Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-04-23
THE SPECIAL LABOR COMMITTEE.
1t Holds Its First Public Session. -Powderly
the First Witness.

the First Witness.
WASHINGTON, April 21.-The special
committee of the house to inquire into
the labor troubles in the southwest, held
its first public session to-day. Among
those present in attendance were Mr..
Powderly, Hayes, Turner and Mcdowell,
of the executive committee of the
Knights of Labor. Wagner Swayne APP
peared as counsel for the railways. Mr..
Powderly was the first witness. He re-
peated at length the story and history of
the recent troubles in the southwest, but
presented no new features in the matter.
While / was in the west, said Powderly,
| heard from the men of little abuses
which | do not think the manager of the
Missouri Pacific railroad knows anything
about. Along the Iron Mountain road
they have system of taking % cents
month from the man who receives one
dollar a day, and 80 cents from the man
who receives two dollars day, and so on
in proportion, for what they call hos
pital fund. The men claim that as soon
as they are taken sick they are discharged,
and are denied the right of entering the
hospital. Then there are instances which
can be proved where men have made con
tracts to buy land from the company on
regular yearly installments, and when.
having paid all but the last installment,
they were discharged from the employment
of the company. In that section of the
countr it is different from the east Men
cannot go into the next town and get a
situation. and the consequence has been,
in at least one particular case, that the
man was obliged to remain idle so long
that he lost his property. The men claim
that there are several instances of this
kind.
Chairman-"Can you have the witness
called before the committee to
SHOW THESE FACTs?"
Powderly y-"Undoubtedly, if I am cor
rectly informed"
Buchanan-"In your inquiries you have
found that these causes of discomfort
existed:"
''Powderly-''Yes."
Chairman-.sWM you state the purpose
of the organization of the knights of
Labor, and whether its purposes are for
the protection and the interests of labor,
and whether it is peaceful in all its
actions?'
Powderly-"The aim of the order of
the order of the Knights of Labor, is to
benefit the laborer and to secure better
feeling between him and his employer.
All our methods are peaceful. We never
counsel anything of violent nature.
member of the organization may, once
in a while. commit acts of violence but We
cannot help that. 1t Is a matter beyond
our control, because, when men feel that
they have endured a wrong there Is no
law which can properly restrain them
Chairman-~Do | understand that the
Knights of Labor as an organization do
protect labor. not only on railroads, but
also In the mines and factories"
Powderly-"We attempt to do that.
Our association Is intended to be a
NATIONAL ONE
We aim at having our members study
the conditions by which they are sur
rounded; not only their own conditions,
but those men for whom they work
Buchanan-~In order to pave the way
/ to intelligent action"
PovderIy--Yes. sir. / have claimed
/ that it is no more than right for both to
/ meet on equal terms and have thorough
understanding with each other and il
seems to me that until they do that they
I cannot properly tx up their differences.
Chairman don't ask yon to divulge
/ any of the secrets of the Knights of La
bor but you have stated that the obj jects
I of the society are to protect the labor of
/ the country 80 far as possible against
1 the eractions of incorporated capital
Powderly-To protect not only the
/ labor of the country but to protect the
manufacturers as we'll We desire that
/ the manufacturers shall be in such a con-
dition that they viii be able to pay good
wages We have no quarrel with legiti-