Evening journal., 1888-10-11


Knights of Labor knew this true state of az
fairs they would rather SEQ the society dis
banded than continue TO be the ''mere cats
paw Of any body Of professional triclsters'
For the last two year" he continued, 'al
the privilege that tho Knights of Labor have
had was to bear the taxes and assessments
and pay our salaries 1t costs to meet the
expenses OF the general offico from 500, 900 to
$1,000 year. There ars nine members Of
the executive board, OF which l am member
and during the year that has just closed ouI
salaries and expenses amounted to S32 600
Now, | ask what in the name OF goodness
have we give you in return for that large
amount. To what purpose do you expend
this large sum annuallyi Simply TO support
a lot OF industrial lords at hotels at poyerty's
expense. lCheersl
Il have seen men kept running around the
general office in Philadelphia for two or
three weeks with nothing TO do, and living
all the time in the finest style at the hotels
Some of these men had come there from long
distances; they Travelled in Pullman ia !
ace CIR, and spared no expense to secure tie
utmost comfort and enjoyment, and FIRE
quently the errands on which they arc
brought are Of the most trivial nature
Again we have a lot Of inspectors going
about who are paid a salary Of 81 900 ana
legitimate expenses. / have had occasion "a
notice the practices Of some of these gentle.
men. | have found many instances where
they 50 about extorting money from the
local organizations in Whatever towns they
happen to visit, notwithstanding the fact
that they are the regularly hired servants Of
the executive board.
In The journal Of United Labor you often
read Of the great sacrifices your general Off.
GERS are making, the hardships they endure,
and the abuses they have sometimes to sub
init TO- ! don't think there is a man in this
audience who is not willing to sacrifice him
self on the altar Of humanity in the same
manner as these gentlemen are required to
DO. Let us see how it affects them Take
Brother Hayes, for example. As brakeman
Brother Hayes probably made from SIS 10
500 month. For the last three years he and
his wife have had a royalty good living at
first class hotels, and he has drawn SIS a week
salary besides. In the convention | made
reference to this practice. 1 said was not
aware Of the fact that my wife was a mem
Der OF the general executive board or that I
was privileged to keep her with me, but /
said had known it / could have eniovea
basising in the sunshine of her loving presence
just as well as any of my colleagues. Gsaugh-
teri The only possibility OF hardship / car
see in the lie OF Brother Hayes is that hd
may die Of dyspepsia or the gout. Qaughter.l
Then there is Brother Bailey a coal miner
by trade He has been recognized as a CO.
kicker Of mine As a coal miner he would
make s. day, or about s12 q week. As q
member Of the general executive board he
also draws S2s a week, and has the free hotel
living. The same may be shown Of Brother
Ayiesworth and the other members OF the
board, even including Brother 7. v. Pow
derry. lHisses ami applause) AS a mechanic
he made the princely snm Of $3.50 a dav
Had he continued as a mechanic he would
have lived and died, and the world would
never have known he was born. we took
him from the wise and the bench and placed
him in a position from which he received
81, 200 year the first year and kept raising
the amount each year until now it has
reached the height OF 5000 a year.
IT. b. Mcclure went courting three
months, and three months,on a wedding to,ir
at the expense of the order He went n
Saratoga, and spent most of his time at his
summer residence in Amsterdam. getting 81
a day and expenses These men rallx Of tbeit
sacrifices for laborl
In one year s495, 600 Of your money was
spent-we don't know how. When the audit-
ing committee Of the last general assembly
saw the accounts they were appalled,. They
included wine bills The committee sum.
moned the executive board to explain The
former said it would never do to 90 before
the general assembly with such accounts
advised the committee to go before the dele
gates and tell the truth. The report was
rushed through by Powderly's gavel and
every delegate who protested was raped
down.
1T is one Of the fundamental principles Of
our organization that we shall not become
affiliated with any political party. We have
taken the charters from some local assemblies
for intermingling in politics, yet at the time
the executive board were annulling these
charters we had two bosses wire pulling in
Maine We sent them there to have the
Greenback Labor ticket taken out of the
field, in order that we might be enabled to
defeat Tom Reed for congress, and / am
proud to say the labor men would not con
sent to do what we required If we had had
the power at that time TO excommunicate
them from the order, there is not the slight
est doubt it would have been done
You have heard good deal about the
lecturers in the order, and education, and of
the $4,000 subscribed for that purpose. But
the lecturers were not appointed until re-
Gently. II win take $1,000 to hold the gem
ernl assembly in Indianapolis; hut the order
to-uay rs Slf,OO0 In oeDU, and the lecture
ventionn
In conclusion, Barry advised the audience
10 JON N q crusade for reform inside, as Vel
rs OUTSIDE cf the nrior.