Catholic Faith
Legion of Mary
RERUM NOVARUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII
ON CAPITAL AND LABOR
To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs,
Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other ordinaries
of places having Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor
That the spirit of revolutionary change, which has long been disturbing
the nations of the world, should have passed beyond the sphere of
politics and made its influence felt in the cognate sphere of practical
economics is not surprising. The elements of the conflict now raging
are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the
marvellous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between
masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals,
and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self reliance and
closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in
the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of
things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise
men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular
meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it -
actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on the public
mind.
2. Therefore, venerable brethren, as on former occasions when it seemed
opportune to refute false teaching, We have addressed you in the
interests of the Church and of the common weal, and have issued letters
bearing on political power, human liberty, the Christian constitution
of the State, and like matters, so have We thought it expedient now to
speak on the condition of the working classes.(1) It is a subject on
which We have already touched more than once, incidentally. But in the
present letter, the responsibility of the apostolic office urges Us to
treat the question of set purpose and in detail, in order that no
misapprehension may exist as to the principles which truth and justice
dictate for its settlement. The discussion is not easy, nor is it void
of danger. It is no easy matter to define the relative rights and
mutual duties of the rich and of the poor, of capital and of labor. And
the danger lies in this, that crafty agitators are intent on making use
of these differences of opinion to pervert men's judgments and to stir
up the people to revolt.
3. In any case we clearly see, and on this there is general agreement,
that some opportune remedy must be found quickly for the misery and
wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class:
for the ancient workingmen's guilds were abolished in the last century,
and no other protective organization took their place. Public
institutions and the laws set aside the ancient religion. Hence, by
degrees it has come to pass that working men have been surrendered,
isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the
greed of unchecked competition. The mischief has been increased by
rapacious usury, which, although more than once condemned by the
Church, is nevertheless, under a different guise, but with like
injustice, still practiced by covetous and grasping men. To this must
be added that the hiring of labor and the conduct of trade are
concentrated in the hands of comparatively few; so that a small number
of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the
laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself.
4. To remedy these wrongs the socialists, working on the poor man's
envy of the rich, are striving to do away with private property, and
contend that individual possessions should become the common property
of all, to be administered by the State or by municipal bodies. They
hold that by thus transferring property from private individuals to the
community, the present mischievous state of things will be set to
rights, inasmuch as each citizen will then get his fair share of
whatever there is to enjoy. But their contentions are so clearly
powerless to end the controversy that were they carried into effect the
working man himself would be among the first to suffer. They are,
moreover, emphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor,
distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the
community.
5. It is surely undeniable that, when a man engages in remunerative
labor, the impelling reason and motive of his work is to obtain
property, and thereafter to hold it as his very own. If one man hires
out to another his strength or skill, he does so for the purpose of
receiving in return what is necessary for the satisfaction of his
needs; he therefore expressly intends to acquire a right full and real,
not only to the remuneration, but also to the disposal of such
remuneration, just as he pleases. Thus, if he lives sparingly, saves
money, and, for greater security, invests his savings in land, the
land, in such case, is only his wages under another form; and,
consequently, a working man's little estate thus purchased should be as
completely at his full disposal as are the wages he receives for his
labor. But it is precisely in such power of disposal that ownership
obtains, whether the property consist of land or chattels. Socialists,
therefore, by endeavoring to transfer the possessions of individuals to
the community at large, strike at the interests of every wage-earner,
since they would deprive him of the liberty of disposing of his wages,
and thereby of all hope and possibility of increasing his resources and
of bettering his condition in life.
6. What is of far greater moment, however, is the fact that the remedy
they propose is manifestly against justice. For, every man has by
nature the right to possess property as his own. This is one of the
chief points of distinction between man and the animal creation, for
the brute has no power of self direction, but is governed by two main
instincts, which keep his powers on the alert, impel him to develop
them in a fitting manner, and stimulate and determine him to action
without any power of choice. One of these instincts is self
preservation, the other the propagation of the species. Both can attain
their purpose by means of things which lie within range; beyond their
verge the brute creation cannot go, for they are moved to action by
their senses only, and in the special direction which these suggest.
But with man it is wholly different. He possesses, on the one hand, the
full perfection of the animal being, and hence enjoys at least as much
as the rest of the animal kind, the fruition of things material. But
animal nature, however perfect, is far from representing the human
being in its completeness, and is in truth but humanity's humble
handmaid, made to serve and to obey. It is the mind, or reason, which
is the predominant element in us who are human creatures; it is this
which renders a human being human, and distinguishes him essentially
from the brute. And on this very account - that man alone among the
animal creation is endowed with reason - it must be within his right to
possess things not merely for temporary and momentary use, as other
living things do, but to have and to hold them in stable and permanent
possession; he must have not only things that perish in the use, but
those also which, though they have been reduced into use, continue for
further use in after time.
7. This becomes still more clearly evident if man's nature be
considered a little more deeply. For man, fathoming by his faculty of
reason matters without number, linking the future with the present, and
being master of his own acts, guides his ways under the eternal law and
the power of God, whose providence governs all things. Wherefore, it is
in his power to exercise his choice not only as to matters that regard
his present welfare, but also about those which he deems may be for his
advantage in time yet to come. Hence, man not only should possess the
fruits of the earth, but also the very soil, inasmuch as from the
produce of the earth he has to lay by provision for the future. Man's
needs do not die out, but forever recur; although satisfied today, they
demand fresh supplies for tomorrow. Nature accordingly must have given
to man a source that is stable and remaining always with him, from
which he might look to draw continual supplies. And this stable
condition of things he finds solely in the earth and its fruits. There
is no need to bring in the State. Man precedes the State, and
possesses, prior to the formation of any State, the right of providing
for the substance of his body.
8. The fact that God has given the earth for the use and enjoyment of
the whole human race can in no way be a bar to the owning of private
property. For God has granted the earth to mankind in general, not in
the sense that all without distinction can deal with it as they like,
but rather that no part of it was assigned to any one in particular,
and that the limits of private possession have been left to be fixed by
man's own industry, and by the laws of individual races. Moreover, the
earth, even though apportioned among private owners, ceases not thereby
to minister to the needs of all, inasmuch as there is not one who does
not sustain life from what the land produces. Those who do not possess
the soil contribute their labor; hence, it may truly be said that all
human subsistence is derived either from labor on one's own land, or
from some toil, some calling, which is paid for either in the produce
of the land itself, or in that which is exchanged for what the land
brings forth.
9. Here, again, we have further proof that private ownership is in
accordance with the law of nature. Truly, that which is required for
the preservation of life, and for life's well-being, is produced in
great abundance from the soil, but not until man has brought it into
cultivation and expended upon it his solicitude and skill. Now, when
man thus turns the activity of his mind and the strength of his body
toward procuring the fruits of nature, by such act 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 personality; and it
cannot but be just that he should possess that portion as his very own,
and have a right to hold it without any one being justified in
violating that right.
