Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-13
THE k OF |. DECISION
Burns Faction Placed in
Charge Of Offices.
INJUNCTION GRANTED
HAYES PARTY TO TURN OVER
THE EFFECTS.
Probable That an Appeal Will Be
Taken by the Defeated
Litigants.

declared in the opinion of Justice Ander-
son, delivered late yesterday afternoon and
reported exclusively in The Star, are 81
mon Burns, general master workman; Hen
ry A. Hicks, general worthy foreman;
Thomas H. Canning. general secretary
treasurer, and John Fernau, Frank b. YOU
rison and Morris Carmody, members OF the
general executive board.
The opinion, as stated in The Star yes
terday, declares the Burns faction to repre-
sent the Knights Of Labor, and requires
the Hayes party to turn over to them all
the property Of the order, and enjofns the
Hayes faction from claiming to be the ON
GERS Of the order or from acting as such.
Henry A. Hicks, who was presiding ON
Ger at the convention at Niagara Falls In
November, 1907 when the Bruins party
were elected. was not expelled from the
order, because" says Justice Anderson,
the district assembly court that trled nIi
was an Illegally constituted tribunal; that
even~if it were legally constituted trlbu-
nal, 1t was without jurisdiction to try ana
expei him; that Henry A. Hicks was not only
a member of the order of knights OF Labor,
incorporated, but was its general master
workman at the time of the meeting or the
generally assembly held at Niagara Falls
in November, 1902; that being such member
and such officer, he was the only proper
person to preside over its deliberations;
that the delegates constituting that assem-
bly, had color of title or claim of right to
sit as such delegates; that In the presenta-
ton of their credentials and in their claim
Of right so to sit, they were actuated by
good faith, and their right so to sit having
been passed upon and determined In their
favor by the solemn judgment Of the gen.
eraI assembly itself; that they. together
with those who were admitted to the floor
of the assembly subsequent to the preltm1-
nary organization, constituted the lawful
general assembly of the order of the
Knights of Labor. Incorporated, at Its
meeting held at Niagara Falls.
Point Commented Upon.
In relation to the attack made by the
Hayes faction, on the ground that two of
the subordinate bodies represented in that
assembly had been suspended and three
representatives expelled by an order Of ex-
pulsion, charging that they had violated
the laws Of the order In bringing the off,
GERS Of the order Of knights Of Labor into
public court and causing 1t to expend
large sums Of money in the payment Of
COSTS" the opinion says:
THE decree Of expulsion sets out as the
sole ground for the suspension and expul-
sion that the accused were guilty Of bring
ing the officers Of the order into public
court to defend its standing, making par
ticular reference to the Parsons litigation.
1t does not pretend to set out any parttcu-
lar misconduct as the charge. but simply
the bringing Of a suit in public court.
An inspection Of the papeIs in the Parsons
suit reveals the fact that 1t was one
not by Parsons against the order; and. fur
thermore, that 1t did not concern any con-
troversy arising within the order, but was
q suit to determine whether the complain
ants or defendants constituted the order
No provisions whatever have been made in
the constitution Of the order for determin-
Ing questions Of this character, and the
only place where they could be adtudicated
was In court Of equity.
Moreover, it would be startling propo-
sition If, after complainant, be he an In
dividual or a corporation, has come into a
court of equity and has had his rights ad-
Indicated as between himself and those
against whom he has invoked the manda-
tory process of the courts-as to matters
cognizable in no other forum-that he may
then return to the same court and plead as
a bar to the right of such defendants to
standing before the court that they had
been his own chosen adversaries in for
mer suit.
1.-The dignity and honor Of a court Of
equity. which processes to be and must be
at all times court of conscience cannot
be thus trified with"
Second Decision Rendered
The suit Of Simon Burns and other
against John W. Hayes and Others In which
yesterdays opinion was rendered, was the
second equity suit decided within the last
few years for the control OF the Knights
Of Labor. The first suit was a controversy
between faction led by Simon Burns and
John W. Hayes against wing Of the or
ganization under the leadership of John
Parsons This case occupied the attention
of the late Justice Bradley Of the Supreme
Court of the District for over q year ard
was finally decided in 1902 in favor Of Burns
and Hayes.
subsequently. differences arose between
the two successful leaders, which resulted
in a distinct split In the ranks Of the order.
The spirit Of discord spread throughout the
entire organization. and eliminated In the
boiling Of the Hayes crowd at the general
assembly held at Niagara Falls in Novem-
Der, 1902. The two forces held different
simultaneously at Niagara
Falls, and each undertook to elect officers
and declare itself the legally constituted
general assembly of the order. Each party
assumed to itself all the functions Of the
government of the organization. and their
contentious were finally presented to the
Supreme Court of the District Of Columbia
by bill IN equity fled last fall by the
Burns faction against the Hayes faction
An appeal will probably be taken from
Justice Anderson's opinion to the Court OF
Appeals and should the opinion be there
sustained the case go to the United