THE CHURCH AND THE WORKER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 259, 20 July 1918, Page 3

THE CHURCH AND THE WORKER

MITIGATION OF MODERN EVILS

"REFUGE OF THE OPPRESSED"

tßy Archbishop Redwood.]

Let us draw a picture of the condition ot labour as it .certainly was soino years ago, and in some rejects is fitiil. It and uu counterpart in-' previous centuries. Slavery, inueed, had gone, serfdom hud goiio, tlio oralis of the Ahddle Ages had gone; but iii their place a system of eommwee, vast enough to outdo the fairy dreams of the old craftsmen, , was wielded by two tyrants, Capital ami Credit. The personal dominion oi the slave-mas-ter, tiic personal service of the serfs, tho personal relations of the craits, had yielded to the impersonal domination of invisible Capital. The real employers of labour were irresponsible shareholders whose'interest was aroused only when their dividends dwindled. .The specific connection between master' and workman had nearly vanished. The labourer was free from old-time shivery, free from the laud, somewhat i'reo to make his own contracts, but he was not free from hunger. His body was not sold as a beast of burden in the market, but the vigour of his muscles-and nerve was a marketable article, and its price fluctuated with the value of the fuel which ran his machine. His comfort, his energy, his life were too often pulverised between '.two millstones of competition, competition among workmen, and competition among cdmpanies. Thousands often clamoured for work, and eagerly, in their dire distress, accepted an inadequate pittance to stave oft' starvation. In some English towns manufacturers would sweat a halfpenny from that pittance in order to sell their goods in Burmah a farthing cheaper than their rivals. Machinery replaced muscle, steam nerve-power, and men were accounted part of the mechani- , cal gear. Communications had become morg and more rapid, telegraphs and gigantic ships had made the whole world within touch, and rivalry grew keen not .only between ship and ehip, or firm and firm, or town and town, but between nation and nation in a feverish -rush for ascendancy.

The Workman's Struggle. This etato- of things was the work of capital, v by tlio accumulation of large sums to carry out vast undertakings. Knonmjue production, wide distribution, magnitude of operations, brought the individual workman into insignificance, as something to be discarded to suit price or profit. Against this mighty power tho workman had to struggle for hie work, for hie wage, for his food, for his time, fur his hoinej for his family, for healthy workshops and sound machinery, for provision against -injury and old ago. Nor did any ago ever see .greater wretohednees than his misery in tne dene of crowded cities. In the best factories his present whs uncertain, and his future insecure— strike, financial failure, or accident might leave him without bread for weeks, lie was but an atom in a mass of commercial intricacy' entirely beyond his control. Every thinking man knows that the relations between Capital and Labour, and the condition of (he workman, was deplorable, but the ramifications of the complex system, 'the dependence of one industry upon another, and of all upon currency and credit, and the exigencies of competition, presented a problem whose solution was extremely difficult. Remedies linve been suggested by men of overy stamp. The Anarchist would destroy everything in carnage and pillage, and start afresh from ruins. The Socialist of every grade would construct society on a .'different basis. The statesman and philosopher would devise schemes for nlleviating this or that hardship. Tho Press teemed with panaceas and palliatives. Legislatures had passed laws ■ to restrict the callous greed of Capital. Associations had been organised .to relieve 'the pressure of the incidents . of.. labcmr. .. .The. .workmen . themselves had combined to defend their natural rights, and at times to declare open war. between Capital, and Labour. All these tWmos and exertions proved only one thing—the state of perplexity and impotent effort. The issues were too vast and too far-reaching, the problem ■too intricate, varying from year to year.

