, for the suppression of armed
resistance. They did not send petitions to Congress, or write letters to
the Northern newspapers, or hold indignation meetings. They simply
formed a huge secret society on the model of the "Molly Maguires" or
"Moonlighters," whose special function was to intimidate, flog,
mutilate, or murder political opponents in the night time. This society
was called the "Ku-Klux Klan." Let me give some account of its
operation, and I shall make it as brief as possible. It had become so
powerful in 1871 that President Grant in that year, in his message to
Congress, declared that "a condition of things existed in some of the
States of the Union rendering life and property insecure, and the
carrying of the mails and the collecting of the revenue dangerous." A
Joint Select Committee of Congress was accordingly appointed, early in
1872, to "inquire into the condition of affairs in the late
insurrectionary States, so far as regards the execution of the laws and
the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of the United
States." Its report now lies before me, and it reads uncommonly like the
speech of an Irish Secretary in the House of Commons bringing in a
"Suppression of Crime Bill." The Committee say--

"There is a remarkable concurrence of testimony to the effect that, in
those of the late rebellious States into whose condition we have
examined, the courts and juries administer justice between man and man
in all ordinary cases, civil and criminal; and while there is this
concurrence on this point, the evidence is equally decisive that redress
cannot be obtained against those who commit crimes in disguise and at
night. The reasons assigned are that identification is difficult, almost
impossible; that, when this is attempted, the combinations and oaths of
the order come in and release the culprit by perjury, either upon the
witness-stand or in the jury-box; and that the terror inspired by their
acts, as well as the public sentiment in their favour in many
localities, paralyzes the arm of civil power.

* * * * *

"The murders and outrages which have been perpetrated in many counties
of Middle and West Tennessee, during the past few months, have been so
numerous, and of such an aggravated character, as almost baffles
investigation. In these counties a reign of terror exists which is so
absolute in its nature that the best of citizens are unable or unwilling
to give fr