Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-04-16
Characteristic Correspondence.

Characteristic Correspondence.
NEW York. April 14.-There has
been voluminous correspondence
between Gould and Powderly, dated
Scranton, Pa, April IL, and reply
from Gould, this date. The foliow-
ing is the substance Of Powdery's
letter:
SCRANTON, Pa. April IL.
To jay Gould, President Missouri
Pacific Railroad:
Dear sir: The events of the past
forty eight hours must have demon
strated TO you the absolute necessity
Of bringing this terrible struggle
II he southwest to speedy termina-
|, iou. You have the power, author
ny AMI means to bring the strike
t".a n end. have done everything
~ my power. and everything consis-
,eut with honor and manhood has
been done in the interest of peace.
No false notions of pride or dignity
have swayed us in our dealings with
you or the gentleman associated
with you. When I, as chief officer,
send a message of such a nature that
it is understood to be my wishes,
and those wishes are respected by
the subordinate officer to whom
they are sent, it is not his place to
put different construction on them
and give them his own interpreted
tion. His duty is 10 obey the
spirit of the instruction. A man in
power.
NEED NOT BE AN AUTOCRAT
To have his wishes respected; such
was my idea when l left your house
that night" After devoting some
space to defining the relations of
the district assembly to thu general
assembly, ETC.. Powderly continues: j
When, on Monday, March 20, you
send me a letter marked personal"
You at the same time told q news
poper correspondent that you had
done so. What your motive was in
marking your letter personal" and
at the same time informing represent
alive OF the press that you had done
so, l do not know, nor do l question
the motive. feel it to be my duty
to let the public see the letter VIII ich
contained nothing of PERSONAL
nature whatever. There are people
who might be uncharitable enough
to say that your intention was to
give the impression that there was
something between you and me
which would not bear the light OF
public scrutiny. have nothing to
conceal. You con settle the strike.
A longer continuance rests with you
and you alone. Every act of VIC.
lence, every drop of blood that may
be shed from this time forth must be
laid at your door. The knights of
Labor were not founded to promote
or shield wrong doing and to- day
the order of the Knights of Labor
stands between your property and
ruin. You said that the order of
knights of Labor was conspiracy,
a secret menace, etc. am willing,
as chief officer, to lay
EVERYTHING CONNECTED WITH OUR ORDER
Bare to the world, if you will on
the other hand lay bare to the pub
lie the means and methods whereby
you have piled up the wealth with
your control, and allow a tribunal of
public opinion to decide which is
aud which is not conspiracy"
Do you accept the challenge? We
will DO your avengers if you have
been wronged, and we will be known
10 the world through the courts of
Justice; and let me say that no
money will buy q verdict at tho
hands OF the courts. This certainly
means war, but it means war between
capital, honest enterprise and honest
lnbor on the one hand and illegiti-
mate gains and methods on the
other. There will he no mobs in
this supreme hour, to silence any
mans opinion; no converts will be
made by physical force. You have
been warned that your life is in dan
ger. Pay no attention to such talk.
No man with the interest of the
country at heart would harm a hair
ofyour head; but the system which
reaches out on all sides and gathers
millions Of dollars of treasure and
keeps them out of the legitimate
channel of commerce will be.
have taken counsel of the bes, legal
minds in the United States. We are
prepared to face you before the courts
and now await your action in the
matter. This is no threat I speak
for 300, 900 organized men, who are
ready to pay out their last farthing
[s- THAT JUSTICE PREVAIL.
You have it in your own power to
make friends with these men BY act
ing the part of man, by taking tho
matter in your own hand. Will YOU
do SO and end this strike in the in
terest of humanity and our common
country?
Gouid's Reply.
Powderly's letter was sent to Gould
through w. S. Mcdowell, with in
structions that il Gould, to whom
these written Instructions We're also
submitted, did not consent to an
honorable settlement of the difficulty
before five o'clock OF the day the
letters were delivered, or at that
hour still preserved silence, to allow
the letters to be published.
At the opening of his reply to
Powderly. Gould quotes this letter
of instructions to Mcdowell, and
acknowledges the receipt of Powder
ly's letter, the substance of which is
given above. Gould then proceeds
to construe Powderly's letter as an
official declaration that the knights
of Labor had determined to pursue
him personally unless the Missouri
Pacific company should yield to its
l. ,yhok xh,u conzl