ON THE CONDITION OF LABOUR

lo our Vénérable Brethren, ait Patriarche, Primates,

Archbishops, and Bishops of the Catholic World, in

Grâce and Commvnion wilh the Aposto/ic See.

POPE LEO XIII

Vénérable Brethren,

Health and Apostolic Bénédiction.

It is not surprising that the spirit of révolution ary change, which has so long been prédominant in the nations of the world, should hâve passed beyond politics and made its influence felt in the cognate field of practical ecoi omy. The éléments of a conflict are unmistakable : the growth of industry, and the surprising discoveries of science ; the changed relations of masters and workmen ; the enormous fortunes of individuals, and the pov* rty of the masses ; the increased self-reliance and the closer mutual combination of the working population ; and,

finally, a gênerai moral détérioration. The momentous seriousness of the présent state of things just now fills every raind with pain fui appréhension ; wise men discuss it ; practical men propose schemes ; popular meetings, législatures, and sovereign princes, ail are occupied withit — and there is nothing which has a deeper hold on public attention.

Therefore, Vénérable Brethren, as on former occasions, when it seemed opportune to réfute false teaching, We hâve addressed y ou in the interests of the Church and of the common weal, and hâve issued Letters on Political Power, on Human Liberty, on the Christian Constitution of the State, and on similar subjects, so now We hâve thaught it useful to speak on the Condition of Labour. It is a matter on which We hâve touched once or twice already. But in this Letter the responsibility of the Apostolic office urges Us to treat the question expressly and at length, in order that there may be no mistake as to the principles wThich truth and justice dictate for its seulement. The discussion is not easy, nor is it free from danger. It is not easy to define the relative rights and the mutual duties of the wealthy and of the poor, of capital and of labour. And the danger lies in this, that crafty agitators constantly make use of thèse disputes to pervert men's judgments and to stir up the people to sédition.

But ail agrée, and there can be no question whatever, that some remedy must be found, and quickly found, for the misery and wretchedness which press so heavily at this moment on the large majority of the very poor. The ancient workmen's Guilds were destroyed in the last century, and no other organisation took their place. Public institutions and the laws hâve repudiated the ancient religion. Hence by degrees it has corne to pass that Working Men hâve been given over, isolated and defenceless, to the callousness of employers and the greed of un-

restrained compétition. The evil has been increased by rapacious Usury, which, although more than once condemned by the Church, is neverthelesss, under a différent form but with the same guilt, still practiced by avancions and grasping men. And to this must be added the custom of working by contract, and the concentration of sô many branches of trade in the hands of a few individuals, so that a small number of very richmen hâve been able to lay upon the masses of the poor a yoke little better than slavery itself.

To remedy thèse evils the Socialists, working on the poor man's envy of the rich, endeavour to destroy private property, and maintain that individual possessions shonld become the common property of ail, to be administered by the State or by municipal bodies. They hold that, by thus transferring property from private persons to the community, the présent evil state of things will be set to rights, because each citizen will then hâve his equal share of whatever there is to enjoy. But their proposais are so clearly futile for ail praclical purposes, that if they were carried out the working m an himself would be among the first to surfer. Moreover they are emphatically unjost, because they would rob the lawful possessor, briug the State into a sphère that is not its own, and cause complète confusion in the community.

Tt is surely undeniable that, when a man engages in remunerative labour, the very reason and motive of his work is to obtain property, and to hold it as his own private possession. . If one man hires out to another his strength or his industry, he does this for the purpose of receivingin retum what is necessary for food and living ; he thereby expressly proposes to acquire a full and real right, not only to the rémunération, but also to the disposai of that rémunération as he pleases. Thus, if he lives sparingly,

saves money, and invests his savings, for greater security, in land, the land in such a case is only his wages in another form ; and, consequently, a working man's little estate thus purchased should be as completely at his own disposai as the wages he receives for his labour But it is precisely in this power of disposai that ownership consists, whether the property be land or movable goods. The Socialists, therefore, in endeavouring to transfer the possessions of individuals to the cornrnunity, strike at the interests of every wage-earner, for th^y deprive him of the liberty of disposing of his wages, and thus of ail hope and possibility of increasing his stock and of bettering his condition in life.

What is of still greater importance, however, is that the remedy they propose is manifestly against jus ice. For every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own. This is one of the chief points of distinction between man and the animal création. For the brute has no power of self-direction, but is governed by two chief instincts, which keep his powers alert, move him to use his strength, and détermine him to action without the power of choice. Thèse instincts are self-preservation and the propagation of the species. Both can attain their purpose by means of things which are close at hand ; beyond their surroundings the brute création cannot go, for they are moved to action by sensibility alone, and by the things which sensé perceives. But with man it is différent indeed. He possesses, on the one hand, the full perfection of animal nature, and therefore he enjoys, at least as much as the rest of the animal race, the fruition of the things of the body. But animality, however perfect, is far from being the whole ofhumanity, and is indeed humanity's humble handmaid, made to serve and obey. It is the mind, or the reason, which is the chief thing in us who are human beings ; it is this which makes a human being

human, and distinguishes him essentially and completely irom the brute. And on this account — viz., that man alone among animais possesses reason — it must be within his right to hâve things not merely for temporary and momentary use, as other living beings hâve them, but in stable and permanent possession ; he must hâve not only things which perish in the using, but also those which, though used, remain for use in the future.

This becomes still more clearly évident if we consider man's nature a little more deeply. For man, comprehending by the power of his reason things innumerable, and joining the future with the présent — being, moreover, the master of his own acts — governs himself by the foresight of his counsel, under the eternal law and the power of Grod Whose Providence governs ail things. Wherefore it is in his power to exercise his choice not only on things which regard his présent welfare, but also on those which will be for his advantage in time to corne. Hence man not only can possess the fruits of the earth, but also the earth itself; for of the products of the earth he can make provision for the future. Man's needs do not die out, but recur ; satisfîed today, they demand new supplies to-morrow. Nature, therefore, owes to man a storehouse that shall never fail, the daily supply of his daily wants. And this he finds only in the inexhaustible iertility of the earth.

Nor must we, at this stage, hâve recourse to the State. Man is older than the State ; and he holds the right of providing for the life of his body prior to the formation of any State. And to say that Grod has given the earth to the use and enjoyment of the universal human race is not to deny that there can be private property. For Grod has granted the earth to mankind in gênerai , not in the sensé that al] without distinction can deal with it as they please, but

rather that no part of it has been assigned to anyone in particular, and that the limits of private possession hâve been left to be fixed by man's own industry and the laws of individual peoples. Moreover the earth, though divided among private owners, ceases not thereby to minister to the needs of ail ; for there is no one who does not live on what the land brings forth. Those who do not possess the soil, contribute their labour ; so that it may be truly said that ail human subsistence is derived either from labour on one's own land, or for some laborious industry which is paid for either in the produce of the land itself or in that which is exchanged for what the land brings forth.

Hère, again, we hâve another proof that private ownership is according to nature's law. For that which is required for the préservation of life, and for life's well-being, is produced in great abundance by the earth, but not until man has brou;;ht it into cultivation and lavished upon it his care and skill. Now, when man thus spends the industry of his mind and the strength of his body in procuring the fruits of nature, by that act he makes his own that portion of nature's field which he cultivâtes — that portion on which he leaves, as it were, the impress of his own personality ; and it cannot but be just that he should possess that portion as his own, and should hâve a right to keep it withoutmolestation.

