Newspapers / The Future Outlook (Greensboro, … / Sept. 5, 1942, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO A Brief History Of Labor Day (Continued From Page Onel esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.** The parade should lie followed by "a picnic or festival In some grove,** the proceeds of which should be divided on a semi-co-operative bat{l8, each local union keeping the money for the tickets It sold and contributing to the expenses In proportion tc Its membership. The New York Herald wrote of that first parade that It was colorful nod "the most orderly parade ever seen." Of the picnic, it said thai "Americans and English, Irish and Germans, they nil hobnobbed and seemed on a friendly -footing, as though the common cause had established a sense of closer brotherhood." The Tribune editorially commented "the, gathering had none of the aspects of a bread riot, but every semblance of a picnic or a political barbecue."' ^ The next year, % 1883, the city Cen tral Labor Union again sponsored a Labor Day parade, and the Tribune buw fit to report It much more fully. This time the trades unions began to assemble at 8:30 In the morning at historic Cooper Union, symbol of ' liberty and reminiscent of one of Llncoln't greatest speeches on freedom. At 10, when the procession got under way, there were 10,000 workers In line, and they marched past a re"I-rrtnrr otonfl In TTnlOO SOUSfe OD which were Louis F.'.'Post, Justus SchwabT Robert BlInsert, P. J. MeGulre, and other well-known labor leaders. . After the parade the celebration moved to Wendel's Elm Park, where fully 20,000 persons . listened to speeches and watched athletic games. In 1884 there were 20,000 men In the parade and "ten times that nam, ber lined the streets and cheered." Unions vied with each other In developing original and colorful floats and otherstunts. "The printers had a truck bearing "one of* Benjamin Franklin's printing-presses. The oldest bricklayer In New York rode on another truck, surrounded by little girls. The cigar-makers had a truck bearing'their members at work, and the cigars they made were distributed among the crowd. Twelve hundred members of the Eastern Butchers' " Union, "all. stalwart men," . marched in uniform garb of check jumpers, black caps, and dark trousers," walking down the avemn 12 abreast The second division of the paradt was headed by ISO member* of th? . Wendell Phillips t-abor club, an or ganiiatlon of Negro workers. Jones Wood and Washington Pari were hired for the "picnic and sum , mer night's festival," and there wen 40,000 present to listen to the ban' concerts and watch the athletlct Platforms were set up for dancln at night. The Tribune noted that "1 was proposed to have speaking In th evening, but that part of the pn gramme was abandoned . a It wa found next to Impossible to get th people to forsake the varied a mm? menta." 'In Chicago a month later, on O' tober' 9,. 1884, the Jfourth - annual coi L * j vention .of the federation , of .0rgai r jjttn Trades^ and rT-abof^Unlons V< t United fitetes sbd Canada, (wtal< r^lntlon ?pro^ I ' * pa rt5 as * s*^ Tabori^^atlonal ho ^gra'daj, and 'that we recommend Its ? EnW^eerVsnce by"'.all 'wage,workers. In of? sex, calling -6/' nat?otn Thnt trfr?n? mwirp|th?t* of the * THE ganlzed labor movement (there were 20 delegates, and the organization's report showed total expenditures of $543.20 for. the year) started wuie thine which was soon followed by an endorsement from the federation^ rival, the General Assembly of the Knights of Labor. Labor men universally adopted the Idea as part of their basic programs, and began to seek legalization of IJtbor Day ns a holiday. The first Labor Day bill was In1 treduced In the New York lelgslnture In 1887, but Oregon passed the first Labor Day law, on February 27 ,1887. Colorado. Massachusetts. New Jersey and New York followed suit the same year, and other states followed rapidly. In 1804 President G rover Clevelaud signed an act making Labor Day a holiday for all federal employees, for the District of Columbia, and for the territories. Labor Day Is now a legal holiday In all states and territories, either by legislative Aiactment, or;, as. in Wisconsin and Wyoming, through proclamation by the governor. . It was in New York City In i887 that Labor Day began to be a holiday for all, not merely a union celebration. "Flags were displayed from the public buildings, hotels and many stores and bulldingB." said the Tribune .which put Labor Day on page one for the first time. "The courts and municipal offices were closed, and even at the Customs House the day was observed as a holiday, though no national law requires It" The Tribune listed Interesting details of the parade, In which 20,000 participated. "The employees of HlgglDB' carpet factory made a - fine show, and the women workers In car1 rlages caused considerable cheering." 