Encyclical of Leo XIII on the Condition of the Working Classes

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 27, 12 July 1923, Page 21

Encyclical of Leo XIII on the Condition of the Working Classes

(Notes of a lecture delivered on June 24 by Rev. Brother Fergus, M.Sc, to the Students' Social Guild at "The Pah" Orphanage, Auckland.) ( The lecturer opened the subject by- pointing out the relation of the encyclical under discussion to the various other pronouncements of Leo XIII. on social questions. "The steady advance of his pronouncements seems to disclose a preconceived plan of embracing the grand lines of Catholic teaching on the individual,, the family, the State and the economic order." (Monsignor Parkinson— The Pope and the People.) Looking out onto a world of enormous wealth, endless labor, and hopeless misery, the Pope, the father of the multitude, considering not only the "spiritual concerns" of his children but also "their interests temporal and earthly" seems in his solicitude to say with his Divine Master, "I have compassion on the multitude." So from his heart as much as from his great intellect there came a message of hope and comfort, of wise and prudent counsel to the worker, the poor, and the indigent, whilst at the same time he strove to recall the employer and the wealthy to their duties of justice and Christian charity. After a general survey of the scope of the document the lecturer proceeded to analyse it under various headings. General Survey of the Condition of the World towards the End of the 19th Century. The elements of the conflict in the new condition of the world are—(l) the vast expansion of industrial pursuits; (2) the marvellous discoveries of science; (3) the changed relations between masters and workmen; (4) the enormous fortunes of some few individuals; (5) the utter poverty of the masses; (G) the increased self-reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; (7) the prevailing moral degeneracy. The Pope's purpose is then "to define the relative rights and mutual duties" of Capital and Labor so that their relations may be properly adjusted. To ameliorate the condition of the poor and the workingman he says "some remedy must be found and found quickly." The causes of their "misery and wretchedness" the document ascribes to various causes—(l) the abolition of the ancient working-men's Guilds; (2) the separation of Church and State; (3) the hard-heartedness of employers; (4) the greed of unchecked competition; (5) rapacious usury of covetous and grasping men; (6) the custom of working by contract(7) monopolies. "So that a small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself." -.,■ The Ethical Basis of the Encyclical. • Principles dictated by truth and justice. Recognition of the right to private property and other specific rights arising out of the primary natural rights. The distinction between duties as obligations of justice or of charity is carefully pointed out. "If society is to be cured in no other way can it be cured, but by a return to the Christian life and the Christian institutions." The natural lawperfected by -the Christian law, which superadded to it the law of charity must be the basis of human society if it is to rise above the hardness and selfishness of human relations in a world largely governed by materialistic tendencies. Socialism. Having discussed the character of the problem the Holy Father proceeds to point out the remedies. To clear

the ground for the foundations he disposes of the remedy offered by Socialism, ' i.e., complete .socialism, —collective use as well as collective ownership. This remedy he declares, would not be effective, is "emphatically unjust," ''destructive of liberty," and would "create utter confusion in the community." His Holiness forcibly insists on the workman's rights. Firstly Man has the right to live, and moreover being a human being endowed with reason he has right in nature to private property, to remuneration for his labor, to sufficient bodily sustenance. .; "That man alone among the animal creation is endowed with reason it must he within his right to possess things not merely for temporary and momentary use, as other living things do, but to have and to hold them in stable and permanent possession ; he must have not only things that perish in the use, but those also which, though they have been reduced into use, continue for further use in after time." "Man precedes the State and possesses . . . the right of providing for the .sustenance of his body." ? "God has given the earth for the use and enjoyment of the whole human race." i "Private ownership is lawful." ". . . is in accordance with the law of Nature." : "Now, when man thus turns the activity of his mind and the. strength of his body towards procuring the fruits of Nature, by such act he makes his own that portion of Nature's, field which he cultivates." "As effects follow their cause, so it is just and right that the results of labor should belong to those who have bestowed their labor." The practice of all ages has consecrated the principle of private ownership, as being pre-eminently in conformity with human nature, and as conducing in the. most unmismanner to the peace-and tranquillity of human existence. Secondly— has the right to observe virginity or to marry. "No human law can abolish the natural and original right of marriage. . ." ■- Increase and Multiply. "Hence we have the family ... a society an-terior-to every kind of State or nation, invested' with rights and duties of its own, totally independent of the civil community." Whence the right of private property is proved by the family. "For it is a most sacred law of nature that a father should provide food and all necessaries for those whom he has begotten." "Now in no other way can a father effect this except by the ownership of lucrative property, which he can transmit to his children by inheritance." "The family must necessarily have rights and duties which are prior to those of the community, and founded more immediately in nature." The same principle is enunciated by Herbert Spencer in Just ice, p. 216. "Fatherhood habitually implies ownership of the means by which children and dependents are supported." "Paternal authority can be neither abolished nor absolved by the State; for it has the same source as human life itself." Thirdly— has the right to develop; therefore to his liberty, to needful rest and recreation, to improve his skill and his mental powers, and to live becomingly for, says St. Thomas, "no one ought to live other than becomingly." ' Fourthly— has the right to serve God. to guard and preserve his soul, to cultivate the virtues of his station.* "He cannot give up his soul to servitude, for it is not man's own rights which'are here in question,' but the rights of God, most sacred and inviolable." Fifthly— workingman has the right to combine "All-embracing State functions characterise a low social type, and progress to a higher social*type is marked by relinquishment of functions," says Herbert Spencer in Justice, p. 230. \ When such combination is not a danger to the State. does not set aside the principles of justice and its object is worthy, the State would be transgressing its natural limits if it interfered. Sixthly—The right to strike, so long as the cause is

