Telegram-herald., 1890-08-08
paKnrs AMY OF LABOR
A. fss eSs asa ox-@tS-& rss~shss
.. N. uaIsss Es.sksTss~1-A S0n1-
N. srsaE ssrszsis ~ sSeEsA~Ss.
NJ ~sl 80 Boss a tAs EASf


r-..-,.,e,rrr 1900 ~ sAezzLLEs q co
Th.rss.sns~ RlsA20Hd n the labor
esla. . nan sf stEoag Phfs'qos, ooTH
leader Of nss, and nshtsr frsHa the
ground sp. HIS naEs Is thoDas
Barry And bis Acme i Ia East
saginaw Michigan 70 his frisnds,
however. BE Is kBosa simply as big
Tom Barry. A fs~ yeers ago 10 man
Ia Ansriea hsd saeh personal follow
ing as Pow&srly. He vas ths leader ef
more than half nillieR men. The or
gaBiz4tioa ef the knights Of Labor VAS
OF such kind that ss had dietsti0nsi
power. Frsm brown stone palace IN
Philadslphis he Issued his uksses al
will and they were obeysd. The leaders
of the great political parties Weighed
his uttsranees as they did those Of no
other man in the United States, as be-
ing the utterAnees Of one In . position
70 ineuencs, IL not control, the action
OF hundreds of thousands OF voters
There is another labor leader now
whose standing is superior 10 that Of
Powderly, or who az any rate 10 at the
head of a greater organization IN point
of numbers This is Samuel dOmpers.
His rise 10 power has been excsedingly
rapid. The organization that Powdsrly
leads Is but about one third as strong
as il formerly was, aud he himself Is
TO some extent discredited. The Ameri-
can Federation Of Labor on the con-
trsry has grown 10 = membership OF
800, 600. In the east not 80 much has
heen heard OF Barry Of late, although
he Is not tyro in labor matters, but
Is on the contrary a veteran. Men who
study labor matters deeply say that in
Barry there IL q man who in the future
may sUpplant both Powderly and Com
pers. SO far as Poweerly Is concerned,
il would be but consistent with retri-
butive justice for Barry to humiltate
him, for IL was in the main owing TO
Powderly that Barry was frozen out of
the knights of Labor. il he had been
otherwise than strong he might have
been n member still, and might for
that matter have held the place that
Powderly holds now. But he could not
be used, and so the clique that got
control OF the order four years ago and
then proceeded to ruin II, determined
TO get rid of him, and finally succeeded.
Barry was at one time the right hand
man of Powderly, was a member of the
General Executive Board of the Knights
and, next to Powderly, was easily the
most prominent figure in the Generel
Assemblies of the order.
The manner in which he came to
leave the Knights and to inaugurate
new movement, which may end in the
building up of an organization that
will be more powerful than the Knights,
is simple. and can be easily told. About
FIVE years ago District Assembly No.
80, X. of L., which had its headquarters
In New York, was probably the strong
est District Assembly in the order.
Within this Assembly was formed n
clique known as the Home Club"
The members OF this had but one pur-
pose, and that was 10 secure control of
District Assembly 40, and through it
to dominate the whole order. In the
first project they succeeded without
much trouble. The conspirators, il
such they may be called, then proceeded
to capture the General Assembly that
was to be held They planned well and
shrewdly. Powderly wanted to be re-
elected Master Workman. He surren-
dered to the powerful New York As.
sembly, and so saved himself. Other
men who wanted something were also
secured, aud an effort was made to con-
troll Barry, but it failed. He would
not deal with the New York mon. Then
strategy was resorted to. About the
time that tho General Assembly was
held in Richmond, Barry was con-
I viently ordered to the west TO take
charge of a strike that was on then.
, He went, and while he was away the
( General Assembly was held. The mel,
/ who were seeking to control the order
/ thought this would be a good time to
get rid of Barry as a member of the
Executive Board, and they tried it.
They failed. His popularity was so
/ great that despite his absence, and in
spite Of the plotting against him he was
reelected. In other respects the nav
clique won q complete victory. Pow
derby struck his colors without a
struggle. and thereafter was controlled
/ by the New York contingency. How
the order was mismauaged, how abor-
tive and disastrous strikes were entered
into, how men dropped ont of the or
der by tho thousands and how the once
magnificent order dwindled ia mat
ter of rscsn. history. Barry, through
out all, opposed the ruinous methods
and fell under the displessure of Pow
derly and the others. Then came the
convention IN the Northwest about
three years ago, and Barry and the men
who thought as he did-they repre-
sented IN any thousands of men-seceded
from the regular organization which
they declared had departed from its
original high aims and sound princi-
pies. The dissidents met in Chicago
and formed what WAS at the time and
for some time after known "a a
Provincial Committee. ." the object bs-
ing 20 form an organization Of the dis
conteuted among the Knights and work
men generally. upon lines not dissimi-
la 20 those upon which she order had
been originally r1n
The efforts of this committee have
beer largely successful and they have
resulted in the formation of . United
Brotherhood ot Labor. the chief agure
in which is Ten BarrV. the er-iisntea-
an, Of Pow3srlv The present mem Der
ship ~ this new organizstioa cannot
he accurately calculated a. this tiuas as
the new brotheraoe8 il bnt in its form.
ativs stage It is .sfirnsted however.