Labor Day

in the United States, the first Monday in September. In 1882 the Knights of Labor of New York held a parade on this date. The celebration proved popular. Workingmen all over the world took up the notion. In 1887 Colorado made it a legal holiday. Other states have followed the example. Labor Day is now (1906) a legal holiday in all the states and territories including the District of Columbia. In Louisiana it is observed only in the parish of Orleans. The usual features of the day are monster parades and addresses by prominent leaders of labor. The first of May, that is to say, Mayday, has been adopted by the workingmen of Europe as the date on which to make an annual demonstration. In London, Paris, and other large cities immense assemblages of workingmen meet in the public parks and listen to speeches. In previous years these European meetings were not infrequently accompanied by rioting and conflicts with the police, especially in London, but they are now characterized by good order.