get together and have a talk." So I engaged some rooms at the Raleigh Hotel. They arrived on a Sunday morning early, and I was there in attendance. While passing through the lobby I met Mr. Mayfield and shook hands with him and asked him what he was doing there. He said he was just passing through and waiting on his train and came up to the hotel to see some friends. I thought it was rather coincidental at least that he was there at that time. Mr. HANGER. You were asked about the conference, not what you thought. Mr. CLARK. Yes. When I arrived at Doctor Evans's room he was talking over the phone with some one. I heard only his end of the conversation. Mr. NICKELS. Could you tell from what you heard Doctor Evans say whom he purported to be talking to? Mr. CLARK. Yes; I surmised he was talking to Earle Mayfield downstairs in the lobby of the hotel. There were present in that conference Doctor Evans, H. C. McCall, Brown Harwood, who was then great titan of the Fort Worth province. The great titan of San Antonio province was not there, Ralph Cameron. Mr. NICKELS. What position did McCall hold? Mr. CLARK. He was great titan of the Houston province, which was No. 4, I think. Mr. NICKELS. What was the subject of the conference and what happened? (At this point the subcommittee took a recess for 10 minutes, at the conclusion of which time the subcommittee resumed its session.) The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed. Mr. CLARK. I believe that I had just finished naming the parties present at the conference. Mr. NICKELS. Yes. Mr. CLARK. I believe you asked me a question as to what was done at that conference. My understanding from Doctor Evans at the time he stated they were coming down there was that it was purely a social call on me. After I got in the room, I found that it was a purely political gathering entirely. Senator WATSON. Were you at that time a partner of Mr. Henry? Mr. CLARK. No, sir. Senator WATSON. Not at that time? Mr. CLARK. No, sir. Senator WATSON. You were then practicing law at Waco? Mr. CLARK. At Waco. I had just finished my term as district judge and had recently opened up a law office. Senator WATSON. Had Mr. Mayfield at that time announced his candidacy for the nomination? Mr. CLARK. I could not tell you whether he had formally announced or not. He had, prior to that time, made statements and speeches to the Klan that he would be a candidate. Mr. Henry had announced his candidacy and Mr. Strong-Sterling P. Strong had, and I think Mr. Thomas, but I am not sure. Doctor Evans requested me to take a seat over by the window in the corner of the room with him and he was very friendly, as the doctor always is. Senator WATSON. What position did you hold at that time? Mr. CLARK. I was a great titan, one of the State officials. He slapped me on the knee, and he said, "Erwin, I have a dead one in Dallas "-referring to Mr. Sterling P. Strong-" and you have a dead one here in Waco "-referring to Mr. Henry. "Mayfield is the man." He says, "Now, they are all three Klansmen, and Strong and Henry are both good fellows, and we do not want to hurt their feelings," and, he said, "let them ride for awhile and at the proper time we will ditch them and concentrate on Mayfield." Do you wish my answer? Mr. NICKELS. Yes. Mr. CLARK. I became very indignant at the proposal, due to the fact that Bob Henry was my personal friend, my father's friend, and my family's friend. I remarked to Doctor Evans that I had very little religion, but what religion I did have was circumscribed by the ties of friendship, and that I would not under any circumstances double-cross Bob Henry; neither would I permit any other man, if I knew it, to double-cross him; that I considered Bob Henry's chances as good as Mayfield's or anybody else's, and I was going to see that he continued in the race and got a fair and square deal. From that time on it became Senator WATSON. What did he say? Mr. CLARK. I could not tell you, sir, to save my life, what he did say. Senator WATSON. Was anybody else there engaged in that conversation? Mr. CLARK. Yes: it became very warm. In fact, it got so hot that to avoid any personal difficulty, I happened to have a gun on me at the time, and I took it out and laid it on the dresser there, just to let them know that I was prepared. Senator WATSON. They believe in preparedness down in Texas? Mr. CLARK. I regret to say, sir, that that is characteristic of the organization. Mr. MCLEAN. That is nothing unusual for a natural born Texan, is it? Mr. CLARK. Not to me. I have carried a gun most of my life. I have not in recent years, but at that time I did. Senator WATSON. You haven't got any now, have you? [Laughter.] Mr. CLARK. No, sir. I