News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-07-20
OUR TRADES UNIONS.
Their Origin in the United States
The knights OF Labor.

t The origin of trades-unionism in tn,
= United States is yelled in considerable
0 obscurity. There have been no records
{ kept by the organizations, and no one
, has been able to CLEAN facts that would
, establish the exact date. In the yeal
1880 several unions were inaugurate6
in the city of Philadelphia among the
English wage workers of Kensington.
In 1S40 the sold Fighting Balls Inn,
at Third and Thompson streets, Phlla.
deIphia, with all due solemnity, was
decorated with a sign, &c Trades Union
lnn." The Jubilee of the "sign rais-
ing" ended in bitter riot. The year
of 1859 witnessed the dawn of national
unionisn, and from that 5tme until
1880 twenty-three trades formed them
selves into national bodies. In 1880
the following were reported as the na-
tional labor bodies "Amalgamated
Iron and Steel Workers., "Locomo-
tive Engineers" "Iron Moulders. -
Cigar Makers" "Granite Cutters, -
Locomotive Firemen, &" Carpenters
and Joiners" (English), " Furniture
Workers." "Coopers, Machinists and
Blacksmiths," "The International
Labor Union of Amarica " and the
" "Knights of Labor"
1t is estimated that the number of
unionists in this country at the present
time aggregates 455, 900. OF this num-
ber 1000 are in the national organi-
zation and the other $4,000 are scat
tered throughout the States in inde-
pendent local unions. Many of the
latter are preparing to go into the ranks
of the knights of Labor" In the
Eastern States, among the mills of
Lowell and Fall River, there exists no
union. The "Mule Spinners' Union,"
it is reported, was the only union in
that locality, and has recently become
defunct.
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
The organization having the most ex-
tended national reputation is the
"Knights of Labor" It was in the
year of 1869 when it was settled in the
minds of those who had Iabor's interest
nearest at heart that the then existing
trades unions were not fully protecting
labor or improving the condition of the
working classes. Then conscientious
workingman began to think that if Ia
Dor organization were to accomplish
anything it was about time for it to be-
gin. So he called together six other
brethren of his craft to confer with him
on Thanksgiving Day, 1869. These six
men met Uriah Stevens in his parlor to |
devise some means IF def0nse for their |
bread and butter. 1t occurred to them |
that trades unions had failed because |
they We're known and marked while |
they legislated with closed doors, yet
their place o. nlcc-1ES was Known, anc
it was no hard task to surmise what was
going on inside. The first thing set
tied by these seven champions was that
whatever was to be done should be a
profound secret, and SO adrOitly were
their schemes carried out that it was
only recently that the names of the
founders of the knights of Labor be- |
came known to the public. The con-
stitution and the paraphernalia of the |
Order was the work of Uriah Stevens.
He became the first master workman of |
the local assembly. Arbitration is the |
grand theme of this Order. There ex-
lists technical opposition to strikes
it is claimed that it is hunger not the
employer, that wins in the strike-but |
Notwithstanding this beautiful piece of
theorizing, the Knights of Labor have
manipulated strikes, and are to-day
making an ugly fight in the Cumber-
land coal regions.
What is the precise strength of the
membership of the Order, cannot be
accurately ascertained. Editor Arm
strong, OF Pittsburg, says its member
ship to-day is 250,000. A prominent
national organizer when asked said it
was probably about 140, 900 and that it
had grown wonderfully within the last
three months. An ex-Knight of Labor
and recognized labor leader says that
he has definite information that the per
ury is only $4,000 Where the truth
lies is hard to determine; that it is a
prosperous Order cannot be doubted,
but that the figures paraded before the
public are fabulous is self-evidept.
Sixty-one new assemblies were formed
during April of this year. The total
membership of these sixty-one new
assemblies at organization was 2.70S.
This is regarded, so says their official
journal, as ''the best single months
record in the history of the Order"
Many of these assemblies are "mixed,"
being composed of male and female
wage-workers. Three were exclusively
women. This makes seven women
assemblies in all. There are forty-six
district assemblies, composed of $50
subordinate local assemblies. There are
also 126 local assem- blies under the
jurisdiction Of the General National
Assembly. One hundred and twenty
five district organizers and twenty
three national organizers. The national
officers Rre:-MayOr T. V. Powderly, of
Scranton, Pa, Grand Master Work
man; Richard Griffiths, of Chicago,
ILL.,, Grand Worthy Foreman; Robert
d. Layton, of Pittsburg, Pa, Grand
Secretary; Gilbert lockwood, of Pitts
burg, Pa, Assistant Grand Secretary;
Theodore F. Cayno, of Brooklyn, N. Y,
Grand Statistician. The Executive
Board is composed of t. V. Powderly,
Chairman; James Campbell, Secretary;
Robert D. Layton, Myles McPadden,
Pittsburg, Pa, and Archibald Cowan,
Coal Bluffs, Washington County, Pa
The next regular annual session of the
General Assembly will be held in the
city of New York, commencing Tues
day, September 5.
Mr.. Stevens was reticent in oil his
affairs, but it is claimed by some of his
most intimate friends that just before
his death he regarded the Knights of
Labor as a useless organization. During
an informal gathering at his house,
where three of the original seven were
chatting together-James Wright, L.
F. Sinicson and W. +. Philips-one of
them remarked that the usefulness of
| the Knights of Labor was over. That