Federation was planned as a labor confederacy which might admit local assemblies of the Knights of Labor on an equality with trade unions. The call for the first convention held in Pittsburg, 1881, read in part: "We have numberless trades unions, trades' assemblies or councils, Knights of Labor and various other local, national, and international labor unions. But great as has been the work done by these bodies, there is vastly more that can be done by a combination of all these organizations in a federation of trades." In adopting the name "Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions" the representatives to the congress made a direct concession to the same end. In the first congress of the new federation the local assembly of the Knights of Labor and the trade union were both represented, and it was understood that each should maintain its own organization and work in harmony with the other for the federation of all labor units. But when the respective positions of the two federations became more sharply defined, radical differences appeared. In principle there was no inherent antagonism, since the work of one might very well have supplemented that of the other, but in practice disagreements constantly arose.

The two organizations differed much in government and structure. The first local assembly of the Knights organized in 1869 consisted originally of garment workers. A few months later, October 20, 1870, the first person not a garment cutter was initiated into the order, and thenceforth the unit in the federation changed from a trade union in the strict sense, to a new type, the "mixed assembly," having as its primary concern the interests common to all productive workers, and not the interests of a craft. The "mixed" assembly sought to gather into one association all branches of honorable toil, without regard to nationality, sex, creed, or color.2 This principle guided the organizers in their field work, and was largely responsible for the remarkable growth of the order in the next few years.

3

1 Report of the First Annual Session of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, 1881, pp. 8–10 [Cincinnati, 1882].

2 Constitution for Local Assemblies of the Knights of Labor, 1884. 3 Constitution of the General Assembly, 1879, Article 2, sect. 1.

On the other hand, the primary unit in the system of organization upheld by the Federation of Labor was the local trade union, composed of artisans following a single vocation, and attached to a national trade union. An exception occurred in the case of locals directly affiliated with the Federation, but this class formed a minor division and need not seriously qualify the main statement. In his report to the convention of 1900 the president said, "The formation of one local union placed under its proper jurisdiction, is of greater consequence and importance to the safety and progress of the labor movement than the issuance of twenty charters for local unions to be affiliated directly with the American Federation of Labor." The founders of the federation accepted the abstract principle of a common labor cause advanced by the Knights, but held that the mechanism through which the interest of all could best be promoted was the craft union. The opponents of the autonomous system claimed that the trade union seeks exclusive privileges in its particular field at the expense of those engaged in other branches of industry. Although these differences marked in general the broad distinction between the two federations, in special cases they faded away. For instance, it was common to find a local assembly of the Knights of Labor composed exclusively of workmen of one trade wherever conditions were unfavorable to the mixed assembly. Similarly the organizers of the American Federation often found it necessary to form into one local union workers of miscellaneous crafts. "Federal Labor Unions," analogous in composition to the mixed assemblies of the Knights, were organized in those localities where numbers did not justify the existence of trade unions. As soon, however, as a sufficient number belonging to one craft was gathered together, a new local trade union recruited from the membership of the mixed union was formed. The trade local in turn joined the national union of its craft wherever the chance presented itself. The same policy is followed at the present time. According to the latest (January, 1905) report of the American Federation, there are 1181 local trade and federal labor unions directly affiliated with the national federation.

In each case, however, the irregular grouping was considered an exceptional form.

The difference noted in the primary divisions appeared to a larger extent in the federate grouping. The district assembly, comprising the local assemblies of the Knights of Labor in a given locality, corresponded to the central labor union or federation of trade unions. Before the Knights of Labor movement, the life of these central organizations was ordinarily brief. After a stormy experience of personal jealousies, political affiliations, and trade-jurisdiction disputes, such associations commonly fell apart. As the Knights of Labor grew, many of these weak central labor unions were reorganized as district assemblies with large powers. A little later, under the organization of the American Federation of Labor, they came to hold a less important position, and retained merely advisory powers with little actual authority. In 1881 ten city federations were represented in the convention of "Organized Trades and Labor Unions." In 1904 the president of the American Federation of Labor reported 569 central labor unions affiliated with that organization.

