Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1886 — ORGANIZED LABOR. [ARTICLE]

ORGANIZED LABOR.

Annual Address of General Master Workman Powderly, of the Knights of Labor. Recent Strikes Touched Upon, and the , Blame for Deeds of Violence Located. To the member* of the General Assembly: It wo are guided by the experience of the past, and act accordingly, , wo Can place tlio order upon a footing so safe and sure that no assaults from its enemies can injure it. If we are not guided, by that experience, if we fail to read aright tho signs of the times, and wo close this General Assembly without having improved on tho past, wo will fail to properly refiresentthose who sene all here. The rapid increase in organization since the Hamilton Session of the Qenoral Assembly was most marvelous. Yn examination of the reports of the Genorul Secretary-Treasurer for the year ending July 1, 1«86, will show that In one | year 4,08 assemblies have been organized. The , new members so audd.nly brought together j could not be properly assimilated. Thousands 1 have been attracted toward tho order through i mere curiosity; others havo come for purely selfish motives; while the great bulk of our now recruits have joined us for the good that they conld do. Quite a few have entered our order for the purpose of redressing their existing wrongs, and, before waiting to learn anything concerning the duty of tho Knight to the order, have plunged into rash and ill-considered strikes. The troubles ooming from this direction began while the lost General Assembly was in session. The car-drivers of Sc. Louis were organized under promise from the Organizer that they would roceivo aid, unstinted, in case of a striko. Even before the receipt of their charter they were on strike. Their proceedings were characterized by such utter disregard lor our laws and teachings, that the paid and known agentß of their employers, the detectives, hail no difficulty in securing the passage of motions of a violent character, fit uj an established fact that mon who wore employed by detective agencies stood up on the floor of that assembly, made inflammatory speeches urging men to deeds of violence, and urged that the property of thq£ street-car companies be destroyed. It was only the good sense of the men that prevented such outrages from being perpetrated, although these agents of a nefarious spy system induced some desperate men to blow up the cars upon the streets. For these outrages the order was tn no way responsible. The St. Louis car troubles were but the beginning of the tidal wave of strikes and boycotts which swept over the country, and which strained the strength and resources of your general officers almost beyond their powers of endurance. The Southwest strike began when the time and attention of the general officers were taken up with other matters of vital importance. No notice of the contemplated action was given to us, and we knew nothing whatever concerning it or the causes leading to it until it had been in progress several days. It has been asserted that I condemned the men while they were on strike. No such statement ever escaped my lips. The only statement of mine that cpuld be made to appear in the light of a condemnation was that contained in my secret circular of the 13th of March, a copy of which is herewith submitted. I did not not approve of that strike. I could not do so, since confidence enough was not reposed in the General Executive Board to give them a chance to.examino into the.grievances which themembers of -District Assembly 1(11 complained of. It was only when the threat was made to stop every wheel in the United States and engage the whole order in the difficulty that I raised my voice in denial. I did that in defense of tho order and the country. lam quite willing to assume all the responsibilities attached to the act, and would do the same thing again under similar circumstances. That the men of the Southwest suffered .Wrpngs is true; they Were many and grievous; and it is my firm belief that the railway companies, with a full knowledge of what these grievances were, precipitated the fight themselves at a time 'when it would appear to the world that the strike was for an insignificant cause. I can do no better than lb submit the report of Brothers Litchman and McGuire. These two members were by me personally detailed to go with the Congressional Committee, and with that committee examine into the strike and its causes, so that an fcarly report might be made to the order by its own representatives. If the position which I took during the strike was wrong, then the entire order sustained me in it, for when I issued the appeal for aid to support those whom the companies refused to treat with, I was generously sustained, as a reference to the report of the General Secretary-Treasurer will show. The documents and correspondence relating to that strike are at your disposal. The eight-hour Btrike which took place May 1 was not successful except in cases where employers and employes were acting in harmonv, or where employers were willing to adopt the plan. In many cases the old system of working long hours has been revived.' The Federation of Trades recommended the Ist of May, but adopted or suggested no definite plan by which the short-hour system could ,be inaugurated. I cautioned our members against rushing into this movement. I had the right to do it, and am firm in the belief, that-had J note done so great loss would have been entailed upon vast numbers of our assemblies. What I sard'mmy'secret circular of March ITlias teeon severely criticised, and I have been accused of opposing the eight-hour movement. No statement ever was further from the truth. I opposed the strike of May 1 because I knew that neither workmen nor employers were ready for it, because the education which must always precede intelligent action had not been given to those most in need of it, because no definite, business-like plan for the inauguration of the eight-hour movement had been mapped out. In fact, no preparat ons had been made to put the plau, if it cau be ciHed a plan,.into execution. These are the reasons why I opposed the movemenVSTay 1, and for these same reasons do I stHl oppose it, - • A reduction of the hours of labor is a necessity, and sooner or later must be had ; but we must not forget that in many places the tenhour plan has not been adopted yet. It may do very well for an organization which looks after the interests of but one craft, or calling, to neglect those who stand most in need of help, but a Knight of Labor must never close his eyes to the wants of