Show W UP Q q F 44 Z U ayrl N N muc 1 LOAD OF happiness 5 copyright W X ty 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON september 3 marks the forty sixth anniversary of a holiday which Is a red letter event on all american ealen calendars dars for that Is labor day the day which all workers if they observe the tradition of its founding should make a festival day with parades speechmaking speech breech making and picnics of course the manner of our celebrating all 0 of f our holidays undergoes a change through the years and this applies to labor day even though it Is s one ot of the youngest as well as to the others but it Is interesting to note how labor day first came into being and how it t was celebrated four decades ago the history of labor day as told by a chronicler in the jerald herald tribune of new york where it originated Is as follows A little group ct cf workers in new mew york tork city heard the suggestion marking the birth of labor day and creating a holiday which has encircled circled the globe the idea originated may blay 8 9 1882 at a session of the then newly formed central labor union of the metropolis its sponsor was P J me ale ollre who was one of the best known labor leaders of ha day for many years yeara secretary of the united brotherhood of carpenters and joners of america and a ake president of the american federation of lubor labor thought was that one day in the year should he be set aside as a general holiday for the men end women who toll in its initial form the plan contemplated a labor day pure and simple for observance by those who work with hands and muscle the first celebration of the holiday took place in new york september 6 5 1882 since that modest beginning the world has taken labor day to its heart as one of the most important holidays on the calendar the voice of mcguire tins bno heen been beard round the world and by all classes of the population labors labois holiday has become an intel lat lonal institution tor for millionaires and work ers alike a festival of relax relaxation atlan and tion for all strata of the social structure no boll day of the year has greater popularity A basic for the vogue of labor day Is to be found in the wisdom shown by its originator in ch choosing nosIng the date for the celebration cholee choice was the first monday in september as a 0 strategic date midway between the fourth 0 july jul and thanksgiving day ilia his feeling that this thin was wae the most moat suitable day of the entire year for a new holiday found ready echo in the minds of workers offering a respite from toll after the blistering weather of july and august everybody was redy re dy for a rest at this particular season ond and there was prompt response to the suggestion of a double holiday over sunday and monday ip in recent years there has been a pronounced tendency toward a triple holiday causing the rest period tr extend from friday evening to tuesday rooming morning no cither holiday of the year offers similar advantage year in and year out after the he new york celebration of 1882 the larley of labar dav grew with increasing until it had ix tended to practically every n the union it now covers the island of hawaii porto klco and the virgin islands formal action toward nationalizing the holiday houlday was taken by the predecessor of the american federation of labor at its annual convention in chicago in october 1884 1894 the hotly body was known aar the Federa federation tien of organized trades and labor unions of the united states and canada then four years of ago age and strikingly small in compa comparison with the mighty federation of today at the chi cago convention for example there were but ty six delegates representing a constituency of nineteen international unions local bodies and cen aral labor unions the annual report of the f financial officer placed the years expenditures at 20 with a treasury balance of at the end of the fiscal period this offers strange contrast with the recent re P olt of the federation showing a years year s receipts of and a balance of rn asure re tha than n at the chicago convention the delegates legates da adopted a resolution intended to give labor day observance national importance the resolution stipulated that tle the flint monday in september should be set apart as a laborers national holiday and becom mended its observance by all wage workers irre spectre of sex call calling ing or nationality popular flo pular response tor for spontaneous but untiring effort and operation cooperation co on the part of organized labor were required for the procurement of legal sanction lon fot for the suspension of work congress and state elate legislative bodies received vigorous and in sli stent requests for the enactment of federal and state laws recognizing the day as a legal holiday ten epars elapsed before the passage of a con on det act the first monday in as a legal holiday bolday lor for the district of THE THINKER back of the beating hammer by which the steel Is wrought back of the workshops clamor the seeker may find the thought the thought that to Is ever master of iron and steam and steel that rises above disaster and tramples it under lunder heel the drudge may fret and tinker or labor with dusty blows but back baek of him stands the thinker the clear eyed man who knows for into each plow and saber each piece and part and whole must go the brains of labor which gives the work a sault back of the motors humming back of the belts that sing back 0 of f the hammers drumming back of the cra cranes n es that spirg there Is in the eyo which scans them watching through stress and strain there Is the mind blind which plana them back pf af the brawn the brain 1 might of the roaring boiler force of the engines thrust strength of the sweating toller toiler greatly in those we trust but back baal i of them stands standa the schemer the thinker who drives things through back of the job the dreamer chos making the dream come trust truel berton bertan braley columbia and the territories oregon has anticipated the federal law by legislative act passed in other states fell in line one by one until the ft apy now ranks as a legal holiday throughout the united states in most states the status is established through statutory provision in wisconsin and wyoming the observance comes through proclamation la lar by the governors in the philippines the celebration takes place on way may 1 in accordance with european custom the may day celebrations in continental europe owe their origin to american initiative this foreign adoption of the mcguire idea came about in connection with the eight hour movement inaugurated by the american federation of labor in n 1889 the same year brought a meeting of the international labor congress in paris to thle this meeting a letter was as addressed by samuel gompers compere president of the american body urging that the international organization should cooperate co operate with the eight hour movement by making a declaration of sympathy in his letter Go ropers appealed for demonstrations in all european countries to he be conducted