Thèse arguments are so strong and convincing that itseemssurprising that certain obsolète opinions should be revived in opposition to what is hère laid down. We are told that it is right for private persons to hâve the use of the soil and the fruits of their land, but that it is unjust for anyone to possess as owner either the land on which he has built or the estate which he has cultivated. But those who assert this do not perceive that they are robbing man of what his own labour has produced. For the soil

which is tilled and cnltivated with toil and skill utterly changes its condition ; il was wild before, it is now fruit fui ; it was barren, and now it brings forth in abundance. That which has thus altered and improved it becomes so truly part of itself as to be in great measure indistinguishable and inséparable from it. Is it just that the fruit of a man's sweat and labour should be enjoyed by another ? As effects follow their cause, so it is just and right that the results of labour should belong to him who has laboured.

With reason, therefore, the common opinion of mankind, little affected by the few dissentients who hâve maintained the opposite view, has found in the study of nature, and in the iaw of Nature herself, the foundations of the division of property, and has consecrated by the practice of ail âges the principle of private ownership, as being pre-eminently in conformity with human nature, and as conducing in the rnost unmistakable manner to the peace and tranquility of human life. The same principle is conflrmed and enforced by the civil laws — laws which, as long as they are just, dérive their binding force from the law of nature. The authority of the Divine Law adds its sanction, forbidding us in the gravest terms even to covet that which is another's : — Thou sha/t not covet thy neighbour's wife ; nor his house, nor his fie/d, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything which is his.T

The rights hère spoken of. belong to each individual man, are seen in a much stronger light if they are considered in relation to man's social and domestic obligations.

In choosing a state of life, it is indisputable that ail are at full liberty either to follow the counsel of Jésus Christ as to virginity, or to enter the bonds of

I Deuteronomy v. 21.

marriage. No human law can abolish the natural and primitive right of marriage, or in any way limit the chief and principal purpose of marriage, ordained by G-od's authority from the b^ginning. Increase and mulliply.1- Thus we hâve the Family ; the " society " of a man's own household ; a society limited indeed in numbers, but a true " society," anterior to every kind of State or nation, with rights and duties of its own, totally independent of the commonwealth.

That right of property, therefore, which has been proved to belong naturally to individual persons, must also belong to a man in his capacity of head of a tamily ; nay, such a person must possess this right so much the more clearly in proportion as his position multiplies his duties For it is a most sacred law of nature that a father must provide food and ail necessaries for those whom he has begotten ; and, similarly nature dictâtes that a man's children, who carry on, as it were, and continue his own personality, should be provided by him with ail that is needful to enable them honourably to keep themselves from want and misery in the uncertainties of this mortal life. Now in no other way can a father effect this except by the ownership of profitable property, which he can transmit to his children by inheritance. A family, no less than a State, is, as We hâve said, a true society, governed by a power within itself, that is to say, by the father, Wherefore, provided the limits be not transgressed which are prescribed by the very purposes for which it exists, the Family has at least equal rights with the State in the choice and pursuit of those things which are needful to its préservation and its just liberty.

We say, at least equal rights ; for since the domestic household is anterior both in idea and in fact to the gathering of men into a commonwealth, the for-

i Genesis i. 28.

mer must necessarily hâve rights and duties which are prior to those of the latter, and which rest more immediately on nature. If the citizens of a State — that is to say, the Families — on entering into association and fellowship, experienced at the hands of the State hindrance instead of help, and found their rights attacked instead of being protected, such association were rather to be repudiated than sought after.

The idea, then, that the civil government should, at its own discrétion, penetrate and pervade the family and the householcï, is a great and pernicious mistake. True, if a family finds itselt in great difficulty, utterly friendless, and without prospect of help, it is right that extrême necessity be met by public aid ; for each family is a part of the commonwealth. In like manner, if within the walls ol the household there occur grave disturbance ol mutual rights, the public power must interfère to force each party to give the other what is due ; for this is not to rob citizens of their rights, but justly and properly to safeguard and strengthen them. But the rulers of the State must go no further : nature bids them stop hère. Paternal authority can neit.her be abolished by the State, nor absorbed ; for it has the same source as human life itself. " The child belongs to the father," and is, as it were, the continuation of the father's personality ; and, to speak with strictness, the child takes its place in civil Society not in its own right, but in its quality as a member of the family in wrhich it is begotten. And it is for the very reason that " the child belongs to the father" that, as St. Thomas of Aquin says, " before it attains the use of free-will, it is in the power and care of its parents."1 The Socialists, therefore, in setting aside the parent and introducing the pro-

* St. Thomas, Summa Theologici, 2a 23e Q, x, Art. 12.

vidence of the State, act agaimt nalural justice, and threaten the very existence of family life.

And such interférence is not only unjust, but is quite certain to harass and disturb ail classes of citizens and to subject them *o odious and intolérable slavery. It would open the door to envy, to evil speaking, and to quarrelling ; the sources of wealth would thcmselves run dry, for no one would hâve any interest in exerting his talents or his industry ; and that idéal equality of which so much is said would in reality be the levelling down of ail to the same condition of misery and dishonour.

Thus it is clear that the main tenet of Socia ism, the community of goods, must be utterly rejected ; for it would injure those whom it is intended to benefit, it would be contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and it would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonwealth. Our first and most fundamental principle, therefore, when we undertake to alleviate the condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of private property. This laid down, We gc> on to show where we must find the remedy that we seek.

We approach the subject with confidence, and in the exercise ot the rights which belong to Us. For no practical solution of this question will ever be found without the assistance of Religion and of the Church. It is We who are the chief guardian of Religion and the chief dispenser of what belongs to the Church, and We must not by silence neglect the duty which lies upon Us. Doubtless this most serious question demands the attention and the efforts of others besides Ourselves — of the rulers of States, of employers of labour, of the wealthy, and of the working population themselvesfor whom We plead. But We affirm without hésitation, that ail the striving of men will be vain if they leave out the Church. It is the Church that proclaims from the G-ospel

those teachings by which tho conflict can be put an end to, or at the least made far less bitter ; the Church uses its efforts not only to enlighten the mind, but to direct by its precepts the life and conduct of men ; the Church improves and améliorâtes the condition of the working man by numerous useful organizations ; does its best to enlist the services of ail ranks in discussing and endeavouring to meet, in the most practical way, Ihe claims of the working classes ; and acts on the decided view that for thèse purposes recourse should be had, in due measure and degree, to the help of the law and of State authority. Let it be laid down, in thefirst place, that humanity must remain as it is It is impossible to reduce human society to a level. The Socialisés may do their utmost, but ail striving against nature is vain There natarally exist among mankind innumerable différences of the most important kind ; people differ in capability, in diligence, in health, and in strength ; and unequal fortune is a necessary resuit of inequality in condition. Such inequality is far from being* disadvantageous either to individuals or to the community ; social and public life can only go on by the help of various kindsof capacity and the playing of many parts ; and each man, as a rule, chooses the part which peculiarly suits his case. As regards bodily labour, even had man never fallen from the slale of innocence, he would not hâve been wholly unoccupied ; but that which would then hâve been his free choice and his delight, became afterwards compulsory, and the pain fui expiation of his sin. Cursed be Ihe earth in thy work ; in thy labour thou shalt eat of it ail the days of thy life.1 In like manner, the other pains and hardships of life will hâve no end or cessation on this earth ; for the conséquences of sin are bitter and hard to bear, and they must be

I Genesis iii. 17.

with raan as long as life lasts. To suffer and to endure, therefore, is the lot of hunamity ; let men try as they may, no strength and no artifice will ever succeed in banishing from huraan life the ills and troubles whieh besest it. If any there are who prétend difFerently — who hold out to a hard-pressed people freedom from pain and trouble, undisturbed repose, and constant enjoyment — they cheat the people and impose upon them, and their lying promises will only make the evil worse than before. There is nothing more useful than to look at the world as it really is — and at the same time to look elsewhere for a remedy to its troubles.

