ÎRoolol^K G. 

â f . M 

IN THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIAN 
PRINCIPLES AND THE TEACHING 
OF THE PAPAL ENCYCLICALS 

A DISCUSSION CLUB MANUAL 
FOR YOUNG PEOPLES GROUPS 

XurRevRl/DOiPH GJfaMMT\ 

SERIES FOUR 









Modern Questions 

In i h e Light of Chr is t ian Pr inc ip les and the 
Teaching of the Papal Encyclicals 

A Discussion C l u b M a n u a l f o r 

Y o u n g People's Groups 

by 

Rev. Rudo lph G. Bandas 

Sixth Edition, 27,000 

SERIES I V 



Nihil Obstat 

Right Rev. Msgr. H. Moynihan, S .T .D. , 

Censor Librorum 
die 2a Septembris, 1949 

Imprimatur: 

•^JOANNES GREGORIUS MURRAY, D.D. 

Archiepiscopus Paulipolitanus 

die 3a Septembris, 1949 

PUBLISHED IN U.S.A. 
August 27, 1957 

BY 
OUR SUNDAY VISITOR PRESS 

HUNTINGTON, INDIANA 
»1 

Dnottfied 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I Euthanasia or Mercy Killing 7 

II Cremation . 16 

III Private Property 25 

IV A Living Wage i i. 35 

V Labor Unions ...... 47 

VI The Morality of Strikes 59 

VII The Social Apostolate 69 

VIII Our Civic Duties 80 



in t roduct ion 
The chapters in this book are brief explana-

tions of topics which have proved interesting to 
young people's open forums and discussion clubs. 
The chapters do not pretend to be exhaustive ex-
planations of the subjects but serve rather as an 
introduction to the question. They contain basic 
principles which are indispensable for the proper 
evaluation of any modern problem. 

We wish hereby to express our gratitude to 
Benziger Brothers for permission to quote from 
their copyrighted publication, "The Great Encycli-
cals of Leo XIII" edited by the Rev. John J. Wynne, 
S. J.; to the Paulist Press for permission to quote 
from the "Four Great Encyclicals," and to the 
Knights of Columbus for permission to quote from 
the New Haven edition of the Encyclical on "Athe-
istic Communism." Permission to use ideas from 
the following works has been granted by the res-
pective authors and publishers: Rev. John A. 
Ryan's "Living Wage" and "Social Reconstruction" 
published by the Macmillan Company; Eva J. Ross' 
"Survey of Sociology" and "What is Economics" 
published by the Bruce Publishing Company; Rev. 
A. Muller's "Economie Politique" published by the 
"Editions Spes" of Paris. Permission to use ideas 
from certain articles in the "Dictionnaire de Théo-
logie" has been graciously granted by the publishers, 
Letouzey et Ane of Paris. 



C h a p t e r I 

EUTHANASIA OR MERCY KILLING 
The term euthanasia ("good death") was used 

by Cicero and the Greeks to express a happy, peace-
ful death, but its use in the modern sense of induc-
ing an easy death to terminate suffering in others is 
said to owe its origin to the English philosopher and 
author, Francis Bacon (1561-1626). It designates 
a gentle, peaceful and painless death brought about 
by the administration of a large dose of drugs or 
opiates. According to Millard S. Everett, Assistant 
Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minne-
sota, euthanasia means "mercifully bringing to an 
end the sufferings of a person who has an incurable 
disease and desires to be put out of his misery, or 
putting to death a deformed infant" (1). 

Certain sociologists and physicians advocate 
the use of euthanasia for the following groups: the 
aged; deformed infants; the completely paralyzed; 
the hopelessly criminal; insane and idiotic persons; 
and patients suffering from incurable diseases such 
as syphilis in its most advanced stage, tuberculosis, 
cancer, etc. The existence of these groups is consid-
ered so useless, onerous, expensive and harmful that 
the only solution seems to be in quietly putting them 
out of the way. "Even a minor physical deformity," 
says Millard S. Everett, "may well be considered as 
justification for euthanasia. A minor deformity may 
sometimes be a major catastrophe, making of life 
only a burden. I would, therefore, extend euthanasia 
to cover all cases in which one may predict with cer-

( 1 ) "Ethics in a Democracy" (Minneapolis, 1938), p. 6. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

tainty any serious social handicap" (S). And again: 
"If a man is suffering from an incurable disease, 
such as cancer in an advanced stage, so that he is 
incapable of serving others and life has become 
worthless to himself, then he is under no obligation 
to live" t8>. 

Ancient peoples frequently did away with in-
dividuals whom they considered as useless or in-
curable. Old persons were clubbed to death or cast 
down from a precipice, children's heads were dash-
ed against the rock, the desperate cut their veins 
open, etc. We read in Scripture that Saul said to 
the Amalecite, "Stand over me and kill me, for 
anguish is come upon me, and as yet my whole life 
is in me" (4); and the Amalecite standing over him, 
killed him, for he knew that "he could not live after 
the fall." But while the mercy-killings of the an-
cients were cruel and sensational, those of the mod-
erns are scientific, being brought about gently and 
painlessly by the administration of apposite drugs. 
Russia, however, prefers to follow the savage and 
barbarous methods of old. The Christian Alliance 
Weekly carried the following account of a recent 
happening in the Soviet Union: "A Russian from 
the Soviet republic reports, under oath in a public 
court, that in Moscow the police made a street drive, 
bringing all the homeless children and young people 
together. They were inspected by a medical man 
as to their condition. Out of this mass from twelve 
to fourteen hundred were singled out, and by means 
of a good substantial meal, and other favors, they 
were induced to follow soldiers on horseback out 

~~(2) ibid! p. 28. 
(8) ibid. p. 24. 
«> II Kings, I, 9, 10. 



EUTHANASIA OR MERCY KILLING 9 

into the open field. At last they halted. The sold-
iers on horseback were on the outside of the group, 
driving them into a bundle tight together. Hidden 
machine guns began a wierd song of death. In a 
few minutes the whole mass of humanity was a 
mass of dead and dying. Soldiers came to bury 
everything that was left. These young people liv-
ing on the streets of Moscow had become so dis-
eased that the government knew of no other way 
to get rid of the plague" (6>. 

Euthanasia is one of the logical consequences of 
the materialistic philosophy inculcated at our state 
universities and gradually applied in practice by a 
large portion of the American population. If man 
is merely a mass of chemical elements, if life is 
merely matter taking on a more complex organiza-
tion, if free will and thought are merely shiftings 
of the molecules in the brain, if there is no soul, no 
hereafter, and no God, then we can understand the 
low and cheap estimate which materialists have of 
human life. We can grasp why they wish to elim-
inate and discard all those who have outlived their 
usefulness and strength. 

But no matter how scientific the methods used, 
no matter how euphemistic the term employed to 
designate the process—euthanasia is murder. To 
kill another, even at his own request and for any 
reason whatsoever, is downright murder. "Thou 
shalt not kill" is a principle of the natural law and 
a commandment of the Decalogue. Murder is one 
of the greatest assaults on the dignity of man, who 
was made in the image and likeness of God, redeem-
ed by Christ's precious Blood, made a member of 
Christ's mystical body and an heir of heavenly glory. 

(B) Quoted in Ave Maria, November 21, 1936, p. 662. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

God alone is the Supreme Lord of all things, 
the Master of life and death: "See ye that I am 
alone, and there is no other God besides me: I will 
kill and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will 
heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my 
hand" (6). "It is thou, 0 Lord, that has power of 
life and death, and leadest down to the gates of 
death, and bringest back again. A man indeed kill-
eth through malice, and when the spirit is gone 
forth, it should not return, neither shall he call back 
the soul that is received" (T). Man depends essen-
tially and in his whole being upon the Creator: 
"Whether we live, or whether we die we are the 
Lord's" <8>. 

Life comes into our body with the soul. Now, 
neither we ourselves nor any other human being is 
the cause of our soul and of our life. God alone 
can create the soul and hence He alone remains 
Master of our life. This basic truth, however, is 
contemptuously rejected by professors at our state 
universities: "There is no justification for making 
the sacredness of life an absolute, universal and 
undiscriminating rule. We may let each Qne regard 
his life as his own, to preserve or to end as he sees 
fit" (9>„ 

God is not only our Creator but also our Last 
End and has a right that we tend to Him by the 
means which He has established for us. Our span 
of life and the period of probation are one of the 
means which He has determined and which we have 
no right arbitrarily to shorten. By cutting off life, 

<«> Deut. XXXII, 39. 
m Wisd. XVI, 13, 14. 
(») Rom. XIV, 8. 
<"> Millard E. Everett, o. c. p. 24. 



EUTHANASIA OR MERCY KILLING 11 

we cut off the possibility of a spiritual improvement, 
of meriting additional graces and of expiating our 
sins. Our conscious life is our most precious gift. 
It is exclusively by the use of our intellectual facul-
ties that we can influence and determine our etern-
al destiny. For the faithful soul each instant of 
conscious life is an occasion of spiritual progress, 
of corresponding better with the infinite love of the 
Creator and of enriching one's merits with a view 
to eternal life. To deprive our neighbor of this 
opportunity is to inflict the greatest injury upon 
him. And if a man is in a state of mortal sin, if 
he has important temporal matters to settle, the 
last moments of his conscious life acquire an even 
greater value for time and for eternity. Is not 
euthanasia apt to transfer man from temporal to 
eternal sufferings? 

Euthanasia is based on a hedonistic concept of 
life, on a scheme of things in which pleasure and 
pleasure alone is the supreme law and aim of life. 
Yet man's purpose on earth is not pleasure, but to 
know and love God in order to be happy with Him 
in the next life. Now, suffering is one of the im-
portant experiences of life which enables us to 
work out our destiny: Were it not for trials and 
tribulations many would scarcely ever think of the 
next life and of their true end. Sufferings remind 
us that we have not here a "lasting city" but seek 
one which is to come. Sufferings are an occasion 
of practicing such virtues as patience, resignation, 
confidence and detachment from earthly things. 
They are a means of expiating our sins and of merit-
ing eternal happiness and glory. "For that which 
is at present momentary and light of our tribula-
tion," says St. Paul, "worketh for us above measure 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

exceedingly an eternal weight of glory" (10). Tht 
sufferings of this world, the Apostle adds, are not 
worthy to be compared with the glory that is to 
come. We shall be glorified with Christ only if 
we first suffer with Him. And let no one say that, 
because of his age and sickness, he is a useless bur-
den to others. Let him remember that he is there-
by giving others an opportunity to exercise charity 
and patience: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and 
so you shall fiulfill the law of Christ" (11). If he 
bears his ills courageously he will edify others and 
give them an example of fortitude. Men who suffer 
from serious handicaps may often have an import-
ant place in life. Milton was incurably blind. Helen 
Keller and Ludwine Lachance were deaf, dumb, and 
blind. And yet how much better the world has been 
for their presence in it. 

Furthermore, we must not be delicate members 
of a body whose Head is crowned with thorns. The 
God-Man suffered as also did His Immaculate 
Mother. "Christ also suffered for us, leaving you 
an example that you should follow his steps" (12). 
Christ took up His Cross, carried it to Calvary, suf-
fered and died. He indicated the route; it is for us 
to follow. 

Euthanasia would lead to intolerable abuses. 
Physicians frequently make a false diagnosis, and 
err as to the possibility of a patient's recovery. If 
Euthanasia were permitted, countless people would 
be put to death who under normal circumstances 
would recover. Quacks, malpractitioners and un-
skilled physicians would cover up their ignorance 

do) II Cor. IV, 17. 
( " ) Gal. VI, 2. 
i " ) I Pet. II, 21. 



EUTHANASIA OR MERCY KILLING 15 

and blunders by applying euthanasia. On the other 
hand certain people whose philosophy is thoroughly 
paganistic and materialistic, would welcome Euth-
anasia as an opportunity of being relieved of the 
duty of caring for their afflicted and suffering rela-
tives. Others would advocate "mercy-killings" for 
aged people on relief in order to save the country 
money. Men and women who have sacrificed their 
health and strength for the good of their family or 
of their country or of their community would re-
ceive as a reward—euthanasia. "Once you admit 
the principle that the individual has the right to 
take the life of his fellow man there is no telling 
how far the evil may go. Today it may be a per-
son who is suffering extreme pain who is put to 
death; tomorrow it may seem justifiable to kill 
those who are lazy or not mentally alert. This so-
called mercy-killing of the individual would, in all 
probability, lead to the killing of inferior types, and 
perhaps to the massacre of whole groups, until we 
would find ourselves engaged in mass murder. We 
sometimes wonder how many doctors would put 
themselves into the hands of their fellow citizens if 
a law of mercy-killings should be passed" (18). 

Millard S. Everett argues that "if the sacred-
ness of life can be violated by the state in the case 
of capital punishment—then it is not contrary to 
religion and morals for the state to practice euthan-
asia for the welfare of incurables" <14>. But there 
is no comparison between capital punishment and 
euthanasia. The state inflicts capital punishment up-
on those criminals whom it considers as unjust ag-
gressors against society. Now, all admit that in de-
U3) From the "Ave Maria," November 21, 1936, p. 665. 
<14> o. c. p. 27. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

fending one's life one may cause the death of an un-
just aggressor. The groups for whom Everett advo-
cates euthanasia—the aged, sick, insane, incurable 
—are not unjust aggressors—they are harmless. 
Secondly, the state does not violate the sacredness 
of human life in inflicting capital punishment. To 
God, of course, belongs the full and direct power 
over the life of man. But God has delegated in-
direct power over life to civil authority. Civil rul-
ers have the authority from God to promote the 
common welfare of society and to provide for the 
safety of its children. In order to attain these ends, 
the administering of capital punishment becomes at 
times necessary. Civil rulers in that case act as 
the representatives of God on earth: "There is no 
power but from God—For he is God's minister to 
thee for good; for he beareth not the sword in vain. 
For he is God's minister, an avenger to execute 
wrath upon him that doth evil" (15). 

<") Rom. x m , 1-4 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. Explain the meaning of the term, "euthanasia." 
2. For what groups is euthanasia advocated? 
3. What is the principal difference between an-

cient and modern mercy-killings? 
4. How account for the increasing popularity of 

the doctrine of euthanasia? 
6. Show that euthanasia is murder. 
6. Show that God alone is master of life and 

death. 
7. Show how euthanasia is opposed to the rights 

of God as our Last End. 



EUTHANASIA OR MERCY KILLING 17 

8. What is the value of suffering? 
9. What example did Christ leave us? 
10. What abuses would follow from the use of 

euthanasia? 
11. Does capital punishment justify euthanasia? 

Application to Conduct 
1. Thou shalt not kill. 
2. I shall consider sufferings as a reminder that I 

have not on earth a "lasting city." 
3. I shall bear my sufferings with patience and 

fortitude, and so give a good example to others. 



C h a p t e r I I 

CREMATION 
Cremation is a funeral rite which consists in 

burning or reducing to ashes the bodies of the dead. 
It is distinguished from burial which consists in 
consigning the body to the earth or to sepulchral 
vaults and abandoning it to the slow dissolving act-
ivity of natural forces. Both cremation and burial 
go back to prehistoric times. Sometimes the two 
are isolated, at other times they are combined, and 
sometimes one predominates. The choice of the 
rite was frequently determined by the religious con-
victions of the people. When men considered the 
next life as a prolongation of the present life, they 
practiced burial. When they came to consider it as 
a mere abstraction, they resorted to cremation. At 
times a people about to be vanquished cremated its 
dead in order to protect them against profanation 
by the enemy. Among the Canaanites, Chaldeans, 
Greeks and Romans we find both rites prevailing. 
The Medes and Persians considered fire as some-
thing sacred and felt that it would be contaminated 
by cremation. The land of the Egyptians was full 
of tombs, while the Jews interred the bodies of alL 
In the Old Testament we read, for example, of the 
burial of Abraham and Sara (1), of Jacob, Isaac and 
Rebecca (2), of Miriam (8), of Aaron (4), of Joseph 
(5), of Saul and Jonathan (6), while in the New Tes-

S p Gen. XXV, 9-10. 
(2) Gen. XLIX, 31. 
<») Num. XX, 1. 
<«> Deut. X, 6. 
<«) Jos. XXIV, 32. 
<•> H King* XXI, 14. 



CREMATION 17 

tament we read of the burial of John the Baptist, 
Lazarus, St. Stephen, etc. 

The Church from the very beginning adopted 
burial as her mode of interment. In the measure 
in which Christianity progressed and the old pagan 
customs disappeared, cremation was gradually aban-
doned. In the Acts of the Apostles we read of the 
burial of Ananias and Saphira (7). In his First 
Epistle to the Corinthians St. Paul in his discourse 
on the resurrection frequently refers to them "that 
are fallen asleep" (8), and in his First Epistle to the 
Thessalonians he speaks of their lot at the second 
coming of Christ (9>. Burial, as a method of inter-
ment, receives eloquence from the early catacombs 
which seem to know nothing of cremation. The 
early Christians were wont to gather—sometimes at 
the risk of their lives—the remains of martyrs in 
order to give them pious and reverent burial. The 
office of the so-called fossores, who were charged 
with the burial of Christians, was placed almost on 
a level with sacred orders. In mediaeval times 
cathedrals and cloisters frequently sprang up and 
developed in the midst of the cemeteries. In fact, 
the rite of burial is so universal in the Church that 
many seek its origin in a precept which the Apostles 
gave to the Church not indeed as inspired recipients 
of divine revelation but as ecclesiastical legislators. 
Hence the Church could not modify this venerable 
tradition without reasons of exceptional gravity. 

When some Christians tried to restore crema-
tion in the time of Boniface VIII, the Pope threaten-
ed them with automatic excommunication and for-

<*) V. 6,10. 
<*> Chapter XV. 
<•> Chapter IV. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

bade that the ashes of cremated persons receive 
Christian burial. The idea of cremation was re-
vived at the time of the French Revolution which 
demanded that every citizen be granted the right to 
arrange for the cremation of his body. But the 
attempt did not have any consequential results. The 
practice entered on an active phase—simultaneously 
with the spread of atheism and materialism—dur-
ing the second half of the nineteenth century. Cre-
mation was authorized in Italy in 1873, in Germany 
in 1884, and in France in 1889. Since then it has 
been making slow inroads into the various countries 
of the world. 

Now, what are some of the reasons alleged in 
favor of this practice? They are usually the fol-
lowing: 1) The emanation from the decaying bod-
ies constitute a danger to the public health. 2) The 
rain water draining through the tombs will become 
contaminated and will eventually poison the waters 
of the wells and of the rivers. 3) The exhalations 
from the tombs will contaminate the air. 4) Crema-
tion will eventually become necessary because of 
lack of space for cemeteries. 5) Cremation is nec-
essary to forestall premature burial. 

Cremation is largely an outgrowth of the mater-
ialistic and paganistic spirit of the day. It is advo-
cated especially by Freemasons and by members of 
secret and condemned societies, who wish to replace 
funeral ceremonies by civil ceremonies and the 
priests by civil officials. Their ultimate aim is to 
destroy all belief in the spirituality and immortality 
of the soul. 

The discipline of the Church in regard to cre-
mation is contained in three decrees of the Holy 
Office and in the Canon Law of the Church: 



CREMATION 
21 

1) On May 19, 1886 the Holy Office declared: 
first, that it is not permissable to join societies whose 
aim is to promote cremation and that, if there is 
question of societies affiliated with Masonry, one 
incurs all the penalties directed against the latter; 
second, it is not permissable to arrange for the cre-
mation of one's own or of another's body. 

2) On December 15, 1886 the Holy Office ruled 
that those who have deliberately chosen to be cre-
mated and who have to the knowledge of others per-
severed in this resolution are to be denied the sacra-
ments while living unless they recede from their 
attitude, and are to be denied ecclesiastical burial. 

3) On July 27,1892 the Holy Office forbade the 
public celebration of Mass for the souls of cremated 
persons, although permitting private Masses for 
them. It declared that those who knowingly and 
willingly order the cremation of their body are un-
worthy of the last sacraments. It also prescribed 
that no laborer may take part in the physical act of 
cremation if it is considered as a distinctive mark 
of a Masonic sect, or if it expresses reprobation of 
a Catholic doctrine or approval of a non-Catholic 
body, or if it implies contempt of the Catholic relig-
ion. 

4) The present legislation of the Church is 
contained in Canons 1203 and 1240: 

"The bodies of the faithful must be buried: 
cremation is forbidden. If any one has in any man-
ner ordered his body to be cremated, it shall be un-
lawful to execute the desire; if this order has been 
attached to a contract, last will, or any other act, 
it is to be considered as not added." 

"The following persons are to be deprived of 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

ecclesiastical burial, unless they have before death 
given some signs of repentance: Those who have 
given orders to cremate their body" (10). 

Burial, as we explained above, is prescribed 
neither by the natural law nor by the revealed law 
of God. Cremation is not intrinsically opposed to 
any Catholic dogma, nor is it opposed to the resur-
rection of the body, which is equally easy for God's 
power whether the body is cremated or buried. But 
burial is a traditional liturgical rite intimately con-
nected with the faith, worship, and moral life of 
the faithful. The ancient and beautiful prayers of 
the burial rite would lose their significance if they 
were applied to a dead person whose remains are 
about to pass into the crematory. The Church, 
which is the faithful guardian of these ceremonies, 
is justified in refusing them to any one who has 
practically rejected them. The Church forbids cre-
mation as a normal funeral rite. She realizes that 
there may be exceptional circumstances such as war, 
pestilence, epidemics, when she would have to dis-
pense with the liturgical rite. 

Let us now enumerate and briefly explain some 
of the doctrinal reasons on which the burial rite is 
based: 

1) The body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. The 
body is vivified by the soul which is raised to a 
divine life by sanctifying grace. It is sanctified by 
the Holy Eucharist and by the other sacraments. 
It is the instrument of the soul in its acts of self 
denial, mortification and sacrifice for love of God. 
It is destined for a glorious resurrection. It is true, 

<10> S. Woywod, "The New Canon Law" (New York, 1918) 
pp. 246, 253. 



CREMATION 21 

Of course, that decomposition takes place in both 
cremation and inhumation. But in interment the 
process is slow, hidden, and insensible, wrought by-
forces created by God. It resembles a peaceful 
sleep beneath the green lawn. It is not a violent 
and brutal disappearance of a person, wrought by 
the hands of indifferent laborers and in the pres-
ence of grief-stricken and horrified relatives. In 
many instances the urns of ashes are sent like other 
packages and are handled with the same careless-
ness as the latter. In fact, in certain quarters it 
has been suggested that the ashes be used to fertilize 
the fields. 

2) Burial a symbol of penance. Death was in-
troduced into the world by the Fall and, as St. Paul 
says, is the "wages of sin." The penal character of 
death consists not only in the death agony but also 
and especially in the decomposition and decay of 
the body. Since Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin 
were born without original sin we do not predi-
cate decay of their bodies before their resurrection. 
The complete collapse of the body in death, the des-
truction of all its vanities, the decomposition in the 
grave, the total separation from the land of the 
living—all this is an expressive image of the pen-
alty due to sin. 

3) Burial a symbol of hope, cremation of anni-
hilation. Cemetery means "sleeping chamber," a 
place where the dead await to be aroused from their 
slumber. "Lazarus our friend sleepth, but I go that 
I may awake him out of sleep" (11). "The girl is 
not dead but sleepeth" (12). The inhabitants of the 

<"> John XI, 11. 
<l2> Matt. IX, 24, 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

cemetery are those that "rest from their labours" 
(1S); they "that are asleep" <14>. 

4) Full conformity with Christ our Head. We, 
the members of Christ's Mystical Body must in all 
things be like unto our Head. If we wish to share 
in the glories of His resurrection, we must first 
share with Him His tomb: "If we have been plant-
ed together in the likeness of his death, we shall 
also in the likeness of his resurrection" <15). 

In conclusion we shall briefly comment on the 
arguments usually advanced in favor of cremation. 

1) There is no scientific evidence on hand to 
show that emanations from either rural or urban 
cemeteries have been responsible for sickness, epi-
demics or pestilences. Corruption of the body takes 
place several feet beneath the soil, and, owing to 
the small quantity of oxygen, results in few emana-
tions. Whatever emanations do occur are absorbed 
and disinfected by the earth. 

2) Nor is there any scientific proof to show 
that rain water is contaminated by the germs of 
the decaying bodies. If the small portion of rain 
water which may penetrate the tomb is in any way 
polluted, it is purified and disinfected by the earth. 

3) Exhalations from the tombs are powerless 
to poison the air. The greater part of the gases— 
either because of the compression which they under-
go, or because of their combination with the vari-
ous elements of the earth—do not reach the surface 
at all. The small quantity of gases which do reach 
the surface and freely expand in the air, are un-
able to harm even the most exposed individual. It 

•"<i3> Apoc. XIV, 13. 
<14> I Thess. IV, 12. 
<*5> Roro. VI, 5. 



CREMATION 23 

has been demonstrated that there are more poison-
ous gases in a packed hall than are exhaled from 
cemeteries in a year. 

4) Will the cities of the dead eventually crowd 
out the cities of the living? The satisfactory and 
efficient manner in which both rural districts and 
larger cities have handled this problem is sufficient 
proof that we need have no fears on this score. 

5) Cremation is said to prevent premature bur-
ial. But we ask: Is it permissable to cremate a 
person in order to kill him if he is still alive? Be-
sides what is worse: to be burned alive or to be 
asphyxiated in the tomb? Science is certainly suf-
ficiently advanced to devise satisfactory means of 
ascertaining the death of a person without resorting 
to cremation. Nowadays bodies are always embalm-
ed before burial. No embalmed body could live. 

Cremation puts a premium on crime since it 
makes impossible the verification of cases of poison-
ing. Cremation effectively destroys all organic 
poisons in the body. It renders all medical exam-
ination fruitless, because ashes can easily be scatter-
ed or replaced or mixed with others. 

Finally, cremation is contrary to the traditional 
preservation of the bodies of the saints whose proc-
ess of canonization is intimately associated with the 
miracles occurring in and through the bodies of the 
saints. 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. Define cremation. 
2. Give a brief history of cremation. 
3. What rite did the Church adopt from the very 

beginning ? 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

4. When was cremation revived? Why? 
5. What reasons are usually urged in favor of cre-

mation? Criticize each argument briefly. 
6. Explain the legislation of the Church concern-

ing cremation. 
7. Is burial based on the natural or revealed law? 

Explain. 
8. What theological arguments are advanced in 

favor of the rite of burial? 
9. Why does cremation put a premium on crime? 

Application to Conduct 
1. I shall accept death and the decay of my body in 

the grave as a penalty of sin. 
2. I shall see in my interment in the grave a sleep 

from which I shall awaken to a glorious resur-
rection. 

3. I shall make a careful study of the ceremonies 
of burial and be penetrated by their meaning. 



C h a p t e r 111 

PRIVATE PROPERTY 
"The right to own private property has been 

given to man by nature or rather by the Creator 
Himself, not only in order that individuals may be 
able to provide for their own needs and those of 
their families, but also that by means of It, the 
goods which the Creator has destined for the human 
race may truly serve this purpose. Now these ends 
cannot be secured unless some definite and stable 
order is maintained" (1). 

All things were created by God out of nothing 
and are maintained in existence by His all-pervas-
ive power of conservation. He is not only the Cre-
ator but also the absolute Lord of all things: "The 
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof" (2). He 
created man in His own image and likeness and 
placed all things at his disposal, for the full devel-
opment of his faculties and for the attainment of 
his end. In associating man with Himself in the 
dominion over created things, God willed that each 
created thing should serve its purpose in the world 
by becoming the property of a determined master. 

The word property comes from the Latin term 
proprium, meaning "that which is proper to us." 
Property is anything lawfully possessed by a person 
and belonging to him to the exclusion of every one 
else. The right of property is the right exercised 
over a thing, to the exclusion of every one else, in a 

<!> "Quadragesimo Anno" in "Pour Great Encyclicals" 
'Paulist Press), pp. 133-1?* 

(»> Psalm XXIII, 1. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

manner conformable to man's nature and to his 
destiny. When the thing possessed serves directly 
the good of a particular individual, it is called pri-
vate; when it serves the common good of all citizens: 
it is called public. 

The two groups which oppose the right to pri-
vate property are the Socialists and Communists. 
The former maintain that individuals have no right 
to own capital goods, that is property used in the 
production of more goods; the state alone should 
own these. The Communists deny all right to pri-
vate ownership of anything. The Socialists wish to 
bring about the change by peaceful, legal means; 
the Communists advocate violence and revolution. 

Leo XIII discusses the right to private property 
in his Encyclical, "Rerum Novarum" in connection 
with socialism, which he condemns as a false remedy 
for the social evils of his day. This Pontiff and 
later on Pius XI lay down the following principles 
concerning private property: 

1) Private property is universal: "The com-
mon opinion of mankind, little affected by the dis-
sentients who have maintained the opposite view, 
has found in the study of nature, and in the law 
of nature herself, the foundations of the division 
of property, and has consecrated by the practice of 
all ages the principle of private ownership, as being 
and as conducing in the most unmistakable manner 
preeminently in conformity with human nature, 
to the peace and tranquility of human life" (3). 

The doctrine of private property runs through-
out the Old and New Testament. After God Creat-
ed our first parents, He gave them power over the 
(3) "Four Great Encyclicals," (Paulist Press), p. 6. 



