San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-09-01

/ from Ine nlNnest duliluILty III a i6pub-
| lic-the people.
1t was not long that the establish
ment of the day in New York before
the idea was taken up elsewhere and
Labor day ohServances We're soon an es-
tablished fact in nearly every city of
consequence To the parade, which has
ever remained the chief of these observ-
ances, have been added addresses on
economic topics and the organization of
! labor, and every year the movement has
grown until now Labor day is far more
generally observed than was Thanks
giving day 80 years ago. In only two
! cases, to be hereinafter mentioned, has
the date of Labor day been fixed for any
day other than the first Monday in Sep
| TENDER.
Making Labor Day a Legal Holiday.
TWAS not until 1887 that the holiday
was legalized in New York, the state of
its birth. The legislatures Of several
other states set the day apart the same
wear. and by the close Of 1898 this had
been done i'll % states.
Oregon was the first state to pass a bill
legalizing the holiday. Such bill was
first introduced, however, in the legis-
lature of New York state.
In several other states legislation has
been set on foot for the establishment of
Labor day, but has failed so far of &C
complishment for one reason and an
other. Whether it will now be thought
necessary to secure such legislation i'll
the remaining states is not decided, so
far as the writer's knowledge goes.
On Sept. 6, 1898, Hon. Amos J. Cum
mings introduced bill i'll the house Of
representatives at Washington making
the day a national holiday. This bill
was identical in wording with one in
troduced ON Aug. %, 1898, by the Hon.
Mr.. Kyle of South Dakota in the senate.
The bill was finally passed by congress
June &c, 1894, and two days later re-
ceived the presidents signature and be-
came law. The pen with which Mr..
Cleveland affixed his signature was sent
to Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation, and is carefully
preserved by him. This bill reads as
follows:
"A bill making Labor day a legal
holiday:
BE it enacted by the senate and
house of representatives of the United
States of America, in congress assem-
bled, That the first Monday of Septem-
Der in each year, being the day cele-
brated and known as labor's holiday,
is hereby made legal holiday, to all in
tents and purposes in the same manner
as Christmas the 1st day of January,
the 22d day of February, the Both day of
May and the 4th day of July are now by
law made pablo holidays. "
The Significance of the Day.
The American Labor day has no ex-
act counterpart in Europe. There, it is
true, demonstrations of workingmen are
often made on May l, the object being,
of course, to produce an impression of
strength in numbers and directness of
purpose, and so make IL easier to win
proposed demands as to wages, hours,
etc The May day demonstration is not
altogether unknown on this side the
ocean, but in many essentials it differs
from Labor day The real distinction of
the American holiday lies in the fact
that on that day no legal question or
contention or dispute is supposed to be
intended or allowed to interfere with
the days observance. The workers for
one day lay aside their implements of
toll and meet to parade and to listen to
addresses made by thinkers who have
long pOndered the labor problem, by all
odds the most important one Of this day
and generation. This was what its
| founders had in mind at the beginning,
and this idea has been pretty generally
| maintained. Games and other festiv-
! tiles are permissible, of course, and
/ have i'll fact, III some localities become
! important features, but the discussion
of the great question that interests those
who observe most the day remains and
| should remain the chief feature.
The assemblies of wOrkingmen on
Labor day have been ikcncd to "Open
courts, " before which all sides talk up
on the problem Of production. This char
acteTiZatiOn Of the day has been truer of
late years than in the past, particularly
in some localities, where not only think
ers from the ranks Of organized labor,
but employers as well, have been invit-
ed to address the assembled multitudes
The educational value of the day cannot,
therefore, be Overestimated and one
near whose heart the day has been ever
since its first celebration in 1882 has
spoken of it as "a day of education, rest
and recreation. "
Beginnings of the labor Movement.
Labor day is Of course a child of the
labor organizations of America. The
first society formed for mutual benefit