Bastrop, La., Jan. 25—The open hearing conducted by the state of Louisiana into the operations of masked men in the parish, which Attorney General A.V. Coco has characterized as the “Morehouse atrocities,” ended today after having been in session continuously since January 5. Scores of witnesses testified concerning floggings, deportations, circulation of warnings by a “vigilante committee,” kidnappings and the spiriting away of Watt Daniel and T.F. Richard on August 24, of whom no trace was found until their bodies floated to the surface from the depths of Lake La Fourche December 22.
The entire hearing revolved around the disappearance of Daniel and Richard and virtually every witness was questioned as to his knowledge surrounding the circumstances of their kidnapping.
Until today no witness had testified who had knowledge of the movements of the kidnappers after they were seen at Collinston, eight miles east of here, the night of August 24, when the hooded captors released three other men taken with Daniel and Richard and obtained a supply of gasoline for their cars.
Leon Jones of Moselle, Miss., the only witness at the concluding session, testified that his car was disabled on the highway about three-quarters of a mile from Lake La Fourche “sometime in August,” and during the night one small touring car and a small truck containing masked men and two others who appeared to be prisoners, passed him bound toward the lake. Some time later the cars returned from the lake and he said there seemed to be no prisoners.
It has been established that Daniel and Richard were placed in a small truck at the scene of the kidnapping and they were in the truck when the cavalcade stopped at Colliston. Jones, however, could not say whether it was the night of August 24 that he observed the truck and touring car near the lake.
The hearing adjourned at this forenoon, but a few minutes prior to that time Attorney General Coco made a statement to the court declaring that evidence had been developed sufficient to show the Ku Klux Klan responsible for the lawlessness in the parish.
His statement follows:
“It is my very painful and humiliating duty to refer to the deplorable conditions in the parish as revealed by the evidence.
“The proof is convincing, that since the advent of the Ku Klux Klan in this parish there has gradually arisen a condition of disorder and lawlessness which ripened into a super session of a government of its own, form which a reign of terror and chaos has resulted, and the parish was on the brink of riot and bloodshed when the governor sent the militia here and these proceedings were initiated.
“While it may be conceded that many klansmen did not actually participate in or encourage these many acts of lawlessness and crime which finally culminated in the murder of Watt Daniel and Thomas F. Richards, they must, nevertheless, be deemed responsible therefore by reason of their silence and inaction. The offenses and crimes were committed in the name of the order, under the protection of its regalia, and in the use of its recognized methods and practices, and under the leadership of its officers, the principal of which has for the last six months at least brought about a condition in this parish which is a blot upon our civilization and brings into question the proud title of American citizenship.
“The flogging of citizens, their deportation and banishment, and other kindred offenses were but mere pastime and of such frequent occurrence that they were accepted as commonplace things, the protest against which was itself sufficient ground for deportation.
“Without going into detail, we beg to say that the conclusion we have reached is that many persons have been identified and connected with these many acts of violence and crime, leading to and including the kidnapping August 24, 1922, and the murder of Watt Daniel and T.F. Richard, and it is the purpose of the state to present this evidence to the grand jury for its consideration and action as soon as we can get a transcript of it.”
From the editorial page of The Robesonian, Monday, Jan. 29, 1923
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