The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-05-02
MAY DAY--Y Yesterday
and Today

struggle. Then Terence V. Powder
ly, leader of the Knights of Labor
who bore the euphonious title of
Grand Master Workman, issued a
secret letter in which he advised
against being too active in the eight
hour movement. At a convention
held at Richmond a few months later
he defended his traitorous course
with the miserable plea that "the
education which must always precede
intelligent action had not been given
to those most in need Of it."
Powderly's agents added to his be-
trayal by taking advantage of the
eight hour agitation to increase the
membership Of his own organization
and was highly successful for the
reason that the young Federation
did not have funds with which to en-
ploy even one organizer. The new
members in the Knights could not
know of Powderly's secret treachery
and were strongly behind the eight
hour agitation, which he capitalized
only in order that he could more cas-
lily betray the movement.
The 1885 convention Of the Fed
Grafton reaffirmed it's determination
to launch the eight hour day on May
First of the next year. In spite of
Powderly's circular and the sabotage
Of his clique the units of the Knights
of Labor in the most important cen
ters were unanimously in favor Of
the movement.
March and April of 1886 saw the
most intensive organization of labor
groups that had ever occurred in the
history Of labor anywhere. AS the
decisive day approached the press
serving the interests of the budding
trusts began a campaign Of villifica-
ton and Indictment against labor
that has had no equal even to this
day. A Knights Of Labor strike
broke over the Gould railroad lines
on March 1, over a question of a
wage Of $3.50 per day and because
4of discrimination against members
81yhc ha9 Participated in strike
f1gaiEsg the road year h56ore
fiswderlys during the coursS Of
Fine strike, had made Il, uscs.
disgraceful proposals to jay Gould
to "arbitrate" the strike as he
wanted it terminated before the
Federation's eight-hour struggle be-
gan, as by that time It was apparent
that the demand was to meet the
unanimous resistance of the employ
ers. Gould disdainfully refused ar
bitration and the strike itself died
out and was called off on May s, two
days after the date set for the be-
ginning Of the Eight Hour struggle
American Labor's First May Dayl
! IETHEN May Day, 1856, arrived
/ w the long-awaited walk-out began
but no one then knew the exact num-
Der involved Subsequent statistics
place the number at 100000. More
than 100000 other workers were per-
suaded to refrain from striking by
the promise of shorter hours-but
not the eight hour day.
For four days the movement was
rapidly spreading when on the even
] ing of May A, in Haymarket Square
in Chicago, during the progress of
a mass meeting someone, unquestion-
ably proyocateur, hurled a bomb
into squad of policemen, killing a
sergeant and wounding several
others.
The wild provocation, the hysteri-
cal indictments in the columns of the
press, the vapid rawlings of the pull
pit, the mobilization of all the forces
in defense of claw and ORDER" "the
family" and civilization" the riff
raft and hangers-on of capitalist So
ciety, need not here be described.
Organized terror crippled the eight
hour movement and stopped the
spread Of the strike.
In spite of the frightfulness and
ruthlessness of the enemy the labor
movement made substantial gains
from the struggle. What the out
come might have been under more
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