Part 42
In organization the Klan was modelled after the Federal Union. Its Prescript or constitution, adopted in 1867, and revised in 1868, provided for the following organization: The entire South was the Invisible Empire under a Grand Wizard, General N. B. Forrest; each state was a Realm under a Grand Dragon; several counties formed a Dominion under a Grand Titan; each county was a Province under a Grand Giant; the smallest division being a Den under a Grand Cyclops. The staff officers bore similar titles, relics of the time when the order existed only for amusement: Genii, Hydras, Furies, Goblins, Night Hawks, Magi, Monks and Turks. The private members were called Ghouls. The Klan was twice reorganized, in 1867 and in 1868, each time being more centralized; in 1869 the central organization was disbanded and the order then gradually declined. The White Camelia with a similar history had a similar organization, without the queer titles. Its members were called Brothers and Knights, and its officials Commanders.
The constitutions and rituals of these secret orders have declarations of principles, of which the following are characteristic: to protect and succour the weak and unfortunate, especially the widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers; to protect members of the white race in life, honour and property from the encroachments of the blacks; to oppose the Radical Republican party and the Union League; to defend constitutional liberty, to prevent usurpation, emancipate the whites, maintain peace and order, the laws of God, the principles of 1776, and the political and social supremacy of the white race--in short, to oppose African influence in government and society, and to prevent any intermingling of the races.
During the Reconstruction the people of the South were divided thus: nearly all native whites (the most prominent of whom were disfranchised) on one side irrespective of former political faith, and on the other side the ex-slaves organized and led by a few native and Northern whites called respectively scalawags and carpet-baggers, who were supported by the United States government and who controlled the Southern state governments. The Ku Klux movement in its wider aspects was the effort of the first class to destroy the control of the second class. To control the negro the Klan played upon his superstitious fears by having night patrols, parades and drills of silent horsemen covered with white sheets, carrying skulls with coals of fire for eyes, sacks of bones to rattle, and wearing hideous masks. In calling upon dangerous blacks at night they pretended to be the spirits of dead Confederates, "just from Hell," and to quench their thirst would pretend to drink gallons of water which was poured into rubber sacks concealed under their robes. Mysterious signs and warnings were sent to disorderly negro politicians. The whites who were responsible for the conduct of the blacks were warned or driven away by social and business ostracism or by violence. Nearly all southern whites (except "scalawags"), whether members of the secret societies or not, in some way took part in the Ku Klux movement. As the work of the societies succeeded, they gradually passed out of existence. In some communities they fell into the control of violent men and became simply bands of outlaws, dangerous even to the former members; and the anarchical aspects of the movement excited the North to vigorous condemnation.[1] The United States Congress in 1871-1872 enacted a series of "Force Laws" intended to break up the secret societies and to control the Southern elections. Several hundred arrests were made, and a few convictions were secured. The elections were controlled for a few years, and violence was checked, but the Ku Klux movement went on until it accomplished its object by giving protection to the whites, reducing the blacks to order, replacing the whites in control of society and state, expelling the worst of the carpet-baggers and scalawags, and nullifying those laws of Congress which had resulted in placing the Southern whites under the control of a party composed principally of ex-slaves.
AUTHORITIES.--J. C. Lester and D. L. Wilson, _Ku Klux Klan_ (New York, 1905); W. L. Fleming, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama_ (New York, 1905), and _Documentary History of Reconstruction_ (Cleveland, 1906); J. W. Garner, _Reconstruction in Mississippi_ (New York, 1901); W. G. Brown, _Lower South in American History_ (New York, 1901); J. M. Beard, _Ku Klux Sketches_ (Philadelphia, 1876); J. W. Burgess, _Reconstruction and the Constitution_ (New York, 1901). (W. L. F.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The judgment of the historian William Garrott Brown, himself a Southerner, is worth quoting: "That violence was often used cannot be denied. Negroes were often whipped, and so were carpet-baggers. The incidents related in such stories as Tourgée's _A Fool's Errand_ all have their counterparts in the testimony before congressional committees and courts of law. In some cases, after repeated warnings, men were dragged from their beds and slain by persons in disguise, and the courts were unable to find or to convict the murderers. Survivors of the orders affirm that such work was done in most cases by persons not connected with them or acting under their authority. It is impossible to prove or disprove their statements. When such outrages were committed, not on worthless adventurers, who had no station in the Northern communities from which they came, but on cultivated persons who had gone South from genuinely philanthropic motives--no matter how unwisely or tactlessly they went about their work--the natural effect was to horrify and enrage the North."
