Bisbee daily review., 1919-11-16
By Thomas E. coakIey, Q. Q.


 cases of distress and poverty that day by day come before the Con- ference of Charities, and in the courts where We maintain paid rep reSentatives.
 In trying to get to the very bot tom of the whole situation we are told frequently by the people them selves whose cases are brought be- fore us, and by court representa- tives and social workers. that the cause is bad housing, or poor en- viranment, or the high cost of liv- ing, or unemployment, or family diff ferences, or dring, or what not. At least a dozen modern phrases of this nature are used to denote the so- called causes of modern distress. But none of these catch words satis- fled us. The cause was farther back. and in making aR investiga- ton of our own we have come across a discovery that is no discovery at all. We have found that the cause of practically ninety-nine per cent of all modern distress and present day unrest, and all the ills of society, may be reduced to just one simple, plain word, and that word is SIN. Just sin, plain mortal sin, that's all. and sin, says Chesterton, is a fact as plain as potatoes.
 We cannot recall at this moment a single one of the 631 cases that passed through this office last month in which sin was not the root cause of the ill. Not sin, per haps in the persons themselves who were the immediate and direct ob- jects of our attention; but sin on somebody's part, parents. employers, employees, or others in responsible places where responsibility to God and to their neighbor was knowing ly and wilfully violated; and accord ing to our recollection of the Cate chism, this is the definition of mortal sin when the matter is serious.
 So when Social reformers wish to eradicate the evils of modern SO ciety, instead of pursuing the high sounding titles that are vainly sought as the radical causes, let them track the real villain to his native lair, and they will find it to be sin. Son is the cause of the unmarried mother problem: the whole question of illegitimacy is a question of sin. The Morals Court is busy because of sin. The Deser- tion and non-support courts are filled because of sin. Children are neglect ed and abandoned because of sin. The criminal courts are one long record of sin.
 The whole thing is finely summed up in one of the most beautiful par ables in the Gospel that of the Prodigal Son. When he had spent some years in having what is term ed a good time" and had run the gamut of high and rapid life. and at length found his fortune and his friends gone, his reputation lost, and his strength wasted, he returned to his father. And when he did re- enter the paternal roof, he had sense eiough left not to blame his 
 misfortune on bad housing, or the high cost of living, or environment. or unemployment. In flash he went at once to the root of the whole nasty situation, and in his very first sentence he uttered truth that should be a lamp to all modern social workers. Father" he said, T have sinned." That's the whole story. Just sin-that's all.
 If the ten commtnGments were obeyed, there would be no social question. Schools of Social Work, and University Courses of Sociology might well have a course of lee lures on Sin to bring to mind a root cause that seems to be hidden from the minds of many otherwise well-meaning persons who have deep at heart the righting of the worlds wrongs.