Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-10-08
MIR. BARRY RESIGNS.
lie Was a Member Of the h. Of L.
General Executive Board.
SOME SERIOUS CHARGES.
He Says the Administration of the Organ
izatIon is Corrupt in the Extreme,
ana Makes Accusations OF
Fraud and Dishonesty.

Barry, member OF the generl executive
board Of the Knights of Labor, has sent
lengthy letter addressed to the chairman and
members Of the general executive board OF
that order resigning his position as member
of the board In his letter he scathingly ar
raigns the administration Of the affairs OF
the knights Of Labor He says that he can
no longer endure TO be a witness to the many
farces and receptions practiced upon the in
nocent masses; that he finds TO be one of the
members of the general executive board is to
be a party to fraud that leads the unthinking
masses TO hunger and social suffering, with
nothing for it but promises never intended to
be kept.
Mr. Barry says he desires to see the order
live, but thinks it impossible for il to survive
another year under the methods practiced by
the present administration of the order, and
that these practices must cease If the order is
TO live. The chief qualifications, Mr. Barry
asserts, for membership on the general execu-
tive board are falsity, deception and to be
able to tyrannize over those whose only priv
ilege is to bear assessments and taxes to solve
the social problem for yourselves and our
families by seeing that the salaries of the
board are paid
lie charges the board with discharging
knights of Labor employed in the gen.
eral offices and putting in their places per-
sons who were not members of the order. In.
stead of calling the general offices of the
Knights of Labor the headquarters OF
united labor" it would be more appropriate,
Mr.. Barry declares, to call it ''the luxurious
home Of rats He charges the board with
chiefly being engaged in crushing the districts
or individuals in the order who dared to
Iriticise its acts, and declares that he would
hox. tba v,1af hobs ~ tho hoard Mt fha
Richmond convention had he not been called
away, and also the spy system it practiced
upon the representatives of the order assem-
bled there, when all persons suspected of be-
ing unfavorable to the board were numbered,
in order that the spies might pick them out
more easily, dog their footsteps and learn
their sentiments toward the board Mr..
Barry also intimates that these spies were
paid out of the funds of the order.
The executive board is also charged with
deceiving the order by an incorrect report of
the proceedings of the Minneapolis assembly
and publishing only so much of the proceed
ings as were satisfactory to the board. He
stigmatiZes the statements made by one John
M. Decker in his printed report to the
knights of Labor of Michigan as false. Mr..
Barry expresses the hope that the next gen
eral assembly will be more free from the cor
rupt influence of lobbyists than the last He
charges the present administration of the
knights with using the official organ of the
order for the purpose of deceiving the masses
and destroying individuals and newspapers
who dared to criticise its acts.
Mr. Barry asks if was right for the board
TO refuse the starving and locked out tanners
and curriers' of Peabody, Mass, who were
denied the privilege of earning living, be-
rattea If fhai. a laofauaa m tho orTar Nrha,
the order had S137 900 in the bank, and if it
was right, why did the order send them
$4,000 when the demand was made that such
amount should be sent them by districts rep
resenting votes enough to elect or defeat the
members of the board at the Richmond as
semblyl He declares if it was wrong to ex-
tend aid before this demand was made it was
equally so after This action by the board Mr.
Barry says would appear to the unprecedented
mind, was for the purpose of securing to it
votes sufficient to insure the reelection of its
m nbers rather than relieve the suffering
tanners.
Mr. Barry reviews his connection with the
Knights of Labor since its inception, and
deiies any man, woman or child that ever at
tended session of the general assembly, to
say that he has either directly or indirectly
intrigued in any way to influence their votes
to secure his election TO any office held by
him.
Mr. Barry concludes as follows:
''For my official acts have neither apollo
gies nor regrets to offer. did the very best
could to serve the order, and no one can do
more hope that the common sense of the
honest masses viii soon prevail, and that the
order may be saved from the rocks of de-
struction it has run against in the past few
years