Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-09-02

y w NJ uIucnI SlNCL
kT-&SS~. at st. Peters, II
Rome, the 18th
day OF May, 1891, the fourteentnth year
of our pontifcats.
In this famous encyclical on labor
Leo XIII. pIoclaims that the elements
] of conflict are unmstakabie. The mo
mentous seriousness OF the present
state Of things"-viz., the conflict be-
tween capital and labor-tills every
mind with painful apprehension; wise
men discuss it; practical men propose
schemes; popularbmeetings, legislatures
| and sovereign princes all are occupied
with it-and there is nothing which
/ has a deeper hold on public attention.
| or course there is nothing which has a
deeper hold on public attention. Proper
| understanding Of the rights OF OF class
| and mass, of the obligations OF capital
ana the just rights OF honest labor
means the peace, order and per-
| petuity OF governments, be they the
government OF empires, bingdoms or
J republics. Wisely, then, has Leo XIII
thought it useful to speak on the
| conditions of labor. He sees clearly
that it is not easy 20 define the relative
rights and mutual dnties Of wealth and
labor, bnt he recognizes that we are
face to face with the condition all over
the world, and he insists that all good,
Just and wise men agree that there
can DO no question whatever that
some remedy must be found for the
misery and wrstchedness which press
so heavily at this moment on the
large majority of the poor. The SOW
ereign pontiff further sees that the
contract system of labor is radically
defective, and shat the concentration OF
so many branches of trade in the hands
Of few individuals is radically wrong,
for such systems create corruDting mo-
nopoies aud trusts by concentrating
with the small number Of the very rich
great powers Of oppression that enable
them to practice injustice and may,
through the agency of corrupt legisla-
ton, lay upon the masses OF the poor
yoke little better than slavery itself.
would say, with all due re-
spect 10 the holy fathers words
yoke worse than slavery
which was known in this country be-
fore the famous emancipation proclaim
alton OF Abraham Lincoln. The indus
trial slavery of to-day is In many re-
spects a more heinouS crime against the
law Of God than was the chattle
slavery OF the south. The master in
slave days looked after his chsttle SER
want very much in the same way that
the rich, dishonest, legal robber Of the
trust and monopoly looks after his val
liable horse. 1t cost him so much
money, it must be cared for, fed
and housed, that it may give pleasure
and create other beings TO
add to the pleasure and luxury OF the
master. The trust and monopoly roober
OF to-day who will give twenty Thousand
dollars and more for fast horse would
not dream OF giving ten thousand dol
lars for human being endowed with
intelligence, willing and able TO labor,
possessed of an immortal soul that
bears the image and likeness OF God.
On the contrary, he believes in the few
hiring brain and muscle at the lowest
possible figure and using the creatures
life blood for his own security and lux
urious indulgence. 1t is this system
and acts like these that make the holy
father, Leo Kill, saw: Therefore
those whom fortune favors are warned
that freedom from sorrow, and abund-
ance of earthly riches, are no guarantee
of the beatitude that shall never end,
but rather the contrary; that the rich
should tremble al the threatening of
Jesus Christ, threatening so strong in
the mouth OF our Lord; and that a most
strict account should be given to the
Suprem Judge of ell we possess"
You have here facts and sentiments
coming from the mind and heart of the
head Of the Catholic Church, appealing
to the clergy and lately throughout
the world to take a deep interest in the
safety of society-the labor question.
Leo XIII says; Every minister of the
holy religion must throw into this con-
hict Of capital and labor all tho energy
of his mind, all the strength OF his en-
durance," and he warns the bishops
throughout the church that they should
be- the leaders in this movement;
that the priest, supported by the
authority of the bishops and encouraged
by their example, should never cease TO
upon men OF all classes, upon the high
as well as the lOwly, the Gospel doc
trines Of Christian life, and by every
means in their power strive to bring
about the kingdom OF Gods justice up
on earth, and seek to have GODS will
done 10 justice in the midst Of men.
Now there are, think, over ten thou
sand priests in the United States. IL
all these men, led by the bishops.
sounded this war cry OF the
holy father all along the
line, do-you not think they would make
the sugar trusts and the whisky trusts
and all the other trusts utterly I'M
worthy Of being trusted? And no mat
ter how much money the sugar mon
gers might have, when they acknowledge
as Mr.. 4. y. MathieSSen, one OF the
principal promoters of the sugar trust
for number OF years have made two
hundred per cent. at Toast upon the
amount of my investments. Seven per
cent. is an Illegal rate Of interest in
the State of New York, usurous and
dishonest. What can the country
think OF man who has the
effrontery to boast that he has made
200 per cent?-of this same trust which
Mr.. Wilson said few days ago: THE
sugar trust has the country by the
throat" Ia Sunday edition OF New
York paper Of February 16, 1890, we
read these words: when the inside
history Of the sugar trust (Which re-
refuses to publish any report) is brought
to iight-sS il surely will be one Of
these days-a most surprising chapter
will be added to the annals of specula-
tlon." Might 1t not be added
20 la0al highway rohherv9 The