The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-05-21
POWDERLY AGAIN.
The General Master Workman d.
sues Another Secret Circular.
IN which He Talks Pointed1y and P1ainly
Il Abuses which Have Crept Into
the Order, and Which Must Ne
ut Once Corrected.

CHICAGO, May 1o.-The Daily Ne,es
publishes the following this morning:
The following secret circular has been
received by the Knights of Labor of Chi
cago, and will be read in the various as
semblies during the coming week:
NOBLE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LA-)
BoR OF AMERICA.
PHrLADELPHrA. May 8, 1854.
To THE ORDER, EvERrwHERE, GREETING:
The response to the secret circular issued
nanrSes Is; mas peen 30 aenern n,sire N
u has been SO unanimous, that feel en-
couraged and strengthened in the " DIRK.
Nearly four Thousand assemblies have
pledged themselves to act on the advice
contained in the circular of the 18th ule l
feel that 1t only requires the coming to the
front OF the real men nsia OF ., our order
We have been losing ground SO far as pub
Tic opinion lie concerned for some time. One
of the causes 10 that we have allowed things
g be done under the name OF the knlghts OF
Labor for which the organization was in no
way responsible. ask OF our me'noers to
Keep a Jealous eye upon the doings OF the
charge anything TO our order In your To-
caifty set the seal OF your condemnation
upon il at once by denying IL.
II paper criticises the Knights OF Labor
or its officers do not boycott il. and n You
have any such boycotts on remove them. A
journal not long since made some uncom-
Workman of the Knights OF Labor and at the
next meeting of the nearest assembly a mo.
ton was cast to boycott the paper; not that
alone, but every person VINO saver.isea IN
assembly asking that they remove the boy
colt and il was done. wemust bear in mind
that our General Master Workman Is only
man and is not above criticism We demand
for ourselv esithe right Offree speech. We.can
not consistently deny it to Others. We must
tolerate fair, open criticism IL reply Is
lied manner. If we are criticised or abused
BY a blackguard sheet, treat it as you would
the blackboard himself-in silence.
That our aims and objects are good IL no
reason why our members should be re-
CARRIED as ueing Of superior build or ma
terial We are no more the salt of the earth
than the millions of unknown toiiers who
so the work Of the world. In our dealings
with laborers and capitalists we must deal
Justly and fairly by them. IL We would have
equity done to u. we In turn must az. 90
KNIGHTS of Labor and must not be lost
signt of In future.
Let me direct your attention To a few tit-
tie abuses: l ind that wherever strike
occurs appeals for aid are scattered broad
cast among the assemblies. do not pay one
cent for such purposes in future unless the
appeal comes from your own oistriNt assem-
biy or the General Assembly.
If boycott notices are sent to You burn
them. i have in in my possession over four
hundred boycott notices which we've sent to
assemblies with a request that they be acted
on Let me mention some OF them. mem.
Der Is editing paper He fears rival. and
proceeds to get into an alteration with rim.
boycott Him, then asks the order TO carry 1t
the otier political parties. Members OF the
opposing party conceive the idea of getting
nil of the paper. and they invose the ard OF
the Knights of Labor, first taking the pre-
caution to have the paper in question say
something uncompl;mentary of the Knights
OF Labor. In fact, our order has.been used
As a tail for a hundred different kites, and in
future il must soar aloft from all of them.
I hate the word boycott. l was boycotted
ten years ago and could not get work at my
trade for months IL is a bad practice; tthas
been handed to US by the capitalists. have
no use for it only when everything else
fails
refreshments OF every kind are scattered
everywhere Throughout the order. copy a
letter which comes to me on the subject: "a
large part OF our time has been spent In
reading boycott notices and appeals for aid.
keeping rs until twelve O'Clock. We were
led to believe the knights OF Labor to be an
educational Institution. but tins Kind OF ed
ucation il not productive of good. We have
no time for Instruction. What do you ad-
wise us to do?
aJvisec them to either burn or table
these matters, and now ask OF the secretary OF
each assembly to do the same. IL your jour
nal were net boycotted by our members it
could be made the medium of comnunica-
ton between the general officers and the Or
der but the journal Is not read by one quar-
ter OF the assemblies Some assemblies send
out documents in envelopes addressed to
.>rcrctary OF Assembly No. -" In many
places the secretaries have been discharged
because of this practice. No member has
the right to address another in that way. and
it is ever practiccd again the offender will
be punished
In future the general executive board
must not he interfered with in the perform
auce OF its duty. II you have confluence In
them. sustain and obey them; II not, ask for
their designations. While the board was en-
desvorng to settle the southwest trouble
assemblies in some places with the best OF
intentions, no doubt, were passing and pub
fishing resolutions condemnatory of Jay
Gould. These things did no good; on the
contrary they were injurious. In the settle
ment of troubles ii becomes the duty OF the
executive board to meet everybody and go
everywhere. While they are doing this
they must not be hampered by the ac-
sions of those who do not know what their
task Is.
Keep quiet. let your officers do their best,
and il you can not find a way to aid Them do
not retard their progress Resolutions do
Hot prevent land stealing. stock wa. ring or
gambling in the necessaries OF life lf had
my mind made mp to rob bank at midnight
q string of resolutions as long Us the moral
Law protesting against my contemplated ac-
tion would not influence me particle. but II
some interested party ouid take the trouble
TO study up tie questions and would inform
would stand guard at the door of the vault,
I would not rob IL At midnight II he did his
duty. What We want from every member Is
not gusW OF I'm ~nu hsns pns,. o1 %irhouf
passing resolutions Men who think, study
ard act are required
Tie General Assembly will meet in special
session on the s5th OF May. in the city of
Cleveland. From the receipt of this letter
You must not address any communication
IN mo q n N
do. l have thousands of letters piled up
around me now, and they never can be
During and since my illness the mail de-
iivered ut my house has exceeded four hun.
dred letters q day. They come from every
body and everywhere- must play the part
movement. and our members are re-
spoons bl e for IL. asked through the jour
nal that ho one send letters to me. l am
told by some TO get help. If had nifty as.
sistants 1t would do no good, for it
takes my whole time to read one-half
Of the letters and in the middle OF my work
Who generally misrepIesent me after they
leave-for every member OF the committee
will tell 8 different story. From now until
the General Assembly meets 1 will receive
formu, ate plan for the future and Will
not be interfered with. Let me repeat,
will receive no committees, answer no let.
ters nor will go anywhere at the request
Of members of assemblies. This ~ fmDera-
tive must have a chance tn do something
of benefit for the order, and can not do it II
am 10 sit for eighteen hours q day reading
letters " hich have been answered and rean-
swered in the journal and constitution
What will say TO the General Assembly will
be said TO the entire order and You must
give me time to prepare it.
We have had some trouble from drink ing
members and from men who tax abou: buy
ing guns and dynamite II the men W no
possess money enough to buy guns and
dynamite would invest il in the purchase OF
some well -seiected work on labor, they
would put the money to good use They will
never need the gun or dynamite in this
country II Is nv opinion taat tie man no