When there were thousands of men out on strike under its name and the effect of which reached to all centers of industry it need not have been considered strange if attention was paid to it; those conditions do not now exist. It has been a long time since its name has been thus connected, long enough for the public mind to have forgotten it, if that was the only reason why attention was paid to it.

If reports were accepted as true the public would have recorded it long ago as among the things of the past. It has been "disrupted," "dismembered," "gone to pieces" many times. It has been denounced as "made up of an ignorant rabble, ""amounts to nothing," "no good," in the minds of some. This has come from its natural enemies, these who believe that the triumph of its principles would work an injury to them and from its natural friends, those who would be elevated and aided by the establishment of its principles, yet with such double attacks it has held the past month the most important session of its General Assembly since its foundation.

The newspapers of the country generally are run to make money by furnishing the people with news. They will not waste time and money in collecting and publishing what is not wanted and what they are not likely to be paid for, hence what they contain is one of the best indications of what the public is interested in; and further the public is not interested generally in anything that it does not consider amounts to something.

at

During the session of the General Assembly the great dailies of the country had stationed Indianapolis, reporters who furnished them with every item regarding the proceedings that could be picked up and forwarded by telegraph. Each day columns after column of their most. valuable space was devoted to publishing these items to the world. The Associated Press furnished the smaller papers throughout the land with long telegraphic reports, amounting in the early days of the session to several columns each day.

It is strange that that "sickly" "disrupted" combination of ignorant "common workingmen" should have so much attention paid it; and the reports of its officers read with so much interest, its policy discussed so thoroughly, but it was.

The enemies of the Order have to admit that it is stronger to-day than it ever was for it has concentrated all that ever gave it strength. The sudden gains that it made in membership in 1884 and 1885 weakened it below any point in its history. The true friends of the Order will not be the advocates of the booming policy, they will not hurry to bring in new members before the candidates know what the Order is for, they will in the future question more closely each applicant, it will not be so easy to become a member as it was at one time.

The Order has been cursed in the past by a class of men who expected to draw benefit from the Order without any expense or outlay on their part, a class that are no better than medicants; if their expectations

were not reached they declared the Order no good, their cry is on a par with the begger who cursed the giver of a penny because he did not give a dime.

Several changes have been made in the constitution which will prove of great benefit. One is in conferring more power on the Districts regarding affairs in their jurisdiction and another in allowing the General Master Workman to select his own advisors. There has been a great deal of comment on this last which has been termed the "one man power," but it is farther from that than it ever was.

The government of the Knights of Labor is one of the membership in every sense of the word. Much power has been taken from the General Master Workman; one thing being that of selecting the organizors or examining them before appointment, this being now in the hands of the Districts.

The re-election of T. V. Powderly is a sure indication that the rank and file of the Order wants the Order kept to its line of principles, the educational policy pursued with greater vigor and that it will be done.

The Order has a bright future before it, it has passed through the fire of abuse with colors flying; it has lost nothing that gave it strength but much that incumbered it. At an early future day those who stayed with it will be proud to boast of the number of years they have been a member in good standing.

Great stress has been placed on the report of the general treasurer that funds necessary to pay expenses were very low; there was evident rejoicing in some localities, but the laugh must have gone the other way when one Assembly (Local Assembly No. 300, glass blowers,) offered to place at the disposal of the general officers the sum of $100,000, and other Assemblies raising the amount to nearly a half million dollars; this indicates that there are men in the Order that consider its success

greater than the amount of a few dollars. If in our Locals this spirit was shown instead of being disheartened because on twentyfive cents per month dues they cannot keep up their Assembly expenses, pay death and sick benefits, have money to give away when they want to, support on organization that gives each one the benefits of from twenty-five to fifty cents per day in the shape of increased wages, in fact try to do a wholesale "land office" business on a peanut stand basis, greater results would be seen. It is because there are men that are above working on such a basis that our present success has been reached, and in all our civilization it has been true. Small ideas never reached great results.

THE SANTA FE REDUCTION. The Santa Fe manager has informed the employes of that Company that they are "hard up," and that they want the employes to help them out of the difficulty by accepting a reduction of their wages. This is such a common way, because it is generally so easy to do, that there is nothing particularly strange in the announcement, accept in this instance they have asked the employes, or rather certain classes of them, to vote on whether they will accept a reduction or voluntarily conceed to it, and the Company has a committee out canvassing the road for the purpose. The manager gives particular notice that he has reduced his own salary twenty-five per cent and only asks the employes to accept ten per cent, and only for a short time at that.

