Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 24 November 1921, Page 14

Current Topics

A Living, Wage. ; Most reasonable people have come to accept as tho minimum of justice for the worker Pope Leo's definition of a. minimum wage: that is wages sufficient toslafford the worker and his family decent conditions of life. Of course the words "decent conditions" imply not merely what is necessary to keep together' soul and body, but also what is . necessary to keep the worker and his family in frugal comfort when the. clothes' bills and the house bills. and the school .bills have been paid. The old idea, deeply rooted in Protestant England, was to grind down the laborer and treat him. as a slave, often than of less value than a horse or a dog. It took centuries of hard struggles and of; determined fighting against . tyranny to lift the worker from-slavery., and there is danger that after all he is heir.to he is now becoming through his own blindness a slave of the Servile State and a chattel of capitalism. The Government is an instrument of capitalism, the : press is the voice of capitalism. When the profiteer complains about high wages the. politicians back him and the day-lie men denounce the rapacity of the worker. Recently the press held up its hands iii horror at the idea that high wages ought to be maintained after the war. They do not manifest much concern regarding the high profits of the profiteer, nor did they. 'lose much energy in lamenting the exploitation of the people by the politicians who were ready to send the last son of the poor to die for them but had no notion of .asking for the last sou. of their wealthy patrons. If the price of commodities isTaigh it is not fair to blame it on high wages, for we know that when wages, go up one per cent, profits go- up ten at the same time. One has only to recollect the rise in the wages of miners and in the cost of coal to. the consumer during the war. A press that objects to give a few shillings a week extra to the worker has no objection at all to giving a few thousand pounds to the capitalist at the public expense, anct*p6liticiaiis who oppose justice for laborers will have no sort of scruple about condoning terrible.; waste arid- even peculation in the public services, especially if the . peculators and the wasters know how to give the Masonic grip. Now, in direct opposition to the: views of press and politicians, wo say that the high wages paid during the war- ought to be maintained. The American Catholic Bishops urged that in their programme of social reform two or three years ' ago, and, apart h from the capitalists. and their machinery in press and parliament, the world • knows the proposal was right and fair. The question is not what the workers can be induced or forced to accept it is a question of what they ought to get; .and the measure of what is due to them is still to be found in Leo's rule, that their wages ought to suffice to keep them in decent and frugal comfort. The worker is a man, not a serf, and unlike a horse, his wants are not supplied when you give him a meal and a roof: he is a man, and therefore has a right to live like a man —as much right as. his master and more. What was a living wage in other days is so no longer, and it is usless to say that high wages are the. cause of that. The chief causes, are high profits, trusts exploitation of the poor, high taxes, useless and criminal waste of public ■ monies, the ; public expenditure necessary to pay useless beings like th& Nosworthys arid the Massey s ' and the Andersons, and the foolish outlav, involved in sending such persons on joy-rides; to the Islands«or- to ;, conferences at which they are as useful as wax-works.

Dress and Morals ~ ■■\- : Y- ■'.;_'' Words were originally intended to, express ideas; politicians. Can: ignoble race) appeared and perverted them into disguises for ideas that exist, or more often for empty - signs of ideas that do not exist. Much -in, the same way clothes,; were invented to keep the body warm and to protect modesty. A degenerate people

