The rustler., 1891-11-27
KNIGHTS o. LAsoR.


rs~asriy T.Iks Ahaat IN. Tur-.s I@ss-s
and shers&Ess-ns crisiris.s IN. Aeslsu
90 ths s~sr~sasy.
ToLEDo. a. Nov. n. General Master
workmAn Rowderiy yesterday after
noon gave the following statement %
The Associated Press conccrning ths
charges made b. ex-Secretary Turner,
In an interview printed In the Piits-
burgh. Cincinnati and other paperA
Sunday:
II have no knowledge of what letters
SIR Turner may have published In the
Z Philadelphia papers. and cannot be ex-
I pected % reply 20 them In an Official
intercourse Of several years many let
ters OF q personal and private character
were necessarily exchanged. aud
while have no comment 10 make on
the publication Of private letters. I know
that there was nothing In these letters
that am ashamed Of The means re-
sorted 10 20 increase my salary and build
my house were not as stated In Mr.
Turner'S Published statements The
money that paid for my house was due
i 4
never was, under any obligations TO the
order for one cent OF H. The cancelled
checks Mr. Turner holds may be Just as
he says, but these checks should be IN
the possession Of the general assembly
OF the Knights Of Labor
''lf they were for money Of the order
they belong 70 the order. aud in retain
ing them Mr. Turner gives coloring 10
the charge that he Is dishonest. while I
never accused him OF anything worse
than incompetency AN the money
have ever drawn from the order was
drawn on checks and should be in
charge of the present treasurer Mr.
Turner had the opportunity 10 explain
these checks and everything lse in his
possession to the special committee
He retained the bank books he used as
secretary and we had no
means of knowing what the deposits
were, for the system of our Office was
not then as II is now The special COM
mittee should not do otherwise than
make its report as II did when Mr.. Tur-
ner refused to appear before it.
"Since isss the general secretary
treasurer is obliged to bring his books
to each session OF the general assem-.
bly, 80 that every delegate may have
access 10 them, and n continuance of
Mr.. Turner's system OF book keeping
Is impossible. The motion TO appoint
that special committee was made b.
one friendly to Mr.. Turner, in order
that he might vindicate himself, but he
refused 10 go before the committee, on
the ground that I never appointed an
honest committee.
''Our records show that in 1850. 1881.
1852 and 1883 Mr.. Turner was a men,
bcr OF the finance committee on my
appointment, since then and until lsss
he was a member OF the committee on
secret work on my appointment, and it
does not come with n good grace for
Mr. Turner TO now say that | never
appointed n committee that did its
duty; in fact, it is a self-condemnatory
statement
Anyway, all the papers should be
turned over to his successor lie could
very easily make tabuated state
ment OF his accounts; could have made
a list by name and number of all stub,
check and bank books, and could hare
taken his successors receipt for
the same. That would have shielced
him and a failure TO produce
any of these books would reflect on
his successor and not on him. As IL is
we cannot account for sllZOO and he
refused TO do So"