St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-09-05
CHRIsTIANITY'.s POWER.
First Dawn OF the Freedom of
Labor.

First Dawn OF the Freedom of
Labor.
Every great change of opinion on the
deStinies of man and the guiding prin-
cipies of conduct must react on the
sphere of material interests, and the
Catholic religion had powerful effect
on the economic life of tie middle ages.
Christianity inculcatPs the special eco
nomic virtues of industry. thrift fidel
itY to engagements, obedience to lawful
authority; and it brought out
more !orcbly and presented more
persistently the higher aims
of life, and SO produced a more elevated
way of viewing the different social rrla-
tons. 1t purified domestic life, reform
which has the most important economic
results. 1t taught the doctrine OF fun
damental human equality. heightened
the dignity of labor. and preached with
quite a new emphasis the obligations of
love, compassion aud forgiveness. and
the claims of the poor. The constant
presentation to the general mind and
conscience o. these ideas, the domestic
bases of which were scarcely as yet as
sailed by scepticiSm, must have had a
powerful influence in mOraliZing life.
But 10 the influence of Christianity as
moral doctrine was added that of the
church as an organization, charged with
the application of that doctrine to mems
daily transactions. No one today who
is friendly 10 the establishment of Il
proper economic theory can help but
admire the theories and truths taught
by the canonists. They were friendly
TO the notion of a community of goods
from the side of sentiment. though they
regarded the distinction of meum and
tuum as an institution necessitated
by the fallen state of man. They
thought that i'll cases of need the pub
lie authority was justified in re-eStab-
fishing pro lIac vice the primitive COM
munity. They thought that the care of
the poor was not matter of free choice.
but that The relier of their necessities
was legal duty: that avaritia is id0la-
try; that cupidataS. even when it does
not grasp at what is another's, is the
root of all evil, and ought to be not
merely regulated. but eradcated. Agrl-
culture and handiwork were viewed as
Legitimate modes Of earning food and
diSfavor, because it was held almost
certainly 10 lead to fraud. They thought.
as did the Roman Cicero, that the seller
was bound TO fix the price of his wares
not according 10 the market price, as
determined by supply and demand. but
according 10 their intrinsic value. That
the seller must not conceal the faults of
his merchandise nor take advantage of
the need or ignorance of tie buyer to
obtain from him more than the fair
price. They forbade interest on money.
Roscher says that the center of the
whole canonlSlc system of economy. as
well as the foundation of a great part
OF the ecclesiastical juriSdistiO was
the prohibition of uSury. These fore
going PRINCIPLES point toward noble
ideal, but as HE church claimed that the
innocence or blame WorihineSs of indi-
VldualS under the canonistic code was
rlghtfuIly Il subject of determination
1Or The church, either by her caSuists or
III her courts: therefore. by an ascctic
eXaggeratiOn Of these forms of inquiry
the principles located in a class, not in
the general public, worked in some di.
TectionS as all lmped ment TO industrial
progress.
The great change. viz: the enfran-
chlSelnent OF tile working classes. was
the most important practical outcome of
the middle ages. All labor prior to this
time had been slave labor. The first
step IN this movement was the trans
formation OF slavery, properly so-called
into Sertdom. The Serf was bound TO
the soil, had fixed domestic relatirus.
and participated In the religious life of
the society; and the tendency of all his
circumstances, as well as the rising
Christian opinions and sentiments of
the tlmes,Was in the direction of liberia
lion. This liberation was not SO rapid
~ reached by the rural us by the urban
Eorkmen. Serfdom was abolished in
cities and towns first.
Adam Smith. of England, has attrib-
uted the liberation of Scrfs to the opera
ton of selfish Interest which discovered
the superior productiyeness of cultIva-
ton by free men. But to defend his
theory it seems necessary to admit that
free labor has within itself an Inherent
power capable Of producing by its eve
lutionS lis own status. With what
thought / have been able to give this
subject | believe that this liberation
from Srrid0m is the direct result of n
bellef III The principles taught mankind
by the Savior. 1t is one of the evolu
tonary sequences Of this divine life
which, III this as in every other adj.
vance, has Signaied man in his progress.
enlightenment and Christian character
Stics.
Ii remains, nevertheless, the historic
truth that out OF Inc liberation Of the
serfs rose the first lineament of the
blerarchical constitution Of modern In
duStry i'll the separation between the
cntreprrneurs>an the workers. The
personal cnfraHchiScment Of the latter.
stimulating activity and developing in
ItiatIve, lead to accommodations which
were further promoted by the estab-
llShment OF order and good government
by The civic corporation which grew out
OF the enfranchiSement. 1t appeared
hrst III commerce that an active capi-
talISt class came into existence. The
Inhabitants of tic trading cities i'm
ported expensive Injuries from foreign
countries, or the improved manufact-
ureS OF richcr communities, for which
TIE great PrOprietOrS exchanged the
raw produce Of their land.
AT later period, as Adam Smith has
shown, commerce promoted tile growth
Of manufactures. which were either
produced for foreign sale. or made from
foreign materials, or initiated from the
work OF foreign artiiicerS. The first i'm
poriant development of handicrafts i'm
modern Europe belongs 10 tie four
teenth and fifteenth centuries. 1t is
true thai some of the trade CORPORATIONS
In the CITIES appear to have been of great
antiquity. but IL was in the thirteenth
century that ;hcy pUse 10 Importance by
being legally recognized
M@RCASTiLE ECONOMY.