The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-11-19

| hoW 81 wen begun, De carried on wit
renewed vigor, and when another fou
government of the United States, loca
municipal, state and national, will be i
the hands of the wealth-producers to us
as they see fit. We shall then no longe
be as we are now, at the mercy of tn
money kings and the great corporations
THOMAS b. INQUIRE.
J. II. SOVEREIGN,
HENRY b. MARTY,
JAMES NJ. KENNY,
CHARLES A. FRENCH,
JOHN w. HAYS,
Secretary General Executive Board.
At the adjournment this evening thu
following conclusions of the executiy,
board were given out
In our annual report to the Washing
ton general assembly we used this Ian
| guage:
I'm spite of the general legislation al
ready secured; in spite of improvement.
already made in the social and industrial
conditions, there remains a vast amount
of work to be done before the wealth
producers will be free from the chains
of wage slavery and the oppression OF
monopoly.
| The forces of great army like the
| knights of Labor, to accomplish import
ant results, must have its power wisely
directed against the weakest point in
the enemy's line and the very stronghold
of monopoly must be captured. No or.
ganization in the world has so clear Sc
definite and practical n plan Of campaign
as our order. The machinery of our gov
eminent must be wrested from the
hands of the agents of the plutocrats and
restored to the people The majority of
the people, the life-blood of commerce,
must be issued by the agents of the peo-
pie only. The great highways of COM
merce must be freed from the clutches
of railway kings, and the land, the great
reservoir from which all wealth is drawn,
which is the prime necessity for the
maintenance of human existence, must
be restored to the whole people. The
equal rights of each one of the children
of men to share of the bounties of ma
ture must be recognized and secured.
cure the opportunity to labor and enjoy
the full fruits of their toll must be guar
anteed beyond possibility of doubt.
These are the great issues, a clear and
distinct line, which the knights of La
Dor propose to fight out to a finish, and
the wealth-producing class of the world
are welcomed to their ranks"
During the year that has followed your
general officers have striven earnestly to
carry into effect this declaration, believ-
ing that by so doing we should accom-
plish results of great value to the use
of labor. The hope we then held has
been more than realized in the vast pres
ent upheaval which has taken place in
the United States since the Washington
general assembly closed.
In pursuance of the general policy set
forth in our Washington assembly we
attended the convention of the populist
party at st. Louis and the democratic
convention in Chicago, and used our best
efforts to secure unification of the
forces represented by those two great
parties in support of the principles. en-
bodied in the preamble of the knights
of Labor And it should be n cause for
rejoicing on the part of every true
Knight of Labor that the money plank,
the plank in opposition to government
bond issues, the income tax plank and
numerous other very important principles
which have been so long and strenuously
battled for by the knights of Labor
against hopeless odds. have become the
commanding issues OF American politics,
and have completely overshadowed all
the issues which have long been used by
politicians and the money power to blind
tention from these vital questions. affect
ing the real welfare of the wealth pro-
ducers.
At last the time has come when the
lines of battle are fairly drawn between
the laborers of America on the one hand
and their implacable enemies-tbe money
kings and their minions-on the other.
Although a complete victory for the peo-
pie was not won in this election, yet i'm
mcnsc gains have been made. Six mil |
lions of American voters have arraycd
permanently under the ban
ner of principles so long upheld by the
knights Of Labor. At least 1000 more
would have done likewise, but for the
frightened forces of money and coercion
used in this campaign by the party of
the plutocracy.
This general assembly should give the
most thorough consideration to the ques-
ton of how best to serve political adj
vantages already gained for the masses,
and how we may perfect the Organiza
ton for victory in the immediate future.
The millions of wealth producers are
now aroused as they were never aroused
before in the history of the nation Let |
us seek with all the wisdom we can mus
ter to decide on some policy that will |
show the people how to so use their po- |
itical power that they will become ir- |
in their demand for the re-
form which labor requires.