Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1886-02-13
THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.

The New York Sun of the 3Oth ult.
devotes nearl Y whole page to his
tory of the order. From its editorial
remarks we take the following, know.
ing it will be of interest to all:
The general idea Of the association,
the combination in one great body of
oil workInen, was conceived in 1869
by Uriah S. Stevens, Philadelphia
clothing-cutter, but it was not until
1872 that he was made President of
the first local assembly, which was es-
tablished in Philadelphia, and was
chiefly made up of members of his
own trade, the purpose being to have
each of these bodies composed, as far
as possible, of individuals of one call
ing. Now the local assemblies num-
Der 1900, with II membership esti-
mated at 100000, and the order has
spread from Europe to California, and
from Hudson Bay to Mexico. The
organization of new assemblies also
goes on rapidly, the average rate of
increase being 100 assemblies per
month, and of membership about 49,
900. Besides workers at the trades,
farmers are rushing by the thousand
into the new local assemblies which
are forming all over the Western
States and Territories, and among the
members of the order are many legis-
Iators and professional men. Seventy
of the incoming Connecticut Legisla.
ture are said to be either knights oil
Labor or owe their election to the or
ganizatlon.
The machinery of the order is al
arranged with reference to centraliza.
ton of power, there being first, local
assemblies, amenable to district as
semblies, which in turn send delegates
to the General Assembly of North
America, that finally elects an exec
utive board, who are supreme. |,
therefore happens that 100000 of the
workmen of the United States arc
under the control of FIVE men alone
The order being secret, the power o
this executive board is all the greater
though thus far they seem to have ex
ercised it with remarkable modera
ton, under the circumstances.
The purposes of the Knights ar
explained in full IN the account W
give Of their organization, but in gen
eral they may be described as the ed
ucation of labor to understand an
defend its lights; but no countenanc
is given by these practical and hard
headed men to the diaboical design
OF the Socialistic lunatics who woult
reduce society to chaos in order to ge
vengeance against pital--who woul
have labor combined for the purpos
of murder and assassination. TIL
Knights are Christians rather tina
anything else, We are told; they hav
no quarrel with the Church, and al
powerful advocates of temperance
their rules forbidding the admissio
to the order of any man who make
money out of rum.
The officers say, too, that their oil
ject is not violence, but the "makin
of peace and bringing about justice
And that the mission of the order
''as an organizer, agltator and educ
tor" and to enable workmen to &c,
act concessions from capital, ofte
without striking" SO that it is cha
monizer and peacemaker."
The secrecy of the order is what "
least like, and we are glad to belle,
that 1t will not be long kept up Ia
more than a merely nominal wa
Labor can afford to fight its BATH
openly, and in the end its succe
will be all the more complete becau
it is not afraid of light.