the humblest of his fellowcreatures. r> The very discussion of the sudden introduction of the eight-hour plan injured business, so much so that in many plaeos men were reduced to half-time, or thrown out of employment altogether. Millkms of dollars’ worth of work was left undone because of the uncertainty in regard to taking contracts, or in making engagements to perform work. Never was it more clearly demonstrated that “an injury to —one is the concern of air than in the movement I am speaking of. The house-builder, through uncertainty as to how many hours of labor iiis employes would work for him, made no contracts to erect buildings, and the carpenter was thrown out of employment; the man who made the windowglass, the man who made the nails—-in fact, every man or woman engaged in the manufacture of articles which go to build or furnish a house —suffered through the attempt to enforce the eight-hour system May 1. The move was in tho right direction, but' the time and circumstances were not suitable. Before the eighthour plan is adopted the Knights of Labor and the trades unions of America must lay aside their jealousies and differences, come together, name a day on which to put the plan into execution, adopt the plan of action, which must bo gradual aud such as will -not’ inflict in jury upon aither employeror workman. The plan presented by Mr. Norton, of Chicago, to the special session of the General Assembly at Cleveland is a good one in nearly every particular, and if the workingmen’s organizations and the manufacturers' associations agree upon putting into practice such a plan it can be done without jar or friction. No workingman need strike, nor need business be unsettled. Whv should it not be done? Either adopt a plan for the perfection of this idea, or else place it in the hands Of the ipcorning General Executive Hoard, with instructions to perform the duty. If we do not do either let jjs strike the twenty-first' defloration from our preamble and no longer proclaim to "the world that we are in favor of eight hours for a day’s labor. Before a short-hour system that will beof any benefit to mankind can be inaugurated the relation whucli the workman bea s to the laborsaving machine must undergo a radical change. Shorten the hours of labor under, our present svstem. and the streets will hot be emptied of their idle thousands. More machines will be erected, and more children called into service to feed them. The assertion that the advocate of short hours desires to stop production is false. It is to make production gradual, healthy, and have it keep peace with the wants of the consumer, keeping all men employed, so that idleness will disappear, and the producer remain a tonsunier to his fullest capacity, that we desire

a shortening of the hours of labor. Visit our large and small factories, and you find that the mechanic of the past it but tho feeder of the machine of the present. . We already hear of machines in course of perfection which will sgt the type and mold the cigars faster than human hands can do the work; and electricity will soon take the throttle-lever from the hand of the man who runs the locomotive. The day will'soon dawn when these agencies will be doing their work; and, when that day does come, the mechanic, now so proud of his calling, will stand face to face with the alternative of asking far charity, or tho sdoption of the calling of the street scavenger. When that day comes, the man who now seeks to array labor .against labor in asserting that tho ?3 a day man should not move in the same society circles with the man who works for $1 a day” will either sfeek to crowd the $1 a day man out of his place or accept the crumbs of charity to sustain life. Histpry will repeat itself, and the tight for existence will be waged with unrelenting fury. The machine must become the slave or the man, instead of keeping tho man in attendance on and subordinate to the machine. A plan of co-operation through which the workman may control thu machine he oporates must one day supersede the present i-ystem. To properly map out such a plan requires more time than I have had or am likely to have at my disposal. I can only co-operato with others In the work. Tho thirteenth article in our declaration of principles reads: “Tho prohibition by law of tho employment of children under fifteen years of age In workshops, mines, and factories.” The end sought for In carrying this declaration Into effect is not that tho child may live in idleness ; it is not that more adults may be employed. It is that the child of the poor man may bo enabled to acquire an education-to equip him for tho duties which will in future fall upon him as man and citizen;' We cannot afford to pass this question by and legislate on some simple question of trade discipline. The question of child-labor and education is the most finoortant that can come before us now or at any other time. With an education all things are easy of a complishmont; without it, hope itself almost dies, and liberty is a farce. In our organizations of labor—and it baa been so from tho beginning—we take up the work of reform when the'Bubj—ct is advanced in years—, the new member must l«o above 16 years before wo admit him. Wo att mpt to drive from his mind the false ideaß gathered in from the workshop, or, possibly the street-corner. His habits are formed, nnd the work that should have been begun at Roven years we take up at twenty or later in life. To attempt to settle so intricate a question as tho one we are grappling with, or to successfully solve the question, is a task so difficult that I do not wonder that men drop out of the ranks of labor organizations discouraged and hopeless. To make the necessary progress we must begin with the child and see to It that he has an education. If the principles of the Knights of Labor are right—and few men question them—we should teach them to the young. It should be a part of the duty of every assembly to ascertain the number of children who do not attend school in its vicinity, learn what the causes are, and take steps to have them attend school. The sword may strike the shackles from the limbs of the slave, but it is education and organization that make him a free man. He is still a slave whose limbs alone have been freed. Of what avail is it to say that we are laboring to establish a system of co-operation, wlten that which is most essential to the success of co-operation is lacking? A business training is necessary to successfully carry on a co-opera-tive enterprise. If the management of the large or small concerns now In operation in this country were