The great mistake that is made in the matter now under considération, is to possess oneself of the idea that class is naturally hostile to class; that nch and poor are intend ed by nature to live at war with one another. So irrational and so false is this view, that the exact contrary is the truth. Just as the symmetry of the human body is the resuit of the disposition of the members of the body, so in a State it is ordained by nature that thèse two classes should exist in harmony and agreement, and should, as it were, fit into one another, so as to maintain the equilibrium of the body politic. Each requires the other ; capital cannot do without labour, nor labour without capital. Mutual agreement results in pleasantness and good order ; perpétuai conflict necessarily produces confusion and outrage Now, in preventing such strife as this, and in making t impossible, the efficacy of Christianity is marvello s and manifold. First of ail, there is nothing more powerful than Religion (of which the Church is the interpréter and guardian) in drawing rich and poor together, by reminding each class of its duties to the other, and especially of the duties of justice. Thus Religion teaches the labouring mari and the workman to carry out honestly and well ail équitable agreements freely made ;

never to injure capital, or to outrage the person of an employer ; never to employ violence in representing his own cause, or to engage in riot or disorder ; and to hâve nothing to do with men of evil principes, who work upon the people with ariful promises, and raise foolish hopes which usually end in disaster and in repentance when too late. Religion teaches the rich man and the employer that their workpeople are not their slaves ; that they must respect in every man hisdignity as a man and as a Christian ; that labour is nothing to be ashamed of if we listen to right reason and to Christian philosophy, but is an honourable employment, enabling a man to sustain his life in an upright and creditable way ; and 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. Thus, again Religion teaches that, as among the workman's concerns are Religion herself and things spiritual and mental, the employer is bound to see that he has time for the duties of piety; that he be not exposed to corrupting influences and dangerous occasions ; and that he be not led away to neglect his home and family or to squander his wages. Then, again, the employer must never tax his work-people beyond their strength, nor employ them in work unsuited to their sex or âge. His great and principal obligation is to give to every one that which is just. Doubtless betore we can décide whether wages are adéquate, many things hâve to be considered ; but rich men and masters should remember this — that to exercise pressure for the sake of gain, upon the indigent and the destitute, and to make one's profit out of the need of another, is condemned by ail laws, human and divine. To defraud anyone of wages that are his due is a crime which cries to the avenging anger of Heaven. Behold, (he livre of the labourers . . . which by fraud hath been kepl back by

y ou, cri et. h ; and the cry of them hath enter ed into the ears of the Lord oj Sabaolh \ Finally, the rich must religiously refrain i'rom cutting down the workman's earnings, either by force, by fraud, or by usurious dealing; and with the more reason becanse the poor man is woak and unprotected, and because his slender means should be sacred in proportion to their scantiness.

Were thèse precepts carefully obeyed and followed, would not strife die out and cease ?

But the Church, with Jésus Christ for its Master and G-uide, aims higher still. It lays down precepts yet more perfect, and tries to bind class to class in friendliness and good understanding. The things of this earth cannot be understood or valued rightly without taking into considération the life to corne, the life that will last for ever. Exclude the idea of iuturity, and the very notion of what is good and right would perish ; nay, the whole system of the universe would become a dark and unfathomable mystery. The great truth which we learn from Nature herself is also the grand Christian dogma on which Religion rests as on its base — that when we hâve done with this présent life then we shall really begin to lire. G-od has not created us for the perishable and transitory things of earth, but for things heavenly and everlasting ; He has given us this world as a place of exile, and not as our true country. Money, and the other things which men call good and désirable — we may hâve them in abundance, or we may want them altogether ; as far as eternal happiness is concerned, it is no matter ; the only thing that is important is to use them aright. Jésus Christ, when He redeemed us with plentiful rédemption, took not away the pains and sorrows which in such large proportion make up the texture ol our

i St. James v. 4.

mortal life ; He transformed them into motives of virtue and occasions of merit : and no inan can hope for eternal rewavd unless he follow in the bloodstained footprints of his Saviour. If we suffe.r with Him, we shall also reign with Him\ His labo.us and His sufFerings, accepted by His own free will, hâve marvello tslv sweetened ail sufFerini? and ail labour. And not oiily by His example, but by His grâce and by the hope of everlasting recompense, He has made pain and grief more easy to endure ; for that which is al présent momenlary and Hght of our tribulation, ivorketh for us above mensure exceedingly an eternal vieight <>f g/or y*.

Therefore those whom fortune f'avours are warned that freedom from sorrow, and abundance of earthly riches, are no guarantee of the béatitude that shall never end, but rather the contrary3 ; thai the rich should tremble at the threatenings of Jésus Christ — threatenmgs so strange in the mouth of Our Lord4 ; and that a most strict account must be given to the Suprême Judge for ail that we possess. The chiefest and most excellent rule for the right use of money is one which the heathen philotophers indicated, but which the Church has traced out clearly, and has not only made kiiown to men's minds, but has impressed upon their lives. It rosts on the principle that it is one thing to hâve a right to the possession of money, and another to hâve a right to use money as one pleases. Private ownership, as we hâve seen, is the natural right of man ; and to exercise that right, especially as members of society, is not only lawful, but absolutely necessary. Il is lawful, says St. Thomas of Aquin, for a man to hold private property ; and il i s also necessary for the carrying on of human

2 Timothy ii. 12.

2 Corinthians iv. 17.

St. Matthew xix. 23, 24.

St Luke vi. 24, 25.

life1. But if the question be asked, How must one's possessions be used ? the Church replies without hésitation in the words of the same holy Doctor : Man should not consider his outward possessions as his own, but as common to ail, so as to share them without difficulty ivhen olhers are in need. Whence the Apostle saith, Command the rich of this wurld . . . to give with ease, to rommunicatc2. True, no one is commanded to distribute to others that which is required for his own nesessities and those of his household ; nor even to give away what is reasonably required to keep up becomingly his condition in life ; for no one ought to live unbecominglyi . But when necessity has been supplied, and one's position fairly considered, it is a duty to give to the indigent out of that which is over. That which remainelli, give alms* It is a duty, not of justice (except in extrême cases), but of Christian charity — a duty which is not enforced by human law. But the laws and judgments of men must give place to the laws and judgments of Christ the true G-od, Who in man y ways urges on His followers the practice of almsgiving — It is more blessed to give than to receive 5; and Who will count a kindness done or refused to the poor as done or refused to Himself — as long as you did it to one of My least brethren, you did it to me 6. Thus to sum up what has been said : — Whoever has received from the Divine bounty a large share of blessings, whether they be external and corporeal or gilts of the mind, has received them for the purpose of using them for the perfecting of his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may employ them, as the minister of G-od's Providence, for the benefit of others. He that

i 2a 2ae Q. lxvi. Art. 2.

2 Ibid. Q. lxv. Art, 2.

3 Ibid Q. xxxii. Art. 6.

4 St, Luke xi. 41.

5 Acts xx. 35.

6 St. Matthew xxv. 40.

hath a talent, says St. Gregory the Great, let him see that he hide il not ; lie that hath abundance, let him arôme him self to merci) and generosityj he that hath art and skill, let him do his best to sha-e the use and the idilily thereof ' with his neisçhbour y

As for those who do not possess the gifts of fortune, they are taught by the Church that, in God's sight poverty is no disgrâce, and that there is nothing to be ashamed of in seeking one's bread by labour. This is strengthened by what we see in Christ Himseif, Who whereas He was rich, for our sakes became poor 2 ; and Who being the Son of God, and God Himself, chose to seem and to be considered the son of a carpenter — nay, did not distain to spend a great part of His liie as a carpenter Himself. Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary 3 ? From the contemplation of this Divine example it is easy to understand that the true dignity and excellence of man lies in his moral qualities, that is, in virtue ; that virtue is the common inheritance of ail, equally within the reach of high and low, rich and poor ; and that virtue, and virtue alone, wherever found, will be followed by therewards of everlasting happiness. Nay, God Himself seems to incline more to those who suffer evil ; for Jésus Christ calls the poor blessed4; He lovingly invites those in labour and grief to corne to Him for solace s ; and He displays the tenderest charity to the lowly and the oppressed. Thèse reflections cannot fail to keep down the pride of those who are well off, and to cheer the spirit of the afflicted ; to incline the former to generosity and

i St. Gregory the Great. Hom. ix. in Evatigcl. n. 7.

