Knights of Labor

a noted labor union. The original organization was a local, secret labor union established in Philadelphia in 1869, through the efforts of Uriah S. Stephens, a clothing cutter. He was joined by nine associates, all garment cutters. December 30th of that year the society declared itself Local Assembly No. 1 of the Knights of Labor. Mr. Stephens was elected master workman. Twenty-six additional assemblies were organized in Philadelphia in 1872. In 1873 an assembly of goldbeaters was formed in New York City. The first general assembly was formed in 1878 at Reading, Pennsylvania. Mr. Stephens was chosen grand master workman. The principles of the order, drawn largely from a paper written by G. E. McNeill for a labor congress at Rochester in 1874, declared in favor of the referendum; the establishment of bureaus of labor statistics; occupancy and use as title to land; speedy operation of the courts; safeguards for life and health in factories and mines; weekly payment of wages; the abolition of the contract system in letting public works; provision for arbitration between employers and employed; an age limit of fifteen years for child labor; free textbooks; a graduated tax on income and inheritances; the prohibition of hiring out convict labor; the abolition of the national bank system; the substitution of legal tender, non-interest bearing currency for government bonds; the establishment of postoffice savings banks; public ownership of telegraphs, telephones, and railroads; the encouragement of cooperative stores and factories; equal suffrage; an eight hour law for labor, and compulsory arbitration. Later T. V. Powderly was elected grand master, a position which he held until 1893. During his administration a famous railroad strike was organized in the southwest. In 1879 the policy of secrecy was abandoned. In the general assembly of 1886 delegates were present representing 800,000 members, and it was claimed that the total membership was not far from 1,000,000. Mr. Powderly was defeated for reelection. The organization began to lose ground, however. In 1893 Mr. J. R. Sovereign was elected grand master workman. The organization in 1909 included a few thousand members; Simon Burns, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, grand master.

The Knights of Labor organization differs radically from the American Federation of Labor. The former aimed to include all workingmen in one organization. At its height, assemblies were organized in Belgium and other parts of Europe. The American Federation aims to act as a bond, an administrative body for the various trade unions, each of which represents the workers in a particular trade or class.

See Federation Of Labor; Trades Unions