The Washington times., 1923-05-15
OPEN FIGHT FOR
MINIMUM
T.,
~ WAH
Labor Leaders Open Farley
With NotabIes in, Attendance.
Father Ryan Speaks.

wage legislation and the friends of
child-labor legislation. This would,
result, it was said, in combining the
, proposed child-labor constitutional
amendment and the new pro-
posed minimum-wage constitutional
amendment into one general wei
( fare" amendment.
By the terms of this amendment
the Congress of the United States
would be authorized to legislate for
the welfare" of women and children
in all matters relating to hours or
wages or any other conditions of
/ unemployments.
Thus President Harding would
face great conflict between two
great contending ideas, each repre-
scented by a general or 'blanket"
amendment.
On the one side there will be the
blanket" amendment of the Ma
tional Woman's party for. destroying
all the determinations" between
the sexes in legislation.
On the other side there will be
the blanket amendment of the
Minimum Wage Conference empow-
ering Congress to pass special laws
for the special protection of children
and of women.
Priest on Double Duty.
In the midst of the perplexities
of this situation Father Ryan was
doing the double duty of attending
the Minimum Wage Conference and
of celebrating the thirty-second an
niversary of the Labor Encyclical
of Pope Leo the Thirteenth.
"Thirty-two years ago today"
said Father Ryan to this writer,
His Holiness, Pope Leo the Thir-
teenth, issued the famous funda-
mental document in which he de-
clared the teachings of Christianity
regarding the right sof labor and
also regarding the rights of capital.
Both sorts Of rights are assailed
today. The right to private prop
erty is assailed and the right to a
living wage is assailed.
pope Leo declared that man has
right by nature to possess prop
erty as his own. Socialism through
out the world assails that right.
Meanwhile the duty which prop
erty owes to the laborer Is assailed
also.
Our Supreme Court in the mini
mum wage case declares that it is a
'fallacy' to believe that capital must
furnish living wage to labor.
Pope Leo believed that 'fallacy.'
The Supreme Court declares the
law of the land. Pope Leo declared
| the mandate of Christianity.
Pope Leo said that the remuner-
alton of a wage-earner must be suf-
ficient to support him in reason
able and frugal comfort and that
If through necessity he accepts
harder conditions because an en-
ployer will afford him no better,
he is made the victim of force and
injustice
Laws Must Be Changed.
pope Leo said also that If any
! particular class is threatened with
a mischief which can in no other
| way be prevented, the public au
thority must step in to deal with it.
"Christia nifty therefore must change
the law of the land in such way
as to enable the public authority to
perform its moral duty toward this
particular class of women and
children who now get less than
living wage.
Meanwhile 1t is the duty of all
| wage-earners to defend and protect
the right of private property.
1T can be emphatically said to-
day that the right of private prop
erty is getting defense and protec-
| ton from an increasing number OF
Christian wage-earners.
I'm Central Europe three and a
| half million Catholic workingmen are
banded together in the Interna.
tional Confederation of Christian
Labor Unions which definitely re.
jects all Socialism and Communism
and which definitely maintains that
every man has the right to acquire
and possess property At it's last
annual conveption it denounced
Socialism and Communism as equal
ly an humiliation of human per-
| sonality.'
Defenders on Increase.
eff the rights of capital are sur
viving in Central Europe against
the attacks of Socialism and Com
munism, it is largely due to such
organizations as the International
Confederation of Christian Labor
Unions.
"They embody in active living
form the principles of the Encycli
| cal which Pope Leo issued on May
| Is, 1891. Today, on May Is, 1923,
while those principles are indeed
assaiIed from both sides, it can
also be said that they have in
creasing multitudes of organized
defenders In all parts of the world"
| Copyright 1928. by Washington Press
Service)