KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 



517 



tion of the order consists of an executive board, 

 composed of a president and three members, 

 elected annually in October by the General As- 

 sembly, which is composed of delegates from 

 the district assemblies, which receive delegates 

 and funds from the local assemblies, at the 

 same time being subject to the executive board. 

 The local assemblies are each made up, when- 

 ever possible, of workers in the same trade or 

 calling as one of shoemakers, another of print- 

 ers, etc. There are also mixed local assemblies, 

 which unite in one assembly workers not rep- 

 resented in others. The aim of the order its 

 motto being " An injury to one is the concern 

 of all " is, as now explained, to organize, agi- 

 tate, and educate, with the view of a final solu- 

 tion of the labor problem. In its Declaration 

 of Principles it is said: "We declare to the 

 world that our aims are " 



1. To make industrial and moral worth, not wealth, 

 the true standard of individual and national greatness. 



2. To secure to the workers the full enjoyment ot 

 the wealth they create, sufficient leisure in which to 

 develop their intellectual, moral, and social faculties ; 

 all of the benefits, recreation, and pleasures of asso- 

 ciation; in a word, to enable them to share in the 

 gains and honors of advancing civilization. 



In order to secure these results, we demand at the 

 hands of the State : 



3. The establishment of Bureaus of Labor Statis- 

 ,tics, that we may arrive at a correct knowledge of 



the educational, moral, and financial condition of the 

 * laboring masses. 



4. That the public lands, the heritage of the people, 

 be reserved for actual settlers, not another acre for 

 railroads or speculators ; and that all lands now held 

 for speculative purposes be taxed to their full value. 



5. The abrogation of all laws that do not bear equal- 

 tly upon capital and labor, and the removal of unjust 



technicalities, delays, and discriminations, in the ad- 

 : ministration of justice. 



! 6. The adoption of measures pro viding for the health 

 1 and safety of those engaged in mining and manufact- 

 uring, building industries, and for indemnification to 

 those engaged therein for injuries received through 

 lack of necessary safeguards. 



7. The recognition, by incorporation, of trades- 

 unions, orders, and such other associations as may 

 be organized by the working masses to improve their 

 condition and protect their rights. 



8. The enactment of laws to compel corporations to 

 ; pay their employes weekly, hi lawful money, for the 



labor of the preceding week, and giving mechanics 

 and laborers a first lien upon the product of their la- 

 bor to the extent of their full wages. 



9. The abolition of the contract system on national, 

 State, and municipal works. 



10. The enactment of laws providing for arbitration 

 between employers and employed, and to enforce the 

 decision of the arbitrators. 



11. The prohibition by law of the employment of 

 children under fifteen years of age in workshops, 

 mines .and factories. 



12. To prohibit the hiring out of convict-labor. 



13. That a graduated income-tax be levied. 

 And we demand at the hands of Congress : 



14. The establishment of a national monetary sys- 

 item, in which a circulating medium in necessary 



ciuantity shall issue direct to the people, without the 

 j intervention of banks ; that all the national issue shall 

 I be^full legal tender in payment of all debts, public and 

 , private ; and that the Government shall not guarantee 

 , or recognize any private banks, or create any banking 

 {corporations. 



15. That interest-bearing bonds, bills of credit, or 

 notes, shall never be issued by the Government, but 



that, when need arises, the emergency shall bo met 

 by issue of legal tender, non-interest- bearing money. 



16. Thut the importation of foreign labor under con- 

 tract be prohibited. 



17. That, in connection with the post-office, the 

 Government shall organize financial exchanges, safe 

 deposits, and facilities for deposit of the savings of 

 the people in small sums. 



18. That the Government shall obtain possession, 

 by purchase, under the right of eminent domain, of 

 all telegraphs, telephones, and railroads, and mat 

 hereafter no charter or license be issued to any corpo- 

 ration for construction or operation of any means of 

 transporting intelligence, passengers, or freight. 



And while making the foregoing demands upon the 

 State and National Government, we will endeavor to 

 associate our own labors : 



19. To establish co-operative institutions such as 

 will tend to, supersede the wage system, by the in- 

 troduction of a co-operative industrial system. 



20. To secure for both sexes equal pay for equal 

 work. 



21. To shorten the hours of labor by a general re- 

 fusal to work for more than eight hours. 



22. To persuade employers to agree to arbitrate all 

 differences which may arise between them and their 

 employes, in order that the bonds of sympathy be- 

 tvveen them may be strengthened and that strikes may 

 be rendered unnecessary. 



The insurance branch, established in 1882, 

 and existing under the mutual-benefit system, 

 is an addition to the original plan. Its aim is 

 to pay $500 at the death of a member, by means 

 of twenty-five-cent assessments. The entrance- 

 fee to this branch is $1.25 for those between 

 the ages of eighteen and fifty years. 



The co-operative branch, also an addition to 

 the original plan of the order, is intended for 

 the establishment of stores upon a cash basis 

 of trade, and the co-operative working of mines, 

 factories, etc. 



Any person of good standing in his trade or 

 calling, who is not less than eighteen years of 

 age, without regard to sex, color, creed, or 

 nationality, is eligible to membership unless he 

 belongs to one of the " interdicted classes," in 

 which are named bankers, brokers, lawyers, 

 liquor-dealers, or those deriving benefit from 

 the sale of liquor. Women are admitted in 

 equal standing with men, and upon the same 

 conditions. The costs of membership are the 

 initiation fees, regulated by each local assembly 

 for itself, varying from $1 to $25 ; the monthly 

 dues, regulated according to actual needs of the 

 assembly, and varying from ten cents to forty 

 cents ; and a small per capita tax to the Gen- 

 eral Assembly of North America. 



Although subject through the district as- 

 sembly to the executive board, local assemblies 

 have the power to ''boycott" (to enjoin an 

 oppressor) any person or persons within their 

 local precinct. When considered necessary, 

 the boycott is u put on " through the publica- 

 tion of the names of persons whose action may 

 be deemed unjust toward labor, or the specifi- 

 cation of manufactured articles or merchandise 

 offered for sale, which, through the manner of 

 production or otherwise, should not, it is 

 judged, in the interest of the order, be pur- 

 chased. A boycott, if found to be unjust or 

 without good cause, may be "taken off" by 



