The Irish standard., 1886-07-24
I. GENERAL E LABOR NEWS.
Powderly's Great Design.

II Powderly's Great Design
"a great fight for control has begun
within the ranks of the labor organlza-
tions. Grand Master Powderly, OF the
knights of Labor, has precipitated II
by going to New Y ork with his scheme
Of amalgamating all the trades unions.
He is violently opposed by leaders OF
the unions, and especially by two or
three leaders OF the leaders, who see ag-
grandizement for him. and belittlement
for them in the success of his plan. At
the head of this courter movement is
likely to be John Swinlon, the cele-
brated labor advocate. z. j. Ma
guire, general secretary of the carpen-
ters' union. is one of those who vie"
with alarm the growth of the knights
among worllingmen Of the country. 1t
is said that his salary for attending
conventions, ETC., is 81 200 q year. He
is quite averse to see the union whose
head he is merged into the Knights OF
Labor. A most significant event in Ia
box matters was the formation not long
ago of an :'open organiZation'' OF tall
ors the real object Of which was to CO.
operate with the knights and prepare
it's members eventually to join the
greater body. Under The lead OF Rob
ert Blissert they are joining the open
organization in great numbers. Bis
sart is decidedly the head and shoulders
of the labor movement i'll New York
CITY. He is a successful business man.
and tbs long since he has actually be-
onget! TO that body OF men whose
cause he so enthusias stica]ly champions.
He has striking gift for public speak
ing and it would be q difficult task to
find man who has spoken oftener: or
written more than he has on labor top
les. He is immensely popular with the
workingmen. PoWaeriy finds IN Bis
sert q firm and able ally, The two are
in perfect sympathy in their work. All
other man who is beginning to occupy
g. prominent position in labor discus
sions is MI. ScheWitscb. who represents
the ultra element among the German
residents. aud is editor Of the Voll1s
Zeitung On behalf Of Powderly, the
situation is stated by q member Of
his committee as follows:
>'Severai important strikes conducted
by the Knights of Labor during the
past six months have ftsiletl, and yet
Tue organization was never stronger
than it is to-day. In the United States
there are upwards Of 300 600 members
and in Canada nearly 100000. The
time seems to be approaching rapidly
when the Knights will dominate the Ia
borin<: people of the entire continent.
The fundamental object Of the organ~
ization is a wide-reaching economic
education, and Powderly aims to admit
men to membership only when they
comprehend! the great feature OF It's
work. 1t is partly for this reason chat
the Knights are not increasing nulneri-
cally fast at the present time Noting
this, many people have been led to sap,
trades unions. This. however. is not
the fact. An immense number Of
unions are anxious to become absorbed
in the Knights. There is hardly a
trades organization in the land that IS
net in sympathy with the Knights,
looking upon the latter as its big
brother. Trades unionists are essen
TALLY, perhaps necessarily selfish, and it
is usually hard for a working man to
consider movement distinct from its
direct bearing upon his own labor. He
is impatient for results, and not gifted
with the faculty for generalizing. Such
men as Powderly and Howard know
this and are patiently working to draw
mems thoughts from out the narrow
limits OF their peculiar trade.''
The opposition TO the knights is cpl
tonliZed in the following words from
John Swinton
1.-The feeling Of thousands OF trades
ul,ionists was expressed in last meet
ing of the Central Labor Union. when
the proposition to go into politics as a
body was discussed. Flow else than at
the polls, it is asked, can the power of
workipgmen be utilized Powderly is
against such move. L think that a
vast majority Of workers are for it.
The effort is bound to be made, and
doubtless, successfully. There will be
indeed there is--a division in the
ranks. Powderly seeks to bring all the
wage workers into the Knights. The
scheme is not favored by the Cen tral
Labor Union, which is the strongest
body Of the two, so far as New Y ork is
concerned. It will bea big fault"
u