10. So strong and convincing are these arguments that it seems amazing
that some should now be setting up anew certain obsolete opinions in
opposition to what is here laid down. They assert that it is right for
private persons to have the use of the soil and its various fruits, but
that it is unjust for any one to possess outright either the land on
which he has built or the estate which he has brought under
cultivation. But those who deny these rights do not perceive that they
are defrauding man of what his own labor has produced. For the soil
which is tilled and cultivated with toil and skill utterly changes its
condition; it was wild before, now it is fruitful; was barren, but now
brings forth in abundance. That which has thus altered and improved the
land becomes so truly part of itself as to be in great measure
indistinguishable and inseparable from it. Is it just that the fruit of
a man's own sweat and labor should be possessed and enjoyed by any one
else? As effects follow their cause, so is it just and right that the
results of labor should belong to those who have bestowed their
labor.
11. With reason, then, the common opinion of mankind, little affected
by the few dissentients who have contended for the opposite view, has
found in the careful study of nature, and in the laws of nature, the
foundations of the division of property, and the practice of all ages
has consecrated the principle of private ownership, as being
pre-eminently in conformity with human nature, and as conducing in the
most unmistakable manner to the peace and tranquillity of human
existence. The same principle is confirmed and enforced by the civil
laws-laws which, so long as they are just, derive from the law of
nature their binding force. The authority of the divine law adds its
sanction, forbidding us in severest terms even to covet that which is
another's: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife; nor his house,
nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox,
nor his ass, nor anything that is his."(2)
12. The rights here spoken of, belonging to each individual man, are
seen in much stronger light when considered in relation to man's social
and domestic obligations. In choosing a state of life, it is
indisputable that all are at full liberty to follow the counsel of
Jesus Christ as to observing virginity, or to bind themselves by the
marriage tie. No human law can abolish the natural and original right
of marriage, nor in any way limit the chief and principal purpose of
marriage ordained by God's authority from the beginning: "Increase and
multiply."(3) Hence we have the family, the "society" of a man's house
- a society very small, one must admit, but none the less a true
society, and one older than any State. Consequently, it has rights and
duties peculiar to itself which are quite independent of the
State.
13. That right to property, therefore, which has been proved to belong
naturally to individual persons, must in like wise belong to a man in
his capacity of head of a family; nay, that right is all the stronger
in proportion as the human person receives a wider extension in the
family group. It is a most sacred law of nature that a father should
provide food and all necessaries for those whom he has begotten; and,
similarly, it is natural that he should wish that his children, who
carry on, so to speak, and continue his personality, should be by him
provided with all that is needful to enable them to keep themselves
decently from want and misery amid the uncertainties of this mortal
life. Now, in no other way can a father effect this except by the
ownership of productive property, which he can transmit to his children
by inheritance. A family, no less than a State, is, as We have said, a
true society, governed by an authority peculiar to itself, that is to
say, by the authority of the father. Provided, therefore, the limits
which are prescribed by the very purposes for which it exists be not
transgressed, the family has at least equal rights with the State in
the choice and pursuit of the things needful to its preservation and
its just liberty. We say, "at least equal rights"; for, inasmuch as the
domestic household is antecedent, as well in idea as in fact, to the
gathering of men into a community, the family must necessarily have
rights and duties which are prior to those of the community, and
founded more immediately in nature. If the citizens, if the families on
entering into association and fellowship, were to experience hindrance
in a commonwealth instead of help, and were to find their rights
attacked instead of being upheld, society would rightly be an object of
detestation rather than of desire.
14. The contention, then, that the civil government should at its
option intrude into and exercise intimate control over the family and
the household is a great and pernicious error. True, if a family finds
itself in exceeding distress, utterly deprived of the counsel of
friends, and without any prospect of extricating itself, it is right
that extreme necessity be met by public aid, since each family is a
part of the commonwealth. In like manner, if within the precincts of
the household there occur grave disturbance of mutual rights, public
authority should intervene to force each party to yield to the other
its proper due; for this is not to deprive citizens of their rights,
but justly and properly to safeguard and strengthen them. But the
rulers of the commonwealth must go no further; here, nature bids them
stop. Paternal authority can be neither abolished nor absorbed by the
State; for it has the same source as human life itself. "The child
belongs to the father," and is, as it were, the continuation of the
father's personality; and speaking strictly, the child takes its place
in civil society, not of its own right, but in its quality as member of
the family in which it is born. And for the very reason that "the child
belongs to the father" it is, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, "before it
attains the use of free will, under the power and the charge of its
parents."(4) The socialists, therefore, in setting aside the parent and
setting up a State supervision, act against natural justice, and
destroy the structure of the home.
15. And in addition to injustice, it is only too evident what an upset
and disturbance there would be in all classes, and to how intolerable
and hateful a slavery citizens would be subjected. The door would be
thrown open to envy, to mutual invective, and to discord; the sources
of wealth themselves would run dry, for no one would have any interest
in exerting his talents or his industry; and that ideal equality about
which they entertain pleasant dreams would be in reality the levelling
down of all to a like condition of misery and degradation. Hence, it is
clear that the main tenet of socialism, community of goods, must be
utterly rejected, since it only injures those whom it would seem meant
to benefit, is directly contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and
would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonweal. The first
and most fundamental principle, therefore, if one would undertake to
alleviate the condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of
private property. This being established, we proceed to show where the
remedy sought for must be found.
16. We approach the subject with confidence, and in the exercise of the
rights which manifestly appertain to Us, for no practical solution of
this question will be found apart from the intervention of religion and
of the Church. It is We who are the chief guardian of religion and the
chief dispenser of what pertains to the Church; and by keeping silence
we would seem to neglect the duty incumbent on us. Doubtless, this most
serious question demands the attention and the efforts of others
besides ourselves - to wit, of the rulers of States, of employers of
labor, of the wealthy, aye, of the working classes themselves, for whom
We are pleading. But We affirm without hesitation that all the striving
of men will be vain if they leave out the Church. It is the Church that
insists, on the authority of the Gospel, upon those teachings whereby
the conflict can be brought to an end, or rendered, at least, far less
bitter; the Church uses her efforts not only to enlighten the mind, but
to direct by her precepts the life and conduct of each and all; the
Church improves and betters the condition of the working man by means
of numerous organizations; does her best to enlist the services of all
classes in discussing and endeavoring to further in the most practical
way, the interests of the working classes; and considers that for this
purpose recourse should be had, in due measure and degree, to the
intervention of the law and of State authority.
17. It must be first of all recognized that the condition of things
inherent in human affairs must be borne with, for it is impossible to
reduce civil society to one dead level. Socialists may in that intent
do their utmost, but all striving against nature is in vain. There
naturally exist among mankind manifold differences of the most
important kind; people differ in capacity, skill, health, strength; and
unequal fortune is a necessary result of unequal condition. Such
unequality is far from being disadvantageous either to individuals or
to the community. Social and public life can only be maintained by
means of various kinds of capacity for business and the playing of many
parts; and each man, as a rule, chooses the part which suits his own
peculiar domestic condition. As regards bodily labor, even had man
never fallen from the state of innocence, he would not have remained
wholly idle; but that which would then have been his free choice and
his delight became afterwards compulsory, and the painful expiation for
his disobedience. "Cursed be the earth in thy work; in thy labor thou
shalt eat of it all the days of thy life."(5)
18. In like manner, the other pains and hardships of life will have no
end or cessation on earth; for the consequences of sin are bitter and
hard to bear, and they must accompany man so long as life lasts. To
suffer and to endure, therefore, is the lot of humanity; let them
strive as they may, no strength and no artifice will ever succeed in
banishing from human life the ills and troubles which beset it. If any
there are who pretend differently - who hold out to a hard-pressed
people the boon of freedom from pain and trouble, an undisturbed
repose, and constant enjoyment - they delude the people and impose upon
them, and their lying promises will only one day bring forth evils
worse than the present. Nothing is more useful than to look upon the
world as it really is, and at the same time to seek elsewhere, as We
have said, for the solace to its troubles.
