Morning journal and courier., 1880-04-20
Tuesday Morning- April 20, 1880.
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.

l 1L4AEboAAs
 Some uneasiness has been felt concerning
 the character and objects of the secret orgapi-
 zation known as the Knights of Labor The i order has been said to number 8 million and @
 half members, to have such effective and
 thorough machinery that 1t could overthrow
 the whole system of the United States Gov l ernment in twenty four hours, and to have such purposes es to make 1t not unlikely that 1t would ultimately direct it's powers against the Government. And many other preposter- ous statements concerning the Knights and their aims have been made.
 Those who have been lying awake nights in Expectation of an uprising by this alarming and powerful organization will be somewhat reassured by the account of 1t and its objects given by Grand Secretary Litchman, mem Der of the Massachusetts Legislature, and ap- parently man Of peace. It seems that in stead of 100000 Knights there are at most only 500, GOO. The order has been In exist ence eleven years. It Is secret organization, not, as has been charged, for unlawful pur- poses, but to shield from oppression those were compelled to assume positions of lead ership, and to protect them till such time as the operations Of the organization furnish the means for employment to those who are sfblaok-Iisted" or victimized by their em ployers for participation in the order. The order is divided into three branches-Local, District and General Assembly. The local or eanization is intended to be an association for productive distribution and saving co-opera- Exsa aE 4 nh Io composed of not less than five local bodies, is intended to be, in like manner, the productive, distributive and saving agency of the section of country covered by the local bodies under it's jurisdiction. The General Assembly is the supreme head of authority in the order, and composed of representatives of the various District Assemblies, meeting annually. It has already held three annual meetings. The of flee of the General Assembly is to have gen eral supervision of the workings of the order, and to form a grand wholesale agency, by which, through the District Assemblies, the local cooperative agencies are to be supplied The theory is that in time, If necessary, the General Assembly shall own and operate mines, railroads, factories and farms, and thus produce and supply at cost price everything that can feed, cIothe or shelter mankind.
 The position of the order in relation to strikes is thus described ''We do not ap- prove of strikes; in fact, we resolutely set our faces against them. We regard the strike as a relic of the past, which it would be well to bury from sight forever. One grand aim of onr order Is to educate working men and teach them that there are better and cheap CT methods of attaining the same ends which they formerly thought the strike could reach. We believe that the money spent in making a strike can be much more advantageoualy employed in developing and extending the principle of cooperation Our plan is, if difficulty occurs, instead of sustaining the strike, to take If need be, the branch Of labor represented, invest sufficient capital In the name of the General Assembly, and make the strikers producers instead of consumers of the bread of idleness."
 The order is not political in it's aims In the sense of being political party, for men of all the parties belong to 1t. But, in the judg- ment of the Grand Secretary, three-fourths of the members would work heartily for the candidate of the Greenback party, If nomi- mated upon platform which opposed monop- oly in land, labor and money. It has been said, on the other hand that MT. Blaine has strong hold upon the Knights.
 From the above it does not seem that the workings of the order are contrary to the in- terests of the general public. When they are the fact will no doubt be speedily discovered, and until then the timid can rest in peace, so far as the Knights of Labor gre concerned.