Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-10-06

whom shall be members of the order. The
General Executive Board shall levy an as
sessment pro rata on each member Of the or
uer 10 uetray the expenses of this body.
There shall also be published by this body n
ually record of its procee lings, including the
oeoates, ana n copy OF the same furnished to
each labor asse mbly, ana shall be sold 10 men,
Oers OF the order and others at cost.
THE GOOD TO RESULT.
This in brief is submitted to you as a sup
plementary report of the committee. Your
conn mtttee is OF the opinion that the cost OF
m maintaining such body for 100 days would
not exceed 2Sc. per member, and that its effect
as an educator of the people would far exceed
that OF the National Legislature, as it would
De untrammelled by any partisan bias
III would, in fact, b. congress of
bne common people. what this
nation has never seen before, and criticisms
OF the memhers of this body or the utterances
or the members of the other two houses would
Oe looked Tor bY the wage workers from one
END OF this land 10 the other. AS sit Is now
we are unrepresented IN the halls of legisla-
uon, as we are unable TO compete with the
WHY polltclans, and through the unscrupu-
lous dealings of these men the will of the
nonest and well meaning portion of the
people is thwarted, but by This means
we woulu be able To show them and their
ways bare to The people. Your committee is
OF the opinion that three months session OF
such congress would be the means Of awak-
enlng to new life the sluggish apathy that
oAAANHG 1hS PCOplSs
their liberties.
All of which most respectfully submit.
RALPH c. beaumont, Chairman.
y. ). MCCARTNEY, Secretary.
MR.. POwDERLY's ADDRESS,
Mr.. POwderly's annual address was
published in full prematurely this after
noon by the Troy Standard, a labor organ
The address will be presented to the con-
ventIon, it is expected. tomorrow after
noon. 1t is in part as follows:
To the Members of the GenerJL AssemJly:
The most eventful and trying year of our
existence as an order has ended. and we as
semble for the purpose of reviewing what has
been done. correcting those things that are
wrong. and of leg9latIng for the future.
IL l. required by law that the General Mas
ter Workman shall make out and submit
report of his official acts during the year. To
report all of my official acts performed during
the past year would take more of your time
than is at all necessary.
Ii we are guided by the experience of the
past, and act accord ngy, we can place ;he
OrGer upon footing SO safe and sure that no
assaults from is enemies can injure 1t. If we
are not guided by that experience. if we fail
to read arlght the signs If the times and we
close this General Assembly without having
improved on the past, we will fail tU properly
represent nose who sent us here.
The rapid increase in organikpCt0n :Ince he
Hamilton session of the General Assem- hlv
was most marvellous. An eXAmin ton Of The
reports of the General Secretary Treasurer
for the year ending July /, 1885, will show that
In Que year 4,0GS assem- bies have been organ
lied. The ne " members, so suddenly brought
together, could not be properly asslmlated.
Thousands have been attracted toward the
order through mere curiosity; o,hers have
come for purely selfish motives; while the
great bulk OF our new recruits have Joined us
fer the good that they could do.
Quite few have entered our order for the
purpose of redressiGg existing wrongs. and,
before waiting TO learn anything concerning
tha duty of the Knight to the order, have
plunged into rash ami ill considered strikes.
The troubles coming from this direction be-
gan while the last General Assembly was in
session. The Car drivers of ST. Louis were
organized under promise from the Organizer
that they would receive aid, unstInted, in case
of a strike. Even before the receipt of their
charter they were on strike. Their proceed
ings were characterized by such utter disre-
gard for our laws and teachings, tnat the paid
and known agents of their employers. the de-
tectives, had no difficulty in securing the
passage of motions of a violent character.
THE SOUTHWEST STRIKE
began when the time and attention of the
general officers were taken mp with other
matters of vital importance. No notice of the
contemplated action was given TO US, and we
knew nothing w1teyer concerning 1t or the
causes leading to it untilit had been in pro-
gress several days.
1t has been asserted that condemned the
men while they were on strike. No such
statement ever escaped my lips. The only
statement OF mine that could he made TO APP
pear in the hgnt OF a condemnation was that
contained in my secret circular OF March 49,
a copy OF which Is herewith submitted. / did
not approve of that strike, ! could not do 80
since confidence enough was not rep0sod in
The General Executive Board to give them n
chance to examine into the grievances, which
the members Of d. A. l0l complained Of.
That the men OF the SouJhW esC suffered
W p6 IL they and
GUS and iL is my firm belief that the railway
companies. with a full knowledge Of what
these grievances were, precfpitatcd the fight
themselves ut a time v hen iC would 6Dpe9 r TO
the world that the strike was for an iosign,f-
cant cause. can do no better thBn to sub
nit the reports OF Brothers Litchman and
Mcclure.
THE EIGHT-HOUR STRIKE,
which took place May l. was not successful
except in cases where EN- 'loyers and en-
ploy' were acting IN harmony, or where en-
ployers were willing to adopt the plan. In
many cases the Old system of working long
hours has been revived. The Fede -a.iOn OF
L ades recommended May ], but adopted or
suggested no dc finite plan by which the short
hour system could be inAugurated. l cau-
toned our mem hers against rushing mo tins
movement, I had the right TO do 1t, and am
firm in the belief that had not done so great
loss would have been entailed upon vast num-
bers Of our assemblies. what | said IN nv
secret circular Of March II has been severely
criticised, and have been accused OF Oppos-
ing the eight hour movement. No statement
ever was further from the truth. opposed
the strike on Mag because / knew tnat
neither wOrkmen nor employers were ready
for it, beclBse the education which must
always precede intelligent action bad not been
given TO those most In need or it; because no
definite, business like plan for the Inaugural
ton of the eIght-hour movement had been
A reduction of the hours OF labor IS a neces-
sity and sooner or later must be had, but we
must not forget that in many places the ten
hour plan has not been adopted yet. IT may do
very well for organization which looks af-
ter the interests 81 but one craft or calling TO
neglect those vino stand most ~ need NJ help
hut a Knight OF Labor must never close MS
eyes to the wants Of the humblest of his fel-
low creatures
tion Of the eght-hour pan injured business.
80 much so that in many places men were
reduced TO half time or thrown out OF employ
ment altogether. Millions OF dollars worth
OF work was left undone because OF the unceT-
tainty in regard to taxing contracts or in
making engage nents to perform WORK. Never
was it more clearly demonstrated that "An
injury to one is the concern OF alP' than in the
movement ! am speaking OF. Tine hou~--
builder, through uncertainty as to how many
hours of labor his employees would work for
him. made no contracts to erect buildings, and
the carpenter was thrown out OF EN- pl0yment: +:
the man who mad the window glass, the IN al
who made the nails-in fact. every man or
womau engaged In the manufacture OF arti-
Giles which 20 TO build or furnish house--suf-
fered through the attempt 70 enforce the
eipht-hour system on May /. The move was
in the right direction. but tho time and circum-
stances were not suitable.
THE MACHINE AND THE MAN.
Before short hour system that will be OF
any benefit to mankind can be inaugurated.