19. The great mistake made in regard to the matter now under
consideration is to take up with the notion that class is naturally
hostile to class, and that the wealthy and the working men are intended
by nature to live in mutual conflict. So irrational and so false is
this view that the direct contrary is the truth. Just as the symmetry
of the human frame is the result of the suitable arrangement of the
different parts of the body, so in a State is it ordained by nature
that these two classes should dwell in harmony and agreement, so as to
maintain the balance of the body politic. Each needs the other: capital
cannot do without labor, nor labor without capital. Mutual agreement
results in the beauty of good order, while perpetual conflict
necessarily produces confusion and savage barbarity. Now, in preventing
such strife as this, and in uprooting it, the efficacy of Christian
institutions is marvellous and manifold. First of all, there is no
intermediary more powerful than religion (whereof the Church is the
interpreter and guardian) in drawing the rich and the working class
together, by reminding each of its duties to the other, and especially
of the obligations of justice.
20. Of these duties, the following bind the proletarian and the worker:
fully and faithfully to perform the work which has been freely and
equitably agreed upon; never to injure the property, nor to outrage the
person, of an employer; never to resort to violence in defending their
own cause, nor to engage in riot or disorder; and to have nothing to do
with men of evil principles, who work upon the people with artful
promises of great results, and excite foolish hopes which usually end
in useless regrets and grievous loss. The following duties bind the
wealthy owner and the employer: not to look upon their work people as
their bondsmen, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person
ennobled by Christian character. They are reminded that, according to
natural reason and Christian philosophy, working for gain is
creditable, not shameful, to a man, since it enables him to earn an
honorable livelihood; but to misuse men as though they were things in
the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their physical powers
- that is truly shameful and inhuman. Again justice demands that, in
dealing with the working man, religion and the good of his soul must be
kept in mind. Hence, the employer is bound to see that the worker has
time for his religious duties; that he be not exposed to corrupting
influences and dangerous occasions; and that he be not led away to
neglect his home and family, or to squander his earnings. Furthermore,
the employer must never tax his work people beyond their strength, or
employ them in work unsuited to their sex and age. His great and
principal duty is to give every one what is just. Doubtless, before
deciding whether wages axe fair, many things have to be considered; but
wealthy owners and all masters of labor should be mindful of this -
that to exercise pressure upon the indigent and the destitute for the
sake of gain, and to gather one's profit out of the need of another, is
condemned by all laws, human and divine. To defraud any one of wages
that are his due is a great crime which cries to the avenging anger of
Heaven. "Behold, the hire of the laborers... which by fraud has been
kept back by you, crieth; and the cry of them hath entered into the
ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."(6) Lastly, the rich must religiously
refrain from cutting down the workmen's earnings, whether by force, by
fraud, or by usurious dealing; and with all the greater reason because
the laboring man is, as a rule, weak and unprotected, and because his
slender means should in proportion to their scantiness be accounted
sacred. Were these precepts carefully obeyed and followed out, would
they not be sufficient of themselves to keep under all strife and all
its causes?
21. But the Church, with Jesus Christ as her Master and Guide, aims
higher still. She lays down precepts yet more perfect, and tries to
bind class to class in friendliness and good feeling. The things of
earth cannot be understood or valued aright without taking into
consideration the life to come, the life that will know no death.
Exclude the idea of futurity, and forthwith the very notion of what is
good and right would perish; nay, the whole scheme of the universe
would become a dark and unfathomable mystery. The great truth which we
learn from nature herself is also the grand Christian dogma on which
religion rests as on its foundation - that, when we have given up this
present life, then shall we really begin to live. God has not created
us for the perishable and transitory things of earth, but for things
heavenly and everlasting; He has given us this world as a place of
exile, and not as our abiding place. As for riches and the other things
which men call good and desirable, whether we have them in abundance,
or are lacking in them-so far as eternal happiness is concerned - it
makes no difference; the only important thing is to use them aright.
Jesus Christ, when He redeemed us with plentiful redemption, took not
away the pains and sorrows which in such large proportion are woven
together in the web of our mortal life. He transformed them into
motives of virtue and occasions of merit; and no man can hope for
eternal reward unless he follow in the blood-stained footprints of his
Saviour. "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him."(7)
Christ's labors and sufferings, accepted of His own free will, have
marvellously sweetened all suffering and all labor. And not only by His
example, but by His grace and by the hope held forth of everlasting
recompense, has He made pain and grief more easy to endure; "for that
which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for
us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory."(8)
22. Therefore, those whom fortune favors are warned that riches do not
bring freedom from sorrow and are of no avail for eternal happiness,
but rather are obstacles;(9) that the rich should tremble at the
threatenings of Jesus Christ - threatenings so unwonted in the mouth of
our Lord(10) - and that a most strict account must be given to the
Supreme Judge for all we possess. The chief and most excellent rule for
the right use of money is one the heathen philosophers hinted at, but
which the Church has traced out clearly, and has not only made known to
men's minds, but has impressed upon their lives. It rests on the
principle that it is one thing to have a right to the possession of
money and another to have a right to use money as one wills. Private
ownership, as we have seen, is the natural right of man, and to
exercise that right, especially as members of society, is not only
lawful, but absolutely necessary. "It is lawful," says St. Thomas
Aquinas, "for a man to hold private property; and it is also necessary
for the carrying on of human existence."" But if the question be asked:
How must one's possessions be used? - the Church replies without
hesitation in the words of the same holy Doctor: "Man should not
consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, so
as to share them without hesitation when others are in need. Whence the
Apostle with, ‘Command the rich of this world... to offer with no
stint, to apportion largely.’"(12) True, no one is commanded to
distribute to others that which is required for his own needs and those
of his household; nor even to give away what is reasonably required to
keep up becomingly his condition in life, "for no one ought to live
other than becomingly."(13) But, when what necessity demands has been
supplied, and one's standing fairly taken thought for, it becomes a
duty to give to the indigent out of what remains over. "Of that which
remaineth, give alms."(14) It is a duty, not of justice (save in
extreme cases), but of Christian charity - a duty not enforced by human
law. But the laws and judgments of men must yield place to the laws and
judgments of Christ the true God, who in many ways urges on His
followers the practice of almsgiving - ‘It is more blessed to
give than to receive";(15) and who will count a kindness done or
refused to the poor as done or refused to Himself - "As long as you did
it to one of My least brethren you did it to Me."(16) To sum up, then,
what has been said: Whoever has received from the divine bounty a large
share of temporal blessings, whether they be external and material, or
gifts of the mind, has received them for the purpose of using them for
the perfecting of his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may
employ them, as the steward of God's providence, for the benefit of
others. "He that hath a talent," said St. Gregory the Great, "let him
see that he hide it not; he that hath abundance, let him quicken
himself to mercy and generosity; he that hath art and skill, let him do
his best to share the use and the utility hereof with his
neighbor."(17)
23. As for those who possess not the gifts of fortune, they are taught
by the Church that in God's sight poverty is no disgrace, and that
there is nothing to be ashamed of in earning their bread by labor. This
is enforced by what we see in Christ Himself, who, "whereas He was
rich, for our sakes became poor";(18) 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. "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?"(19)
24. From contemplation of this divine Model, it is more easy to
understand that the true worth and nobility of man lie in his moral
qualities, that is, in virtue; that virtue is, moreover, the common
inheritance of men, equally within the reach of high and low, rich and
poor; and that virtue, and virtue alone, wherever found, will be
followed by the rewards of everlasting happiness. Nay, God Himself
seems to incline rather to those who suffer misfortune; for Jesus
Christ calls the poor "blessed";(20) He lovingly invites those in labor
and grief to come to Him for solace;(21) and He displays the tenderest
charity toward the lowly and the oppressed. These reflections cannot
fail to keep down the pride of the well-to-do, and to give heart to the
unfortunate; to move the former to be generous and the latter to be
moderate in their desires. Thus, the separation which pride would set
up tends to disappear, nor will it be difficult to make rich and poor
join hands in friendly concord.
