The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-01-24
THE PROBLEM OF SOCIALISM

hold the even balance between any
possible oppression of the poor and
attacks made upon the rights of prop
erty.
1t is this attitude of perfect justice
which Pope Leo XIII assumed in his
well-known Encyclical on the labor
difficulties. The matter, he declared,
was of the utmost urgency There
can be no question whatever" he
writes, that some remedy must be
found, and found quickly, for the mis-
cry and wretchedness, which press so
heavily at this moment on the large
majority of the very poor, He in
stances as causes of this evil state,
which was and still is clamoring for
some remedy, the destruction of the
ancient workmens guilds, and the fact
that through the reputation of Chris
tian principles in government the
"workingmen have been given over,
isolated and defenceless, to the cal
lousness 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 endeavor
to destroy private property" These
proposals, the Pope declares, "are en-
phatically unjust, because they would
rob the lawful possessor, bring the
State into a sphere that is not it's own,
and cause complete confusion in the
community" The remedy proposed
by the Socialist ''is manifestly against
justice. For every man has by nature
the right to possess property as his
own. This is one of the chief points
of distinction between man and the
animal creation" Thus sit is clear
that the main tenet of Socialism, the
community of goods, must be utterly
rejected" and 'tour first and most fun
damental principle, therefore, when
we undertake to alleviate the condi-
tion of the masses, must be the invio-
liability of private property"
With equal clearness Pope Leo XIII
lays down the rights of labor to or
combination and union that the indi-
vidual may secure just and living
wage.
Application of Catholic Principles.
Years have passed since the Pope
published this great Encyclical, and
the more this utterance is studied the
more it is found that the principles
enunciated therein cover the whole
ground of the Socialistic position. To
a Catholic the principles are clear.
The difficulty lies in their application.
How practically can the differences be-
tween labor and capital be equitably
adjusted? This is the question await
ing solution. Some of US in England
and elsewhere in the old countries are
looking with interest at the various
experiments now being made in the
way of cooperation, and many are
thinking that in this lies the path to
solution of some at least of the diff
culties which are now ever present in
the world of labor When capital is
content with full and even overflow
ing return, and labor has fair re-
muneration; and when what is over
and above is divided in some due pro-
portion between the capitalist and the
laborer, there would appear to be
little ground for dispute and every rea-
son that both sides should work for
success. At any rate, where the ex-
pertinent has been tried, as for ex-
ample 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 prin-
ciples of religion. Many, even among
mont Catholics, are now being forced to
look to the Church for guidance and
help in the serious perils which are
threatening society.