The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-05-19
A LIVING WAGE
Review Of Book That Has Oh.
tanned Merited Approval
Author Is Member Of Faculty oil
St. Thomas College.


with an introduction b: Professor Ely
~ Wisconsin, University. The Mae
Mll;,n co. PIP NVI-34G Price 81 OF
net
No serious or fair-ninded man vii
Hesitate to wei, ONE any SANE cOntrihu-
ton toward the study and solution nl
;i" problem of Il more euuitabl" dis
.ribution OF the worlds goods. 1t is
this problem that is taken up in the
volume befor" US. The author does
not, indeed. undertake To determine
five full measure of compensation which
any l;lborcr. or amy class of lah"reis,
SHOULD receive. l:ut he does establish
81, :; solid basis OF fact and argument
the principle which should determine
the minimum compensation of every
',burcr. That minimum is the ,mu,ln,
necessary to maintain him and his
family in decent comfort.
II | were to single out what is MOST
admirable in this altogether admirable
work. | should say that it is the lucid
cXpoSitO ion. the closely reasoned pre-
paramount factor in determining the
ininimum compensation Of the laborer
is his personality. Other factors, as
for instance, his industrial efficiency,
may have greater force in fixing tho
m;lNilnal limits. Bu, the primary and
sufficient reason why he should re-
.rive Il share OF the earth's bounty
sufficiently large ut leaSt to cn:Ihic him
to live :; lif" If reasonable comfort. is
this that he is man.
In his opening chapltr f'r. Ryan
t"rmiuiny wages. The Wage level is
determined by the respective economic
strength of the labnrcr and the cnl-
ri"yer. The former strives t" get ;ls
much as II" can; the latter t" pay no
more than he must" Eut most of us
will agrc" With Father Ryan that. ";,S
has no more validity or sacrcdncSs
than physical force
The ethical theory" our author goes
,E to say. "undcryin. the method of
unlimited bargaining. namely that
contracts made without force or fraud
are necessarily fair, is, despite the pre-
yailing practice. condemned by the M, :
irrty OF disintercSted persons" He
proceeds. accordingly. in his second
chapter t" quote authorities both
Catholic ana Protestant in support of
rhr foregoing statement. ami in sup
port. | may add. of the doctrine of Il
Living Wage. The portion of this
chapter in which Catholics will be
most Interested is that which contains
passages from the l:nrycical nf Pope
i.e" XIII. "On the Condition of La
Dor. In that Encyclcal Pope Leo
gave expression. though he was no,
the first Catholic t" Il" 50. t" the I.iv-
ing Wage doctrine. He said, the re-
enumeration must be enough To sun
port the wage tHrner in reasonable and
In the second section of his work,
which embraces chapters Ill to VII
inclusive. Father Ryan treats of the
hLSiS. nature and content of the la :
h"rer's right to II living wage His
argument in defence of that right
briefly is this: Man is IL rational, self
f.t nal in, SI,
higher duty is the development of his
own personality in lll its faculties in
accordance with the designs of his
Creator. In other words. he is Obliged
!" live Il moral and reasonable life
This obligation entities him to the full
measure of the means necessary To
fulfill it. These means we call his
Natural rights. Conspicuous among
them is the righ, to Il sufficient amount
"f material goods to maintain himself
In II reasonable degree of comfort
~ Il man is I" live becoming life he
must have means not merely to, secure
himself against death by starvation
and exposure. but to maintain himself
IN a reasonable degree of comfort Ht
Is |" live as Il man. not rs an animal
Under our present Industrial system
the right To the means necessary I,
reasonable comfort takes. in the case
al the laborer the concrete form q,
the right t" Il living wage. And since
iharriagc is the normal condition fo,
all who live outside the religious stat.
a living wage means Il family wage
The content of this wage in terms o
money is not less than $500 per yea,
TOR any male adult living in any cit,
in the United states. and in fact should
he more than that in some localities
ThiS estimate does not apply TO farm
laborcrs.
Father Ryans estimate as To tn,
money content of a living wage is Ger
tainiy not too high. Yet-and this i
one OF the startling revelations of tn,
"o"k--probably sixty per cent of tn,
wage earners of the United States re
ceiVe less than the amount named Th,
whole chapter "On the Underpaid Tn
horers of America" is IL most interest
Ing and instructive one. In the chan
ter following that just mentioned tn
author shows that our industrial 70