2 2 Corinthians viii. 9.

3 St. Mark vi. 3.

4 St. Matthew v. 3 : " Bksscd are the poor in spirit."'

5 Ibid. xi. 28 : " Corne îo Me ail y ou that labour and are biu-dened, and I will refresh y ou.''

the latter to tranquil résignation. Thus the séparation which pride would make tends to disappear, nor will it be difficult to make rich andpoorjoin hands in friendly concord.

But, if Christian precepts prevail, tha two classes will not only be united in the bonds of friendship, but also in those of brotherly love. For they will understand and feel that ail men are the ehildren of the common Father, that is, of Grod ; that ail hare the samc last end, which is Grod Himself, Who alone can make either men or angels absolutely and perfectly happy ; that ail and each are redeemed by Jésus Christ and raised to the dignity of ehildren of G-od, and are thus united in brotherly ties both with each other and with Jésus Christ, the firstborn among many brethren ; that the blessings of nature and the gifts of grâce belong in common to the whole human race, and that to ail, except to those who are unworthy, is promised the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. If sons, heirs atso ; heirs indee ! of God, and co-heirs of Christ \

Such is the scheme of duties and of rights which is put forth to the world by ihe Grospel Would it not seern that strife must quickly cease were society penetrated with ideas like thèse ?

But the Church, not content with pointing out the remedy also applies it. For the Church does its utmost to teach and to train men, and to educate them ; and by means of its Bishops and Clergy it diffuses its salutary teachings far and wide. It strives to influence the mind and heart so that ail may willingly yield themselves to be formed and guided by the commandments of Grod. It is precisely in this fundamental and principal matter, on which everything dépends, that the Church has a power peculiar to itself. The agencies which it employs

i Romans viii. 17.

are given it for the very purpose of reaching the hearts of meii, by Jésus Christ Hiinself, and dérive their elficieiicy from G-od. They alone cari touch innermost heart and conscience, and biing men to act from a motive of duty, to resist their passions and appetites, to love Grod and their lellow-men with a love that is unique and suprême, and courageously to break down every barrier which stands in the way of a virtuous life.

On this subject We need only recall for one moment the examples written down in history. Of thèse things there cannot be the shadow of doubt : for instance, that civil society was renovated in every part by the teachings of Christianity ; that in the strength of that renewal the human race was lifted up to better things— nay, that it was brought back from death to life, and to so excellent a life that nothing more perfect had been known before, or will corne to pass in the âges that hâve y et to be. Of this beneficent transformation, Jésus Christ was at once the first cause and the final purpose ; as from Him ail came, so to Him ail was to be referred. For when, by the light of the G-ospel message, the human race came to know the grand mystery of the Incarnation of Ihe Word and the rédemption of man, the life of Jésus Christ, G-od and Man, penetrated every race and nation, and impregnated them with His faith, His precepts, and His laws. And if Society is to be cured now, in no other way can it be cured but by a return to the Christian life and Christian institutions. When a society is perishing, the true advice to give to those who would restore it is, to recall it to the principles from which it sprung ; for the purpose and perfection of an association is to aim at and to attain that for which if was formed ; and its opération should be put in motion and inspired by the end and object which originally gave it its being. So that to fall away from its primai consti-

tution is disease ; to go back to it is recovery. And this may be asserted with the utmost truth both of the State in gênerai and of that body of its citizens — by far the greater number — who sustain life by labour.

Neither must it be supposed that the solicitude of the Church is so occupied with the spiritual concerns of its children as to neglect their interests temporal and earthly. Its désire is that the poor, for example should rise above poverty and wretchedness, and should better their condition in life ; and for this it strives. By the ver y fact that it calls men to virtue and forms them to its practice, it promotes this in no slight degree. Christian morality, when it is adequately and completely practised, conduces of itself to temporal prosperity, for it merits the blessing of that G-od Who is the source of ail blessings ; it powerfully restrains the lust of possession and the lust of pieasure — twin plagues, which too often make a man without self-restraint misérable in the midst of abundance; T it makes men supply by economy for the want of means, teaching them to be content with frugal living, and keeping them out of the reach of those vices which eat up not merely small incomes, but large fortunes, and dissipate many a goodly inheritance.

Moreover, the Church intervenes directly in the interest of the poor, by setting on foot and keeping up many things which it sees to be efhcacious in the relief of poverty. Hère again it has aiways succeeded so well that it has even extorted the praise of its enemies. Such was the ardour of brotherly love among the earliest Christians that numbers of those who were better ofF deprived themselves of their possessions in order to relieve their brethren ; when ce ne it lier was Ihere any one needy among them 2.

1 " The root of ail evils is cupidity." — i Tim. vi. 10.

2 Acts iv. 34.

To the order of Deacons, instituted for that very purpose, was committed by the Apostles the charge of the daily distributions ; and the Apostle Pan], thongh bnrdened with the solicitude of ail the churehes hesitated not to undertake laborions journeys in order to carry the alms of the Faithfnl to the poorer Christians. Tertnllian calls thèse contributions, given volnntarily by Christians in their assemblies, deposits of piety ; becanse, to cite his words, they were employed in fceding the needy, in burying them, in the support of boys and girls destitute of means and deprived of their parents, in the care of the aged, and in the relief of the shipwrecked J.

Thns by degrees came into existence the patrimony which the Church has guarded with religions care as the inheritance of the poor. Nay, to spare them the shame of begging, the common Mother of rich and poor has exerted herself to gather together iunds for the support of the needy. The Church has stirred up every where the heroism of charity, and has established Congrégations of Religious and many other useful institutions for help and mercy, so that there might be hardly any kind of sutTering which was not visited and relieved At the présent day there are many wTho, like the heathen of old, blâme and condemn the Church for this beautiful charity. They would substitute in its place a System of State-organised relief. But no human methods will ever supply for the dévotion and selfsacrifice of Christian charity. Charity, as a virtue, belongs to the Church ; for it is no virtue unless it is drawTn from the Sacred Heart of Jésus Christ ; and he wTho turns his back on the Church cannot be near Christ.

It cannot, however, be doubted that to attain the purpose of which We treat, not only the Church,

i Apoiogia Secwura, xxxix.

but ail humau means must conspire. Ail who are concerned in the matter must be of one mind and must act together. It is in this, as in the Providence which governs the world ; results do not happen save where ail the causes co-operate.

Let us now, therefore, inquire what part the State should play in the work of remedy and relief.

