Last Sunday martial law was declared throughout the State of
Oklahoma. This was the Governor's immediate answer to the " great defiance " uttered by that latest Elijah Pogram—the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. The Grand Dragon had declared that the authorities were powerless to break up his society. The New York correspondent of the Times says that the Governor in his proclamation reminded people that hundreds of men and women had been severely beaten in Oklahoma by members of the Ku Klux Klan. He accused several officials and even some judges of being " subject to the ' invisible Empire." The Times correspondent points out that as the majority of the Legislature are opposed to the Governor, his action in proclaiming martial law is probably due as much to a wish to prevent the con- vening of the Legislature as to prevent bloodshed. It was known that the Legislature wished to impeach him. It is difficult in any case for an outsider to say whether the Governor's policy is due to single-minded determina- tion or to that disposition towards the spectacular for which he has already earned a reputation.
Previous page
