Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-05-11
OF KNIGHTS OF LABOR OF
AMERICA.
PHILADELPHIA. Nav 3.

NOBLE ORDER OF KNIGHTS OF LABOR OF
AMERICA.
PHILADELPHIA. May 8.
10 the Order ESeryw here Greeting:
The response to the secret circular issued
On idar.h IL has heen so general, ard the en-
dorsrment Of the sentiments contained in it
has been so unanimous that | feel encour-
aged and strengthened in the work. Nearly
-FOUR thousand assemblies have pledged them
selves to act on advice contained in the cir
cular of the 18th ulIimO. | feel that 1t oniy
requires the coming forward of the real men
OF our order to set us right before the World
We have been losing ground so far as public
opinion Is Concerned for some time. One of
the causes is that we have allowed things to
be done under the name of the Knight of
Labor for which the organization was ia no
way responsible. l ask of our members to
keep jealous eye upon the doings of labor
ing men who never labor and when they
charge anything to our order in your locality
set the seal of your condemnation upon it at
once by denying it.
1T paper criticses the Knights of Labor
or its officers, do not boycott, and if YOU have
anv such boycotts on remove them. Jour
nal not long since made some uncomplimen- H.
tary illusions to the general master workman
of the Knights of Labor, and at the next
meeting of the assembly vote was cast to
boycott the paper, and not that alone but
every paper. | wrote to the assembly asking
that they remove the boycott and it was done.
Let ME direct your attention to a few little
abuses. l find that wherever a strike occurs
appeals for aid are scattered broadcast among
the assemblies. DO not pay one cent for such
purposes in the future, unless the appeal
comes from your own district assembly or the
general assembly. If boycott notices are
sent to you burn them Our order has been
used as tail for a hundred kites, and in the
future it must soar aloft free of all of them.
hate the word boycott. l was boycotted
ten years ago and could not get work at my
trade for months. 1t is a bad practice. II
has been handed to us by capitalists. have
no use for it only when everything else fails
In the future the general executive board
must not be interfered with in the perform
ance of its duty. If you have confidence in
them, sustain them aud obey them; if not,
ask for their resignation. While the board
was endeavoring to settle the Southwestern
trouble, assemblies in some places. with the
best of intentions, were passing and publish
ing resolutions condemning Jay Gould These
things did no good. On the contrary, they
trouble. 1t becomes the duty of the execu-
tive board to meet every body and go every
where. While they are doing this they must
not be hampered by the action of those who
do not know what their task Is. Keep quiet.
Let your officers do their best, and if you
cannot find way DO not retard their progress
Resolutions do not prevent land stealing,
stock-w Altering or gambling in the necessities
of life. If had my mind made up to rob a
bank at midnight a string of resolutions as
long as the moral Law protesting against my
contemplated action would not influence ME
a particle. But if some interested party
would take the trouble to study up the ques-
ton aud would inform himself as 10 my right
to rob and would stand guard at the door of
the vault, | would not rob it at midnight if
lie did his duty. What we want from our
members is not gu.h or windy resolutions
about our rights. We know We have rights
without passing resolutions. Men who think,
study and act are never abused.
The general assembly will meet in special
session on the 25th OF MAY in the city OF
Cleveland. From the receipt of this letter
you must not address any communications to
me, nor need you expect an answer if you do.
| have thousands of letters piled up around
me now and they never can be read, much
less answered by one man. During and
since my illness the mail delivered at my
house has exceeded 400 letters per day. They
come from everybody and everywhere.
must play the part CT the wheel horse instead
of the leader of great movement, and our
own members are responsible for it, l ask
through tue journals that no one send letters
to me From now until the general assembly
meets l will receive no committees, answer
I G ,,,l, al. Gov b.
future and will not be interfered with. We
have had some trouble from drinking men,
bers and from men who talk about buying
guns and dynamite. If men who possess
money enough to buy guns and dynamite
would invest 1t in the purchase OF some well
selected work on labor, they would put their
money to good use. They will never need
guns or dynamite in this country. 1t is my
opinion that the man who does not study the
politics of the nation and the wants of the
people would make but little use of rifle.
The man who cannot vote inteligeDtly can
not be depended on to use either gun or dy-
nimite. If the brain of the man cannot work
out the problem now confronting us, his hand
alone will never solve it. If kill my enc.
my silence him, but do not convince him.
| would make a convert rather than a corpse
of my enemy.
But it is nv duty to reach down and lift uI
the man who has fallen victim to the use OF
liquor. II there is such man within the
sound of the secretary's veice when this i:
read ask him to stand erect on the floor OF
his assembly, raise his hand to heaven and
repeat with me these words:
Il am a Right of Labor. l believe that
every man should be free from the curse Of
slavery. whether the slavery appears in the
shape of monopoly, usury or intemperance
The frmest link in the chaiQDf oppression il
one forge when drown manhood and rea
son in drink No man can rob me of the
brain my God has given me unless l am a
party to the theft. If drink to drown grief
| bring grief to wife, child and sorrowing
friends add not one iots to the SUN OF
human happiness when l invite oblivion over
the rim of glass. If one moments forget.
fulness or insttention to duty while drunk
brings defeat to the best OF labor's plans, a
lifetime of attention to duty alone can repair
the loss. promise never again to put my
self in such position"
If every member of the Knights of Labor
would only pass resolution to boycott
strong drink, so far as he is concerned, fol
FIVE years, and would pledge his word to
study the labor question from its different
standpoints. we would then have an invinci-
BILE host array ed on the side of justice.
We have through some unfortunate misun.
derstanding incurred the enmity of several
trades unions. While / can find no excuse
for the unmanly attack by some of these peo'
pie at a time when we stand face to face with
a most perplexing question, neither can see
any good reason why there should be any
cause for quarrel. We must have no clash
af lohn an