PRIVATE PROPERTY 27 

earth and over all living creatures w . The first 
men were to acquire property by occupation made 
effective by recognizable signs such as cultivation of 
the soil and fixed abode. Abel offered to, God the 
firstlings of his flock and Cain the fruits of the 
earth (B). Abraham and Lot are represented as rich 
in gold and silver and flocks (6). Abraham bought 
from Ephron a burial place for Sara (7>. The Mosaic 
Law confirmed the right to private property; it 
forbade the Jews to steal or even covet the goods of 
another: "Thou shalt not steal—Thou shalt not 
covet thy neighbor's house—nor anything that is 
his" (8). 

In the Gospel Our Lord counsels those who 
would be perfect to sell all that they possess and 
give to the poor (9). The Acts tell us that some of 
the early Christians who were "owners of lands or 
houses" sold their property "and brought the price 
of the things they sold, and laid it down before the 
feet of the Apostles. And distribution was made 
to every one, according as he had need" (10).- These 
Christians were not Communists in the Russian 
sense of the word. They believed in God, in the 
divinity of Christ, and in the right to private prop-
erty. For higher motives they voluntarily relin-
quished the exercise of the right to private property. 

In Egypt the Pharaos and nobles possessed vast 
properties as early as the year 3000 B. C. The Code 
of Hammurabi which goes back to 2000 B. C. has 

(4) Genesis L 28-29. 
(5) Genesis IV, 3-4. 
(«) Genesis XIII, 2-5. 
<t> Genesis XXIII, 16-20; Josue XXIV, 32. 
(8) Exodus XX, 15-17; Deuteronomy, XIX, 14. 
<®> Matthew, XIX, 21. 

«10) Acts IV, 34-35; V, 4. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

several laws concerning private property. The 
Babylonians and Assyrians, Greeks and Romans, all 
recognized the existence of private property. 

Private property, in fact, is as universal as 
human nature itself. For man has a right to what-
ever is necessary for his perfection, for the normal 
and complete development of his faculties. Now 
man's body which is substantially united to the soul, 
needs to be nourished, clothed and protected. Hence 
man must have that sufficiency of external goods 
which are necessary for his sustenance and personal 
dignity. In fact, the acquisitive tendency is spon-
taneous in man, and becomes evident in earliest 
childhood. Even among birds and animals we find 
the instinctive recognition of mine and thine. 

2) The right to private property, then, flows 
from man's very nature. Since God has endowed 
man with bodily faculties, man has a right to work. 
Every faculty, as the scholastics were wont to say, 
is destined for action. "Man is born to labor," says 
Pius XI, "as the bird to fly" (11). The product of 
man's powers are external things, and man has the 
same right over the latter as over his own faculties. 
The products of man's energies are nothing more 
than his energies transformed: When man labors 
"he makes his own that portion of nature's field 
which he cultivates—that portion on which he 
leaves, as it were, the impress of his own personal-
ity" (12). If man could not retain a right over the 
products of his hands, the following evil consequen-
ces would result: 

a) A conflict would arise within man's being. 
On the one hand, he would perceive that nature has 

di ) "Quadragesimo Anno" in o. c. p. 140. 
(12) "Rerum Novarum," o. c. p. 5. 



PRIVATE PROPERTY 31 

fitted him for procuring the means of his own sus-
tenance, and, on the other hand, he would see him-
self dependent on the state for everything. 

b) There would be no incentive for man to de-
velop his powers, since he could not retain as his 
own the goods earned by his hands. 

c) By denying to man the right to private prop-
erty we would deprive him of what is in a sense an 
extension of his personality and which constitutes 
the basis of his happiness, self-confidence, independ-
ence and dignity. 

d) Nature would not yield to mankind the rich-
es which she has in store for him: "That which is 
required for the preservation of life and for life's 
well-being, is produced in great abundance by the 
earth, but not until man has brought it into cultiva-
tion and lavished upon it his care and skill" (13). 

3) Private property is necessary in order that 
the laborer's wages may have full validity: "When 
a man engages in remunerative labor, the very rea-
son and motive of 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 receiving in return 
what is necessary for food and living; he thereby 
expressly proposes to acquire a full and real right, 
not only to the remuneration, but also to the dis-
posal of that remuneration 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 workingman's little estate thus pur-
chased should be as completely at his own disposal 

<«> ibid. p. 6. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

as the wages he receives for his labor. But it is 
precisely in this power of disposal that ownership 
consists, whether the property be land or movable 
goods" <">. 

4) Private property, especially the possession 
of a modest estate, is required by man's forethought 
and foresight. The animal is governed by its in-
stinct and its activity is restricted to what it imme-
diately perceives by the senses; it can attain its 
purpose by the things at hand within this domain of 
sense. Man, on the other hand, reasons, calculates 
and foresees the future. "It is in his power to ex-
ercise his choice not only on things which regard 
his present welfare, but also on those which will be 
for his advantage in time to come. 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; satisfied today, they demand new 
supplies tomorrow. 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 in-
exhaustible fertility of the earth" (15). 

5) Private property is necessary in order that 
the head of the family may discharge satisfactorily 
the duties of his state. By an arrange-
ment of nature and by a divine ordination 
man freely begets children into the world, 
and assumes the responsibility of rearing and 
supporting them. Since the period of begetting 
children is coextensive with the entire period of fer-
tility, and since the father has not only the obliga-
tion of providing for his children but also the right 

ibid! p. 8. 
<"> ibid. p. 4. 



PRIVATE PROPERTY 
33 

to give his children a reasonable start in life, he is 
entitled to amass property during his whole life 
time. "It is a most sacred law of nature that a 
father must provide food and all necessaries for 
those whom he has begotten; and, similarly, nature 
dictates that a man's children, who carry on, as it 
were, and continue his own personality, should be 
provided by him with all that is needful to enable 
them honorably to keep themselves from want and 
misery in the uncertainties of this mortal life. Now 
in no way can a father effect this except by the 
ownership of profitable property, which he can 
transmit to his children by inheritance" (16). 

At this point the Communist is ready to inter-
pose the following objection: Could not the state 
provide for the needs of individuals and of families 
much better than they themselves? "Man," Leo 
XIII answers "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" <17). In the designs 
of the Creator of man, the State arose naturally in 
order that it might provide for the individual and 
the family what they cannot effectively provide for 
themselves. The task of the state is to regulate the 
use of and protect private property, and to empha-
size the sacred and inviolable character of this right. 
The state must safeguard and not destroy the rights 
of the individual. If the state deprived its subjects 
of property which they had justly acquired by their 
industry, it would be guilty of theft. 

Anticipating this contention of the Commun-
ists, St. Thomas shows how a denial of private 
property would be an incentive to laziness, an ob-

<"> ibid. p. 7. 
" " ibid. pp. U 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

stacle to economic organization and to social peace: 
1) "Every one is more careful to look after what 
belongs to himself alone than after what is common 
to all or to many, since all men shun labor and leave 
to others what is matter of joint concern, as hap-
pens where there are too many servants. 2) Human 
affairs are more orderly handled, if on each indi-
vidual there rests his own care of managing some-
thing, whereas the world would be nothing but con-
fusion if every one without distinction were to have 
the disposal of anything he chose to take in hand. 
3) By this means society is the better kept at peace, 
every member being content with his own posses-
sion, whence we see that among those who hold any-
thing in common and undivided ownership strifes 
not infrequently arise" (18). 

What, it may be asked, is the extent of the 
right to acquire and possess property? It is certain 
that an economic regime which results in the ex-
treme wealth of the few and in the extreme poverty 
of a great number is not in accord with Christian 
Doctrine which teaches the equality of origin, nature 
and destiny of all men. It is equally irreconcilable 
with the great truths that all men were created by 
the same Father, redeemed by the blood of the same 
Jesus Christ, and called to participate in the same 
eternal beatitude. Such an inequality tends to under-
mine patriotism and love of country, fosters antag-
onism of classes, and a revolution and civil war be-
come inevitable. Hence theologians generally agree 
on the following principle: The exercise of the right 
to acquire and possess should stop at the point where 
its further extension would be prejudicial to the 

<"> Ha Hae. q. 66, a. 8. 



PRIVATE PROPERTY 
35 

common good. The state should limit by law and 
subject to special taxes all wealth hurtful to the 
common good of the people. However, Pope Pius XI 
insists that the right to private property must be 
distinguished from its use, and that the misuse and 
abuse of the right does not destroy the right 
itself (19>. 

Finally, Pius XI insists on the grave obligations 
of charity which govern that portion of man's in-
come "which he does not need to live as becomes hif 
station" (20). Theologians usually distinguish three 
degrees of possessions: 1) Goods necessary for the 
bare support of jne's life or of one's dependents; 
?) Goods necessary for the decent living of oneself 
.and of one's dependents, and 3) superfluous goods, 
any amount over and above the first two grades. 
Theologians teach that superfluous goods must be 
ased to relieve the needs of those who, through no 
fault of their own, are not in possession of the first 
and second degrees of goods, and this may be done 
by investing in projects that provide employment 
for those who are dependent, such method of in-
vestment being declared by St. Thomas an act of 
liberality. (21> 

(19) "Quadragesimo Anno" in o. c. p. 134. 
(20) ibid. p. 136. 
(2D cf. "Church and the Social Order" (N.C.W.C., 1940), a 

statement by the American Bishops. 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. Who is the Supreme Master of the universe? 
With whom does He share this dominion? 
Why? 

2. What is meant by -property ? The right to pri-
vate property? Private and public property? 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

3. What is the difference between Communism and 
Socialism? 

4. Prove the existence of private property from 
the Old Testament. From the New Testament. 
From History. From reason. 

5. What evil consequences would follow from a de-
nial of the right to private property? 

6. What do we mean by saying that "private prop-
erty is necessary in order that the laborer's 
wages may have full validity" ? 

7. Give other reasons for the need of private prop-
erty. 

8. Could not the Communistic state provide better 
for the individual and for the family? What, 
according to St. Thomas, would be the effects of 
such an arrangement? 

9. Is the right to acquire and possess property un-
limited? 

10. What are "superfluous goods" ? 
11. Gilbert Wilson remarked: "Since every man 

has a right to private property, and since there 
are millions of unemployed in the country, let us 
divide all wealth among ourselves." Is his plan 
ethical? 

12. John Smith said: "A man who makes a fortune 
by paying too low wages to his employees and 
who resorts to unscrupulous competition, has 
no more right to his wealth than a thief. Let us 
take it away from him." Do you agree? 

Application to Conduct 
1. "Thou shalt not steal." 
2. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods." 
S. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." 



C h a p t e r I V 

A LIVING WAGE 
"Workman and employer should make free 

agreements, and in particular should freely agree as 
to wages; nevertheless, there is a dictate of nature 
more imperious and more ancient than any bargain 
between man and man, that the remuneration 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 contractor will give him no 
better, he is a victim of force and injustice" (1). 

A living wage is a wage which is sufficient for 
the worker to live in reasonable comfort as a human 
being, to develop his faculties and to attain his ulti-
mate end. The right to a living wage flows from the 
following dictates of reason: 

a) The right to life: "The preservation of 
life is the bounden duty of each and all, 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" (2'. Every man has received life 
from God. Who is the Creator of his soul. Hence, 
he must preserve his life, his health and his bodily 
integrity. To do this he needs food, clothing and 
shelter. Furthermore, he must develop his life ac-
cording to the purposes and designs of the Creator; 
he must develop both his spiritual and bodily facul-

d) Leo XIII, Ency., "The Condition of Labor" in "Four 
Great Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), pp. 26-26. 

«> o. e. p. 25. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

ties. He must fashion his existence in conformity 
with his dignity as a human being. Now a prop-
ertyless worker has no other means of procuring the 
necessities of life except by his wage which he re-
ceives in return for his labor. Hence his wages must 
be sufficient to cover at least the expenses of a fru-
gal, thrifty life. When the employer appropriates 
the worker's energies, he is bound to give in ex-
change for them the equivalent of that amount of 
welfare which the worker's energies are the divine-
ly given means of obtaining. 

b) The right to live from nature's storehouse: 
"The Earth, though divided among private owners, 
ceases not thereby to minister to the needs of all; 
for there is no one who does not live on what the 
land brings forth. Those who do not possess the 
soil, contribute their labor; so that it may be truly 
said that all human subsistence is derived either 
from labor on one's own land, or from some labor-
ious industry which is paid either in the produce of 
the land itself or in that which is exchanged for 
what the land brings forth." (3). This passage of 
Leo XIII's Encyclical contains explicitly or implicit-
ly the following propositions: 

1) God has granted the earth with all its 
benefits to the whole of mankind, and every one has 
a strict right to as much of nature's blessings as is 
required for a decent livelihood. 

2) Since all men are essentially equal and 
since life has the same intrinsic value in all, all men 
have an essentially equal claim to nature's store-
house. One man has as much right of access to the 
material goods of this world as his neighbor. 

<»> ibid. p. 6. 



A LJ.VING WAGE 37 

3) In our present system of industrial organi-
zation the goods of the earth are controlled by a cer-
tain number so that the rest cannot have access to 
nature's storehouse directly but only by selling their 
labor to the first group in return for wages. 

4) Those who have appropriated nature's 
goods directly must administer them conscientiously 
and must not exclude or hinder others from enjoying 
their share in nature's goods. In return for the 
laborer's work they must pay wages which will be 
the equivalent of a decent and reasonable livelihood. 

5) The right to a living wage is a derived 
right, being deduced—because of existing social and 
industrial conditions—from the strict right to na-
ture's storehouse. We do not deny that there are 
conditions in which men derive their livelihood 
directly from nature and consequently have no claim 
to wages. 

A Family Living Wage 

The laborer is entitled not only to a personal 
but to a family living wage. Pope Leo XIII bases 
his doctrine on the fact that the child is, as it were, 
a prolongation of the father's person: "It is a most 
sacred law of nature that a father must provide 
food and all necessaries for those whom he has be-
gotten; and, similarly, nature dictates that a man's 
children, who carry on, as it were, and continue his 
personality, should be provided by him with all that 
is needful to enable them honorably to keep them-
selves from want and misery in the uncertainties of 
this mortal life" (4>. 

A laborer has a right to a decent reasonable 
livelihood. But a reasonable life implies the de-

m ibid. p. 7. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

velopment of a man's personality and faculties and 
the satisfaction of all his essential needs. The dif-
ferences in sexes set up by nature itself clearly 
shows that most men are to find proper self-de-
velopment in the married life. The love and com-
panionship of a member of the opposite sex are the 
satisfaction of a natural need, and self-propagation 
the manifestation of a strong natural instinct. Hence 
a laborer will not enjoy a decent and reasonable 
livelihood if he is unable to exercise his right to 
marry, to create a home and to support a family. 
Hence a living wage must in reality be a family 
living wage. 

