The Labor enquirer., 1883-03-10

hands Of evil legislators who haVe per-
verted the constitution of this country |
for the purpose of building up particu-
lar class Of ari8tocratic; powerful, money |
ed men at the" expense of the Iaboring
poor Of the entire land, agricultural as
well as industrial. That is my belief
about it, and, sir, shall speak it here
openly, in the fear Of God as to the
truth Of the utterance, and not in the
fear orman."
History of the knights OF Labor.
Tie following is synopsis of an ad-
dress on the origin and growth Of the
Knights Of Labor by Grand Master
Workman PowderIv. delivered some
time ago. in Buffalo:
81 have been requested to give asketch
Of the rise of the Knights Of Labor The
1order had Its origin in the city of PhiIa-
deIphia number Of years ago, among d
& few earnest men who saw that the ex-
listing labor organizations did not cover
| the needs of the toiling masses. There
had been many societies before, but
they were Of the close communion kind,
as their doors were closed to all but
members Of their immediate trades.
I There were the Crispins, for example,
and the Machinists and BIacksmiths'
union, in existence, and while they did
an immen5e,amont Of. benefit in their
immediate sphere, yet they did nothing
for the men who worked along side, Of
fthem if they CHANGED to be engaged in
some other description of labor saw
this myself, for was master workman
Of OLD No. 9, Of Scranton, and remained
50 until it Ieftme with all the property
Of that NJ and B. union on my hands,
| and have it now in NV house at Scran-
ton. 70 return, however, the old So
cieties in Philadelphia were of no gen
eraI benefit to the cause of labor; they
were close corporations and selfish, and
| the earnest men saw that something Of
4 far more catholic character was needed
in order to win for labor what was its
due, donot speak of this selfshness
in a dpprecatory spirit; indeed selfish
ness is the mainspIing Of most human
action and Of most great movements.
You show men where they are going to
! be benefited by any particular move
ment and you may induce them to Join
/ it; you must excite their sqlfinterest
before you awaken their symp2thios.
/ So the men. who saw that the Iaborer
was not benefited by the Machinist5'
union, or the joiner by the Crispjus,,
went TO work to broaden the existing
system, and built up knights Of Labor
Assembly No, ], in Philadelphia. Itwas
kept secret for many years. 1t was
deemed wisest that it should be 50. for
when men are known as the leaders in
labor movements they become noted,
and sometimes they are marked men.
From Assembly No. l was formed Nos 9
and 3, as more members became attract
ed into our movement BY and by mem
bers Of these parent assemblies moved
away from Philadelphia and established
themselves elsewhere. They carried
with them the principles which had be-
come dear to them, and Wherever they
went they established new assemblies.
| became identified with that in Scran-
ton in 1873. 1t left the United States
and crossed over into New Jersey then
|. It swept across the country to San Fran.
cisco, end only the day before l left
home | mailed commission for the
formation of an assembly at Butte CITY,
Montana. The growth of the organiza-
ton was carried on in profound secrecy
until last year 1881 saw the first an
DOuncement of the existence of the
order made to the general public. OIL
course people saw that there was some
great movement progressing under the
sur ace, some power which was arraying
the workingmen in solid masses for self
protection, but the secret was we'll kept
until it was deeme advisable to let the
world know Of the existence of a union
among Workingmen, broad enough to7
embrace all crafts, nationalities and
creeds.
Frnro tha YnOrnaI7t hnco mo knOrv,, i+e