Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1886-04-22
Gould to Powderly.

Gould to Powderly.
Following is Mr.. Gould's reply:
sNEw YORK. April IA.
at. v. Powderiy, ESD, @. NJ. W., X. OF H.:
DEAR sm-At ~ o'clock to-day I received
| from Mr. William o. Mcdowell, whom you
| ter In which he says: by yesterdays mail L
| received letter written by Mr.. Powderly ad-
dressed to you, inclcsed in letter addressed 70
me. With this hand you the letter addressed
| to you by Mr.. Powderly and copy OF Mr.. Pow
derlys letter to me inclosing the same
1.-The following Is a copy OF the letter Mr.. Nc
Dowell sent me as coming from you:
| GENERAL ASSEMBLY, ORDER OF KNIGHTS OF
LABOR OF AMERICA, OFFICE OF GENERAL
MASTER WORKMAN, SCRANTON. Pa, April lS.
"MY DEAR Mr.. McDowELL-I inclose you
| letter which you are to read and deliver to the
man for whom it is intended I do not care
through through the ou medium H Of another; only
ask that 1t be placed In his hands.
II you have succeeded In enectng
| settlement with him do not give it to him. IL
you think there Is prospect Tor an immediate
settlement do not give 1t to him but u such 10
not the case, then want II placed In ms hahus;
Allow him to either consent or make reply. III
he consents TO an honorable settlement, then
/ the letter will never see the light OF day; but
! II he does not act, then IL will be published
| to the world, and from the time he opens up the
| ball in legal way we will continue To wage the
battle with him. His wealth cannot save him
| II this fight is begun. Let no one know OF the
existence of this letter until after o'clock OF
| the day you deliver il then IL he makes no re-
ply let it go TO the world. Let him know the
| limit OF time allowed. 1 sincerely hope that
there will be no more necessity for its publicity.
Hoping for the best remain m very truly yours
@'To W. O. Mcdowell Esq, New York
II thus received your letter to me dated
| Scranton Pa, April H. 1885, at the same time
| and by the same agency that received your
foregoing letter Of instructions to Mr.. Nc
| Dowell.
"The animus and purpose of your letter to mo
| cannot be fully understood without knowing the
| contents of that one i was peremptor1ly no
titled at the same time that must answer your
letter by 8 o'clock to-day and was graciously
| given until that hour to respond.
| ~Your letter to me embraces two subjects, one
relating to me personally and the other TO the
| relation of the Knights OF Labor to a railroad
| company of which / am the President, and In
some degree the representative Of its public and
private duties. shall refer to the frat subject
| very briefly. The circumstances above given
| under which your letter was delivered, as well
| as its tenor and spirit, place its purpose IN
| writing it beyond any fair doubt It would seem
to be an official declaration that the knights OF
| Labor had det 'rmined to pursue me personally
unless the Missouri Pacific Company should
yield to its demands in what you call the strike
| on that road
"In answer to these personal threats, beg to
say that am-yet free American citizen. L am
past 40 years OF age. and was born at Roxbury,
Delaware County, in this State. began life in
a lowly way and by industry, temperance, ana
attention to my own business have been success
full, perhaps beyond the measure OF my deserts.
| II, as you say, / am now to be destroyed by the
| knights of Labor unless will sink my man.
hood, so be it, Fortunately have retained my
| and business associates know me well, and
am quite content to leave my personal record in
their hands. II any OF them have aught to COM
plain Of will be only too glad to submit to any
arbitration such parties, or any OF TN, Them; a.
wish TO appoins the knishts OF labor ~ % az area.
able to me, but, until such an election is maue'
! it will naturally occur to you that any inter
ference ON your part in my personal anairs is' 10
: say the least, quite gratuitous
: @Since was nineteen years OF age lhave peen
? in the habit OF employing in my various enteI.