"The wage paid to the workingman," says Pius 
XI, "must be sufficient for the support of himself 
and his family. It is right indeed that the rest of the 
family contribute according to their power toward 
the common maintenance, as in the rural home or in 
the families of many artisans and small shopkeep-
ers. But it is wrong to abuse the tender years of 
children or the weakness of woman. Mothers will, 
above all, devote their work to the home and the 
things connected with it. Intolerable, and to be 
opposed with all our strength, is the abuse whereby 
the mothers of families, because of the insufficiency 
of the father's salary, are forced to engage in gain-
ful occupations outside the domestic walls to the 
neglect of their own proper cares and duties, par-
ticularly the education of their children. Every 
effort must therefore be made that fathers of fami-
lies receive a wage sufficient to meet adequately or-
dinary domestic needs" (5). 

Both Leo XIII and Pius XI recommended that 

(5) "Reconstructing the Social Order" in "Pour Great 
Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), pp. 141-142. 



A LJ.VING WAGE 39 

the worker set aside a small fortune. "If a work-
man's wages be sufficient," says Leo XIII, "to en-
able him to maintain himself, his wife, and his chil-
dren in reasonable comfort, he will not find it diffi-
cult, 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 do so" l6). "It is conducive to the common good," 
says Pius XI, "that wage-earners of all kinds be 
enabled by economizing that portion of their wages 
which remains after necessary expenses have been 
met, to attain to the possession of a certain modest 
fortune" (7). The worker, then, has the right and 
the duty to put by a little fortune. Nature itself 
seems to give him this advice. But he could not set 
aside anything unless his salary be such that he can 
provide not only for his own frugal needs but also 
for those of the family. 

Determination of a Family Living Wage 
According to Leo XIII wages must be sufficient 

to support the worker in "reasonable and frugal 
comfort." This proposition, he adds, is a "dictate of 
natural justice." Now what is meant by a reason-
able and decent livelihood ? It implies more than the 
mere necessities of existence. It demands at least 
that minimum which will satisfy right reason, and 
which a person of a given age or sex must enjoy in 
order to live as a human being. There are two cri-
teria for determining the meaning of "reasonable 
comfort." First, the judgment of competent and 
fairminded men, and, second, a consideration of 
man's dignity and needs. The second point calls 
for a more detailed explanation. 

<«> o. c. p. 26. 
c> o. c. p. 143. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

Man is not a mere thing, he is not a mere ani-
mal, a beast of burden, an instrument of produc-
tion; he is a person. His body is animated by a 
divinely created soul which was made to the image 
and likeness of God and redeemed by Christ's prec-
ious blood. Hence man's actions are lifted from 
the brute level and invested with a superior dig-
nity which does not belong to any other creature. 
Hence his wages must enable him to develop his 
whole personality and to exercise all his faculties 
—spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical. It 
must enable him to provide, first of all, for his 
soul and mind: It must enable him to belong to 
a Church, practice his religion, lead a moral life, 
educate his children and furnish certain educa-
tional facilities for the entire family (books, peri-
odicals, etc.) It must enable him, secondly, to pro-
vide for the needs of the body. The laborer must 
have adequate food, clothing, housing, wholesome 
recreation, and vacation. He shall enjoy a mini-
mum security against sickness, accident and old age. 

The determination of a family living wage en-
counters certain difficulties in practice because of 
the unequal number of children in different fam-
ilies. We shall briefly describe some of the solu-
tions advanced by Catholic sociologists: 

1) Some propose that the unmarried worker 
but potential head of the family be paid from the 
very beginning a wage that would support in decent 
comfort a normally sized family (about five chil-
dren). The surplus which he receives before marri-
age will accumulate into a fund which he will need 
for the maintenance of the family later on. 

2) Others recommend the so-called Employers' 
Endowment Funds. The employer establishes a 



A LJ.VING WAGE 41 

standard wage which is not as high as the normal 
wage in an industry and which is about enough to 
support a single man. The employer would pay, let 
us say, thirty dollars a week to his employees, and 
at the same time pay into an endowment fund ten 
dollars additional for each one of his laborers. Mar-
ried men would be entitled to draw from this fund 
—over and above their wages—ten dollars a week 
for their wives and five dollars for each child under 
fourteen. In France'and Belgium these family al-
lowances are known as the "allocations familiales" 
and have been sponsored by such men as Leon Har-
mel of Val-des-Bois, Abbe Cetty of Mulhouse, and 
M. Romanet of Grenoble. 

3) Trade Union Funds, established in some 
countries by the contribution of members of labor 
unions, pay family allowances to those workers who 
are not benefiting by the Employers' Endowment 
Funds. 

4) Women laborers have a right to what is a 
living wage for them, and if they perform with the 
same efficiency work done by men, they have a right 
to the same living wage as men. Children have a 
right to what is a living wage for them, and if they 
perform efficiently work done by adults, they should 
receive adult-wages. 

Where workers are suffering from grave eco-
nomic evils, the State should interfere, and estab-
lish legal minimum wages. "Every effort must be 
made," writes Pius XI, "to bring that which Our 
Predecessor Leo XIII, of happy memory, has al-
ready insisted upon, namely, that in the State such 
economic and social methods should be adopted as 
will enable every head of a family to earn as much 
as, according to his station in life, is necessary for 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

himself, his wife, and for the rearing of his child-
ren" (8). In their Program of Social Reconstruc-
tion the American Bishops also demand a legal min-
imum wage: 

"The several States should enact laws providing 
for the establishment of wage rates that will be at 
least sufficient for the decent maintenance of a fam-
ily, in the case of all male adults, and adequate to 
the decent individual support of female workers. 
In the beginning the minimum wages for male 
workers should suffice only for the present needs of 
the family, but they should be gradually raised un-
til they are adequate to future needs as well. That 
is, they should be ultimately high enough to make 
possible that amount of saving which is necessary 
to protect the worker and his family against sick-
ness, accidents, invalidity and old age" (9>. 

Suppose now that the employer is insolvent, is 
he bound to pay living wages? The following moral 
principles seem to be applicable to a situation of 
this kind: 1) The employer has a right to take 
from the business a family living wage even though 
the others may be deprived of a full living wage, 
and also whatever is necessary to keep up his busi-
ness. When a man is in the presence of two con-
flicting equal claims he is justified in favoring him-
self. 2) Beyond this, the employer may not take 
anything more until he has paid to all his employees 
a full living wage. The workers' right to a reason-
able livelihood is superior to the employer's right to 
superfluous goods; their right to nature's storehouse 
is equally the same as that of the latter. 

<8> "Christian Marriage," o. c. p. 116. 
"Bishops' Program of Social Reconstruction" (N. C. 
W. C., 1939), pp. 21-22. 



A LJ.VING WAGE 43 

"The conditions of any particular business and 
of its owner," says Pius XI, "must also come into 
question in settling the scale of wages; for it is un-
just to demand wages so high that an employer can-
not pay them without ruin, and without consequent 
distress among the working people themselves. If 
the business make smaller profit on account of bad 
management, want of enterprise or out-of-date 
methods, this is not a just reason for reducing the 
workingmen's wages. If, however, the business 
does not make enough money to pay the workman a 
just wage, either because it is overwhelmed with un-
just burdens, or because it is compelled to sell its 
products at an unjustly low price, those who thus 
injure it are guilty of grievous wrong; for it is they 
who.deprive the workingmen of the just wage, and 
force them to accept lower terms. Let employers, 
therefore, and employed join in their plans and 
efforts to overcome all difficulties and obstacles, and 
let them be aided in this wholesome endeavor by the 
wise measures of the public authority. In the last 
extreme, counsel must be taken whether the busi-
ness can continue, or whether some other provision 
should be made for the workers" (10). 

Partnership 

Even when the employer has provided proper 
working conditions—namely, decent hours, sanitary 
conditions, and sufficient rest—and paid a living 
wage, the Papal ideal has not yet been fully attain-
ed. The Popes advocate the modification óf the 
wage contract by some measure of partnership: "In 
the present state of human society, We deem it ad-
visable that the wage-contract should, when possible, 

<10) o. c. p. 142. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

be modified somewhat by a contract of partnership, 
as is already being tried in various ways to the no 
small gain both of the wage-earners and of the em-
ployers. In this way wage-learners are made shar-
ers in some sort in the ownership, or the manage-
ment, or the profits" (11). In carrying out this pro-
gram, the employers may divide a determined sum 
of profits among the workers either in proportion 
to their salary or equally. Or, they may put out 
the workers' part of the profits in the form of shares 
of stock in the company, gradually making the work-
ers copartners in business and in the management. 
"Labor," says the American Bishops' Program of 
Social Reconstruction, "ought gradually to receive 
greater representation in what the English group of 
Quaker employers have called the 'industrial' part 
of business management—'the control of processes 
and machinery; nature of product; engagement and 
dismissal of employees; hours of work, rates of pay, 
bonuses, etc.; welfare work; shop discipline, rela-
tions with trade unions' " (12). 

m Pius XI, Ency., "Reconstructing the Social Order," o. c. 
pp. 140-141. 

(12) o. c. p. 23, cf. "The Church and Social Order" (N. C. 
W. C., 1940) a statement of the American Bishops. 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. What is meant by a living wage? 
2. State the argument from the right to life. 
3. Explain the argument from the right to nat-

ure's storehouse. 
4. What is meant by a family living wage? On 

what grounds is it based ? 



A LJ.VING WAGE 
47 

5. What are the criteria for determining a living 
wage? 

6. Explain some of the methods of paying a fam-
ily living wage. 

7. When and why should the State intervene to 
procure the payment of living wages ? 

8. Is an insolvent employer bound to pay a living 
wage? Explain. 

9. What do the Popes mean when they say that 
the wage contract should be modified by some 
measure of partnership ? 

10. A business man once said: "I know that I am 
not paying my men enough to live on, but I do 
not feel that there is anything wrong with it 
because I will give my money to charity." What 
do you think of his policy? 

11. An employer said: "I pay my employees as 
much as they get anywhere else. If they do 
not like to work for me for twelve dollars a 
week, they can quit and I will have a hundred 
others looking for the jobs tomorrow." What 
do you think of his attitude? 

12. A man owned a factory. He needed someone 
to manage it. If he hired an expert the profits 
from the factory would be sufficient to pay a 
living wage to the employees. But he had a 
brother who, though inexperienced, applied for 
the work. Should he hire his brother as man-
ager? 

13. Is a man justified in installing labor-saving 
machinery if thereby he throws laborers out 
of work? 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

Application to Conduct 
1. If I am a laborer and receive a living wage, and 

at the same time deliberately fail to do satis-
factory work, I am guilty of stealing. 

2. If I am a successful employer, and fail to pay 
my employees a living wage, I am guilty of 
stealing. 

3. I am not an absolute owner of my possessions 
but only a steward and administrator of God's 
storehouse. 



C h a p t e r V 

LABOR UNIONS 
Preliminary Notions and Definitions 

1) A labor union is an organization of work-
ing people created to maintain or improve their 
working conditions and to advance their interests. 

2) A trade union is an organization of work-
ers engaged in the same trade. 

3) An industrial union is an organization of 
workers engaged in a certain industry irrespective 
of the particular work which the laborers may per-
form within that industry (e.g., bookkeepers, mech-
anics, etc. in the mining industry). 

4) A company union is one in which mem-
bers and officers are chosen from among persons 
employed by the same company with which the 
union has to negotiate. Since the employer con-
trols the jobs of the members of a company union 
he virtually controls their bargaining power with 
him. Its success depends not on competition and 
hostility but on good will and cooperation between 
employer and employee. 

5) A free or outside union is one in which the 
officers need not and usually are not chosen from 
the company's paid personnel. 

6) A closed shop is a place of employment 
where only members of a labor union are permitted 
to work. 

7) An open shop is a workshop where union 
and non-union workmen are employed without dis-
crimination. . 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

8) A non-union shop is one in which union 
members are not employed or one in which a labor 
union forbids its members to be employed. 

9) A shop committee is a group which con-
sists of representatives of both the employers and 
employees and which settles internal and local mat-
ters without referring them to a union. 

10) Collective bargaining is negotiating con-
cerning the terms of a contract or conditions of 
employment between an employer, or several em-
ployers, on the one hand, and an organized body of 
workers, on the other. 

11) Unfair list: A published list of employ-
ers unfair to labor unions. 

12) Union label: a sign stamped upon their 
products by employers of union men. 

12) Blacklist: a list of undesirable workers 
published by employers. 

14) "Yellow Dog" contract: An employment 
contract which implies cessation of membership in 
a labor union and promise not to join a union while 
in that employer's service. 

History of Labor Unions 
The organization of labor in ancient and mod-

ern times may be described briefly in the following 
four statements: 1) For many centuries slaves and 
serfs*took the place of the laboring class. It would 
be incorrect, however, to speak of slavery as a labor 
union or to refer to the rebellion of slaves as strikes. 

2) Before the profound division and specializa-
tion of labor—which characterizes our times—set 
in, and under the influence of the Christian teaching 
of solidarity, the employer, his associates and ap-
prentices frequently united—especially in the mid-
dle ages—into one group or guild to defend the in-



LABOR UNIONS 49 

terests common to all of them. 3) With the intro-
duction of the Liberalistic principle of individual-
ism, and with the rise of monopolies and of capital-
ism, workers sought by distinct and secret associa-
tions to defend themselves against the exploitation 
of which they were victims. The right to existence 
of these organizations was strongly contested by 
the exponents of economic liberalism who saw in 
these unions a menace to all private initiative. 4) 
The French Revolution dealt a mortal blow to all 
corporative organizations. The law Le Chapelier 
of 1791 suppressed all corporations and forbade the 
citizens to reestablish them for any reason whatso-
ever. Art. 414 of the penal code of 1810 forbade all 
coalition among employers and Art. 415 all coali-
tion among workers. 

The history of labor unions since then may be 
summarized in three words: repression, toleration 
and recognition.. In France the right of coalition 
(but not of association) was granted in 1864. In 
1884 the Waldeck-Rousseau code authorized the 
creation of professional unions, and further and 
more liberal laws were passed in 1901 and 1920. 
The various unions were allowed to federate into 
the "Confederation General du Travail." In Belg-
ium the Constitution in 1831 recognized the right of 
association, but workers' unions were forbidden to 
agitate for higher wages and shorter hours of labor. 
In 1866 Art. 310 granted the laborers the right to 
strike but punished with extreme severity any re-
course to violence in the conduct of a strike. Art. 
310 was suppressed in 1921 and organization rights 
were granted to both employers and employees. In 
Germany prohibitions against worker's associations 
were abrogated by the Industrial Code of Germany 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

in 1869, although many restrictions still remained. 
Full juridical status was granted to labor unions 
by the Constitution of Weimar. At present what-
ever labor unions still function must be fully sub-
ject to the Nazi government. 

