Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-05-21

hand Of kindness. / bate the uses 70
which rum has been put, but itio INV
duty ~ reach down and lift IN the
man who has fallen a victim to the
use Of liquor. II there is such a mar
within the sound Of the stcietary's
voice when this is read, l ask him to
stand erect on the floor OF his assembly.
raise his hand to heaven and repeat
with me these Words
l am a Knight of Labor. 1 believe
that every man shold be free from the
curse of slavery, whether the slavery
appears in the shape OF monopoly,
usury or intemperance. The irmest
link IN the chain of oppression is the
one l forge when l drown nan
hood and reason in drink. No
man can rob me Of the brain my God
has given me, unless ! am a party to
the theft. If | drink to drown grief,
[ bring grief to wife and child and
sorrowing friends. l add not n iota
of the sum of human happiness when
l invite oblivion over the rim Of a
glass. If one moments forgetfulness
or ~inattention to duty while drunk
brings defeat to the least of labor's
plans, a lifetime of attention to duty
alone can repair the loss. l promise
never again TO put myself in such a
position"
If every member of the Knights Of
Labor would pass a resolution to boy
colt strong drink, so far as he is con-
cerned, for five years, and would pledge
his word to study the labor question
from its different stand points, we
would then have an invincible host
arrayed on the side of justice. We
have, through some unfortunate mis-
understanding, incurred the enmity of
several trade unions. While | can fad
no excuse for the unmanly attack upon
US by some of these people at a time
when we stood face to face with a
most perplexing question, neither can
l see any good reason why there should
be any cause for a gu trrel. We must
have no clashing between the lei of
labor's army. If l am the cause Of
the trouble, l stand ready, at a mo-
menL's notice to make way for
any one of my rivals whom tie general
assembly may select. When l joined
thu Heights Of Labor l left the trade
union. | believe the acts and OBJ let's
of our order come first. | believe in
combining all the scattered battalions
If labor's mighty host in n grand
whole. L.bor saving inventions, steam
and electricity have forever broken the
power Of one trade or division of labor
to stand and legislate for itself alone,
and with the craft that stlishly legis-
lates for itself alone l have no SYM
patty. Well may we say Of the men
VINO are fighting US, "Forgive them,
Father, for they know not what they
do" Break the power of the Koights
of Labor, and you have labor bound
hand and foot, over tp' its enemies.
Years ago | extended invitations to
men Of all trades to become a part and
parcel of the Knights of Labor. To-
day | stand ready to make every honor
able concession, to do everything in
honor to bring about a better feeling
between trade-unions and the Knights
of Labor. At the special session of
the general assembly the entire trouble
can and must be settled. If mistakes
have been made they must be rectided,
if wrongs have been inflicted they must
be righted, but there is n thing that
will not be done while l stand at the
head of this organization-it will not
be used to further the schemes of in.
dividuals, cliques or parties; it will be
subordinate to no other organization
on earth. T. V. PowDERLY,
General Master Workman.