The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-09-23

lhave been taught by experience; when
ESQ many public establishments for the
relief Of indigence have been founded;
when so maoy systems have been tried
for the division OF labor; when riches are
distributed in more equitable manner;
lif it is still 50 difficult to prevent great
number of men from becoming the VIC
TINS OF dreadful misery, If that is the
terrible evil, which like fatal nightmare,
torments society, and threatens it's future,
what would have been the effect OF q
universal emancipation, at the beginning
Of Christianity, at q time when slaves
were not considered by the law as per-
SONS but as things; when their conjugal
union was not looked upon as marriage;
when their children were property, and
Isubject to the same rules as the progeny
| Of animals; when in fine the unhappy
slave was ill-treated, tormented, sold or
put to death, according to the caprioes of
his master!' (Balmes). Liberty, price
less boon that j. is, would cease to benefit
men If the means of subsistence were
wanting. Man above all other blessings
requires first wherewith to live, and it
was imperative that universal emancipa-
itfon be the result Of gradual progress up
ward to be a lasting benefit to men and
|:natlons long accustomed to the degrade
tion and wretched dependence of vile
lservitude. The man who tills the soil
must learn to know how to care for the
fruits of his labor, il he will reap the full
benefit of his personal Independence and
freedom. To the Church and to it alone
belongs the undying glory Of finally wip-
ing out the curse OF slavery among
Christian nations and on tho brow, of
Pope Alexander III. friends and even
enemies of the Church unite in placing
the garland of undying fame for utterly
abol1shirg, as far as lay in his power, the
|s,urse of slavery from human society.
III. men have recovered their rights, it is
chiefly to Pope Alexander that they are
indebted for il" writes Voltaire, no par
tial friend to the papacy.
Il, Thus as the ages went on, slavery
melted into serfdom and serfdom into
freedom in spite Of the stubborn resist
anee Of heartless cupidity. In the glori-
GUS sunlight of this nineteenth century
it has been our happy privilege to behold
the perfect attainment of human free
dom. When in 1889, our sovereign pom
tiff Leo Kill was celebrating the Golden
Jubilee of his priesthood, and men from
ailnations came bearing their gifts in
honor of the illustrious head of the
Catholic Church, this noble hearted
friend of his fellowmen declared that
among all the gifts laid at his feet none
were so welcome as the proclamation OF
the distinguished Christian emperor
Dom Pedro, emancipating all the slaves
in Brazil.
THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF LABOR
The Church having taught every child
of Adam who earned his bread by labor
ious toll to assert his own dignity and
to understand his own worth, and having
led hitherto hopeless multitude from
the dismal gloom of slavery to the cheer
ing brightness Of the liberty Of the chill
dren of God, bravely defended the rights
and the privileges Of her emancipated
children. s9The Church has guarded
with religious care theinheritance OF the
poor" The poor are the special charge
of the Church. Every living soul is in
God q immediate care, the rich as well as
the poor; there is no distinction of class
or privilege with Him. Every soul
whether refined or rude is in His keeping.
But with an especial care He watches
over those who "eat bread in the sweat
of their brow" None need the Divine
Comforter more than the weary children
OF toll, and none need and have received
the sympathy of the Church as they do.
The Church entered the arena to bravely
battle for the weak against the strong, at
a time when brute force had won the ad
miration and awe of a dissolving society.
Principles of right and of justice were
scohed at, in state Of society where the
worship Of Mercury the robber, and OF
Venus the wanton, captivated the minds
and the hearts Of men. In his exhaust
i've encyclical on the condition Of labor,
Leo Kill lays down the principle that,
the workman's wages is not a problem to
be solved by the pitiless arithmetic OF
avaricious greed. The wage Garner has
rights which he cannot surrender, and
which no man can take from him, for he
is an intelligent, responsible being owing
homage to God and duties to human so
ciety. His reconpense, then, for his
daily toll cannot be measured by heart
less standard Of supply and demand, or
a cruel code Of inhuman economics, tor
man is not money making machine,
but citizen Of earth and an heir to the
kingdom Of heaven. He has right of
-w1irh M man shna tho n0xer To deprive |