In England labor unions began to develop from 
the beginning of the eighteenth century. But the 
government showed itself rather hostile, and for-
bade them in 1799 and again in 1800. These prohibi-
tive laws however, were enforced only when the 
unions tended to exercise an excessive influence on 
industry; they were abrogated in 1824. A juridical 
status was not granted to labor unions until 1871. 
At the same time the Criminal Amendment Act, 
which was destined to curb strikes, in reality de-
prived the unions of juridical status once they en-
gaged in a strike. The Amendment Act was abro-
gated in 1875, and thereafter the law gave full rec-
ognition to labor unions and determined what meas-
ures were licit in a strike. The Trkdes Dispute Act 
of 1906 declared as lawful in a strike certain actions 
whose legality had hitherto been contested. In 1927 
an Act of Parliament outlawed all general strikes. 

The history of the labor unions in the United 
States centers around the following dates: 1) Up to 
1869 we find sporadic attempts at union on the part 
of various local bodies as well as attempts at a 
national federation of these local units, but nothing 
lasting came of these endeavors. 2) 1869: Found-
ing of the Knights of Labor. This organization ad-
mitted both laborers and employers, but excluded 
lawyers, bankers, and rum sellers. In trying to irr 
prove working conditions it relied more on educa-
tional methods than on strikes. It declined rapidly 
after 1886 when it reached its highest membership 



LABOR UNIONS 61 

of 700,000. 3) 1881: Organization of the American 
Federation of Labor (A.F.L.), a federation of trade 
unions, each of which cooperates voluntarily with 
the others in procuring improved working condi-
tions, while managing independently its own individ-
ual internal policies. 4) 1905: Founding of the In-
dustrial Workers of the World, an American Social-
istic movement, which though well organized, exer-
cised little influence. 5) 1913: Establishment of the 
U. S. Department of Labor. 6) 1935: The Wagner 
Labor Relations Act guaranteed to the workers the 
right to organize and to bargain collectively. 7) 
1936: Establishment of the Committee for Indus-
trial Organization (C. I. O.). While the A. F. L. is 
organized on craft lines (carpenters, bricklayers, 
electricians) the C. I. O. is organized on industrial 
lines (coal mining industry, steel industry). The 
A. F. L. and C. I. O. have each a membership of 
about four million. 

The Church and Labor Unions 
1) In 1891 Pope Leo XIII declared that the 

right of workers to form unions is a natural right: 
"To enter into a 'society' of this kind is the natural 
right of man; and the State must protect natural 
rights, not destroy them; and if it forbids its citi-
zens 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 nat-
ural propensity of man to live in society" (1). 

"The experience of his own weakness," the 
same Pontiff writes, "urges man to call in help from 
without. We read in the pages of Holy Writ: 'It 

i P f "On the Condition of Labor" in "Four Great Encycli-
cals' (Paulist Press), pp. 28-29. cf. Pius XII, "To the 
Church in the United States" ("Sertum Laetitiae") 
(N. C. W. C., 1939.) 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

is better that two should be together than one; for 
they have the advantage of their society. If one 
fall he shall be supported by the other. Woe to 
him that is alone, for when he falleth he hath none 
to lift him up' (2>. And further: 'A brother that 
is helped by his brother is like a strong city' (3). 
It is this natural impulse which united men in civil 
society; and it is this also which makes them band 
themselves together in associations of citizen with 
citizen" (4). 

Pope Leo urges that workmen's associations be 
"adapted to the requirements of the age in which 
we live—an age of greater instruction, of different 
customs, and of more numerous requirements in 
daily life. It is gratifying to know that there are 
actually in existence not a few societies of this nat-
ure, consisting either of workmen alone, or of work-
men and employers together; but it were greatly to 
be desired that they should multiply and become 
more effective" (5). 

2) In 1919 the American Bishops reaffirmed 
the right of workingmen to organize and declared: 
"It is to be hoped that this right will never again 
be called in question by any considerable number 
of employers" (6). 

3) The teachings of Leo XIII, so frequently 
confirmed by his successors, was condensed in the 
following propositions contained in a letter which 
the Sacred Congregation of the Council addressed 
in 1929 to Cardinal Leinart of Lille: 

Eccles. IV, 9, 10. 
(*> Prov. XVIII, 19. 
<*> o. c. p. 28. 
<»' ibid., p. 27 cf. pp. 129-131. 
<6> Bishops' Program of Social Reconstruction (N.C.W.C., 

1939). 



LABOR UNIONS 53 

1. The Church recognizes and affirms the 
right of employers and of workers to form indus-
trial (syndical) associations, whether separate or 
mixed, and sees in them an efficacious means for 
the solution of the social question. 

2. Under existing circumstances the Church 
considers the formation of such industrial unions 
as morally necessary. 

3. The Church urges the formation of suet 
industrial unions. 

4. The Church desires that the industrial assc 
ciations be established and governed according to th 
principles of Christian faith and morality. 

5. The Church desires that industrial unior. 
be instruments of peace and concord, and with 
this object in view she suggests the institution 
of joint committees as a bond of union between 
them. 

6. The Church desires that industrial unions, 
established by Catholics for Catholics, be formed 
among Catholics, without denying, however, that 
particular needs may demand a different course of 
action. 

7. The Church recommends the union of all 
Catholics in a common endeavor in the bonds of 
Christian Charity (7). 

4) In 1931 Pope Pius XI again restated the 
right of the worker to form unions, and proposed the 
establishment of a more perfect and harmonious 
social order—of an occupational or guild society. 
"The demand and supply of labor," says Pius XI, 
"divides men on the labor market into two classes, 
as into two camps, and the bargaining between these 

m Acta Ap. Sedis, 1929, pp. 494-504. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

parties transform this labor market into an arena 
where the two armies are engaged in combat. To 
this grave disorder which is leading society to ruin 
a remedy must evidently be applied as speedily as 
possible. But there cannot be question of any per-
fect cure, except this opposition be done away with, 
and well ordered members of the social body come 
into being anew,, vocational groups namely, binding 
men together not according to the position they 
occupy in the labor market, but according to the 
diverse functions which they exercise in society. 
For as nature induces those who dwell in close prox-
imity to unite into municipalities, so those who prac-
tice the same trade or profession, economic or other-
wise, combine into vocational groups. These groups 
in a true sense autonomous, are considered by man 
to be, if not essential to civil society, at least its 
natural and spontaneous development" (8). 

Conclusions 
The pronouncements of Church authorities 

make it clear that legitimate unionism is worthy of 
encouragement. Whether anv particular labor 
union will merit the Church's approval, will depend 
upon the principles and methods of the union in 
question. Some unions are actuated by principles 
which are strongly tainted with Socialism and Com-
munism. Others are maintained on the theory that 
the relation between employers and workmen is one 
of warfare in which each side is free to strive for 
all it can obtain. Racketeering and dishonesty in 
handling union funds are not unknown in labor 
history. Conscious of their organized strength, the 
leaders of the workers often resort to force as an 
instrument of combat. They resort to strikes with-

<8> o. c. p. 145. 



LABOR UNIONS 55 

out first making use of peaceful methods. Aggres-
sive tendencies and a tyranny of labor thus gradu-
ally develop. The consequent lack of discipline 
cripples seriously the factors of production. The 
uneducated masses often fail to grasp the prudent 
policy of the directors. They insist on their rights 
and forget their duties. While labor unions arose 
to protect the workers against the headstrong power 
of economic individualism, the doctrine of economic 
liberalism is now creeping into the labor unions. 
The leaders of the unions using their monopolistic 
power to curtail production, demand excessive en-
trance fees, create a labor shortage by artificial 
methods, and demand wages without any regard of 
the laborers' skill. 

This arrogant attitude of certain leaders of 
labor unions clashes with the attitude of employers 
who combat the unions on both theoretical and prac-
tical grounds. The employers urge the following 
objections against labor unions: united workers are 
becoming more and more vociferous in their claims; 
they seek an independence which will mean the dis-
organization and ruin of industry; the employer 
must remain free and be his own master; the em-
ployee should also remain free and seek apart from 
unions guarantees of an equitable remuneration fo" 
labor. These objections, however, have little co-
gency ; in the first place, the worker has often failed 
to obtain equitable conditions of labor where he 
dealt individually with the employer. The independ-
ence which the worker seeks is an independence in 
drawing up the terms of the labor contract; once 
the contract is concluded, the employee is strictly 
bound by it, and any infraction of it is condemned 
both by the principles of ethics and the proposed 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

policies of the labor unions themselves. The employ-
er, it is true, must remain master of the establish-
ment, but the worker must remain master of his 
person and cannot cede to the employer the right 
to dispose arbitrarily of the laborer's personality. 
Besides there are certain claims of strict justice 
the fulfillment of which the worker has a right 
to demand. The liberty which the employer often 
wishes to preserve for the worker is the liberty 
to accept arbitrarily low wages or to starve. The 
employee cannot transport his family hither and 
thither in quest of a family living wage. 

Frequently the employer does not stop with 
theoretical considerations but combats labor unions 
with concrete weapons. He carries on a systematic 
discrimination against all workers whom he knows 
to belong to the union. Or he forces them to re-
linquish their membership in a union, and makes 
them promise not to join a labor union while they 
are in his employment. He makes use of the press, 
of blacklists, of paid spies and speakers in his cam-
paign against labor unions. Or he moves his es-
tablishment to a rural section where cheap labor 
is plentiful and where unionization would be diffi-
cult and ineffective. Frequently he establishes for 
his employees dwellings, stores, halls, etc., and thus 
makes their existence more completely dependent 
upon himself. Unfortunately the employer's work 
is frequently made easier by the acrimonious dis-
putes between labor organizations, by the desertion 
on the part of labor leaders, and by the inertia of 
many of the workers. 

Yet a labor union properly organized and pru-
dently guided cannot but be productive of much 
good. It enables the mass of workers, who come 



LABOR UNIONS 67 

from varied walks of life and who differ vastly 
in education and ability, to be represented by 
experts in the labor world. These representatives 
of labor are in a position to do their utmost to pro-
cure better working conditions for the workers and 
protect them against unjust treatment. By stabil-
izing working conditions in a region or section of 
the country, they will stabilize the population it-
self, since the laborer will not experience any 
desire to transport his family to another district 
in quest of better living conditions. These uniform 
conditions of labor will strengthen the establish-
ments of the employers themselves who will thus 
be protected against unjust competition. 

The closed shop has serious reasons in its 
favor. If in a given establishment labor enjoys 
certain advantages because of organization, the 
non-unionists should be willing to help defray the 
expenses of this organization. The "open shop" 
usually means supplanting of union employees, dis-
cord, disunion and lack of discipline, the impossi-
bility of collective bargaining, reduction of wages, 
and ultimately injustice to the workers. The 
"closed shop" is guilty of injustice when it charges 
an excessive membership fee to non-unionists, in 
order that it may itself monopolize the work in 
the particular establishment, and when it uses 
physical or moral violence to deprive a man of his 
freedom to gain employment for a livelihood es-
sential to the existence of himself and his family. 

Discuss ion A i d s 
1. Define a labor union. What are the various 

kinds of labor unions? What is the difference 
between the A. F. of L. and the C. I. O.? 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

2. What is the difference between the "open" 
and "closed" shop? 

3. Give a brief history of labor unions: 
1) up to 1800; 2) from 1800 to our own 
day. 

4. What are the principal dates in the American 
Labor Movement? 

5. Summarize briefly the teaching of Church 
authorities on labor unions. 

6. What criticisms may one level against some 
labor unions? 

7. What methods do employers use in combat-
ing labor unions? 

8. What are the good effects of unionization? 
9. What is to be said of the "open" and "closed" 

shop? 
10. An employee of a large firm said: "Why 

should I join a union? I am getting enough 
to live on now. I know that if I join the union 
the others will get higher wages, but that is 
not my worry." What do you think of his 
attitude ? 

11. What is the Social Action Department of the 
National Catholic Welfare Conference. 

12. Is all poverty among workers due to industrial 
conditions? 

Application to Conduct 

1. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
2. I shall always see in my neighbor a brother in 

Christ and a co-heir of the heavenly kingdom. 
3. I shall do unto others as I wish them to ao 

unto me. 



C h a p t e r V I 

THE MORALITY OF STRIKES 
Preliminary Explanations and Definitions 

1) A strike is a simultaneous and concerted 
quitting of work by laborers in order to obtain or 
resist—by constraint exercised on the employer, on 
the public, and on the power of the State—a change 
in the conditions of employment. It is direct when 
the employees suffering from the same grievance 
cease working in order to obtain from their employ-
er a remedy of this grievance. It is sympathetic 
when the laborers cease working for their employer, 
not because they have a grievance against him, but 
in order to make him bring pressure against em-
ployers of workers who are on strike. In a sit-down 
strike the employees occupy the shop, refuse the em-
ployer access to it and sometimes hold him impris-
oned in it, tie up the machinery and the buildings, 
and occasionally continue the work but for their 
own benefit. A general strike, which is a cessation 
of work on the part of all employees, aims at the 
suppression of private property and at placing the 
means of production in the hands of the proletariat. 

2) Scabs and blacklegs are non-union workers 
who strive as strike breakers to occupy the positions 
vacated by the strikers. 

3) A boycott is a concerted action to withhold, 
and induce others to withhold business or relations 
with an employer or a corporation. It is primary 
when it is directed against the person against whom 
the boycotters have a grievance. It is secondary 



H • MODERN QUESTIONS 

when it is directed against a person who continues 
to deal with a boycotted person. 

4) Picketing is the posting of labor-union 
agents near a place affected by a strike in order to 
persuade non-union workers and other laborers 
trom taking the places vacated by the strikers. 
Occasionally picketing means posting workers' 
agents with large and appropriately worded signs 
near a boycotted establishment in order to turn 
business away from it. 

5) Injunction: An issuing of an order by the 
court requiring certain persons to abstain from cer-
tain actions until the grievance has been examined 
by the court and rights finally determined. 

6) Lockout: A closing down of shop by an 
employer or employers in order to force the workers 
to accept their terms or otherwise face unemploy-
ment. 

7) Sabotage: Interference with, injury to, or 
destruction of the equipment, instruments of pro-
duction and stock of an employer. 

History of the Strike 
The history of strikes is intimately bound up 

with that of labor unions. In a general way it may 
be asserted that strikes were forbidden up to the 
middle of the nineteenth century. Strikes ceased to 
be unlawful in France only in 1864; in Belgium, in 
1866; m England, in 1824; and in Germany, in 
1869. At the end of the nineteenth century the strike 
was recognized generally throughout Europe except 
m Russia. In the United States strikes occur on 
the average of ten a day. 

