Excerpt from 1887 History of the Central Labor Union of Springfield, Mass; With Some of the Pioneers: Brief Sketches of Affiliated Unions, 1912 The story of the Central Labor Union is largely a history of the men who made it what it is today, and some explanation of what the body is, why it was formed, its aims. Hopes and ambitions, may not be out of place. And will especially educate the lay mind and the non-union worker who has not yet joined the ranks of organized labor. The local Parliament of workmen was peculiarly fortunate in the choice of its first president, and the name of Bishop N. Saltus will be held in happy memory so long as the body remains in existence. A general agitation of the labor movement began in this country nearly 100 years ago, but up to the time of the Civil no real progress had been made in effective organization. In 1861 the horse-car drivers formed a benevolent association, one John W'alker being the founder. This organization was soon forced, however, to expand its scope of usefulness, and from benevolent actions it was obliged to take active measures to prevent a reduction of wages. The coal miners formed a national association the same year. Less than twelve months later the Boston United Laborers' Society was called into being, being followed by the hack drivers, the locomotive engineers. And the Garment ers' Association (from whose members sprung the Knights of Labor). About the same time the trades in California formed an amalgamation. And secret associations with signs and passwords were established in various parts of the country. Through the efforts of these societies many workingmen were elected to legislative bodies in various states. And the building trades were especially aggressive. In 1864 the International Cigar Makers' Union was established; the stone cutters, pianoforte makers. Blacksmiths and carpenters organized to secure higher wages, and the. Journeymen tailors formed a national trades union. The Civil -var checked labor activities. But at its close the labor press began to be active, one of the most important publications coming into existence being the Daily Et'ening Voice, issued under the auspices of the Boston Typographical Union. Shortly after the effects of combination and agitation were noticeable by the introduction into the Massachusetts Legislature of an order instructing the judiciary committee to investigate and consider the expediency of regulating and limiting the hours of labor that should constitute a day's work, and a com mission was appointed by Governor Andrew to go more fully into the matter. In the following administration Governor Bullock carried the work along. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.