Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-06-20
rHE KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
s,erv ~osD a rusllc mEEIING IN THE
oouwr HOUSE TUESDAY NICHE
\ nsrse Audience TO Hear the Address OF
nessssl sscressry Charles n. Litchman on
~ Psrposss Of Labor Organizations.
4 Passds before the Mass Meeting.


~ Psrposss Of Labor Organizations.
= rassds before the Mass Mecsine.
Z A macs meeting under the auspices OF the
Koights Of Labor was held In the court
houss Tuesday evening.
Tho Liberty band profnenaded tie
streets, playing spirited tunes and gather.
Ing in the Sir Knights en- route By The
0me they reached the court house there
Noao several hundred men In line, and
oovogal other hundreds occupied seats In
~ court room. The meeting was de-
-d(asdly large one. almost every seat being
oosupisd.
Affsr music by the band Mr.. Simon
8hIeoler. chairman OF committee OF ar.
xonGoments for the several labor organiga
o3ons Of this city, arose and In brief speech
nayo some account Of the rapid growth OF
~ order In this city since 1856, after which
~ introduced the orator Of the evening,
Charles H. Litchman, Of Massachusetts,
general secretary Of the order.
Mr.. Lltchmsn was received with great
applause. Ho il Q good.looking, bald
headed man, rather below the medium
height and has good strong voice and
fiusnt delivery.
FOlNIS pf hR. MAN . ADDnEoS'
He advanced the usual arguments OF the
Knights OF Labor. He held that on the
prosperity OF labor depended the prosperity
OF the state and the nation and IL these do
mot see that labor receives its just reward,
then civilization 10 q failure, and
the laborlng classes lapse into slav.
cry. Tho labor question is an old one,
and the agitation Of the problem shall 20
on until the laborer everywhere shall re
ceive m honest days pay for an honest
davis toll But how shall We measure II ?
We must FIRST consider what we must
have, that 10 more living second, what
ws ought to have, and third, what we would
like to have. Labor has created everything
Of value that exists 1t In the magic that
has gone down into the earth and extracted
IL untold wealth, and has filled the world
with untold works OF art and manufac-
lures and the necessaries OF life The labor
ers constitute three.iourths OF the popula.
tion of the earth. They are both producers
and consumers The mines are dug, the
farms are titled, the forests cut down for
the benefit alike OF producer and con-
sumner. The men in the factories and work.
shops are fed by the products OF the farm
each II dependent on the other.
THE LADoRKR SHOULD LIVE.
Tho salary . man receives is the measure
oe his means Of existence. II there be 90
100000 laborers In the United States and
their salary be 81 per day, the total will be
S20 ,O00 With this sum or any other sum
received In wages they should enjoy the
very best that their labor produces. They
should not be expected to live on mutton
scrsps and shin sour, but on the bes'
tbs market affords.
show that many OF the labor troubles wert
caused by under consumption and not by
over production. He said that no sinRl,
organization can fight labor's battle sgsins
monopoly. Not merely trades unions bu
union OF trades Is needed. When capita
organizes labor must do 80 to retain q decen
share OF its own products.
After presenting statistics 10 show this
The factory hands In Massachusetts, an
Rhode Island did not earn enough to kee
their families, and that q mine boss
Pennsylvania received but 81 81 per ds
for bis dangerous work, while the GoulC
and Vsnderbilts were sccumulating hui
drods Of millions, MIR. Litchman said thi
the present system was wrong and that r,
form ID necessary.
HOW ABUSES MUST BE coRREcTED.
This reform must be secured by tn
united action OF tho laboring classes
Every boy should have trade by " hicl
both bis head and hand can be educated
NO boy or girl should be permitted to ente
factory before she is fourteen years G
aga While the emigrants from other Ian d
have done much 10 build up our wonder
ful country, and while we should welcom
to our shores all who come here to bette
their condition and work out their destiny
the landing OF 100000 or ], 600 900 OF unsdu
Gated foreigners annually at Castle Gardel
IL most undesirable, and means should b
taken to put q stop to II. AS long as thi
Influx OF foreign element continues tn
grade Of the American lsboror cannot b
raised.
Mr. Litchmsn argued against strikes
and said that the men who recnmmen,
them are the wors! foes OF labor. They OF
the laboring classes millions ofdollars, ever
when successful and much more when un
successful, "a they usually are. Muc
more can be done by the ofiicers OF tn
order than by strikes. Tho increase
wages and the decrease OF the hours OF labo
have been accomplished without strike.
The speaker referred to many instances Il
New England and elsewhere where grea
results had been accomplished by the order
WohO UHihoo III itho Coneb u6u u. lTlOht al
ways failed. The only strike the speake
was In favor OF was strike against drunk
enness, which had caused more miser,
among laboring mon than anythir z else
while the statistics OF crime show that 8
Per cent. OF all criminals owe their impris
onment either directly or Indirectly t
drunkenness.
LABOR AND POLITICS.
The speaker next arg ued that the labor
Ing masses should not tie themselves &
slther the Democratic or Republican parties
but should 30 shape their political action a
70 send representatives to the legislator,
that will vote for measures amelioratin,
the condition OF the lsborers and protecting
them sgsinst the encroachments ofgrsspini
corporations. Intelligent and independen
voting is the surest means OF making
lsgislators know that they are the servant
and not the masters OF the people.
Mr.. Liichmau put In q good word fol-
female suffrage; for equal wages for Iusr
and woman, where the product OF their toll
was equal. He contrssted the many con
veniences OF to-day with the wan. OF then
hfty or hundred years sgo--the railroads,
tslegraphs, telephones, electric lights, &c -
but what are all these inventions worth 70
the man who Is without Q home without
work and sleeps on a door step.
DEFENDING THE TRAMP.
The speaker declRimed sgsinst the lesis