25. But, if Christian precepts prevail, the respective classes will not
only be united in the bonds of friendship, but also in those of
brotherly love. For they will understand and feel that all men are
children of the same common Father, who is God; that all have alike the
same last end, which is God Himself, who alone can make either men or
angels absolutely and perfectly happy; that each and all are redeemed
and made sons of God, by Jesus Christ, "the first-born among many
brethren"; that the blessings of nature and the gifts of grace belong
to the whole human race in common, and that from none except the
unworthy is withheld the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven. "If
sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and co-heirs with Christ."(22)
Such is the scheme of duties and of rights which is shown forth to the
world by the Gospel. Would it not seem that, were society penetrated
with ideas like these, strife must quickly cease?
26. But the Church, not content with pointing out the remedy, also
applies it. For the Church does her utmost to teach and to train men,
and to educate them and by the intermediary of her bishops and clergy
diffuses her salutary teachings far and wide. She strives to influence
the mind and the heart so that all may willingly yield themselves to be
formed and guided by the commandments of God. It is precisely in this
fundamental and momentous matter, on which everything depends that the
Church possesses a power peculiarly her own. The instruments which she
employs are given to her by Jesus Christ Himself for the very purpose
of reaching the hearts of men, and drive their efficiency from God.
They alone can reach the innermost heart and conscience, and bring men
to act from a motive of duty, to control their passions and appetites,
to love God and their fellow men with a love that is outstanding and of
the highest degree and to break down courageously every barrier which
blocks the way to virtue.
27. On this subject we need but recall for one moment the examples
recorded in history. Of these facts there cannot be any shadow of
doubt: for instance, that civil society was renovated in every part by
Christian institutions; that in the strength of that renewal the human
race was lifted up to better things-nay, that it was brought back from
death to life, and to so excellent a life that nothing more perfect had
been known before, or will come to be known in the ages that have yet
to be. Of this beneficent transformation Jesus Christ was at once the
first cause and the final end; as from Him all came, so to Him was all
to be brought back. For, when the human race, by the light of the
Gospel message, came to know the grand mystery of the Incarnation of
the Word and the redemption of man, at once the life of Jesus Christ,
God and Man, pervaded every race and nation, and interpenetrated them
with His faith, His precepts, and His laws. And if human society is to
be healed now, in no other way can it be healed save by a return to
Christian life and Christian institutions. When a society is perishing,
the wholesome advice to give to those who would restore it is to call
it to the principles from which it sprang; for the purpose and
perfection of an association is to aim at and to attain that for which
it is formed, and its efforts should be put in motion and inspired by
the end and object which originally gave it being. Hence, to fall away
from its primal constitution implies disease; to go back to it,
recovery. And this may be asserted with utmost truth both of the whole
body of the commonwealth and of that class of its citizens-by far the
great majority - who get their living by their labor.
28. Neither must it be supposed that the solicitude of the Church is so
preoccupied with the spiritual concerns of her children as to neglect
their temporal and earthly interests. Her desire is that the poor, for
example, should rise above poverty and wretchedness, and better their
condition in life; and for this she makes a strong endeavor. By the
fact that she calls men to virtue and forms them to its practice she
promotes this in no slight degree. Christian morality, when adequately
and completely practiced, leads of itself to temporal prosperity, for
it merits the blessing of that God who is the source of all blessings;
it powerfully restrains the greed of possession and the thirst for
pleasure-twin plagues, which too often make a man who is void of
self-restraint miserable in the midst of abundance;(23) it makes men
supply for the lack of means through economy, teaching them to be
content with frugal living, and further, keeping them out of the reach
of those vices which devour not small incomes merely, but large
fortunes, and dissipate many a goodly inheritance.
29. The Church, moreover, intervenes directly in behalf of the poor, by
setting on foot and maintaining many associations which she knows to be
efficient for the relief of poverty. Herein, again, she has always
succeeded so well as to have even extorted the praise of her enemies.
Such was the ardor of brotherly love among the earliest Christians that
numbers of those who were in better circumstances despoiled themselves
of their possessions in order to relieve their brethren; whence
"neither was there any one needy among them."(24) To the order of
deacons, instituted in that very intent, was committed by the Apostles
the charge of the daily doles; and the Apostle Paul, though burdened
with the solicitude of all the churches, hesitated not to undertake
laborious journeys in order to carry the alms of the faithful to the
poorer Christians. Tertullian calls these contributions, given
voluntarily by Christians in their assemblies, deposits of piety,
because, to cite his own words, they were employed "in feeding the
needy, in burying them, in support of youths and maidens destitute of
means and deprived of their parents, in the care of the aged, and the
relief of the shipwrecked."(25)
30. Thus, by degrees, came into existence the patrimony which the
Church has guarded with religious care as the inheritance of the poor.
Nay, in order to spare them the shame of begging, the Church has
provided aid for the needy. The common Mother of rich and poor has
aroused everywhere the heroism of charity, and has established
congregations of religious and many other useful institutions for help
and mercy, so that hardly any kind of suffering could exist which was
not afforded relief. At the present day many there are who, like the
heathen of old, seek to blame and condemn the Church for such eminent
charity. They would substitute in its stead a system of relief
organized by the State. But no human expedients will ever make up for
the devotedness and self sacrifice of Christian charity. Charity, as a
virtue, pertains to the Church; for virtue it is not, unless it be
drawn from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ; and whosoever turns
his back on the Church cannot be near to Christ.
31. It cannot, however, be doubted that to attain the purpose we are
treating of, not only the Church, but all human agencies, must concur.
All who are concerned in the matter should be of one mind and according
to their ability act together. It is with this, as with providence that
governs the world; the results of causes do not usually take place save
where all the causes cooperate. It is sufficient, therefore, to inquire
what part the State should play in the work of remedy and relief.
