St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-10-05
Powderly. When Mr. Powderly stepped
forward he was received with loud APP

purpose of redressing existing wrongs, ana
before waiting to learn anything concerning
the duty of the knight to the order, nave
plunged into rash and fll-considered striKes'
The troubles coming from this dlrectlon De-
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 a strike. Their proceed
ings were characterized by such utter di5re-
gard for our laws and teachings that the paid
and known agents of theiI employers, the de-
tectives, had no difficulty in securing the pass
age of motions of a violent character. 1t is
an established fact that men who were en-
ployed by detective agencies stood up on the
floor of that assembly, made infiammatory
speeches urging the men to deeds of Violence
and urged that the property of the street car
companies be destroyed. 1t was only the
good sense of the men that prevented such
outrages from being perpetrated. although
these agents of nefarious spy system IN
duced some desperate men to blow up the
cars upon the streets. For these outrages the
order was in no way responsible. The ST.
Louis car troubles were but the beginning of
the tidal wave of strikes and boycotts which
swept over the country, and which str inc !
the strength and resources Of your general
officers almost beyond their powers of en-
durance.
THE SOUTHWEST STRIKE
began when the time and attention OF the
general officers were taken up with other
matters of vital Importance. No notice of
the contemplated action was given to us, and
we knew nothing whatever concerning it or
the causes leading to it until it had been in
progress several days.
1t has been asserted that l condemned the
men while they were on strike. No such
statement ever escaped my lips. The only
statement of mine that could be made to ap-
pear in the light of d condemnation was that
contained in my secret circular of the 18th OF
March, copy of which is herewith submit
ted. 1 did not approve of that strike. L
could not do so, since confidence enough was
not repOsed in the general executive board to
give them chance to examine into the griev-
ances which the members Of ID. A. 101 COM
planned of. 1t was only when the threat was
made to stop every wheel in the United
States and engage the whole order in the diff
ficulty that raised my voice in denial. L did
that in defense of the order and the country.
/ am quite willing to assume all the RESPONSE
bilities attached to the act. and would GO
the same thing again under similar circum-
stances.
THE EIGHT-HOUR STRIKE,
which took place May l, was not successful
except in cases where employers and en-
ployes 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 federation OF
trades recommended the LIST of May, but
adopted or suggested no definite plan by
which the short-hour system could be in
augurated. l cautioned our members against
rushing into this movement / had the right
to do it, and am firm in the belief that had L
not done so great loss would have been en-
tailed upon vast numbers of our assemblies.
What said in my secret circular of March LIZ
has been severely criticised, and have been
accused OF opposing the e1ght-hOur move
ment. No statement ever was further from
the truth. I opposed the strike on May be-
ployers were ready for it, because the educa-
ton which must always precede intelligent
action had not been given to those most in
need of it; because no definite, businesS-like
plan for the Inauguration Of the eight-hour
movement had been mapped out. In fact. no
preparations had been made to put the plan,
if it can be called plan, into execution.
These are the reasons why opposed the
movement on May l, and for these same
reasons do I still oppose it.
A reduction of the hours of labor is q
necessity, 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.
1t may do very well for an organization which
looks after the interests of but one craft or
calling to neglect those who stand most in
need of help. but knight of Labor must
never close his eyes to the wants of the hum
blest Of his fellow creatures.
THE MACHINE AND THE MAN.
Before q short hour system that will be Of
any benefit to mankind can be inaugurated,
the relation which the workman bears to the
labor-saying machine must undergo radical
change. Shorten the hours of labor under
our present system and the streets will not
be emptied of their idle thousands. More
machines will be erected and more children
called into service to feed them. The asser-
ton that the advocate Of short hours desires
to stop production is false. tits to make pro-
duction gradual, healthy, and have it keep
pace with the wants of the consumer. keep
ing all men employed, so that ldleness will
disappear and the producer remain a con-
sumer to his fullest capacity, that we desire
shortening of the hours of labor. Visit our
large and small factories and you find that
the mechanic of the past is but'the feeder OF
the machine of the present. We already hear
of machines in course of perfection which
Will set the type and mould the cigars faster
than human hands can do the work: and
electricity will soon take the throttle lever
from the hand of the man who runs the loco
motive. The day will soon dawn when these
agencies will be doing their work; and when
that day does come, the mechanic now so
proud OF his calling, will stand face to face
with the alternative of asking for charity or
the adoption of the calling of the street scav-
enger. When that Qay comes, the man who
now seeks to array labor against labor in
asserting that the ''S3 day man should not
move in the same society circles with the man
who works for 81 day. will either seek to
crowd the 81 a day man out Of his place or
accept the crumbs Of charity to sustain life.
History will repeat itself, and the fight for
existence will be waged with unrelenting fury.
CHILD LABOR.
The thirteenth article in our declaration of
principles reads, 1.-THE prohibition, by law of
the employment of children under fifteen
years of age in workshops, mines, and fac
tories'' The end sought for in carrying this
declaration into effect is not that the child
NAV live in ideness: it is not that more adults
may be employed. 1t is that the child of the
poor man may be enabled to acquire an edu-
cation to equip him for the duties which will
in future fall upon him as man and citizen.
We cannot afford to pass this question by and
legislate on some simple question of trade
discipline. The question of chld-labOr and
education is the most important that can
come before US now or at any other time.
With an education, all things are easy of ac-
complishment; without it, hope itself almost
dies, and liberty is farce.
In our organizations of labor, and it has
been so from the beginning. we take up the
work of reform when the subject is advanced
sixteen years before we admit him. We at
tempt to drive from his mind the false ideas
gathered in from the workshop, or. possibly,
the street corner. His habits are formed, and
the work that should have been begun at
seven years we take up at twenty or later on
in life. To attempt to settle so intricate a
question as the one we are grapDling with, or
to successfully solve the question, is a task
so difficult that 1 do not wonder that men drop
out of the ranks of labor organizations dis
couraged and hopeless. To make the neces-
sary progress, we must begin with the child
and see to it that he has an education. If the
principles of the Knights of Labor are right,
and few men question them, we should teach
them to the young. 1t should be part of the
duty of every assembly TO ascertain the num-
Der of children who do not attend school in its
vicinity, learn what the causes are. and take
steps to have them attend school,
TRADE UNIONS.
The trouble with trade unions in which GER
tain of our members and assemblies have