|
 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 marvelous 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 bath 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 untrammeled 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 infrequently 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 bath 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
REFERENCES:
1). The title sometimes given to this
encyclical, On the Condiction of the Working Classes,
is therefore perfectly justified. A few lines after this
sentence, the Pope gives a more comprehensive definition
of the subject of Rerum novarum. We are using it as a
title.
2). Deut. 5:21.
3). Gen. 1:28.
4). Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae, q.
x, art. 12, Answer.
5). Gen. 3:17.
6). James 5:4.
7). 2 Tim. 2:12.
8). 2 Cor. 4:17.
9). Matt. 19:23-24.
10). Luke 6:24-Z5.
11). Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae,
q. lxvi, art. 2, Answer.
12). Ibid.
13). Ibid., q. xxxii, a. 6, Answer.
14). Luke 11:41.
15). Acts 20:35.
16). Matt.25:40.
17). Hom. in Evang.,
9, n. 7 (PL 76, 1109B).
18). 2 Cor. 8:9.
19). Mark 6:3.
20). Matt.5:3.
21). Matt. 11:28.
22). Rom. 8:17.
23). 1 Tim. 6:10.
24). Acts 4:34.
25). Apologia secunda, 39, (Apologeticus,
cap. 39; PL1, 533A).
26). See above, pp. 161-184.
27). Summa theologiae, IIa-Ilae,
q. lxi, are. l, ad 2m.
28). Thomas Aquinas, On the Governance
of Rulers, 1, 15 (Opera omnia, ed. Vives,
Vol. 27, p. 356).
29). Gen.1:28.
30). Rom. 10:12.
31). Exod.20:8.
32). Gen. 2:2.
33). Gen. 3:19.
34). Eccle.4:9-10.
35). Prov.18:19.
36). Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et
religionem, Part 2, ch. 8 (Opera omnia, ed.
Vives, Vol. 29, p. 16).
37). Ibid.
38). "Human law is law only by virtue of
its accordance with right reason; and thus it is
manifest that it flows from the eternal law. And in so
far as it deviates from right reason it is called an
unjust law; in such case it is no law at all, but rather
a species of violence." Thomas Aquinas, Summa
theologiae, Ia-Ilae, q. xciii, art. 3, ad 2m.
39). Matt. 16:26.
40). Matt. 6:32-33.
41). I Cor. 13:4-7.
Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana |
