The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-10-23
powpERLY AT COOPER UNION.


ings at Cooper Union at the wage-eain.
ars' meeting on Thursday evening. and
by riotous Interruptions prevent NJ
PowderIy from obtaining a hearing.
Not strange at all. but entirely cilarac-
teriStic of the methods and the man
uers of that faction in the labor move
ment which has been striving for years
to prostitute and degrade the move
ment for their own selfish purposes
They are marketable. and both vicious
and Iawless. 1t has not been the prac-
tice. even in our most exciting political
.amDaiyns, for the emiSsarieS of an OPP
position party to invade the meetings
of their opponents in turbulent and
disorderly gangs with the sole vie" ol
creating disturbance and melting rlo'.
But the fellows who endeavored to
break up the Cooper Union meeting
with Kisses and howls and catcalls. IL
order to prevent decent and iaW-abid-
ing citizens from hearing, Mr. Pow
derby deliver what every one WHO
either heard or read it must admit
was a perfectly calm. logical and T"a-
sonable exposition of the issues OF III"
campaign. were of the new order 0l
political disputants - the sort engen-
dered by the doctrines of the Chicago
DlaIIOfDl. anu ICCuIbttiN
by the Boy Orator and his anarchist
following. Their highest conception
of political discussion consists in
drowning the arguments of their "ppo
pents by unmeaning noise: their only
answer to calm and intelligent statr-
ment is lawleSsness and disorder.
The only purpose of these disciples
of the Boy Orator was to prevent Mr..
Powderly from obtaining hearing. ID
so doing they We're only eXemplifying
the principles of the Chicago platform
only following and betterins II but
small degree. the instructions of the
candidate who has for the last two
months been engaged in melting just
such demonstrations by appeals TO the
ignorance and the lawless passions of
those whom he calls the toiliug
masses. But why should they make
this violent and disgraceful lenlol-
stration against Mr.. Powderly: 'rhe!
pretend to be laboring men. and to be
actuated by sincere desire TO pro-
mote the interest of labOring men: tn
make labor itself not only worthy its
hire from Il material point of view. but
deserving of the highest consideration.
both from its inestimable consequence
as the most important factor in the
worlds progress and from the intelli-
gence with which it's responsibilities
are weighed and it's duties considered.
They pretend, in short. to be the spec
ial advocates of the rights. and DE
champions of the dignity of labor II
was under color of this advocacy. ANA
by virtue of this championship. that
they set themselves on Thursday ni"nt
in Cooper Union not to listen to the az
guments of an opponent. of their Owl!
class, in order to be able to answer
them-nor. indeed. to answer chem on
the spot with some show of order and
plan-but simply to suppress his arGu-
ment by lawless disorder and howl oI
hiss him down unheard. by mere noise.
And who is Terence V. Powdcriy.
that these so-called and self-styled adj
vocates of the rights of labor should
with such deliberation and set purpose
undertake to howl and hiss down i'll Il
community whose boast is the freedom
of speech. which under law is accorded
and by law protected? His record as ii
labor leader answers the inquiry. lie
was for many years the highest officer
of the organization of Knights of La
Dor, the most successful association "f
its kind ever known in this country.
Under his administration it was the
most respected and influential. No
combination of workmen had ever
commanded such respect. and certainly
none had ever made its influence and
power so universally felt. as tho
knights of Labor under his admins
tration Self-poised and firm. he was
no less conservative and cOnciliatorI.
and his administration was marked by
more real advancement for the cause
of la Dor and more actual achievements
in it's behalf than were ever known
before or since. His policy was op-
posed by the dema gogueS and agit;t
Ors in the labor movement whose only
conception of the labor question =
that there is. and must necessarily al
ways be. bitter and relentless Wir be-
tween the employer and the employed:
between capital and labor. Out of such
constant contention these men made
their living. Labor strikes We're and
are their opportunities. Reconcilta-
tions and mutual understandings were
and are the destruction of their busi-
ness as agitators, and consequently the
bane of their existence. They put
Powderly out in 1893 Since then that
queer counterpart of the Boy Orator.
Mr. Sovereign. has been waDbling
in a minute than Powderly did in Il
year. and doing a thousand times nIore
mischief in the same time Powdarly
ever did.
The labor movement has been divid
ed into two distinct parties aver since
Powderly was deposed. POwderly ad-
dressed with his own method and MS
own line of argument one of these di-
visions the other night at Cooper
Union. The other division met him in
their own way. with their own man
ners. and by their own and only met H.
od. The result was that Mr.. Pow'lrTly
was heard. and his disturbers had to be
elected by the police. The lesson can
not be lost upon honest laboring mon,
who desire to hear both sides and form
their own judgments upon political
questions and do not believe in the SAP
preston of free speech.-New York
Tribune.
M'KINLEY ExCELS HIMSELF.
The steel and iron industry has been