The Irish standard., 1914-05-09
found. ano .cZ,l >kly, for tn
misery and wre> Soo Itch pres
so heavily, at this G Scf,. - tn,
large majority of theN ]Xf II

AAAseAy anu wFe> SOo .'cn press
So Sc oh heavily, ts.,s at IL thu, .s the he
instances as causes of this ate,
which was and still is Glamour. 6 for
some remedy, the destruction of the
ancient workmen's guilds, and the
fact that through the reputation of
Christian principles in government
the working men have been given
over, isolated and defenceless, to the
callousness Of employers and the
greed of unrestrained competition"
The remedy. he declares. does not
lie in working on the poor mans
envy of the rich," or Gin the endeav-
our to destroy private property"
These proposals. the Pope declares.
"are emphatically unjust. because
they rob the lawful possessor, bring
the State into sphere that is not its
own. and cause complete confusion in
the community" The remedy pro-
posed by the Socialist "is manifestly
against justice. For every man has
by nature the right to possess proper
ty as his own. This is one of the
chief points of distinction between
man and the animal creation" Thus
''it is clear that the main tenet of So
cialism, the community of goods,
must be utterly rejected" and "our
first and NOSE fundamental principle,
therefore. when we undertake to al
leviate the condition Of the masses.
must be the inviolability Of private
property.
With equal clearness Pope Leo
XIII lays down the rights of labor
to organize and otherwise protect it.
self by combination and union that
the individual may secure a Just and
living wage.
Application Of Catholic Principles.
Years have passed since the Pope
published this great Englitical, and
the more this utterance is studied
the more it is found that the princi-
pies enunciated therein cover the
whole ground Of the Socialistic posi-
ton. To a Catholic the principles
are clear. The difficulty lies in their
application. How practically can the
differences between labor and capital
be equitably adjusted? This is the
question awaiting solution. Some of
us In England and elsewhere in the
old countries are looking with inter-
est at the various experiments now
being made in the way Of co-opera-
ton, and many are thinking that in
this lies the path to. a solution of
some at least of the difficulties which
are now ever present in the world of
labor. When capital is content with
full and even overflowing return,
and labor has fair remuneration: !:
and when what is over and above is
divided in some due proportion be-
tween the capitalist and the laborer.
there would appear to be little
ground for dispute and every reason
that both sides should work for sue
cess. At any rate, where the expert
ment has been tried. as for example
In the great London gas works and
elsewhere. labor troubles have been
unknown for many years.
The one thing that to all thinking
minds stands out quite clearly, is
that all means dealing effectually
with the social unrest existing today
IN the world must be regulated by
the principles Of religion. Many,
even among non-Catholics, are now
being forced to look to the Church
for guidance and help in the serious
perils which are threatening society.