The Right to Strike 
When their contract has expired, the laborers 



THE MORALITY OF STRIKES 61 

have a right to resign their employment, if they 
have a reasonable cause. If an employer treats his 
employees justly, they would do him an injustice if 
they withdraw from work en masse. But if the 
employer's demands are unreasonable or if the 
working conditions are unjust, then one or several 
or all workers may quit work. This concerted re-
fusal to renew the contract for a new term is often 
the only means which workers have of procuring for 
themselves equitable conditions of employment and 
of safeguarding their legitimate interests. "When 
work-people have recourse to a strike, it is frequent-
ly because the hours of labor are too long, or the 
work too hard, or because they consider their wages 
insufficient" (1>. 

The fact that workers make use of an organi-
zation to obtain their ends does not make the strike 
immoral. For the right of association, as Leo XIII 
points out, is a natural prerogative, and is a means 
of procuring happiness and safeguarding human 
nature. Secondly, as long as their cause is just, the 
workers are justified in persuading others not to 
occupy the places temporarily vacated and in point-
ing out to them that any such interference would be 
an injury to the just cause of labor. Finally, it is 
beside the point to say that the higher wages sought 
by the strikers will ultimately have to be paid by 
the consumers of the goods produced by the work-
ers. The laborer has a right to a family living wage. 
If the consumers' clamoring for cheaper goods re-
sults in the underpaying of the laborers, the former 
are guilty of an injustice towards the latter. As 
long as the objectives and methods of the strikes are 

( 1 ) ^eo XIII, "The Conditions of Labor" in "Four Great 
Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), p. 22. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

just, the inconveniences which may accompany a 
strike are not an injustice wrought on the public 
at large. 

Occasionally workers may go on strike even 
though a contract exists between themselves and the 
employers. The contract may be invalid from the 
beginning because of lack of liberty or because of 
error or because of some unjust clause in the con-
tract. Again a contract which originally was valid 
may lose its obligatory force because the employer 
fails to carry out its stipulations or no longer treats 
his employees justly, for example, by introducing 
them into working conditions harmful to life and 
morals. It is doubtful, too, whether contracts 
which do not beget a living wage are binding on the 
worker. However, contracts should be considered 
as valid until the contrary is conclusively proved. 
If the workers can prove that no valid contract 
exists, they may lawfully cease to work provided 
they conform to local and professional customs. 

Conditions of a Lawful Strike 
In order that the right to strike may be law-

fully exercised, it is necessary that the following 
conditions be observed: 

1) A strike must be undertaken for a just 
cause. The object sought by the strike must be one 
to which the laborers have a claim in justice. In 
others words, the workers may not use their organi-
zation to extort from their employer all that they 
can get. A just cause includes such claims as the 
following: 

a) Protection,of life, health and morals; pro-
tection against accidents, unsanitary conditions, dis-
ease, etc. 



THE MORALITY OF STRIKES 63 

b) Recognition of labor unions. Collective bar-
gaining is frequently the only means by which work-
men can safeguard their interests and protect them-
selves against injustice. 

c) Reasonable hours of labor: "It is neither 
justice nor humanity so to grind men down with 
excessive labor as to stupefy their minds and wear 
out their bodies. Man's powers, like his general nat-
ure, are limited, and beyond these limits he cannot 
go. His strength is developed and increased by use 
and exercise, but only on condition of due intermiss-
ion and proper rest. Daily labor, therefore, must 
be so regulated that it may not be protracted dur-
ing longer hours than strength admits. How many 
and how long the intervals of rest should be, will 
depend upon the nature of the work, on circum-
stances of time and place, and on the health and 
strength of the workman. Those who labor in 
mines and quarries, and in work within the bowels 
of the earth, should have shorter hours in propor-
tion as their labor is more severe and more trying 
to health. Then, again, the season of the year must 
be taken into account; for not infrequently a kind 
of labor is easy at one time which at another is in-
tolerable or very difficult. Finally, work which is 
suitable for a strong man cannot reasonably be re-
quired from a woman or a child" (2). 

d) A minimum living wage: "There is a dic-
tate of nature more imperious and more ancient 
than any bargain between man and man, that the 
remuneration must be enough to support the wage-
earner in reasonable and frugal comfort" (3). Some 
theologians hold that workers not receiving a mini-

<2> o. c. pp. 23-24. 
'a> ibid. p. 26. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

mum wage may strike, even though a contract exists. 
If no contract exists, they may strike for a maximum 
living wage; to strike for more than this, however, 
would be to commit an injustice against both the 
employer and the consuming public. 

2) The second condition of a lawful strike is 
this: The advantages anticipated must outweigh 
ohe evil effects which inevitably accompany the 
strike. During a strike the employer's business is 
not only at a standstill but is frequently seriously 
undermined and even destroyed, the laborers are in 
want for lack of wages, charity is violated, etc. 
"Such paralysis of labor," says Leo XIII, "not only 
affects the masters and their work-people, but is 
extremely injurious to trade, and to the general in-
terests 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" <4>. All these evils must be compensat-
ed by the greater good to be realized by the strike. 
However, an apparently insignificant wrong may 
assume very grave proportions later on if left un-
corrected, and hence may justify a strike. Again, 
in stressing the evils which befall the community 
as a result of the strike, it is important also to em-
phasize the evils from which the worker suffers and 
which he strives to remove by the strike. 

Some functions, however, are so necessary for 
the common good of society that one can scarcely 
conceive of any situation where a strike in these 
departments would be justifiable. Such would be 
the strike of the police, of the postal service, of rail-
roads, of undertakers, of hospitals, of ambulance 

(«) i b i d . p . 22. 



THE MORALITY OF STRIKES 65 

trucks, of the producers and conveyors of the neces-
sities of life—especially for children, the weak and 
the sick. Society, however, should furnish to these 
workers other means of defending their legitimate 
interests. 

3) Thirdly, since the strike is a drastic measure, 
recourse should be had to it only after all peaceful 
solutions of the difficulty have failed—only after 
all means of settling the difference and of securing 
justice have been exhausted. 

4) Fourthly, there must be a reasonable hope 
that the strike will succeed. The present grievances 
of the worker are a lesser evil than the losses and 
sufferings which accompany an unsuccessful strike. 
The second state of the laborer would in that case 
be worse than the first. 

5) Lastly, only lawful means may be used in 
the conduct of a strike. "Religion," says Leo XIII, 
"teaches the laboring man and the workman to carry 
out honestly and well all equitable agreements freely 
made, never to injure capital, nor to outrage the 
person of an employer; never to employ violence in 
representing his own cause, nor to engage in riot 
and disorder; and to have nothing to do with men 
of evil principles, who work upon the people with 
artful promises, and raise foolish hopes which usu-
ally end in disaster and repentance when too late" 
(B). The use of physical violence—or even the threat 
of physical violence—is a violation of man's natural 
rights and liberties, and is never permitted. Some 
may object that if physical violence be not used, the 
strike becomes a useless weapon. However forceful 
this contention may appear, the fact remains that it 

<•> ibid. p. 10. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

is never lawful to do evil (here, to destroy man's 
inherent right to freedom) that good may come of 
it. All that the worker may use is persuasion (not 
intimidation), for moral suasion is an attempt to 
direct another man's judgment and influence his will 
but is not a violation of human liberty. 

Special Principles 
1) The sympathetic strike is a violation of the 

workers' contract with the employer. If the con-
tract is just and if the employer abides by its terms, 
the laborers are guilty of an injustice when they 
cease working. A sympathetic strike, by spread-
ing the evil of strikes and the area of dispute is out 
of all proportion to the grievance which the initial 
strike strives to remedy. In a sympathetic strike 
workers go on strike not because they are convinced 
of the justice of the strike—which is one of the 
prime requisites for striking—but simply because 
their fellow-laborers have launched out on a strike. 
There seems to be only one instance where a sym-
pathetic strike is permissable: the workers with-
in an establishment may go on strike out of sym-
pathy for a group of workers within that same es-
tablishment who are suffering from a serious in-
justice. In this case the strike is directed against 
the one guilty employer and not against innocent 
employers. 

2) The conditions for a lawful primary boycott 
are the same as those for a strike. A boycotted per-
son must never be denied the necessities of life and 
the common signs of civility. The conditions for a 
lawful secondary boycott are much the same as 
those for a sympathetic strike. 

3) What about scabs and blacklegs? If they 



THE MORALITY OF STRIKES 67 

are in grave need they may occupy the places vacated 
by the strikers. If they are not in grave need—and 
this would seem to be the case with the professional 
strikebreakers—they violate justice because they co-
operate in returning the old employees tt^their for-
mer unjust conditions. If however, the employer is 
willing to treat the old employees justly, and if they 
nevertheless persist in the strike, their jobs are 
forfeited to others. 

4) In picketing, workers may not resort to ly-
ing, fraud, intimidation, or physical violence but 
only to moral suasion. 

5) A lockout is lawful under the following con-
ditions: if the employers are not bound to their 
employees by an explicit or implicit contract; or, if 
the workers are the first to renounce the contract 
and cease to observe its conditions; or if they plot 
unjustly against the employers; or if, even though 
the contract is observed, the lockout is the only way 
of avoiding serious harm or ruin. However, even 
though employers may have a right to the lockout 
in strict justice, they in charity will not lightly ex-
pose the workers and their families to privation and 
misery. 

7) The sitdown strike is unlawful because it is: 
1) contrary to the right of private property as de-
termined in our present social order; 2) because it 
is opposed to the laws of the land which codify this 
right of private property, and 3) because it fre-
quently resorts to physical violence and destruction 
of property. 



H • MODERN QUESTIONS 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. Enumerate and explain the various kinds of 
strikes. 

2. W h ^ is the difference between a strike and a 
lockout? Between picketing and a boycott? 

3. What are "scabs" and "blacklegs"? 
4. Outline briefly the history of strikes. 
5. What is the basis of the right to strike? 
6. Is a strike unethical because sponsored by a 

union? because of picketing? because of in-
conveniences suffered by the public? 

7. When may laborers cease working even though 
a contract exists ? 

8. Enumerate and explain the five conditions re-
quired for a lawful strike? 

9. What are some of the just causes for a strike? 
10. In what departments are strikes never justi-

fiable? 
11. Can physical violence be justified on the plea 

that otherwise the strike will be reduced to nil? 
12. Explain the morality of sympathetic strikes, 

of sitdown strikes, of lockouts. 
13. Choose any recent strike and examine it in 

light of the five requisites for a lawful strike. 

Application to Conduct 

1. In vindicating my own rights I shall be careful 
not to injure the rights of others. 

2. In remedying injustices I shall refrain from all 
sins against charity. 

3. I shall never use evil means in order to obtain 
a good result. 



C h a p t e r V I I 

THE SOCIAL APOSTOLAIE 
"Economic life must be inspired by Christian 

principles" (1). 
Both Leo XIII and Pius XI insist that all at-

tempts at social reconstruction must be preceded by 
a moral transformation and renovation. "If soci-
ety is to be cured now," says Leo XIII, "in no other 
way can it be cured but by a return to the Chris-
tian life and Christian institutions" (2). And Pius 
XI adds: "This longed-for social reconstruction 
must be preceded by a profound renewal of the 
Christian spirit, from which multitudes engaged 
in industry in every country have unhappily de-
parted" <8>. 

Before specifying what principles of the Gospel 
need especially to be stressed and applied in the 
modern and paganistic world, Pius XI briefly des-
cribes the genesis of the moral deterioration in the 
contemporary economic domain and of that "exces-
sive solicitude for transitory things, which is the 
origin of all vices" (4>. 

1) The fundamental reason.for the failure to 
observe the Christian law in social and economic 
matters "is the disorderly affection of the soul, a 
sad consequence of original sin, the source of these 

$M Pius XI, Ency., "Reconstructing the Social Order" in 
"Four Great Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), p. 161. cf 
"The Church and Social Order" (N. C. W. C., 1940) i 
Statement of the American Bishops, 
o. c. p. 16. 

(»> o. c. p. 168. 
<«> ibid. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

and of all other evils" (6). By the fall of our first 
parents, the marvellous harmony which prevailed 
in man's being was broken, with the result that the 
lower faculties, no longer fully subordinated to the 
higher rational faculties, tend to and seek inordin-
ately the perishable things of this world. 

2) Because life is so hard, because economic 
matters are so changeable and because one's amass-
ed fortune is nowadays so unstable, men seize at any 
and all opportunities for gaining wealth, and gradu-
ally turn a deaf ear to the voice of conscience with-
in them. This hardening of conscience has given 
rise to the worst frauds and injustices in corpora-
tive firms, while it has led others to appeal to man's 
lowest passions for the sake of gain. 

3) As a result, economic science was divorced 
from the moral law. With the leaders of industry 
no longer responsive to considerations of the relig-
ious and moral order, workers soon sank to unheard 
of depths: "Many employers treated their work-
men as mere tools, without any concern for the wel-
fare of their souls, indeed, without the slightest 
thought of higher interests—and so bodily labor, 
which Divine Providence even after original sin 
decreed for the good of man's body and soul has 
everywhere been changed into an instrument of 
strange perversion; for dead matter leaves the fac-
tory ennobled and transformed, where men are cor-
rupted and degraded" (6). 

The Remedies 
1) "Our first and most fundamental principle," 

says Leo XIII, "when we undertake to alleviate the 
condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of 

<«> ibid. p. 159. 
'«» ibid. pp. 160-161. 



THE SOCIAL APOSTO LATE 71 

private property—Humanity must remain as it is. 
It is impossible to reduce human society to a level— 
There naturally exist among mankind innumerable 
differences of the most important kind; people differ 
in capability, in diligence, in health and in strength; 
and unequal fortune is a necessary result of inequal-
ity in conditions" (7). Pius XI demands that "the 
right of property must be distinguished from its 
use" and rejects the view that "the very misuse or 
even non-use of ownership destroys or forfeits the 
right itself." "It is a grievous error," he adds, "so 
to weaken the individual character of ownership as 
actually to destroy it." <8). 

The abuse of private property, to which the 
Popes refer, are due to the exclusion of religious and 
moral principles from the domain of economics, to 
the greed and avarice of the rich, and to the in-
difference of the State. As a result of these mani-
fold abuses, the goods of the earth, which the Cre-
ator intended to supply the needs of all men, have 
fallen under the control and domination of a few. 
The rights of the laborers, who have contributed 
their share in amassing this wealth, have often been 
disregarded and violated. The Communists con-
sider this inequality of wealth as the very source of 
all evil and demand the extinction of all private 
property. They would remove not only the abuses 
of private property but would destroy the very right 
to property. They would remedy injustice by in-
justice, and would introduce robbery, violence, con-
fiscation and the destruction of the present social 
order. The Church rejects the cures advocated by 
Communism and proposes to remedy the system of 

<T> o. c. pp. 8-9. 
<«> o. c. p. 134. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

private ownership as it exists at present. She con-
tends that these remedies must be introduced with-
out delay if we are to escape the forces of revolu-
tion (9). 

2) Secondly, our economic life must be "ration-
alized." This means placing God as the "first and 
supreme end of all created activity" and considering 
"created- goods as mere instruments under God, to 
be used only in so far as they help toward the attain-
ment of our supreme end" (10). 