The Church's Mission. What did the Catholic Church to assuage the workman's lot? Her mission is not to create governments, nor to constitute society. She is catholic, and accepts any form of government, empire, monarchy, aristocracy, ■' democracy, republic; and she strives to direct all in the principles and dictates of morality. Not commissioned to constitute society, or direct commerce, or regulate industry, or dictate Iho method of using the forces of Nature, sho accepts existing industrial arrangements, pronounces where they diverge from the principles of justice,- exposes and condemns oppression, and extends her sympathy, her charity, and her active influence and exertion to mitigate the .hardships of any system. What, then, did she to mitigate modern .evils? Her visible head, the Pope, proclaimed, with 'no uncertain voice, the iniquity of the oppression of capital. In 1887 the future Pope Leo XTII,' then Cardinal Archbishop of Perugia, issued a pastoral on. the evils of the''time, in which .he said: "The modern schools of economics have considered labour as the extreme end of man, whom they account as it machine of more or less value, according is he aids moro' or less in production. Hence no consideration for the normal man, and the- colossal abuso that is made of the popr and the lowly by those who seek to keep them in a state of dependence in order to grow rich at their expense. And oven in countries which have the reputation of being foremost in civilisation, what grave -and repealed complaints do we not hear of the excessive! hours of labour imposed on (hose that must earn their bread at tho sweat of their brow?, And does the sight of poov children, slml up in factories, where, m the midst of their premature toil, consumption awaits them—does not this sight provoke words of. burning indignation from every gonerous eoul, and oblige Governments and Parliaments to make laws that can serve as a check to this inhuman traffic?" These 'words show how the heart of Cardinal Pecci melted •at the prevalent distress of the working man; and shortly after he became Pope.

A Note of Warning, Almost at once ho sounded the note of warning against anarchy, communism, and Socialism as dangerous to society, rich and poor, and exhorted the bishops to encourage associations of artificers and workmen under the protection of religion. With paternal affection he received deputations of workmen, and showed his anxiety to soften tho lot of labour. To French workmen, in 1889, he said: "What we ask of you is to cement anew the social edifice by returning to the spirit nnd doctrines of Christianity; reviving, at least in substances, in their manifold and beneficent attributes, and under such forms as the condition of our times admit of, those corporations of arts and trades, founded upon a Christian ideal, and inspired by the maternal solicitude of Ihe Church, which formerly provided for the material and religious'noeds of the working classes, facilitated their labour, took cure of their savings and .economics, .defended their rights, and supported in duo measure their legitimate demands." Memorable Encyclical,

In 1801 lie, issued that ever memorable encyclical "lierum |iiovaruin," on the condition of labour, which commanded the attention and respect of tho world. Therein he defines the duties and responsibilities of employer.and workman, and hie thorough kiuiwlmlge of the difficulties of the situation and his sympathy for the labourer are conspicuous throughout. Take note of the following: "But all agree, and there can be no question whatever, that some remedy must be found, and quickly found, for the misery and wretchedness which press so Jieavily at this moment on the large majority of the , very poor. The ancient workman's guilds were destroyed in the last century, and no other organisation took their place. Public iiisliluliun.-i and Ihu laws hiivo repudiated the ancient religion. Hence, by degrees, it has come to pass that working men have been given over, isolated and defenceless, to the callousness

of employere and tlie greed of \mrcstrain,ed competition. The evil has been increased by rapacious usury, which, though mure than once condemned by the Uhurcli, is, nevertheless, under a different form but with the same fc'uilt, still practised by avaricious ami grasping men. And to ibis must be added the custom of working by contract, and the concentration of no many branches of trade in the hands of a lew individuals, so that a small number of vory rich, men have been able to lay upon the masses of the poor a yoke little better than slavery itself." These words wore addressed to the whole Church and to the whole world, and the'speaker, and the subject, and the circumstances gave them a weight that intensifies their strength. All the utterances of file Vicar of Christ testify to the interest, tho vigilance, and the efforts of tho Head of the Church on behalf of tho workman. All Europe evidences tho influence of the action of the Sovereign Pontiff. His voice was heard by every working man as well as by-bishops and priests. A Catholic Movement.

