The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-04-29
MAY DAY GROWN TO
MANHOOD

of L. leaders to this very day parade with
mayor, governor, police-chief and capitalist
politicians down the avenues of the cities, es-
corted ana welcomed by the same forces that
bourgeois government, would liberation for
the toiling masses be possible.
This same body sent out call for an in
ternational socialist workers congress to meet
July IA, 1889, one hundred years after the
storming of the Bastile, to'consider and give
guidance to the struggles of the international
proletariat, especially for the S-hour day. This
was the First Congress of the Second Inter
club workers on May Day.
New forces came to take up May Day where
others had dropped it and mould it with the
political and militant tools of class conscious
workers In France, on February TO- 1886,
delegations of workers in all parts of the
country were sent to the local city halls to
demand the S-hour day and minimum wage.
The fight was carried on under the leader
ship of the National Federation of Unions and
Cooperative Group which was formed in that
year. The Federation Gale for a general
strike and in. its propaganda said that only
with a revolution, with the overthrow of the
national motion was here introduced to
set aside one day as day of international
struggle for the S-hour day. This day was
set as MAY l, 1S90-the same as had been
decided upon at the A. F. Of /. Convention.
The only similarity, however was the date.
In its whole conception the May Day decided
upon by the Congress in Paris was essentially
different from the May Day decided upon by
the convention at st. Louis. The Paris Con-
gress saw May Day in the grandeur of inter-
national solidarity, having well-defined poll
teal and economic demands. The A. F. of L.
May First. 1890. was day for merely limited
economic demands, with national limitations,
and, as it proved in practice, was actually linz
tied to certain unions which were to fight for
the S-hour day until they won it, and they
were then to be followed by other unions. One
conception was class conscious. The other
was mott was the basis for class-collabora-
ton and betrayal.
The first international May Day of 1890
proved to be so great a success in Germany,
Belgium, France and Austria, that a regional
Socialist Party Congress at Lille France
where one of the largest demonstrations took
place-decded to repeat the May Day next
year. There were similar Independent deci-
sions of this sort made before the Second Con-
gress of the Second International met in Brus-
q sells in August, 1891. At this congress, May
Day was decided upon as an international
holiday of the proletariat, to be observed every
year. Down Tools on May Day." first rang
out clarion-cear at this congress.
However, the reformist wing of the Second
International British delegation, at the Second
Congress, insisted that they could not call
upon the workers to Down Tools!" any
day at ALL and wanted to have May Day come
on the first Sunday every May. Similar posi-
tions were taken by some delegates from Ger
many and other countries at later congresses,
but these opportunists were forcel to accept
the congress decision on the May Day and
with the down Tools!"-until great oppor-
tunism of more criminal type caused the
Second International to desert International
May Day in its true meaning entirely, and
make out of it second A. f. of l.. Labor Day.
At the Amsterdam Congress of the Second
International in August, 1904 the anti-war
meaning of May Day was officially added
a part of its Internationally to be wiped
out again by the very same Second 1nterna-
tional with its complete betrayal of the work
ers at the outbreak of the great war.
But May Day meant too much to workers
to allow it to be SO easily prostituted and then
deserted. May Day typified all the struggles
of the toiling masses against capitalism. 1t
already had history of mighty demonstra-
tions, brutal police attacks, hundreds of ar
rests. As the struggles of the workers grew
in scope and power, so did the meaning and
significance of International May Day grow
The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia
gave an added significance to international
May Day. The Communist international now
offered true revolutionary leadership to the
international working class and May Day could
class-conscious proletariat.