KUKU KHOTO (Chinese _Kwei-hwa_), a city of the Chinese province of Shan-si, situated to the north of the Great Wall, in 40° 50´ N. and 111° 45´ E., about 160 m. W. of Kalgan. It lies in the valley of a small river which joins the Hwang-ho 50 m. to the south. There are two distinct walled towns in Kuku Khoto, at an interval of a mile and a half; the one is the seat of the civil governor and is surrounded by the trading town, and the other is the seat of the military governor, and stands in the open country. In the first or old town more especially there are strong traces of western Asiatic influence; the houses are not in the Chinese style, being built all round with brick or stone and having flat roofs, while a large number of the people are still Mahommedans and, there is little doubt, descended from western settlers. The town at the same time is a great seat of Buddhism--the lamaseries containing, it is said, no less than 20,000 persons devoted to a religious life. As the southern terminus of the routes across the desert of Gobi from Ulyasutai and the Tian Shan, Kuku Khoto is a great mart for the exchange of flour, millet and manufactured goods for the raw products of Mongolia. A Catholic and a Protestant mission are maintained in the town. Lieut. Watts-Jones, R.E., was murdered at Kwei-hwa during the Boxer outbreak in 1900.
Early notices of Kuku Khoto will be found in Gerbillon (1688-1698, in Du Halde (vol. ii., Eng. ed.), and in Astley's _Collection_ (vol. iv.)
KULJA (Chinese, _Ili-ho_), a territory in north-west China; bounded, according to the treaty of St Petersburg of 1881, on the W. by the Semiryechensk province of Russian Turkestan, on the N. by the Boro-khoro Mountains, and on the S. by the mountains Khan-tengri, Muz-art, Terskei, Eshik-bashi and Narat. It comprises the valleys of the Tekez (middle and lower portion), Kunghez, the Ili as far as the Russian frontier and its tributary, the Kash, with the slopes of the mountains turned towards these rivers. Its area occupies about 19,000 sq. m. (Grum-Grzimailo). The valley of the Kash is about 160 m. long, and is cultivated in its lower parts, while the Boro-khoro Mountains are snow-clad in their eastern portion, and fall with very steep slopes to the valley. The Avral Mountains, which separate the Kash from the Kunghez, are lower, but rocky, naked and difficult of access. The valley of the Kunghez is about 120 m. long; the river flows first in a gorge, then amidst thickets of rushes, and very small portions of its valley are fit for cultivation. The Narat Mountains in the south are also very wild, but are covered with forests of deciduous trees (apple tree, apricot tree, birch, poplar, &c.) and pine trees. The Tekez flows in the mountains, and pierces narrow gorges. The mountains which separate it from the Kunghez are also snow-clad, while those to the south of it reach 24,000 ft. of altitude in Khan-tengri, and are covered with snow and glaciers--the only pass through them being the Muzart. Forests and alpine meadows cover their northern slopes. Agriculture was formerly developed on the Tekez, as is testified by old irrigation canals. The Ili is formed by the junction of the Kunghez with the Tekez, and for 120 m. it flows through Kulja, its valley reaching a width of 50 m. at Horgos-koljat. This valley is famed for its fertility, and is admirably irrigated by canals, part of which, however, fell into decay after 55,000 of the inhabitants migrated to Russian territory in 1881. The climate of this part of the valley is, of course, continental--frosts of -22° F. and heats of 170° F. being experienced--but snow lasts only for one and a half months, and the summer heat is tempered by the proximity of the high mountains. Apricots, peaches, pears and some vines are grown, as also some cotton-trees near the town of Kulja, where the average yearly temperature is 48°.5 F. (January 15°, July 77°). Barley is grown up to an altitude of 6500 ft.