By the State ¥e hère understand, not the particular form of government which prevails in this or that nation, but the State as rightly understood; that is to say, any government conformable in its institutions to right reason and n attirai law, and to those dictâtes of the Divine wisdom which We hâve expounded in the Encyclical on the Christian Constitution of the State. The flrst duty, therefore, of the rulers of the State should be to make sure that the laws and institutions, the gênerai character and administration of the commonwealth, shall be such as to produce of themselves public wTell-being and private prosperity. This is the proper office of wise statesmanship and the work of the heads of the State. Now a State chiefly prospers and flourishes by morality, by well-regulated family life, by respect for religion and justice, by the modération and equal distribution of public burdens, by the progress of the arts and of trade, by the abundant yield of the land — by everything which makes the citizens better and happier. Hère, then, it is in the power of a ruler to benefit every order of the Slate, and amongst the rest to promote in the highest degree the interests of the poor ; and this by virtue of his office, and without being exposed to any suspicion of undue interférence— for it is the province of the commonwealth to consult for the common good. And the more that is done for the working population by the gênerai laws of the country, the loss need will there be to seek for particular means to relieve them.

There is another and a deeper considération which

must not be lost sight of. To the State the interests of ail are equal, whether high or low. The poor are members of the national community equally with the rieh ; they are real component parts, living parts, which make up, through the family, the living body ; and it need hardly be said that they are by far the majority. It would be irrational to neglect one portion of the citizens and to favour another ; and therefore the public administration must duly and solicitously provide for the welfare and coin fort the of the working people, or else that law of justice will be violated which ordains that each shall hâve his due. To cite the wise words of St. Thomas of Aquin : As the pari and the ivho'e are in a certain sensé identical, the part may in some sensé daim what belotigs to the whole *. Among the many and grave duties of rulers who would do their best for the people, the firstand chief is to act with strict justice — with that justice which is called in the Schools distributive — towards each and every class.

But although ail citizens, without exception, can and ought to contribute to that common good in which individuals share so profitably to themselves, yet it is not to be supposed that ail can contribute in the saine way and to the same extent. No matter what changes may be made in forms of govemment, there will always be différences and inequalities of condition in the State : Society cannot exist or be conceived without them. Some there must be who dedicate themselves to the work of the commonwealth, who make the laws, who administer justice, whose advice and authority govern the nation in times of peace, and défend it in war. Such men clearly occupy the foremost place in the State, and should be held in the foremost estimation, for their work touches most nearly and effectively the gênerai

I 2a 2se Q. lxi. Art. i ad 2.

interests of ihe community. Those who labour at a trado or calling do not promote the gênerai welfare in such a fashion as this ; but they do in the most important way benefit the nation, though less directly. We hâve insisted that, since it is the end of Society to make men better, the chief good that Society can be possessed of is Yirtue. Nevertheless, in ail well-constituted States it is a by no means unimportant matter to provide thèse bodily and external commodities, the use of ivhicli is necessary to virtuous action 2. And in the provision of material well-being, the labour of the poor — the exercise of their skill and the employment of their strength in the culture of the land and the workshops of trade — is most efflcacious and altogether indispensable. Indeed, their co-operation in this respect is so important that it may be truly said that it is only by the labour of the working man that States grow rich. Justice, therefore, demands that the interests of the poorer population be carefully watched over by the Administration, so that they who contribute so largely to the advantage of the community may themselves share in the benefits they create — that being housed, clorhed, and enabled to support life, they may find their existence less hard and more endurable. It folio ws that whatever shall appear to be conducive to the well-being of those who work, should receive favourable considération. Let it not be feared that solicitude of this kind will injure any interest; on the contrary, it will be to the advantage of ail ; for it cannot but be good for the commonwealth to secure from misery those on whom it so largely dépends.

We hâve said that the State must not absorb the individual or the family ; both should be allowed free and untrammelled action as far as is consistent

2 St. Thomas of Aquin. De Regimine Principum, I. cap. 15.

with the common good and the interests of others. Nevertheiess, rulers should anxiously safeguard the community and ail ils parts ; the community, because the conservation of the community is so emphatically the business of the suprême power, that the safety of the commonwealth is not only the first law, but it is a Grovernment's whole reason of existence ; and the parts, because both philosophy and the Grospel agrée in laying down that the object of the administration of the State should be, not the advantage of the ruler, but the benefit of those overwhom he rules. The gift of authority is from Grod, and is, as it were, a participation of the highest of ail sovereignties; and it should be exercised as the power of G-od is exercised — with a fatherly solicitude which not only guides the whole, but reaches to détails as well.

Whenever the gênerai, interest or any particular class suffers, or is threatened with, evils which can in no other way be met, the public authority must step in to meet them. Now, among the interests of the public, as of private individuals, are thèse : that peace and good order should be maintained ; that family life should be carried on in accordance with G-od's laws aud those of nature ; that Religion should be reverenced and obeyed ; that a high standard of morality should prevail in public and private life ; that the sanctity of justice should be respected, and no one should injure another with impunity; that the members of the commonwealth should grow up to man's estate strong and robust, and capable, if need be, of guarding and defending their country. If by a strike, or other combination of workmen, there should be imminent danger of disturbance to the public peace; or if circumstances wTere such that among the labouring population the ties of family life were relaxed ; if Religion were found to sufFer through the workmen

not having time and opportunity to practise it ; it in workshops and factories there were danger to morals through the mixing of the sexes or from any occasion of evil ; or if employers laid burdens upon the workmen which were unjust, or degraded them with conditions tliat were répugnant to their dignity as human beings ; finally, if health were endangered by excessive labour, or by work unsnited to sex or âge — in thèse cases, there can be no question that, within certain limits, it would be right to call in the help and authority of the law. The limits must be determined by the nature of the occasion which calls for the law's interférence — the principle being this that the law must not undertake more, or go further, than is required for the remedy of the evil or the removal of the danger.

Rights must be religiously respected wherever they are found ; and it is the duty of the public authority to prevent and punish injury, and to protect each one in the possession of his own. Still, when there is question of protecting the rights of individuals, the poor and helpless hâve a claim to spécial considération. The richer population hâve many ways of protecting themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State ; those who are badly off hâve no resources of their own to fall back upon and must chien1 y rely upon the assistance of the State. And it is for this reason that wage-earners, who are undoubtedly among the weak and necessitous, should be specially cared for and protected by the commonwealth.

Hère, however, it will be advisable to advert expressly to one or two of the more important détails. It must be borne in mind that the chief thing to be secured is the safe-guarding, by légal enactment and policy, of private property. Most of ail is it essential in thèse times of covetous greed, to keep the multitude within the line of duty ; for if ail may justly

strive to better their condition, yet neiiher justice nor the common good allows anyone to seize that which belongs to another, or, under the pretext of futile and ridiculous equality, to lay hands on other people's fortunes. It is most true that by far the larger part of the people who work prêter to improve themselves by honest labour rather than by doing wrong to others. But there are not a few who are imbued with bad principles and are anxious for revolutionary change, and whose great purpose it is to stir up tumult and bring about a policy of violence. The authority of the State should intervene to put restraint upon thèse disturbers, to save the workmen frorn their seditious arts, and to protect lawful owners from spoliation.

When work-people hâve recourse to a strike, it is frequently because the hours of labour are too long, or the work too hard, or because they consider their wages insufncient. The grave inconvenience of this not uncommon occurrence should be obviated by public remédiai measures ; for such paralysis of labour not only affects the masters and their workpeople, but is extremely injurious to trade. and to the gênerai interests of the public ; moreover, on such occasions, violence and disorder are generally not far off, and thus it frequently happens that the public peace is threatened. The laws should be beforehand, and prevent thèse troubles from arising ; they should lend their influence and authority to the removal in good time of the causes which lead to conflicts between masters and those whom they employ.