3) Labor, suffering, and hardships are insepar-
able from the lot and existence of fallen man. They 
are the consequences of our sin, and must be borne 
with patience and resignation. Christ has sancti-
fied and sweetened all pains by His own sufferings, 
and by His example, by His grace, and by His prom-
ise of an eternal recompense has made pain and suf-
fering more easy to endure. If there are men who 
promise to others constant enjoyment and freedom 
from sufferings, they lie and only make others more 
unhappy. 

4) It is a gross error to contend that "class is 
naturally hostile to class; that rich and poor are in-
tended by nature to live at war with one another." 
The contrary is true: "Each requires the other: 
capital cannot do without labor, nor labor without 
capital." Now Christianity, "by reminding each 
class of its duties to the other, and especially of the 
duties of justice" exercises a special efficacy in bring-
ing the two classes together" (11). 

5) Man is only a steward of his earthly possess-
ions which he must use to work out his supreme des-

<9> ibid. p. 140. 
<10> ibid. p. 16J 
<«> o. c. p. V 



THE SOCIAL APOSTO LATE 73 

tiny and to alleviate the needs of the poor. "It is 
one thing," says Leo XIII, "to have a right to the 
possession of money, and another to have a right 
to use money as he pleases" (12). In this connection, 
Leo, following the teaching of St. Thomas, lays down 
the following principles in regard to the use of one's 
wealth: a) One may keep "what is required for his 
own necessities and those of his household"; b) He 
may retain "what is reasonably required to keep up 
becomingly his condition in life"; c) Apart from 
this, "it is a duty to give to the indigent out of that 
which is over." 

6) Dignity of labor: "In God's sight poverty is 
no disgrace, and there is nothing to be ashamed of 
in seeking one's bread by labor. This is strengthen-
ed by what we see in Christ Himself 'Who whereas 
he was rich, for our sakes became poor'; 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 disdain to spend a great part of His 
life as a carpenter Himself" (18). 

7) Christianity alone can unite the rich and 
laboring classes in brotherly love: it points out to 
them that they were all created equal in the possess-
ion of a soul and body; that they are all children of 
a common Father; that they were all redeemed by 
Jesus Christ, being made adopted sons of God and 
brothers and sisters in His Blood, and that they are 
all destined for the inheritance of the kingdom of 
God. This universal charity must embrace Fascist 
and Communist, for while a Catholic can never be 
tolerant of error he must never be intolerant of 
persons. God "hates none of the things that He 

<12> ibid. p. 13. 
<«) ibid. p. 14. 



H • MODERN QUESTIONS 

made" and while "we were as yet His enemies," He 
loved us and died for us. 

Application 
The first step in the process of social recon-

struction must be the reform of the individual. The 
first duty of a Catholic—especially of one who holds 
a prominent position in the community—must be to 
acquaint himself thoroughly with the Church's so-
cial teaching. 

Secondly, the Catholic must put these teachings 
into practice in his daily life and conduct. He must 
apply these teachings in his home, in his profession, 
in his business, in his work. To accept and proclaim 
the teachings of the Church without practising them 
would be to play the role of the Pharisees who "say 
but do not." 

Thirdly, after regulating and properly orientat-
ing his own life, the Catholic should then bring his 
influence to bear on specially chosen groups (study 
clubs), on opinion forming agencies (newspapers, 
radio, cinema), and upon lawmaking and govern-
mental departments, agencies and boards. Leo him-
self indicates some of the measures which a govern-
ment should be influenced to enact; protection of 
the wage-earner and of private property; a living 
wage; the Sunday rest; proper hours of labor; pro-
tection of children and women-laborers, etc. The 
Catholic must by word and example enlighten non-
Catholic public opinion, point out what is wrong 
and how it is to be remedied, and in this way gradu-
ally correct the evils of our social system. 

The ultimate aim must be nothing less than the 
reform of the whole of society. Dechristianized and 
laicised society must be rechristianized. Christian 



THE SOCIAL APOSTO LATE 75 

principles must replace the immoral principles 
which have long held sway in economics. They must 
penetrate all departments of life—civil, profession-
al, political, commercial, and industrial. Not only 
principles of strict justice but also of Christian char-
ity must be applied in all walks of life. 

The leaders of this moral regeneration of soci-
ety, according to Pius XI, are to be, first of all, the 
bishops and priests, who by their very office are 
responsible for the religious orthodoxy and moral 
integrity of those subject to their care. Secondly, 
seminarians must be carefully selected and adequate-
ly prepared for this task by an intense study of 
social questions. Pius XI speaks with special satis-
faction of those countless young workers—true rep-
resentatives of Catholic Action—who are striving 
to win others to Christ; of leaders of workingmen's 
organizations who are laboring so valiantly to es-
tablish the reign of social justice; of the young men 
who are shortly to occupy positions of prominence 
and who are devoting themselves to an earnest study 
of social problems. He demands that the "first and 
immediate apostles of the workingmen must them-
selves be workingmen, while the apostles of the in-
dustrial and commercial world should themselves 
be employers and merchants" (14). In the training 
of these leaders the Pope recommends especially the 
use of study clubs and spiritual retreats. 

In recalling the benefits of the Encyclical, 
"Rerum Novarum," Pius XI indicates the methods 
by which the doctrine of Leo XIII penetrated into 
human society: 1) The elaboration of a social and 
economic science in which the unchanging and un-

<**> o. c. p. 164. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

changeable teachings of the Church were adapted 
to modern needs and conditions; 2) The diffusion 
of these correct sociological principles by "well-
frequented courses founded in Catholic universities, 
academies and seminaries, by social congresses and 
weeks held at frequent intervals and with gratifying 
success, by study-circles, by sound and timely pub-
lications spread far and wide" (15). 3) Incorpora-
tion of these principles into non-Catholic books and 
journals; 4) The drafting of a program of social 
reform, in harmony with the principles of the En-
cyclicals, by the leaders of the nations after the 
World War; 5) Courses of popular education in 
which workmen were aroused to a sense of their 
true dignity; 6) The establishment of works of 
beneficence and charity and of institutions "by which 
workingmen, craftsmen, husbandmen, wage-earn-
ers of every class could give and receive mutual as-
sistance and support" (18). 

In this work of social reconstruction an import-
ant role must be played by our Catholic schools, for 
it is in them that are developed the germs of sacer-
dotal vocations and an elite leadership which will 
stem the tide of modern paganism. Secondly, the 
Christian spirit must be intensified by the various 
agencies of Catholic Action—the Confraternity of 
Christian Doctrine, the Catholic Students' Mission 
Crusade, the Legion of Decency, the National Organ-
ization for Decent Literature, etc. These organiza-
tions must detect error and vice, promote the prac-
tice of virtue, and spread the divine truths of the 
Gospel. Thirdly, while various groups in the world 
are striving to gain control of the young, the Church 

<1B> ibid. p. 126. 
<16> ibid. p. 127, 



THE SOCIAL APOSTO LATE 77 

must strive to preserve her youth for Christ the 
King by a well-organized and diversified Catholic 
Youth Movement. Lastly, a militant Catholic press 
must combat modern irreligion and give to society 
the correct Catholic viewpoint on the perplexing 
problems of the day. "In vain will you found mis-
sions and build schools," says Pius X, "if you are 
not able to wield the offensive and defensive weap-
ons of a loyal Catholic Press." Catholic newspa-
pers, writes Benedict XV, "are an effective auxiliary 
to the pulpit in spreading the faith." 

A final word concerns the methods to be fol-
lowed in the work of social reconstruction. Pope 
Pius XI clearly warns us that there can be no col-
laboration between Catholics and Communists. 
Catholics have nothing to expect from those who 
plan their destruction. If Communists extend to us 
the right hand of fellowship it is only to have us 
eventually at their mercy. Secondly, Catholics 
should laudably imitate the zeal and tactics of the 
enemy. Our enemies are not attacking us so much 
through recreational and social agencies, as through 
intellectual agencies. They make use of pamphlets, 
newspapers, radios, motion pictures, etc. This ap-
proach is psychologically correct because a line of 
action is determined by ideals and convictions, and 
these in turn are fostered by educational agencies. 
Finally, Pius XI stresses the necessity of union and 
harmony among all Catholics. He bids us learn a 
lesson from the Church's enemies. "We see these 
men cunningly select and train resolute disciples, 
who spread their false doctrines daily more widely 
amongst men of every station and of every clime. 
And when it becomes a question of attacking more 
vehemently the Church of Christ, we see them lay 



H • MODERN QUESTIONS 

aside their internal quarrels, link up harmoniously 
into a single battle line, and strike with united forc-
es toward this common aim" (17). Catholics must 
then line up behind their leaders, and in exemplary 
unison contribute their share to the renewal of 
human society. 

<17> ibid. p. 166 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. What do the Popes consider as fundamental 
in the problem of social reconstruction? 

2. What reasons does Pius XI assign for the mor-
al deterioration in the domain of economics? 

3. What are some of the Gospel truths which 
must be stressed in the modern paganistic 
world ? 

4. How does the Church differ from Communism 
on the right to private property? 

5. Has one a right to use his possessions as he 
pleases ? 

6. Name the various steps by which the Gospel 
truths are to be introduced into society at large. 

7. Who are to be the leaders of this moral regen-
eration of society? 

8. What were some of the methods of spreading 
the doctrines of Leo XII's Encyclical on 
Labor? 

9. What other agencies must be used in this work 
of social reconstruction? 

10. What methods should be employed in our apos-
tolate among non-Catholics? 

11. A Catholic asserted that he desired to see the 
abuses in the social order remedied, but that 



THE SOCIAL APOSTO LATE 
81 

he would do nothing more than pray for the 
conversion of others. Do you think that is 
enough ? 

12. A graduate of a Catholic College said that he 
was thoroughly grounded in his religion and 
that consequently he had no obligation to take 
part in works of Catholic Action. What do you 
think of his attitude? 

13. Irene O'Brien feels that the work of social re-
form is meddling with other people's opinions 
and way of living. What do you think? 

Application to Conduct 
1. I shall gladly accept the sufferings and hard-

ships of life as a penalty of my sins. 
2. I shall practice the spiritual and corporal Works 

of mercy whenever opportunity presents itself. 
3. I shall zealously promote works of Catholic 

Action. 



C h a p t e r V I I I 

OUR CIVIC DUTIES 
Man tends by a natural instinct to associate 

himself with his fellow beings. The first union which 
arises out of this innate natural tendency is the 
family. Families in turn unite to form a commun-
ity, communities unite to form a state, and states 
unite to form a nation. The superior unit is form-
ed in each case to do for the subordinate unit what 
the latter cannot do for itself. City authorities,—to 
mention only one example—provide schools for the 
children of the community; the state supervises the 
construction of highways between the communities; 
and the nation protects the country by the mainten-
ance of an army and navy. The civil authority 
which government officials exercise over citizens 
comes to them from God. For God is the supreme 
Ruler over the universe, and if anyone exercises 
authority over others, he derives this authority ul-
timately from God. "Let every soul be subject to 
higher powers: for there is no power but from God: 
and those that are, are ordained of God" (1). In re-
turn for the security, protection, and welfare which 
civil authority procures for him, the citizen must 
manifest an active interest in government and as-
sume certain burdens and responsibilities. These 
obligations are principally three: to vote, to pay 
taxes, and to undergo military service. 

Voting 
A vote is the expression of one's will in a recog-

nized and authorized way—either vocally or by bal-

(i) Rom. XIII, 1. 



OUR CIVIC DUTIES 81 

lot—in regard to a candidate for office or in regard 
to a proposed political measure. The votes of the 
people determine the character of the legislators 
and executives of the country as well as the charac-
ter of the laws themselves. Voters are truly the 
depositaries of authority because they designate 
those who wield authority in the community. 

The obligation of voting flows from the fact 
that we are not mere isolated individuals but social 
beings, that is, beings destined by an innate ten-
dency to associate ourselves with others and to live 
in society. Hence we must all take an active inter-
est in public affairs and cooperate for the common 
good of the social body of which we are organic 
members. We must all work for the upbuilding of 
that common social good from which we ourselves 
derive or wish to draw so many benefits. In the 
supernatural order the obligation of voting is based 
on our common membership in Christ's Mystical 
Body, so that "if one member suffer anything, all the 
members suffer with it, or if one member glory, all 
the members rejoice with it" <2). 

Voters are guilty of neglecting their duty in 
God's sight, if through their ignorance, indifference, 
and failure to acquaint themselves with political 
candidates and political measures, unjust laws are 
passed, dishonest and bad men are placed or con-
tinue in office, and grafters and corrupt cliques ob-
tain the control of government. They are equally 
guilty of sin if they sell their votes or vote for those 
from whom they have extorted selfish promises. 
Voters should not cast their vote indiscriminately 
but should carefully acquaint themselves with the 

<*> I Cor. ID, 26 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

candidate for office, with his moral character, and 
with his program. They should carefully ascertain 
if his program is in any way opposed to the rights 
of God and of conscience. If they are unable to ob-
tain this information by their own industry, they 
should seek aid from others. 

The advice given in this regard by the Ameri-
can bishops to the Catholics of this country in 1840 
is as appropriate and timely today as it was then: 
"The periods which precede our great elections are 
usually marked by extraordinary excitement. Asso-
ciations are formed, committees are appointed, 
clubs are organized, party spirit is excited, the ton-
gue and the pen are embittered by virulence, truth 
is disregarded, and—more melancholy and more cen-
surable still—freemen of every religious denomina-
tion, electors upon the proper exercise of whose 
judgment we depend, statesmen who may save our 
republic from ruin, or who may degrade it in the 
eyes of the world, and may destroy our peace and 
our liberty, voters upon whose virtues and prudence 
our dearest rights depend, are brutalized by pam-
pering their meanest passions, are by vile bribery 
debased to the lowest grade of infamy and reck-
lessness ; and thus what was meant to be a blessing is 
turned into a curse. Beloved brethren, flee this con-
tamination, keep aloof from these crimes, reflect 
that you are accountable not only to society but to 
God for the honest, independent, and fearless exer-
cise of our own franchise, that it is a trust confided 
to you not for your private gain but for the public 
good, and that if yielding to any undue influence you 
act either thru favor, affection, or the motives of 
dishonest gain against your own deliberate view of 
what will promote your country's good, you have vio-



OUR CIVIC DUTIES 83 

lated your trust, you have betrayed your conscience, 
and you are a renegade to your country" (3). 

Taxes 
The State, which is a creation of nature, has 

the right and duty to direct society to its proper end. 
It must safeguard the common good, preserve peace 
and order, assure security and progress, promote 
prosperity, and maintain the good name of the peo-
ple. Hence it has the right of demanding of its sub-
jects whatever is necessary for attaining this end. 
It can exact taxes, that is, contributions for defray-
ing the expenses of promoting the public welfare. 
Since the citizen shares in the various advantages 
supplied by the community, he is bound in conscience 
to pay taxes in exchange, and in this way contribute 
his share toward the maintenance of the common 
good. 

