Raleigh, Aug. 6—Ku Klux Klan officials here deny the authority of Bruce Craven of Trinity to dissolve and disband the authority of Bruce Craven of Trinity to dissolve and disband the Ku Klux organization in New Carolina. King Kleagle Gerrard, one of the organizers, says the Klan will not be disbanded without the authority of Imperial Wizard William J. Simmons of Atlanta.
Local Klansmen also deny that Craven was the supreme head of the order in this State. W.V. Gerrard, who carries the title of King Kleagle, says that Craven has never been confirmed as the grand dragon of North Carolina, and that he had no authority to issue the order to disband. Further, he says, that Craven would have been rejected as the grand dragon, that he knew this, and that his impending defeat or rejection in the councils of the Klan was responsible for the outbreak of the Trinity man.
The King Kleagle declared that Major Craven had misstated the facts and grossly misrepresented the conditions. Further refutation of the Major’s statement, however, he left to Imperial Wizard Simmons.
From the first page of The Charlotte News, Aug. 6, 1921
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Denies Statements
Winston-Salem, Aug. 6—Joseph P. Reves of Raleigh, Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan, in a statement here denies the statements of Major Craven made in Greensboro. He says that Major Craven is without any credentials in the Klan and is therefore without authority to speak in an official capacity.
Major Craven charged that the Klan in this State is exclusively engaged in collection of initiation fees under false pretenses; that bootleggers and thieves have been admitted to the organization; that there was no possibility of preventing members of the organization from committing unlawful outrages or of keeping it out of politics; and that, among other things, Colonel Simmons of Atlanta, Imperial Wizard of the Order, could not refute any of his charges and did not attempt to when requested by him.
The Kleagle did not deny in detail these charges, but said that they would be shown to be without truth later on. He stated positively, however, that Major Craven has no official connection with the Klan, and that the Klan does not recognize him as an official, and that his allegations have no basis in the light of these reputed facts.
The Klan is rapidly growing in North Carolina, Mr. Reaves asserted. There are 21 branches or Klans in the State, he stated. The one at Greensboro has more members—upwards of 2,000—than any one in North Carolina, North Carolina or South Carolina. One at High Point numbers about half as many members as that at Greensboro, according to the Kleagle.
From the first page of The Charlotte News, Aug. 6, 1921
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High Point Silent
High Point, Aug. 6—Ku Klux Klan officials in this city will make no reply to the disclosures of Major Bruce Craven.
At the same time, the officials expressed a request to citizens of the city to refrain from making hasty and uncalled for remarks about the Craven affair and intimated that publicity of actual conditions in the city as they regard the local Klan will be given to the public in a short while. Comment was not so marked on the streets today due to the fact the membership of the local order has to far remained a sealed secret.
From the first page of The Charlotte News, Aug. 6, 1921
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Governor Denies It
Asheville, Aug. 6--”I have paid no attention since I have been Governor to dozens of falsehoods put into circulation about me, but whoever informed Mr. Bruce Craven that I had made application for membership in the Ku Klux Klan is a liar,” declared Governor Morrison, when asked about the Craven statement.
“I never had any sympathy with the organization of this Klan in North Carolina,” said the Governor, “and this fact is well known. I do not believe in secret political law enforcement or governmental organizations of any character. Purely fraternal secret organizations have accomplished great good in this republic. But secret political law enforcement or governmental organizations do not meet my approbation.”
Charles A. Webb of The Citizen also denies having agreed to any hand off policy on the part of The Citizen, but on the other hand calls attention to the fact that The Citizen has consistently from the first opposed the organization.
From the first page of The Charlotte News, Aug. 6, 1921
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