have|chariged ; all that, and, now their purpose is to ' bring into flaring notice the nakedness of young, women.To young girls who" imagine that shameless display of their skin is a bait whereby \ men may- be induced to propose .we commend a serious meditation on the following words of Father Martin Scott, S.J.: - . The purpose'" of dress is twofold, to protect the body and to ornament it. Some women nowadays pervert the use of. dress. It is the nature of woman to be attractive. But. her greatest attraction is her modesty. Any woman can attract men by a certain style of dress, or the lack of dress, but it is not the attraction that a proper woman cares for. -No man whose love is worth having cares for a woman of that kind. He may use her as a toy, but he will not love her. Some men will take every concession a woman will make ; but the more she yields, the less they respect her. They will amuse themselves with her, but they will not marry her, ordinarily. '; God put the instinct of attractiveness in women in order to induce honest love and marriage. The way some women dress now induces only dishonorable love. In fact it is wrong to call it a love at all. It is just passion, sex passion, and implies no esteem, no honest purpose, no idea of true affection. ' In women the instinct to be attractive is very strono-. But whenever that instinct is gratified by a lack of self-respect it acts as a boomerang. Any woman who attracts attention or admiration at the cost of modesty is • COMMITTING MORAL SUICIDE. She is doing harm to herself and others. 'Do not think " that I speak thus merely because I am' a priest. It is not only religious people who lament the indecency of modern dress. Physicians and statesmen . and moralists join in the condemnation of the present . immodest fashions. They condemn them because of their positive harm. Dr. Foveau de Courmelles, one of the best known physicians in Europe, declares that some of the worst evils now confronting civilised nations may be laid at the door of the feminine craze for indecent dress. Among other things he says: "Woman's clothing has reduced itself to the most simple expression by its scantiness. She is dressed in these days when . she 'is undressed." What a dreadful indictment, by a man of the world ! The unusual always attracts. If a woman concedes more than propriety allows, of course she will attract notice. She may,, even : get a certain sort of admiration, the admiration that spells ruin. Man has a twofold nature, animal and spiritual. An immodestly dressed woman may win the admiration of man's animal nature; but it is only a brutal admiration" not only not worth having, but positively dangerous. to both men and women. A decent woman does not want the admiration which comes from sacrificing her modesty. And a decent man does riot want to associate honorably with . A WOMAN WHO DISREGARDS MODESTY. If a woman wins a man by any improper display of her person, she will regret it. Such a man will treat her in accordance with his brutal instincts. A marriage resulting from such admiration will be a matter of lust, , arid not love. Lust is cruel, and when it is tootßte the woman will realise it. V If air this is so, you say, why is it that in sociafcy', there is so much immodesty in dress And I ask ou : Why is it that in society there is so much divorce and separation, and so many- charges of : cruelty arid incompatibility arid so many tragedies? Unfortunate marriages are frequently the' consequence of merely sensual attraction. Nothing ■ fades so .fast as the atfounded- on animal passion. ; That is one . reason why there are so ; many regrettable marriages now. The scandalous : dress of; some women exposes them, to lustful eves, \ generates- false love, and lays the ;.: foundation for lifelong misery. .•'••■• ' .Y, •: :-• v i It is because the Catholic- Church seeks the true welfare of women that ;it insists so much on modesty in dress. ~, The qualities which in, a woman attract the

true ; love of a man are those not dependent on an unseemly display, of her .person. - And if a woman does not win ‘ the true love, of a man; she had better a thousand : times remain single. ; * *, __

The importance of Good Schools , In his valuable ' .book; Collapses in Adult Life, Father Hull enumerates a list of degeneracies, as lamentable as.-they• are common, which : infect the very. $■ atmosphere in which we live and have our being, and ; , make the ruin of many who left school with a good t record and a high ideal. These are: - " ,- ■ . "~ 1. Disorderly family .life,, resulting in a general • lowering of the family tone.'. .2. Quarrelling and ill-temper in the family. 3. Gossiping and scandalmongering. 4. The drink habit and its consequent miseries. , •., 5. Trifling with temptations against the' Sixth-: Commandment. ;•.:::; .... > ~6., Licentiousness in thought, word, or deed. ;. .7. Loss of integrity in office work, and dishonest -:'■' scheming. . ■ .-' - ~ , .'• .8 .Gradual neglect of prayer, Mass, and the sacraments, ' with indifference or practical loss of religion. _ " : >: ' ;,•• '. ' . ; Such degeneracies are brought about by ,1. The inherent proneness - { of human nature to . evil. . ' ; ' ' ■ ■■ ■ - 2. The lowering tendency of a worldly environment. • v ■■'. . ■:, 3. The contagion of an atmosphere of indifference, and the lack of care for religion and morality. This contagion works ■: .'...;., ._•. . v (a) through the idea that, religion does not matter as long as a man leads a "good life" ; ... . >; (b) through the general, reception of the principle that strict honesty and truthfulness are obstacles for a man who wants to get on ; ■ ' • - - : ; : / : ■'--.■■ •," (c) through the positive evil example of others (d) through yielding easily to temptations* until bad habits are formed.. 0 Ji - It is a matter of common experience that against these factors many young people strive in vain to maintain their ideals of virtue and manhood and quickly fall to the level of. those who have either lost already or never possessed such ideals. Teachers and parents know too well how often boys and girls leaving school with- pure and clean hearts are swept into the y maelstrom and lost. As Father Hull says : "So many children are brought up in our schools with ;the greatest care; instructed and trained and disciplined for years; and yet when they leave school and begirt to face the realities of adult life, we find them turning out a sad disappointment. Pupils;who ■ at.school were exemplary in discipline, pious in.sentiment, and regular and devout in religious ■ exercises, are frequently turning put a failure; some dropping off in their practice, neglecting ; Mass and- the . Sacraments and even their Easter duties; others even losing 'their faith and becoming either in.differents or agnostics ; r or unbelievers." V s '-'-'■'■ ■ ■■:■ : - " >: ; <' — ':.-■:■ ■■:-.. ' It . is an ardous • problem. Environment, the worldly, anti-Catholic atmosphere of the press, of the public, of the greater part of English literature, have vail their evil influence; mixed marriages and bad companions are still more demoralising in the effects. But ; why do so many succumb ? No doubt the answer that man is prone to evil and has inherited original sin and its consequences explains a good deal, but it does not explain why so much care and, labor should end in so ' much apparent failure: we should be prepared for a ' fa per centage of failures ; as a result ; of original, sin, but we are not prepared for so many falls as we have to admit. Now, mark well the following words of Father Hull: b " : t% "We can; only explain , it by want of grit, want of ■ backbone, or want of character.: The school education has put no * end i of religious "and; moral education into " : their heads, and been : accompanied by no end of pious practices. But somehow or other the teaching has never penetrated into their .innermost minds so as v:to take permanent; hold therein." ' ; ' : -'-f:- -''/■';;.,;';

