The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-03-03

Questioned about general condi- tions in the United States, Arch- bishop Murray said that God gave { us the family unit upon which and around which to build our civil societies and institutions. Due to the prevalent ignorance con- corning the family individuality has all but ceased to exist. a
 The present expedients of the governments, he said, are make- shifts, particularly in agriculture. The government should have 8 program to put each family on an economic foundation where 1t will be self-contained and self-constru- , tive.
 Other arrangements, he declar- ed. release everybody from re- sponsibility. The habits of respon- sibility are only developed in the environment of family life.
 Current expedients of the gov-s ernment he regards as safety valve. They give the people a chance to see how collectivism is going to work, if we go too far in that direction. He has confidence in good sense of the American people, that they will go back to sanity. and especially a saner view about property. 'I have an abiding con- fidence," he said, Gin the sanity of. the American people," t' Asked about the tendency of professors of education to lead the people to collectivism, he respondr ed that he did not think the prot fessors of education could infiu- ence the devotees of sane and sound scholarship. They can not influence our people who are used to making too many decisions for. themselves. They cannot be- unanswered like Mexicans and Russians.
 The interview then led into a discussion of capital. Archbishop Murray insisted that distinction
 must be made between those who inherit wealth and those who cre- ate it. The men, who have created wealth, have generally had leader shp and a decent understanding of the problems of the employees from whom they have emerged. Many of such men during this transition period are silent, not because they Jack leadership, but for two other reasons. One Is that they do not want to mar the tre- mendous experiments now going on. The other is that they have ter- rib1e problems in maintaining their own overheads.
 wealth. Archbishop Murray again demanded distinctions He safdT that in Waterbury, where he spent oP It fh4 sons of owners after college were. sent into the shops to work with their hands and to remain in com pany of the workingmen for long periods. There they were kept sane. and always aftcrward as leaders of industry kept in contact with the men. ~ But, he said, when you get ab- sentee ownership, when money IS left to people who do not know how employees live, then. you gel social blindness and the inability to give any kind of leadership. ,s He is opposed, however, to exag cessive inheritance taxes, because the real sufferers from such taxes < are employees. whose wages and employqment are sacrificed very to the liquidation ruthlessly carried out to meet such taxes. yt
 He said the more taxes are piled up, the more private property IS destroyed and the principle there's of made imperative.
 Asked what the Church could do about it all. Archbishop Murray answered that we must develop type of leadership among educated { laymen that will enable them to contribute to the rank and file. s
 "At Portland, Maine, we got to- gether a group of Catholic doctors and lawyers, whom we called Laymen's Conference, who met to get the viewpoints of the Church on various problems. The idea motivating this group was that II the teachings of the Church were carried out the unemployment. problems, and many others, could he cured