The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-12-20
Is years after. Here was what he said:

fzation. Could men learn and profit by the
dread experience of the past, instead Of cropping
biindly into the future, we would fare far bet
ter.
Yes. tie qulcksansis were ever pres
emit with the order. They still threaten
the remnant that is left. For time
they were bridged over. and only those
who stumbled on the bridge were swal-
apparent safety. But the luicksands
kept eating away until the foundations
were undermined and the bridge col
lspsed. leaving comparatively few sur
vivOrs on narrow strip, fighting with
each other for a footing, many slipping
into the quicksands. others driven there
The order grew enormously in lSS1and
1886, and on June 80 Of the latter year it
years of about $4,000. When the gen
eral assembly met in Richmond. in Octo-
Der, 1885, the membership of the order
was, in round numbers, 1,000,000 This
was the high water mark. Had the &C
ton of the Richmond session been guided
by wisdom firmly believe there would
be 100000 Knights of Labor in the
United States alone today. From the
close of that session the decline began,
and it gathered momentum as it went,
until now the entire membership is less
than it was in 1884. am not blabbing
secrets. for am only repeating what ev
cry body knows--or claims to know. At
ia ! matt elysf tn on h0 roll fo,.
right at the start-if Il new start is made,
and that is what hope for. Now come
to the answer Of my croaker friends
query, Why has the order lost the pres
tige it once had?" Because it has been
mismanaged. There it is i'll five words.
DO not refer TO i'll advised strikes and
boycotts. What organization has not 4
long list of these in it's records: Nor do
mean that the order suffered greatly
from the misuse of funds. OF course, it
is well understood that at times the
funds were weakened by foolish expen-
diturcs. but the mismanagement cut
deeper than these things. 1t under
mined the very foundations upon which
the order rested. The policy enforced
created antagonisms in the very heart of
the order and arrayed against each other
men who had taken the obligation "to
defend the life and reputation of broth
er." 1t was the policy of war to the
death against all other labor organiza-
tions. The thousands of 1uen who had
been schooled in the trades unions, and
c+s otoir ~,
the organization of their craft while en-
deavoring to help on the broader move
ment by working actively with the
Knights, were told that not only must
the unions be wiped out, but that the
union men in the order must give adher-
ence to the programme of humiliation
or get out. This scheme. which was
Matched by handful of narrow minded
bigots and would-be bosses, was several
years working before it came to a head
and blasted the great order.
BY the use Of trickery, bribery, cajol-
cry and flattery. a majority was wheeled
into battle array against trades unions
and union members at Richmond. Not
10 days elapsed after the deed was done
until half the delegates who had given
it support knew 4 great mistake had
been made. Everybody knows it now.
Mr.. Powderly has declared time and
again that if he could have but one wish
it would be that the order could go back
to the opening hour of the Richmond
session. l am now fully satisfied that
the general master workman was de-
ceived at Richmond and tricked by the
men who were his enemies as we'll as
the enemies of the trades unionists in
the order. The passage Of the resolu-
ton against the cigar makers was not the
only deed of the assassins; nearly every
legislative act of that session pointed in
the same direction. They were deity
hinged together, and combinations were
made and votes traded to secure the
passage of measures which, taken singly.
had a comparatively small following.
Not only did the action taken at the
Richmond session eventually drive near
ly all members Of trades unions out of
the order, but it brought on a war be-
tween the order and the unions. The
leaders Of the two branches of the labor
movement were publicly arrayed against
each other, and the discouraging spec
tacle of the giant Labor destroying itself
was spread before the world. Misunder-
standings of trif1ing character have
been famed into hot and bitter antagon-
ismss insignificant grievances of one or
ganization agsinst another have been
magniied into stupendous wrongs, and
for seven years organized labor has, like
a drunken profigate, squandered its
strength and substance in brawls, and
brotherly love and kindred interests have
been told to go to the dogs. This is
plain talk, but it is modern history, and
no one is prepared to controvert it. Plu-
tocracy hasn't overlooked it. Corpora
ton bosses have looked on and smiled.
It was their hour to smile.
But let us turn away from the CON
temptation Of the unpleasant past and
turn our eyes toward the future Can
not the labor movement be revived.
given new life and started once more on
the road to a thorough union of all the
workers in this country? l believe it
can / know it can if the old ruard will