will, the sum of ten thousand dollars; and it shall be lawful
for the person so assailed to kill the assailant. For killing
any individual in the night twenty thousand dollars; provided,
such person killed was peaceable at that time. That all other
injuries shall be assessed by the court and jury in proportion;
and the court trying said causes may grant as many new trials as
may, in his opinion, be necessary to attain the end of justice.

SEC. 23. _Be it further enacted_, That all persons present, and
not giving immediate information on the offenders, shall be
regarded as guilty of a misdemeanor against the law, and shall
be punished accordingly.

SEC. 24. _Be it further enacted_, That it shall not be lawful
for any persons to publish any proffered or pretended order of
said secret, unlawful clans; and any person convicted under any
of the provisions of this act, shall not claim, hold, or possess
any property, real or personal, exempt from execution, fine,
penalty or costs, under this act; provided, that nothing herein
contained shall be so construed as to prevent or exempt any
person heretofore guilty of any of the offenses herein contained
from prosecution under the law as it now stands. This act to
take effect from after its passage.[52]

The same legislature passed a bill authorizing the Governor to
organize, equip and call into active service, at his discretion, a
volunteer force, to be known as the Tennessee State Guards; to be
composed of one or more regiments from each congressional district of
the State; provided always that said Tennessee State Guards shall be
composed of loyal men.

And it was further provided by the "Militia Law," that upon the
representation of "ten Union men, or three Justices of the Peace in
any county in the State," that the presence of these troops were
needed, that the Governor might declare martial law in such counties,
and send thither troops in such numbers as, in his judgment, were
necessary for the preservation of peace and order. And it was provided
that the expense of these troops to the State should be collected from
the counties where they were quartered.

The reader has now some insight into the character of the legislation
direct against the Ku Klux. He will not only note the general severity
and harshness of it, but the following features in particular:

(1). The anti-Ku Klux statute