The past record of this manager is one that the employes certainly should consider. He is the same one that reduced the section men last summer from $1.25 to $1.00 per day, and did not ask their opinion either or think that they

with that reduction would have to feel it in their stomachs.

The voting plan appears to be used only with the shop and road men, such as are organized or likely to express their objections to a sudden reduction in a disagreeable way.

The Las Vegas Optic publishes an interview with a superintendent of the Company stationed at that place in which it is shown that the reduction at that time only effected the office men receiving $50.00 or more per month, and that it was to go into effect at once without consulting them at all. From this it is evident that the Company knows where to draw the caution line. The following extracts from the interview throws some light on the causes. The official was asked:

"Was it the absolute poverty of the company that caused this?"

"Well, not exactly. The real object is to try and make a better showing, say for the next quarter, to put a stop to the efforts of certain parties to bear the stock, which is now selling for much less than its intrinsic value. The fact is, Jay Gould has been for a long time past endeavoring to become connected with the control of the Atchison system, and this is not desired by either directors or stockholders, as his methods consist in manipulating a railroad for the purposes of speculating in its stocks, and the present directory of the Santa Fe are honestly striving to operate its roads for the legitimate purposes and profits in the business. This they are determined to do if possible, and to defeat the schemes of sharpers."

"What are the prospects for future business on the road?"

66

They were never brighter; we expect an enormous California travel in the next few months-in fact, the engagements for passenger coaches already made, far exceed our capacity to supply at present. This travel will commence at once as soon as the election excitement is over, some of the extra arrangements beginning on November 10th, from which the rush will continue all winter."

The Santa Fe Company may be hard up but who caused them to be in that condition, they certainly have been doing a good business. Are the employes to blame

for it? Were they consulted as regards the policy of the manager? if he has run the road into the ground has he any right to try and make the employes pay for it? His liberal(?) reduction of his own salary sounds good, it may raise the tender sympathies and admire ation of some of his workmen, but will the reduction pinch him and his family as regards the necessities of life? Will the admiring ones consider that after the reduction his salary will amount to more than the combined wages of one hundred section men working ten hours per day? Will they understand that they are suffering for the mismanagement of those they have no control over?

The following press report has been sent out, showing how the committee taking an expression from the men are getting along:

The voting of the Santa Fe Engineers and Fireman on the proposition of president Strong to cut wages 10 per cent is resulting disasterously to the company. Inquiry among the Brotherhood men reveals the fact that but one lodge has yet acted upon the proposition. At Topeka the engineers and fireman decided by a vote of 42 to 2 to accept a ten per cent reduction for three months. At Ottawa the vote was a tie. The reduction was rejected by a big majority at Chanute. It is said the feeling at Argentine is almost solidly against President Strong's plea.

"The truth is that the further you go away from Topeka the fewer are the friends to the proposition," said engineer Contro, who has been going about wherever the vote was being taken. "The headquarters of the Santa Fe system are situated in Topeka, and influences are brought to bear on men at that point which are not felt elsewhere on the line. Under the noses of the very officials of the road the vote may be controlled, but nowhere else will the proposition be accepted. So far as the switchmen are concerned, they won't consider it for a moment. President Strong may as well announce a cut of 25 per cent in his enormous salary. It would still leave him a fortune for a year's work. He can stand 75 per cent reduction more easily than the engineers can stand 5 per cent. My opinion is that the committee will drop its work before it gets through the state of Kansas. The men in the Southwest

and all along the line to California are bitterly opposed to the action of President Strong, and it would be a waste of time to visit them."

It will be seen from the above that the Topeka men voted for the reduction. In this connection it may not be out of place to note that the shop men at Topeka average less wages than at any other part of the system. Do they vote thus because they are used to stringent circumstances and can stand a little more because they enjoy it, or does poverty and a charitable disposition go together?

The writer conversed with a Santa

Fe brakeman some time before the proposed reduction was made public, who at one time worked in the Topeka shops, and he said:

They have the biggest lot of chumps in those shops you ever saw, they are paid less than any other shop men on the road, less than is paid on other roads in that part of the country, and they dare not say their souls are their own; the Com

pany can do just as they choose with

them.

