PRICE TEN CENTS. LABOR ILLUSTRATED. OMNIA VINCIT THE KNIGHTS' BOOK. MATTERS CONCERNING CAPITAL. The Principles and Aims of (he Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. CHIVALRY OF AND KNIGHTHOOD THE MIDDLE AGES. T H E PASSAGE OF ARMS. THE BATTLE FOR HONOR AND RENOWN. Address Editor " Knights'' Book, ' 26 Beekman Street, New York City. Orders for " Knights' Book " may be sent to the Office of the Concord Co-operative Printing Co., 47 and 49 Centre Street, N. Y. 331.88 TS2K THE KNIGHTS' BOOK. By Late Editor of W . S. TISDALE, " THE CHAMPION OF AMERICAN LABOR." Before proceeding to a perusal of t h e following pages, we wish the reader to understand that t h e Editor and Compiler of this work does n o t speak b y authority or suggestion of any officer, or any Order of Labor, whomsoever or whatsoever, as to certain matters herein contained. H e alone is responsible for any expression of opinion, or any sentiment, n o t duly credited t o persons or parties authorized to speak for t h e " K n i g h t s of Labor." The objects of t h e publication are: First, to instruct those who need information touching t h e qualities, missions, duties a n d manners of knights. To excite a n d interest t h e minds of all k n i g h t s while reciting t h e noble characteristics of chivalry a n d knighthood, in order t h a t o u r modern " S i r K n i g h t " may b e led to emulate t h e courtly bearing, courtesy, gentleness, courage, a n d loyalty of t h e t r u e knights of former ages ; to instill into his mind t h a t it is incumbent upon him to be ever loyal to Labor, t r u e to his pledges, faithful to his fraternity, obedient to t h e commands of his chiefs, eager to champion t h e cause of his fair co-laborers, a n d be on t h e alert and ready to act, at a given signal, for t h e just rights and privileges of workingmen a n d women—after having exhausted every effort by means of "arbitration" to secure the end in view. Second. Our purpose is also t o convey to t h e general public an idea of the spirit and temper of t h e toiling and suffering sons and daughters of Labor, with t h e view of presenting t h e m as a warning to t h e oppressor, so t h a t if he takes heed h e may relax his hold upon t h e t h r o a t of t h e workman, a n d be satisfied with a thousand-fold more t h a n h e can use upon his pampered body a t t h e peril of his immortal soul. " L A B O R O M N I A VINCIT." THE KNIGHTS' BOOK. Matters Concerning Capital and Labor. ALSO A SUMMARY OF THE CHIVALRY AND KNIGHTHOOD OF THE MIDDLE AGES, THE PRIVILEGES, DUTIES AND MANNERS OF KNIGHTS; TOGETHER WITH THE PRINCIPLES AND AIMS OF THE " NOBLE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR." THE already great a n d rapidly growing modern o r d e r of k n i g h t h o o d known as " T H E NOBLE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR" is of such magnitude a n d importance as to justify t h e publishers of this little volume in this their intention a n d effort to enlighten many members of t h e organization on t h e subject / f knighthood; t o g e t h e r with t h e privileges, duties a n d manners c f knights, for it is not reasonable to suppose t h a i very many of t h e K n i g h t s of Labor have access t o costly works on chivalry ? which only find their way into t h e libraries of t h e rich, or t h a t they can avail themselves of t h e limited privileges afforded t h e m to peruse t h e stored-up volumes of information on this topic in the expensive form of encyclopsedian literature. Therefore we propose to convey, in a concise manner, a general idea of what constitutes true knighthood, to t h e end t h a t o u r modern " Sir knights " may not remain in ignorance of a subject so nearly touching t h e cognomen they bear, and upon which they should b e conversant on occasions when their ignorance of t h e subject 6 matter would expose them to shame or ridicule. And again), this little work, if carefully read by those whom it reaches, wil} inculcate lessons of bravery, chivalric bearing and knightly! honor and d a r i n g ; all of which great qualities were possessed b y those noble k n i g h t s who were moved b y their religious impulses to sacrifice every comfort in life as they went forth to meet their valiant foes on t h e arid plains of Palestine, many of them, in attestation of their sincerity, leaving their bones to bleach beneath the scorching sun of the Holy Land. They left behind all t h a t made life dear to them—their castellated homes, their children, wives or "lady-loves"—to wage war on the Infidel in behalf of Christianity, as they viewed it in their day; or, we may say, to uphold a principle. And herein lies a similarity of impulse which moved t h e knights of old to do and dare and die, if need be, for principle, and which impulse to-day moves our modern knights to manifest a moral courage, a self-abnegation and personal discomfort, at once admirable and commendable, in behalf of a principle which they know to be r i g h t and just. The K n i g h t of Labor, if he be indeed a t r u e Knight, is brave, generous, truthful and r i g h t loyal to his cause, which is the cause of humanity. As to the qualities of moral and physical courage, t h e r e are noble K n i g h t s of Labor who have manifested their possession to an eminent degree—equalling, in fact, the courage of t h e champions of old—for they have not shrunk from th< > frowning and a n g r y front of capital, nor stood appalled iii the presence of men who threatened to b r i n g down upon theni the strong arm of the law. They threw down their gauntlet at the feet of men armed with all the power of corporate strength, enormous wealth, and legislative defense and favoritism behind them, and have held their g r o u n d firmly, manfully and with dignity and courage. As t h e leaders of the knights of history were wise and selfpossessed, as they were brave and fearless, so we find in the " N O B L E ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR OF AMERICA" such knightly men as T. V. Powderly, of Scranton, Pa.; Frederick 7 Turner, of Philadelphia, Pa.; John "W. Hayes, of New Brunswick, NJ J.; Wm. H. Bailey, of Shawnee, 0.; T. B. Barry, of East Saginsiw, Mich.; Martin Irons, of St. Louis, Mo.; Jos. O'Donnell, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Chas. A. Merrill, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Jas. P. Graha m, Andrew D. Best, J. B. Cooper, Geo. Lyman, E. B. Hollis, J. L. Delay, M. D. Mahony, Wm. O. McDowell, Jas. F. Downing, John Hughes, and many other leading spirits in the new order of knighthood, displaying an executive ability and a courageous, dignified bearing that have won the esteem of all who are capable of appreciating such admirable qualities. Truly, the best interests of the Labor Organizations are safe under the guidance and in thie hands of such wise and fearless men as these. The grand moral courage, and the inherent power inseparable from it, displayed by these brave knights, when exercised in; a good cause—for " thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just"—are what tyrants have most cause to dread. And when we bear in mind the fact that these indomitable leaders represent a host of 900,000 workingmen (about the aggregate of the membership of all the Labor Organizations in sympathy with the Knights), whose rational legend is " A fair day's wages for a fair day's work"—when we bear this in mind, how, we ask, can they possibly suffer defeat, either now or eventually, at the hands of those " whose consciences v ith injustice are corrupted" ? KNIGHTS OF LABOE PLATFOBM. PREAMBLE AND DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES OF THE ORDER. The alarming development and aggressiveness of capitalists and corporations, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and hopeless degradation of the toiling masses. I t is imperative, if we desire to enjoy the full blessings of life, f at a check be placed upon unjust accumulation, and the power f r evil of aggregated wealth. This much desired object can be accomplished only by the 8 united efforts of those who obey the divine injunction, " In tljie sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." \ Therefore we have formed the Order of Knights of Labor ffc Hfi ^ ^c ^c " I t is admirable t h a t Nature herself should, by her immutable laws, punish sordid egotism. The unjust man in private life, although he may at the commencement of his vicious career grasp some objects of his cupidity, will in the end, by his rapacity, thwart his own schemes of becoming opulent. I n a similar manner will a community composed of such elements become poor, for the individual citizens will plunder r a t h e r than assist each other; consequently, everyone being against everyone, t h e t h o u g h t s of t h e mercantile and t r a d i n g classes will be absorbed in cheating—the manufacturers will grind down t h e artisans, who on their p a r t will not care for the interests of their employers—friendship and generosity will be banished—justice will be perverted—the worst passions will on all sides be developed, and more substance will, in the general scramble, be trampled u n d e r foot t h a n will be realized by the contending masses. I n such a community the eagerness to acquire private gain will soon supersede every sentiment of patriotism; consequently public morality must disappear, and t h e nation, g r a s p i n g at gold, will r u s h headlong to its ruin. Thus fell Greece—thus fell Rome—and t h u s must fall every nation which prefers corrup- 26 tion to purity. * * * After a nation shall have passed ages in the purifying furnace of tribulation, the desire for independence, liberty and progress may supplant the sordid sentiments which reduced it to degradation, and