The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-10-19
TALK WITH a WORKINGMAN.
HIS Grievances and His Hopes For the Future
| Ably Presented
From the New Yo K Sun.

Ably Presented
From the New Yo Sun.
The thirteenth annual convention of the
Knights of Labor was held in this city last
week There were present delegates from
members of the order AS the organization
is secret one, none but the inflated rep
sentatives K low anything of the proceed
ings.
The headquarters of the Knights is at
Pittsburgh. Pa, where they claim to have
a membership of $4,000. Pittsburgh is also
the headquarters of the Amalgamated
Association o. Iron and Steel Workers,
another powerful labor organization, which
has been fighting TO control the labor
market against combined capital for the
past three months.
In conversation with a. delegate from
Pittsburgh, he said it was mistake to
suppose that the Knights of Labor were
in harmony with the Amalgamated asso-
citation in their struggle.
Why, sir" he continued, THE funda-
mental principles of the Knights of Labor
is to lend moral and material aid to the
toiler whereyer found, no matter whether
he Is a member of our order or any other
order If "a man is wage worker he has
I
makes no difference whether he yields a
pc for piGtance of so much per month,
or sings pick in the coal mine for so
much per day. Amy man, cultured or
ignorant, who works for wages naturally
belongs in our ranks, and should be a
Knight of Labor"
Some wage workers object to your or
ganizatioH because it is secret order"
That is all bosh. The Knights of La
Dor, for secrecy, can't compare with the
secret combinations formed by capitalists
ali through this country. We advocate
secrecy simply in self-defence. The histo-
ry of the toiling millions in this land
proves that the cunning capitalist is al
ways on the alert to pump the simple work
men. Consequently we insist on our mem
bers taking an obligation not to talk of the
proceedings of our meetings in public.
This, together with sign of recognition
and pass word. is the extent of our Sc
crecv."
81 suppose you know the clergy are OPP
posed TO your order for the same reason?"
Yes, / have read of their opposition,
and it always occurred to me that no trade
or calling is conducted with more secre cy
than preaching. Just think of how closely
the Roman Catholics, Episcopelians and
p .sbyterians conduct their business Who
knows bow much a clergyman receives for
his nv ces, or who furnishes the money
except within his own congregation? We
do not forget the fact that, while certain
Gle ymen threatened to excommunicate
simple minded workingmen from the church
for beng me nbers of our order, son of
poor carpenter, and one who was a car
penter Himself, preached an entirely diff
ferent doctrine. The laborer is worthy of
his hire is sentiment scarcely ever advo-
Gated by the modern disciples of Jesus of
Nazareth And as for doing unto others
as you would have others do unto you.'
where is the Christian employer who fol-
lows this teaching? No, sir; the time has
passed for workingmen to fear painted
devils. If there is anything in the teach
ings of Christianity let educated capitalists
show woTkingmen that they mean what
they say by practicing what they preach.
Another objection is that all trade or
CARNATIONS prevent boys from learning
trades
f'That is not so. We simply desire
equity in the matter of apprentices. What
we object to is the practice of some greedy
employers filing their shops and factories
with boys All this talk about shutting
out bows from chance to learn trades is
transparent hypocrisy. What many en-
p'oyers are aiming at is cheap labor. They
are nothing for the welfare of the boys"
CAS- apprentices are not supposed to
turn out work equal to skilled journey
men, how do employers of boys compete
with superior workmanship
"Ofcourse work done by apprentices is
much inferior to that done by competent
mechanics; but the inferior stuff is put on
the market so much cheaper than the good
article that it finds many purchasers, who
imagine they are saving money by buying
the counterfeit, Besides in nearly all
scab or rat shops, you will find two or
three botches who call themselves journey
men. With the aid of these fellows boys
turn out something that looks like the
genuine thing"
What are union regulations in regard
to apprentices