But if the owners of property must be made secure, the Workman, too, has property and possessions in which he must be protected ; and. first of ail, there are his spiritual and mental interests. Life on earth, however good and désirable in itself, is not the final purpose for which man is created ; it is only the way and the means to that attainment of truth, and that

practice of goodness, in which the i'ull life of the soûl consists. It is the soûl which is made after the image and likeness of Grod ; it is in the soûl that sovereignty résides, in virtue of which man is commanded to rule the créatures below him, and to use ail the earth and the océan for his profit and advantage. Fill the earth and subdue it ; aud rule over the Hshes of the sea, aud the fow's of the air, and ail living créatures which moue itpon the earth \ In this respect ail men are equal ; there is no différence between rich and poor, master and servant, ruler and ruled, for the same is Lord over ait-. No man may outrage with impunity that human dignity which Grod Himself treats wiih révérence, nor stand in the way of that higher life which is the préparation for the eternal life of Heaven. Nay, more ; a man lias hère no power over himself. To consent to any treatment which is calculated to defeat the end and purpose of his being is beyond his right ; he cannot give up his soûl to servitude ; for it is not man's own rights which are hère in question, but the rights of Grod, most sacred and inviolable.

From this follows the obligation of the cessation of work and labour on Sundays and certain festivals. This rest from labour is not to be understood as mère idleness; much less must it be an occasion of spending money and of vicious excess, as many would désire it to be ; but it should be rest from labour consecrated by religion Repose u ited wTith religions observance disposes man to forge t for a while the business of this daily life, and to turn his thoughts to heavenly things and to the worship which he so strictly owes to the Eternal Deity. It is this, above ail, which is the reason and motive of the Sunday rest ; a rest sanctioned by (xod's great

1 Genesis i. 28.

2 Romans x. 12.

law of the ancient covenant, Remember Ih w keep holy the Sabbalh Day \ and taught to the world by His own mysterious " rest " after the création of man ; He resied on the sevenlh day from ail IJis work which He had done 2.

If we turn now to things exterior and corporeal, the first concern of ail is to save the poor workers from the cruelty of grasping speculators, who use human beings as mère instruments for makin^money. It is neither justice nor humanity so to grind men down with excessive labour as to stupefy their minds and wear out their bodies. Man's powers, like his gênerai nature, are limited, and beyond thèse limits he cannot go. His strength is developed and increased by use and exercise, but only on condition of due intermission and proper rest. Daily labour, therefore, must be so regulated that it may not be protracted during longer hours than strength admits. How many and how long the intervais of rest should be, will dépend on the nature of the work, on circumstances of time and place, and on the health and strength of the workman. Those who labour in mines and quarries, and in work within the bowels of the earth, should hâve shorter hours in proportion as their labour is more severe and more trying to health. Then again, the season of the year must be taken into account ; for not unfrequently a kind of labour is easy at one time which at another is intolérable or very difflcult. Finally, work which is suitable for a strong man cannot reasonably be required from a woman or a child. And, in regard to children, great care should be taken not to place them in workshops and factories until their bodies and minds are sufficiently mature. For just as rough weather destroys the buds of spring, so too early an

1 Exod. xx. 8.

2 Genesis ii. 2.

expérience of life's hard work blights the young promise of a child's powers, and makes any real éducation impossible. Women, again, are not suited to certain trades ;• for a woman is by nature fitted for home-work, and it is that which is best adapted at once to préserve lier modesty and to promote the good bringing up of children and the well-being of the family. As a gênerai principal it may be laid down, that a workman ought to hâve leisure and rest in proportion to the wear and tear of his strength ; for the waste of strength must be repaired by the cessation of work.

In ail agreements between masters and workpeople, there is always the condition, expressed or understood, that there be allowed proper rest for soûl and body. To agrée in any other sensé would be against what is right and just ; for it can ne ver be right or just to requhe on the one side, or to promise on the other, the giving up of those duties which a man owes to his G-od and to himself.

We now approach a subject of very great importance, and one on which, if extrêmes are to be avoided, right ideas are absolutely necessary. Wages, we are told, are fixed by free consent ; and therefore the employer, when he pays what was agreed upon, has done his part and is not called upon for anything further. The only way, it is said, in which iujustice could happen would be if the master refused to pay the whole of the wages, or the workman would not complète the work undertaken ; when this happens the State should intervene, to see that each obtains his own — but not under any other circumstances.

This mode of reasoningis by no means convincing to a fair-minded man, for there are important considérations which it leaves out of view altogether. To labour is to exert one's self for the sake of procuring what is necessary for the purposes of life, and most of ail for self-preservation. In the siveat of thy

brow fhou shall eut bread*. Therefore a man's labour has two notes or characters. First of ail, it is personal ; for the exertion of individual power belongs to the individual who puts it forth, employing this power for that personal profit for which it was given. Second 1 y, man's labour is necessary ; ior without the results of labour a rnan cannot live ; and self-conservation is a law of Nature, which it is wrong to disobey. Now if we were to consider labour merely so far as it is personal, doubtless it would be within the workman's right to accept any rate of wages whatever ; for in the same way as he is free to work or not, so he is free to accept a small rémunération or even noue at ali. But this is a mère abstract supposition ; the labour of the working man is not only his personal attribrte, but it is necessary ; and this makes ail the diffe ence. The préservation of life is the bounden duty of each and ail, and to fail therein is a crime. It follows that each one has a right to procure what is required in order to live ; and the poor can procure it in no other way than by work and wages.

Let it be granted, then, that, as a rule, workman and employer should make free agreements, and in particular should freely agrée as to wages; nevertheless, there is a dictate of nature more imperious and more ancient than any bargain between man and man, that the rémunération must be enough to support the wage-earner in reasonable and frugal comfort. If through necessity or fear of a worse evil, the workman accepts harder conditions because an employer or a contractor will give him no better, he is the victim of force and injustice. In thèse and similar questions, however — such as, for example, the hours of labour in différent trades, the sanitary précautions to be observed in factories and work-

I Genesis iii. 19.

shops, etc. — in order to supersede undue interférence on the part of the State, especially as circumstances, times, and localities difïer so widely, it is advisable that recourse be had to Societies or Boards such as We shall mention presently, or to some other method of safe-guarding the interests of wageearners ; the State to be asked for approval and protection.

If a workman's wages be sufncient to enable him to maintain himself, his wife, and his children in reasonable corn fort, he will not find it difficult, if he is a sensible man, to study economy ; and he will not fail, by cutting down expenses, to put by a little property :* nature and reason would urge him to this. We hâve seen that this great Labour question cannot. be solved except by assuming as a principle that private ownership must be held sacred and inviolable. The law, therefore, should favour ownership, and its policy should be to induce as m an y of the people as possible to become owners

Many excellent results will follow from this ; and first of ail, property will certainly become more equitably divided. For the effect of civil change and révolution has been to divide society into two widely differing castes. On the one side there is the party which holds the power because it holds the wealth ; which has in its grasp ail labour and ail trade, which manipulâtes for its own benefit and its own purposes ail the sources of supply, and which is powerfully represented in the councils of the State itself. On the other side there is the needy and powerless multitude, sore and sufTering, and always ready for disturbance. If working people can be encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land, the resuit will be that the gulf between vast wealth and deep poverty will be bridged over, and the two orders will be brought nearer together. Another conséquence will be the

grcater abundance of the fruits of the earth. Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which is thcir own ; nay, they learn to love the very soil which* yields in response to the labour of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of good things for themselves and those that are dear to them. It is évident how such a spirit of willing labour would add to the product of the earth and to the wealth of the community. And a third advantage would arise from this : men would cling to the country in which they were born ; for no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afForded him the means of living a tolerable and happy life. Thèse three important benefits, however, can only be expected on the condition that a man's means be not drained and exhausted by excessive taxation. The right to possess private property is from nature, not from man ; and the State has only the right to regulate its use in the interests of the public good, but by no means to abolish it altogether. The State is therefore unjust and cruel if, in the name of taxation, it deprives the private owner of more than is just.