just, "..-.. because the hours of labor are too long, or the work too hard, or- because they consider their wages insufficient." Seventhly— right to a just wage, a living wage " ... sufficient to enable him to maintain himself, his wife, and his children." "... a right full and real, not only to the remuneration, but also to the disposal of such remuneration, just as he pleases" "'. . . nevertheless, there underlies a distaste of natural justice more impervious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely, that remuneration ought to be sufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner." All these rights the Holy Father establishes by clear and sound reasoning. The broad principles laid.down in this remarkable pronouncement apply to all times and to all peoples, notwithstanding diversity of character and national customs. They serve as the major premisses'" in all discussions relative to social order. To Alleviate the Condition of the Working Classes. The foundations thus laid the encyclical proposes remedies, more or less general, to alleviate the condition of the working classes. Firstly—There can be no practical solution without the intervention of religion and of the Church. Men must first reform themselves by a return to a Christian life. It must also be recognised that human nature being uneven there cannot be equality of fortune,, that labor is not only a choice but a necessity on account of man's fall and that suffering must exist. Secondly—The proper adjustment of Labor and Capital. Class should help class. Religion teaches the laboring man and the artisan certain obligations of justice—(a) "to carry out honestly and fairly all equitable agreements freely entered into"; (b) "never to injure, the property nor to outrage the person of an employer"; (c) "never to resort to violence in defending their own cause"; (d) "to have nothing to do with men of evil principles." The principles of justice religion teaches the wealthy owner and employer are—(a) "that their work-people are not to be accounted their bondsmen"; (b) "that in every man they must respect his dignity and worth as a man and as a Christian"; (c) "that labor is not a thing to be ashamed of, . . j but- is an honorable calling"; (d) "that it is shameful and inhuman to treat men like chattels to make money by, or to look upon them merely as so much muscle or physical power"; (e) "the employer is bound to see that the worker has time for his religious duties" ; (f) "the employer must never .tax his work-people beyond their strength, or employ them in work unsuited to their sex or age" ; (g) "His great and principal duty is to give everyone a fair wage; (h) He must religiously refrain from cutting down the workman's earnings, either by force by fraud, or by suurious dealings." The observance of these precepts, the Pope contends, "would be sufficient of themselves to keep under all strife and all its causes." Thirdly—But the teaching of Christ has higher precepts still— only justice, but mercy tempering' justice, and charity perfecting both. The rich must help the poor! "No one is commanded ... to give away what is reasonably required to keep up becomingly his condition m life; 'for no one ought to live other than becomingly.' " "Of that which remaineth give alms," ' (St. Luke xi, 41.) A Duty of Christian Charity.. ■■;,..-'.• "It is a duty, not of justice (save in extreme cases) hut of Christian charity—a duty not enforced by human law," says his Holiness. n As is well known there are circumstances in which an obligation of charity may become converted into an obligation of justice. St. Thomas of Aquin as well as St. Ambrose are often quoted to this effect. The extreme cases referred to by the Pope are those where "vital necessity" creates a "superior need." Then "the man may lawfully relieve his distress out of the proporty of another, taking it either openly or secretly, nor does this proceeding properly bear the stamp of either theft or robbery." . (St. Thomas, gumma, 2a, 2ae, QLXVI. art 7.) It is the desire of the Church that the poor should rise above their poverty and wretchedness and better their

