The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-27
PowDERLY's APPEAL.
POWDERLY'S APPEAL.
Strikes and Boycotts Must Stop, or He VIII
Resign His Leadership
ST. Louis, March 26.-The Globe Democrat
to-day prints prominently the following:
[Secret Circular.l
NOBLE ORDER OF THE

4
PHILADELPHIA Pa, March 13, 1886
The recording secretary will, on receipt of this
circular, place it in the hands of the master
workman, whose duty it shall be to issue red
letter call for full meeting, either regular or
special, have a full attendance, and read IT, Its
extreme length must be excused, for cannot
60 to each assembly to speak on the present
crisis, and take this method Of reaching them.
An order was recently issued to suspend or
ganization of new assemblies for forty days. 1t
had been taken. Had not been convinced that
it was absolutely necessary for the salvation Of
the order, my vote would not be cast in favor Of
cessation Of the work.
One Of the gravest emergencies that ever
faced human being stands square]y before the
head of this great order to-day. It is not COM
ing--it is here-and it must be firmly dealt with
Before taking another step in any direction l
want to 60 before the great mass Of our member
ship, through the medium of this circular, ask
of them to speak to me as frankly as now talk
to them and tell me what is best to be DONE II
the order is to perform its mission as intended
by its founders and those who have worked with
it from the beginning, 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 present time, my policy to
advocate oonciliation and arbitration in the set
tlement of disputes between employer and en-
ploye. The law of knighthood demands at the
hands of our members an adherence to that pol
gusted with the runous policy of the strike as the
only remedy for the ills we complain Of were
drawn to US because we had proclaimed to man.
kind that we had discarded the strike until all
else had failed. The men and women who flock
to our standard have knowledge Of their
wrongs. They have endured these wrongs for
years, and in reason are in duty bound to learn
how to right these wrongs by the least expensive
and satisfactory, as well as lasting remedy Six
months will not teach men our principles and
idea that they can learn them in six weeks or
six days, and before the groundwork for prop
er education is laid we find our assemblies on a
strike or locked out and in too many cases the
provocation comes from their own hasty and in
considerate action. No matter what advantage
we gain by the strike, it is only indicating the
symptoms; it does not penetrate the system, and
therefore fails in effecting a cure. The only
natural sequence is relapse, and relapse
always means more medicine and a weaker
patient than before. You must bear with me
and read this letter to the end, for it may be the
last one will ever write to you My duties to
the order and humanity must not be measured
by the standard of dollars and cents. My policy
must no longer be misunderstood. While |, as
the chosen mouthpiece of the order, am pro-
claiming to the world that the Knights of Labor
do not advocate 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
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 general ex-
ecutive board. 1t is claimed by our members
that arbitration is one-sided. That may be true
of the past, but the voluntary concessions made
to US within the last three months prove most
conclusively that the just claims of labor will be
listened to if we 60 forward in the way we
started out 1t is claimed that this is year for
concessions and advances. Be that as it may,
we can not force them by striking.
am aware that the machinery of our order is
not capable of performing the work required by
the large gains in membership, and this fact
must have restraining influence on our mem
bers until the next General Assembly meets.
Five hundred assemblies were added to the roll
in February-as many as were organized in the
first eight years of the orders existence II is
not within the bounds of human possibility to
expect that all these new recruits can be proper
ly trained before the assemblies are founded
The organizers seldom visit them for instruc-
tions but once, and this is not enough. They
must devote their spare moments to educating
those already organized before adding any more
new assemblies to the order. To attempt to win
concessions or gains with our present
raw, undisciplined membership would be
like hurting an unorganized mob against
q well-driled regular army. Again, it is not
fair to the older assemblies to bring in new
members. pick up their quarrels as soon as
organized, ana nave tneu expect pecuulary ala
from those who helped build the order up for a
noble purpose 1t is not wise to give men and
women premium for joining Us. It is wrong
to encourage them in the idea that they have
nothing to do themselves, that they are to lean
upon others; they must depend upon themselves,
and ir any case cannot receive assistance inside
of six months, and / win hold out no induce
ments that will encourage them in the belief that
they will receive assistance even then.
We have built up moral force that will COM
mand hearing for rs before any tribunal in the
country. We must not fritter away our strength
and miss the golden opportunity to crown every
effort with success by rushing into useless
strikes. To the cardinal principles of the order
we must add another-patience, You have had
patience for years; and had not the Knights
of Labor appeared upon the scene you
would still be waiting. Your sea les
Of prices must stand as they are
for the present if you cannot raise them by any
other process than a strike You must submit
to injustice at the hands of the employer in pa
tience for while longer. Bide well your time.
Make no display Of organization or strength
until you have every man and woman IN your
dana rfxnou ou& nf ind nd fhand IN