The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-12
Annual Address of the Janus-Faced Ix.
of l.. Leader Who Tried to Betray
the Cause of Labor.
SCREED OF AN AGITATOR
WHOSE WANING ORGANIZATION WAS
USED AS A POPOCRATIC ANNEX.
Address by the Executive Board De-
clarinE War Between LabOrers
and "MOney Kings"

ROCHESTER,, n. Y. Nov. 1.-THE Cen
eral Assembly Knights of Labor went into
secret session after convening to-day. Gen
eral Master Workman Soyereign's report
read and was followed by the report
of General Secretary-treasurer Hayes. Mr..
Sovereign in his report says:
After n struggle of twenty-seven years
against the evils of aggregated wealth by
our order we are confronted with more
serious problems affecting the rights and
liberties of the industrial masses than ever
before. Not only have the idle speculating
nate productive enterprises and accumulate
wealth of toiling millions. but they have
earners and mortgaged farmers with
threats of discharge and foreclosure into
submission to their will. The. autocratic
holders of idle money have subverted the
principle of free government by forcing
political service from the poor as the tenure
OF employment Laboring men can COM
bat falsehood and bid defiance TO traitors
| from their own ranks. but when a depraved
monster of corporate rapacity steals into
their homes and threatens them with
discharge and persecution because of their
political convictions they sacrifice their lib
critics in consideration of food and shelter
| for their helpless wives and innocent chill
dren. The struggle just passed has demon
strated that pecuniary dependence is po-
I'm the struggle just passed the knights
of Labor proved itself to be the only labor
organization that stood like an iron wall
| the two continents. Every general officer
| and every district and local assembly of
our order spurned every offer of bribery
and scorned every threat of the money
| king" Mr.. Sovereign added that, except
Eugene V. Debs; the heads of the labor or
| ganiZatons. including the Federation of
Labor. gave no material aid in the recent
! struggle.
The General Master Workman says the
! Knights should abandon all utopian plans
| and center their efforts as follows: Il
would change and abbreviate our present
] test of membership as to center our imme-
date demands upon an equitable income
tax, the free and unlimited coinage of sill
yer at the present legal ratio, the payment
of all government bonds according to pres
ent contract and the issue of all money
of the country by the government / would
pake positive and unequivocal declarations
against government by injunction, increase
/ of the standing army. the payment of
| bonded debt in gold alone, the issue of
| bonds in time of peace and the issue of
| circulating notes by banking corporations
would then prepare an entire'y new secret
| work with stronger obligations than we
now have, establishing IA degree known as
! the minute men and as far as possible re-
turn, to our former system of working in
absolute secrecy. i would then appeal to
! the free-Silver and reform forces every
| where for membership and support, and
throw this organization into the great
|
power and the corporations to an ever
lasting finish. 1 would not recede from our
| demands for land reform nor from any of
| the other great principles contained in the
preamble OF this order. but / would desig
nate them as battle grounds to be fought
| over after we have throttled the life out
! of the money power that is undermining
the foundations OF American liberty.
1T may be said that by accepting this
| issue we would be charged with favoring
| the silver mine owner in the Rocky noun
tains. The charge would not be true. and
hoxve 1Ixv 70 ~
/ thousand times rather cast a thousand
votes for a mine owner in the Rocky noun
tains who employs labor and contributes to
the wealth of my country than to cast one
| vote for a foreign Shylock who conspires
to rob the labor Of the world i appeal TO
| the delegates here assembled to place a
| demand for the free coinage of silver at the
! present legal ratio in our preamble and bar
our ports and clear our decks for action
| against the plutocratic combine arrayed on
| the other side of the single gold standard.
THE SECRETARY TREASURER.
The annual report of Secretary-Treasure
j. w. Hayes opens with a reference of
| what the official named terms attacks of
a most villainous character upon the gen.
| eral officers of the order "by reason of the
! just stand taken by them in refusing to
allow a small clique of men, who are fa-
miliarly known as the New York triangle
of the Socialist Labor party, to get control
of the machinery of the Knights of Labor
| for the dissemination OF their doctrines.
| The so-called triangle. according to Mr.
! HAYES. consists of Daniel De Leon Lucien
| Sanial and Ernest Rohn. MIR. Hayes COM
| plains that although the laws of the order
prescribe that working cards, receipt books
district assemblies be furnished through
the General Assembly, the receipts from
those sources amounted to only So 437
Printing for the national silver committee
| brought into the treasury $l,100: for the
| Democratic congressional committee. 5000.
and for the Illinois Democratic State com
| mittee $3.50.
The report treats also of the action of the
American Federation of Labor directing
all organizations that were affiliated both
| with the Knights of Labor and with the
Federation for trade purposes) to withdraw
| the report says. is in direct violation of the
arrangement entered into with the general
| executive board by the representatives of
the national union previous to the forma-
tion of National Trade Assembly 80, and
that the General Assembly should render
all possible assistance to the trade in pro-
tecting their members from unjust and
tyranncal employers.
An important recommendation is in refer
ence to Local Assembly 800. MIR. Hayes
| says: "Since the new organization of the
| General Assembly. Local Assembly 800.
through the delegates who represented the
local assembly were continually threaten
ing to withdraw from the order. giving as
their reason a feeling of distrust of your
general officers in the proper use of funds.
The true state of the case. however. is that
Local Assembly 200 has large amount Of
investment in glass stock. gas stock and
defunct banks and $50. 600 in cash. A quar-
rel among the membership to who
should preside over the deliberations of the
organization and dispose of the funds above
referred to was I'm reality the main cause
of the trouble.
The report recommends that 1.-The general
executive board be instructed as a legis-
Iative committee. to urge that instead of
a prohibitory tariff on glass. the tariff be
transferred to the immigrant glass worker
so that the industry shall be retained In
the control of native workmen and the
foreign workman kept where he properly
belongs"
Statements of all receipts during the pc
riod of one year and three months com
mencing July l. 1885. and ending Sept. 30,
1896. shows a total of $39. 1893. on July l.
1895. there was balance on hand of 81. 404,
so that the present cash balance is $326.
ANOTHER FULMINATION
At the adjournment of the session this
afternoon the following conclusions OF tho
| executive board was given out:
I'm our annual report TO the Washington
General Assembly We used this language
In spite of the good legislation already Sc
cured in spite of improvements already
| made i'm the social and Industrial condi-
tions. there yet remains vast work to be
| done before the wealth producers will be
fully free from the chains OF wage slavery
| and the oppression of monopoly. The forces
of a great army like the knights Of Labor