The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-24
PowderIy and Turner on the Situation.


PowderIy and Turner the Situation.
Washington Special to st. Louis Globe Democrat.
Messrs. T. V. Powderly, of Scranton, Pa:
Frederick Turner, of Philadelphia; Joseph K.
Buchanan, of Denver, Col; John w. Hays, of
New Brunswick. n. j., and VIM. H. Bailey, of
Shawnee, O., general executive committee of the
Knights of Labor, here. Your correspond
ant obtained an interview with Mr. Powderly
who, besides being chairman of the executive
committee, is general master workman of the
Knights Of Labor The other four members of
the committee were with him, and occasionally
put in remark asserting to and indorsing what
Mr. Powderly said.
''Do you expect to meet delegation of St
Louis knights here, Mr.. PowderlyF inquired the
Globe Democrats representative
mo. sir, " he replied that is mistake, ana it
no doubt originated in this way: My brethren
here OF the executive committee have just been
to ST. Louis to look into the situation there and
from st. Louis they came on to Washington,
where joined them. was prevented by illness
from accompanying them 80 st. Louis. They
gave out that they were coming on to Washing
ton, and from that | suppose the impression
arose that a st. Louis delegation was coming
here. We are not here to meet anybody. To-
morrow we 60 to New York to make another
effort to meet the officials of the Wabash rail
road"
mo, indeed. They have run away from US so
lar, but we intend to meet them if it takes all
summer. We want to talk to them, to
man, about the trouble, and settle fairly Now
it mas been said that there is a strike on the
Wabash road. That is not true There was no
necessity for this trouble. There is none now.
1t was all brought about for stock iobbing pur-
poses by Jay Gould. He is trying to scare the
English bondholders and force them to sell out
by making it appear that big strike which may
the threatened
can meet Mr.. Talmage or the parties interested
most deeply in the success of the road we can
satisfy him, unless he is acting under the orders
of Gould and doesn't want to be satisfied that the
knights of Labor do not want any trouble. They
want work, and it is not their fault that any
trouble exists now"
mo, SIR it is not" spoke up Mr. Turner sec
rotary and treasurer of the organization. 1T
has been said that this is a strike of the Knights
OF Labor This is not true. Our people were
locked out Sixteen hundred of our men were
locked out by the Wabash management in
violation of the agreement made last March.
That agreement was compromise in which it
was stipulated that if men were not needed they
were to be laid off after three days notice, and
that no other men should be taken in their
places. but that the old men were to be restored
to work as soon as there should be work for
them. Our men were locked out. without any
notice, on June Is, and on June Is the manage
ment began to put new men in their places
They offered to take our men back if they would
abandon the Knights OF Labor"
What did your board do in st. Louis, Mr..
Turner was asked.
I'VE first endeavored" he replied, Ito see Mr.
Talmage manager of the Wabash road We
called at his office, and his secretary informed
us that he was out of the city. He promised to
ascertain his whereabouts, and at 4 o'clock that
afternoon told us that he had gone East. We
discovered. no matter how. that he was in Han
nibal. We communicated with him, and received
D reply from Decatur. in which Mr. Talmage de-
:ared that If there had been a lockout he did not
know of it. and had not ordered It, Now. we
have got possession of some of his official letters
which disprove that statement. In one of them
he says that he means first to break up the
Knights of Labor, and that next he means to
turn his attention to the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Engineers. Now, that shows how he
feels, to say nothing of his continued evasion of
u.s."
did your board take any official action in st.
Louis, Mr. Turner2'
Only this: We issued an order that none of
the rolling stock of the Wabash should be
cleaned or repaired by our men on other lines,
and also that Our men of other lines should not
handle the freight of the Wabash
Right there" suggested Mr.. Powderly, ~
want to call your attention to point and to
make h prediction. In order TO properly pre-.
serve locomotives and keep them in safe running
condition ii is necessary to clean them at least
every three days. Now, they have been
ming engines on the Wabash road for eighteen
DAYS without cleaning Some day there will be
IN eA1losion, and then it will lie charged that
the kaights of Labor are blowing up locomotives