the People may be regenerated. "To this condition have so many nations been brought, that the world is now on the brink of CHAOS. Under the incubi of royalty, privilege, superstition, diplomacy, white slavery, pelf and prejudice, the noble qualities of man have been suppressed—therefore, Kevolution has become a necessity, and what is more, a duty'' EXPRESSLY FALSE. The Mail and Express, New York city, says: " I n one sense every man in this country is a workingman, but not in the sense of the Trades Unions. For them a workingman is one engaged in some mechanical occupation, who labors with his hands, generally at a trade. The great army of men who work on farms, for instance, they never count as workingmen. The workingmen, as the Trades Unions understand them, are equal to about one in fifty of all the people in this country. That number cannot wag the United States." The above is false, to all intents and purposes, as it is well known that the Knights of Labor and some of the Trades Unions have within their organizations very many men and women who do not come within the category of the Mail and Express. There are many clerks, telegraph operators, compositors and professional men who are members because they feel and have felt the hard pressure of capitalistic power, and indeed the Knights of Labor and the Trades Unions are in hearty sympathy with all who labor, whether it be with the pen, the pencil, the composing stick, the easel, the axe, the hoe, the shovel, the needle, or with any other implement of industry, and they cordially invite all such to join hands with them as against capitalists who use and abuse those whom we have designated as working people. The small store-keepers, such as grocers, butchers, tea merchants, drygoods men and their clerks—indeed, all who depend upon the 27 industrial classes for their living, should not only sympathize with those who are obliged to strike for their rights, but even for selfish reasons. It is clearly their best policy to co-operate with their customers, the workmen and women, in their efforts to obtain better wages. With better pay the working people can more promptly meet their little credits or pay cash for what they buy. And yet, in some instances, we find the small shopkeepers flaring up in the faces of their best customers, the workmen, on occasions when, driven to the last extremity, the latter all must strike in order to live in decency. The store-keepers are working people and should sympathize with the Trades Unions. The paper quoted above is directed by a well-known monopolist, hence its reprobation of the Labor movement. It may yet find that a million voters, acting as one man, will be able to wag the tail of the dog who erected a monument to the memory of a British spy, and that same monopolist had the effrontery, on a certain occasion, to say that it was "providential" that labor was low when he was building an elevated railroad. To PBEVENT THE GKOWTH OF COMMUNISM. It is clearly in the interests of capital that every workingman in the land should receive for his hard labor an amount per diem sufficiently liberal to render him comfortable, contented and happy; because, if he is so circumstanced in life, and has* besides, a wife and children to establish his stability as an integral part of the nation, he will never think of entering into the wild, desperate and dangerous schemes of the idle, discontented and vicious class of men who constitute the blood-red wing of the Communistic and Nihilistic crowd. If, again, to a just compensation for labor and the conserving influence of family ties should be added the ownership of tasty and comfortable cottages (secured from the savings of fair wages) built upon suitable plots of ground, in their own right, what influence, do capitalists suppose, could the crazy and cruel Anarchists have upon them—upon happy and contented men, securely anchored to the land they would own, and, therefore, 28 deeply interested in the stability of the government, and in a prosperous condition of trade, commerce and industry ? T H E BLINDNESS OF CAPITAL. What is it that causes capitalists to overlook this self-evident fact ? What, indeed, but a blind, selfish, headlong and heedless rush toward the goal where lie those millions of dollars, in the pursuit of which they seem to be impelled by the thought, as expressed by Jefferson, that they are " booted and spurred by the grace of God to ride rough-shod over the rights of the people," as, "Dei Gratia" many of their tyrannical "majesties" of Europe have done and are now doing. Can it be looked upon as something wonderful, that oppressed and groaning Labor has at last asserted itself, and manfully revolted against this one-sided condition of affairs, and has determined to claim, and to have, too, at least enough of the actual necessaries of life to keep in comparative comfort ? And it has revolted not an hour too soon, and while yet it could do so with the restraining spirit of a peaceful feeling at its heart. Indeed, it seems to be most "providential " that the ball of Labor Keform has been set in motion now, before the suffering people, goaded to madness and despair by the grinding tyranny of capital, would have precipitated a more sudden and pronounced revolution, the rage of which would only have been appeased in a sea of blood. Even in the present crisis capital cannot be too thankful that cool-headed and conservative leaders are found at the head of the mighty host of men whose thews and sinews are like bands of steel, and whose knightly hearts are patriotic, generous, brave and true—for be it remembered, in this connection, that these men are radically different from that mob of refugees and political pariahs from abroad who haven't the sense to understand the difference between the systems of government from whose detested presence they have fled and our own grand method, and which heterogeneous mob of malcontents is hoping and aiming to make our great and free country an arena of disorder, bloodshed and rapine. And here let capital 29 note our assertion that, while our own workmen—and by this generic title we mean mechanics, artisans, railroad employes, laborers, and others who work, in the ranks of the p e o p l e would, if living in a condition of contentment, superinduced by generous concessions on the part of capital, form an impervious barrier between the " Commune " and property; yet, on the other hand, these same workmen, if made desperate by the promptings of semi-starvation and dire distress in their households, should listen to the importunities and temptations to plunder and kill, held out to them by the more radical advocates of utopian Socialism and Communism—if this lamentable condition should obtain in the field of Labor, then the workmen, feeling justified, might take up arms and achieve th'eir freedom from the bonds of tyranny, as did those who liberated themselves and founded our Republic on the ruins of despotism. But, setting aside this extreme view of the subject, our people are intelligent enough to proceed to the accomplishment of a revolution more in accordance with the spirit of the age and in keeping with the nature of the "Declaration of Independence," because they would, first of all, have to become actuated by a determination to assume that " equal station (as a people) to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them," and, having that " decent respect tothe opinion of mankind " which the occasion would call for, they would " declare the causes which would impel them " to " dissolve the political bands which connected them with" a distinctive class of people, whose personal and corrupt legislative acts of tyranny and oppression could no longer be tolerated. They would claim that they had failed to secure that "happiness" to which they were entitled. And that venal and unjust legislation, in the interests of a class of people in their midst, an almost infinitesimal minority, but of great power because of their great wealth, had deprived them of the pecuniary means to which they had a just right; that through the instrumentality of an onerous taxation, imposed upon them by means of the enactment of abominable laws (convict labor, etc.), they were enslaved, and their lives 30 placed in peril and often lost by the acts of those who exercised the role of t y r a n t s u n d e r the guise of greedy and cruel contractorships and other forms of outrage, wrong and oppression; that, in order to regain the r i g h t s of which they h a d been deprived, they, " the governed," could no longer " c o n s e n t " to live in a condition b r o u g h t about by a form of government made " destructive of t h e ends " of its creation, and its pledges to the people; and t h a t they h a d resolved to " abolish " t h e recreant government, and to " i n s t i t u t e a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Under such auspices w'ould L a b o r take u p arms—intelligently, systematically and effectually—because from among the ranks of L a b o r have our armies, r e g u l a r and volunteer, and our civic forces, originated; and most noble d u t y have they performed in the service of the Union and of t h e respective States, from whom they deserve b e t t e r treatment t h a n they have received. The Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, speaking of J a y Gould's t h r e a t t h a t he would sue certain K n i g h t s of Labor, and so endeavor t o deprive them of their homes, for t h a t is all a k n i g h t can aspire to own, asks the following significant question: " D o e s he (Gould) remember the mob which was looking for him upon Fifth avenue, after the last presidential election?" T h a t " mob" was n o t made u p of Knights, nor does the Record mean to say t h