1 Henry George, the famedslngle-taxer and liberal, stood In the reviewing stand, and by his side was Frank Farrell, Negro vice-chairman of the county committee of the United Labor party. v Observance of the holiday began quickly in other cities all over the country during these years, and In 1&04 the event was first celebrated in Washington as a national holiday. And on this day. Albert Ports, from the office of the Architect of the Capitol, climbed the great castIron dome of the Capitol and perched atop the statue of Freedom to encircle Freedom's brow with a gigantic /wreath of "palm leavo, aspara' gua. rosea and carnation." Still on his precarious perch. Ports road an Invocation of freedom which the packed crewda on the' plaxa, 287 ! feet below, could not hear. But they 5 understood what he was doing, and * cheered him. Labor Day in Europe stemmed dl c rectly from an effort. Instituted by Samuel Gam pern, father and loug e time president of the American Fed 1 erntlon of Labor, to demonstrate it i. sympathy with United States labor*! K efforts to attain an almost on think t able reform?the eight-hoar' day. e The A. F. of L. In 'ifWS decide. >- upon this crusade, and the Unlta ? Brotherhood of Carpentry-* and Join e ers were selected as tpe spearhead e* to make au Initial demonstration o May 1, 1890. Gompeny wrote to th ts International Labor Congress. whlc n- was meeting In Parts/ and asked fa n- support and demonstrations In all otl if er countries. / 'h' vEaropesn governments,- used s* 1 of workers' revolutions and unnsed 1 American labor's , United ;demonsta to tiona,] viewed the prospect wit alarm. Germany prohibit*^ all go iy erpmsnt ?n?pl0 jSwIfrvTO 4cr\t\nt thi et day, on.pain,at ( and mo U- private employers did likewise, ItA b- forbade all public assemblies on Mi *- 1, and called. soUssra into the cttfe IV Franco took?elaborate measnrea . \K prevent disorders, \and only Englai ?r- and Swirsrrlniid let* the workers tal FUTURE OUTLOOK. GREENSBORO. their course. i The 181K) demonstration* were small and riot very successful. and the Nation, In uq article from Milan. Italy, commented that the selection of the eight-hour day as a battle-cry was "rnoet unfortunate" The writer cited as "astonishing" one lahor pamphlet which made the suggestion that "the greedy capitalist" who really bud to huve 10 hours of work in a day should hire two workers Instead of one, paying each "the full day's P?j. From this, however, came observance of May 1 as Labor Day In Europe. Governmental fears subsided, and the day was made a legal holiday In many countries, and the nations of a Latin America followed the European precedent. Canada followed the United Siatgs with Its holiday on the first Monday In September, and Newfbundland established September 2 as Its ?abor Day. Western Australia and Queensland observe the first Monday In May, Victoria In Australia *observes April 21 as its Eight-Hours Day, and New South Wales and South Australia have their similar days In October. \ The significance of Labor Day has " been voiced in singing words by many national leaders. Back In 1895 a grand old man of labor, Eugene V. Debs, said the day's supreme algnlfl- < cunce was that apart for discussion "of questions vital with Interest to all workers, involving not only labor, but legislation, law and liberty.*1 "It would add Infinitely to the significance and glory of Labor Day if it should be, as it was designed to be, a day upon which all lines dividing labor, real or ideal, should be obscured, and the supreme law of brotherhood have full sway." In 1902, Frank P. Sargent, U. S. Commissioner of Immigration, put a thought nobly and succinctly:*'. "There is no national holiday when the people should take deeper interest in its proper observance than on Labor Day. While Independence Day, the glorious Fourth of July, commeomrates the birth of liberty. Labor day proclaims tbe struggle con- . stantly maintained by the countless toilers of the land to perpetuate those principles announced In 1776: Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." And Samuel Gompera said In 1921, a few short years before his death: "7-Abor Day stands for Labor's faith.. Faith In America. Faith in her Institutions. Faith in her democracy. Faith in her representative government And * above ail. Labor Day stands for'faith in the workers. Faith in their ability and determine1 tio# to show the world that within | the field of democracy Labor can forge lta way straight ahead and strike from lta path the barriers of reaction, greed, oppression and tyranny wherever found and by whomever 1 planted . . . 1 "And Labor Day stands for freedom. For freedom attained and free^ dom demanded." I A National Theme ' For Labor Day 1942 e (Continued From Page One) h not only gives evidence that the pro* duction necessary to win this war aj ' speedily as possible win be turned out, hut with goods at hand, in- tht x> air and on the - battlefield, American :o Labor challenges the deluded axli l- Idea that Slave Labor can ont-pro h dace .Free Labor. With a reeoundlnj promise that Freez Labor will win it American Labor holds out the baix st ot hope to the enslaved nations of th< lj world: ; . . . iy ^Npiwonder ""that'Labor Day thii a. year-will be th$ greatest In the hli td tory. of America 1. And no.wonder tha >d It, win, be not Jnst an American La ke bor Day but a ronfldent .Inspiring in N. C. j ternatinnal Labor Day. Consequently, a theme has been se- : lected for Labor Day that embraces : these two promises?the promise of . victory and the promise of freedom to the world? FREE LAKOll WILL WIN'! This theme will run through the many activities In which Labor incites the nation to share ou this day. Development of the Theme. Itehind these four words, FREE LAROU WILL WIN, are the thoughts and purposes which this brief theme sutns up. Naturally it Is Intended that these should be developed fully la the various activities and materials which will be a part of -Labor Day 1942. The first and most obvious thought la the outcome of the clash "between free