The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-11-19
HIS APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC
Barry Denounces the Master WOrkman'S
Faction and Its Alleged MisdeedS.
All the Official Machinery of the Knights of
Labor Used to Its Detriment and TO Keep
Terence v. POwderly in Power.

drift Of gossip went back 20 the action of the
General Assembly in e~xpelliug Thomas B.
Barry without q hearing. The twenty-four
delegates who voted against the Recommended
ton Of the committee on grievances were still
manner with which the appeal had been treated.
They said il would have been better for the
order il Mr.. Barry had been permitted to ap-
pear upon the floor OF the assembly and make
his own defense. Among these delegates are
some who do not agree with him., but they say
the laws of the Knights of Labor entitled him
to q hearing. Among Powderiy followers there
was considerable speculation upon what the
next move would be. 1t was the general opin-
ion that a new order would De formed, with
Barry as the leader. and there are many
VIII think he can command q large following.
He is preparing for a fight. with or without q
new organization, and his bitterness toward
Powderly and his followers indicates that there
will be no pence among organized wOrkinemen
until one or the other of their leaders is OUT Of
tina way. Barry says his experience as a mem
Der Of the general executive board gave him a
thorough knowledge Of the inside workings Of
the order, and the facts he then learned he pro-
poses to give to the public. He claims to have
q trunk full Of official documents which he pro-
poses to use in supporting his charges against
the Powderly administration.
Yesterday he prepared q partial statement
concerning his position which he addressed to
The public. In this ne says that the General
Assembly of the knights of Labor is not a fair
representative gathering Of the industrial classes
of the order. He charges that the most IN
scrupuious methods have been resorted to in
order to prevent men who are known to be in
any way opposed TO the Powderly adminlstra-
ton being elected as representatives 10 the as
sembly, and that records have been changed in
the general Office. He also states
ton districts have been credited
to those supporting Powderly. and that repre-
sentatives have been seated in the assembly
who have no legal right as delegates. while
others VINO were lawfully elected have been de-
MED their seats. The charter OF D. A. "a, of
East Saginaw. Mich, he Gays, was revoked on
the plea that the district was imperative.
When the clerk who was assigned to transfer
the locals TO the Michigan State Assembly dis
covered that there were seven in the district he
informed the chief clerk OF the fact. The chief
clerk said: "Never mind. Go on with the trans
fers. We have done this for the best interests of
trict supported Barry on every occa-
sion at fhe last General Assembly" 1t
was then claimed by the general officers
that Barry destroyed the district, but the local
unions did not go to the Michigan State Assem-
bly,. They exist to-day as local unions.
AL the machinery of the general Office, 1t is
charged, was used to pack d. A. No. i, of
Philadalphis, to prevent the election of the
master workman Of the district as a representa-
tive to the present assembly. This was done in
the interest Of McFeeley, who is here as q sup
porter of Pc wderly, and is illegally seated in
this General Assembly. In accomplishing this
wrong. Mr. Barry says, McFeeley and Ciymer,
both employed in the general Office, spent q
great part of their time in designating, in a list.
what locals would support the administration
and considering how those opposed to it could
be handicapped. Next followed the sus-
pension of all Observation-Disclosures locals.
This action was taken without stating the
fact that at the August session OF the
general executive board, a resolution was
passed to suspend no locals which were in ar
rears for tax, but instead TO urge payment on
When this interference with the rights of the
districts and the unscru pulous intrigue were
exposed in district assembly No. i, says Mr..
Barry, both McFeely and Clymer denied the
charge. The next morning McFoely remarked
In the general Office that the district obtained
information that could only be secured from the
Office. thereby indirectly ging what
he denied the night previous. The present as
sembly is no move free from lobbying than the
Minneapolis convention, Mr.. Barry asserts.
All those VINO depend upon the people who con-
troll the order from Poverty Palace" are here
looking after their masters interest. 1t is more
like a political gathering than a convention Of
labor reformere.
Mr.. Barry says that the only notice he received
of his expulsion was an envelope from head
quarters containing a circular as TO hotel rates
In Indianapolis. He claims that even those
who were instrumental in passing the resolution
against him. and had the power to enforce it,
recognized the illegal and unlawful position that
it placed them in before the order. They al
lowed the resolution to become a dead letter
rather than TO enforce it. Powderly.himself ad-
mitted that there was but one way in which a
person could be expelled, and that was through
the court of his own local assembly.
Pocudarlu Can Haun lVoxH