The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1904-03-01
SOCIALISM
w. n. Miller Replies to
Father kress.

| ootioiises, bcuuS thS iohoWiuB ht'Sie
to the Morning News, with request for
its publication. He takes exception to
some of the arguments advanced by
Rev. Father Kress, in his lectures al
st. Peters Catholic church in the fol
lowing manner:
"It strikes me as something re
markable that the representatives OF
the churches Protestant and Catholic
alike should be opposed to the inau'
guration Of system that is avowedly
opposed to war, to the exploitation of
the many by the few, to the suffering
caused by the want of the things of
life that are produced by the very
ones who are made to suffer; to a
system that breeds criminals and in
creasingly makes a hold on life-in
an Industrial sense-ever more uncer-
tain, that while they recognize this
and deplore the conditions they fail to
| see that the continuation of the same
principles that govern conditions at
present can only bring about univer-
sal disaster and economic and indus.
trial chaos.
Some time ago the Rev. Herbruck
preached sermon against Socialism,
now Father Kress is here preaching
against socialism-and while Catho-
lies and Protestants are supposed to
be antagonists to each other yet they
both unite against socialism, when So
cialism teaches only what can truly
be called the brotherhood OF man,
and is calling attention to the fact
that system of cooperation among
men must replace the system of an.
tagonism, which is now extant. They
preach against this in spite OF the
fact that they claim for their teach
ings the same thing, but shrink from
putting it into a practice of life, when
the logic of events clearly teaches
that II must be done or civilization
perish.
Why representatives of the church
should align themselves with all the
forces that make for the destruction of
human good, and continue to be the
allies Of a form of government that
always uses its powers against the
interests of the masses and in the in
terests OF the few can only be an
swered by the fact that they feel
themselves to the beneficiaries of the
system and conclude that to change
the present system of injustice to one
OF justice would deprive them OF their
lordly position over the masses, which
1t surely will, for as soon as man the
social man, awakens to conscious
ness of his wrongs he will insist up
on his own, to which he has a right
and which no church or government
or any institutions has the right to de-
prive him, he has a right to his own,
to accept less is to accept slavery. to
demand more is unjust, and man, the
true man, the social man demands
social equality because 1t belongs to
him and is right and as a consequence
can infiict no wrong on any one and
Is In harmony with the spirit of the
Declaration OF Independence applied
to the present time with the addition
al development that our experience
has unfolded.
Father Kress insists and advises
that his people shall get their politi.
cal economy from the Pope Leo XII
Enclyclical, to take his views as
final. We feel that each man should
know the facts and decide for him
self. To be subject to the unquestioned
control of a single person is to be a
mental slave, and this is the attitude
OF the church-Catholic and Protest.
ant alike. They demand a belief in
their creeds as all sufficient, but
creeds are limited and stationary
while life is unlimited and progress
sive.
The reverends who have preached
against socialism preach from the
standpoint of the hired advocate and
not from the standpoint of the seeker
after truth for the truths sake. No
no representative of the church that
attacks socialism will consent to meet
advocates in open debate. If they un.
derstand socialism they know it's
strength and fear to meet II openly
but preach against it only from be-
hind the bulwarks of the church and
Their attitude towards socialism
proves that they fear its growing pow.
er and that the continuance of the
power Of the church and capitalism
rests upon the continuance of the ig-
norance Of the masses, for II they re.
lied upon the strength of truth there
could be no reason why 1t should not
be openly discussed. AS it certainly is
the one serious world problem that
Is now up for settlement. II may be
added that the settlement of that prob.
lem will be in harmony with truth and
Will be settled by the workers-not
the parasites of the world-and which
fully justifies the international social
LIST battle cry. Workers OF the world
unite, you have nothing to lose but