32. By the State we here understand, not the particular form of
government prevailing in this or that nation, but the State as rightly
apprehended; that is to say, any government conformable in its
institutions to right reason and natural law, and to those dictates of
the divine wisdom which we have expounded in the encyclical On the
Christian Constitution of the State.(26) The foremost duty, therefore,
of the rulers of the State should be to make sure that the laws and
institutions, the general character and administration of the
commonwealth, shall be such as of themselves to realize public
well-being and private prosperity. This is the proper scope of wise
statesmanship and is the work of the rulers. Now a State chiefly
prospers and thrives through moral rule, well-regulated family life,
respect for religion and justice, the moderation and fair imposing of
public taxes, the progress of the arts and of trade, the abundant yield
of the land-through everything, in fact, which makes the citizens
better and happier. Hereby, then, it lies in the power of a ruler to
benefit every class in the State, and amongst the rest to promote to
the utmost the interests of the poor; and this in virtue of his office,
and without being open to suspicion of undue interference - since it is
the province of the commonwealth to serve the common good. And the more
that is done for the benefit of the working classes by the general laws
of the country, the less need will there be to seek for special means
to relieve them.
33. There is another and deeper consideration which must not be lost
sight of. As regards the State, the interests of all, whether high or
low, are equal. The members of the working classes are citizens by
nature and by the same right as the rich; they are real parts, living
the life which makes up, through the family, the body of the
commonwealth; and it need hardly be said that they are in every city
very largely in the majority. It would be irrational to neglect one
portion of the citizens and favor another, and therefore the public
administration must duly and solicitously provide for the welfare and
the comfort of the working classes; otherwise, that law of justice will
be violated which ordains that each man shall have his due. To cite the
wise words of St. Thomas Aquinas: "As the part and the whole are in a
certain sense identical, so that which belongs to the whole in a sense
belongs to the part."(27) Among the many and grave duties of rulers who
would do their best for the people, the first and chief is to act with
strict justice - with that justice which is called distributive -
toward each and every class alike.
34. But although all citizens, without exception, can and ought to
contribute to that common good in which individuals share so
advantageously to themselves, yet it should not be supposed that all
can contribute in the like way and to the same extent. No matter what
changes may occur in forms of government, there will ever be
differences and inequalities of condition in the State. Society cannot
exist or be conceived of without them. Some there must be who devote
themselves to the work of the commonwealth, who make the laws or
administer justice, or whose advice and authority govern the nation in
times of peace, and defend it in war. Such men clearly occupy the
foremost place in the State, and should be held in highest estimation,
for their work concerns most nearly and effectively the general
interests of the community. Those who labor at a trade or calling do
not promote the general welfare in such measure as this, but they
benefit the nation, if less directly, in a most important manner. We
have insisted, it is true, that, since the end of society is to make
men better, the chief good that society can possess is virtue.
Nevertheless, it is the business of a well-constituted body politic to
see to the provision of those material and external helps "the use of
which is necessary to virtuous action."(28) Now, for the provision of
such commodities, the labor of the working class - the exercise of
their skill, and the employment of their strength, in the cultivation
of the land, and in the workshops of trade - is especially responsible
and quite indispensable. Indeed, their co-operation is in this respect
so important that it may be truly said that it is only by the labor of
working men that States grow rich. Justice, therefore, demands that the
interests of the working classes should be carefully watched over by
the administration, so that they who contribute so largely to the
advantage of the community may themselves share in the benefits which
they create-that being housed, clothed, and bodily fit, they may find
their life less hard and more endurable. It follows that whatever shall
appear to prove conducive to the well-being of those who work should
obtain favorable consideration. There is no fear that solicitude of
this kind will be harmful to any interest; on the contrary, it will be
to the advantage of all, for it cannot but be good for the commonwealth
to shield from misery those on whom it so largely depends for the
things that it needs.
35. We have said that the State must not absorb the individual or the
family; both should be allowed free and untrammelled action so far as
is consistent with the common good and the interest of others. Rulers
should, nevertheless, anxiously safeguard the community and all its
members; the community, because the conservation thereof is so
emphatically the business of the supreme power, that the safety of the
commonwealth is not only the first law, but it is a government's whole
reason of existence; and the members, because both philosophy and the
Gospel concur in laying down that the object of the government of the
State should be, not the advantage of the ruler, but the benefit of
those over whom he is placed. As the power to rule comes from God, and
is, as it were, a participation in His, the highest of all
sovereignties, it should be exercised as the power of God is exercised
- with a fatherly solicitude which not only guides the whole, but
reaches also individuals.
36. Whenever the general interest or any particular class suffers, or
is threatened with harm, which can in no other way be met or prevented,
the public authority must step in to deal with it. Now, it is to the
interest of the community, as well as of the individual, that peace and
good order should be maintained; that all things should be carried on
in accordance with God's laws and those of nature; that the discipline
of family life should be observed and that religion should be obeyed;
that a high standard of morality should prevail, both in public and
private life; that justice should be held sacred and that no one should
injure another with impunity; that the members of the commonwealth
should grow up to man's estate strong and robust, and capable, if need
be, of guarding and defending their country. If by a strike of workers
or concerted interruption of work there should be imminent danger of
disturbance to the public peace; or if circumstances were such as that
among the working class the ties of family life were relaxed; if
religion were found to suffer through the workers not having time and
opportunity afforded them to practice its duties; if in workshops and
factories there were danger to morals through the mixing of the sexes
or from other harmful occasions of evil; or if employers laid burdens
upon their workmen which were unjust, or degraded them with conditions
repugnant to their dignity as human beings; finally, if health were
endangered by excessive labor, or by work unsuited to sex or age - in
such cases, there can be no question but that, within certain limits,
it would be right to invoke the aid and authority of the law. The
limits must be determined by the nature of the occasion which calls for
the law's interference - the principle being that the law must not
undertake more, nor proceed further, than is required for the remedy of
the evil or the removal of the mischief.
37. Rights must be religiously respected wherever they exist, and it is
the duty of the public authority to prevent and to punish injury, and
to protect every one in the possession of his own. Still, when there is
question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and badly off
have a claim to especial consideration. The richer class have many ways
of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State;
whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall
back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State.
And it is for this reason that wage-earners, since they mostly belong
in the mass of the needy, should be specially cared for and protected
by the government.
38. Here, however, it is expedient to bring under special notice
certain matters of moment. First of all, there is the duty of
safeguarding private property by legal enactment and protection. Most
of all it is essential, where the passion of greed is so strong, to
keep the populace within the line of duty; for, if all may justly
strive to better their condition, neither justice nor the common good
allows any individual to seize upon that which belongs to another, or,
under the futile and shallow pretext of equality, to lay violent hands
on other people's possessions. Most true it is that by far the larger
part of the workers prefer to better themselves by honest labor rather
than by doing any wrong to others. But there are not a few who are
imbued with evil principles and eager for revolutionary change, whose
main purpose is to stir up disorder and incite their fellows to acts of
violence. The authority of the law should intervene to put restraint
upon such firebrands, to save the working classes from being led astray
by their maneuvers, and to protect lawful owners from spoliation.
39. When work people have recourse to a strike and become voluntarily
idle, it is frequently because the hours of labor are too long, or the
work too hard, or because they consider their wages insufficient. The
grave inconvenience of this not uncommon occurrence should be obviated
by public remedial measures; for such paralysing of labor not only
affects the masters and their work people alike, but is extremely
injurious to trade and to the general interests of the public;
moreover, on such occasions, violence and disorder are generally not
far distant, and thus it frequently happens that the public peace is
imperiled. The laws should forestall and prevent such troubles from
arising; they should lend their influence and authority to the removal
in good time of the causes which lead to conflicts between employers
and employed.
40. The working man, too, has interests in which he should be protected
by the State; and first of all, there are the interests of his soul.
