A law declaring labor Day a Federal holiday, was adopted on 28 June 1894. Signed by President Grover Cleveland, speaker of the house and Vice-President, the document declared the first Monday in September «labor day».
But few people know about the ten years of entanglement and misconceptions associated with the origins of the holiday, the true role of Cleveland in its creation or on the spilled blood along the way. The labour leader has generated a lot of controversy about who was the real founder of the holiday, and the caretaker leading the country’s Museum of Cleveland insists that the President’s signing of the law was not politically motivated gesture.
Labor day was celebrated for decades before it became a Federal holiday. Many sources called the founder of the holiday of Irish Peter j. McGuire — Union leader «Brotherhood of blacksmiths and joiners of America» and an early leader of the American Federation of labor. He 18 may 1882 first proposed the Central labor Union in new York to set aside a day when the workers could organize the procession. Others claim that Matthew Maguire, Secretary of the Central labor Union, suggested the occasion.
September 5, 1882 was the first parade in Lower Manhattan. The musicians played «When I First Put This Uniform On» from «Patience», a comic Opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. According to the U.S. Department of labor, the total number of demonstrators ranged from 10 to 20 thousand people. The New York Tribune reported that «the Windows and roofs, eaves and even lampposts was swarmed with people wanting to see the first new York parade of the workers of all professions.» Nearly 25,000 Union members along with their families celebrated labor Day at the post-parade party in the Park wendelinus Elm at 92nd street and 9th Avenue. From 1887 to 1894 , 23 other States have passed laws approving labor Day. The first was Oregon, followed by Colorado, Massachusetts, new Jersey and new York. And only seven years later the holiday became a Federal one.
The legalization of labor Day was not a priority for Cleveland, said Sharon Farrell, caretaker of the birthplace of Grover Cleveland in Caldwell, new Jersey. Moreover, labor Day was so popular among people that is not dependent on final signature of Cleveland, she said.
«Cleveland was not the driving force in the development of the holiday,» said Farrell. «He just happened to be President sitting in the chair.»
Discussing the actions of Cleveland in 1894, it is worth remembering Polenovskoy strike. In an essay called «Government in the Chicago strike of 1894» Cleveland wrote that the city of Chicago broke out «strong and ugly violation of the labor right.»
«Almost overnight, the riots were deliberate and dangerous,» he wrote. — «The strike spread so quickly that in a few days it reached almost all the Western and South-Western areas of the district».
Railway strike and the boycott lasted from 11 may to 20 July 1894, disrupting rail traffic throughout most of the summer. In response to the economic depression that began in 1893, the Pullman Palace Car Company, which produced railroad cars, cut wages of their workers at 25%. A group of workers tried to complain to the President of the company George M. Pullman, but he refused to meet with them and ordered them to fire. The delegation of the workers voted for a strike and stopped work on may 11.
35% of the workers of the Pullman Train was the Union of America during the strike. Workers believed that the Union would support the strike, but it is not clear how, because the workers of Pullman were not working directly on the Railways.
Ultimately, the Union refused to work on cars and Pullman trains, while the railroad will cut connection with the Pullman company. The President of the Union and future presidential candidate from the Socialist party of Eugene V. Debs knew that the support rail scapegoats will be the key to the success of the boycott. June 26, all the cars of the Pullman company were removed from trains. June 29, a crowd of workers acted in an aggressive strike, burning buildings and tearing the locomotive that was attached to the mail train. After that, the Union members were fired, all the railway lines were closed and Chicago is deposited. One consequence was the blockade of the Federal mail, then Debs has agreed to provide the city with a postage machine.
Cleveland, which had received reports of delayed mail, the goods rotting on the railroads, and cattle dying from the heat, was not pleased.
The Governor of Illinois John Peter Altgeld have already sent riot police to quell the unrest. U.S. attorney General Richard Olney called in Federal troops sent to Chicago to stop the «reign of terror». On 2 July he received the injunction forbidding the Union leaders to force the railroad employees «to waive or not to perform any of their duties.»
July 3 Cleveland sent troops to Chicago, much to the dismay of Altgeld, who thought that his civilian fighters handled the situation. The workers protested against the troops, overturning cars and setting up barricades in the train station. July 6, some 6,000 rioters destroyed hundreds of railway wagons South Chicago Panhandle.
But even thousands of military and police failed to stop the disgruntled workers. National guardsmen began to shoot into the crowd July 7, killing 30 people and wounding many others. Gradually, the strike came to naught, trains resumed their normal schedule. Federal troops were withdrawn on 20 July.
Historians, encyclopedias, and news articles accurately determine the validity of Cleveland during the Pullman strike as the only reason for the adoption of the law on labor Day in Congress. Approval of the holiday would help to compensate for the memories of the dead workers on the streets of Chicago.
After Cleveland signed the law, the Morning Call published an editorial entitled «Honor to Whom Honor is Due». In this article it was argued that Matthew Maguire was the undisputed founder of the feast.
And now, a century later, the question of to whom we are grateful for labor Day, is still under discussion.
According to the Washington Post
