St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-10

a clothing cutter in Philadelphia and a man
of uncommon intelligence and mastery over
his fellow worImen. established the pres
ent order with an ambition even grander
than the realization has been. though i'm a
most humble way. Stevens was born re-
former and philosopher, given over to the
study of the conflicting ambitions of man.
kind, and to the effort to elevate and
strengthen the working people. He was
born in Cape May county, n. j., on Aug.
3, 1921, of well-to-do parents, and is said
to have been carefully educated, and he be-
came tailor, and in 1915 was working at
his trade in Philadelphia. The idea he de-
veloped and impressed upon his companions
in the clothing and other trades led them,
with him, to conceive the idea of ma
tional labor association for the protection
of wOrkingmen against combinations of
capital. He was chosen to preside over the
first organization, which was not properly
organized as Local Assembly, No. l, until
1878. This was in Philadelpha-an or
ganization largely composed of clothing cut
tiers at first.
The order spread from one body of work
men to another in Philadelphia until it com
bined nearly all the trades and great pro-
portion of the wOrkingmen there. Its
vigorous growth, such as marked its his
tory In Philadelphia, was next continued in
PittSburg. In 1873 a convention was
called to form general assembly of North
America. and Mr. Stevens was chosen
general master workman. Afterward he
was reelected to the post, the supreme one
of the order. He was twice a candidate
for congress. He died in 1882, and his
memory is idolzed in the organization.
James L. Wright, tailor. and Frederick
Turner. a gOldbeater, both in Philadelp ha
tuif 1,a 80,
fishing the first lodge or local assembly, rs
the smaller component parts of the aggre-
cation of lodges are called. These two.
with Others drew up ritual and attended
the birth of the order as an absolutely secret
society. The society was then known as
the Noble Order OF the Knights of Labor
just as it is now, but on pain of dismissal
even that name was kept secret, and all
public communications in its name or in
reference to it bore the sign 4,
1.-The Five Asterisks," or
1.-THE FIVE STARS"
were the names it went by in the everyday
talk and secret work Of its members. The
name Knights of Labor was not made pub
lie until 1881. Stevens was great be-
lever in mystery. He did not share the
American dislike for secrecy. Not only
did he arrange that the name should be
smothered, but it was his rule that no MEM
Der of the order should ever acknowledge
any thing about it, not even his own
membership of it. In those days calls for
meetings of local assemblies or district as
semblies were chalked in cabalstic signs
upon the sidewalks. and when the fact be-
came noSed about in PHILADELPHIA that a
few queer chalk marks on the sidewalk in
front of old Independence hall would bring
1900 to 1000 men together in a few hours
1t created great excitement. alarm and so
much opposition that the clergy, not onlv
of the secret-hating Roman Catholic
church, but also of the Presbyterian. LII
theran and other churches, assailed the
new order from the pulpit. Nothing him
dered its wOndr0us growth. 1t has spread
from Europe to California and from Hud-
son bay to Mexico. Its membership has
been here set down as in the neighbOrhood
of 500. 600, but the truth about its member
ship is the secret most jealousy guarded
among the vanishing mysteries OF the grow
ing order
The Western farmers used to be afraid
there was something anarchiStlc about the
order, but the shrewd leaders caught them
with those planks in the declaration which
oppose monopolies and land-grabbing, and
with that which seems TO lean toward
greenbackSm. Now they are tumblng by
the thousands into the new local assemblies
that are forming all over the territories and
Western states. and find themselves warmly
welcomed, because the chiefs of the order
say, they are intelligent voters, deep
thinkers and stubborn claimants for their
rights.
The tx. of L." as its members call it,
includes among its members congressman,
senators, assemblymen, mayors, and in
some cities entr re municipal governments,
clergymen. physicians, journalists, capital
lists and employers in many lines of trade
and manufacture. 1t first made use of the
centennial exposition to disseminate news
of its existence and to scatter its influence.
One of its rules is to employ no mission
are, and to do no PROSECUTING what
ever beyond the wide distribution Of what