The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-09-11
Turns His Back on knights of
Labor Doctrines,
And Joins the Mckinley Forces
In an Address
AT COOPER UNION, N. Y.
Says That Government Iniunc-
tiOn Is Preferable
To Government BY Those Afraid
to Do Their Duty.


was held in Cooper Union last night
under the auspices of the campaign
committee of the Mckinley league.
Terence V. POwderly, late master work
man of the Knights of Labor, was the
chief speaker and was followed by ex-
Senator Warner Miller. The meeting
was planned for wage earners and a
very large audience was present early,
and when the speaking began the large
hall was crowded.
Mr.. POwderly said. among other
things:
Mr.. President and Friends: Did I
believe an apology for my presence on
this platform necessary, I would say
that am here because believe it the
right Of the American wage Garner to
receive the highest rate Of cOmpensa-
ton for services rendered, and the right
TO claim and receive the best kind of
money in existence for his labor"
Mr. PoWderly then took up the Chi
cagO platform and compared it with
previous platforms of the Democratic
party, saying:
-Four years ago the pivotal point
around which the Democratic platform
swung was free trade.
When that congress assembled there
was no deficit; the revenue was amply
sufficient for the needs of the govern
ment and there was no income tax law
upon the statutes of this nation. The
income tax law was an after consider
alton; 1t was no part of the Democratic
platform of 1892, and was only thought
of when it became manifest to its orig
fnatOrs that they had sawed or the rev
enue limb on which they had been sit
ting in their mad attempt to undo what
their Republican predecessors had so
well planned and so faithfully executed.
To make amends for a blunder they
would perpetrate a crime. I may be
charged with opposing one OF the car
dinal principles of the Knights ofLabor,
which demanded that a graduated in
come tax be levied That section was
ad0nfH6 nv the KniphfG nf T.9h nF in
position to my earnest and emphatic
protest I never believed in it, and
have always opposed it.
Does 1t not appear inconsistent in
The defenders of the Chicago platform
to insist that hey are opposed to Eng
HSh rule in America on the finance
question, after they have opened our
ports TO the products of the English
factory and mill2 Our chief cOmpeti-
tor in the domain of manufactures is
England, and he must be an ignorant
man indeed who will demand the abO-
HtiOn of our tariff laws and not know
that the gamer by the abolition of these
laws viii be England They tell US the
manufacturers are robber barons and
That the tariff which protects them and
those who work for them is q robbar
tariff. Well. what of it? IF working
men viii not organize as the window
glass trade and railroad WOrkmen are
organized, to unite with employers in
protecting their trades and callings,
they have themselves to blame for not
securing all the advantages OF protec-
ton.
The fact that $3.50, Ooo. 900 worth Of
agricultural products was imported Into
this country in one year and that II was
bought and consumed by Americans
proves most cOnclusively that to that
extent at least the agricuIturists of this
country were the losers, and had they
been protected in their industry by q
judiciOus tariff law the consumers of
the land would have bought that pro-
duct of their hands instead Of that
from foreign hands, and that vast sum
OF money would be circulating among
the people of the United States, paying /
taxes and debts in the United States |
instead of enriching the producers of /
foreign Landslide "rObber barOns'' of
Europe. The farmer is told that the
cause Of his ills is because he has not
been blessed with free silver. But who
ever tells him that deceives him. Those |
who advocate free silver tell the farmer |
that the crime of 1873 is responsible for |
their ills.
Since the crime of 1873 farming in
the United States has undergone, q rad |
zeal. almost total change and causes |
other than the demonstration Of silver |
have combined to cheaper the farmers |
products"
Mr.. Powderly then compared the /
work possible to be done with modern !
agricultural implements with that I'M |
der the old methods and said: rs it I
any wonder then the prices of wheat, |
corn, and other grains have fallen, and |
does it not seem plain to the observing |
man that the agencies which I have /
pointed out have been far more potent /
In levlling prices than the demonetiza.- !
ton of silVer2 The farmer needs a 4
market and he should have a market /
IN which to sell at fair, reasonable |
price unfortunately he has been taught /
that he should buy in a cheap market /
and sell in a dear one, but if he wished /
for high prices for himself he should 4
ces for others
Mr.. PowderIy then told of how i'm |
proved machinery had displaced hand |
labor in cities as we'll. and called atten- /
who settle in the cities and work cheap |
", and continued:
Here then are two cause.-the in /
PRODUCTION Of improved machinery and |
immi gratiOn-Which combine to lower
the prices Of products and deprive the /
farmer of his market and the crime of /
1873 has had nothing to do with either |
one. What remedy does the Chicago /
platform offer for this condition of af- /
fairs? That it recognizes such a con
ditiOn is true, for it contains a plank /
calculated to lead the unthinking into
the belief that they would abolish one /
Of these evils. 1t reads: We hold that /
the most efficient way of protecting
American abOr is to prevent the i'm
portatiOn of foreign pauper labor to
compete with it in the home market,
etc.
There is a sample of statesmanshiufo for
you They pitch their tents where the
knights of Labor extinguished their
camp nreS L wears ago In those days
We demanded that the importation of /
foreign labor under contract-not pau
per labor, mark yOu-shOuId be abolish
ed Those laws were passed in 1885 and
today such q thing as the importation
OF labor is hardly known. Had these
patriots who affect to take arms in the !
name of labor been sincere they would
have inserted immigration where they
haunt the word Importation
Taking up the money question proper
Mr.. Powderly said: They tell US that
we lack money; that there is not enough
Ia circulation and that the minis should