turned over to ns to-day we would but run them into the ground, for we lack the business training necessary to successfully operate them. Our vanity may prevent us from acknowledging this to be true, but we cannot deny it. It is through no fault of ours that it is true, but if it continues it will be our fault. I ask that a special Committee on Education be appointed to prepare and recommend to this General Assembly a plan for tho better education of tho American youth. The trouble with trades unioes in which certain of our members und assemblies have been engaged w.as greatly magnified and distorted. The proceedinge of the Cleveland special session of the General Assembly and the report of the GeneralExecotive Board Fubiniltedtoyou to-day will be sufficient. I need not enter into details further than to say that there were mistakes made on both sides. Some of our organizers have been so zealous in their way of organizing that they have encroached upon the prerogatives of other associations, and on several occasions the rights of our members have been seriously interfered with by.members of trades unions. Since the special * session of the General Assembly over fifty cases of dispute between parties of our order and other societieshave been placed before me for adjustment. It was not necessary to place these cases before the General Executive Board, Afew lines in each instance was sufficient, and the trouble ended. To dig up past troubles is unnecessary, and, in consultation with prominent men of the trades unions, I was gratified to learn that they had no desire to revive the past. For the future I recommend that all matters likely to create a breach of the peace between our order and any other be at once submitted to the executives of both organizations. If a trade union complains of any action on the part of our order, let the aggrieved party submit tho matter to. tho president of his union; he to investigate, and failing to effect a remedy, to place the matter before the General Master Workman and Executive Board. If the aggrieved party is a member of an assembly of the Knights of Labor, let the same mode of procedure be gone through with, and, above all things, let a speedy and impartial investigation and an immediate settlement be made. This plan has worked well in every new case called to my attention since the Cleveland session, and it Is worth of adoption. More trouble has been caused us by men who profess to be members of the Knights of Labor than by members of trade unions. I reßpect the man who, being a member of a trade union, does everything honorable in his power to defend and perpetuate his organization; but for the Knight of Labor w-he would even attempt t* subordinate our order to any other I have nothing hut contempt. In my estimation .there is but one place for such a man, and that is on the outside of our order. If the representatives of the trade unions and of our order come together, and both are Sincere in their devotion to their respective organizations, an honest and satisfactory solution of every difficulty can be arrived at. No sacrifice of principle or regard for either organization need attend such a meeting. But the man who through fear, policy, indifference, or a desire to acquire popularity, neglects the interest of the order he represents is not honest, and should not be allowed to act in any capacity for any society of workingmen. With the session of the General Assembly only three days away, it would not be possible for me to say all that I would like to upon the questions that will come before us. My time has been entirely taken up with the detail work of the order, and I was forced to neglect this duty in order to give any time or attention to a preparation for the coming of the General Assembly. It will surprise you to learn that even at this moment, whe'n every member knows fuU well that we are assembled in general convention, Secretaries and members are addressing me at my office in the expectation of receiving an immediate reply. Letters and telegrams by the hundreds will flow in upon fee even while the General Assembly is in session. The duties which called fee away from home for the greater part of the year that has closed made it impossible to give proper attention to my correspondence. To read each letter addressed to me would occupy orery moment of the twenty-four hours, leaving no time to answer or dictate an answer to any of them. I attended to all that I could, and the others wiU never be reached. If this is neglect of duty, then lam guilty; but I have no apology to offer. I did all that I'could do—more could not be expected of me.

I have never, during the seven years that I have served as General Master Workman, made a member of this order a subject of personal or public criticism or abuse. Such treatment has hot been accorded to me. Whether tlio intention was to have me reply through the public press I do not know, but I have made it a rule never to speak in criticism, harsh or otherwise, of a man, except when standing face to face with him. And I have as studiously refrained from replying to or denying attacks or accusations against me, except in the presence of those who made them. When called upon to defend the order or its principleß. J have at- : tempted to do so. I have been accused of displaying a “lack of nerve,” of “want of backbone," and of being too “weak a man to lead a strong movement.” I have never replied to these charges, nor will I do so now. I Simply point back to a record of seven ye«(rs of service and ask this question: If, while nolding a position such as no man, living or dead, ever held before, with the full blaze of public scrutiny shining upon my every action, with public opinion a 3 re arte to condem n as to applaud, I hare displayed a 1 lack oi nerve or backbone, why is it that a million men and women of nerve, backbone, and common-sense have gathered around the standard which was placed in my hands seven years ago. by the founder of the order himself? If I have been proven a weak man, who do so many strong men support ine? I dislike to speak of these matters, but I believe that, in justice to yourselves and me. you should know of ihem. fey men who are not Knights of Labor I have been called weak because I discountenanced violence and hasty, ill advised action. I have no excuse to offer, for if this is an offense let the General Assembly itself offer an apology. My views nporftench questions were known to each General Assembly before my election as General Master Work info, and in electing me they indorsed and made themselves rtspcnsible for these sentiments.