The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-02-01
TIMOTHY BY THE MERCY OF GOD
AND THE GRACE OF THE
APOSTOLIC SEE, BISHOP
OF cRooKSToN.
To the Venerable Brethren of the
Clergy and the Beloved Brethren of
the Laity of Our Diocese, Peace and
Benediction in Christ Jesus, Our
Lord.
Dearly Beloved Brethren:

Dearly Beloved Brethren:
The world is at present witnessing
a growing discomfort among multi
tude of men, whose spirit OF disorder
rebellion and anarchy, is assuming
an alarming aspect. When they con-
slider their scanty wages, their meagre
.sustenance, their shabby clothing,
their lowly homes, workingmen envy
the seeming happiness and luxury OF
the wealthy Men, no longer satisfied
with the necessaries of life, seek the
superfuous and sumptuous. Ihe
marked distinction between the rich
and the poor the comparison between
the residence district in our cities,
the affluence on one side and the
need on the other, all tend to intensity
the Dopular unrest The contrast be-
tween wealth and poverty is being,
more and more, realized as defective
education spreads, impressing men
with their power, their rights and
their wrongs. The bond of sympathy
between capital and labor is broken
The workingman complains that the
interests of the employers, in his be-
half. are only aroused when their
dividends begin to decrease. His mus
cles and nerves are marketable ar
ticles. Thousands of workers see
themselves obliged to accept mlser-
able pittance to ward off hunger and
distress. Labor is bought and sold.
Capital would appropriate the hon,
share. The capitalists on the other
hand. bewail the unscrupulosity, the
independence, the spirit of antagon-
ism. the lack of economy and painstak-
ing, the dishonesty and inactivity OF
the workingman. The genial connec-
tion between the employer and the
employee is rapidly disappearing.
Notorious Platform Speakers.
Notorious platform speakers excite
the multitude with golden and high
sounding promises of peace, happiness
and comfort. Cheap food, cheap cloth
ing placid rest, no taxes, unrestrained
eniovment-such are the fascinating
platitudes of those deluded visionarles
who charm the masses with their eX'
travagant theories, replete with merrl-
ment but destructive of faith. Their
dominant war-cry is: private prop
ertv must be confscated and placed
under the administration of the
State or municipal bodies, for the
benefit of all. Society must assume
possession of all the means and 1nstru'
ments of production and OF the dis
tribution of goods. Opportunities
should be open and equal to all. Labor
should be based on a uniform rate OF
wages. No accumulation OF riches
should be tolerated, as labor is the
only source of wealth. Wealth should
be distributed among the poor, whose
right is to capture the fortunes OF the
rich; the poor, whose pleasure II
should be to await the happy day, on
which to seize the goods of others
Equality should reign among human
beings. Men, burdened with tedious
occupation, long hours and dragging
along a miserable existence, in filth
and poverty, possess the power, SO
cialism asserts, to terrify the hearts
of the employers and appropriate thell
possessions. Why should not meI
follow their natural tendency to seize
what is pleasurable, say they, anC
covet the goods of others? All private
capital should be suppressed for
where there is no capital, no poverty
exists. The new system would have
the State no longer sanction the mar
riage contract which under socialism
would be only a matter of love, ant
terminable at the will of either party
TO the contract. Love, then, would b'
made supreme. No immortal soul, NJ
belief in God, no interference OF Coz
in the Universe, no knowledge bu
what is confined to material things
and their laws; death ends all accord
ing to socialistic doctrine. There Il
no God, no life beyond the tomb, NJ
eternity, such indeed is the anti-socia
boast of these corruptors of morals
and subverters of order. Eternity i
their dread Boosting of the discover
les of the age, modern freethinker'
arouse the multitudes by their whim
sical notions that God is the unknown
and the unknowable and that there l:
nothing certain about the dark future
Socialism would recognize no author
ity, every individual to be his owl
legislator Parental authority woulC
vanish, children becoming the prop
erty of the State and consequently the
family would be destroyed. Hatred
against God, and of the Catholic
Church. the abolition of private righ
to productive property and the unjus
possession of wealth constitute thu
usual themes of socialistic agitators
who thus engender class hatred tina
threatens the peace Of society. Wild
ly they expatiate on the rights of man
but bestow no thought on the rights
of God, whom, indeed, they conside
a myth. Socialists detest the Cathc
lie Church, because she is the uncom
promising enemy of all systems tha
tend to ruin religion, lawful authority