The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1918. SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLV, Issue 18, 2 May 1918, Page 25

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1918. SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION

*roa{7njA N an eloquent pastoral Cardinal O'Connell 3!1 >5 warns us that the old order is passing, and ♦ l\ n that Catholics must be prepared to face a new world after the war. The pillars ]&Q_2£v of modern civilisation are tottering: many *cs/j|jg-; of them have fallen for ever. Old shibxrQr/%, boleths, old cries, old cant about "science, ;.* machinery, efficiency, cold-blooded enforce- .'" ment of the. ideals and principles upon which Christian civilisation rests," are losing their significance, and the bulwarks of twentieth century progress have gone down as hopelessly as the forts of Liege fell before the German guns. Very justly the Cardinal warns us that the war will bring no final settlement, and that the old human discontent will find new problems to exercise it, and that their solution will be just as arduous as that of the old ones which have been buried in the fields of blood. One thing he prophesies : "It will not be the demigods of finance nor the supermen of arms who will settle these claims. With this war their supremacy will have passed forever, and let us hope, with them, all the misery and ruin they have caused." There can be no doubt that the day of the unlimited power-of Capitalism is passing. Labor and Democracy all over the world have been roused to the fact that the time has come for a radical revolution which will for ever slay the monster to which all wars and all tyrannies are due. *- The new- era is already upon. us. And among the many signs that have heralded its dawn there comes before us the programme of social change and reconstruction recently issued by the 6ub-committee - of the British Labor Party. It is a manifesto which proclaims that the war between Capital > and Labor has begun. Its import must be weighed in the light of the fact that it stands for the > joint utterance of the millions of workers all over the • globe who • are > weary of sweating that the rich may > rule and possess 3 the

•earth. : -~ It impeaches :-the capitalistic system as : the cause of the unbearable inequality of classes, of the ■- hunger 'and. sufferings of the poor, of their degradation and brutalisation, both spiritual and moral, and declares that the system which has wrought such evil in the world must pass away for ever. "If," the. Labor Party assert, "we are to escape the decay of x civilisation we must ensure that the new order be built upon fraternity: 'on a systematic approach toward a healthy equality of material circumstances for every person born into the worldnot an enforced dominion over subject nations,. subject races, subject colonies, subject classes, or a subject sex, but in industry as well as government, on that equality of freedom, that general consciousness of consent, and that, widest participation in power, both economic and political, which is characteristic of democracy." The future social order must rest, according to the Labor Party, on. a fourfold foundation : it demands the minimum of health;' leisure, ieducation, and subsistence for all; personal freedom, comprising freedom of speech, freedom of publication, ' freedom of political rights; the common ownership of at least the public utilities, and the nationalising of mines, upon which must be based such a system of taxation as will yield all necessary revenue to the Government without encroaching on the prescribed .national minimum standard of life of any family whatever ; and that all surplus profits shall be vested in the State which thereby will be enabled to cope with the great commercial needs. In brief the fabric will rest on four pillars: 1. The universal enforcement of the national minimum. 2. The democratic .control of industry. ~3. The revolution of national finance. 4. The surplus wealth for the common good." It is alleged by some that we have had equally ■ pretentious' programmes before now and that things remained unchanged,_ that the Labor Party have no leaders, and that what leaders they have are not above being bought over by the capitalists as Labor leaders have been ere now. Those who reason in this fashion have a certain amount of plausibility on their side. In " the past, programmes came to nought and Labor leaders lost their independence when invited to sit at " the same board as their tyrants. However, we think there can be no doubt that the signs of the change are this time unmistakable and that a revolution is at hand. Human nature can stand much, but the coldblooded profiteering, connived at by our capitalistic governments, the merciless exploitation of the poor for the sake of the rich, the long queues of starving men and women who are tormented by hunger and thirst while merchants are making millions out of their very sufferings demand a redress, and are certain' to have it suddenly, and it may be violently, as. the same sort of crimes had in Russia. s * - '■

In consideration of these manifestations it is in- . cumbent on Catholics to be prepared for the coming change. The Catholic Church has always heard, the voices of the poor and the oppressed. The Catholic Church contains in her doctrines the true panacea for the social evils. The Catholic Church recognises the fact that the . worker is as good and usually better before God than the capitalist, and that her Divine s Founder taught men to realise the dignity of toil when . with His own hands He earned His daily bread in the carpenter's shop of Nazareth. Christ's teaching condemns the ways of the rich who batten on the poor, and while it clearly teaches that the capitalistic system is unjust and unchristian it also lays down the only sure ■ lines along which democracy can march towards a lasting prosperity and a beneficent equality. The I doctrine of a living wage, as well as the suggestion for the nationalisation of mines and railways, is contained in the masterly encyclicals of the workman's Pope, : Leo XIII. The same Pope also points out that withi out respect for the rights of all classes, without those, ■ fundamental Christian virtues which are the only sure ? foundation of society a social revolution must end in

chaos. '"•; Ih> "sanctity of ' the marriage ' tie must be the guai-antee of the stability of families, and if family Irfe is not modelled on the virtues of the Home of Nazareth,,. if the parents are not the best teachers of their children by word and by example, and if the children are" not grounded in reverence for God and His laws; the 1 issue will be confusion and disorder. God's law must be the basis of the new order if it is not to ; be -.disorder instead of order. Without the restraints of purity and charity and obedience the day will inevitably arrive when the tyranny of democracy will,be as intolerable as that of Capitalism. Therefore, more than ever, it is the duty of all Catholics to strive manfully for the maintenance of the principles • of the Gospel and to work with one mind for the amelioration and the guidance of society. The Church, in. the words of Cardinal O'Connell, "is the one organisation in the whole world which has never recognised distinction of persons. Just for that reason she is heard by all, because she is and must ever be the same to. all, the pillar and the ground of truth. She is the fearless protector of property against the greed of the lawless mob, just because she as fearlessly rebukes the selfish rich for being the chief cause of discontent among the toilers."