The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-06-13
THE KNIGHTS or 4

THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
me 1nter Mountain is just now engaged
III attempting to prejudice the working men
OF Butte against The MINER, ~ the nubl;.
cation OF the following, which il credited -
The MINER:
The d~ynamtter. Moliie Naeuires KNIGHTS ~
Labor and the Chinese must go-neaeeeh,v e
sney Will. but forcibly. II possible.
ms upon examination, we find to be a
sentence that occurred in correspondence
IRON Deer Lodge, and which was published
IN an obscure portion of this paper. It ia
needless to say that it would not have ap-
peared had it not been set up in the tempo
rary absence of the editor. It is not only
Unfair to hold a paper responsible for the
utterances OF a correspondent, but it is
cowardly in the Inter Mountain to publish
the extract in such a manner as to leave
the impression that it was an editorial Mt
~terance.
The present editor of The MINER has
shouldered none of the old quarrels OF THE
MINER and does not mean to do so. His
record upon the question of honest labor is
open to the world. He has never employed
any other kind OF labor. Feeling that upon
SO Important a question the pape should
hold a definite policy, understood beyond
cavil by its constituents, he published on
May %, an editorial on "Organized La
bor,' which, while neither labored nor
elaborate, was intened to and does consti-
tute the platform OF The MINER upon this
subject. The circulation of the paper hav-
ing increased considerably since and many
of it's present readers not having seen the
article in question we will here reproduce
it.:
There is just now, in certain quarters, u hue
ard cry against "organized lDbor.'' What is Or
gan .zed labrr? 1t is the combining of the wage
workers If the country for mutual protection.
Labor has no other meaEs of de ense. Capt. al.
on the o'her hand, is always organized. 1t has
Inherent dement's Of strength that are not com
wS1, ,s to o labor Mol in ID ssiur ,sny , are t1 IT, csn lasfing
zion: l!bor to disintegration. The argument ad-
vanced is that organized labor is a dangerous !
power in the hands of bad men. This is true be
a source of dange,? Does not the country to-day
suffer from the evils resultant from the combining
Oi capital? What . all be more dangerous to the |
commercial Interests OF the country. and e.
pecially to the wage-wOrkers, than the forfeit |
hedged comb instiol of the producers of an
thraciie coai? They not orlv dictate the price
when the various mines shall work and when
they shall be die. To what trains of commercial
injustices and industrial evils does the pooling Of
EARNINGS by parallel lines of railroads lecd? The
Ressemer steel makers for years controlled the
steel product of the country and would do 80 TO-
day had not the so-cal!ed blanket patents ex-
control the production and also the rates of
wages The nail makers, with the exception Of
the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, have COM
Of the Missouri river. The petroleum product of
the country is in the hands of a gigantic mon
opoly. which not only controls its price, but also
Oint out the dangers that are liable to arise to
the country from these combinations oforganized
capital. The Organization of labor is simply an
Offset to these, intended to equallze and neutral
ize the evils threatened by them. The order Of
the Knights of Labor is the most perfect system
Of Iat or organization yet attained in this country
such an organization might be badly directed is
patent to every one. but self-interest will always
dictate the pc icy ct conserv .tlsm advocated by
he Knights of Labor. 1t is not q one-man insti-
tuition, but very Democratic in Its character, in
which the humbiest has the same vice as the
most exalted. The men who have fears Of dan
ger from organized labor give themselves need
anxiety.
This is the view THE MINER takes OF this
It's estimate of the Knights of
Labor is one not hastily formed, but the
result of careful observation of the work
ings OF Trades Unions and labor organiza-
lions OF all sorts in various sections OF the
for twenty years. This was not
as taffy to the workingmen nor
it uttered in a ~demagogical spirit, for
as we understand it, the Knights of Labor
have not a very strong foothold here. 1t
the deliberate outline OF a policy, a
platform that would sway The MINER in
it's future course. This paper is the organ
Of no man, set OF men, clique or faction.
It will treat all subjects OF a political
from a true Democratic standpoint
and all others independently and solely
with a view to the public good. 1t will al
ways have an opinion upon current events
and general-and will not hesitate
to express it. So it has an opinion upon
ne question of labor and that is formulat-
ed in the foregoing extract. Its opinion OF
the Miners Union was thus set forth on
June 9Th:
The Mine s Union of Butte is a mo@ el organ
ization. 1t has done much good i'll the commu-
nity. While it has protected its members. j. has
the wage-workers. BY its fair and conserva-
policy it has gained and holds the COCA Will
of ali the operators. Its coming ball and other
entertainments should be libera'Iy patronlzed by
our people.
This was written and published in the
face of the fact that the Committee OF the
Miners Union had seen fit to withhold from
The MINER the advertisement OF it's bau.
Such an act would not swerve us from a
course of exact justice nor warp our judg-
as to the excellence and value to the
OF an organization.
We will not insult the intelligence OF the
OF this campby saying that we
believe that they will be prejudiced by any
such ~spiteful publications as those con-
tanned in the Inter Mountain. They cannot
help but see the. cowardly and unmanly |
spirit that actuates that publication.
While The MINER will not make many pro-
testations of friendship nor seek patronage
by turbulence, the workingtnen OF the
camp will never have occasion to complain
of the course OF The MINER. We will al
wavs he found upon the side of Justice and
of right.
THE escapade of the banker Fish with