<P> The Knights' primary demand was for an eight - hour day; they also called for legislation to end child and convict labor, as well as a graduated income tax . They were eager supporters of cooperatives . The only woman to hold office in the Knights of Labor, Leonora Barry worked as an investigator and described the horrific conditions in factories, conditions tantamount to the abuse of women and children . These reports made Barry the first person to collect national statistics on the American working woman . </P> <P> Powderly and the Organization tried to avoid divisive political issues, but in the early 1880s, many Knights had become followers of Henry George's radical ideology known now as georgism . In 1883, Powderly officially recommended George's book and announced his support of "single tax" on land values . During the New York mayoral election of 1886, Powderly was able to successfully push the organization towards the favor of Henry George . </P> <P> The Knights of Labor was an organization that helped to join together many different types of people from all different walks of life; for example Catholic and Protestant Irish - born workers . The KOL was appealing to them because they worked very closely with the Irish Land League . The Knights of Labor had a mixed history of inclusiveness and exclusiveness, accepting women and blacks (after 1878) and their employers as members, and advocating the admission of blacks into local assemblies, but tolerating the segregation of assemblies in the South . Bankers, doctors, lawyers, stockholders, and liquor manufacturers were excluded because they were considered unproductive members of society . Asians were also excluded, and in November 1885, a branch of the Knights in Tacoma, Washington worked to expel the city's Chinese, who amounted to nearly a tenth of the overall city population at the time . The Union Pacific Railroad came into conflict with the Knights . When the Knights in Wyoming refused to work more hours in 1885, the railroad hired Chinese workers . The result was the Rock Springs massacre, that killed scores of Chinese, and drove all the rest out of Wyoming . About 50 African - American sugar - cane laborers organized by the Knights went on strike and were murdered by strikebreaking thugs in the 1887 Thibodaux massacre in Louisiana . The Knights strongly supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Contract Labor Law of 1885, as did many other labor groups . But they were not against immigration, the Knights of Labor wanted more regulations, not restrictions . </P> <P> The Knights of Labor attracted many Catholics, who were a large part of the membership, perhaps a majority . Powderly was also a Catholic . However, the Knights's use of secrecy, similar to the Masons, during its early years concerned many bishops of the church . The Knights used secrecy and deception to help prevent employers from firing members . After the Archbishop of Quebec condemned the Knights in 1884, twelve American archbishops voted 10 to 2 against doing likewise in the United States . Furthermore, Cardinals James Gibbons and John Ireland defended the Knights . Gibbons went to the Vatican to talk to the hierarchy . In 1886, right after the peak of the Knights of Labor, they started to lose more members to the American Federation of Labor . It has been believed that the fall of the Knights of Labor was due to their lack of adaptability and beliefs in the old - style industrial capitalism . </P>

Who was not allowed in the knights of labor