a t it was, b u t of disappointed partisans, who were after the leader of the capitalistic g a n g who attempted to steal the Presidency from one political party for t h e purpose of handing it over to another. I t seems a great pity t h a t the inclinations of a man of Gould's wealth and power should r u n in the direction of evil r a t h e r than good. H e m i g h t make himself famous as a philanthropist with a small portion of his wealth, only t h a t his n a t u r e won't allow him to. H e might make himself respected and beloved by mankind, b u t for his want of h e a r t and soul. The same sensible and outspoken journal, the Record and Guide, says: "Every conservative interest in the country demanded 31 that no issue should be presented which would fcempt or force the laboring people to cast their ballots for parties or candidates that* are committed to programmes adverse to the r i g h t s of property. I n prolonging this unnecessary strike, and in threatening to deprive t h e working people of their homes, because of t h e strike, Jay Gould has done more to convert the working classes to Socialistic and Communistic theories t h a n ten thousand crazy agitators like J u s t u s Schwab and H e r r Most." MIDDLE-MEN. One of the daily papers, in speaking of the recent stirring events in the field of Labor, said " there appears to be a better feeling existing between Capital and Labor." Well, this is easily accounted for. I t grows out of two facts principally, one of which is t h a t Capital has learned to respect L a b o r for its manly, brave, dignified and self-respecting conduct, and for its power, its endurance and its tenacity of purpose. These are qualities which are bound to command the respect of the average man, and therefore to b r i n g about " a better feeling." The other fact is t h a t Labor and Capital have come nearer to each other of late, so t h a t they could look into each other's eyes, and hear each other's voices, and fathom each other's motives and feelings. Heretofore t h e r e has been a rude, r o u g h and b r u t a l barrier between them, which barrier consisted of men called "Superintendents," "Bosses," "Managers," "Agents," and others appointed by their superiors to conduct those affairs of their respective businesses, which appertained more particularly to the " handling" of the workmen and working women. These upstarts have charge of the labor p a r t of railroads, factories, contract work, etc. They were fairly decent men when in t h e ranks, among their fellow-workmen, b u t when they were placed in command, and h a d " a little brief authority " conferred upon them by their employers, they became like so many " m o c k dukes," playing " s u c h fantastic tricks before h i g h heaven as made the angels weep." There are no t y r a n t s so mercilessly severe as newly-made little ones. I n consequentially, in vulgar 82 mannerism and in cruelty they surpass the big ones, for the latter have held power and exercised it so long that the rough edges have, in a measure, become smooth from usage. Moreover, they have held position for such a length of time that the dignities and robes of office have become natural to them, sitting upon them with a somewhat easy grace. But oh, the little fledgling tyrant! Save us from his fussy, fuming, fustian air of importance! Save the innocent, unprotected, blushing maiden from his impertinent stare, his smirks and smiles, and immodest innuendoes ! Of such miserable stuff are seventy-five in every hundred of the middlemen, the intermediaries, made; while the twenty-five per cent, of kind-hearted, good men and true, shine forth like stars of the first magnitude. It is this supervening underling that stands between Labor and Capital, exercising his small and vicious faculties of tyranny and annoyance, until the men and women upon whom he practices them learn to hate the sight of the workshop or factory in which they are obliged to toil for a pittance under such contemptible taskmasters. These are the creatures who receive good round salaries and who, therefore, imagine that they must save (in the interests of their employers) the sum total of their own excessive pay, by goading the workmen to crowd fifteen hours of work into ten, for a minimum rate of wages. And these are the men who brow-beat, abuse, and insult the men, women, boys and girls who are coining money for the heads of the concerns, for the men who roll up their tens of thousands, careless and indifferent as to the wretched condition of their employes. These men should know, and we tell them now, that every act of injustice and oppression and every stinging insult inflicted upon the " hands" in their employ by the petty tyrants placed in power over them reflects back upon themselves, so that workmen hate the firms as heartily as they detest the " superintendents " wherever such sad conditions prevail. I t is a thick-skulled ignoramus who does not know that, by the exercise of kindness, praise and encouragement, he can get more and better work done, in a given time, than he can by 33 driving, abuse and insulting language. I t should be made the duty of some one member of the firm (one who has a soul) to walk t h r o u g h t h e factory once a week, with the u n d e r s t a n d i n g that he is p r e p a r e d on such occasions to hear any complaint t h a t any aggrieved employe might have to make. MAGNANIMITY IN THE HOUB OF VICTORY. H e who is magnanimous in victory has conquered twice. Having s u b d u e d his foe by the sword, he proceeds to win a victory over the heart of his captive by the exercise of kindly acts. I t was t h u s with our foremost general, the valiant and magnanimous GRANT. His valor conquered the body, and his noble generosity in the h o u r of his triumph won the h e a r t s of those who were already conquered by the sword, for when he r e t u r n e d the captured horses to the Southern cavalrymen, in order t h a t they might plow their fields, they were no longer foes—he had disarmed them of their resentment. This was knightly in its best sense. And so should all knights deport themselves in the hour of success and in the presence of those whom they have overcome. This advice has been given them b y their foremost friend and highest officer. W h e n they shall have achieved their ends b y a " s t r i k e " or a "boycott," they should go quietly away from the field of action to their homes, carrying t h e glad tidings of victory to their waiting and anxious wives and d a u g h t e r s , and there quietly, soberly, and like good and t r u e men, enjoy, with their loved ones, the fruits of their triumphs. T H E SINEWS OF WAR. England's power is in her gold, for with t h a t she can place vast armies in the field and g r e a t fleets of war-ships upon t h e seas. Gold is the capitalist's wand of power, for with t h a t h e can b u y t h e law-makers, paying them to enact measures which make the rich richer and t h e poor poorer. And gold m u s t b e employed by t h e workmen, for t h a t is also their power. Therefore they should economize as m u c h as possible, saving especially from those constant outlays which g o for their personal gratifications. They should first supply their families with all u comfortable things and requirements and then p u t away wbat is left for " a rainy day." By p u r s u i n g this course they will also be prepared, like good a n d faithful knights, to pay in their quotas of dues a n d contributions, which go to swell the grand a g g r e g a t e of their " sinews of war," without which they can win n o victories. THE MODUS OPERANDI OF A STRIKE. There were several little episodes which occurred d u r i n g the late strikes, going to prove t h a t personal courage will manifest itself in t h e ranks of Labor, when occasion calls for its display. The following spirited action on t h e p a r t of William Wallace is an illustration of our meaning: WILLIAM WALLACE (grandly a n d correctly named), of t h e Executive Board of t h e "EMPIRE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION," t a k i n g the initiative in t h e first act of t h e strike against the Brooklyn Broadway Bailroad Company, ordered t h e first driver who made his appearance, to take t h e car into t h e house, which he did. As each car came in t h e same order was given a n d obeyed by every man. Wallace advised all to go home a n d g e t some rest so as to be able to attend a meeting to be held at Scheillem's East New York Hotel later in t h e afternoon. The men were also cautioned to keep sober, n o t to gather in crowds about t h e stable, a n d u n d e r no circumstance to use violence. H e was obeyed in every particular. T h e last car was housed at 3 o'clock. E n o u g h stablemen were allowed to remain to take care of t h e horses. I n t h e evening a meeting was held, as above intimated. Mr. Wallace was loudly cheered when h e entered t h e hall. H e called t h e meeting to order a n d said: " T h e corporation against whom t h e strike has been ordered has for years been sucking t h e life-blood from t h e men. Every man is entitled to reasonable hours a n d to a fair compensation for his Labor. I n no country in t h e world are t h e laboring classes treated with such contempt as they are here. The worki n g people have just cause for complaint. W e have sent a teleg r a m t o Mr. Hazzard, of t h e Brooklyn City Bailroad Company, 35 warning him t h a t if h e interferes, a n d sends aid to t h e Broadway Eailroad Company we will tie u p his roads." Ex-Assemblyman Mortimer C. E a r l made a speech, in which he said: " Do not go o u t from this hall a n d boast of what you will do. Act wisely., You have r i g h t on your side, a n d as long as you act well t h e public will sustain you. You