The population may number about 125,000, of whom 75,000 are settled and about 50,000 nomads (Grum-Grzimailo). The Taranchis from East Turkestan represent about 40% of the population; about 40,000 of them left Kulja when the Russian troops evacuated the territory, and the Chinese government sent some 8000 families from different towns of Kashgaria to take their place. There are, besides, about 20,000 Sibos and Solons, 3500 Kara-kidans, a few Dungans, and more than 10,000 Chinese. The nomads are represented by about 18,000 Kalmucks, and the remainder by Kirghiz. Agriculture is insufficient to satisfy the needs of the population, and food is imported from Semiryechensk. Excellent beds of coal are found in different places, especially about Kulja, but the fairly rich copper ores and silver ores have ceased to be worked.
The chief towns are Suidun, capital of the province, and Kulja. The latter (Old Kulja) is on the Ili river. It is one of the chief cities of the region, owing to the importance of its bazaars, and is the seat of the Russian consul and a telegraph station. The walled town is nearly square, each side being about a mile in length; and the walls are not only 30 ft. high but broad enough on the top to serve as a carriage drive. Two broad streets cut the enclosed area into four nearly equal sections. Since 1870 a Russian suburb has been laid out on a wide scale. The houses of Kulja are almost all clay-built and flat-roofed, and except in the special Chinese quarter in the eastern end of the town only a few public buildings show the influence of Chinese architecture. Of these the most noteworthy are the Taranchi and Dungan mosques, both with turned-up roofs, and the latter with a pagoda-looking minaret. The population is mainly Mahommedan, and there are only two Buddhist pagodas. A small Chinese Roman Catholic church has maintained its existence through all the vicissitudes of modern times. Paper and vermicelli are manufactured with rude appliances in the town. The outskirts are richly cultivated with wheat, barley, lucerne and poppies. Schuyler estimated the population, which includes Taranchis, Dungans, Sarts, Chinese, Kalmucks and Russians, at 10,000 in 1873; it has since increased.
New Kulja, Manchu Kulja, or Ili, which lies lower down the valley on the same side of the stream, has been a pile of ruins since the terrible massacre of all its inhabitants by the insurgent Dungans in 1868. It was previously the seat of the Chinese government for the province, with a large penal establishment and strong garrison; its population was about 70,000.
_History._--Two centuries B.C. the region was occupied by the fair and blue-eyed Ussuns, who were driven away in the 6th century of our era by the northern Huns. Later the Kulja territory became a dependency of Dzungaria. The Uighurs, and in the 12th century the Kara-Khitai, took possession of it in turn. Jenghiz Khan conquered Kulja in the 13th century, and the Mongol Khans resided in the valley of the Ili. It is supposed (Grum-Grzimailo) that the Oirads conquered it at the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century; they kept it till 1755, when the Chinese annexed it. During the insurrection of 1864 the Dungans and the Taranchis formed here the Taranchi sultanate, and this led to the occupation of Kulja by the Russians in 1871. Ten years later the territory was restored to China.
KULM (CULM). (1) A town of Germany, in the province of West Prussia, 33 m. by rail N.W. of Thorn, on an elevation above the plain, and 1 m. E. of the Vistula. Pop. (1905), 11,665. It is surrounded by old walls, dating from the 13th century, and contains some interesting buildings, notably its churches, of which two are Roman Catholic and two Protestant, and its medieval town-hall. The cadet school, founded here in 1776 by Frederick the Great, was removed to Köslin in 1890. There are large oil mills, also iron foundries and machine shops, as well as an important trade in agricultural produce, including fruit and vegetables. Kulm gives name to the oldest bishopric in Prussia, although the bishop resides at Pelplin. It was presented about 1220 by Duke Conrad of Masovia to the bishop of Prussia. Frederick II. pledged it in 1226 to the Teutonic order, to whom it owes its early development. By the second peace of Thorn in 1466 it passed to Poland, and it was annexed to Prussia in 1772. It joined the Hanseatic League, and used to carry on very extensive manufactures of cloth.
(2) A village of Bohemia about 3 m. N.E. of Teplitz, at the foot of the Erzgebirge, celebrated as the scene of a battle in which the French were defeated by the Austrians, Prussians and Russians on the 29th and 30th of August 1813 (see NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS).
