LABOUR DAY. (I) May i, the date generally selected by trade unions, Socialist parties and labour organizations in general for a public celebration. It is observed by a portion of the popu lation in nearly every industrial country except the United States and Canada (see below) and except Italy, where its observance has been forbidden and the traditional date of the foundation of Rome substituted. In Russia it is an official holiday.
The connection which certain Socialist writers have attempted to make between "Labour Day" and the old May Day festivals appears imaginary. Robert Owen in 1833 appointed May i as the day for the commencement of the millennium, but apart from this mention the observance of the day cannot be dated earlier than 1889, in which year the first (Paris) congress of the Second Socialist International selected the date for annual international celebrations. By the movers of the motion it was originally in tended that the workers should by direct action enforce a holiday on May I no matter what day of the week it might be. Attempts have been made to do this regularly upon the Continent ; and fre quently sanguinary conflicts have occurred with the police. In Britain the Labour Day celebration generally takes place on the first Sunday after May Day; in London the traditional meeting place is Hyde Park. The first Labour Day celebration was not held in Britain till 1892.
(2) Labour Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September in nearly all the States and Territories of the United States and in the provinces of Canada. Agitation for the celebration of the
day was begun by the Knights of Labour who, in 1882, 1883 and 1884, paraded on that day in the city of New York. In 1884 the organization adopted a resolution that the first Monday in Sep tember should be considered Labour Day, and steps were taken to have it recognized as a holiday. Workmen of all organizations aided in the movement. Oregon, on Feb. 21, 1887, passed the first law recognizing the day, and New York, New Jersey and Colorado soon followed. On June 28, 1894, a bill passed Congress making the day a legal holiday throughout the Union. Except for the District of Columbia and Federal workers in other States, further legislation was needed by the separate States to put the law into operation. All States and Territories in 1928 had enacted such laws except Wyoming and the Philippines. In the Philip pines, Labour Day is celebrated on May 1st. In Canada, the provinces of Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta Saskatchewan and Yukon Territory observe the day regu larly by law, and in other provinces it may be observed upon the governor's proclamation. Celebration of the day in the United States differs from that in Europe in that it is participated in by all classes and marked by the closing of all factories and stores, and by meetings, picnics, parades, speeches, athletic events and other holiday activities.