men to-day are organized, and success awaits you." At another time in t h e West, a small p a r t y of K n i g h t s were standing near t h e track, when an engine was r u n out, upon which stood an officer in charge; who, t h i n k i n g to intimidate the Knights, drew his pistol a n d pointed Jit in their direction. "Whereupon they drew their own revolvers a n d promised t o riddle t h e officious party if he should dare to fire upon them. GBANGKERS AND KNIGHTS. At t h e present writing it is said t h a t t h e r e is a movement on foot to have t h e " GRANGERS " initiated into t h e " NOBLE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR;" in fact, to m e r g e t h e two g r a n d organizations into one. The mere mention of such a purpose is, indeed, startling to the thoughtful mind. W h a t a potentiality for t h e benefit of t h e sons and d a u g h t e r s of L a b o r is here indicated! W i t h the " b o l d yeomanry, o u r country's pride," closely allied with the noble K n i g h t s of Labor in t h e s t r o n g and loving bonds of one mighty fraternity, t h e combined power of soulless corporations, of heartless employers a n d of truckling legislators, must suffer an ignominious a n d u t t e r downfall. Such a body of men might well and truly claim to be t h e rulers of t h e land, and they would only have to be t r u e to themselves, their sacred .pledges, and to all they hold dear in their family circle, to enter upon a career of successes which would culminate in a peaceful revolution, with ballots as their only weapons, as grand, glorious and just as any recorded in t h e pages of history. SOARED OUT OF BUILDING SHIPS. WILMINGTON, Del., March 19.—A prominent officer of the Harlan & Hollingworth Company, ship-builders, said to-day: " We received an order to build two new steamers for the Hoboken Land and Improvement Company, but to-day wrote the parties and declined to accept the order. The amount of the contract would have been about $225,000, but in view of the 36 possibility of there being a general Labor agitation throughout the country during this summer, and especially on account of the uncertainty which exists in industrial circles, owing to the unreasonable demands which are being made by the workmen, we deemed it wise not to fill up our works with contracts at this time, at least not until we see clearly what the outcome of the present difficulties will be. Hence the order was refused." The above communication appeared in the N. Y. Sun of same date, and we cannot allow it to pass into further circulation without comment. Now, what does " a prominent officer " of a rich company, a would-be " c o n t r a c t o r " for another and far wealthier organization of capitalists, say in effect ? Why, simply t h i s : " I n a s m u c h as workmen will not take just what I choose to pay them for their labor, I will build no more ships, and so, by biting off my own nose, I will spite the workmen." The man is a fool of the most pronounced type and heartless in the extreme; in fact, to express it all in one word, he is a " c o n tractor," and a member of a firm of men who are no doubt clothed in purple and fine linen, and dine sumptuously every day. H e r e is t h e cure, Mr. " Contractor," for all your trouble concerning labor, " only this and n o t h i n g m o r e : " Figure into your contract " a fair day's wages for a fair day's ivork" and then go ahead on t h a t just, rational and humane basis, and build more ships and g a t h e r into your already plethoric coffers more of your God—GOLD. W e need make n o mention of the mean intention of the " prominent officer " to poison the minds of the business citizens of Wilmington against the ship-building workmen (because the latter demand wages enough to live upon), as t h a t intention is sufficiently t r a n s p a r e n t to all intelligent minds. I t is in keeping with the n a t u r e of the "contractor." " Accursed thirst for Gold! to what dost thou not compel h u m a n hearts." Bless him who lays the massive keel, Who bends the trusty sail, That bids the ocean wanderer Safe battle with the gale; Who rears the tall and slender mast, Whence floats to every breeze, The stars and stripes of Liberty, As rainbow o'er the seas. 37 EMPLOYES AS POLICEMEN. Another trap, other than legal arbitration, is a proposition to make policemen or militiamen of all the railroad employes, thus cunningly arming them against themselves. If they should rebel against any act of injustice, or against a great wrong inflicted upon them by their employers, they would be in duty bound to arrest themselves. The absurdity of the thing is laughable, but anything to cripple Labor. Of course it is not supposable that a corporation would be willing to pay anything extra to the policeman who is to arrest himself. Such soulless bodies are not fond of paying anything for extra service. If, however, such a thing, from any miraculous cause, should occur, perhaps the combined pay of the policeman and the railroad employe (two in one) would be sufficient to keep house with in comfort, and so tend to reconcile the two individuals to the situation. But if a railroad company could only capture about five hundred Siamese twins, and make one of each of the 1jYe hundred pairs a policeman, and the annexed twin a conductor or brakeman, the whole thing might be arranged to suit the purposes of the railroad companies. We may be sure, however, that every conceivable effort will be made to render the employe powerless, homeless—yes, lifeless, if need be—in the interests of capital^ through the usual instrumentality of legislative bodies. Knights and all who sympathize with them in their great humanitarian work should watch the law-makers. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. THE MOCKING "INDEPENDENT." That self-righteous journal of unorthodox religionism, called the Independent (New York City) speaks mockingly of Mr. Powderly as " King Powderly." The rude and cruel rabble in the days of old called Jesus of Nazareth mockingly "King of the Jews." The Independent affects to, or does, believe that the Carpenter of Nazareth, poor and persecuted, was engaged in a good cause, which was the cause of the poor and persecuted like himself. He was also reviled by the Pharisees, and now that same mean spirit has come down the stretch of years to the 38 present time, and it reviles the man among men who champions the cause of the poor and persecuted. But not only this does our " Christian" friend do, but with blood and death in his eye perpetrates an ill-mannered pun on the honored name of Powderly, and flippantly talks of " Powder" as a remedy for the "crying evil" of men who cry aloud for a just compensation for the labor of their tired hands, and the sweat of their aching brows, wrung from them by merciless and gold-grasping capitalists and task masters. Such language, interlaided with the significant words, "powder," "dynamite," "blood," "handgrenades" and " death" has been the lingo of the more radical Communists, Anarchists and Nihilists heretofore, but we now find a no less lofty authority of Christianity and civilization than the Independent, indulging in a like strain of vulgar barbarism. And this at a time and an hour when the poor (as poor as Jesus was) of Belgium, rendered desperate and frantic by stress of dire necessity, are striking for the right to live, and who with a despairing cry, rendered only less piercing by the faintness of hungar, utter the shibboleth of revolution in the terrible words: " Let every man bring a revolver! Then, forward!" And at a time, too, when our own oppressed people are groaning under a load of adversity, caused by the meager and grudgingly paid wages they receive for their toil, and by the grinding tyranny of capitalized, soulless corporations, at a time when these distressed workmen are making an effort to right their wrongs, in order to preserve their manhood, and to protect the womanhood of their sister sufferers. In a crisis of such intense suffering, the Independent, representing the gilded, glittering bejeweled and purple-robed pew holders of the gorgeous palaces of worship, glibly talks of " Powder" as a sovereign remedy for pinching Poverty and its close companion, grim Despair. This is a sad picture of pious pitilessness and religious rancor—but, thank Heaven, there are true representatives of Christianity who possess an abundance of the milk of human kindness, and more of the peace and good-will doctrine of the tender-hearted Jesus of Nazareth in their kindly souls than 39 there appears to be in the h e a r t (if it may be called a heart) which wildly beats with an angry t h u d somewhere in the perturbed anatomy of the Independent man, who is, nevertheless, severely dependent upon the patronage of the gilded pew-owners. " Look upon t h a t picture, and then upon this." THE HOUSE CHAPLAIN DENOUNCES THE MONOPOLY. OKGANIZED CBUELTIES OF WASHINGTON, March 27.