In the last place — employers and workmen may themselves efFect much in the matter ot which ¥e treat, by means of those institutions and organisations which afFord opportune assistance to those in need, and which draw the two orders more closely together. Among thèse may be enumerated : Societies for mutual help ; various foundations established by private persons for providing for the workman, and for his widow or his orphans, in sudden calamity, in sickness, and in the event of death ; and what are called " patronages " or institutions for the care of boys and girls; for young people and also for those of more mature âge.

The most important of ail are Workmen's Associations ; for thèse virtually include ail the rest. History attests what excellent recuits were efFected by the Artificer's G-uilds of a former day They were the means not only ol many advantages to the workmen, but in no small degree of the advancement of art, as mimerons monuments remain to prove. Such associations should be adapted to the requirements of the âge in which we live — an âge of greater instruction, of différent customs, and of more numerous requiiements in daily life. It is gratifying to know that there are actually in existence not a few Societies of this nature, consisting either of workmen alone or of workmen and employers together ; but it were greatly to be desired that they shonld multiply and become more effective. We hâve spoken of them more than once ; but it will be well to explain hère how much they are needed, to show that they exist by their own right, and to enter into their organisation and their work.

The expérience of his own weakness urges man to call in help from without. We read in the pages of Ho] y Writ : Il is better ihat two should be together than one ; for they hâve the advanlage of their society. If one fait he should be supported by the other. Woe to him that is atone, for when hejalleth he hath none to lift him up \ And further : A brviher that is helped by his brother is like a strong rity 2. It is this natural impulse which unités men in civil society ; and it is this also which makes them band themselves together in associations of citizen with citizen ; associations which, it is true, cannot be called societies in the complète sensé of the word, but which are societies nevertheless.

Thèse lesser societies and the society which con-

1 Ecclesiastes iv. 9, 10.

2 Proverbs xviii. 19.

stitutes the State differ in many things, because their immédiate purpose and end is différent. Civil society exists for the common good, and therefore is concerned with the intérests of ail in gênerai, and with individual intérests in their due place and proportion. Hence it is called public society, because by its means, as St. Thomas of Aquin says, Men comwunica'e with one another in the selting up of a commonweaith i, But the societies which are f'ormed in the bosom of the State are called private, and justly so, because their immédiate purpose is the private advantage of the associâtes. Now a private society, says St. Thomas again, is one which is formedfor the purpose of ' carrying out private business ; as when Iwo or titrée enter info a partnership ivith the view of Iraling in conjunction2, Particular societies, then, although they exist within the State, and are each a part of the State, nevertheless cannot be prohibited by the State absolutely and as such. For to enter into " society " of fchis kind is the natural right of man ; and the State must protect natural rights, not destroy them ; and if it forbids its citizens to form associations, it contradicts the very principle of its own existence ; for both they and it exist in virtue of the same principle, viz., the natural propensity of man to live in society.

There are times, no doubt, when it is right that the law should interfère to prevent association ; as when men join together for purposes which are evidently bad, anjust, or dangerous to the State. In such cases the public authority may justly forbid the the formation of associations, and may dissolve them when they already exist. But every précaution should be taken not to violate the rights of individuals and not to make unreasonable régulations under the pretence of public beneht. For laws only

,i Contra i ni publiantes Dei cultuni et religioneni, Cap. II. 2 Ibid.

bind when they are in accordance with right reason, and therefore with the eternal law of God l.

And hère we are reminded of the Confraternities, Societies and Beligious Orders, which hâve arisen by the Church's authority and the piety of the Christian people. The annals of every nation down to our own times testify to what they hâve done for the human race. It is indispntable, on grounds of reason alone, that such associations, being perfectly blaraeless in their objecls, hâve the sanction of the law of nature. On their religious side, they rightly claim to be responsible to the Church alone. The adminisirators of the State, therefore, hâve no rights over them, nor can they claini any share in their management; on the contrary, it is the State's duty to respect and cherish them, and, if necessary, to défend them from attack. It is notorious that a very différent course has been followed, more especially in our own times In many places the State has laid violent hands on thèse Communities, and committed manifold injustice against them; it has placed them under the civil law, taken away their rights as corporate bodies, and robbed them of their property. In such property the Church had her rights, each member of the body had his or her rights, and there were also the rights of those who had founded or endowed them for a definite purpose and of those for whose benefit a::d assistance they existed. Wherefore We cannot refrain from complaining of such spoliation as unjust and fraught with evil results ; and with the more reason because at the very time when the law proclaims that association is free to ail, We see that Catholic socie-

I Human law is law only in virtue of ils accordance with right reason : and Ihtis it is manifest that it Jlows from the eternal law. And in so far as it déviâtes from right reason it is called an unjust law ; in such case it is net law at ail, but rather a sftecies of violence. — St. Thomas of Aqivin, Summa Theologica, la 2se Q. xciii. Art. iii.

ties, however peaceable and useful, are hindered in every way, whilst the utmost freedom is given to men whose objects are at once hurtful to Religion and dangerous to the State.

Associations of every kind, and especially those of working men. are now far more common than formerly. In regard to many of thèse there is no need at présent to inquire whence they spring, what are their oojects, or what means they use. But there is a good deal of évidence which goes to prove that mauy of thèse societies are in the hands of invisible leaders, and are managed on principles far from compatible with Christianity and the public wellbeing ; and that they do their best to get into their hands the whole field of labour and to force workmen either to join them or to starve Under thèse circumstances Christian workmen must do one of two things ; either join associations in which their religion will be exposed to péril, or form associations among themselves — unité their forces and courageously shake ofT the yoke of an unjust and intolérable oppression. No one who does not wish to expose man's chief good to extrême danger will hesitate to say that the second alternative must by ail means be adopted.

Those Catholics are worthy of ail praise — and there are not a few — who, understanding what the times require, hâve, by varions enterprises and experiments, endeavoured to better the condition of the working people without any sacrifice of principle. They hâve taken up the cause of the working man, and hâve striven to make both families and individuals better ofF; to infuse the spirit of justice into the mutual relations of employer and employed; to keep before the eyes of both classes the precepts of duty and the laws of the Grospel — that G-ospel which, by inculcating self-restraint, keeps men within the bounds of modération, and tends to establish

harmony among the divergent ititerests and various classes which compose the State. It is with such ends in view that We see men of emin nce meeting: together for discussion, for the promotion of nnited action, and for practical work. Others, again, strive to unité working people of various kinds into associations, help them with their advice and their means, and enable them to obtain honest ano^profitable work. The Bishops, on their part, bestow their ready goodwill and support ; and with their approval and guidance many members of the clergy, both secular and regular. labour assiduo/isly on behalf of the spiritual and mental interests of the members of Associations. And there are not wanting Catholics possessed of affluence, who hâve, as it were, cast in their lot with the wage-earners, and who hâve spent large sums in founding and widely spreading Benefit and Insurance Societies, by means of which the working raau may without difficulty acquire by his labour not only many présent advantages, but also the certainty of honourable support in time to corne. How much this multiplied and earnest activity has benefited the community at large is too well known to require Us to dwell upon it We hnd in it the grounds of the most cheering hope for the future ; provided that the Associations We hâve described continue to grow and spread,and are well and wisely administered. Let the State watch over thèse Societies of citizens united together in the exercise of their right ; but let it not thrust itself into their peculiar concerna and their organisation ; for things move and live by the soûl within them, and they may be killed by the grasp oF a hand from without. In order that an Association may be carried on with unity of purpose and harmony of action, its organisation and government must be firm and wise. Ail such Societies, being free to exist, hâve the further right to adopt such rules and organisation as

may best conduce to the attainment of their objects. We do not deem it possible to enter into definite détails on the subjectof organisation : this must dépend on national character, on practice and expérience, on the nature and scope of the work to be done, on the magnitude of the various trades and employments, and on other circu m stances of fact and of time — ail of which must be carefully weighed.