want to say in that connection that I did not intend to interpolate this as a mere triviality, but I wanted to illustrate to you that I was trying to avoid trouble. display at the proper time might help to keep it off. The CHAIRMAN. Proceed with the witness. I thought a Mr. NICKELS. Did the conference reach any agreement? Mr. CLARK. Yes; about 8 or 9 o'clock that night, after we had discussed the matter pro and con all day, they finally agreed to my proposal. Mr. NICKELS. And what was that? Mr. CLARK. If you will permit me, I can read the proposal to you. Mr. NICKELS. We will probably save a little time here. Was the proposal embodied in a letter sent out by you later? Mr. CLARK. The proposal was embodied in a letter which I think was signed by the grand dragon, eventually. I sent some out to the Exalted cyclops of my Province, which I signed myself. Mr. NICKELS. Have you a copy there? Mr. CLARK. I have a copy of the form that I sent to my province. Mr. NICKELS. Let me see it. [After examining paper.] I will state to the committee that this was the letter which was read into the record a while ago by Mr. Henry, all except the address. That letter is already in the record? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir. I wish to state that I did not take this on myself to write this letter and send it out, but it was done at the request of Brown Harwood, who shortly afterwards became grand dragon of the State. it? Mr. NICKELS. What did you do with the letter after you prepared Mr. CLARK. I sent a number of copies throughout my Province, and then sent Mr. Harwood several copies to be mimeographed and distributed throughout the State. Mr. NICKELS. Do you know whether or not Mr. Evans approved that letter after it had been prepared and sent out? Mr. CLARK. Doctor Evans, yes, sir; he did approve it. He stated to me in person several weeks afterwards that he had received it or had seen a copy of the letter, and it was right in line with the agreement. Mr. NICKELS. The letter referred to bears date April 17, 1922. Is it true or not that the conference was some several days before that date? Mr. CLARK. I am not sure as to the date of the conference, but I have a letter from Dr. A. D. Ellis, of Beaumont, who was then grand dragon. My reply to this letter from Doctor Ellis, it is my recollection, called attention to the Waco agreement. It was dated March, 23, 1922, so that the Waco conference must necessarily have taken place before that time. Mr. NICKELS. The Doctor Ellis letter just referred to we do not pretend bears on the exact question of expenditures here, but we think it is material on another issue, and we want to offer it at this time to save his coming back to identify it. Mr. HANGER. All right. Mr. NICKELS. Just read Doctor Ellis's letter into the record. To the exalted cyclops: REALM OF TEXAS, We promised the klans some time ago that we would endeavor to keep them informed with reference to the character of men who had announced for public office in this realm, in order that we might have our part in improving the personnel of our public servants, and to see to it that the governmental reins are kept as nearly as possible in proper hands. At this time, our files indicate that Klansman Ed. R. Bentley, of McAllen, Tex., is a candidate for the office of superintendent of public instruction. Also, Klansman Earle B. Mayfield, at present railroad commissioner of Texas, has announced for the United States Senate. Both of these klansmen are highly recommended by their local klans, and I do not hesitate to commend them to your serious consideration. I am sure that Klansman Bentley is the kind of man we would like to have governing our schools, and I know that the spirit of 100 per cent Americanism will be enhanced with Klansman Mayfield representing us in Washington. Yours in the sacred unfailing bond, A. D. ELLIS, Grand Dragon, Realm of Texas. Do you wish my reply? Senator KING. What is the materiality of that? Mr. NICKELS. We do not claim that it bears on this issue, Senator. We think it bears first on the issue raised by Mr. Mayfield's testimony at Corsicana, which we think is pertinent here, in which he testified that he resigned from the klan in January of 1922, and also Senator KING. The point I had in mind was that the witness is here on the stand, and if it is material, he could testify, rather than Mr. NICKELS. I will not offer it, with that. Senator KING (continuing). Rather than to read some letter that he had written, here, a year or two ago. Mr. NICKELS. Judge Clark, did you or not ever communicate with the imperial palace at Atlanta, with reference to the question of securing permission for Mr. Henry to uncover as a