—The prayer this morning of the Chaplain of the House, Kev. Dr. Milburn, was as follows: "Give ear, O God of Jacob, and awaken us to see the danger which threatens the civilized world, a revolution more tremendous than any of which history tells, in which the scenes of the Reign of Terror may be enacted in every capital of Europe and America. For long the few have mastered the many because they understood the open secret, the tools to them that can use them, but now the many have learned the secret of organization, drill and dynamite. Rouse the rich of the world to understand that the time has come for grinding, selfish monopoly to cease, that corporations may get souls in them with justice, honor, conscience and human kindness. Teach the rich men of this country that great for tunes are lent them by Thee for other purposes than to build and decorate palaces, to found private collections of art, to stock wine cellars, to keep racing studs and 3-aehts, and find better company than hostlers, grooms and jockeys, poolsellers and bookmakers. Teach them, O God, that it is Thee who has given them power to get these fortunes; that it is to prove them to know what is in their hearts, whether they will keep Thy commandments or no, and that those commandments are, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself; that if the rich men of our land keep these commandments the poor will follow the example, and we at least will be saved from the days of tribulation that are fast coming ©n all the world. Help us, O God, and save us." Mr. Grosvenor (O.) asked unanimous consent t h a t the prayer b e printed in the Record. F a r be it from us to say t h a t the clergy are not friendly to t h e cause of Labor. No, indeed; t h e r e are very many noblehearted men in the pulpit who fear n o t to denounce, in scathing terms, the pride and pomp and circumstance t h a t are b u t too 40 conspicuous within t h e exclusive walls of t h e gorgeous edifices where " divine worship " is luxuriously a n d sensually enjoyed by those who are blessed with a b u n d a n t wealth. Nor do those t r u e Christians forget t h e poor, for they plead t h e cause of t h e downtrodden, with fervent souls. Most notably we feel it a duty to mention t h e name of t h e BEV. HEBER NEWTON, as one possessing, in an eminent degree, a sense of t h e wrongs inflicted upon t h e laboring people, a n d he pours o u t t h e tender feelings of his loving heart, clothed in g r a n d a n d b u r n i n g language, constantly in behalf of the oppressed a n d suffering multitudes. The poor have no better, no braver, no abler friend in t h e wide world t h a n HEBER NEWTON. The following p a r a g r a p h will also show t h a t t h e dignitaries of t h e Eoman Church have wisely foreborne to stem t h e tide of the Labor reform now moving with resistless force: The Examiner, a Roman Catholic journal of the diocese of Brooklyn, says in its current issue concerning the Decrees of the Plenary Council, which were said to contain utterances inimical to organizations of workingmen, and particularly the Knights of Labor: "We have seen the Decrees of the Council, and we are in a position to state authoritatively that the Council did not legislate on the Labor movement at all, feeling that the movement was a legitimate one, and had so kept within bounds that it called for no special attention." The Very Eev. F a t h e r Conway, Vicar-General of t h e Diocese of Chicago, speaking for Archbishop Feehan, says: " I look upon the Order of t h e K n i g h t s of L a b o r as necessary t o prevent Capital forcing Labor down to almost starvation wages; a n d because t h e society known as t h e K n i g h t s of Labor has b u t this one object—the securing of better wages for t h e toil of its members; and because it does n o t interfere with t h e religious belief of its members, nor assume t h e position of a religious teacher, a n d for the further reason t h a t i t h a s n o religious ceremony in its ritual, t h e Church h a s n o t a n d does n o t forbid Catholics from joining it." 41 THE PEOPLE'S ANTHEM. Lord, from thy blessed throne, Sorrow look down upon— God save the Poor! Teach them true liberty, Make them from tyrants free, Let their homes happy be— God save the Poor! Raise them from lowliness, Succor their dire distress, Thou whom the meanest bless— God save the Poor! Give them staunch honesty, Let their pride manly be— God save the Poor! Help them to hold the right, Give them both truth and might, Lord of all truth and l i g h t God save the poor! Arm thou the Knight of Toil, Who would the tyrants foil— God save the Poor! Give him the heart to dare, Give him the strength to bear, Give him a wreath to wear—• God save the poor! CAPITAL VERSUS LABOR. « The industrial organizations are not antagonizing t h a t k i n d of capital which does not militate against their r i g h t s and interests. F a r m e r s are capitalists, in the sense t h a t they own p r o p erty, the equivalent of money; b u t such material wealth is in harmony with all kinds of industrial pursuits, because those who follow such callings a r e consumers of t h e p r o d u c t s of t h e farm. The products of agriculture are t h e results of labor, and go to feed the working people, t h e laborious multitudes; b u t when 42 millionaires combine their wealth and use it in the forms of extortionate and arrogant corporations, domineering monopolies and monstrous manufacturing concerns whose sole purpose is a rapid accumulation of more millions, regardless of the wellbeing and comfort of the producers of those millions-—then Labor protests against the iniquity. This is the antagonism of Capital that Labor antagonizes in self-defense. Labor is not fighting Capital as capital, indiscriminately, but in its form of an oppressive and cruel weapon in the hands of hard task-masters. AH workmen know that there are very wealthy men and women who are friendly to Labor, and that all such should have full credit for their friendship. These, alas, too few in number, show vividly in contrast to such greedy and unscrupulous monsters as the railroad cormorants who control the Third avenue line of street-cars. These rapacious gormandizers of capital seem to be possessed by an infernal phrensy of accumulation, and have become oblivious to all sense of shame in their mad career of rapine, and their ravenous and insatiable appetite for gold, more gold, and still more gold. They half starve their miserable stock of horses, and would wholly starve their employes if the latter would submit to the infliction. They run their dirty, filthy cars until the smell of them is nauseating to a stomach of any delicacy, and pursue other methods equally infamous in order that wealth may pour into their purses in one copious and unceasing torrent. Such an exhibition of the gluttony of avarice was never before witnessed on earth. It is a spectacle that causes men to blush for their kind, and to almost forswear their species. Men like George Peabody, Peter Cooper, James Lenox, Judge Eoosevelt, and others whose names would form a limited but honorable list, excite the admiration and love of the people, as do such noble women as she who is best known to the world as Miss Burdett - Coutts, of London, and one in our own midst, Miss Catharine L. Wolfe, whose munificent gifts to all beneficent purposes are to herself a crowning glory, and to the great metropolis an honor and a subject for just 43 pride. We can count such grand natures, in a few repetitions, on our fingers' ends. It should be said, in justice to the Vanderbilts, that they have contributed most liberally towards a greater usefulness of that well-deserving institution, the " College of Physicians and Surgeons/' the late William H. Vanderbilt having donated half a million dollars to it, and now his sons give a quarter of a million for a clinic and dispensary as a memorial of their father. Mr. and Mrs. Sloan, the latter a Vanderbilt, have also endowed a " Maternity Hospital," in COD junction with the college. Thus one million dollars are to be expended in this grand work. " This new institution, besides the great opportunities it will give for scientific instruction, will be of immense direct benefit to all who chose to avail themselves of its privileges. Medical advice and appliances will be given free to all at the dispensary, and in the clinic the best surgical skill will be available for anybody for the cure of all sorts of diseases that require operations." Nor is Wm. H. Vanderbilt's present of $100,000 to his employes forgotten by the Labor Unions. Should a miracle occur in the shape of a gift by Jay Gould to any institution of a benevolent character before the issuance of our next edition of fifty thousand copies of the " KNIGHTS' BOOK " we will duly mention it; but we fear we shall not have that agreeable task to perform. And what are the Astors doing ? To be sure, the late John Jacob Astor endowed the great " Astor Library" with a large amount of money, ostensibly for the benefit of the people; but it has resulted in an almost total exclusion of the working classes, for its doors are shut in the faces of those who have to work during the regular hours of Labor. The Astors are rich enough to do a world of good for their fellow-men, but they are wanting in the virtue of generosity. One good old Peter Cooper was worth an army of the Astors. It can be said, however, in behalf of the capital of the Astor family, that it is at least passive and nonantagonistic in its relation to labor. It can even be said that workmen have been benefited by it, inasmuch as that it has been employed in the construction of thousands of dwellings, 44 etc. Workmen were promptly paid for their labor. No obligation on either side. There are other owners of immense estates in this and other large cities who could accomplish wonders in the line of philanthropic deeds which would render the condition of the less fortunate portion of the populace more comfortable and make them happier. Nor do the rich men of New York manifest any marked degree of patriotic pride in the glory of the city, nor in that which is honorable to the Union, for they leave the poorer people—even little boys and girls—to give their dimes and dollars for the erection of a pedestal for the grandest statue on earth, representing that spirit of LIBERTY to which they are indebted for all the riches they possess, and for all the comfort and happiness they enjoy. The phlegmatic millionaires, too dignified and self-satisfied to manifest the vulgar passion of national pride, are content to labor under a load of obligation to the World newspaper for having spared our city the shame and disgrace which it would have suffered but for the persistent efforts of that journal of the millions. And yet, in the face of this burning fact, the same millionaires are subjecting the city that gave them their colossal fortunes to another terrible disgrace by neglecting to add another grand feature to the metropolis in the form of a memorial in honor of the great and illustrious GRANT. "Will the wealthy men of New York allow the World and the people of moderate means to do this work also ? 