The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-05-10

May day found Paris armed to the
teeth for labor riot. The preparation
was necessary, for several clashes of
crowds and mobs occurred. The police
were stoned and they had to charge the
rioters with drawn revolvers. The en-
tire force of police, troops and repub-
lican guards on duty numbered 10000.
a squadron of cavalry charged tie man.
ifestants on the Place de la Republique,
forcing the rioters toward the st. Mar
tin canal. Dragons then formed cor
don, cutting off ingress to the square.
Later fifty additional arrests were
made.
The first disturbance occurred at IL
o'clock, when the police called on the
troops to assist them in keeping the
crowds circulating on the Place de la
Republique. Two squadrons of cavalry
quickly swung into the square, while
$50 arrests of disorderly persons were
made by the police. The prisoners were
formed into groups and two magis-
trates sitting at the neighboring bar
racks, promptly tried the disturbers of
the peace and committed them to jail.
This, however, was not sufficient to
break up the crowds on the square.
Bodies of strikers chanting the revolu-
tionary hymn attacked the police, using
bricks and cobblestones. Reinforce
ments of police soon arrived. They
charged the crowd with drawn revolv-
ers and the rioters broke and fed. The
storekeepers in the neighborhood of the
scene of the ARRAY hastily closed their
doors and shutters, fearing general
spread of the agitation, but the police
succeeded in combining the demonstra-
ton to the streets near the Palace de Ia
Republique. Up to noon the disorder
had been localized and the authorities
were easy masters of the situation
Detachments of troops were posted
around the Bank of France and in the
streets leading thereto. The American
embassy was also strongly guarded by
police.
A crowd of striking printers attempt
ed to march In procession from the
Bourse du Travail (labor headquar
ters), singing a revolutionary song
They attacked the police, who were
compelled to draw their revolvers. The
procession was then broken up. Dur
ing the forenoon a squadron of cuiras
siers with an ambulance occupied the
part of the Place de rEtoile facing the
Champs Elysees. Detachments of cav
airy patrolled the thoroughfares in thu
vicinity of the ministries and the quay
D'Orsay.
Many anarchists have been expelled
from Paris, including Stephane, Guert
zicoff and one woman. NJ. Levy, secre
tary of the Confederation of Labor. and
NJ. Fromentin, the wealthy anarchist
have been arrested.
Cause of Trouble I'm France.
For more than year the labor Leaders
of France have been preparing for grea
movement, the main object of which is tn
securing of an eight-hour day for all th
workingmen of the republic. The head
quarters of the crusade are in Paris
Most of the labor organizations of tn
country, having a total membership o
about 100000 men, gave their approva
to the proposed innovation. Nearly ev
cry industry was represented in the move
ment and it became apparent a few week
ago that unless the employers granted tn
shorter working day, many and serious
strikes would result. The situation wa
aggravated by the bitterness of the strik
in the mining districts. This was for bet
ter pay and conditions, the disaster a
Courrieres giving point and force Il
the mems demands. In the early part o
April the postmen of Paris struck for tn
eight hour day and an increase of pay
as well as the right to form union.
Employers have been reluctant to gran
the demand for a shorter working day OIL
the ground that it would make it impos
sible for them to compete with the manu-
facturers of Britain, Germany and tn
United States, and that many industrie
would be ruined. They also asserted tina
the movement was not backed by the rea
workingmen of France, but was inaug
urated by anarchists and agitators TO
purposes of their own. Politics, too
seems to have had hand in it, and j
was for this reason in particular that tn
government interviewed and took extraor
binary precautions to prevent the carrying
out of revolutionary plots under cover o
labor troubles.