The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1904-05-26
SOCIALISM IS
UNCHR|ST|AN
SAYS MESSMER
Milwaukee Archbishop Gives
Interesting and Scholarly
Address on Subject
at Turner Hall
MAIN PRINCIPLES ARE WRONG
Some Of the Demands of the Doctrine
However are UnobleCtonabIe
Fair Sized Audience is
Present

Before fair audience considering the
inclemency of the weather, Archbishop
Sebastian &. Messmer gave a I1agnih-
cent address on Socialism ut Turner
Hall Tuesday evening He handled his
subject with the thoroughness of the
scholar and the logician that ne very
evidently il. His manner Of speaking
was easy anl natural In every thing
that he said he WAS very much to the
point and while he appeared to exhaust
each line Of discussion he wasted no
words He was introduced very briefly
by President Weber of the Federation
of Catholic Societies He WAS accom-
panied to the stage hy n number OF
clergymen OF the Catholic Church An
orchestra furnished music before and
after the address
In announcing his subject Archbishop .
Messmer called it one of the burning
problems of the day He read few
remarks from the last encyclical of
Pope Leo NH in reference to it. After
stating that his address wAs going to be
dry in as much as it would necessarily
be full OF explanations he launched into
u far from dry discussion of the pro
blem.
Socialism, he said, was u system
which was social and general Ii must
therefore be opposed socially and gener-
ally. Its principles We're opposed par
ticulnrly to Christianity and it WAS
therefore necessary that Christianity.
as most completely exempliiied by the
Catholic Church, should fight it, A
distinction WAS to be drawn, however,
between the conclusions or demands Of
Socialism and its principles Many of
the former he would he perfectly will
ing to subscribe to- For instance, tax
ing the platform promu lgated ut Err
fuhrt as u basis, the demands for the
prohibition Of children under II years
Of age from industrial labor, the esta-
blishment of n period OF mt least 36
hours rest in every week, the prohbi
tion Of night labor except where the
nature OF the occupation or the benefit
Of society demanded it, etc. were all
unobiectionable. But it was to the
principles Of Socialism that the ohjec-
ton was to be raised.
Right here the speaker explained
that as regards what were the princi
I,les of Socialism the speech of no one
man should be taken The general
teaching of the organization should be
the guide ~ to what its principles were.
Germany and despite the pretended re-
pudiation by one or two Of certain
doctrines, Socialism ~ taught in Ger
many WAS practically the same in
principle all over the world
The first principal to be discussed was
that Of the equality Of man. This. the
speaker said, was not only opposed to
every law of nature but WAS against the
implied teachings of religion The
lessons Of charity, of forgiveness, of
obedience to authority were all contrary
to this doctrine
The doctrine that religion is the pri
vnte affair Of each man was scored
II you believe this, said his grace,
you deny the existence of God. He
said that this was not as usually sup
posed, an American principle. 1t WAS
merely, in this country. II matter of
expediency, 1t was frequently best
under certain conditions that the state
should have nothing to do with religion.
The speaker here produced the only
applause throughout the address by
reinarking that in France for instance
it would Ice much better if the govern
ment hal less TO do with religion, This
was apropos of the strained relations be-
The theory that the state should edu
cate and care for the childien tended
To destroy the home, said the speaker.
Its companion theory, that divorce
should simply be by consent of both
parties wonld destroy not only the home
but society itself He explained how
both theories were contrary to common
sense and morality as we'll ~ to re-
ligion.
The last principle To be discussed was
that regarding private ownership
The speaker declared that the abolition
Of private ownership would destroy the
main incentive to that which kept
society alive labor.
In closing Archbishop Messmer said
that one OF the implied doctrines OF
socialism was that there is no hereafter.
He said that all soeialistic teachings
were purely material and had to do
solely with this life He added that he
hoped the time WAS fast coming when
Catholics would stand shoulder to
shoulder to oppose the progress of the
socialistic propaganda