Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-04-15
LAROR TROUBLES.
Correspondence Between
Gould and POwderly.
GOULD A LITTLE FRIGHTENED,
But Shows No Sign of Yielding to
the Demands of the Knights
of Labor.

lSpectdttO inc defdtu OV INC dSsVctute" Tftco' J
New York, April l4.-A voluminous
correspondence has passed between
Gould Aud Powderly, consisting Of one
letter from Powderly. dated Scranton,
Pa, April 18th, and the reply from
Gould of this date, Following is the
substance Of Powderly's letter;
Jay Gould, Esq, President Missouri Pa
cifc Railroad
DEAR Sir: The events OF the past
forty eight hours must have demonstra-
ted to you the absolute necessity Of
bringing this terrible trouble in the
southwest to speedy termination. You
have the power. authority and means to
bring the strike to an end. / have done
everything in my power to end the strike
and the gentlemen associated with me
have done the same. Everything con
sistent with honor and manhood has
been done in the interest OF
peace. No false notions of pride
or dignity have swayed us in
our dealings with you or gentle
men associated with you. Powderly
then referred to his celebrated confer
ence with Gould ON Sunday, March 2Sth
and reviews the already published fea-
lures of that conference, together with
his tPowderly's) construction upon
Gould's language and the telegram sent
by him to Hoxie, and the one
to his own order, directing
the strikers to return to work,
and the misunderstanding and compli-
cations which ensued in this connection.
Powderly reviews other features Of that
conference, also the one Of March Both,
and then says: II did not hear either
you or Mr.. Hopkins say that
the present troubles along your road
could not be arbitrated with the men
who were not at work. 1t was my firm
conviction when | left you that night
that you meant to have the entire affair
submitted to arbitration at the first pos
sible moment. That belief is shared in
by Mcdowell. who was present during
the entire interview. When you sent a
telegram to Hoxie you sent it as Presi-
dent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad
Company; you sent it as the chief sends
a message to an inferior, and it meant as
much TO a sensible man as the most i'm
perative order could possibly mean. When
/ as chief officer Of the Knights of Labor
send message such as that it is under
stood to be my wishes and those
wishes are respected by the subordinate
officer to whom they are sent. 1t is not
his place to put different construction
on them and give them his own inter
probation. His duty is to obey the
spirit OF the instructions. The man In
| power need not be an autocrat in order
to have his wishes respected. Do
you accept the challenge! You have
instructed your legal adviser TO proceed
against every man connected with the
Knights of Labor for damages sustained
since the strike began. Two weeks ago
| said do not do this, to-day say, begin
at once, lay claims for damages in every
court within whose jurisdiction Knight
exists. Proceed at once and in every
State where you can recover damages, do
so, if the law will sustain you in it. Let
the majesty of the law be indicated. 1t
is Just and right that it should be so.
We are willing to force you be.
fore the law, and we viii
fight you with no other weap-
ons. II You have at all times
obeyed the law in your dealings, in the
methods by which you have acquired
your immense fortune, then it is time
that the many offences with which you
are charged should be refuted. You
have remained silent under many dam
aging charges Of injuring the State.
We will be your avengers if you have
been wronged; we will let it be known
to the world through the medium of the
courts of Justice; and let me say right
here that no money will buy me verdict
at the hands of these courts. This
certainly means war between legit
innate capital, honest enterprise and
honest labor on the one hand and ille-
getimate on the other hand. There will
be no mobs in this supreme hour to
silence any mans opinion. No converts
will be made by physical force. 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 at heart would harm hair OF
your head, but the system which reaches
out on all sides, gathering millions of dol
lars OF treasure and keeping them out OF
| the legitimate channels of commerce
must die. / have taken counsel from
the best legal minds of the United
States, and we are prepared to face you
before the conrts, and now await your
action in the matter. This is no threat.
/ speak for five hundred thousand or.
ganized men, who are ready TO pay out
the last farthing in order that justice
may prevail. You have ii in your power
to make friends Of these men by acting
the part of man by taking this matter
into your own hands. Will you do SO
and end this strike in the interest Of
humanity and our common country 2
Powderly's letter was sent to Gould
through W. o. Mcdowell, with instruc'
tions that il Gould, to whom these writ.
ten instructions were also submitted, did
not consent to an honorable settlement
of the difficulty before 8 o'clock of the
day the letters were delivered, or al
that hour still preserved silence, to allow
the letters to be published. At the
opening Of his reply to Powderly Gould
.lotes this letter of instructions to Nc.
Dowell and Acknowledges the receipt Of
Powderly's letter, which is given above.
Gould then proceeds to construe
Powderly's letter as an official declara'
ton that the Knights of Labor had de.
termined to pursue him personally un.
less the Missouri Pacific Company.should
yield to its demands in what they called
the strike on that road. In answer to
these personal threats he would say thai
he was still free American citizen
Gould then refers to his lowly beginning
in life and to his success through habits OF
Temperament and industry, and said that Il