Its result has been to help on a-gen-,eral Catholic movement in each country, to take active) jneans to relieve the oppression of the modern commercial system. After Archbishop Kotteler, of Alayeiice, had boldly proclaimed from the pulpit the iniquity of the portion of labour, the Catholic bishops assembled at l'uldn spoke as follows: "All thinjes summed up, tho workman 'dobs not labour for niniself, but for Capital. In the materialistic atmosphore that now pervades the modern industrial world he merely counts as a ware, a live machine, yet all the while he is learning to consider himself more than a machine. Can the Church remain indifferent? No; she can and must hasten to the rescue; all her interests nro involved in this question. Were sho to ignore the social questions and limit her action to opposing to its dangers tho-usual .exercises of her ministry she would bo wanting in her duty towards millions of souls, in that office entrusted to her by Christ. ,, The outcome of the deliberations of the bishops was a.forcible appeal for the foundation of olubs for Catholic workmen. And such clubs were forthwith founded in many districts. A Catholic Peasant League was also founded to protect the agricultural workman against high ronts and low wages, and to benefit him. in several other directions. '

Beneficial Measures. In Austria the enemy of labour was the Jew, who paid wages to half the operatives of the country, and to more than a, fourth of the peasants, yet did nothing to improve the condition of the labourer. The result of Catholic agitation was that the State passed an Act which allowed the incorporation of trades and industrial undertakings, .1 measure of the utmost advantage to the workers. Other beneficial measures also resulted in favour of the working classes. In Switzerland Catholic action was stimulated by Cardinal Mcrraillot. And at a meeting at Baden the Swiss bishops united in urging the clergy to found Catholic labour associations, and such associations'arose on all sides. In Belgium, a hive of industry, bishops and clergy espoused tbo cause of the workman with heart and «oul. Catholics formed a powerful laboinr federation, co-operative societies, societies of employers, and a society of emigration. Evoryi town and village soon had its Catholic associations. Catholic workmen obtained a substantial representation in the Belgian Parliament. Cardinal Manning. Kot to mention other countries, lingland underwent the lasting influence of Cardinal Manning. He was sincerely and deeply loved by the workingman, «nd no one pleaded their cause more farlessly and lovingly. Fsom pulpit, from platform, from 'an improvised standing-place in a crowd of grimy faces, he spoke with 'a clearness and precision of the rights and wrongs of Labour. And on their behalf he powerfully wielded his pen in the Press. Throughout the 'struggles to>r tenaut right, reduction of rents in Ireland, compensation for improvements, and other Labour demands, tlio Catholic puiest has thrown :n his lot with the labourer, has shared his sufferings and his wont, while at t>o same time cheering him with the ..soothing touch of a-mother. Jf brighter days are coming—which may God grant-Ire-land will nover forget, the fostering caw of the Church in her dark days. '1 Ins rapid and incomplete survey of the action of the Church in Europe proves her to bo now as always ,tho refugo ol the oppressed and the. protector of Labour. She does not stay cr pretend to unravel economic puzzles; that is not her mission, but she sees the workman in distress and oppressed by Capital, and throughout Europe she has taken practical means to lighten his burdens and to give him some degree of independence. The Church alone attempts to control the inmost cause of the labour struggles, and the greed of capitalism, and.the excited passions of the workman, and by her organisations, whether of musters or of men, she can use. that influence over 'the human heart that Cliri.st has committed to her. She is specially fitted to deal with the far-reaching cornpik\i : :ions of the -modern system. Principles of Justice. The only existing agency capable of promoting ..common action among nations is the Cnurch. tihe is catholic, she is everywhere,'.shu'. is bound to uphold the principles of justice, and she could adjudicate, equitably between the demands of capitalist ami workman. AY hen .:= was a slave - sho inured iiim, she strengthened him, she , brought, out his manhood and gave him his name and Ins liberty; when he was a serf siie workedwith him, she cheered his toil, she brought him comforts and watched over him until he obtained his freedom; when he was a craftsman she breathed the spirit of piety and charity into him, she brought pence to his work and comfort to his heart, and made l.im Contented and happy. Through the long ages sho lms been his friend, \m protector, his champion: it has been her mission, her duty", and a labour of lovo: whatever lmiy bo his distivss, hardships, or oppression, he can - rely with confidence npou her support, her assistance, and her fostering cave.