The Saint Paul globe., 1896-11-11

They point to the growth Of the Roman
Catholic church; they tell what it has done
IN the past, and bid us remember that its
spirit is not less aggressive and its claims
not less arrogant than in the times when 1t
dominated the life Of Europe Once nations
were divided into hostile camps, according
10 the difference in creed; why may that not
happen again?
1t might happen again if all the conditions
were the same; but they are not the same.
Ecclesiastical pretensions are not SO danger
Gus as once they were, because it is no longer
merely a conflict between one eccIesiasticism
and another. Ecclesiasticism of any kind is
but one among the manifold forces Of the
modern world. Prestcraft dourishes where
the priest has absolute control over the
thoughts of those under his care. Such con-
troll becomes impossible in a free and intellf-
gent community. The Catholic who is moth
ing but Catholic; who has no Fellowship
but that which he finds in the church. no
secular education or interests, no ties bind
ing him to people Of other faiths is a dan
gerous citizen. And so is the Protestant who
is confined within the narrow limits of his
sect But, as matter of fact, Americans.
catholics and Protestants alike rise for the
most part above such limitations and assert
their personal Independence
another menace more serious. think, than
eitner OF the others, is the threat of di-
vision along social and industrial lines
:. we deprecate the appeal to class feeling
II is dangerous, we say, to the unity of the
but it is inevitable that such appeals should
be made The real danger is not that men
should appeal to class feeling but that there
should be any class feeling to appeal to- Our
only SAFETY lies in preserving that equal
lty OF opportunity that makes each man feel
that he may, by his own efforts, improve his
condition, and that no doors are arbitrarily
closed against him. This has been hitherto
the glory of our country; it must be the eff
fort of all good citizens to preserve this free
dom of opportunity.
That there is much hard work to be done
to prevent those class distinctions which have
characterized the social and political life of
Europe from growing up here, must be ad-
mitted; but | think there is a tendency to
exaggerate the situation. People who talk
loudly about the antagonism between classes
are not usually able to define what they mean.
indeed, much that is assumed to be distinc-
ton between classes Is rhetorical rather than
real. We hear of the attempt to array pro-
ducers against consumers buyers against SELL
ers debtors against creditors But the pro-
ducer is himself a consumer. the buyer has
something to SELL the debtor is very likely to
be a creditor. The line between laborer and
capitalist cannot be sharply drawn in land
where the laborer can SO easily some
thing from his daily earnings. He is Just as
much interested in having security in his
savings as he is in gaining increase in his
wages. In fact. without such security in
creased wages would do him little good.
Let US resist the tendency to class legisla-
tion and special privileges, and insist on equal
and exact justice. Let us think of no man
as member of a GLASS; but as a citizen and
as a neighbor. Let us try to multiply the
points of contact between individuals diff
ferently situated, so that they may learn to
know each other, and so to respect each
other. Let us give our influence to all those
activities which tend to bring about wider
Sympathies and more generous friendships.
In doing all this we are helping to make the
union indissoluble.