Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-05-04
THE CENTENNIAL,
An Opportunity for Socialist Agita.
tiOn-0ur Headquarters.


"celebrated still less of the man
nerin which the "show" was prepared
to divert the "dear people" Suf-
flee it to say that the "show' VAS
as such shows usually are-curious
to the gaping crowd; grand in the
eyes of the thoughtless, sentimental
patriot; reassuring to the capitalists
and their politicians; pitlful in the
eyes Of the Socialists.
Still, it was one Of the events
with which the latter had to reckon
and, if possible, to take advantage
of. One of the things to be done
was to devise IA means Of getting
people to think, and so the Centen-
NAL leaflets were prepared, and on
the days of the celebration were
carefully distributed among the best
citizens, so far as our comrades, who
had volunteered to act as distribu-
tors, could Judge by their deport-
ment and intelligent appearance.
The motto Of the distributors was
-"appeal to the intelligent citi-
zens." And this was done. AS a
further means Of agitation the
House Committee of the Party's
Headquarters at 25 East Fourth
street, the Labor Lyceum, with the
assistance of volunteer artists and
he elpers decorated the building. A
description of the decoration may
not be amiss. The first floor, with
its plate glass front, WAS draped
with red with blue trimming; to
the right, resting upon the floor,
was large portrait of Lassalle, and
to the left one of Karl Marx. In
the center an arch bearing the in
scription "Down with aristocracy,
and underneath two steel cngray-
ings, framed, representing the de-
struction of the statue of King
George Ill, in New York, and the
pulling down of the column Ven
dome in Paris in 1871, respectively,
with an inscription indicating the
subject of the pictures. They rep
resented "Vandalism" according to
certain monarch-loving American
citizens. The three windows of the
second floor were covered with
draped portraits Of Wendell Phillips
and John Brown, of heroic size;
underneath Phillips portrait were
his words:
'Short hours, better education and
cooperation - meanwhile, political ac-
ton is the motto of the workers.
Under John Browns portrait, the
lines:
"John Browns body lies moulding in
the grave,
But his soul Is marching on
In the center window, and d.
rectIy underneath portrait of Wash
ington projecting from window in
the second story above, were the
words in red letters, "Progress, HUI
manitv, Freedom" A large red
banner projected from the centre
window of the third story, while at
various other points were small
union flags and red and blue drap-
cry used in decoration. The bulle-
tin bore the last copy of the WORK
MEMS ADVOCATE.
While great crowds were passing
by, such of them as seemed intelli-
gent enough to read and think were
honored with a copy Of our Centen
NAL Leafet, and some put them
in their pockets, while others
stopped to read them first. A
number of the visiting militia men
seemed to be much interested in the
pam, hlet also, and knots of them
were seen discussing it. Crowds of
people stopped to examine the un-
usual decorations and note the char
acter Of the building, had a decid-
edly "red" appearance, not count
ing the color of the bricks.
Well, since folks will have Cen
tennial celebrations, they must have
our view of things as well, and it is
socialistic to take advantage of such
occasions.