men and men who are slaves "'of ruthless and power-hungry masters, a war In which the productive capacity of free labor Is opposed to that of slave labor. HJtler has said. "Since the Civil War the Americana huve lieen In a condition of political and popular decay." In other words, America has gone soft. He has mistaken the desire for peace in which to enjoy freedom for a lack of willingness and ability to defend and fight for freedom. He believes that his regimented. forbldded-to-think, brutalized countrymen, and the beaten millions from over-run countries. "uusc uvuicv ue ivmuianoB, can produce more and better sinews of war tban clear-eyed, thinking men and women working voluntarily to the utmost because they can decide their fate and chooee to remain free! By now, by Labor Day, 1&42, a suspicion of the final result of such a contest must be seeping into the most self-deluded nazi brain: FREE LABOR WILL WIN! The Labor Day theme also embraces all who are doing a full day's work to aid America and its allies to win. In this work every patriot has an equal share--the unkllled laborer, the skilled craftsman, the foreman, the clerk and stenographer, the superintendent, the company president, the farmer, the miner, the crew of the smallest cargo vessel?all who work as free men to preserve that freedom. Labor Day and its theme also Lrlng inspiration and pride of achievement to men and women not immediately engaged in producing tanks and guns and planes and other implements of war?1who may indeed be doing the same work as in peace time. It will help them realize that the ultimate purpose of all work has I now become to help America win, and that many . usual and uninspiring tasks are now as truly "war work"] la* the more dramatic occupations. This same thought applies to the parts worker who is making some thing so small or so obscure that its final war purpose Is remote or even unknown to the worker. ;. v Thus, on this particular Labor Day, Labor becomes the host to many who previously had not participated In this day except as a general holiday. Labor Is alap the host, to management, celebrating an achievement which is a Joint accomplishment of labor and management. Even further, this theme focnsea attention on the fact that this daj flodstlie free' men of all the United Nations working together. Americas , tanks and planes and guns fight is Russia, Bgypt, Australia! Ships ol ! the United Rations carry and guard the products J of -. A noerl can factorlei and' fields. "The. working .men jol | Britain; 'Russia,'! China, * and othel i lands, as well as. their fighting men I hold the line on far fronts to gall i, time urgently;'needed by the -Unite* Nations, i Labor . Day says "FREl , LABOR .WILL .WOT^eanlng no h only the Free'Labor of Amertca^bu t otsU.U^ 1 n..whIrh . the light; o y freedom?-has not been "extinguished . For Labor in the United Nations hat SATIUDAY. SEPTEMBER S. IMS '' I In common, to enjoy and preserve the right to apeak, to act, and to organtie. Free labor everywhere shares In America's Labor Day in 1&42. It should be noted thatthe Labor Day theme is "Free Labor Will Win," not "Free Labor HAS Won." This is both a promise and a caution. For It would l?e worse than foolish to adopt a complacent attitude because a good beginning has been made. There Is a long road, of blood and Bweat and tears ahead. American labor looks at Its Job squarely and realistically, clearly seeing the sacrifices and toll and weariness that must be borne with grim resolution. And It proclaims Its willingness to undergo this ordeal for the sake of the prize for which Americans' have fttagWt' Stare iWashlngton's time ^ Freedom. . ? ? . . In Summary. ?~? Labor J>ay this year has a broader meaning and a wider purpose than ever before. Labor pauses to salute the stupendous Job already done and to dedicate ita untiring effort to the 8till greater task ahead. With Its theme of "FREE LABOR WILL WIN" Labor Day 1W2 will? (1) Hall the proof that Free Labor Is outproducing nail Slave Labor and will continue to do so. (2) Proclaim the willingness" of American Labor and the American People to make the sacrl'Jces necessary to victory. (3) Hearten and Inspire all who ' nnrlr tnm imarlflA their occupations (4) Clasp the hand of free men In other nations who are working as ;v. well as fighting to preserve the free- , dcm of nations and the right \ of la^' \ bor. . >. ' .. , '*1 ' (5) Brighten the hope of freedom / In th? hearts of axis-eoalaved people | everywhere. ' ^ I (6) Throw a ringing challenge In .1 the teeth of the axis . . . that freedom of the Individual to think and . speak and worship and work shall not ' perish. About 20,000 cubic feet of hellom Is fed Into each barrage balloon from 150 gas cylinders. DAVIS & MARKS h .j, SHOE SHOP , " ? Closing Hours: Daily. 6:30 b. m. Saturday: 9:00 p. mf ' ' ' PETTVS SHOE SHOP j ? High Quality Repairs % 915 Kaat Market Street ' . V | j Oreenaber^ N. C, ; , ^^V MORROW i DRUGSTORE Phone 7W1 (or) 9312 O \-, 813 East Market Street ^ > HARGETT ! | ' Fnneral Home > Ambulance Service ' < PHONE 4814 ' BURIAL INSURANCE , ' M? FjuU SUrlul Strmt .< , Chiwm*ih. N..C.,-.. ^ *i FEEL FRESH ! /a | {> "' - Drink ~'k & v / v ? **. '-vjjk Sv '.'Orange. .v I I Greensboro Orange,]* v X Crush JJottl ing<,Co:"iS *i ^v- / <ii*w*'3S0i IB " j iiiw^wneneiii *
The Future Outlook (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Sept. 5, 1942, edition 1
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