St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-15
Master Workman POwderly Informs Jay
Gould of the Probable Outcome of the
Strike Unless BE Settles It.
Labor and Capital to Meet in Struggle
fora Supremacy Which Shall Last
for All Time.
The Courts Selected for the Combat
between the Monarch OF Money
aud the Men OF Muscle.
Il Challenge To the Great Financier to
Meet the knights of Labor in
the Legal Ring.
An Appeal from Powderly.

| W" Aolsh. Aprli l4.-Ine lOllOWlhH
correspondence is self explanatory:
scranton, Pa, April III, O'Clock a. m, Jay
Ooulc, Esq, president Missouri Pacific rail-
Tau.-Oear sir; The events OF the past
| iorty-eight hours must have demonstrated 70
| you TUG absolute necessity of bringing this
| teIrioie struggle In the Southwest to a speedy
eelnllnaton' You have the power, the
al and the means to bring the strike
W an Gnu L have done everything in my
power TO end the strike The gentlemen as
| socsteu with me on the general executive
pOaru OF the Knights OF Labor have done the
same Everything consistent with honor and
nhahhoCd has been done in the interest OF
peace. No false notions of pride or dignity
nave sWayed US in our dealing with
you or the gentlemen associated with
| you In the conference with you on
sunday, March %, 1 understand you 10
mean that arbitration would be agreed
| 10. The only method of arbitration that was
discussed was in line with that suggested In
the letter which sent 10 you in the name of
our board, the day previous. There was
nothlhg particular agreed upon, as YOU well
know. You said that in arbitrating the mat
yer the damages sustained by the company
during the strike ought TO receive considera-
| ion- said 10 you il would not be the
PART or WISDOM
10 bring that question up in the settlement of
the strike. When 1 called upon YOU again
that evening you had prepared, as the result
OF your Understanding of the mornings in
| tefNew, letter which you intended TO give
me. Ii will not in any way mend matters. on
the contrary IL will make things worse
mere are along the roads out there great
many men who have no regard for organiza-
uon or law, men OF hard spirit, energy and
Harlhg. such men Us have left the East and
| nave taken up their homes in wild coun-
/ try such as that viii not submit TO
quiet a. men they have left behind in the
East' All feeling and they apt to do rasher
/ thlngs than they would do elsewhere and |
| nave no doubt we have some OF them in our
U or IN tact' my experience with the men
III that vest section leads me to think that
men on both sides out there are more dare
| ueNiiish tnan they are in the East. Every
| business man OF that country is of that
stamp OF character.
MI. Powderly then reeites the language
used at the Interview between himself, Mr..
Gould and Mr.. Hopkins, when Mr.. Gould
sent his famous message to Mr.. HOxie in
structlng him to arbitrate, and gives il as
his opinion that the message was as much
an order as suggestion and should have
oeeh aeteu upon. After stating his posi-
tloh III regard to the matter, he SAYS:
YOU CAN SETTLE THIS STRIKE
us longer continuance rests with you, and
you alone. Every act of violence, 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
sh4eid wiong-doing, and to-day the order of
the hnlghts OF Labor stands between your
prosperity and ruin. We are willing TO alb
solve the men along your railways from their
allegiance 10 our order. We leave that TO
themselves. We will not allow any claims
winch the order may have on them to stand
between them and their restoration to their
former positions. The order of the knights
OF Labor asks no man TO remain a member IL
IL Is not 10 his interest TO do so. You may
dea with them as citizens if you will
we Will surrender our right to
claim these men as members if they
wish, but we will not surrender our
rights to see this affair thoroughly iryesti-
gated. You have said that the order OF the
knights OF Labor was conspiracy a secret
menace, etc. am willing, as the chief Off
Ger, 10 lay everything connected with our Or
DER bare 10 the world, if you WILL on the
other hand, lay open to the public the means
and methods whereby you have piled up the
wealth. which you control, and allow the tri-
bunal Of public opinion to
PASS IN JUDGMENT
on this. and say which is the conspiracy. Do
you accept the challenge? You have in
! structed your legal adviser to proceed against
every man connected with IKE knights of
Labor Tor The damages sustained since the
strike began. Two weeks ago 1 said; "Do
not do this" To-day say, begin at once
Lay claims Tor damages in every court within
whose jurisdiction a Knight exists Proceed at
once and in every state where you can record
damages do so If the law will sustain you in
/ IT. Let the majesty of the law be vindicated
Ii is Just aud right that il should be So We
are willing 10 face you before the law and we
Will hight you with no other weapon For
violation Of the law of state or nation we will
enter suit against you and in this crusade
against you do not understand that we mean
| TO prosecute. On the contrary we wish 10
see the law indicated. You have at all times
| ooeYed the law In your dealings, in the
methods by which you have acquired
YOUR IMMENSE FORTUNE,
then 1t is time that the many ofenses with
which you are charged should be refuted.
You have remained silent under many dam
aging charge OF injur1ng the state. We will
be your avengers. III you have been wronged
we viii let Z be known 10 the world through
| the medium of the courts OF Justice, and let
me say right here that no money will buy n
verdict AT the hands of these courts. There
are people who say that this struggle Is the
| beginning OF the war between capital and
labor That statement is false. This GER
| tainly means war, but il is war between
legitimate capital, honest enterprise aud
| honest labor on the one hand. and fllegiti-
mate on the other hand. This is a war in
which We court the fullest investigation of
our acts Do you dare 20 do the sameg
Mr.. POwderly, after stating the character
OF the war which they intend TO wage,
saws:
You have been warned that your life is in
danger. Pay no attention TO such talk No
man who has the interest of his country nj
heart would harm hair of your head. But
the system which reaches out all sides,
gathering in the millions of dollars Of treasure
and keeping them out of the legitimate cham
nels of trade and commerce. must die, and
those whose money is invested in the enter
prises which stock-gambling has throttled,
| must make common cause with those who
have been denied the right 10 earn enough to
Provide the merest necessarics of life for
home and family. When i say to you that
we will meet you in the courts / do not speak
rashly or ill-advisediy. / have taken counsel
from the best legal minds OF the United
| States. We are prepared 10 face you
BEFORE THE COURTS
and now await your action in the matter
This Is no threat. play no game OF blun
or chance 1 speak for 100000 Organized
men. who arc ready 10 pay out the last fartl-
| ing I'm oder that justice may prevail. You
| haven't in your power TO make friends OF
these men by acting the pBrt of a man, by
taking the matter into your own hands. Will
you 40 SO ana end this strife in the interest
/ of humanity and our common country IL
| is your duty TO brush aside every obstacle,
assert your authority and take this matter in
your own hRnHs, settle every grievance, re-
store every IN 20 his proper place, except
49, 80 NN' SSch SueaEcu III tho uestIuc-
ton OF property or who have broken the
laws. Will you do this. You can then make
rules and agreements with your mon which
VIII forever preclude the possibility of
another such disastrous conflict Us this one
has proved itself to be. / remain very truly
yours, 4. V. PowDERLY, G. NJ. w. X. of L.
THE MAN OF MONEY.
A Letter From lay Gould I'm Reply
To POWdcrly.