Life on earth, however good and desirable in itself, is not the final
purpose for which man is created; it is only the way and the means to
that attainment of truth and that love of goodness in which the full
life of the soul consists. It is the soul which is made after the image
and likeness of God; it is in the soul that the sovereignty resides in
virtue whereof man is commanded to rule the creatures below him and to
use all the earth and the ocean for his profit and advantage. "Fill the
earth and subdue it; and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls
of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth."(29) In
this respect all men are equal; there is here no difference between
rich and poor, master and servant, ruler and ruled, "for the same is
Lord over all."(30) No man may with impunity outrage that human dignity
which God Himself treats with great reverence, nor stand in the way of
that higher life which is the preparation of the eternal life of
heaven. Nay, more; no man has in this matter power over himself. To
consent to any treatment which is calculated to defeat the end and
purpose of his being is beyond his right; he cannot give up his soul to
servitude, for it is not man's own rights which are here in question,
but the rights of God, the most sacred and inviolable of rights.
41. From this follows the obligation of the cessation from work and
labor on Sundays and certain holy days. The rest from labor is not to
be understood as mere giving way to idleness; much less must it be an
occasion for spending money and for vicious indulgence, as many would
have it to be; but it should be rest from labor, hallowed by religion.
Rest (combined with religious observances) disposes man to forget for a
while the business of his everyday life, to turn his thoughts to things
heavenly, and to the worship which he so strictly owes to the eternal
Godhead. It is this, above all, which is the reason arid motive of
Sunday rest; a rest sanctioned by God's great law of the Ancient
Covenant-"Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day,"(31) and taught to
the world by His own mysterious "rest" after the creation of man: "He
rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done."(32)
42. If we turn not to things external and material, the first thing of
all to secure is to save unfortunate working people from the cruelty of
men of greed, who use human beings as mere instruments for
money-making. It is neither just nor human so to grind men down with
excessive labor as to stupefy their minds and wear out their bodies.
Man's powers, like his general nature, 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 intermission and proper rest.
Daily labor, therefore, should be so regulated as not to be protracted
over longer hours than strength admits. How many and how long the
intervals of rest should be must depend on the nature of the work, on
circumstances of time and place, and on the health and strength of the
workman. Those who work in mines and quarries, and extract coal, stone
and metals from the bowels of the earth, should have shorter hours in
proportion as their labor is more severe and trying to health. Then,
again, the season of the year should be taken into account; for not
unfrequently a kind of labor is easy at one time which at another is
intolerable or exceedingly difficult. Finally, work which is quite
suitable for a strong man cannot rightly be required from a woman or a
child. And, in regard to children, great care should be taken not to
place them in workshops and factories until their bodies and minds are
sufficiently developed. For, just as very rough weather destroys the
buds of spring, so does too early an experience of life's hard toil
blight the young promise of a child's faculties, and render any true
education impossible. Women, again, are not suited for certain
occupations; a woman is by nature fitted for home-work, and it is that
which is best adapted at once to preserve her modesty and to promote
the good bringing up of children and the well-being of the family. As a
general principle it may be laid down that a workman ought to have
leisure and rest proportionate to the wear and tear of his strength,
for waste of strength must be repaired by cessation from hard work.
In all agreements between masters and work people there is always the
condition expressed or understood that there should be allowed proper
rest for soul and body. To agree in any other sense would be against
what is right and just; for it can never be just or right to require on
the one side, or to promise on the other, the giving up of those duties
which a man owes to his God and to himself.
43. We now approach a subject of great importance, and one in respect
of which, if extremes are to be avoided, right notions are absolutely
necessary. Wages, as we are told, are regulated by free consent, and
therefore the employer, when he pays what was agreed upon, has done his
part and seemingly is not called upon to do anything beyond. The only
way, it is said, in which injustice might occur would be if the master
refused to pay the whole of the wages, or if the workman should not
complete the work undertaken; in such cases the public authority should
intervene, to see that each obtains his due, but not under any other
circumstances.
44. To this kind of argument a fair-minded man will not easily or
entirely assent; it is not complete, for there are important
considerations which it leaves out of account altogether. To labor is
to exert oneself for the sake of procuring what is necessary for the
various purposes of life, and chief of all for self preservation. "In
the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread."(33) Hence, a man's labor
necessarily bears two notes or characters. First of all, it is
personal, inasmuch as the force which acts is bound up with the
personality and is the exclusive property of him who acts, and,
further, was given to him for his advantage. Secondly, man's labor is
necessary; for without the result of labor a man cannot live, and
self-preservation is a law of nature, which it is wrong to disobey.
Now, were we to consider labor merely in so far as it is personal,
doubtless it would be within the workman's right to accept any rate of
wages whatsoever; for in the same way as he is free to work or not, so
is he free to accept a small wage or even none at all. But our
conclusion must be very different if, together with the personal
element in a man's work, we consider the fact that work is also
necessary for him to live: these two aspects of his work are separable
in thought, but not in reality. The preservation of life is the bounden
duty of one and all, and to be wanting therein is a crime. It
necessarily follows that each one has a natural right to procure what
is required in order to live, and the poor can procure that in no other
way than by what they can earn through their work.
45. Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in
particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there
underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than
any bargain between man and man, namely, that wages ought not to be
insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner. If
through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accept harder
conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better,
he is made the victim of force and injustice. In these and similar
questions, however - such as, for example, the hours of labor in
different trades, the sanitary precautions to be observed in factories
and workshops, etc. - in order to supersede undue interference on the
part of the State, especially as circumstances, times, and localities
differ so widely, it is advisable that recourse be had to societies or
boards such as We shall mention presently, or to some other mode of
safeguarding the interests of the wage-earners; the State being
appealed to, should circumstances require, for its sanction and
protection.
46. If a workman's wages be sufficient to enable him comfortably to
support himself, his wife, and his children, he will find it easy, if
he be a sensible man, to practice thrift, and he will not fail, by
cutting down expenses, to put by some little savings and thus secure a
modest source of income. Nature itself would urge him to this. We have
seen that this great labor question cannot be solved save by assuming
as a principle that private ownership must be held sacred and
inviolable. The law, therefore, should favor ownership, and its policy
should be to induce as many as possible of the people to become owners.
47. Many excellent results will follow from this; and, first of all,
property will certainly become more equitably divided. For, the result
of civil change and revolution has been to divide cities into two
classes separated by a wide chasm. On the one side there is the party
which holds power because it holds wealth; which has in its grasp the
whole of labor and trade; which manipulates for its own benefit and its
own purposes all the sources of supply, and which is not without
influence even in the administration of the commonwealth. On the other
side there is the needy and powerless multitude, sick and sore in
spirit and ever ready for disturbance. If working people can be
encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land, the
consequence will be that the gulf between vast wealth and sheer poverty
will be bridged over, and the respective classes will be brought nearer
to one another. A further consequence will result in the great
abundance of the fruits of the earth. Men always work harder and more
readily when they work on that which belongs to them; nay, they learn
to love the very soil that yields in response to the labor of their
hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of good things for
themselves and those that are dear to them. That such a spirit of
willing labor would add to the produce of the earth and to the wealth
of the community is self evident. And a third advantage would spring
from this: men would cling to the country in which they were born, for
no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own
afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life. These three
important benefits, however, can be reckoned on only provided that a
man's means be not drained and exhausted by excessive taxation. The
right to possess private property is derived from nature, not from man;
and the State has the right to control its use in the interests of the
public good alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The State
would therefore be unjust and cruel if under the name of taxation it
were to deprive the private owner of more than is fair.