45 VERSES FROM THE "LAY OF THE LABORER. BY THOMAS HOOD. A spade! a rake! a hoe! A pick-axe or a bill! A hook to reap or scythe to mow, A flail, or what you will— And here's a ready hand To ply the needful tool; And skilled enough, by lessons rough, In Labor's rugged school. * * * * * To a flaming barn or farm My fancies never roam; The fire I yearn to kindle and burn Is on the hearth at home. Where children huddle and crouch Through dark long winter's days; Where starving children huddle and crouch To see the cheerful rays, A-glowing on the haggard cheek And not in the haggard's blaze. Aye, only give me work, And then you need not fear That I shall snare his worship's hare, Or kill his grace's deer; Break into his lordship's house, To steal the plate so rich; Or leave the yoeman that had a purse To welter in the ditch. No parish money or loaf, No pauper badge for me, A son of the soil by right of toil Entitled to my fee. No alms I ask, give me my task; Here are the arm, the leg, The strength, the sinews of a man* To work,, and not to beg. 46 THE KNIGHT AND MAIDEN. Rich and rare were the gems she wore, And a bright gold ring on her wand she bore; But oh! her beauty was far beyond Her sparkling gems or snow-white wand. " Lady! dost thou not fear to stray So lone and lonely through this bleak way? Are Erin's sons so good or so cold As not to be tempted by woman or gold?" " Sir Knight, I feel not the least alarm; No son of Erin will offer me harm. For though they love women and golden store, Sir Knight! they love honor and virtue more." On she went, and her maiden smile In safety lighted her round the green isle; And blest forever is she who relied Upon Erin's honor and Erin's pride. —Thomas Moore. 47 T H E G R E A T E I G H T - H O U R DEMONSTRATION. Thirty thousand workmen i n New York, on Union Square; one h u n d r e d thousand in Chicago; ten thousand St. Louis, a n d so on all over t h e country, asking to b e relieved from a too long and severe strain u p o n t h e i r h a n d s a n d arms. Truly t h e Labor Organizations a r e e n g a g e d in t h e noblest humanitarian work on record, a n d " woe, woe t o those who stand against t h e right." T h e m a n who strikes at t h e purpose and p r o g ress of t h e present movement in behalf of t h e poorer portion of the h u m a n race, is no friend of humanity. Appeals have been in vain, a n d now demands are made as a matter of self-preservation. L e t t h e good work go o n ! On t h e g r a n d stand, a t the late gathering in Union Square, many of t h e prominent leaders i n Labor circles were present. The following among t h e large n u m b e r were conspicuous: J o h n Swinton, E o b e r t Blissert, George McKay, George Blair, E d w a r d K i n g , J . Conkling, Colonel Kichard Hinton, Thomas Moran, Charles L. Miller, Thomas W. Jackson, "William Martin, J o h n T. McKechnie, J o h n G. Jones, William McCabe, Captain Thomas Collum, Samuel Gompers, E . S. Schevitsch, Dr. Jonas, George Bloch, Philip Emrich, William F . Price, J a m e s Allan, J o h n Jackson, Patrick Fogan, J o h n Davitt, Jesse G. Miller, P . C. McGuire, Charles A. Merrill, Andrew D. Best, J o h n Vincent Brown, E v e r e t t Glackin, George K. Lloyd, T. J. Booney, Stephen Taylor, P a u l Herman, J . H e n r y Sayers, Louis Howe, F r a n k Cornell, J o h n Hernan, J o h n B. Kelly, James P . Archibald. T H E NOBLE ORDER OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR i n c u l c a t e s lessons of morality, sobriety, order, peacefulness, economy, and magnanimity. Temperance is one of i t s special tenets, and its leaders are ever warning t h e members t o l e t strong drink alone. On every occasion a t t h e close of a strike t h e men are advised to go home quietly and peaceably and by all means t o avoid drinking by t h e way. With such principles a n d an earnest and honest determination to do its best to secure fair compensation and reasonable hours for labor, who can have t h e h e a r t t o p u t a stone in its way ? 48 T h a t true friend of Labor, t h e Morning Journal of New York city, covers t h e ground of t h e short-hour policy, and pays a just compliment to the well-known clothing house of Eogers, Peet & Co., who besides t h e noble action spoken of by t h e Journal share a portion of t h e profits with their salesmen: SHOKTER HOURS OF LABOR. The action of Messrs. Eogers, Peet & Co. in granting shorter hours to their working people without any solicitation on th© part of the latter is especially commendable, and should not be forgotten by the public. To show an exalted regard for those one employs, to take an interest in the daily current of their lives and to endeavor to promote their happiness by such means as lie within one's reach should be a permanent duty with all employers. Such a course carries with it the assurance of proper remuneration, and adds that which is better than money—contentment. How much of the present unrest of the Labor world would be spared if all employers acted in the spirit of Rogers, Peet & Co.! The benefit of reasonable hours of labor is as great to capital and to society at large as to the workingman himself. Capital will obtain attention, alertness and more uniform effort during working hours, resulting m better workmanship and more valuable products. Society will gain by the extra time given to the higher domestic duties, and even to the graces and amenities of life. To the workingman it will mean longer life and more of its sunshine than now. "We scout as utterly unworthy of the age and its ennobling tendencies the idea of the narrow-minded that extra hours for rest will mean to the workingman extra time for body-wearing dissipation and home-pinching extravagance. The responsibility for using the extra hours to the best mental and physical advantage can safely be left in the hands of Labor itself, which is charged with the task of leaving the world better for all humanity than it was when the present generation received its mandate to go forth and toil. SENATOR VAN WYCK ATTACKS GOULD. I n discussing t h e Inter-State Commerce bill Mr. Yan Wyck said t h a t t h e basis of charges was " all t h a t the traffic will bear.*' W e were in t h e midst of depression, yet all pursuits m u s t be laid u n d e r contribution so t h a t full dividends shall be declared by railroad companies on watered stock and fraudulent bonds. Grain, beef a n d pork might be reduced one-half in price, yet t h e r e could b e no abatement in freight charges. As to the commission feature of the bill, the people, Mr. Van 49 Wyck said, were not demanding a commission, but the corporations were becoming earnest advocates of it. Eailroad and telegraph rates west of the Missouri Eiver were about four times greater than rates east of that river. For years capital had been organized, unscrupulous and rapacious, moving as Gould had moved, according to his sworn testimony, and as Huntington, according to his own written history, had moved, on State Legislatures, the courts and Congress, unblushingly purchasing judges and legislators. But the crisis was coming. There was an irrepressible conflict between right and wrong. Could the nation be made to believe that the $4,000,000,000 of; watered stock and bonds were honest property deserving protection from courts or legislatures, or were honestly obtained ? The owners of these fictions should accord decent treatment to the remainder of mankind from whom they expected to force dividends and interest. The Senate Committee failed at.the precise point where the monster evil should be grasped by the law. If the industries were only required to pay fair dividends on the real cost of railroads the nation would be prosperous. The Senate could take an example from Jay Gould. The Senate Committee on Education and Labor had industriously obtained from that worthy a complete history of his life, probably for the youth of America to imitate. The committee had tremblingly and beseechingly implored him to give a minute account of his daring exploits and he unblushingly consented. Early in life, when hard pressed for dinner, he adopted his sister's method and went behind the blacksmith's shop to pray. The blessing came in great measure. In a few years the tanning business in which he was engaged was in financial stress so overwhelming that his partner was driven to suicide, while he himself bought a railroad. The wrong partner had committed suicide. The committee was doubtless dazed as much by Gould's recital as by reading the exploits of Jack the Giant Killer, or Kidd the Pirate. Modesty induced Gould to refrain from telling one feature of the history of his time. At Kansas City he 50 was once overtaken with another religious spasm and wrestled a second time in prayer, telling the people how happy he was and that he wanted no more money. He had purchased the Missouri Pacific only for the good of mankind and should use it only for the glory of God and the benefit of the people. As he was contemplating another raid he felt the necessity of another installment of divine grace, so he went " short" on the promise by pretending that he would not benefit himself by the blessing. It was to be hoped he would not indulge