San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1886-04-08
PoMderlY,s Pronunciamento.

ST. Louis, March 26. - Genera
Master Workman Powderly has is
sued the following appeal to the
Knights of Labor. 1t is headed, "A
Secret Circular y:
NOBLE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF
LABOR OF AMERICA, PHILADELPHIA, Pa,
March 13, 1886. - The Recording
Secretary will, on receipt of this Cir
cular, place it in the hands of the
Master Workman, whose duty it shall
be to issue o red-letter call for full
meeting, either regular or special,
have full attendance, and read it.
Its extreme length must be excused,
for 1 cannot go to each assembly to
speak on the present crisis, and take
this method of reaching them.
An order was recently issued to
suspend organization of new assem-
blies for forty days. 1t did not go
out until careful review Of the field
had been taken. Had I not been
convinced that it was absolutely nee
essary for the salvation of the order,
my vote would not be cast in favor of
a cessation of the work.
One of the gravest emergencies
that ever faced human being stands
squarely before the head of this or
der to- day. 1t is not coming-it is
here-and it must be firmly dealt
with. Before taking another step in
any direction, 1 want to go through
the great mass of our membership,
through the medium of this circular,
ask of them to speak to me as frankly
as 1 now talk to them, and tell me
what is best to be done. If the order
is to perform it's mission as intended
by it's founders and those who have
worked with it from the beginning,
a radical change must be effected. A
stop must be called, and the ship
brought back to her moorings. 1t
has always been, and is at the pres
ent time, my policy to advocate con-
ciliation and arbitration in the settle
ment of disputes between employer
and employe. The law of Knight
hood demands at the hands of our
members an adherence to that pol
icy. Thousands of men who had be
come disgusted with the ruinous pol
icy of the strike as the only remedy
for the ills we complain of, were
drawn to us because we had pro-
to mankind that we had dis
carded the strike until all else had
failed. The men and women iwho
flock to our standard have a knowl-
edge of their wrongs. They have en-
dured these wrongs for years, and in
reason are in duty bound to learn
how to right these wrongs by the
least expensive and most satisfactory
as well as lasting remedy.
TIME REQUIRED.
Six months will not teach men our
principles and proper methods, yet
men are impressed with the idea
that they can learn them in six weeks
Or six days, and before the ground
work for proper education is laid
we find our assemblies on strike or
lockout; and in too many cases the
provocation comes from their own
hasty and inconsiderate action. No
matter what advantage we gain by
the strike, it is only medicating the
symptoms; it does not penetrate the
system, and therefore fails in effect
ing cure. The only natural Sc
4uence is a relapse, and a relapse al
ways means more medicine, and a
weaker patient than before. You
must bear with me, and read this let
ter to the end, for it may be the last
one / will ever write to you. My du-
ties to the order and humanity must
not be measured by the standard of
dollars and cents. My policy must
no longer be misunderstood. While
I. as the chosen mouthpiece Of the or
der, am proclaiming to the world
that the knights Of Labor do not ad-
vocate or countenance strikes until
every other remedy has failed, the
wires from a thousand cities and
towns are bearing the news Of as
many strikes by Knights Of labor, in
which arbitration aud conciliation
were never limited at Not that alone,
but they were in many cases scorned
and rejected by our own members
In some cases these strikes were en-
tered upon against the advice Of the
Executive Board II Is
by our members that arbitra-
tion j. one sided That may be true
Of the past, but the voluntary conoes-
sons made TO us within the last three
months prove most conclusively that
the Just clains Of labor VII be is-