The Irish standard., 1905-07-15
What May Be Considered the Mainsprine Of
This Theory Of Reform is the De-
struction of individuality.
Socialism is the lridescent Dream Of Men
Who Do Not Condition Themselves
By the Facts, Says the Writer.

BY Socialism we mean that doctrine
properly so-called which has for It's
aim the betterment of society by
!. The abolition of private property
2. The suppression of the family.
3. The destruction of all individual
enterprise
The end of Socialism is a legitimate
end, namely, the improvement of so.
cial conditions, says Rev. Father
Yorke in the San Francisco Leader.
For that end all governments, all
parties, are supposed to strive. The
means which Socialism proposes to
that end, namely, the abolition of pri-
vate property, family life and individ.
ual effort, are not only illegitimate,
but are opposed to the very nature of
things. 1t is these means which make
Socialism as doctrine repugnant to
the Christian Revelation and to the
dictates Of common sense. 1t is for
these reasons that the Pope has again
and again written against it.
There are two ideas that stand
over one against the other in irrecon.
cilable antagonism - the Christian
idea of man and the Socialistic idea
OF man. According to Christ, man is
creature whose chief value lies in
his soul. That soul was made for
another life, and man is here on earth
to save his soul. He has temporal and
social interests, but he has them only
as helps to the great end of his exist
ence. 1t matters little how success
full he may be in earthly things; all
is lost If he is not q success in things
eternal: What doth it profit man
II he gain the whole world and suffer
the loss Of his soul, or What shall a
man give in exchange for his soul?.
This doctrine may seem hopelessly
old-fashioned and out of touch with
modern thought, but there it is-the
fundamental idea of Christianity, and
Christianity never grows old.
| Now the Socialist idea is that man
exists for this world to get all the
good and pleasure and profit he can
out of it with the least possible ex-
penditure Of energy. The Socialist
puts religion and the religious feeling
entirely out Of court. 1t is true that
the great Socialistic writer's are uni
formly anti-religious and that in most
instances popular Socialism Is accom-
panied by vulgar atheism, yet we
wish to give the Socialists the benefit
of their professions and we are will
ing to accept their declaration that
they put religion entirely out of dis
cussion. They are dealing with man
and the hard facts Of the world, and
their object is to let the soul and the
future take care of themselves, but
to see that the human animal is prop
erly generated, properly bred, prop
erly housed, properly fed and properly
exercised. On these things hangeth
the law and the prophets.
Socialism is the legitimate outcome
Of the revolution of the sixteenth GEN.
tury. It is really Puritanism carried
| into the domain of economics. The
Puritans were bitten with a craze for
regulating everything by law. They
believed that, given certain ma
chinery,, they could make men just,
sober, pure, honest. When they found
out that human nature was too strong
for them their only remedy was more
law. To this day the country is over
run with societies for reformation of
everything in sight, and these So
cieties believe that the best way to
| carry out their ends is to have law
passed by the legislature commanding
people to be moral. 1t is no lesson to
them that law after law remain fail
ure. Deep down in their hearts they
have the Puritan principle that men
can be made moral by exterior agen-
cies, and they cast the blame of their
failure on the police or the judges
or the community, never admitting
that their principle itself is false.
Now, Socialism starts with the
same principle. 1t believes that men