on may I 1 of the following year the congress complied and started the machinery for widespread continental demonstrations on slay may I 1 ISDO 1890 in this way it came about that the gompers compers suggestion was the he instrument which created may I 1 as the labor day of europe the start made in 1830 caught the fancy of european worle and may ilay day became the recognized time for demonstrations st all over the continent in one respect t there has hag been an important difference n betge between tb the e observance of labor day in the united S states tat e 8 and the practice t lee of european workers with reference to the first of may the american holiday Is of recreational character while european workers have tended to exaggerate the system as a means of emphasizing their organized demands and grievances the result of the early demonstrations was waa to invite governmental opposition with arc frequent quent clashes between the workers and the police or military forces in latter years ho however weyer the may blay day observance has haa been given more largely to cessation of work parades meetings and commemorative exercises devoid of violence or disturbance europe has been slower than the united states in granting legal status as a holiday to the day selected by labor as the time tor for annual celebration the countries which have recognized the first of slay may as a legal holiday are austria czechoslovakia esthonia Esth onla vinland finland and bla madeira detra south american nations recognizing cognizing izing the date are colombia ecuador and uruguay latin america in general follows the european custom of celebrating may blay day and the day la 13 a legal holiday in hayti hayt and panama I 1 that the mcguire idea has alread round the world la in shown by the circumstance that many british colonies and possessions have their own labor days canada celebrates the first monday in september in keeping with the united states custom newfoundland observes september 2 queensland and western australia follow the european practice and observe the first of may alay eight houlday Hour day la 13 observed on april XI 21 in victoria aus auff on october 6 in new south wales wale and on october 14 in south australia the basic idea in all the these ss countries Is that which was voiced by P J me C juare in 1882 blen mention tion of the difference between the observe ance of labor day in this country and in europe where it was the occasion for demonstrations demonstration i to emphasize their organized demands and ances recalls the fact that there was a time in the early history of labor day in this country when the greatest concern of american workingman was for the right of labor that concern was expressed in an editorial uttered by the late samuel Goni compere pers in the first labor day editorial which he wrote after congress had find made it a legal holiday the editorial which appeared in wie kie american for september 1894 follows in the cycle or of time we are again ag aln on the tha dawn of our most important national hollday holiday labor d day v most bloat important since it for the first time in t the 1 history of the world devotes a day to the recognition of the fact that the wage earners must hereafter be regarded as the important factor in t the h economy of life in this day when so many look u upon pon the dark side elde of the progress of t the he labor laor or movement and predict worse things in store for the he laborer it la in not amiss to direct attention to 0 t ali is fact that the life of the human family la Is one vast pt ruggle gle and that though hough the tha progress la is not as swift as we as well as our impatient brothers and sisters misters of labor would like ilka it to be yet the fact that in our decade we can see the rights of et labor more clearly defined the vantage ground obtained and obtaining a clearer insight into the existing wrongs the more intelligent perception and determination to achieve labors rights the tha past year has witnessed several contests some of them defeats but though defeated in the immediate object sought they have awakened a new conscience in the american people and will contribute more to the thorough organization of the wage workers nf f our country than hundreds of meetings speeches or pamphlets the great con armies in the of the have hav 0 had their reverses and the labor movement move nent canno cannot t expect to be an exception to that rule each defeat acts as a trenchant warning to the of 0 america that error must be b avoided that intelligence must pra vall and that no success can come to them unless it to la through their own efforts anti and their own organization and by their persistency manifested pessimism results in indifference lethargy and impotency potency tm and this in turn simply perm permits 1 I ts the corporations po rations tons and trusts and the entire capitalist class to filch from the toller toiler rights which have bet acm dearly bought the organizations ot of labor jabor must be thorough and complete and above all must be permanent those organizations which arise elitc a lash flash in the pan only go eo to show how arduous Is the tha struggle glo before the toiler in order to overcome the antagonism of the wealth producing classes of our country today more than ever the boilers toilers reco recognize recognise gnia how essentially they are thrown upon their own resources sou that they have few if any outside their own ranks wiro sympathize with them in their efforts for the emancipation of mankind toilers ToS Toi lers organize let us carry on th good work and in a few more revolutions of jhb earth upon its axis we shall anve a better world woolda a better t mankind waiting will not accomplish it de ferring till another time will not secure it now Is the time for the workers of america to come to the tha standard of their unions and to organize as thoroughly completely and compactly as is possible let each worker bear in mind the words of lon longfellow 9 fellow in the worlds broad field of battle in tire bivouac of life 0 be not like dumb driven be a hero in the there la Is one significant statement in that editorial by the grand old man blan of american labor for when samuel gompers uttered the words worda intelligence must prevail lie he was tag giving it the keynote of what was destined to prove its sou soundest ad and roost most successful PO policy ilcy in the years which have followed since that editorial was written however the spirit of american labor as exemplified in tabor labor day has hai changed it Is still steadfast fur for the alie right of labor but it Is also conscious of the 1111 ity of labor as aa well today the american laborer labore Is ii the most prosperous of any in the world aind that Is because he line has brought to his task na ark intelligent concep conception tIOU of both its rights and lit itis obligations a consciousness ol of ahm dignity ut till lits job no do matter chaut what it may be so long ns as lie does it well and as a thinker us ua well as a loer doer be Is tile the fiack backbone bone of the american nation |