monies market?"
"No, Goldberg, there's nothing wrong with the money market. Stocks and bonds are steady."
"Vat den, vat den?"
"There is an election close on the way," explained Stover.
"An election is it, vell?"
"Yes," said Stover, "we've got a hard fight on. Greene has come out as a law enforcement candidate and we must get busy or he will be elected."
"The Ku Klux Klan are getting strong, and of course they will be for Greene," Springer remarked.
"No, the Ku Klux are not strong, they are veak, veak, I say."
"I have an idea that there are more of them here than you think for, and we must be on the job or they will get control."
"You say in your Journal that they are veak, very veak. Vy don't you tell the truth, Springer?" Goldberg was becoming excited.
Springer laughed.
"Goldberg, you don't always tell the truth to your customer when you try to sell him a suit of clothes."
"Yes, yes, I tells dem shust the truth."
"Wait a minute, Goldberg. I was in the store the other day and you sold a fellow a suit of clothes. When he asked you if it were a new suit you told him it was. Now, I happen to know that that suit was sold to you by a fellow that was hard up and it was a second-hand suit."
"It would not have been goot bezness to tell it vas second-hand. It vas shust as goot as new."
"Neither would it be good business for me to tell the public that the Klan is getting strong. There are always a lot of people who want to go with the crowd."
The Jew laughed and slapped the editor on the back. "I see you vas a bezness man," he said.
"Come, boys, let's get to business," said Stover.
"What about the 'niggers'?" Thompson asked.
"I'll handle the 'niggers'—just leave that to me. You never want to take a 'nigger' into your conferences. You don't want him to get the idea that he is of much importance. Decide what you want him to do and then tell him to do it. If necessary, bring pressure enough to bear on him to make him do it."
"The question is, whom shall we put up for mayor? We want a man that there is nothing against but one who is not radical on anything," Springer remarked.
"How would Bill Frazier be?" Thompson asked.
"He would run well but he is pretty 'bull-headed.' We might have trouble with him after he was elected," Springer answered.
"Fred Clark is a good, clean fellow, at any rate, no one has 'got anything on him,'" said Thompson.
"Fine! He is good timber. He seldom expresses an opinion on anything," said Stover.
"But do you know we can handle him?" McBryan asked.
"Sure. He will be all right. He owes the bank seven thousand dollars—he couldn't afford to turn us down."
It was agreed that Clark should be the candidate for mayor. McBryan was to run again for commissioner. A Jew was selected for a place on the ticket. When men had been selected for all the offices, Goldberg and Stover were appointed as the committee to get their consent.
"Before you say anything to these men," McBryan advised, "I had better take the list to Father Rossini for his approval."
This suggestion was well received by the others, and they agreed to meet the following night to hear McBryan's report from the priest. When they met the next evening McBryan reported that the priest was favorable to all of the selections except one, whom he knew to have expressed anti-Catholic sentiment. The name of this man was dropped and another substituted.
During the following three weeks Springer announced the names of these men as candidates. It would not do to announce them all at once as the public might suspect a secret caucus.
These leaders went to work at once to elect their candidates. Rastus Jones was the colored janitor of the Wilford Springs Central State Bank. He was a good janitor and prided himself on the fact that he was the janitor of the "biggest bank in Wilford Springs." Like most members of his race, he was superstitious and possessed an imagination that became very active under the stimulus of fear.
"Rastus," said Stover as the janitor was straightening things in his office, "what do you think of the race for mayor?"
"Law, Mistah Stover, I don't know much about elections. I ain't no politician."
"What do the colored folks think of the candidates for mayor?"
"I hears a heap o' them say that they's goin' to vote for Mistah Greene—that he's a powerful good man."
"Do they talk that way, Rastus?"
"Yes, sar, lots of them do."
"Rastus, you tell your friends that if they vote for Greene they are working against their own interests. Greene is in favor of the Ku Klux Klan."
"Fo' de Lawd's sake! You sholy don't mean dat, Mistah Stover!" Rastus dropped the waste basket which he held in his hand and threw up both hands.
"Yes, that's a fact, Rastus, and you know what the Ku Klux Klan is."
"Yes, sar; I's herd my ole father tell how they uster whip niggers down South afteh the wa'."
"The new order is worse on colored men than the old one. I was reading where they took a colored man from his home the other night and whipped him—and then gave him a coat of tar and feathers, just because he had had a dispute with a white man over a bill that the white man owed him."
"Is that a fac'?"
"In many places they run the negroes out of the country."
"Lawd help us! You sure that Mistah Greene is for the Ku Klux?"
"Yes, there are a few of them here now and they are supporting him. If we can elect Clark we can see that they do not do any damage here. I advise you to tell your friends that if they want to get a flogging or swing from a tree some dark night just to go ahead and vote for Greene."
"Say, Mistah Stover, you don't know nuffin' 'bout niggahs if you think they're goin' to vote fo' Greene after I tell 'em about them Kluxers."
"Mr. Roberts is waiting out here to see you," one of the bookkeepers informed Stover as Rastus left his office.
"Tell him to come in."
Roberts was a small contractor who had a good reputation for honesty.
"How are you, Roberts? Have a chair."
"Thank you."
"What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to talk with you a little while. What do you think of Clark's chance for election?"
"Fine! I don't think there is any doubt about it. He has the support of all the good politicians."
"If he is elected, he is willing to appoint me chief of police."
"That suits me. You would be a good man for the place."
"Clark says that campaign expenses are heavy and he would like to have me 'kick in' two hundred dollars."
"That would be a safe investment."
"The trouble is I am short at this time. I haven't the two hundred."
"That's all right, you needn't let that worry you." Stover picked up his pen, took a promissory note from a pigeon hole and made it out for two hundred and passed it to Roberts, who signed it and received the money, which he contributed to the campaign fund.