The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-09-06
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

l u curious now some things in which one does not seem to be particularly in- !; terested, in spite of indifference. vet force U themselves upon his attention, and compel nm to sit up and take notice that they are not to be sidetracked. 1 do not pretend that I am not alive to the significance of Labor Day, or that It's coming and going has never impressed itself upon mefi for such is not the case. as have been in some of the large cities and witnessed monster parades, and have also seen some most creditable ones staged in Birmingham, and am expecting great things today.
 l
 1 But the thing l started out to say is 1 that up to Saturday noon I had not put any stress on the fact that Labor Day was so near. but when l got into the news room and happened to look at the
 bulletin board" l say the following mo- tice: Monday, September 6, being a legal holiday, pay day will be Tuesoay, ;Jep- tember r. c. Ms" 1 Only man who works on a newspaper can realize just how impressive those few lines are, for to the average re- porter, printer, pressman, stereotyper, machine operator, advertising man or of- flee employe, a week is a long time to wait for the much coveted little envelope and to postpone it for d day often means hurrying to and fro to negotiate small loan to bridge over the financial gulf
  We call it Labor Day." when as mat ter of fact it's the day upon which all work is supposed to cease, and some unions impose a heavy fine for any one meant, is that on the day set apart the great hosts of workingmen all over the country celebrate labor, it's dignity and what it has accomplished in the past and hopes to bring about in the future
 
 America was the first country in the world to have Labor Day and to es- tablish it by law as a public holiday. The idea seems to have originated in Boston, that perfect hatchery of new thought, but the credit for the first formal move- ment belongs to New York city; for it was in the latter place that Matthew Mcguire. secretary of the Central Labor Union, with the approval of the union, corresponded with the various labor or ganizations in the state with a view to setting aside one day in the year as their own holiday.
  ;cJ A1y l. xr-tll Monday in September was chosen, and he was chairman of the committee to ar- range for the first Labor Day celebration in that year. It was so successful that it was determined to continue the holiday annually, and in 1883 the New York Gen. tral Labor Union corresponded with sim liar organizations throughout the country with view to having celebrations else- where, and the responses were far be- yond what had been expected The holi- day soon began to assume national character.
 Then the workingmens organizations all over the country began to lombard t<e various legislatures with petitions ask | e'AN be set apart as a public holiday. to be known as Labor Day. Oregon was the first state to pass such a law, for il did so in 1887. Other states followed the example thus set. It's passage in New Y ork is credited to that horny handed son of toil the late David B. Hill. It has been indorsed by the Knights of Iapor. |as well as the American Federation of Labor, and naturally legislators got in behind it.
 Then came a determined effort to have Congress also declare it legal holiday, but the measure hung fire until 1894, when Representative Amos Cummings of New York took hold of the bill in the House, and Senator Wyle of South Dakota, and between the two it became law. But in point of fact, this declaration of Con- gross has legal effect only within the District of Columbia, and among govern ment employees in the states but the moral effect was to bring about general observance of the day in nearly all of the states of the union.
 For sometime monster parades were held in New York and other cities in honor of the day, but these proved so ex- pensive that they have been almost aban- doned everywhere. Critics contended that Labor Day was inaugurated in order that l labor might show it's power" and by | turning out in processions of such vast i size give the politicians a chance to sit up and take notice that a new and powerful party was being born which must be reckoned with But labor if it had any such idea in the beginning, soon aban- doned it, for instead of showing it's power,' it's wisest leaders preferred to show it's sense.
 +tired of tramping through the streets for hours after having spent large sums on 1 floats, to wind up at some park to hear labor agitators agitate, or perfervid re- formers make the stereotyped harangue about the need of employer and employe sleeping peacefully in the same bed with 1 bigger part of the blanket while che other was sleeping. Much marching over ihot pavements and much standing to lis- ten to hot air wilted the collars of the
 sons of toll, and they just refused to be l paraded to make holiday for the public.