Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-23


against sudden changes Of fortune the
wealth arnassed by unremitting toll. y
The Pope inveighed against Specu-
lation which raises and lowers prices
out of mere greed for gain.
The worst injustices and frauds take
place beneath the obscurtty Of the COM
mon name of the corporate flrm," he
said.
Insistence Of the moral law, ne sug-
gested, could have dispelled and per-
! hapS averted these enormous evils.
Treated as Mere Tools.
with the leaders Of business aban-
doning the true path" he said, 'it is
not surprising that in every country
multitudes Of working men also sank
in the same moraSs, all the more SO
because very many employers treated
their workmen as mere tools without
any concern for the welfare of their
souls, indeed without the slightest
thought of higher interests"
The mind shudders, he said, con-
sidering the frightful perils to which
the morals Of boys and young men and
the virtue Of girls and women are ex-
posed in modern factories.
And so bodily labor which was de-
creed by Providence for the good OF
mans body and soul, even after the
original sin, has everywhere been
changed into an instrument Of strange
perversion, for dead matter leaves the
factory enlivened and transformed
where men are corrupted and de-
graded"
For this ruin Of souls, he continued,
there can be no other remedy than
4 "a. o. n
ing Of the Gospel
Must Respect Rights.
All created goods. he said, are mere
instruments under God to be used only
insofar as they help toward attain
nlent of our supreme end.
Nevertheless, he said, Those en-
gagged in production are not forbidden
to increase their fortunes in lawful and
Just manner. Indeed it is Just that he
who renders service to society and de-
velops its wealth should himself have
his proportionate share of the in
creased public riches, provided always
that he respects the laws of God and
the rights Of his neighbor and uses his
property in accord with faith and right
reason"
In effecting this reform the Pope en-
phasized that charity must play . lead
ing part because justice alone, although
never can bring about union OF
hearts and minds,
The Church of Christ, he said. has
nothing to fear even were the social
order which spurns the laws of nature
and Of God permitted to prevail.
The Pope closed his encyclican with
an appeal for intimate union and har-
mony between all good men.
Let them not urge their own ideas
with undue persistence" he said, but
be ready TO abandon them, however
admirable. should the greater com
mon good seem to require 1t, that In
all and above all Christ may reign and
rule
He ended with his apostolic benedic-
ton, particularly for workingmen and
employees.
Divided In Three Parts.
The encyclioal was divided into three
major parts, the first dealing with the
great BENEFITS of Pope Leo's rerum
novarunn, the fundamental principles
of which, he said, merely need new
application to modern conditions.
The second was vindication Of those
principles which sometimes have been
attacked and the third an arraignment
Of modern economics, an analysis of
present disorders and suggestions for
their remedy.
Workingmen, said Pope Plus, suffered
greatly at the time OF Pope Leo's ency-
clical, when they constituted "a class
Of men who, owing to the expansion Of
modern industry, had enormously in
creased In numbers, but whose rightful
position in society had not yet been
AAfAVNa3Vna( NIB 4Vs ~
were objects Of much neglect and con-
tempt"
The encychcal quoted Pope Leo's
principle that civil power is more than
a mere guardian of law and order,
adding 'the duty Of the rulers Is to
protect the community and It's various
elements. and in protecting the right
Of individuals they must have special
regard for the inflrm and the needy"
Standard for Nations.
Pope Leo's encyclical he firmly de-
clared to be, In the words Of Isaiah,
"a standard set up unto the nations"
This, Pope Plus said, Is shown by
reforms ia social Conditions attempted
in the peace treaties which followed the
World War, treaties in which many Of
the conclusions agreed so perfectly with
the principles Of Leo XIII as to seem
expressly deducted from them"
The rerum novarlm, said Pope Plus,
evolved into a truly Christian social
science" which was fostered, enriched
and taught to the world In many In
stitutions and spread by many publica-
tons.
The authority Of the church to deal
with social problems was strongly up
held.
We lay down the principles, long
since clearly established by Pope Leo
XIII that it is our right and our duty
to deal authoritatively with social and
economic problems" the Pope said:
Looks to Eternal Happiness.
1T is not, of course, the once Of the
Church TO lead men to transient and
perishable happiness only, but to that
which Is eternal; indeed the Church
believes it would be wrong for her 70
interfere without just cause in such
earthly concerns, but she never can re-
l1nquiSh her God-given task Of inter-
posing her authority, not. indeed, in
technical matters for which she has
neither the equipment nor the mission,
but in all those which have bearing
on moral conduct"
The Pope said he looked forward con-
fldently TO the complete and much de-
sired renewal Of human society"
Associations Of working men, he said,
provide glad signs of the coming social
reconstruction because they contain
masses OF young workers who listen
readily to the call Of divine grace.
Nowadays, as more than once in the
history Of the church." he said, I'VE are
confronted with world which In large
measure has almost fallen back into
paganisn."
The course TO be followed, he said, is
the creation and training of the lay
apostoiate among workingmen and en-
ployers.
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