This teaching on taxation is in conformity with 
Christ's doctrine and with His mode of action. When 
the Pharisees and Herodians asked Him whether it 
was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, He answered: 
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" (4). 
His own example confirmed His words, for He bade 
Peter to pay the tribute both for himself and for His 
Master (5). St. Paul also inculcates this doctrine: 
"Render therefore to all men their dues, tribute to 
whom tribute is due, custom (taxes) to whom cus-
tom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (6). 

In order that a tax be just and bind in con-
science, it must have the following qualities. First, 

(8) National Pastorals of the American Hierarchy (1792-
1919), edited by P. Guilday (N. C. W. C., 1923), pp. 142-
143. 

«> Matt. XXII, 17-21. 
<»> Matt. XVII. 23-26. 
<«> Rom. Xni. 5-7. 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

it must be imposed by a legitimate authority, that 
is, by that authority which safeguards and is res-
ponsible for the common good of the people who are 
being taxed. Second, it must be exacted for a just 
cause, that is, it must contribute immediately or 
mediately to the common good; thus, authority must 
not use taxes to favor one group of citizens to the 
detriment of another, to buy the votes of the people, 
to maintain a "pork barrel," to recompense its par-
tisans and party workers, or to pension the un-
worthy and the lazy. Third, taxes must be propor-
tioned to the State's needs: if rulers impose taxes 
in excess of what is needed for the common good 
they are guilty of injustice and fraud. 

Lastly, the taxes must be proportioned to the 
citizens' ability to pay. Taxes should be drawn from 
the superfluities and not from the necessities of life. 
Leo XIII tells us that the benefits of property owner-
ship "can only be expected on the condition that a 
man's means be not drained and exhausted by ex-
cessive taxation. The right to possess private prop-
erty 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 al-
together. The State is, therefore, unjust and cruel, 
if in the name of taxation, it deprives the private 
owner of more than is just" (7). The question of the 
proportionality of taxes brings us to the progressive 
income tax and to the sales tax. 

In the progressive income tax system there is, 
first of all, at the very basis of the progression, an 
untaxable minimum set aside for the absolute or 
conventional (social) necessities of life. This un-

ci) Encycl. 'Condition of Labor" in "Four Great Encycli-
cals" (Paulist Press), p. 27. 



OUR CIVIC DUTIES 87 

taxable minimum varies with the number of de-
pendents: whereas for a single person it may be 
$1,000, for a married couple it is $2,500, etc. The 
percentage of tax levied on the surplus is increased 
step by step as the income becomes larger. These 
steps become less and less until a fixed maximum is 
reached at which the progression ceases; thereafter 
all the incomes are taxed on the same rate. For at 
this point men live on approximately the same social 
level and spend the same amounts for necessities 
and luxuries. Besides, if the tax rate increased in-
definitely, confiscation would ultimately be the result. 
From the viewpoint of its basic canons the progres-
sive income tax seems to be just. It is also a simple 
and practical way of preventing concentration of 
wealth in the hands of a few. 

A sales tax is a levy made upon receipts from 
sales of goods, and is usually a definite percentage of 
the price paid for the object. The sales tax has sev-
eral advantages: first, it covers every conceivable 
branch of business, and obtains a large yield with 
only a small tax; second, it touches all people—even 
those who seek legal loopholes to escape taxes or 
who have their wealth invested in intangible, un-
taxable properties; lastly, since interest in govern-
ment grows in proportion to the sacrifices we make 
for it, a sales tax ought to quicken interest in the 
laws and law-makers of the country. And yet the 
sales tax, according to Catholic principles of taxa-
tion, seems to be unjust. According to the dictates 
of common sense taxes should be based not on what 
a man needs but on what he earns. Taxes must not 
be applied to spending but to earning. Taxes should 
be proportioned to the ability to pay. The sales tax 
is unjust because it does not equalize the burden of 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

taxation in accordance with the income, but charges 
every consumer at about the same rate no matter 
what his earnings. If the sales tax does not ex-
empt the necessities of life, it is unjust and unfair 
to the large masses of the people; in fact, even th( 
unemployed man walking the street would have to 
pay his share. In this way the buying power 01 
people is also greatly weakened. 

Military Service 
The civil authority has the right to provide fo 

the necessary preservation and defense of the state. 
This protection of the state against internal and ex-
ternal enemies cannot be obtained without military 
force. Hence the state has a right to make military 
laws which the citizen is bound to obey as long as 
they are just. However, only that number of sol-
diers should be maintained which is necessary for 
the security of the state; otherwise the resources of 
the citizens are spent unnecessarily and the soldiers 
are needlessly exposed to the moral dangers which 
usually accompany military training. Again thp 
state should not resort to compulsory conscription 
where a sufficient number of volunteers can be had, 
the state should not interfere unnecessarily with 
man's liberty to embrace a state of life of his choos-
ing and to marry and establish a home. The civil 
law should likewise exempt those who are already 
exempted by the divine and natural laws—namely, 
clerics and the young men necessary for the sup-
port of their parents. 

What about obligatory military service? Can 
the state compel its subjects to risk their life for the 
community? Catholic theologians lay down the fol-
lowing principles in regard to this problem: 1) The 
only interest for which citizens can be compelled to 



OUR CIVIC DUTIES 87 

sacrifice their lives is the defense of the state itself. 
2) Even in this case, the state must first call for 
volunteer soldiers and use other available methods. 
Some military experts contend, however, that the 
successful prosecution of a war demands a selective 
draft from the very beginning. 3) The state cannot 
impose obligatory service in a war which is just but 
which is concerned with secondary interests, e. g., 
colonial wars. 

Are the soldiers obliged to enlist and march if a 
state undertakes a military expedition for other pur-
poses than for a national defense? Catholic moral-
ists, though they grant that a soldier has a right to 
try to exempt himself from this obligation, do not 
admit the right of open resistance. Their attitude in 
this regard is determined by the demands of the 
social order. Society would be in a state of perpet-
ual disorder if a citizen could refuse obedience 
everytime he disagrees with the government. Citi-
zens should strive, however, to develop a strong 
public opinion—against which the State will ulti-
mately be powerless. The only time that a citizen 
not only may but must refuse obedience is when he 
is commanded to do something contrary to God's 
law. 

Military service in any form is opposed by the 
so-called "conscientious objectors" who have rapid-
ly grown in numbers since the World War. Their 
claims have been recognized by such countries as 
Denmark, Finland and Norway where in such in-
stances civil service is substituted for military ser-
vice. The horrors of the World War and the sav-
agery of prospective wars; the failure to make the 
world safe for peace and democracy, the mad race 
for armaments—all these circumstances make the 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

"conscientious objectors" feel that there can be no 
good sought by war which will outweigh the evils 
that result. Yet it is this very point which Catholic 
moralists dispute. They contend that national in-
dependence is a good which cannot be overestimated. 
A violent annexation of a country is tantamount to 
reducing a country to slavery. Again, a conquering 
country may have political principles destructive of 
the present social order, of all religion and morality, 
of education, of the family, and of all human liber-
ties (e. g. Russia). In such an instance, war, no 
matter what its nature may be, would not be too 
great a price to pay for the preservation of these 
liberties. 

The Church does not condemn all wars. She 
claims that there is no text in the Old or New Tes-
tament declaring war to be intrinsically evil. She 
recognizes that just as the natural law permits 
an individual to repel—even by violence—an unjust 
aggressor who plots against his life, so also that 
same natural law permits a state to repel—by vio-
lence, if necessary—the unjust aggression of a 
neighboring state. 

The Church contends that certain conditions 
must be fulfilled before a war is just. These condi-
tions are the following: 1) The war must be de-
clared and waged by the supreme authority of the 
state, that is by that authority which is responsible 
for the common good. 2) There must be a right 
intention: thus it is not lawful to go to war for the 
glory of a ruler or a nation, to enlarge one's terri-
tory, to gain commercial advantages over a rival, 
etc. 3) There must be a just, certain and sufficient 
cause, for example, a threat to a nation's independ-
ence and existence. Subjects called to the colors 



OUB CIVIC DUTDBS 88 

should fight for their country, even though they 
may be in doubt concerning the justice of the cause, 
for the presumption is in favor of the government. 
4) War should not be declared until pacific means 
—such as direct negotiations, mediation, arbitra-
tion, diplomacy, pressure through boycott and em-
bargoes—have been tried and have failed. 5) The 
authority declaring war should have a reasonable 
hope of victory; otherwise the nation is committing 
suicide, and its last state shall be worse than the 
first. 6) The war should be conducted with due re-
gard for the commandments of God and for the 
regulations of international law. 7) There must be 
a proportion between the good to be obtained and 
the evils resulting from the war. When two effects 
—one good and one evil follow from one act, there 
must be a proportionately grave reason for permit-
ting the evil before acting. 8) Finally, the condi-
tions of peace must be just. The Church's theolo-
gians establish these criteria for the sole purpose of 
determining the character of a conflict that is to be 
waged or has been waged. The Church's aim and 
consuming desire is the "peace of Christ in the 
Kingdom of Christ." Her doctrines on the Father-
hood of God and brotherhood of man, her doctrines 
on the Incarnation, Redemption, Eucharist, Mystical 
Body, and common heritage of the heavenly king-
dom, are all calculated to establish the reign of peace 
among men. 

Suppose a powerful nation unjustly conquers a 
weak nation and annexes it, will it ever be able to 
exercise legitimate authority over it? An unjust act, 
of course, cannot of itself give rise to a lawful right. 
But certain conditions may arise in virtue of which 
an illegitimate government will by the natural law 



H 
• MODERN QUESTIONS 

tend to become legitimate. If the former ruler is 
unable to return and govern, and if the invader is in 
quiet possession of government, Nature will tend 
to legitimatize the actual government. Why? Be-
cause of the needs of the people. It is their need 
of a government, of security, order and tranquility 
—and not the satisfaction of the invader's ambition 
—which constitutes the chief natural ground of 
legitimation. The consent of the people, expressed 
by a plebiscite or in practice by cooperating with the 
new government, will hasten this legitimation. 

Rebellion, that is, the use of violence against a 
ruler who is a tyrant, is never permissible. Subjects 
may not inflict war on a tyrant because he is still 
the legitimate ruler: "He that resisteth the power, 
resisteth the ordinance of God" (8). The early Chris-
tians obeyed the emperors—even in the days of 
persecution—in all civil matters. They resisted only 
when bidden to deny their religion, since in such a 
matter "We ought to obey God rather than men" (9). 
The subjects of a tyrant may resist passively, that 
is, by steadfastly denying obedience to the unjust 
laws of the tyrant. 

Conclusion: Patriotism 
Our duties to our country are all summed up in 

the word patriotism. In 1884 American Bishops 
asked that this virtue be specially fostered by the 
Catholics of the United States: 

"Teach your children to take a special interest 
in the history of our country. We consider the es-
tablishment of our country's independence, the 
shaping of its liberties and laws as a work of spec-
ial Providence, its framers 'building wiser than 

(«) Rom. XIII, 2. 
<»> Acts V, 8». 



OUR CIVIC DUTIES 
93 

they knew,' the Almighty's hand guiding them. And 
if ever the glorious fabric is subverted or impaired 
it will be by men forgetful of the sacrifices of the 
heroes that reared it, the virtues that cemented it, 
and the principles on which it rests, or ready to sac-
rifice principle and virtue to the interests of self or 
party. As we desire therefore that the history of 
the United States should be carefully taught in all 
our Catholic schools, and have directed that it 
should be specially dwelt upon in the education of 
the young ecclesiastical students in our preparatory 
seminaries; so also we desire that it form a favor-
ite part of the home library and home reading. We 
must keep firm and solid the liberties of our coun-
try by keeping fresh the noble memories of the past 
and thus sending forth from our Catholic homes 
into the arena of public life not partisans but pat-
riots" (10>. 

'T0> National Pastorals of the American Hierarchy (1792-
1919, edited by P. Guilday (N. C. W. C., 1923), p. 250. 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. What is the source of all authority? Through 
what channels is it exercised? How do our ob-
ligations to the state arise? 

2. Give five reasons why you should vote at every 
election. Should Catholics always vote for 
Catholics? 

3. Why has the state the right to levy taxes? 

4. What qualities must a tax have in order to be 
just? 

5. Is the progressive-income tax just? The sales 
tax? 



H • MODERN QUESTIONS 

6. Why has the state a right to demand military 
service? How is this right to be limited? 

7. When is obligatory military service just? 

8. What do you think of the claims of the so-called 
"conscientious objectors"? 

9. Does the Church consider war intrinsically 
evil? 

10. What are the conditions of a just war? 

11. Can an unjust invader ever exercise a legitimate 
rule over the conquered people? 

12. Is rebellion ever permissible? 

Application 

1. I shall carefully acquaint myself with the char-
acter and program of candidates before voting. 

2. I shall make an honest declaration of my income 
in paying taxes. 

3. I shall by word and example foster obedience 
to the just enactments of civil authority. 



Other Books in the Modern Question Series 

Series I 

Religious Indif ference end 
Unbel ief 

Mater ia l ism 
Evolution 

Religious Broadmindedness 
The Index of Forbidden Books 
Secret and Forbidden Societies 
The Two " Y s " — O r g a n i z a t i o n 

and A i m 
The Two " Y s " — A n 

Appreciat ion 

Series I I 

The Inquisi t ion 

The Orthodox Churches 

The Angl ican Church 

Christ ian Science 

The Witnesses of Jehovah 

The Oxford Group Movement 

The Salvation of non-Catholics 

Scandals and a Holy Church 

Series I I I 

The Encyclicals 

Social Justice 

Racism—Exposit ion 

Racism—Cri t ic ism 

i ota l i tar ianism—Exposi t ion 

Tota l i ta r ian ism—Cr i t i c ism 

Communism 

Communism—Causes and 

Remedies 

Series IV 

Euthanasia or Mercy K i l l ing 

Cremat ion 

Private Property 

A L iv ing Wage 

Labor Unions 

The Mora l i t y of Strikes 

The Social Apostolate 

Our Civic Duties 

Series V 

Spir i t ism 
Foretel l ing the Future 

The Liquor T ra f f i c and 
Drunkenness 

Salacious Li terature 
The Movies 

Dancing 
Gambl ing 

Act iv i t ies of Cathol ic You*' 
Organizat ions 

Series V I 

Vocat ion to the Priesthood 

Vocat ion to Cathol ic Ac t ion 

Vocat ion to the Sisterhood 

Vocat ion to the Mar r ied L i fe 

Marr iage, a Contract and a 

Sacrament 

M ixed Marr iages 

The Family 

The Education of Chi ldren