The New Zealand Tablet WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1925. ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 36, 23 September 1925, Page 33

The New Zealand Tablet WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1925. ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS

S T. Thomas Aquinas was a far-seeing thirteenth-century theologian who has left in his works the refutation of many heresies, unknown in his own day, but which have since arisen in ours. His foieipV sight, however, was not limited to theological doctrines; it extended also to economics and the social question. In his time the industrial problem as we know it did not exist; * yet he lays down the fundamental principles £.■ which should govern* modern trading, and lie prescribes the essence, as it were, of sane remedies for the grave economic evils which began to develop only about a century ago. That able ethician, Rev. Dr. Cronin, read a , paper at the Cambridge Summer School on |. St. Thomas in his attitude to modern commerce, and as the points raised have a special V hearing upon present-day problems we offer no apology for devoting some attention to V| them here. • • • « * St. Thomas held that our estimate of things ought to be based upon their end, and he adds that the chief end of labor is the main--0 tenance of life. Therefore, as the support of his family is amongst man’s most sacred obligations it follows that the wages of the laborer should be sufficient to enable him to support his ■ family becomingly. Furthermore, as man is a rational creature he must make provision for the future; so again it follows that the wages of the laborer should be sufficient, not only to satisfy his immediate wants, but also to permit him to save something against the needs of to-morrow. It is just here that St. Thomas comes to grips with modern conditions, for the rule at present in operation is to treat the worker as a piece of machinery to which is applied I power and lubrication in sufficient volume to keep it running for a. period. When the machine is not required to work any longer, j - \ power and oil are shut off. Thus it has come to pass that the worker’s sole interest in U ' his business is gummed down in his weekly . • pay envelope. The question of wages, how- ! ever, is really determined by prices. A Here

again St. Thomas is in conflict with the practices employed in modern trading. In a vigorous article he denounces the system of buying and selling for profit, not for what ,it is in itself, but for what it eventually leads to. Trading for gain, he says, is not in itself bad. What is wrong with it is the fact, that of itself it includes no principle of .limitation, no norm of justice: of itself it sets no bounds to the lust for gain, but tends to infinity in the sense of authorising the seller to wring all he can from the purchasing community without consideration of the value of commodities. That is the root principle of modern commerce, and it would be idle to hope for anything different in an age in which ethical principles are derided as the folly of weaklings and fools. Trusts •and corners in the value of commodities also come under the lash of the angelic Doctor. He submits that unlimited freedom in buying and selling should not he allowed in the things limited in quantity which are necessary for human life. Dr. Cronin holds that this applies to the land, for if the land be bought and sold without restriction the whole country could fall into the hands of a few persons, and the rest of the people would be compelled to emigrate. St. Thomas would have no truck with tin? doctrine of laissez fain' , or the principle of commerce tintrammelled by law. Me recognised that while man has his rights as an individual, he also has his duties as a social being; and these he should be forced to observe by that State which God has instituted to guard the natural rights of all. St. Thomas, however, lived very near to God, and he looked upon property as something to lie used under God’s law. But modern States are not nearly so old fashioned. They care nothing for God and His laws, but concern themselves chiefly with expedients which often as not are intended to defeat the very purpose for which they are said to be employed. All the revolts which tend to paralyse industry to-day are caused chiefly by the fact that the working classes know from bitter experience that governments will do nothing to help them against the selfish interests of the rich and powerful. This flagrant neglect of duty on the part of the State breeds anarchy which those in authority seek to stifle in their gaols. The State has the power to discipline the profiteers, but unfortunately that power rests in the hands of venal politicians who have grown grey in their own service. The State does not lack the power to protect its people; it lacks only the will. 1 * « • From time to time well-meaning people lay down the moral rules which should govern commerce, and then they go on to show how these laws may be applied. It is well that the moral law should be rescued from the mass of expedients which hide it from view, but we must not be disappointed if little notice is taken of it. Even Catholic employers show very little anxiety to assist in making it a living force. At the Catholic Industrial ‘ Conference held recently in Chicago, at which the application of the principles laid down by Pope Leo XIII. was discussed, Catholic employers were conspicuous by their absence, notwithstanding that the clergy had urged them to attend. We always

feel that the question of economic morals is too far advanced to provide little more than an academic discussion. What is required . ; more than anything else at the present time -- is not to show how the principles of ' Beruin So varum may bo applied to an intricate : y m commercial system, but to re-establisi some of the old beliefs such as the existence" of a ! 11 Creator and the authenticity of the : Ten Commandments. Before we can establish justice we must first establish charity; and before we can establish charity we must break . through the glittering brass of Pharisaism in ‘ which prosperous humanity is encased, just •i.: the Apostles pierced the armor of the cultured pagans in the days of long ago. ' ■- '' tl HUMANITARIANISM Humanitarianism is a dangerous' creed, for the simple reason that it apes Christianity . while at the same time, being essentially antiChristian. Christianity advocates the love of our neighbor for Cod's sake, while hu- *. £v|p manitarianism advocates the love of our neighbor for his own sake. And that is the whole difference between the two creedsin one we worship Cod, in the other we wor- /’ml ship man. “The devil is the ape of God,” v runs the proverb, and in this humanitarian .Tg|| movement Satan, posing as an angel of charity, marks many victims for his own. Both Christianity and the humanitarians try |||i to relieve suffering, but they act from totally 'im different motives. The Church condemns those laws and practices which cause suffer- Ipl ing because in the first instance -hey 'do- d late justice and charity: humanitarianism condemns them as agents of suffering, jus- : ' tice and morals being completely ignored by . the apostles of man. The Church condemns ]:so the action of the woman who killed her lover ’ • in order to put him, out of pain; the hu- v {fj. manitarians applaud her as one who had accomplished a. great act of charity. The Church can tolerate suffering but she can- '|| not tolerate sin; the humanitarians can . tolerate sin hut they cannot stand suffering — indeed suffering is the only form of sin they '>•• nM recognise. It is all a question of objectives. he Church desires men to be prosperous and happy, and she knows that the maximum of happiness in this life can he non only whenthey submit to the moral law of God. Thus she stands for the preservation of abstract ,v|| principles which have their roots in heaven even if some immediate or local suffering is caused thereby. Humanitarians, on the other hand, scorn abstract principles of right' and wrong if respect for these entails suffer- • ing, lack of comfort, or restraint of Hie passions. They forget that suffering is not-' an evil, although frequently it is the effect of evil. The surgeon who dresses a wemn 1 inflicts pain, lint he is cruel only to be kind The 'Church also can be cruel in small, temporary things, but only to bring man into t the happiness of heaven and save him from the agonising eternity of hell. The difference between the motives which govern Christian- • ity and humanitarianism respectively Ts thus expressed by Mr. Chesterton: “You mar come to think a blow bad because it humili- V. ■ ates; you may come to think murder wrong because it is violent and not because it is unjust.” /. r . .... .-I,