The Irish standard., 1914-07-11
SOCIAL SERVICE BULLETIN

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of labor, the friend of education, and
the friend of religion. It is custo-
mary for other conventions to attend
special services in the Churches on
Sunday morning, and listen to spe-
cial sermons addressed to their del
egates. The Socialists, however, con-
duct their regular business on Sun
day morning and then in the after
noon attend Sunday School Glasses
to sing the glories of the coming
form of government.
The friendliness to religion was
conspicuously marked by this pro-
gram. Laboring men, and the pub
lie. cannot fail to see that Socialism
provides no encouragement to their
religious practices. Attendance at
the convention means their absence
from their places Of worship, while
the Socialist Sunday School is, in
deed. a mere mockery which trade
unions cannot interpret as a sign of
friendliness. Socialistic principles
are thus upheld by their practices.
A Sign of the FINES.
The people Of the United States
spent $S.400.000 a year for cigar
cites; drink 100000 gallons of
whisky; chew up over $25,O00,O00
worth of chewing gum; and consume
$90.000,000 in candy! These figures
are taken from the statistics of 1913
and are a measure Of what is largely
popular extravaganza. If we could
add the sum that is consumed by
hundreds Of other commodities, a
piture would be drawn depicting the
life of land where milk and honey
flows" freely. And these figures are
those of the United States, where un-
employment. poverty, and oppression
are ever present.
This condition of our social order
suggests the question whether our
social order is essentially sound,
whether it has vitality and capacity
for improvement, or whether it is es-
sentially unsound so that it must give
way to a new social order. In the
face of such expenditures we cannot
deny that our social order has great
strength and that it is sound in its
most essential elements, but as long
as serious unemployment, poverty
and oppression exists, the social Or
der needs improvement and reform.
The relation between the employ
er and employee needs adjustment.
The employer and all those in the
classes that we loosely designate as
well-to-do and wealthy must recog-
nize the Importance of labor and pro-
duction. The employees and the less
circumstanced must recognize that
the prudent use of resources and
frugality are essential conditions of
individual and social well being.
The need of thrift as illustrated
by these expenditures is a sign of
the times-our popular extravaganza
emphasizes the need of social reform,
not social revolution.
The National Conference of Catholic
Trade Unionists.
At the recent Congress of the
English Cooperative Union, the
Woman's Guild asked for a contribu-
ton of $4,000 towards their funds,
for which at the outset appeared no
possible objection. Mr.. Burns, rep
resenting the Catholic members of
the Cooperative Union, entered the
only protest against the grant. Ac-
cording to his Investigations, the
Woman's Guild had taken promi-
nent part in the agitation favoring a
further relaxation of the marriage
laws. This was clearly into.erable to
the Catholic element of the Cooper.
alive Union. After some discussion
the obvious reasonableness of the
Catholic appeal prevailed and the fol-
lowing resolution was carried:
"That this application Of the Eng
lish Women's Guild, for grant of
$4,000 be agreed to on condition that
they cease their agitation in favor of
the alteration of the divorce law"
The Woman's Guild, accordingly
rejected the offer of the grant under
these terms. The influence of Cath
Ollie Trade-Unionists is thereby
shown, and the example is a worthy
lesson to the Catholic Trade Union
lists of the United States, who permit
the injection of anti-Catholic princi-
pies into the planks of their labor
organizations.
THE BOY AS AN ASSET.
Father D. o. Crowley, known far
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