The midland journal., 1891-05-15
THE FIRST STRIKE.
The First We Know OF Was in Egypt
Three Thousand Years Ago.

The First We Know OF Was in Egypt
Three Thousand Years Ago.
'There is nothing new under the sun"
receives nowhere a more startling verifi-
cation than in this matter of strikes.
The way in which our workingmen of
modern Europe try to coerce their en-
ployers was in substance the way adopt.
ed by their dark skinned, meanly
clad, poorly fed predecessors in the land
of the Nile before Moses led the Israel
ties out of Egypt. M. Maspero, who is
well qualified to speak ON all points con-
nected with Egyptology, deyotes several
very interesting pages to the subject
in his charming Historic Readings, !"
which have just been published. It
seems that the families of the working
classes were quite as improvident in
Egypt thirty centuries ago as some of
them are in England at the present day.
At the beginning of the month, when
they had just received their months ra-
tions, eating and drinking went on with
out restraint. By the middle of the
month the stock began to fail, and FAM
inc began to stare the thriftless house.
holds in the face, So again and again
they went out on strike in order to ex-
tort more from their superiors. A strike
of masons is described by M. Maspero in
detail, and some parts of the description
might almost be mistaken for extracts
from an English or German newspaper
In the Nineteenth century Of the Chris
tian era,
On the 10th of the month the builders
employed at a temple rushed tumultu-
ously out of the place where they were
working and sat down behind chapel
in the temple precincts, exclaiming, "We
are hungry and there are eighteen days
before nextpay day" They charged the
paymasters with dishonesty, asserting
that the latter gave false measure, The
paymasters, on the other hand, charged
the men with want of foresight, alleging
that they spent their wages as soon as
they touched them. After some further
negotiations with officers of the govern
ment the men resumed work on the un-
derstanding that the king himself should
receive their complaint. Two days later
Pharaoh actually visited the temple, and
when the matter was laid before him or
dered relief to be given to the woebegone
masons. For short time there was
quiet, but soon provisions failed, and dis
content broke out again with renewed
violence. On the 10th of the following
month the strike was in full force again.
Not a man would work. On the 18th and
18th they still refused to lift tool.
On the 10th they attempted to leave
the precincts Of the temple in order to
carry their grievances into the outer
world, but found that the person who
was placed over them had taken precau-
tions SO effectively that no one could
leave. So they spent the whole of that
day in laying their plans. On the fol-
lowing day they resorted to more noisy
methods. After vainly appealing with
loud cries to their manager, they decided
to apply to the governor of the city, and
therefore rushed through the busy streets
to the inconvenience of pedestrians, not
stopping until they reached the gov
ernors palace. Like their European sue
cessors, these discontented artisans stub
bornly refusd to work, spent many hours
In discussing their position and pros
poets, disturbed the order of the streets
by their impetuous movements, and ul-
timately obtained part at least of their
demands. So we can trace the strike
back for 5000 years, that is, to period
when Rome was not built and even
Greek civilization was still in its in
fancy.
How old the method was at that time
1t is at present impossible to say. Per-
haps the custom is as old as the pyra-
mids. Perhaps the first strike preceded
the most ancient of the existing monu-
mentsof civilization. Pail Mall Gazette.