the organization. This outcome, however, did not restore the
order to the confidence of the public, and its strength now
rapidly declined. A loss of 300,000 members for the year 1888 was
reported. Early in the nineties, financial troubles compelled the
sale of the Philadelphia headquarters of the Knights of Labor and
the removal to more modest quarters in Washington. A remnant of
members still retain an organization, but it is barely a shadow
of the vast army of Knights who at one time so hopefully carried
on a crusade in every center of industry. It was not merely the
excesses of the lawless but the multiplicity of strikes which
alienated public sympathy. Powderly's repeated warnings that
strikes, in and of themselves, were destructive of the stable
position of labor were shown to be prophetic.

These excesses, however, were forcing upon the public the idea
that it too had not only an interest but a right and a duty in
labor disputes. Methods of arbitration and conciliation were now
discussed in every legislature. In 1883 the House of
Representatives established a standing committee on labor. In
1884 a national Bureau of Labor was created to gather statistical
information. In 1886 President Cleveland sent to Congress a
message which has become historic as the first presidential
message devoted to labor. In this he proposed the creation of a
board of labor commissioners who should act as official arbiters
in labor disputes, but Congress was unwilling at that time to
take so advanced a step. In 1888, however, it enacted a law
providing for the settlement of railway labor disputes by
arbitration, upon agreement of both parties.

Arbitration signifies a judicial attitude of mind, a judgment