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.
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. 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. 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.ĥ. 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 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. 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. 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.Ĥ. 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. 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. Public institutions and the laws set aside the ancient religion. 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.
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.ģ.
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. The discussion is not easy, nor is it void of danger. 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. 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. Themomentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind withpainful apprehension wise men are discussing it practical men are proposingschemes popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busiedwith it - actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on thepublic mind.Ģ. The elements of theconflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrialpursuits and the marvellous discoveries of science in the changed relationsbetween masters and workmen in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals,and the utter poverty of the masses the increased self reliance and closermutual combination of the working classes as also, finally, in the prevailingmoral degeneracy. That the spirit ofrevolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world,should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt inthe cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising. Of places having Peace andCommunion with the Apostolic See. Primates,Archbishops, Bishops, and other ordinaries To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs,
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