KULMBACH, or CULMBACH, a town of Germany, in the Bavarian province of Upper Franconia, picturesquely situated on the Weisser Main, and the Munich-Bamberg-Hof railway, 11 m. N.W. from Bayreuth. Pop. (1900), 9428. It contains a Roman Catholic and three Protestant churches, a museum and several schools. The town has several linen manufactories and a large cotton spinnery, but is chiefly famed for its many extensive breweries, which mainly produce a black beer, not unlike English porter, which is largely exported. Connected with these are malting and bottling works. On a rocky eminence, 1300 ft. in height, to the south-east of the town stands the former fortress of Plassenburg, during the 14th and 15th centuries the residence of the margraves of Bayreuth, called also margraves of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. It was dismantled in 1807, and is now used as a prison. Kulmbach and Plassenburg belonged to the dukes of Meran, and then to the counts of Orlamunde, from whom they passed in the 14th century to the Hohenzollerns, burgraves of Nuremberg, and thus to the margraves of Bayreuth.
See F. Stein, _Kulmbach und die Plassenburg in alter und neuer Zeit_ (Kulmbach, 1903); Huther, _Kulmbach und Umgebung_ (Kulmbach, 1886); and C. Meyer, _Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Kulmbach_ (Munich, 1895).
KULMSEE, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of West Prussia, on a lake, 14 m. by rail N. of Thorn and at the junction of railways to Bromberg and Marienburg. Pop. (1900), 8987. It has a fine Roman Catholic cathedral, which was built in the 13th, and restored in the 15th century, and an Evangelical church. Until 1823 the town was the seat of the bishops of Kulm.
KULP, a town of Russian Transcaucasia, in the government of Erivan, 60 m. W.S.W. from the town of Erivan and 2 m. S. of the Aras river. Pop. (1897), 3074. Close by is the Kulp salt mountain, about 1000 ft. high, consisting of beds of clay intermingled with thick deposits of rock salt, which has been worked from time immemorial. Regular galleries are cut in the transparent, horizontal salt layers, from which cubes of about 70 lb. weight are extracted, to the amount of 27,500 tons every year.
KULU, a subdivision of Kangra district, Punjab, British India, which nominally includes the two Himalayan cantons or _waziris_ of Lahul and Spiti. The _tahsil_ of Kulu has an area of 1054 sq. m., of which only 60 sq. m. are cultivated; pop. (1901), 68,954. The Sainj, which joins the Beas at Largi, divides the tract into two portions, Kulu proper and Soraj. Kulu proper, north of the Sainj, together with inner Soraj, forms a great basin or depression in the midst of the Himalayan system, having the narrow gorge of the Beas at Largi as the only outlet for its waters. North and east the Bara Bangahal and mid-Himalayan ranges rise to a mean elevation of 18,000 ft., while southward the Jalori and Dhaoladhar ridges attain a height of 11,000 ft. The higher villages stand 9000 ft. above the sea; and even the cultivated tracts have probably an average elevation of 5000 ft. The houses consist of four-storeyed châlets in little groups, huddled closely together on the ledges or slopes of the valleys, picturesquely built with projecting eaves and carved wooden verandas. The Beas, which, with its tributaries, drains the entire basin, rises at the crest of the Rohtang pass, 13,326 ft. above the sea, and has an average fall of 125 ft. per mile. Its course presents a succession of magnificent scenery, including cataracts, gorges, precipitous cliffs, and mountains clad with forests of deodar, towering above the tiers of pine on the lower rocky ledges. It is crossed by several suspension bridges. Great mineral wealth exists, but the difficulty of transport and labour prevents its development. Hot springs occur at three localities, much resorted to as places of pilgrimage. The character of the hillmen resembles that of most other mountaineers in its mixture of simplicity, independence and superstition. Tibetan polyandry still prevails in Soraj, but has almost died out elsewhere. The temples are dedicated rather to local deities than to the greater gods of the Hindu pantheon. Kulu is an ancient Rajput principality, which was conquered by Ranjit Singh about 1812. Its hereditary ruler, with the title of rai, is now recognized by the British government as _jagirdar_ of Rupi.