48. In the last place, employers and workmen may of themselves effect
much, in the matter We are treating, by means of such associations and
organizations as afford opportune aid to those who are in distress, and
which draw the two classes more closely together. Among these may be
enumerated societies for mutual help; various benevolent foundations
established by private persons to provide for the workman, and for his
widow or his orphans, in case of sudden calamity, in sickness, and in
the event of death; and institutions for the welfare of boys and girls,
young people, and those more advanced in years.
49. The most important of all are workingmen's unions, for these
virtually include all the rest. History attests what excellent results
were brought about by the artificers' guilds of olden times. They were
the means of affording not only many advantages to the workmen, but in
no small degree of promoting the advancement of art, as numerous
monuments remain to bear witness. Such unions should be suited to the
requirements of this our age - an age of wider education, of different
habits, and of far more numerous requirements in daily life. It is
gratifying to know that there are actually in existence not a few
associations of this nature, consisting either of workmen alone, or of
workmen and employers together, but it were greatly to be desired that
they should become more numerous and more efficient. We have spoken of
them more than once, yet it will be well to explain here how notably
they are needed, to show that they exist of their own right, and what
should be their organization and their mode of action.
50. The consciousness of his own weakness urges man to call in aid from
without. We read in the pages of holy Writ: "It 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."(34)
And further: "A brother that is helped by his brother is like a strong
city."(35) It is this natural impulse which binds men together in civil
society; and it is likewise this which leads them to join together in
associations which are, it is true, lesser and not independent
societies, but, nevertheless, real societies.
51. These lesser societies and the larger society differ in many
respects, because their immediate purpose and aim are different. Civil
society exists for the common good, and hence is concerned with the
interests of all in general, albeit with individual interests also in
their due place and degree. It is therefore called a public society,
because by its agency, as St. Thomas of Aquinas says, "Men establish
relations in common with one another in the setting up of a
commonwealth."(36) But societies which are formed in the bosom of the
commonwealth are styled private, and rightly so, since their immediate
purpose is the private advantage of the associates. "Now, a private
society," says St. Thomas again, "is one which is formed for the
purpose of carrying out private objects; as when two or three enter
into partnership with the view of trading in common."(37) Private
societies, then, although they exist within the body politic, and are
severally part of the commonwealth, cannot nevertheless be absolutely,
and as such, prohibited by public authority. For, to enter into a
"society" of this kind is the natural right of man; and the State has
for its office to protect natural rights, not to destroy them; and, if
it forbid its citizens to form associations, it contradicts the very
principle of its own existence, for both they and it exist in virtue of
the like principle, namely, the natural tendency of man to dwell in
society.
52. There are occasions, doubtless, when it is fitting that the law
should intervene to prevent certain associations, as when men join
together for purposes which are evidently bad, unlawful, or dangerous
to the State. In such cases, public authority may justly forbid the
formation of such associations, and may dissolve them if they already
exist. But every precaution should be taken not to violate the rights
of individuals and not to impose unreasonable regulations under
pretense of public benefit. For laws only bind when they are in
accordance with right reason, and, hence, with the eternal law of
God.(38)
53. And here we are reminded of the confraternities, societies, and
religious orders which have arisen by the Church's authority and the
piety of Christian men. The annals of every nation down to our own days
bear witness to what they have accomplished for the human race. It is
indisputable that on grounds of reason alone such associations, being
perfectly blameless in their objects, possess the sanction of the law
of nature. In their religious aspect they claim rightly to be
responsible to the Church alone. The rulers of the State accordingly
have no rights over them, nor can they claim any share in their
control; on the contrary, it is the duty of the State to respect and
cherish them, and, if need be, to defend them from attack. It is
notorious that a very different course has been followed, more
especially in our own times. In many places the State authorities have
laid violent hands on these communities, and committed manifold
injustice against them; it has placed them under control of the civil
law, taken away their rights as corporate bodies, and despoiled them of
their property, in such property the Church had her rights, each member
of the body had his or her rights, and there were also the rights of
those who had founded or endowed these communities for a definite
purpose, and, furthermore, of those for whose benefit and assistance
they had their being. Therefore We cannot refrain from complaining of
such spoliation as unjust and fraught with evil results; and with all
the more reason do We complain because, at the very time when the law
proclaims that association is free to all, We see that Catholic
societies, however peaceful and useful, are hampered in every way,
whereas the utmost liberty is conceded to individuals whose purposes
are at once hurtful to religion and dangerous to the commonwealth.
54. Associations of every kind, and especially those of working men,
are now far more common than heretofore. As regards many of these there
is no need at present to inquire whence they spring, what are their
objects, or what the means they imply. Now, there is a good deal of
evidence in favor of the opinion that many of these societies are in
the hands of secret leaders, and are managed on principles ill -
according with Christianity and the public well-being; and that they do
their utmost to get within their grasp the whole field of labor, and
force working men either to join them or to starve. Under these
circumstances Christian working men must do one of two things: either
join associations in which their religion will be exposed to peril, or
form associations among themselves and unite their forces so as to
shake off courageously the yoke of so unrighteous and intolerable an
oppression. No one who does not wish to expose man's chief good to
extreme risk will for a moment hesitate to say that the second
alternative should by all means be adopted.
55. Those Catholics are worthy of all praise-and they are not a
few-who, understanding what the times require, have striven, by various
undertakings and endeavors, to better the condition of the working
class by rightful means. They have taken up the cause of the working
man, and have spared no efforts to better the condition both of
families and individuals; to infuse a spirit of equity into the mutual
relations of employers and employed; to keep before the eyes of both
classes the precepts of duty and the laws of the Gospel - that Gospel
which, by inculcating self restraint, keeps men within the bounds of
moderation, and tends to establish harmony among the divergent
interests and the various classes which compose the body politic. It is
with such ends in view that we see men of eminence, meeting together
for discussion, for the promotion of concerted action, and for
practical work. Others, again, strive to unite working men of various
grades into associations, help them with their advice and means, and
enable them to obtain fitting and profitable employment. The bishops,
on their part, bestow their ready good will and support; and with their
approval and guidance many members of the clergy, both secular and
regular, labor assiduously in behalf of the spiritual interest of the
members of such associations. And there are not wanting Catholics
blessed with affluence, who have, as it were, cast in their lot with
the wage-earners, and who have spent large sums in founding and widely
spreading benefit and insurance societies, by means of which the
working man may without difficulty acquire through his labor not only
many present advantages, but also the certainty of honorable support in
days to come. How greatly such manifold and earnest activity has
benefited the community at large is too well known to require Us to
dwell upon it. We find therein grounds for most cheering hope in the
future, provided always that the associations We have described
continue to grow and spread, and are well and wisely administered. The
State should watch over these societies of citizens banded together in
accordance with their rights, but it should not thrust itself into
their peculiar concerns and their organization, for things move and
live by the spirit inspiring them, and may be killed by the rough grasp
of a hand from without.