Their vote and the low rate they already receive shows that the brakeman knew what he was talking about; "That birds of a feather flock together;] that men's minds has much to do with fixing their pay.

Those who are posted on the way the Santa Fe road has been managed say that this is just what might be expected; that their being hard up is due wholly to mismanagement, and that the present manager wishes to recover the lost ground in order to save himself. He can afford to cut his own pay rather than to lose a fat thing altogether, and the evidence appears to substantiate the statement. Such has been true in other similar cases.

There is no business or industry of any kind but what can pay its workmen fair living wages, if it cannot do that it should give way for something that will; it should stop.

In every business there are two parties who are interested directly

in its success, those who have invested their capital into it and those who are paid for the labor they invest in it.

In our railroad and many other incorporated enterprises these have the least to say regarding how it shall be conducted, but if it is bad they are the ones that must suffer

the most.

The manager and his corps of assistants have full say in the matter; mismanagement is only known to capital when poor re1t is seen by

sults are announced. the rank and file every day, but as a rule they are powerless, under present conditions, to help it in

the least or even to reach the ear who with them are interested in and sound the warning to those success.

The propose reduction on the Santa Fe bears evidence of this and shows the absolute necessity, to insure the welfare of the interested parties and justice to all, that the interested parties must come closer together. Capital now looks to the manager for good results, it cares not how it may come.

In the case of the Santa Fe it is evident that the manager wants to rob Peter to pay Paul, why should such be necessary?

Before justice all around can be expected, the Peter and Paul parties interested in the success of railroads must have a better understanding for mutual protection, when that is done there will be less losses from strikes, less wish to reduce wages to balance ac-. counts or cover up mismanagement.

A little study will cause this to be seen, once seen it will be done. There is a good object lesson in the Santa Fe affair of value to the interested parties on other roads, and their employes should be using their foresight if they are not already.

The labor side should be the most interested in seeking a prevention, for their's is the most difficult to apply a remedy. Speed the day when the interested parties co-operate for mutual protection.

COAL MINERS.

Probably there is no class of labor that has as hard a struggle to exist as coal miners or have to face greater dangers to life and limb. Why is it so, opinions differ, but they cannot on the facts. During the past two months the world has had its attention called to the dangers that surround the miners through reports of a mine explosions in France, England, Pennsylvania, and Kansas, in the last named over one hundred losing their lives.

Those who are not posted from personal observation can draw some inference as to how miners are regarded by their employers and what their general treatment is by reading the report of Kansas horror, which states that many of the victims could not be recognized as to their name and would be buried in unknown graves; for the reason only that they had not been there long enough and their names were not known, undoubtly having lost their tag by which they were known. This is on a par with the dispatch that announced the explosion that took place at Almy, Wyo., in March, '81, which read: "A terrible explosion in mines here, three men (mine bosses) and a large number of Chinese killed." Some workingmen may say, nothing wrong implied in that Chinese should not be classed as men, but there are plenty of mine operators that regard the white men in the same light as is shown in Kansas, and many of the mining districts, of Colorado, Pennsylvania and other states.

Further, in the Kansas explo

can

sion it is reported on authority that it was caused by inexperienced men who had been lately employed. What inference be drawn from this? Only that inexperienced men in large numbers were not employed because experienced men could not be had for there are thousands of them idle, but because they could be employed for less pay than experienced men. Mine operators know well the dangers arising from careless inexperienced men, but what care they, they will take the chances of damages to the property and their lives are not in danger, the lives that are are nothing to them so long as a new supply can be had.

Probably if the men that knew the danger had complained against the unnecessary risks they must assume through working in the mines with inexperienced men they would have been treated with scorn by their employers. If they had refused to work they would have been denounced by a now sympathizing public.

The public needs a great amount of educating before it can act different. Miners as a rule are situated away from lines of travel and populous centers and the public gets very little chance to learn of the conditions of the miners except through the columns of some labor paper or from the lips of some one who it regards as a labor crank from whom information is to be received with a doubt attached, and will be so till the public learns their value.

A mire horror startles all for a moment and is then forgotten and they think no more of the miners lives till another explosion occurs. Every one uses coal and have to pay a good price for it and all must know that it takes the labor of men to dig it, why should they who preform the labor be forgotten? There are thousands of them