The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-11-16

luTHcT, eH-scCrclury anu treasurer Of
tho Knights OF Labor, who is accused Of
being S3l 900 short in his accounts with
tho order. made IN explanation ycstcr-
day that was as sensational us wero the
charges. These charges made up the
principal feature OF tlc knights OF Ia.
Dor convention at Toledo, tho commit
tee appointed ut the last session, ut the
request oi General Secretary Hayes, TO
investigate tho ex.trcasurcr's books re-
porting that Turner had refused to ap.
pear before them or TO give up tho bank
deposit books, cancelled checks and
other documents in his possession. In
the absence OF these documents they
claimed that they made the best invcsti-
CATION possible, with the result that,
even crediting Turncrwith $3.50 which
ms statements show to have been OK
pended, there was n balance OF over
$4,000 unaccountcd for.
Mr.. Turner was found at his grocery,
ut Sixth and Master streets. lie indig.
nant!y denied that lie was in any way
deficient in his accounts with the order
and he declared the work oil the com.
mittce TO be part OF General Master
Workman powdcrly's scheme to de-
privc him OF some dangerous weapons
against the knights.
Ex-rKEAsvRER TURNER'S IoMpAEDMENr.
"When l lett the order at the end OF
the indianapolis convention in 1885,"
he said, "Thomas Sincxan, the expert
employed by tho Knights, made Il state
mcnt before Notary Public J. T. Massey
that my accounts had been carefully
gone over and found to be all right.
That statement is annexed to tho re-
port OF tho order Tor that year. ] LETT all
the accounts in the treasurcr's Office
that could be needed, including the
vouchers Tor all expenditures OF the
order during my incumbencv. What |
have kept have been Tor my own pro-
lection. They consist principally OF
cancelled checks. Some OF them are
very compromising to Mr.. Powderly.
"When said left all the vouchers
in my office forgot one, which | have
in my possession. It's voucher for 4
piece oil furniture bought by Secretary
Hayes for SO, which he sent to his
home III New Brunswick, and then
charged to the order. But that's little
thing compared with the others. |
want 10 begin ut the beginning in what
am going to tell.
SENSATIONAL CHARGES MADE
81 am going 10 disclose what is not
known to even members OF the order,
and what will show their general mas
Ter workman to be man. who, while
preaching against corruption and dis
honesty, was himself using funds OF the
order and resorting to every concciva-
BILE trickery to maintain his hold on the
management and prevent an exposure
OF his methods. When WAS called to
the office oil general secretary aud treas
urer oil the Knights OF Labor in 1883,
l owned a grocery store on Sixth street,
near Taskcr, 1t was worth $500. Now
1t is mortgagcd Tor $500. The place
am in ut the present time is not mine,
and l am anything but rich man. Ny
connection with Powdcrlys gang has
nearly ruined me.
While was treasurer my accounts
were audited every month by general
auditor, regularly elected for that pur-
pose. The accounts thus audited were
published every three months and sent
TO all the General Assemblies When
the auditor was abolished, ut the Rich
mond convention, an expert was en-
ploycd to do this work. Henry Taylor,
my clerk, was very methodical. lie
scrutinized everything and itcmizcd
everything. Nothing that came into the
trcasurers office pertaining to the order
escaped him.
ESlIlTY DETwEES THE GENERAL OFFICERS.
"Ihis gained him the enmity OF Pow
derry and his closest friends in the Or
der, who were always afraid that some
OF their schemes would be exposed.
powdcrly always suspected that Taylor
read some OF his tell-tale personal let.
tiers 10 mo. In tho indianapolis con.
vention, when the Powderly men at
tackled nc and elected Hayes in my
place as treasurer, Powdcrlv made Il
speech in which he said he would rather
spend 4 year in hadcs than have m
other year OF ono OF tho mon in office.
That is tho way they all felt abcu,
Taylor.
"Thcy used to tell some queer things.
Tho Order had to pay all the general Of
ticers bills. They would include in the
bills their own and families laundry,
ginger ale and cigars for their friends"
and other curious incidentals. What
they wanted was to lave these bills re-
ported in 4 general way, but Taylor
itomZcd them just as they came in, and
when made my report forwarded the
same detailed statement oil totals.
Whenever any OF these fellows bought
anything it was charged to the order.
What Powdorlv and his committee
are so anxious to get into their possess
sion are two cancelled checks which
have, showing that OH June %, 1856,
$1,000 were drawn from the order S
funds at the Corn Exchange National
Bank by Y. V. Powderly, and that OH
August 81 following $1,000 were drawn
by him.
LOAN FROM THE ORGANIZATIONS FUNDS
"Powdcrly was then drawing al annual
salary us general master workman OF
$500. He wanted to buy q house, He
did not have the money, but the order
did, and no wanted to use the orders
money without anybody knowing any
thing about it. The executive board ut
that time consisted OF Powdcrly, John
w. Hayes, William II. Bailey and
Thomas Barry. All were firm Pow
derby men, except Barry, who was luke
warm, and whom they were afraid OIL
$50 Barry was sent away on some
mission or other, and powderly and the
other two held meeting and loaned