The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-07-18
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THE UNEMPLOYED AND THE
CHURCHES.


CHURCHES.
should have been relieved, no matter
how insolent their bearing. So much
is dictated by Christian charity. But
the evidence in the case shows that
Tannenbaum and his followers were
in no such plight, that they could
have been more effectually and more
appropriately cared for elsewhere,
and that their avowed aim was to
harry and if possible discredit the
churches, to ''put the churches in bad"
Again l ask, what service to the men
themselves, to humanity, to society,
to truth, or to sound thinking could
have been rendered by weakly yield
ing to such perverse and dishonest
conduct?
DR.. Holmes mentions as the climax
of the clergys offending, the fact that
1.-THE priests of ST. Alphonsus's turned
the men over to the police, and
charged them with rioting and dis
order"
And the priests were right. The
pews of a church are not proper
place for sleeping on, when better
provisions are available elsewhere.
Nor is it reasonable to assume that
the parishioners of st. Alphonsus
(who are mainly of the working class
should pay for putting up five hun
dred men at a hotel or lodging house
in these circumstances. When a
large part of the invaders refused to
leave the church, and to relieve the
fright of the worshippers whom they
had disturbed, the police very pro-
perly arrested them. Should the
priests and the police have let them
stay, or have merely coaxed them out,
thus encouraging them to repeat their
program of bad faith and disorder
elsewhere?
AS a result Of the action taken by
the police, the number of pestiferous
l. w. w. disturbers has been reduced
by at least one, and. the invasion of
churches has ceased. This is clear
gain, not only for public order, but
for clear thinking and constructive
efforts with regard to the problem of
unemployment.
| am well aware that Tannenbaum
and his associates denied in court
the disorderly acts of which they were
found guilty; but l am not so simple
minded as to set higher value on
their veracity in these circumstances
phonsuss and the police, especially
when | recall that the accused lead
ers belong to an organization which
openly rejects all the principles of
what it calls capitalist morality"
including the prohibition of lying.
The Duty of the Churches.
DR.. Holmes contends that the prob
lem of unemployment is too big to be
solved by the churches, and that it
must be met by society, particularly
by constructive methods of proven
ton.
In this he is certainly correct. 1t
is not the business of the churches
to provide specific measures for the
solution of this or any other social
problem. All that they can do, all
that they should be asked to do, is to
enunciate and advocate in concrete
terms the principles of justice and
charity upon which the solution must
be based. To devise and set up eff
fective remedial institutions is the
proper task of civil society. Were
the churches to shelter every unem-
ployed army" that applied to them
they would at best merely relieve the
distress of certain individuals; at
the worst, and in fact, their action
would confuse the situation, and de-
lay the adoption of constructive meas
ures. The churches must, indeed,
speak the social message and initi-
ate the work of social reconstruction, "
but only by preaching and urging
the appropriate principles of Chris
tan justice and charity, by bringing
home in specific language to society
and to individuals their obligations
to set up efficient institutions, not
by attempting to do the work that be
longs to other social agencies.
One of the most insidious obstacles
to effective social reform is the pres
ence and activity among us of revo-
lutionary groups and movements.
The l. w. W., with it's open repudia-
ton of the moral law, its advocacy
of brute force, it's violent methods,
and it's anarchistic aims, attracts and
misleads many well meaning persons
who might otherwise aid in bringing
about rational and constructive meas
ures of reform.
"A Menace to Social Reform.
Organizations of this sort are not
only a constant menace to public
order and civilization, but are instru-
mental in casting discredit upon the
whole social reform movement. For
one person whose interest in social
betterment is aroused by the spectac-
ular and violent performances OF
these grounS. il is safe to saw that