Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1886-10-14
PoWDERLY'S ADDRESS.

POWDERLY'S ADDRESS.
The General Master Workman Delivers
!; tons Discussed.
| RICHMOND, Va, Oct Elm the General
Assembly of knights of Labor to-day Cen
eral Master Workman Powderiy delivered
bis annual address, as follows:
| To the Members If TIE General assembly:
The Most eventful and trying year OF our
existence as an order hes ended, and we as
| semble for the purpose Of reviewing what
! has been done, correcting things that are
WRONG, and of iegis!at ng for the future. 1t
| Is required by law that the g neral Master
| Workman shall make out and submit report
| of his Official acts during the year l will
address you Eriehy upon some matters OF
| Importance and make such suggestions as
| consider necessary. The RAPID increase in
| organization since the Hamilton session of
! the General Assembly Was most marvellous.
| Thousands have been attracted through
| mere curiosity, others have come for purely
| selfish motives, while the great bulk of our
new recruits have joined US for the good
that they could Go. Quite q few have en-
tered our order for the purpose CT
| ing to learn anythiug concerning the duty
! of the Knight to the order, have plunged
| into rash and iiconsdered strikes. The
troubles coming from tn s direction began
! while the last General Assembly was in ses-
| sion. The car Or verS of ST. Louis were or
gan zed under promise from the organize"
| that they would receive aid, unstinted, IT
case of a strike. and before the receipt OF
their charter they were CD strike. Their
proceedings were characterized by such
| utter 4 are gard for our laws and teachings,
| that the pa q aid known agents OF their EN-
| poyers-the detectives-had no difficulty in
securing the passage of motions of a violent
| character. For these outrageS the order WAS
| in no way responsible.
THE SOUTHWESTERN STRIKE.
The Southwestern strike began when the
time and attention Of the general officers
were taken up tn other matters of vital
| Importance No notice of the contemplated
| action wGs given US. ind sre knew nothing
| whatever concerning il or the causes leading
to It. until it had been in progress several
days. 1t has been asserted that condemned
| the men while they were on Il strike. No sucn
statement EYER escaped my lips. The only
statement Of mine that could lie made to ap
pear in the light of condemnation was my
| secret circular of the 18th of March, a copy
OF which is herewith submitted. | d not
| approve of that strike. | could not do so,
| since confidence enough WIS not repOSeG III
| the General Executive Board to give them II
chance to examine INTO the grievances VIII ch
| the members of District Assembly lJl com
| D!aincu OF. 1t WAS only Wncn the threat
| WAS made to stop every wheel in the United
States and engage the whole order III the
difficulty that III sed my voice in denial. |
did that in defense of the order and the
country. / am quite willing to assume all the
RESPONSIBILITIES attached to the act and
would do the same thing again under similar
| circumstances. That the men OF the South
| west suffered wrongs, IS true; they were
many and grievous, and it is my firm belief
| that the railway compan es, with q full
knowledge o! what these grievances were,
precip tated the fight themselves at Il time
| when it would appear to the world that the
| strike was for an insgn hcant cause.
THE NEIGHBOUR MOVEMENT.
The eight aour strike which took place May
], was not successful except In cases where
employers and employees were acting in bar
mOny: or where employers were willing to
adopt the plan. In many cases tie old sys
telu of working long hours has been revived
| l cautioned our members agniust rush ng in
to this movement. / have been accused of
| opposing the eght-hOur movement. NO
! statement was further from the truth. OPP
posed the strike on May !, because | knew
| that neither wOrkmen nor employers were
| ready fer il; because the education which
must always precede INTEL; ent action had
not been given to those most il need OF il;
| because no definite, buS!ncsS-l Ike plan Tor
the inaugural On Of the C ght-hour move
| ment had been mapped out and for t6ese
same reasons do | still oppose it. \ reduc-
ton Of the hours of labOr is Il necessity and
sooner or later must be had. but we must not
| forget that in many places the ien-hour
| very well for an organization, which looks af-
tcrthe interests of but one craft or calling. to
neglect those who stand most N need OF help,
but Il Knight of Labor must never close his
eyes TO the wants of The humDlest of his fei-
| low creatures The verydiScusSion of the sud-
| den introduction OF the cight-hOur plan in
| jured usness, so much so that in MANI places
| men were reduced 10 half time or thrown
| out of employ fnent all together. Millions of
| dollars worth OF work was left undOnc, be-
cause OF the uncertainty n regard to taking
m a ., amir N
| form work. Never was it more clearly dem
onstraed that IAN injury to one is the con
Germ OF all " than in the movement L am
speaking of. Before the e ght-hour plan is
| adopted, the Knights of Labor and the trades
unions Of America must lay aside their jeal-
Gus eS and differences. come together, name
| a day to put the plan into execution, adopt
the plan Of acton VIII CHI must be gradual,
| and sucn as will not ihi ct nj jury upon either
| employer or workman. The plan presented
| By Mr.. Norton, OF Chicago. to the special ScS-
son of the General Assembly at Cleveland is a
good one in nearly every particular, and ii
| the wOrkingmenS organizations and the
manufacturers associat ons agree upon the
putting intO practice Such plan, II can pe
done without jar or friction. No working
man need strike, nor need business be unset
tied.
RADICAL CHANGE NECESSARY.
| Before Il shOrt-hQnr system that will be
of any benefit TO mankind can be inaugu-
| rated, the relation VIII ch the workman bears
| to labor saving machinery must undergo Il
radical change. shorten the hours OF labor
under our present system. and the streets
| Will not be cmptied of its idle people. More
| machines Will be erected, ana more children
be called in to feed them. The assertion that
the advocate of short hours desires to stop
production is false. 1t is TO make production
gradual and healthy and have it keep pace
with the wants of the people, keeping all men
emplOye ed, SO that idiencSS VIII d SapPear and
the producer remain q consumer 20 his fullest
| capacit eS; that is, we desire a shortening OF
| the hours of labor. Visit Our iefpe and small
! factories and you find that tie past S but
the feeder of the machine OF the present.
| We already hear of machines in course OF
perfection which will set tho type and mould
the cigar better than human hands can do it.,
and electricity Will soon take the throttle and
| lever from the hands of the man who runs
| the locomotive. The day vii soon dawn
when these agencies Will lie 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 Il
| street scavinger. When that day comes be
| who now seeks to array labor against labor
| in asserting that the threedollar a-day man
should not move in the same society circle
| with the man who works for %lG0 4 day, will
| either seek to crowd the Sl0oa-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.
THE REMEDY.
| What is the remedy? The machine must be-
| come the slave OF the man, instead of keep
| ing the man i'm attendance on and subordi-
nate to the machine. "A plan Of co operation
through which the wOrkmen may control the
mach ne he operates must one day SuperSPde
| the present system. To properly map out
| such plan requires more time than have,
| or that am likely to have at my disposal
| can only cooperate with others in the work.