New-York tribune., 1886-04-01
LABOR ORGANIZATTON USEFUL.

Two cases have recently arisen to test the
fairness and wisdom of the Knights of Labor.
Other organizations of labor, with scarcely an
exception, have gone To pieces or gone doWh
under similar tests. They have proved either
unable to see what was right, or unable to COM
mand the support of angry workers. Inc
Knights of Labor have recently found that IN
two cases important strikes have been ordered
by subordinate officers without justification.
The Missouri Pacific strike had been ordered
without any statement of grievances or oppor-
tunity to adjust them, no twthstandlng the
agreement made by the knights of Labor last
Auguat. At Lynn, Mass, the Knights OF Labor
stopped by boycott the operation of an engine
bv which steam power was furnished to fifteen
factories. and these were compelled to shut
down. In this case, Grand Master Powderly
saw that the Knights of Labor had been in the
wrong, and under his advice the local Organiza-
ton ordered the engineer back to his work.
But the remedy did not go far enough, for it
did not undo all that had been wrongly done
The employer refuses to employ the engineer
again, OIL to start the engine until the unjust
boycott has been removed In the Missouri
Pacific case, Mr. Hoxie declined tn consider any
arbitration until the men had returned to the
Nrk which they had wrongfully discontinued
as it il now admitted, and the justice of this
position is recognized by the order of the Grand
Master that the men shall at once return to
tnat work.
These circumstances illustrate the fact that
wisely conducted organization can be of meal
culable benefit to the workngmen. Local
bodies will not always act without passion or
prejudice. Local leaders do not always avoid
error in Judgment. Indeed, it is as hard Tor
local organizations of workers to choose wise
and iudcious Ilen for such positions as lt Is
for the whole people to get wise Aldermen or
Legislators, Mayors or Governors. But when
Il local organ zatlon makes mistake, III Is eX-
ceedngly difficult to get it corrected by the
men who made it. Wisely it has been SAID that
II is hundred times as hard to end strike as
to begin one. The existence of superior or
ganization, which represents the workers OF the
whole country, which earns their high conf
dence by steadfast fidelity and wisdom and
which does not hesitate TO set them right when
ever they have started wrong, may become an
inestimabe blessing TO all the workers of the
country and to the whole people.
To appreciate lis possible benefits it is only
necessary to consider what a vast Improvement
Powderly and the Executive Committee of the
Knights of Labor were strictly enforced in all
cases Think what a change there would be, if
workers should never strike until they had
plainly stated their grievances, and given
reasonable time for the adjustment of them,
and honestly endeavored to remove them by |
arbitration. What a change it would be II, |
when any strike had been begun without
such an effort, or ithout just cause, the men |
should he ordered back to work by their most
trusted leaders. What help to all the civil
authorities cit would be, if an organization
rcpresenting the interests of all labor should
instantly order men back to their work, and
terminate any strike, whenever lawless vio-
lence was employed to aid that strike COnsid- |
ering these Things, employers who have OBJ
jected to any organization of the wOrkngmen
may reconsider their opinion. A wisely con-
Quoted organization, clothed with power
enough to enforce its orders, might be bless
Ing to the n en- and the country.