KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 550 KNILLE. secretan'-treasurer, and a general executive board, eonsislinj^ of the master workman, the worthy foreman, and three other iiieinhers. Until 1880, when the order became involved in the Mis- souri Pacific strike, the nienilwrsliip increased, at first slowly and then rapidly, until it num- bered, as was claimed, over 700.000. Thereafter, split by internal dissensions, and weakened by failiiifj strikes, ilie nienil)crship declined, until in r.lOO it was oilicially 2(KI.IHH). and practically perhaps ,)0.000. The political platform adoiited by the Knights of Labor advocated the unlimited coinage of silver, compulsory arljitration. eipial rights for both sexes, the owner.ship by the Gov- ernment of telegraphs, telephones, and railroads, and the common ownership of land. Cooperative enterprises, such as joint partnershi]is and nui- tual benefit funds, were started by the order. The ollieial organ was the •loiininl of United Lahur. Consult: The Ounrtcrh) Jnurnnl of Economics, vol. i.; Ely, The Laliur Morrinint in America (New York, 188fi). See L. oR, American Fed- ekation of; labor organizations; trade Unions. KNIGHTS OF MALTA. See Saint John OF .IKIU S.VLEM. KNHillT.S OF. KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. In Amciiean liislory u secret society wliose object was to advance the interests of the South. It was organized in 1855 as a successor to the Southern Rights Club, which had been founded in 18;U. Its early purpose was to further the setting up of a great slave empire about the Gulf of ilexico by sending filibustering expeditions against Cuba, ^Mexico, and Central America. Each 'castle,' or lodge, of the order was divided into an outer and an inner temple, and only those persons were ad- mitted who were known to be thoroughly "sound on the nigger.' In the Presidential campaign of 1800 the Knights took an active part in bringing about the disruption of the Democrat ic Party over the question of slavery. In the latter part of 1800 'castles' were established in some of the States north of the Ohio River, and the order spread so rapidly that in May. 1862. a United States grand jury estimated that there were 40,000 members in Indiana alone. In May, 1863, the Knights and other disalTected persons at- tempted an armed demonstration at Indianapolis, but it resulted in a ridiculous fiasco that was known as the 'Battle of Pogue's Run.' In the fall of 186.3. owing to the ]niblicity given to the treasonable purposes of the organization by Gov- ernor O. P. Morton (q.v.). General Carrington, and other Union authorities, who employed spies to ferret out its secrets, the Order of the Knights of the Golden Circle was disbanded, and was suc- ceeded by the 'Order of American Knights.' which in the early part of 1864 in turn gave place to the 'Sons of Liberty.' This last-named order had a large membership in Ohio. Kentucky'. Indiana, Illinois, and ilissouri. Its supreme commander was Clement Vallandigham (q.v. ) of Ohio. Its ritual asserted that the Constitution is a com- pact, and denied the right of the National Oov- omment to coerce a sovereign State. The order consisted of two organizations, one within the • other. Those who entered the outer organization were told that the object of the order was to se- cure the success of the Democratic Party at the coming Presidential election ; the inner organiza- tion was a military one, whose aim was to give aid and comfort to the South. Large quantities of arms were purchased, and hand grenades, clock-work machines for setting fire to Govern- ment property, and '(-ireek lire' were nnmufac- tured. At Indianapolis thirty-two boxes labeled '.Sunday school books,' but containing arms and auiminiition, were seized by the police, and nu- merous seizures were made elsewhere. In some places, both at this time and previously, the draft was resisted by force of arms, and deserters and escaped prisoners were protected against the United States oHicers. In huliana some of the Democratic State ofiicials were members of the order, while others were in .sympathy with it. The most important project of the Sons of Lib- erty was one for an uprising throughout Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, and .Missouri, which should free the Confederate prisoners in those States, and set up a Xorthwcstern Confederacy. A day was set for the aeconi])lishment of the enterprise, but the attempt was never made. A number of the lea<lers were arrested, and three, Bowles, Mil- ligan, and Horsey, were condemned to death by a military commission, but after an imprison- ment of eighteen months were set free by the United States Supreme Court on the ground that the military commission had no jurisdiction. Consult: An Authentic Kxpoaition of the Knights of the (lolden Circle (Indianapolis. 1861) : Holt's "Reiport on Secret Orders." in McPherson's His- torii of the'RebeUion ; and Foulke's Life of Oliver I'. Morton. KNIGHTS OF THE SHIRE, or Kxight.s of P.viil.i.v.MENT. Kniglits formerly chosen by the freeholders of every county to represent the coun- ty ill Parliament, ;ind originally inhabitants of the phu'cs for which they were cliosen. KNIGHT'S TALE. One of the poems com- posing Chaucer's ('unterburii Tales, and contain- ing the story of Palamon and Arcite (q.v.). KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. See Templars. KNIGHTS'TOWN. A town in Henry Coun- ty. Ind., .34 miles east of Indianapolis; on the Blue River, and on the Pittsburg. Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis, and the Cleveland, Cin- cinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis railroads (Map: Indiana, D 3). The State Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home is a short distance to the south of the town. Knightstown has good water-power and natural gas. There are llourmills. s;iw and planing mills, torpedo-works, and other indus- tries. The water-works and electric-light plant are owned bv the municipality. Population, in 18(10. ISti": 'in liiflO. 1942. KNILLE, knil'Ir, Otto (183'2-98). A German historical painter, born at Osnabriick. He stud- ied at the Diisseldorf .cadeniy under Karl Sohn, Ilildobrandt. and Schadow, then in Paris under Couture, spent four years in Mtinich (1854-38), where he painted "The Jloors Frightened by the Dead Body of the Cid" ( 1858, Hanover Museum ) , and after a stay of three years in Italy settled in Berlin. In 1865 he executed mural paintings in the Castle of Marienburg. near Hildesheim, rep- resenting scenes from the legendary lore of Thuringia, and in 1873-84 decorated the staircase of the University Lii)rary in Berlin with four frieze-paintings, personating in animated groups of famous men "Education in .Antiquity," "Scho- lastic Science," "The Humanists and Reformers," and "The Neo-Classics of Germany." For this meritorious work he was awarded the great gold medal at the Berlin Exhibition in 188(5. Among
