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ra Street” marked the end of carpetbagger rule, and the worst of the Reconstruction Period, in Louisiana. There was a large number of people killed in New Orleans at that time, it was an open-street battle with firearms, and very serious. The Knighta of the White Camelia originally died with the end of the Reconstruction Period. It did continue as a sentimental gesture handed down from father to son, The sons of the old Knights of the White Camelia members were invested with the secrets of The Knights of the White Camelia on their 21st birthday. During the reconstruction of the Klan in the 1915 era, about 1921, The Knights of the White Camelia was reconstituted, and when the second Klan died, ‘She Knights of the White Camelia died with it. At this time The Knights of the White Camelia, so far as we are able to ascertain, is not connected at all with the third Klan, or the Klan which exists now. There is no national or even regional Klan now, of course, only the concept is national. The Knights of the White Camelia at this time, so far ag we have been able to ascertain, is simply inoperative, and inactive, Another thing that came to our attention, Mr. Chairman, during the course of this inquiry was, that there was no Klan activity at all, so far as we have been able to learn, in the Caddo Parish area of this State, this is in the Shreveport area west of Red River. The reason for this, according to the authorities in that area, and accord- ing to some Klan sources, too, is the fact that there have been some extremely strong public statements made by the law-enforcement of- ficials of that Parish directing that the Klan stay out of the area and not carry on operations there. The Klan leaders state that they have confidence that they “are not needed” in the Caddo Parish area because of the extreme efficiency of the duly constituted police authorities in carrying out their proper function of law enforcement there. I think that the transcripts of testimony of the Staff Consulta- tions with the Klan leaders and the leader of the Robert E. Lee Patriots will set forth a rather significant difference of approach toward the problems of the United States, and we leave this to the readers of this report to ascertain. As to the question of laws dealing with the Ku-Klux Klan in Louisiana, there are two very significant legal points which must be considered when analyzing the regulation of the Klan, or the question of whether it should be regulated in Louisiana. The first one is that the Klan in Louisiana does not wear masks; they do in 84 i Po ta Rati a Ney eect | | other States, but not in Louisiana. The reason for this is the louisiana Revised Statutes, Title 14, Section 313, which is oll No, 3 of 1924, prohibits the wearing of masks or hoods in l places. I would like to quote from a significant part of the St’. Mr, Chairman. | “No person shall use’or wear in any public place of an/ character whatsoever, or im-any open place in view thereof. a hood or mask, or anything in the nature of either, or an} facial disguise of any kind or description, calculated ti conceal or hide the identity of the person, or to prevent hil being readily recognized.” By further terms of the Statute this does not apply to Hall masks, or to Mardis Gras maskers, these are specifically exe There is a further exemption for educational and religious acti The penalty for violation of this Statute is not less than six m nor more than three years in jail, which makes it a rather 3 crime, The second legal point which must be considered in rega the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana is that in 1924, by Act No. 2 Legislature passed a Statute, later embodied into our Louisiand vised Statutes as Title 12, Section 401, which sought to regulat! Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana by requiring that all secret organiza} in Louisiana submit to the Secretary of State annually a membei list, stating the names and addresses of all of the members. | this particular statute most effectively repressed the Ku Klux in Louisiana for some 37 years. In 1957 or 1958, the State of Louis applied this Statute to the National Association for the Advance? of Colored People, and the Statute was challenged in the Fed Courts at that time. In the case of “State ex rel Gremillion NAACP,” (reported at 65 Supreme Court Reporter 1373,) the Uy States Supreme Court on May 26, 1961, overthrew the Louis Statute, and declared that it was an unconstitutional violatio; civil rights. This particular decision has made possible the resurg: of the Klan in the State of Louisiana, Not until this decision | effective, was the Klan able to reorganize and gain stature, posit and strength within this State. It is ironic that the NAACP was. instrument by which the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana was siven| green light to reorganize and come back to some substantia] stre Without this particular Statute, at this time in Louisiana f itppears to be no effective way to regulate or contro! the Ku Klux or similar activities. 86