Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-05-24
LABOR PROBLEM.
POPE LEO GIVES AN EXPRESSION OF HIS
VIEWS ON TIE SUBJECT.
He Tells Where the State Ought to Stop in
Dealing With the People, Some Hints for
Employer and EmplOye-The AmehO-
ration Of the POor-0ln lnver;iOus.

ROME, May 23.-The full text of the
Pope's encyclical has appeared. In his eX-
Ordium the Pope dllates upon the tash
which he has set himself in defining for the
guidance of the Church its position toward
the existing social questions He says
solution can be obtained by applying the
eternal principles on which the teachings OF
the Church are always based Now, as
ever, mems relations toward each other as
individuals or parts of society must have
the sanction of the old authority. The di-
vine law rejects the socialiscsOlution of the
social problem, which would abolish priv
ate property, substituting a collective and
common ownership
4 capital error IS to believe that the rich
and the proletariat are condemned by ma
ture TO battle and duel without end. TIE
one has need of the other. Capital is
powerless without work aud workmen are
pOwerless without capital The proletariat
cannot and ought not to iniure either capi-
tai or master. But in order 10 obtain re-
spect for their rights they must abstain
from violence They ought not to have re
/ course 10 seditiOn, nor TO listen to the
chimerical promises of agitators. On the
other hand, masters ought to respect the
individuality and dignity of the man and
Christian in wOrkmen, and not abuse them
inhumanly IN their work nor exploit them
beyond their forces. Let masters remem-
Der that the divine and the human law for
bids them TO draw profits from the misery
of the poor But besides the religious
means il is necessary that there should be
cooperation of human means; the State
ought TO favor the prosperity of society as
mnch as of individuals.
Absolute equality, however, is chimera;
social hierarcheS are based on natural
Il criv ~ic co n
strikes, disastrous not only TO the werkmen
and their masters, but to the general inter-
ests of commerce and public industry.
Governments ought 10 prevent an eXplo-
sion at these crises. The moral dignity
which is equal among the poor and rich
eXactS repose from work on certain days.
The State ought to care for the workmen,
and not let them become the prey of specu-
lators and usurers who are seekingts abuse
their weakness in order 10 obtain excessive
and dishonest profits. a mans work
should not go TO such an extent that he is
forced 10 submit under an excess OF cor
poral fatigue. Expediency is shown in a
certain limitation of working hours which
should be interrupted by period OF
repoSe.
The question of wages is particularly
delicate. Justice eXacts that an agreed sal
arv should be paid At the same time
agreements entered into by wOrkmen
ought TO be respected. The State should
see that these reciprocal obligations are
executed. An element of the question is
that workman ought 10 be able, with his
salary. to provide the necessities Of life.
Institutions for aiding the poor and facil-
itating Cancellation between the various
social classes are especially useful in ob-
tanning desirable results. Following this
idea, the pope particularly mentions asso-
Citations for succOr and institutions for in
suraace IL case OF accidents, sickness and
death, and the protection of children and
girls. The pope attaches particular i'm
portance TO working peoples associations,
and says ancient corpOratians, so useful in
the past, ought 10 be adopted TO present
needs. These associations, he adds, would
better ans yer the ends for which they were
formed if they were composed of both
workmen and their masters, and their ac
tion ought to develop more and more. The
pope then eXpatialeS on the advantages Of
liberty and the right of comb nation.
The Pope continues ITO think that the
authority of the State ought arbitrarily to
invade family intimacy is great and per-
nicious error. Undoubtedly it can inter-
vene when the condition of the family is too
disastrous, but only to alleviate it and to
safeguard the rights and interests Of pub
lie power without violating the rights of
individuals. To go beyond these limits
would violate the nature of things. The
State should not destroy or absorb paternal
power TO cOnciliate the rights of the State,
of the capitalist and of the proletariat. We
affirm unhesitatngly that human efforts
are impotent without the concurrence OF
the Church"