The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-09-06
repealed in favor Of the old time

den. He is a rational being, and,
therefore, he has right to rest, not
for the sole purpose of sleeping and
eating, but also that he may consider
his human dignity and realize that
matter is not his master, but his SER
want. "The Lord made him a. little
less than the angels, and subjected all
things under his feet-the beasts of
the field, the birds of the air; and the
fishes of the sea-" Without the weekly
day of rest this end is practically un-
attainable for the workingman.
Besides, man is child of God, and, |
therefore, he must have time to fulfill
his duties towards his Creator. This
right religion has vindicated for him
from the beginning by insisting on
regularly recurring days of rest. God
Himself wrote on the tables of the
law: Remember thou keep holy the
Sabbath day." and the Church has
merely transferred the obligation to
the first day of the week.
To say that the Church, demanding
Sunday rest, is robbing the laboring
man of one days wages each week,
is a clever trick of the enemy. Then
he robs the laboring man of seven
days wages each week who forbids
him to work two shifts every twenty
four hours THE Philanthropist" who
takes so much pains to discredit the
Church could better establish his
claim to sincerity by giving the la
borer as much pay for six days work
as he now receives for seven. The
advantage to the laborer would be
that his wages would be the same as
if he worked seven days, and he
would not be worked to death, and his
human dignity would be safeguarded,
and he would have an opportunity to
fulfill his religious obligations. 1t is
only just to our Montana employers
generally, to say that they do not
share the views of ''The Philanthropy
ist," that they do not insist on any
man working on Sunday, and that they
are disposed to reduce Sunday work
to a minimum.
To say that there are workingmen
who wish to work on Sunday in order
to get the extra pay seems Incredible.
Such men should not be permitted to
retain membership in any labor union.
They are committing crime against
the whole body of laboring men by
making it practically impossible for
capital not to exact Sunday work of
all. If unnecessary Sunday work is
only themselves to blame. Let them
but ask for it's abolition, and en-
ployers will find way to grant their
request.
Spiritual Need of Sunday Rest.
But whether the laborer is COM
PEELED to work on Sunday, or does so
of his own volition, he is doing him
self grievous spiritual injury. He
cannot, as a rule, assist at the Holy
sacrifice of the Mass, and the Mass is
in a manner the whole of religion for
him. The laborer who hears Mass
every Sunday is bound to the Church
by ties that cannot be broken. The
very act of obeying the Church in this
| important law disposes him to obedi-
ence in other things. The announce
ments that are made keep him in
touch with the life of the Church. The
sermon instructs him in his Christian
duties, and the graces that flow out
from the Great Sacrifice and are
poured into his soul in Holy Com
munion strengthen him against the
temptations of the week. But the la
borer who does not hear Mass on
Sunday, even though it be not his
fault, is necessarily deprived of all
these blessings. He is ignorant of the
doings of the Church at large and of
what it is striving to accomplish in
his community The principles of re.
ligion and morality, which were once
the guiding star of his life, grow dim.
Criticism of the Church and her min
listers and her policies, which he
hears on all sides, begins to make its
impression upon him. Deprived of the
strength that can come only from
prayer and the sacraments he becomes
an easy prey to the vultures of dis
content and, finally, loses faith in God
and future life.
Labor leaders, therefore, and labor
unions should insist on Sunday rest;
but laboring men should remember
that this rest will be profitable to
their health, to their souls, to their
families, only on condition that they
observe the precept: Remember
thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
To spend the day in the saloon
in drunkenness, in impurity, would
only bring ruin on the working
man and his family. All sincere
friends of labor love to believe that
the effects of the weekly day of rest
will be similar to those that followed
the adoption of the eight-hour day
There is no doubt" says John Nit
chell, ''but that the eight-hour day
reduces drunkenness. In those towns
in Illinois where it has been adopted
there is now higher standard Of
living and at the same time less
drunkenness and fewer saloons. This
is so, notwithstanding wages have
risen. The man who works ten hours
comes home tired out. He is in M
condition for rational enjoyment anC
he wants to go either to the saloor
or to bed"
The condition Of the laboring classes
is without doubt the pressing question
LIE a. \