times as high as $4,000, distributing often three
or four million dollars per month in different pay
rolls 1t would seem little strange that during I
all these years the difficulty with the knights OF
8 | Labor should be my first. Any attempt 10 con
3 | nect me personally with the late strike on the
Q Southwestern roads or any responsibility there,
Q for is equally gratuitous, as you well know; II
D is true / am the President OF the Missouri Z o
y cifc, but when the strike occurred was lai
Q away on the ocean and beyond the reach OF teie
s grams. 1 went away relying on your promise
n made to me last August that there would be nc
strike on that road, and that II any difhcuitei
J. | should arise you would come frankly " I'M
n with them. Mr. Hopkins, the Vice President
d this company, who was present and cognizant
Q this arrangement with you in my absence, SEQ
t you promptly when the present strike broke on
: NEW YoRK, March 8, 1sse.-To 7. v. Pow
Il DERBY, SCRANTON, Pa Mr.. Hoxie telegraph
o that knights OF Labor on our road have struc
II and refuse to allow any freight trains 70 run
d saying they have no grievances, put are onI
,r any grievances We would like to talk them owe
4. with You. We understood you to promise tina
n no strike would be ordered without consultatior
20 "A. l.. HOPKINS
@ Then follows a series Of dispatches betweei
y Messrs. Gould, Hopkins, and Powderly. MI
- Gould continues:
er when, in spite OF all this correspondence, yo
desired to see me personally. cordially met yot
70 70 and, having put myself In communication wit
40 a. Mr. Hoxie, arranged for arbltration Eve
~ since then Mr.. Hoxie has stood ready TO rece1V
" any and all persons in the actual emplo
~ | of this company, as committee or otherwise
az and confer upon or arbitrate any maI.eI vi M uL
y, pany and themselves or between the compan
30 30 and its late employees, and for that matter b'
~ tween the company and anybody else. No sue
us committee or individual employe has, so far 9
~ ~. known to me, ever made such application. i
ho this connection 1t will be remembered that the
NC left, not because of any complaint Whatever
M M this companys treatment Of themselves, bi
" only because of the company 8 refusal to con
~ ply with their demand that this company refui
Ss S to do what the law requires in the way OF int
ue | change of business wit h another company VIII
-. which some OF your order had quarrel.
10 I'm the meantime this company has OF nece
~ ~ | those persons who recently, and without eve
~ alleged provocation, left its service, as saw
ISL to return. These returning employees have bee
s very many, and in this way its rolls are alread
ou IL not quite, as full as its shops and equipmel
,,a crippled by acts Of violence attendant uPs
gle recent action of your order, can employ
i hu Hoxie advises me that every such person a
ny plying to DO received back has been employ'
unless believed vo,ones to nsVe rbs sken Somps
ho hho still stands ready to make good, IN u
,no ,no fullest sense, its agreement as expressly
ire forth In the face of all this you notify me tn
leI unless by o'clock personally consent 70 SON
~, ,n, | thing-precisely what do not aee-tnen p'
na sonal consequences of sort vaguely expressSe
NJ but not hard to understand, will at the hand
your order be visited upon me. Let me aga
,on remind you that IL is an American citizen who
ehne ehe you and your order thus propose TO destrt
w wlD The contest is not between your order q
su- su me, but between your order and the Ia
nv, nn those laws In preventing by violence u
i .he company from operating its road. You M
1lc | then that this company should not operate
n noe road under conditions prescribed by law 7
PIE only under conditions prescribed by you. 4
m now declare, i'm effect, that hold my indlud.
so 80 property and rights, not as other men ns
out theirs but only at the peril Of your letting ot
her irrevocably after o'clock, your order upon \
anu III this is true Of this company, and OF me, II
'pIe true of all other men and companies. III 80,
an, | and your secret order are the law, and an Am
ress lean citizen is such only In name.
nsi- aAlready for weeks your order has, I'm your
9 snS tack upon this company, not hesttated 70 9
yeu | able it by violence from rendering its duty
Vas the public and from giving work and payi
the wages to men at least three times your o
q, number, who, working as they were by y;
IN side were at least deserving OF your sympat
nan nan Having pushed this violence beyond even
eeart eart great forbearance Of the public, and found
ten this direction cause TO hesitate, you now Il
IN upon me and propose that the wrongs you hi
pihg hitherto inflicted on tho public shall now {
nue inmate I'm an attack upon an individual. In u
lVse as have said, the real issue IL between
nlch and the laws OF the land. It may be, BET
ON you are through that those laws will efficier
tne advise You that even I, an individual citi1
nee am not beyond their care. Very respectfull!
JAY GOULD