Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-16
POwDERLY,s REPORT.
He Asks More Power for the General
Master Workman.

ms report at yesterday session of the knights
OF labor convention at indianapolis After
speaking of the early struggles Of the order.
tho opposition it has always met from the
enemies of the working classes, Mr.. Powderly
ssys the past year has been the most discourag-
ing yet. Many causes combined to cause
faliing of in membership. ''The circulation
OF false statements concerning the strength of
the order drove away thousands who regarded
quantity as being superior to quality in the
makeup Of the membership Of q labor organi-
cation. When the runor went forth from the
enemies quarters that the numbers were
roPPlng down, those members who looked to
Others for what they should do themselves
dropped out also. When the divergence of
opinion between the generaloffcers became
heralded broadcast by those who always
.Hasnlned' then the memberswho looked
Tor unity among the officers, instead of
doing their duty by waiting until they
could replace these officers with others,
withdrew from the order temporarily. The
story SO often circulated and so wonderfully
magnlhed, Of the extravaganza Of the general
Officers, frightened others, and they, too, stood
sui until this session would assemble The
unwlse strikes which were entered upon against
the laws and principles Of the knights of labor
swept thousands of our members into poverty
and forced them from the order Add to all
OF those causes the campaign which has lust
closed IN the United States, in which members
and assemblies were pitted against each other
on question which never was made a part of
the declaration of principles, and on which
they could very well afford to differ without
dlferlng as to any point in the laws or rules of
the order, and we wonder not that there has
been II falling of, but that we have passed
through the crucial test with the ranks I'M
broken as we find them to-day"
He states that these trials have resulted in
good Tor the order and denied anything like
ofhcial dishonesty, inviting a thorough exami-
q nla O,,1
changes are desired in the constitution He
recommends the total abolition of sections
which provide for the appointment and gov
eminent OF examining organizers. The law as
framed Is dead letter. At present he thinks,
the financial affairs are Entrusted into too
many hands. One responsible party should be
Entrusted with the management of the finances.
oNE-MAS POWER WANTED.
After alluding to the complaints of one-rnan
power in the order, Mr.. Powderly saws the
trouble is there is not enough one-man power.
Divided power has injured the order. "yestin
one man the power to execute the laws which
the many favor and pass upon, allow no inter-
ference with that man in the performance Of
his duty, and you may expect results Allow
every self-seeker, every knave, every disturber
and fauit-tnder, to interpret the laws, and we
have anarchy pure and simple. pandering
to ignorance by some has given rise to the i'm
preston that the man who rallied against one
man power was a friend to the masses No
greater mistake was ever made. The mar who
tells the people that they can all act independ-
ent of each other on every issue that arises
and do it intelhgently, is a demagogue. No
matter how intelligent a people may be- they
must meet to determine. not what one man
wants, but what is best for all men
One-man power is an absolute ne
cessIty IN order to insure success, but those
who confer that power should first know what
power to give, and when the end of that mans
term OF office arrives they should know wheth-
he has WALLED his -,
best to serve his constituents If he has ac-
cord to him the merit of having done SO: if
not, then censure him, but do not censure him
Tor not accomplishing results when the author
lty TO do so was not placed in his hands, and
when the power to thwart his every move was
delegated to others who were supposed to act
IN unison with him. Men have been placed in
Office with me with whom would not for a
moment associate IN private business enter
prise with any hope of success, yet for the sake
OF the good that might follow. silent forbear-
ance under such circumstances has been OBJ
served by me. Fancy the condition which the
united colonies would have found themselves
IN had the hrst ten years of the government of
the United States been delegated to such men
as describe, and the interest of the 5000 900
OF that day were no greater than those which
we're placed In the keeping of the general ex-
ecutlve board of the knights of labor Your
general master workman realized full well his
own lncapacity to deal with the great questions
which faced him. but it was not necessary to
retard the progress of the order by placing an
equal power IN the hands of each member of
the general executive board. and then expect
the general master workman to achieve the
success much desired by all true knights"
The great questions of the hour, Mr. Pow
derry declares. are finance, land and transport
tatIon- The people must settle these questions;
the politicians will not do ii. IF the masses
remain idle and Indifferent the classes will rule
through the power which comes to them
through the banking, railway and land mo-
nopones. He recommends these questions to
members of the order for discussion, and savs
II proper steps are taken I'VE can compel the
campaign of 1892 10 be fought out on these
hines He recommends that a special COM
mlttee OF three be appointed to take up the
matter He advocates concentration of ener-
gles on these questions. and further recon-
mends the formation of junior assemblies for
educating younger working people, He adyo-
Gates equal pay for equal work for women.
THE CHICAGO REVOLT.
Referring to the provisional committee"
appointed at Chicago after the Minneapolis
convention Ito purify the ORDER the general
master workman declares that law should be
passed at this meeting (which would promptly
and forever expel from the order the member
who would engage in such dastardly work as
was lnauSurated at the meeting of the Chicago
PROFESSIONALS. Let US once and forever put it
beyond the power of any man to fight this
order or its principles and remain member
These attacks upon the the X. of L.
come from the persistent opposition which has
Deem shown to the idea of allowing other or
CARNATIONS to control the knights of labor
Do not misunderstood me. for do not refer to
uade-unlons. Their cause and ours are one in
the main. The organization which your gen.
eral master workman speaks of il the interna-
tonal workIngmen's association, which passed
resolutions three years ago to secure the cleo
ton OF Its trusted agents as general officers of
the order Of the X. of l.. The proofs are in
my possession We had the misfortune to elect
man who was either a member or a sympa-
- thlzer to the general executive board, and he
has at all times shown a preference for the
principles Of that organization.
Passing to other subjects, Mr. Powderly
advocates a more equal division Of the wealth
produced by labor, and denounces the ..gam-
bling in money, in lard, in railways and in
the very food which is withheld from the
mouths of millions at the sound of the stock
brokers' ticker"
In his report ex-Secretary Litchman gives a
detailed statement of his connection with the
order from his admission TO the present time
quoting from the official records of the past
sessions OF the general assembly to prove the
falsIty OF the charges of dishonesty which had
been circulated against him. He gave details
To show in what points he saved money to the
order. He had printing done by his son, who
was knight of labor, and he believed he did
properly IN so doing, but it was less than one
seventh of the whole amount that was done
there. He Indignantly denied the charge that
he falsified accounts, explaining that he had
nothing to do with paying the bills, that work
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