Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-10-22
POWDERLY'S ADDRESS.
Extracts from the Address of the
Grand Master at Richmond.

Extracts from the Address of the
Grand Master at Richmond.
We are Knights of Labor because
we believe that law and order should
prevail, and that both should be found
ed in equity. We are Knights of La
Dor because we believe that the thiei
who steals dollar is no worse than
the thief who steals railroad; that
the burglar who breaks open a house
or Il vault is no worse than the crimi-
nal who destroys or orders the destruc-
ton of the property of a railroad or
telegraph company, and We believe
that the same law should reach out
with firm, unshaken hand and pun
ish both criminals according to the
magnitude of their guilt. We believe
that if it is wrong to steal a loaf OF
bread it is also wrong to steal the land
whereon the grain was raised from
which the bread was made, and if the
land was stolen according to n law
made by a dishonest, time-serving pol.
itician, we believe that the law should
be repealed and the land restored to
the people. We are Knights Of Labor
because we believe if the article manu-
factured by the hand of the American
laborer is worthy of protection from
foreign competition, that the hand
whose skill lends value to the article
should be protected, and we have de.
termined to protect our labor, indie.
pendent of politicians or political par.
ties.
THE LASH OF GOLD AND ITS VICTIMS.
To remedy the evils we complain ol
is difficult and dangerous undertAk
ing. The need of strong hearts and
active brains was never so great as al
the present time. The slavery that
died twenty-five years ago was terri
BILE; but, bad as it was, it never devel
oped a millionaire, while the new slav
cry, which now reaches out with fal
stronger hand than the old, has devel
oped hundreds of them. The lash in
the hands of the Old-time slave owner
could strike but one back at a time
and but one of Gods poor, suffering
children felt the stroke. The lash O
gold in the hands of the new slave
owner falls not upon one slave alone
but upon the backs of millions, and
among the writhing, tortured victims
side by side with the poor and the ig
norant, are to be found the well-to-do
and the educated. The power of the
new slave owner does not end when
the ordinary day laborer bends beneath
his rule; it reaches out still further
and controls the mechanic, the farmer
the merchant and the manufacturer
1t dictates not alone what the price oi
labor shall be, but regulates the price
of money as well. This new slavery
counts among its victims servants OF
the State who have been chosen by
the people to execute the peoples
will. Not alone does it control the
legislator at the State Capitol, but in
the hall of our National Congress you
will find its most willing, cringing
slave. 1t reaches out even further
and holds in its iron grasp the judge
upon the bench; not that alone, but
it has the power and does confer the
judicial ermine upon its most subserv-
lent creatures. Do l Over-estimate its
power? Have l made single mis-
statement? If my word is not suffi-
cient, turn to the pages of the history
of to-day-the public press-and you
will find the testimony to prove that
what have said is true. Evidence in
abundance can be adduced to corrOb-
crate every statement made by the
press.
The lash was stricken from the hand
of the slave-owner of 25 years ago, and
it must be taken from the hand Of the
new slave-owner as well.
The monopolist of to-day is more
dangerous than the slave-owner of the
past. Monopoly takes the land from
the people in millionaire plots; it
sends it's agents abroad and brings
hordes of uneducated, desperate men
to this country; it imports ignorance
and scatters it broadcast throughout
the land; it and it alone is responsible
for every manifestation of anarchy that
our country has witnessed. All men