in a third prayer on earth. Should he in the end secure an entrance into the New Jerusalem, he would soon be conspiring there, from force of habit, to buy a railroad, and when he should have torn up the shining avenues the angels could not restrain him from stealing the golden pavements. [Laughter.] T H E DISTRESS WHICH PREVAILS AMONG T H E OUT-OF-WORK POOR IN LONDON. "'Have you much distress in your neighborhood?" I recently asked of a gentleman who carries on a large business at Wapping Wall, writes an English lady, relating her experience among the poor of London. I put the question, although I knew what the answer would be; but I was hardly prepared for the sudden change in his expression and the earnestness with which he replied hurriedly and as if I had touched an over-sensitive nerve: "Distress! Aye, distress, indeed! You should see them at the dock gates fighting like wild beasts when there's a call. You should hear them yell when they know how few o£ them are wanted." Fighting and yelling like wild beasts ? And for what ? Twopence per hour! I called on several people, but everywhere we found extreme poverty, and yet so bravely concealed that only those who knew the decent homes well quite knew how sharp was the pinch endured. Wonderfully patient and uncomplaining are hundreds of such men and women as we constantly meet with. To let 51 their poverty be known is to them almost worse than want itself. One poor woman who was in great straits—for, living in a Peabody block, the rent had to be found as regularly as Monday morning came—said, only a day or two ago, to one of our workers who had helped her a little, "We never let any one know about our troubles. I have a good husband, and we talk to each other, for we have no friend in London." OVER 40,000 CHILDREN COMPELLED TO LEAD A L I F E OP SLAVERY. The child-labor question is looming up in industrial circles, and strong efforts will be made to curtail, if not abolish, the evil effects of the system. There are between 40,000 and 50,000 little boys and girls under fourteen years of age working in the factories, foundries and mills in this city. Many of them work from choice, but the great majority are compelled to in order that they may contribute to the support of their parents. Many manufacturers who are not over-particular about the class of goods they produce hire children in preference to young men and women, for two reasons: first, they work for little or nothing, and secondly, because they are easily managed and will not strike. The employment of child labor gives these manufacturers a great advantage over other business firms, because they are enabled to undersell the employers of adult labor. ROBERT BLISSERT, who is both a business man and a Labor Unionist, said yesterday to a Journal reporter: " I am firmly opposed to child labor. I do not think that any employer need hire young boys or girls to do factory work. I know considerable about the profits of factories and shops in this city, and I know that most employers make enough money to pay wages to grown-up boys and girls. Another thing, no employer should be permitted to hire a boy under fourteen years of age to do anything but office work or messenger service." "What wages do boys receive, so far as you know?" "They get about $2.50 in tobacco factories, $3 per week in 52 tin and machine shops. The same in printing offices and mills. They do work for which men would get $9 and $10 a week." JOHN T. MOKECHNIE, Secretary of the Central Labor Union, said he considered the employment of children in factories and mills a serious evil. The Unions, he said, were endeavoring to prevent it by making the employment of children under fourteen years of age a misdemeanor.—JV. Y. Morning Journal JOHN SWINTON, one of the ablest and best friends of Labor, in a communication addressed to the World, says : " The present Labor movement is not a ' foreign importation/ as Jay Gould implied in that Tribune interview which the World copied. The Order of the Knights of Labor was founded by an American of the old anti-slavery school, upon an American basis, and has developed according to the forms and instincts of American life. There never has been an organization like it in any part of Europe. It is American throughout in its system ; and the massiveness and inclusiveness of its groundwork make it worthy of American idealism. " Finally, the present ' Labor movement' is larger and deeper than the mere labor question in the old narrow view. It is the all-embracing social question. It is the volcanic energy of society under the forces of the depths. It is the child of the earthquake that is convulsing and transforming the American Commonwealth. " The intensity of the earnestness of the present Labor movement is another of its predominant features. Those who watch its workings know that the hosts united in it feel that they are confronted by what the English call ' burning questions/ I have, within the past few years, addressed hundreds of ' Labor meetings' here and there, at many of which the audience seemed to be possessed by the spirit of the conquering Saracens of the seventh century, or of the Crusaders of the eleventh. This is not the mere effervescence of log-cabin campaign politics. It is a deep and mighty force, not to be overlooked/' KNIGHTHOOD AND CH1YALRY. As to the origin of Chivalry, let it suffice for our present purpose to say, that it is so obscurely traced along the dim vista of ages as to have baffled the efforts of all writers upon the subject, and they have failed to find its exact time and place of birth. In making this assertion, Gr. P. It. James, whom we shall mostly quote in the following brief summary, wishes it to be understood that by the term Chivalry is meant the daring gallantry and courage which distinguished those individual heroes who were moved by the spirit of those qualities to protect the weak from the oppression of the powerful, and to defend the right cause against the wrong. Chivalry, however, took on a more definite form and pronounced vitality when the feudal system arose on the elevation of Hugues Capet, the Count of Paris, to the throne, year 998. At this period, says James, great confusion existed. The authority of the sovereign extended but a few leagues around the city of Paris. The Normans ravaged the court; the powerful and the wicked had no restraint imposed upon their actions, and the weak were everywhere oppressed and wronged. Property was acquired and held by the sword, and injustice reigned alone.- 54 Personal courage, however, had been raised to the highest pitch. Valor was a necessity and a habit. I t was t h e n t h a t a few poor nobles, probably suffering themselves 'from t h e oppression of some more powerful lords, b u t at t h e same time touched with sincere compassion for t h e wretchedness they saw around them, first leagued together, with the holy purpose of redressing wrongs and defending t h e weak. They gave their hands in pledge to one another t h a t they would n o t t u r n back from the work, and called upon St. George to bless their righteous cause. Religious enthusiasm became added to noble indignation and charitable zeal, so t h a t t h e Spirit of Chivalry was kindled into light. The spirit so evoked spread rapidly, and the adoration of the people, who were moved to g r a t i t u d e by the noble attitude of their champions, was intensified to t h e point almost of deification, and this manifestation of interest and faith gave b o t h fresh vigor and purity to the design of the people's self-appointed defenders. E v e r y moral virtue became a p a r t of knightly honor, and the men whose h a n d s were ever ready to draw the sword in defense of innocence, who in their own conduct set t h e most brilliant example, whose sole object was the establishment of right, and over whom no earthly fear or interested consideration held sway, were readily recognized as j u d g e s and appealed to as arbitrators. Public opinion raised them above all other men, even above kings themselves, and so t h e chivalric spirit took form and shape, acquired n u m e r o u s followers, and became, instead of a mere verbal engagement between a few generous and valiant men, a great a n d powerful institution. T h e time, however, at which fixed regulations first distinguished Chivalry from any other order in the state, cannot be precisely determined. Certainly it was not before the eleventh century, and then it was by slow degrees, owing to t h e confused condition of affairs, t h a t it ultimately became an establishment having its duties, rules and principles, no d o u b t properly defined. The first point required of aspirants to Chivalry in its earliest 55 state was certainly a solemn vow, "To speak the truth, to succor the helpless and oppressed, and never to turn back from an enemy." R I S E OF THE OKDER. James believes that the Order (of Chivalry) first took its rise in France, and probably the disgust felt by some pure minds at the gross and barbarous licentiousness of the times infused that virtuous severity into the institution of Chivalry which was in itself a glory. If, says the writer, whose words we closely follow, we may give the least credit to the picture of immorality and luxury of the French as drawn by Abbon in his poem on " The Siege of Paris," no words will be found sufficient to express our admiration for the men who first undertook to combat, not only the tyranny, but the vices of the age; who singly went forth to war against crime, injustice and cruelty; who defied the whole world in defense of innocence, virtue and truth; who stemmed -the torrent of barbarity and evil, and who, from the wrecks of ages and the ruins of empires, drew out a thousand jewels to glitter in the star that