anded and new ones were created, the opportunities for
money-getting were vastly increased. Men now began to amass immense
fortunes in gold and silver mining; by dealing in coal, in grain, in
cattle, in oil; by speculation in stocks; in iron and steel making; in
railroading,--millionaires and multi-millionaires became numerous, and
were often called "captains of industry," as an indication of the power
they held in the industrial world.

%533. Condition of Labor.%--Meanwhile, the conditions of the
workingman were also changing rapidly: 1. The chief employers of labor
were corporations and great capitalists. 2. The short voyage and low
fare from Europe, the efforts made by steamship companies to secure
passengers, the immense business activity in the country from 1867 to
1872, and the opportunities afforded by the rapidly growing West,
brought over each year hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Europe
to swell the ranks of labor. Between 1867 and 1873 the number was
2,500,000. 3. Bad management on the part of some corporations;
"watering" or unnecessarily increasing their stock on the part of
others, combined with sharp competition, began, especially after the
panic of 1873, to cut down dividends. This was followed by reduction of
wages, or by an increase in the duties of employees, and sometimes
by both.

%534. Labor Organizations; the Knights of Labor.%--Trades unions
existed in our country before the Constitution; but it was at the time
of the great industrial development during and after the war, that the
era of unions opened. At first that of each trade had no connection
with that of any other. But in 1869 an effort was made to unite all
workingmen on the broad basis of labor, and "The Noble Order of Knights
of Labor" was founded. For a while it was a secret order; but in 1878 a
declaration of principles was made, which began with the statement that
the alarming development and aggressiveness of great capitalists and
corporations, unless checked, "would degrade the toiling masses," and
announced that the only way to check this evil was to unite "all
laborers into one great body." The knights were in favor of

1. The creation of bureaus of labor for the collection and spread of
information.

2. Arbitration between employers and employed.

3. Government ownership of telegraphs, telephones, railroads.

4. The reduction of the working day to eight hours.

They were opposed

1. To the hiring out of convict