Goldsboro, June 7—A reward of $150 has been offered by the Goldsboro Klan for the identity of the Klansmen who has been revealing secrets of the order to The Goldsboro News, it was learned last night.
Following a spirited meeting held somewhere in the vicinity of the city Tuesday night, at which the publicity given relative to the Konklave slated to be held here June 14 was discussed, and the offer of the reward, several Klansmen, it was learned further kept an all night vigil around the Goldsboro News building in the hope of trapping the member who has been keeping the public posted about Klan activities.
The News’ informant, being present at the meeting Tuesday night, was forewarned of the trap, and the expected story of last minute preparations for the big Konklave did not materialize. It was not until yesterday that the News learned the cause of the informant’s delinquency relative to Tuesday night’s happenings. The name of a high city official, a member of the Klan, figured prominently in the discussion of the “news leak,” but he was fully exonerated of any connection whatever by a white-robed figure, who declared before the assemblage that he and several other brother members, after a thorough examination of the official, were convinced that he was not the one giving out the information that was supposed to be a profound secret.
It was naturally assumed, in view of the authentic statements of Klan activities given to The News in the past few weeks that the guilty member would give out an account of the Tuesday night meeting. This accounted for the guard thrown about the News building, and although they failed to catch the offender, they did successfully avert the publication of the night’s proceedings in the paper of the next morning; and have, apparently, closed all news avenues, since the informant of the News declared yesterday, in explaining his non-appearance Tuesday night, that he “guessed he’d have to quit giving any more news.”
The Klansman has been an innocent party, not fully realizing that all movements of the Klan are required to be kept a profound secret. “I didn’t know I was violating a rule of the order,” he told the reporter yesterday, “or I would never have told you anything. The holding of the Konklave here, I thought, was big news—news to be proud of, and I thought I was doing the Klan a service in giving it to the public through the Goldsboro News.”
From the front page of the New Bernian, New Bern, N.C., Friday morning, June 8, 1923
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