klansman? Mr. CLARK. I did; yes, sir. Mr. NICKELS. State the circumstances of that communication. Mr. CLARK. I am at a loss now, again, as to the date, but it was just a few days, three or four days, prior to Mr. Henry's opening speech in the campaign. He walked into my office one morning, and he sat down and said, "I want permission to come out in the open and declare myself as a klansman." I said, "That will not do at all." I said, "Earle Mayfield is a klansman, and no one knows it. It is kept under cover. If you come out in the open you will be shot from both sides." I said, "An antiklan faction certainly will not support you, and I consider it very inadvisable, Mr. Henry." He said. "Well, I have decided that is the only thing I can do." He said. "I am not going to the United States Senate with a lie on my lips." I said, "Well, if you feel that way about it, I will get you permission"; so I turned to the telephone and had long distance connect me with the imperial palace. Some one answered there; I think it was the imperial kleagle, or the secretary, or somebody, and I called for E. Y. Clarke and was informed that he was not in town. I then asked for Doctor Evans, who was then the director of the organization, and this party told me that they were both out of town. I then explained the situation to him, and whoever he was, he immediately appreciated the importance of getting in touch with these parties and assured me he would communicate with them wherever they were and have them get in touch with me as soon as possible. Either that night or the following morning I received a wire signed "E. Y. Clarke and H. W. Evans," from Little Rock, Ark. I. can not give you the exact wording of the wire. Mr. McLEAN. Was it not read in evidence? Mr. NICKELS. Yes. That is the wire that was read in by Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry has a copy of the wire. Mr. MCLEAN. Did you or not communicate the contents of the message to Mr. Henry? Mr. CLARK. I did, immediately. He was very much delighted to receive permission. He said it relieved him. Senator KING. Mr. Henry can testify; he has been on the stand. Mr. NICKELS. That meeting at Waco, if I understand aright, was either the latter part of March or the first part of April. Did you or not, during May, say, have any conference that was participated in by Dr. H. W. Evans with reference to the senatorial situation? Mr. CLARK. I did, sir. Mr. NICKELS. Where was that conference? Mr. CLARK. That conference was at the imperial palace at Atlanta, Ga. Mr. NICKELS. What was the subject matter of the conference in: so far as it pertained to the senatorial election in Texas? Mr. CLARK. In order to relate the conference properly, I think I ought to start at the beginning, so that you can get the connection.. Senator KING. Can you not state what was said there at the conference? You are a lawyer. Mr. CLARK. I can, sir; but it might be so abrupt that I do not think the connection can be grasped very well. Mr. MCLEAN. The committee might grasp it. Mr. CLARK. It was discussing Mr. Henry and Mr. Mayfield. Mr. CLARK. Doctor Evans and myself, in a little park back of the Imperial Palace. That was after the meeting, at night. He admifted to me I made the remark that he had attempted to use Mr. Henry for a stalking horse, and found that he had a race horse on his hands. That brought up the subject. He laughed and admitted that. He said, "Yes; it does look like he is the strongest man at this time; but," he says, "you can not judge by crowds.' He said, "The circus draws a big crowd"; and he says, "Joe Bailey can always draw a big crowd in Texas, but he could not be elected." I said, "Doctor, if you will leave Mr. Henry alone, I think he will be elected." He said, "Mr. Henry is not the man we want." He said, "Earle Mayfield is in a position to get in touch with the big business of the country." I says, "So is Mr. Henry. He has been in Congress for twenty-odd years and he is known by most of the prominent men of the United States." He says, "You do not understand me." He says, He says, "Earle Mayfield is on the railroad com-mission." I do not want to state anything, gentlemen, that is improper. Mr. NICKELS. We think it is relevant. Mr. ZUMBRUNN. Go ahead and let us have it. Mr. CLARK. He says, "Earle Mayfield is on the railroad commission. He is in line with the railroad interests of this country." He says, "He can even get in touch with-he can even upproach"-or something like that-" Standard Oil." When he made. that statement I laughed, and the doctor got very serious. He says, "No; I mean it. He is the man for us." I said, "Doctor, I do not know what you are driving at; but, so far as prestige is con |