condition in life. A perfect state of society would endeavor to provide for man's intellectual as well as his -spiritual and moral wants. Fourthly—The limited intervention- of the State. The modern tendency is to exalt the State at the expense of the family. Socialism would set the authority of the State over the family to such a degree as to usurp all parental rights. This tendency the Pope emphatically condemns as quotations already given abundantly show. , lhere are, however, cases where the intervention of the •btate is wise and necessary, the governing 'principle being that it must not absorb the individual or the family j • both should be allowed free and untrammelled action "so tar as is consistent with' the common good and the interests of others." Thus "whenever the general interest or any particular class suffers, or is threatened with mischief which can in no other way be met or prevented, the public authority must step in to deal with it." "Still when there is question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and helpless have a special claim to consideration." When the State forces on the people a godless education, directly or indirectly penalysiug those who object to such an invasion of parental rights, as is done in America France, Australia, and New Zealand, that is a form of socialism-a disregard of a natural right. In fighting the battle of Christian education of the children we Catholics of New Zealand are maintaining, against great odds, and successfully too, the rights of parents, the integrity of the family. * Fifthly-The State should deal with labor questions, safeguarding private property by legal enactment and public policy." It should step in where life, health or morals are in grave danger. Strikes and Resultant Disorder. The laws should aim at preventing strikes and resultant disorder from-arising, by lending their authority to the removal of the causes which lead to conflicts between employers and employed." From those words we may conclude his Holiness had in mind some sort of arbitration or conciliation. Spiritual rights, too, should be respected and protected m the obligatory cessation from work on Sundays. In external matters, "the first concern of all is to save -the.poor workers from the cruelty of greedy speculators. "It. is neither just nor human so to grind men down with excessive labor as to stupify their minds and wear out their bodies." These are. very forcible wordsand who will say they are even to-day uncalled for? The Pope devotes a few sentences only to the employment of children and women; but they are words of great import. ''Work which is quite suitable for a strong man cannot' reasonably be required from a woman or a child " He utters a caution against employing children in factories before their minds and bodies are sufficientlv developed "Women, again, are not suited for certain occupations; a woman is by nature fitted- for home-work" Pope Leo XIII. always showed great interest in legislation designed to prevent child-labor. Thanks to the influence of his wise words much has been accomplished in most countries in this direction. We have onlv to read of the conditions under which women and even'children of tender years were employed in England in the first half of the 19th century to realise this. Any species of labor that exhausts a man's powers beyond the point of recuperation is inhuman. The clamor for* shorter hours and higher wages is not governed entirely by man's physical wants. "He should be in a position to cultivate the social virtues. His family h-is -i paramount claim on his time and attention," savs Brother Azarias. It is laid down in the encyclical that every man is entitled to proper rest for soul and body. It "would be ' against right and justice to make an agreement in any other sense. , J A Living Wage. Sixthly-A Living Wage. It is a "dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man and man, namely that remuneration ought to be sufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wageearner. It is obvious that is here meant a laborer and

his family. It involves the conception of that standard of living insisted on throughout the encyclical and must have the sanction of natural justice. So much has been written on this subject in recent years that i.t is not necessary to pursue it at greater length. Seventhly— The working-man should be encouraged to acquire property, with the results that "property will certainly become more equitably divided." "The respective classes will be brought nearer to one another." "A further consequence will result in a greater abundance of the fruits of the earth." From this will spring another advantage: men will cling to their native land. Eigthly—Associations and organisations, such as societies for mutual help, benevolent foundations to provide for the workman, or his widow or his orphans; and "institutions for the care of boys and girls, for young people, as well as homes for the aged"; most important of all,' working-men's unions. His Holiness makes a pica for the "revival of the artificers' guilds of olden times.". He sets forth the objects and rights of association and the Christian principles that should govern them, and then urges co-operation between employers and employed for the settlement of disputes. The advantages of insurance funds are also touched upon. Only associations organised on Christian principles of justice and charity will benefit the working-man. God must be before all else. Many remedies are offered to cure the ills of society; and it is a duty of justice as well as of charity for Catholics to take an interest in social questions and to "clearly and succinctly propose their own principles," which they' will learn from a study of the great encyclical. At the end of the lecture a number of questions were put to the lecturer, and a general discussion followed to which Miss Boylan, Mr. Wright, Brother Osmond, B.Sc.y and his Lordship Bishop Liston (who presided) contributed!