56. In order that an association may be carried on with unity of
purpose and harmony of action, its administration and government should
be firm and wise. All such societies, being free to exist, have the
further right to adopt such rules and organization as may best conduce
to the attainment of their respective objects. We do not judge it
possible to enter into minute particulars touching the subject of
organization; this must depend on national character, on practice and
experience, on the nature and aim of the work to be done, on the scope
of the various trades and employments, and on other circumstances of
fact and of time - all of which should be carefully considered.
57. To sum up, then, We may lay it down as a general and lasting law
that working men's associations should be so organized and governed as
to furnish the best and most suitable means for attaining what is aimed
at, that is to say, for helping each individual member to better his
condition to the utmost in body, soul, and property. It is clear that
they must pay special and chief attention to the duties of religion and
morality, and that social betterment should have this chiefly in view;
otherwise they would lose wholly their special character, and end by
becoming little better than those societies which take no account
whatever of religion. What advantage can it be to a working man to
obtain by means of a society material well-being, if he endangers his
soul for lack of spiritual food? "What doth it profit a man, if he gain
the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?"(39)This, as our Lord
teaches, is the mark or character that distinguishes the Christian from
the heathen. "After all these things do the heathen seek . . . Seek ye
first the Kingdom of God and His justice: and all these things shall be
added unto you."(40)Let our associations, then, look first and before
all things to God; let religious instruction have therein the foremost
place, each one being carefully taught what is his duty to God, what he
has to believe, what to hope for, and how he is to work out his
salvation; and let all be warned and strengthened with special care
against wrong principles and false teaching. Let the working man be
urged and led to the worship of God, to the earnest practice of
religion, and, among other things, to the keeping holy of Sundays and
holy days. Let him learn to reverence and love holy Church, the common
Mother of us all; and hence to obey the precepts of the Church, and to
frequent the sacraments, since they are the means ordained by God for
obtaining forgiveness of sin and fox leading a holy life.
58. The foundations of the organization being thus laid in religion, We
next proceed to make clear the relations of the members one to another,
in order that they may live together in concord and go forward
prosperously and with good results. The offices and charges of the
society should be apportioned for the good of the society itself, and
in such mode that difference in degree or standing should not interfere
with unanimity and good-will. It is most important that office bearers
be appointed with due prudence and discretion, and each one's charge
carefully mapped out, in order that no members may suffer harm. The
common funds must be administered with strict honesty, in such a way
that a member may receive assistance in proportion to his necessities.
The rights and duties of the employers, as compared with the rights and
duties of the employed, ought to be the subject of careful
consideration. Should it happen that either a master or a workman
believes himself injured, nothing would be more desirable than that a
committee should be appointed, composed of reliable and capable members
of the association, whose duty would be, conformably with the rules of
the association, to settle the dispute. Among the several purposes of a
society, one should be to try to arrange for a continuous supply of
work at all times and seasons; as well as to create a fund out of which
the members may be effectually helped in their needs, not only in the
cases of accident, but also in sickness, old age, and distress.
59. Such rules and regulations, if willingly obeyed by all, will
sufficiently ensure the well being of the less well-to-do; whilst such
mutual associations among Catholics are certain to be productive in no
small degree of prosperity to the State. Is it not rash to conjecture
the future from the past. Age gives way to age, but the events of one
century are wonderfully like those of another, for they are directed by
the providence of God, who overrules the course of history in
accordance with His purposes in creating the race of man. We are told
that it was cast as a reproach on the Christians in the early ages of
the Church that the greater number among them had to live by begging or
by labor. Yet, destitute though they were of wealth and influence, they
ended by winning over to their side the favor of the rich and the
good-will of the powerful. They showed themselves industrious,
hard-working, assiduous, and peaceful, ruled by justice, and, above
all, bound together in brotherly love. In presence of such mode of life
and such example, prejudice gave way, the tongue of malevolence was
silenced, and the lying legends of ancient superstition little by
little yielded to Christian truth.
60. At the time being, the condition of the working classes is the
pressing question of the hour, and nothing can be of higher interest to
all classes of the State than that it should be rightly and reasonably
settled. But it will be easy for Christian working men to solve it
aright if they will form associations, choose wise guides, and follow
on the path which with so much advantage to themselves and the common
weal was trodden by their fathers before them. Prejudice, it is true,
is mighty, and so is the greed of money; but if the sense of what is
just and rightful be not deliberately stifled, their fellow citizens
are sure to be won over to a kindly feeling towards men whom they see
to be in earnest as regards their work and who prefer so unmistakably
right dealing to mere lucre, and the sacredness of duty to every other
consideration.
61. And further great advantage would result from the state of things
We are describing; there would exist so much more ground for hope, and
likelihood, even, of recalling to a sense of their duty those working
men who have either given up their faith altogether, or whose lives are
at variance with its precepts. Such men feel in most cases that they
have been fooled by empty promises and deceived by false pretexts. They
cannot but perceive that their grasping employers too often treat them
with great inhumanity and hardly care for them outside the profit their
labor brings; and if they belong to any union, it is probably one in
which there exists, instead of charity and love, that intestine strife
which ever accompanies poverty when unresigned and unsustained by
religion. Broken in spirit and worn down in body, how many of them
would gladly free themselves from such galling bondage! But human
respect, or the dread of starvation, makes them tremble to take the
step. To such as these Catholic associations are of incalculable
service, by helping them out of their difficulties, inviting them to
companionship and receiving the returning wanderers to a haven where
they may securely find repose.
62. We have now laid before you, venerable brethren, both who are the
persons and what are the means whereby this most arduous question must
be solved. Every one should put his hand to the work which falls to his
share, and that at once and straightway, lest the evil which is already
so great become through delay absolutely beyond remedy. Those who rule
the commonwealths should avail themselves of the laws and institutions
of the country; masters and wealthy owners must be mindful of their
duty; the working class, whose interests are at stake, should make
every lawful and proper effort; and since religion alone, as We said at
the beginning, can avail to destroy the evil at its root, all men
should rest persuaded that main thing needful is to re-establish
Christian morals, apart from which all the plans and devices of the
wisest will prove of little avail.
63. In regard to the Church, her cooperation will never be found
lacking, be the time or the occasion what it may; and she will
intervene with all the greater effect in proportion as her liberty of
action is the more unfettered. Let this be carefully taken to heart by
those whose office it is to safeguard the public welfare. Every
minister of holy religion must bring to the struggle the full energy of
his mind and all his power of endurance. Moved by your authority,
venerable brethren, and quickened by your example, they should never
cease to urge upon men of every class, upon the high-placed as well as
the lowly, the Gospel doctrines of Christian life; by every means in
their power they must strive to secure the good of the people; and
above all must earnestly cherish in themselves, and try to arouse in
others, charity, the mistress and the queen of virtues. For, the happy
results we all long for must be chiefly brought about by the plenteous
outpouring of charity; of that true Christian charity which is the
fulfilling of the whole Gospel law, which is always ready to sacrifice
itself for others' sake, and is man's surest antidote against worldly
pride and immoderate love of self; that charity whose office is
described and whose Godlike features are outlined by the Apostle St.
Paul in these words: "Charity is patient, is kind, . . . seeketh not
her own, . . . suffereth all things, . . . endureth all things."(41)
64. On each of you, venerable brethren, and on your clergy and people,
as an earnest of God's mercy and a mark of Our affection, we lovingly
in the Lord bestow the apostolic benediction.
Given at St. Peter's in Rome, the fifteenth day of May, 1891, the fourteenth year of Our pontificate.
LEO XIII