The Knights of Labor, however, had received a blow from which it never recovered, and as a result its membership declined.

The order has since been almost wholly superseded by the American Federation of Labor, established in 1886 through shrewd management by an association of labor unions which had been maintained since 1881.

The Knights had been organized by localities with the aim of merging all classes of working men into one body.

The Federation, on the other hand, is composed of trades unions retaining their autonomy--a principle of organization which has proved to be more solid and durable.
To these signs of popular discontent the Government could not be blind.
A congressional committee investigated the railroad strikes, and both parties in Congress busied themselves with labor legislation.

But in spite of this apparent willingness to cope with the situation, there now followed another display of those cross purposes which occurred so often during the Cleveland administration.