During the first ten years of the history of the Knights of Labor movement the Knights made no provision for organizations similar to national trade unions. In the early eighties a reaction toward the old individual craft organization made necessary the recognition of national trade assemblies as an important subdivision. At this juncture the cherished principle of the unity of all labor interests was subjected to severe test. Mixed assemblies were found too extensive in their sympathies, and the natural desire for meetings where members of one craft could discuss questions primarily of importance to the trade reasserted itself. Furthermore, the organization of industrial forces on a national scale made more pressing the need for national labor organizations along trade lines. As an immediate result, “national trade assemblies" closely analogous to the national trade union emerged.

1 Constitution of General Assembly, Order of the Knights of Labor, 1884, Article 12, sect. 1, p. 22.

Under the law enacted by the General Assembly at the convention of 1882, there were two methods by which any craft within the Knights of Labor could organize as a national trade assembly of the order, and gain autonomy over trade affairs, preserving, however, close association with other branches of organized labor. The first was in accordance with an amendment to the constitution which permitted five or more trade locals to petition the executive board to call a convention for the purpose of forming a trade district. The members of any trade could organize nationally under this provision by bringing local assemblies situated in all parts of the country under a common supervision. Under this provision the National Harness, Saddle, and Collar Makers' Union in 1883 was formed as a national trade assembly.2 The second method was used where trades were organized in several local assemblies under the same district assembly. In such cases each trade could form a council composed of three delegates from each local assembly. To this council all trade matters were referred independently of the district assembly to which the respective local assemblies were attached. Carrying this formation a step farther, the law provided for national trade councils which could carry on the work of local councils on a large scale. Thus trade locals in all parts of the United States and Canada might continue under their respective district assemblies or be attached to the General Assembly as the case might be, and obtain the additional advantage of having their trade problems considered by representatives of their own craft. In 1887, when the reaction toward organization by trades had fully set in, the general secretary-treasurer reported that there were twenty-two national trade assemblies in the order. Thereafter organized labor in the United States tended to form national trade unions, which either remained independent or became affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.

The national trade assembly and the national trade union differed in one important respect. The national trade assembly

1 Proceedings of the General Assembly, 1882, p. 364 [n. p., n. d.].

2 Journal of United Labor, July, 1883.

3 Proceedings of the General Assembly, 1882, p. 368 [n. p., n. d.].

was entirely subordinate to the General Assembly, the highest tribunal of the order; the national trade union stood independent, acknowledging a nominal allegiance to the American Federation only as a concession to the larger aims of labor. The nearest approach to authority exercised by the American Federation occurs in jurisdiction disputes between national trade unions, where the Federation acts in a judicial capacity. The officials of the Federation assert that one of the strongest elements in the success of the organization has been the absence of any attempt to exercise power over the national unions. The real bond of union, according to this opinion, is the good will and confidence of the constituent members.

The activity of the two federations in carrying out their respective plans of organization, as outlined above, resulted from time to time in serious conflict. In theory any agreement whereby one federation with its branches subordinated itself to the other would have prevented discord. For instance, the Knights of Labor might have affiliated with the Federation of Labor on an equality with national trade unions. But personal enmity among the leaders, who steadily refused to concede recognition to the rival federation, made a permanent understanding impossible. A circular issued by authority of the 1882 convention of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions declared: "The open trades unions, national and international, can and ought to work side by side with the Knights of Labor, and this would be the case were it not for men overzealous or ambitious. Each should understand its proper place and work in that sphere." As each persisted in its efforts to include all wage-earners, the circles of activity intersected, with the consequence of dual authority on the part of the federations and divided loyalty on the part of the individual members.

The American Federation, profiting by the experience of earlier federations, from the beginning resolutely opposed dual organization in any trade. It was claimed that if an exception were made in favor of the Knights of Labor assemblies, a dangerous precedent would be established and the existence of