Speaking summarily, we may lay it down as a gênerai and perpétuai law, that Workmen's Associations should be so organised and governed as to furnish the best and most suitable means for attaining what is aimed at, that is to say, for helping each individual member to better his condition to :he utmost in body, mind, and property. It is clear that they must pay spécial and principal attention to piety and morality, and that their internai discipline must be directed precisely by thèse considérations ; otherwise they entirely lose their spécial character, and corne *to be very little better than those societies which take no account of Religion at ail. What advantage can it be to a Workman to obtain by means of a Society ail that he requires, and to endanger his soûl for want of spiritual food ? What doih it profil a man if he gain the tvhole vwrld and suffer the l> ss ofhis own soûl l ? This, as Our Lord teaches, is the note or character that distinguishes the Christian from the heathen After ail thèse things do the healhens seek. . . . Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and ail thèse things shall be added unto pou2. Let our Associations, then, look first and before ail to Grod , let religious instruct'on hâve therein a foremost place, each one being carefully taught what is his duty to Grod, what to believe, what to hope for, and how to work out hissalvation ;

1 St. Matthew xvi. 26.

2 St. Matthew vi. 32, 33.

and let ail be warned and fortified with especial solicitude against wrong opinions and false teaching. Let the working man be urged and led to the worship of G-od, to tbe earnest practice of religion, and, among other things, to the sanctification of Sundays and festivals. Let him learn to révérence and love Holy Church, the common Mother of us ail; and so to obey the precepts and to fréquent the Sacraments of the Church, those Sacraments being the means ordained by Grod for obtaining forgiveness of sin and for leadinsr. a holv life.

The fo indations of the organisation being laid in Religion, We next go on to détermine the relations of the members one to another, in order that they may live together in concord and go on prosperously and successfully The offices and charges of the Society should be distributed for the good of the Society itself, and in such manner that différence in degree or position should not interfère with unanimity and good-will Office-bearers should be appointed with prudence and discrétion, and each one's charge should be carefully marked out ; thus no member wTill suffer wronsf. Let the common funds be administered with the strictest honesty, in such way that a member receive assistance in proportion to his necessities. The rights and duties of employers should be the subject of careful considération as compared with the rights and duties of the employed. If it should happen that either a master or a workman deemed himself injured, nothing would be more désirable than that there should be a committee composed of honest and capable men of the Association itself, whose duty it should be, by the laws of the Association, to décide the dispute. Among the purposes of a Society should be to try to arrange for a continuous supply of work at ail times and seasons ; and to create a fund from which the members may be helped in their necessities, not only in cases of

accident, but alsoin sickness, old âge, and misfortune.

Such rules and régulations, if obeyed wilJingly by ail, will sufnciently ensure the well-being of poor people ; whilst such Mutual Associations among Cathoiics are certain to be productive, in no small degree, of prosperity to the State. It is not rash to conjecture the future from the past. Age gives way to âge, but the eventsof one century are wonderfully like those oi another ; for they are directed by the Providence of G-od, Who over-rules the course of history in accord ance with His purposes in creating the race of man. We are told that it was cast as a reproach on the Christians of the early âges of the Church. that the greater number of them had to live by begging or by labour. Yet. destitute as they were of wealth and influence, they ended by winning over to their side the favour of the rich and the good will of the powerful. They showed themselves industrious. laborious, and peaceful, men of justice and, above ail, men of brotherly love. In the présence of such a life and such an example, préjudice disappeared, the tongue of malevolence was silenced and the lyîng traditions of ancient superstition yielded little by little to Christian truth.

At this moment the condition of the working population is the question of the hour ; and nothing can be of higher mterest to ail classes of the State than that it should be rightly and reasonably decided. But it will be easy tor Christian working men to décide it aright il they for m Associations, choose wise guides, and follow the same path which wTith so much advantage to themselves and the commonwealth was trod by their fathers before them. Préjudice, it is true, is mighty, and so is the love of money ; but if the sensé of what is just and right be not destroyed by depravity of heart, their fellowcitizens are sure to be won over to a kindly feeling

towards men whom they see to be so industrious and so modest, who so unmistakably prefer honesty to lucre, and the sacredness of duty to ail other considérations.

And another great advantage would resuit from the state of things We are describing; there would be so much more hope and possibility of recalling to a sensé of their duty those working men who hâve either given up their faith altogether, or whose îives are at variance with its precepts. Thèse men, in most cases, feel that they bave been fooled by empty promises and deceived by false appearances. They cannot but perceive that their grasping employers too often treat them with the greatest inhumanity and hardly care for them beyond the profit their labour brings ; and if they belong to an Association, it is probabïy one in which there exis^s, in place of charity and love, that intestine strife which always accompanies unresigned and irreligious poverty. Broken in spirit and w7orn downi in body, howT many of them would giadly free themselves from this galling slavery ! But human respect, or the dread of starvation, makes them afraid to také the step. To such as th-se, Catholic Associations are of incalculable service, helping them out of their difficulties, inviting them to companionship, and receiving the repentant to a shelter in which they may securely trust.

We hâve now laid before you. Vénérable Brethren who are the persons, and what are the means by w7hich this most difncult question must be solved. Every one must put his hand to the work wrhich falls to his share, and that. at once and immediately, lest the evil wrhich is already so great may by delay become absolutely beyond reraedy. Those who rule the State must use the law and the institutions of the. country ; masters and rich men must remember their duty ; the poor, whose interests are at stake

must make every lawful and proper effort ; and since Religion alone, as We said at the beginning, can destroy the evil at its root, ail men must be persuaded that the piimary thing needful is to return to real Christianity, in the absence of which ail the plans and devices of the wisest will be oflittle avail.

As iar as regards the Church, its assistance will never be wanting, be the time or the occasion what it may, and it will intervenu with the greater effect in proportion as its liberty oi" action is the more unfettered ; let this be carefully noted by those whose office it is to provide ior the public welfare. Every minister of holy Religion must throw into the conflict ail the energy of his mind and ail the strength ol his endurance ; with your authority Yenerable Brethren, and by your example, they must never cease to urge upon ail men of eveiy class, upon the high as well as the lowly, the Grospel doctrines ol Christian life ; by every means in their power they must strive for the good of the people ; and above ail they must earnestly cherish in themselves, and try to arouse in others, Charity, the mistress and queen of virtues. For the happy results we ail long for must be chiefly brought about by the plenteous outpouring of Charity ; of that true Christian Charity which is the fulfilling of the whole Gospel hw, which is always ready to sacrifice itself for others' sake, and which is man's surest antidote against worldly pride and immoderate love of self; that Charity, whose office is described and whose G-odiike features are drawn by the Apostle St. Paul in thèse words : Charity is patient, is kind . . . seeketh not lier own . . . suffereth ail ihhigs . . . endure th al thingsi,

On each one of y ou, Yenerable Brethren, and on your Clergy and people, as an earnest of Grod's

I Corinthians xviii. 4 — 7.

mercy and a mark of our affection, We lovin^ly in the Lord bestow the Apostolic Bénédiction.

Griven at St. Peter's, in Rome, the fiiteenth day of May, 1891, the fourteenth year of Our Pontiflcate

LEO XIII., POPE

4ième Série — No. 53.

CIRCULAIRE AU CLERGE

Archevêché d'Ottawa, le 4 octobre 1891.

I Encyclique Merise Octobri adventante de Léon XIII traitant du Rosaire de ia Vierge Marie.