-; •, '.:■■ So ■:the::question' comes to r this: Are our schools all doing 'the': best they might do to fortify the f j young man or, woman, to build up character in such a manner, that internal weakness -will be ' largely, repaired '•■■■ and: external dangers' minimised :i : All• who Have.; had ? any,; wide experience of teaching and of the tone of different'; schools ought to' recognise that there is : a teaching : thatl: will do this, and a. teaching that will not, just as there are schools that . habitually turn out • boys "., and- girls who | ;• usually make, good,• and others ' that turn out too : large; a proportion- of failures. , Speaking from a fairly extensive knowledge we venture to say that the Irish Christian Brothers, the Marists,; and the Holy Ghost Fathers have a high reputation for the tone and character of their boys,- even in past academic years. r We :■'"> merely select these as examples: of others we might well say the same.;. Nobody can deny, again, that there are also schools that do not turn out • boys who stand up to the enemy quite so sturdily, and we have heard that teachers themselves' confess as much. What: : ; .s •',' done in one school ought to be possible in others; an 3 there is no school that' can not be vastly improved. So that the way of, ' : remedy seems to be reorganisation where necessary, and in' other cases further attention and care towards the end of. fortifying youth and forming character on hard, wear-and-tear lines. Boys •and girls must be educated to realise that their lives ought to be dominated by. principles; and true education consists in the grasp of principles by the intellect - and the application of them by the will: it comprehends therefore Knowledge and Volition. v: As regards knowledge: it is true to say that no Catholic school is fulfilling its mission unless it puts Christian education first and foremost. Better teica children the Christian Doctrine than win prizes and scholarships for secular learning and neglect religious teaching. The teaching of. religion ought to be first. It, and it alone, is essential. The Catechism is. act enough. Secondary schools ought to provide a course of higher religious instruction such as will give children a logical and co-ordinated knowledge of the truths of their faith. We consider that it would be a disgrace for any secondary Catholic school to send out into a pagan world children who are unable to answer the ordinary objections brought against the Catholic . Church, and who are like dumb beasts when asked to give a reason for their belief. Moreover, parents who - have the true education of their children at heart ought to compel the teachers to provide such instruc- . tion. In every secondary Catholic school some approved manual, such for instance as the course we are following in the Tablet at present, ought to be made a class book.; We wonder h'ow many Catholic teachers ever read our weekly page of .instructions for the children. We wonder how many of them even know as much as this elementary course contains. The character is not formed on intellect alone. The will must be trained to act promptly on right principle's. The r authority of law, must be established ; beyond question: a high conception of duty must be engendered at all costs. - Not to do what one likes,,or to omit doing what... one does not like, but -to do what is right and to omit what is wrong: in a word to obey God's Law and to do what duty calls upon' us to do, must he the constant aim: it ought to come as a matter of course to all and it will., if good habits;: or virtues, are formed rightly and ; solidly. Virtue means established good habits- and virtue, arid not superficial and emotional piety must be the basis of character. Routine practice of pious exercises, : sentimental devotions and ephemeral fervor are useless - without the real sclirl. foundation of stem virtue which will go on doing what is right however hard it :: be and however dreary -it may - seem. ; ; Once teachers get -at. the knack ■of grounding; children in virtue' of this kind, accompanied with pra- ; prr instruction, the right tone will*.- follow and theJ.; school will be fulfilling its duty. And it is true .io--f\ say that a Catholic school that fails in this respect is not. worth supporting. >, > , ; *

In 'proportion ■ as -ye have teen sparing in your, ow,n chastisement, will God' spare; you.— Pacian. . . •. • .v’V; . -S' V* •• ♦* • ••• ".Vi'V » ! r . . Si-v: