New-York tribune., 1886-03-28
AIMS OF KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
WHAT THEY HAVE DONE AND ARE DOING.

Though the strike of the car-drvCrs here was
rot the rsr which had been suoceSsiu conluced ny te
organizations 1t setved to fix public attsnt"n nP"n 'he
Knights OF Lab more than any previous lahor cHt7
hnd DONE and the noOrety then gained by the "rdet MAS
ben greatly Increase 10y prolonged bocSa To " the
railroads embraced in what Is known as th" donIt
so,thycsteIn system. Whatever alarm may have been
felt among the psOps at the tendency VI caH'" "
scRrcc Ale itself In masses and to dominate NEereht
trades by co!uhiuatioas chat amounted to mon"Fo}-
teudeucv which manifested itself within tho last year III
the most emphatic minuor-puhiic opinion now Is
agtted lest .atrra accompaniment oil tins Soiuhc"
ton OF capta and corporations. namely the "fs"h7-
ton OF labor sell defence, may no' Furnish as mncR
cause for solicit de In View Of this state OF aur' "
ia desirable that the aims nd tho acts Il" the combine
rarnrr sbilI not he nlsrepresentci and t't at
tue same time. the position OF capitalists who are Stady
ing the problems OF tIo cNi tae industrial sySien
should rccs7e proper cont orltioh. May OF the
thoucntful leader, ia the labor organizations confess 10
eradication that great iron capitalist Ike ANDREW
Carnegie believer IN industrial reorganization, and
that tue president o. gre rai oai as the New lOIk
Central freely cOuceies Labor ri-ht 90 0rSauHc
and recognizes tile rcISoTahlcnsSS OF urg1li'tl"h
between representatives. of the two orsaald atofolis
Labor and capital
Tue in !icstons are plentiful that thc'e may ne SONS
soyore contests between employers and employees
throughout the sprIDc and Summer Oci"fe many
branches Of business can their Orinary course
under rOa lluStt1 coiultto'h SoNoA"'"~ ""'7'F'
ruinored recently thar strike was tIroHenei by tho
Telegraph operators, bat the rdmOrs received ptDmp
donia The oi the Telegraph Broth rbo'l arc
Joining the Knisatt OF Labor order In Large numbers hu
unless reduction OF wages attempted tncrr d"eS
not seem to be any prospect of troublr III tins direction
n Is feared however, that strikes among tho New
England mill hands will occur unless wages arc al
vancod hut in mauy in the last few weeks tho
possibility OF danger has hsan avdred by the VolhH'y
action Of employers i'll raising the pay Of their workers.
Through the soft semi hltunnOus c"a regions OF tie
Middle state, thousands of on strike, bat tAe
ideaess Others has been prevented Nv concessions
granted by the employers. With the formation OF the
anthracite coal combination the marsin Of IN exeus'n
OF essened for with the ondng o; the ruinouS
rate cutting which been going FOR some tiuo It Is
believed trade viii So1u work ITSELF MAO snap"
where any reasonable demand by the miners can Do
granted the serOls loss tlat wO Id result IN
case put mp while the producers were selling
their product at cost under. In the great elites
humorous trade organizations are OrtyluS ga Stri"os
and generally attended tue Efforts 0f tie
aborer to o-tter his coalition. Agitation among the
OF tue different cities is incre ns for the
success nf is class workers in New York Eaa given
&c Important impetus to the uuion OF the men else "hore
favorable feature OF the situation is that IN many
kinds OF business the profit OF the capitalist SO gpoo
OF tue prospect of eary revvng Industry 50 favorable
that tile advances asked by the aboror are rca lily
granted. There Is much talk about general movement
recognition of eight hours as days work As far rs
can be learnc however it not probablc That such
step will taken except In few trades that are favor
ably situated 10 make strong contest
STRENGTH OF THE ORGANlzATION.
In the various movements higher wages that
are now disturbing many parts of tho country, the
Knights Of Labor are only taking haul directly in
oeoasiUnal Many of tho strikes are being
conducted by labor unions w4cn arc conhued to the
workers partic ar trades The Indirect assistance
gyeu to them Dy tue National OrRanizsou OF Iborrrs
OF course Is unknown Quantity Tho croit thtt can
be directly given to the knights bO u IN ne strikes
OF recent yeats IS limited As yet th9y only u
minority the OF iatorcgs nelOns TO
some sort OF defensive organization throughout the
United STATES Tie greatest success OF the knights was
the achievement OF the men employed on tie surface
railroads OF Now York The success of tho strike the
elevated railroads due tue Brotherhood of Loco
motive Engneer- The telegraph operators were beaten
hy the companies in the big strike OF 'S-3 At cough
subsequently the company gave TO tho len about tho
sane terms they nal askei whon they quit work
One of the most succe,sul suikoo carrou on 10y the
Knights was that II t-gla>s WORKERS ia Brooklyn
and New Eng about -ix months ani over year
ago tnoy won doc tel victory in bringing to their
terms the nat manufacturers South NOrwak, Conn.
The Lutsr strike failure until tue Executive
Committee Of the KNIGHTS ordored the boycott and as
IA West Minneapolis retailers foit the e1e;t o The
isoa Fhoh tLey put until tie rcIusu {"
no doGht wcyer tuat in many Instances tae SdccoSs
OF ndylduai labor liions has boon LARGELY turerel by
the quiet rendered by the central or:auiza-
II is impossible estimate closely the strength Of the
Order of the ights Of LISof ThOl lsh all the tr Vie
unions arc embraced in the der, thrre tAou
sands oi belugng TO tue,e separate bodies who are
members Of the brOtne hoOl Naturally the
;hts desire to keep their strength unknown to out
sidcrs lest by kuoGelse OF the full extent OF tAe
power which Wold LaVe to Ds mel cAItt Ia oonr cases
misu e,l jusrihe meeting contest or ia pIo,on2ns
labors demands Tnero said 10 be
about 900 loo assemblies OF the order in tho country
and 1t is believed that modest estimate would put the
membership at 100 70 eah assembly or course
nauy Of the local bodies number fewor mcmhci' but On
tle other hand there arc many WIch contain several
hundred on their rol, Not les tnau 5OoOt) msmheIs
may be credited to the order through ut tne country;
careful inquiries lead place tho rseIt maximum
me ecbors zip lO00O0O. The st.ohgth Ot the
orleI is RAPIDLY increasiug ia fact dinh'-
son OF uew assemblies been Suspended until June,
first baoau,e thero is he dOue in writing up
the rolls of recently organized, dnl, second,
because the order does not to weaken itself 10y
imittin. labor trades winch mgA tax The whole organ
iztion FOR support in pus shs contest
able demands. The Brotherhood of Looomutvr
Engineers and tue AmalganateC Iron and steel Workers
ale the powerful unions OF labIrns men in the
cauutty. Tut they not as bodies, members OF the
KuIshts OF LapOf. Tue knights urc believed 10 he
strongest in tho MlIie States. Tncy weakest IN
point OF Numbers PROBABLY, IN Now-Eusl aud. Among
the cities New York without doubt furnishes the largest
number TO the order There fully 10000 ueubrrs
here, as nearly eau DO ascerinel Throughout tho
country tue samAsers furnish the largest number oi
members to the organization, ana after them come in
regular order caI-dIIvers aud tne anthracite coal
miners In New Yorg Guy tue quota OF Knights tu:-
nished Oy tue printers undoubtedly exceeds tuat sup
Piled by auy Othur of bat tue carpet
WOrlers are also strongly OrshhlloL B'toc tilN lcd
Is Out the,c proportions Will probably be chdugrL T"c
te ran Ia brotherhood /, kry 20 be IN the prgIn7atiCu,
aud Il strong cfutt Is teug m'ie 10 make Tue railroad
unite iti tueT commercial AcliNe
pro y.iuk. iuOre1Fer eIius on duo-E ihe brake
mon, catcIDen Uckct sellers, station men, ana every
Otut 6nIlOye COZ uectod with the raIrutos.
Tho mIInr onnra0rs many other thdu mAnuAl auoteTs