The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-01-18
BIG ISSUES At PEACE TABLE

is no Christian justice without char
ity, and no charity without justice.
And as aFenging justice is a part of
the virtue of justice, there is no char
lty without avenging justice. To de-
sire to close our eyes to injustice, un-
der the preteXt of heroism in charity,
and to allow the enemy to commit
crimes with impunity because he is
the enemy, is to fail to recognize the
sovereign and necessary sway of char
ity in the Christianized humanity"
But when punishment has been in
ficted, when reparation has been
made, when there. is solid evidence
that the wrong done is acknowledged
and that there is no desire to repeat
it in the future, when there are real
signs OF sorrow and atonement-then
we must be prepared to give the place
in the worlds development even to our
enemies which their natural abilities
and their legitimate achievements
may justly claim for them. There
should be no place for undying hatreds.
This is the strenuous work to
which the statesmen of the world will
soon be called 1t is hoped that it is
already engaging their fullest atten-
ton. If the work be we'll done we
may look forward to a stable and en-
during peace, perhaps even to the real
ization of the dream of permanent
league of nations. If the work be done
too hastily and without sufficient care,
II settlement be accepted which
leaves even one international problem
unsolved, those who come after us in
the second or third generation may
have to face again the same and great
er horrors of international warfare in
their day.
May God be with us and guide those
who have the handling of such weighty
matters to a prudent, wise, Just and
truly Christian conclusion. May ali
the allied nations uphold those who
are called to guide their destinies by
striving to tread the true, straight
course of mingled charity and justice.
There are millions of people for
whom the necessary conditions of life
are never realized. All their lives they
are forced to be content with dwell
ings that are badly built and equipped,
unfit for growing family, and want
ing in ordinary conveniences.
They are tied by the .exigencies of
their daily toll to particular locality,
and must perforce put up with the ac-
commodation that they can find. Their
weekly income will never rise beyond
a miserable pittance; before their eyes
is ever the specter of the possibility
of unemployment. II,
But there is nothing in the nature
of things to render such a condition in
any way necessary. 1t cannot be
urged that the goods of this world are
insufficient for the maintenance of all
those who dwell therein On every
side there are evidences of wealth and
plenty. Money is acquired and heaped
up in the ownership of individuals to
such an extent that it must be quite
impossible for the possessor adequate
ly to control either its acquisition or
its outlay. i 4. Aass.g!
Would Lessen Distress
Such conditions are clearly unnatur-
al and abnormal. The poor man is
forced to struggle for his living wage
obtained too often at the cost of
strikes, which paralyzes industry. The
rich are led to think that the accumu-
| lation of wealth is the main object of
| life, and the strike is fought by the
| lockout In both cases the sanctifica--
| tion and salvation of souls created for
| an eternal destiny are exposed to
| needless jeopardy. Meanwhile there
is wealth in plenty to satisfy both
worker and capitalist. 81
The problem to be solved is to find
a way of distributing the surplus
wealth so that the poor man, manual
| laborer, Or inferior clerk may have the
additional remuneration that he so
urgently needs; and the rich man no
longer receive the heap-up increment
which he in no sense requires and can
/ not efficiently control
| The problem is International, as is
the problem Of obtaining just peace.
There are in the world two interna-
tional forces, Christianity and labor,
to which will fall in large measure the
task of solving these problems. Let
these two forces come to a complete
understanding, and they will be in
vincible