KUM, a small province in Persia, between Teheran on the N. and Kashan on the S. It is divided into seven _buluk_ (districts): (1) Humeh, with town; (2) Kumrud; (3) Vazkerud; (4) Kinar Rud Khaneh; (5) Kuhistan; (6) Jasb; (7) Ardahal; has a population of 45,000 to 50,000, and pays a yearly revenue of about £8000. The province produces much grain and a fine quality of cotton with a very long staple.
KUM, the capital, in 34° 39´ N. and 50° 55´ E., on the Anarbar river, which rises near Khunsar, has an elevation of 3100 ft. It owes much of its importance to the fact that it contains the tomb of Imam Reza's sister Fatmeh, who died there A.D. 816, and large numbers of pilgrims visit the city during six or seven months of the year. The fixed population is between 25,000 and 30,000. A carriage road 92 m. in length, constructed in 1890-1893, connects the city with Teheran. It has post and telegraph offices.
See _Eastern Persian Irak_, R. G. S. suppl. (London, 1896).
KUMAIT IBN ZAID (679-743), Arabian poet, was born in the reign of the first Omayyad caliph and lived in the reigns of nine others. He was, however, a strong supporter of the house of Hashim and an enemy of the South Arabians. He was imprisoned by the caliph Hisham for his verse in praise of the Hashimites, but escaped by the help of his wife and was pardoned by the intercession of the caliph's son Maslama. Taking part in a rebellion, he was killed by the troops of Khalid ul-Qasri.
His poems, the _Hashimiyyat_, have been edited by J. Horovitz (Leiden, 1904). An account of him is contained in the _Kitab ul-Aghani_, xv. 113-130. (G. W. T.)
KUMAON, or KUMAUN, an administrative division of British India, in the United Provinces, with headquarters at Naini Tal. It consists of a large Himalayan tract, together with two submontane strips called the Tarai and the Bhabhar; area 13,725 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 1,207,030, showing an increase of less than 2% in the decade. The submontane strips were up to 1850 an almost impenetrable forest, given up to wild animals; but since then the numerous clearings have attracted a large population from the hills, who cultivate the rich soil during the hot and cold seasons, returning to the hills in the rains. The rest of Kumaon is a maze of mountains, some of which are among the loftiest known. In a tract not more than 140 m. in length and 40 m. in breadth there are over thirty peaks rising to elevations exceeding 18,000 ft. (see HIMALAYA). The rivers rise chiefly in the southern slope of the Tibetan watershed north of the loftiest peaks, amongst which they make their way down valleys of rapid declivity and extraordinary depth. The principal are the Sarda (Kali), the Pindar and Kailganga, whose waters join the Alaknanda. The valuable timber of the yet uncleared forest tracts is now under official supervision. The chief trees are the chir, or three-leaved Himalayan pine, the cypress, fir, alder, sal or iron-wood, and _saindan_. Limestone, sandstone, slate, gneiss and granite constitute the principal geological formations. Mines of iron, copper, gypsum, lead and asbestos exist; but they are not thoroughly worked. Except in the submontane strips and deep valleys the climate is mild. The rainfall of the outer Himalayan range, which is first struck by the monsoon, is double that of the central hills, in the average proportion of 80 in. to 40. No winter passes without snow on the higher ridges, and in some years it is universal throughout the mountain tract. Frosts, especially in the valleys, are often severe. Kumaon is occasionally visited by epidemic cholera. Leprosy is most prevalent in the east of the district. Goitre and cretinism afflict a small proportion of the inhabitants. The hill fevers at times exhibit the rapid and malignant features of plague.
In 1891 the division was composed of the three districts of Kumaon, Garhwal and the Tarai; but the two districts of Kumaon and the Tarai were subsequently redistributed and renamed after their headquarters, Naini Tal and Almora. Kumaon proper constituted an old Rajput principality, which became extinct at the beginning of the 19th century. The country was annexed after the Gurkha war of 1815, and was governed for seventy years on the non-regulation system by three most successful administrators--Mr Traill, Mr J. H. Batten and Sir Henry Ramsay.