shone upon the breast of knighthood. THE CHAMPION OF CHRISTIANITY. For long the Christian religion has struggled alone, a great but shaded light, through the storms of dark and barbarous ages. Till Chivalry arose there was nothing to uphold it; but from that moment, with a champion in the field to lead forth the knowledge that had been imprisoned in the cloister, the influence of religion began to spread and increase. In its brightest days Chivalry stood forth the most glorious institution that man himself ever devised. In its youth and in its simplicity it appeared grand and beautiful, both from its intrinsic excellence and from its contrast with the things around. And although it acquired pomp and luxury, to which succeeded decay and death, still the legacy that it left behind it to posterity was a treasure of noble feelings and generous principles. DEFENDER OF THE FAIR. There cannot be a doubt that Chivalry, more than any other 56 institution (except religion), aided to work out civilization in Europe. It first taught devotion and reverence to those weak, fair beings who, but in their beauty and their gentleness, have no defense. It first raised love above the passions of the brutes, and, by dignifying woman, made her worthy of love. It gave purity to enthusiasm, crushed barbarous selfishness, taught the heart to expand like a flower to the sunshine, beautified glory with generosity, and smoothed even the rugged brow of war. For the mind, as far as knowledge went, Chivalry itself did but little, but by its influence it did much. For the heart it did everything ; and there is scarcely a noble feeling or a bright aspiration that we find among ourselves, or trace in the history of modern Europe, that is not, in some degree, referable to that great and noble principle which has no name but that of "The Spirit of Chivalry." THE DUTIES AND DISCIPLINE OF KNIGHTS. The duties of a knight were onerous in the extreme, and his physical exercises were incessant and of the most robust nature. To spring upon horseback armed from head to foot, without putting a foot in the stirrup, to cast somersets in heavy armor, for the purpose of strengthening the arms, to leap upon the shoulders of another knight from behind without other hold than one hand laid upon his shoulder, such and many other, were the daily exercises of the young noble who aspired to reach the higher degrees of a glorious knighthood, and many other hardy feats constituted the daily discipline, besides regular instructions in riding and managing his arms. The result of such severe and incessant training was that in after years those men were found bearing a weight that few persons of the present time could lift, through the heat in a whole summer's day, under the burning suns of Palestine. " He who seeks to be a knight/' said the Bishop of Valenciennes to the young Count of Ostravant, " should have great qualities. He must be of noble birth, liberal in gifts, high in 57 courage, strong in danger, secret in council, patient in difficulties, powerful against enemies, prudent in his deeds. He must undertake no war without just cause, favor no injustice, but protect the innocent and oppressed." THE TOUBNAMENT. The tournament was a purely chivalrous institution. JAMES, in speaking of this romantic, poetic and thrilling theme, pays " The Wizard of the North " a high and well-deserved tribute when he says, " The most complete description ever given of a tournament is to be found in the writings of one whose words are pictures; and if I dared but copy into this place the account of the passage-at-arms in ' Ivanhoe/ I should be enabled to give a far better idea of what such a scene was than all the antiquarian researches in my power will afford." [See note on last page.] The ceremonies and splendor of the tournament, says the same writer, of course differed in different ages, but the principle was the same. Sometimes it was the king himself who sent his heralds through the land to announce to all noblemen and ladies that on a certain day he would hold a grand tournament, where all brave knights might try their prowess. At other times a tournament was determined upon by a body of knights, and messengers were often sent into distant countries to invite all gallant gentlemen to honor the passage-at-arms. The spot usually fixed upon for the lists was in the immediate neighborhood of some abbey or court, where the emblazoned and inscribed shields of the knights were exposed to view for several days previous to the meeting. Sometimes it occurred that a blot was found upon the fame of a recreant knight, when he was expelled from the lists with marks of ignominy. Round about the field appointed for the spectacle were raised galleries, scaffoldings, tents and pavilions, decorated with all the magnificence of a luxurious age. Banners and escutcheons and bandrols, silks and cloth of gold covered the galleries and floated round the field, while all that rich garments and precious 58 stones, beauty and youth could do to outshine the inanimate p a r t of the scene, was to be found among the spectators. Bands of warlike music were stationed near, to animate the contests and to salute the victors. The knights, as they appeared in the lists, were greeted by the heralds and the people, according to their renown. B u t the approbation of the female p a r t of the spectators was the g r e a t stimulus to all the chivalry of the field. Each knight, as a p a r t of his duty, either felt or feigned himself in love, and it was upon these occasions t h a t his lady-love might descend from t h e high state to which the mystic adoration of the day h a d raised her, and bestow u p o n h e r favored champion a glove, a ribbon, a bracelet, a jewel, which, borne upon his crest t h r o u g h the hard-contested field, was t h e chief object of his care and the g r e a t exciting cause of his valor. The other spectators also, t h o u g h animated b y less thrilling interests, took no small share in the feelings and hopes of the different parties. Each blow of the lance or sword, struck well and home, was greeted with loud acclamations, and valor met with both its incitement and its reward in the expecting silence and the t h u n dering plaudits with which each good champion's movements were waited for and seen. I n the meantime, without giving encouragement to any particular knight, t h e heralds strove to animate all by quaint and characteristic exclamations, such as " The love of ladies," " Honor to the brave," " G l o r y is to be won by blood and sweat." " A Templar." 59 ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD and DECORATIONS OF HONOR. A brief mention of a n u m b e r of t h e best known Orders of Knighthood will assist t h e novice in such matters t o a better u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e subject in hand, a n d we therefore attach to t h e main body of this little book a limited list of such institutions. "THE ORDER OF ALBERT THE BEAR,"—The Order common to t h e three Anhalt Duchies is known as t h a t of " ALBERT THE BEAR," founded b y Prince Sigismund I. about t h e year 1382. The k n i g h t s wore t h e decoration a t t h e button-hole, suspended by a ribbon. THE ORDER OE THE GOLDEN FLEECE—Austrian—was founded b y Philip le B o n ( " T h e G o o d " ) , Duke of B u r g u n d y a n d t h e Netherlands, in t h e year 1429. T h e annual festival of t h e Order is celebrated in Vienna on St. Andrew's Day (30th of November), or on t h e following Sunday, when t h e Emperor a n d all t h e k n i g h t s t h e n present a t Vienna, repair in procession a n d full costume t o t h e Court Chapel to hear divine service, a n d thence r e t u r n to t h e castle a n d dine at open table in t h e " K n i g h t s ' Saloon." " T H E ORDER OF THE EMPRESS MARIA THERESA," of AUSTRIA, is a purely military order, a n d was established in 1757. T h e b a d g e of t h e order is worn b y t h e Knights, a n d is held in h i g h estimation on account of t h e rareness of its distribution. " T H E TEUTONIC, KNIGHTLY ORDER."—In t h e earlier p a r t of t h e Twelfth Century, about t h e time when, in t h e East, t h e k n i g h t s 60 of various countries began, after t h e model of t h e monks, to form themselves into different orders for t h e purpose of vanquishing t h e Infidels, a pious German, whose 3aame is now lost, built a t Jerusalem a hospital for t h e pilgrims of his native land, the t h e n existing Orders of t h e Templars and of St. J o h n having t h o u g h t fit t o devote their care exclusively to t h e comforts of the F r e n c h and Italian pilgrims. I n 1191, Frederick of Suabia deemed i t advisable to secure to t h e institution a more solid basis, and it grew in wealth, power and influence. " THE ORDER OP MALTA" (St. John).—This famous institu- tion occupies in history an important page. I t s origin falls in the time when Jerusalem was still in t h e hands of t h e Mahometans, A. D . 1048. I n 1099 Godfrey of Bouillon, having conquered Jerusalem gave to t h e hospital a constitution, endowed it with considerable lands a n d capital, a n d released t h e monks from t h e duties of its management, which now devolved upon several of t h e k n i g h t s of his army. T h e history of this renowned order is one of t h e grandest among t h e knightly institutions in Christendom. " T H E ORDER OE HENRY THE LION" was founded by Duke William of Brunswick, 1834. The object is to reward those who have distinguished themselves in t h e service of t h e State, military or civil, in war, or the arts a n d sciences. No r e g a r d is had in t h e disposition of its medals of merit, to birth, rank or religion, except in t h e higher classes, when a previous possession of a knightly insignia is required.