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Title: |
Quadragesimo Anno
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Descr.: |
On Reconstruction Of The Social Order
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Pope: |
Pope Pius XI
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Date: |
May 15, 1931
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To
Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops,
Bishops, and Other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the
Apostolic See, and Likewise to All the Faithful of the Catholic
World.
Venerable
Brethren and Beloved Children, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1.
Forty years have passed since Leo XIII's peerless Encyclical, On the Condition of the Working Class
[Rerum Novarum], first saw the light, and the whole
Catholic world, filled with grateful recollection, is undertaking
to commemorate it with befitting solemnity.
2.
Other Encyclicals of Our Predecessor had in a way prepared the
path for that outstanding document and proof of pastoral care:
namely, those on the family and the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony as
the source of human society,(1) on the origin of civil
authority(2) and its proper relations with the Church,(3) on the
chief duties of Christian citizens,(4) against the tenets of
Socialism(5) against false teachings on human liberty,(6) and
others of the same nature fully expressing the mind of Leo XIII.
Yet the Encyclical, On the Condition of the Working Class, compared with the
rest had this special distinction that at a time when it was most
opportune and actually necessary to do so, it laid down for all
mankind the surest rules to solve aright that difficult problem of
human relations called "the social question."
3.
For toward the close of the nineteenth century, the new kind of
economic life that had arisen and the new developments of industry
had gone to the point in most countries that human society was
clearly becoming divided more and more into two classes. One
class, very small in number, was enjoying almost all the
advantages which modern inventions so abundantly provided; the
other, embracing the huge multitude of working people, oppressed
by wretched poverty, was vainly seeking escape from the straits
wherein it stood.
4.
Quite agreeable, of course, was this state of things to those who
thought it in their abundant riches the result of inevitable
economic laws and accordingly, as if it were for charity to veil
the violation of justice which lawmakers not only tolerated but at
times sanctioned, wanted the whole care of supporting the poor
committed to charity alone. The workers, on the other hand,
crushed by their hard lot, were barely enduring it and were
refusing longer to bend their necks beneath so galling a yoke; and
some of them, carried away by the heat of evil counsel, were
seeking the overturn of everything, while others, whom Christian
training restrained from such evil designs, stood firm in the
judgment that much in this had to be wholly and speedily changed.
5.
The same feeling those many Catholics, both priests and laymen,
shared, whom a truly wonderful charity had long spurred on to
relieve the unmerited poverty of the non-owning workers, and who
could in no way convince themselves that so enormous and unjust an
inequality in the distribution of this world's goods truly
conforms to the designs of the all-wise Creator.
6.
Those men were without question sincerely seeking an immediate
remedy for this lamentable disorganization of States and a secure
safeguard against worse dangers. Yet such is the weakness of even
the best of human minds that, now rejected as dangerous
innovators, now hindered in the good work by their very associates
advocating other courses of action, and, uncertain in the face of
various opinions, they were at a loss which way to turn.
7.
In such a sharp conflict of mind, therefore, while the question at
issue was being argued this way and that, not always with
calmness, all eyes as often before turned to the Chair of Peter,
to that sacred depository of all truth whence words of salvation
pour forth to all the world. And to the feet of Christ's Vicar on
earth were flocking in unaccustomed numbers, men well-versed in
social questions, employers, and workers themselves, begging him
with one voice to point out, finally, the safe road to them.
8.
The wise Pontiff long weighed all this in his mind before God; he
summoned the most experienced and learned to counsel; he pondered
the issues carefully and from every angle. At last, admonished
"by the consciousness of His Apostolic Office"(7) lest
silence on his part might be regarded as failure in his duty(8) he
decided, in virtue of the Divine Teaching Office entrusted to him,
to address not only the whole Church of Christ but all mankind.
9.
Therefore on the fifteenth day of May, 1891, that long awaited
voice thundered forth; neither daunted by the arduousness of the
problem nor weakened by age but with vigorous energy, it taught
the whole human family to strike out in the social question upon
new paths.
10.
You know, Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, and understand
full well the wonderful teaching which has made the Encyclical, On the Condition of the Working Class, illustrious forever. The Supreme Pastor
in this Letter, grieving that so large a portion of mankind should
"live undeservedly in miserable and wretched
conditions,"(9) took it upon himself with great courage to
defend "the cause of the workers whom the present age had
handed over, each alone and defenseless, to the inhumanity of
employers and the unbridled greed of competitors."(10) He
sought no help from either Liberalism or Socialism, for the one
had proved that it was utterly unable to solve the social problem
aright, and the other, proposing a remedy far worse than the evil
itself, would have plunged human society into great dangers.
11.
Since a problem was being treated "for which no satisfactory
solution" is found "unless religion and the Church have
been called upon to aid,"(11) the Pope, clearly exercising
his right and correctly holding that the guardianship of religion
and the stewardship over those things that are closely bound up
with it had been entrusted especially to him and relying solely
upon the unchangeable principles drawn from the treasury of right
reason and Divine Revelation, confidently and as one having
authority,(12) declared and proclaimed "the rights and duties
within which the rich and the proletariat - those who furnish
material things and those who furnish work - ought to be
restricted in relation to each other,"(13) and what the
Church, heads of States and the people themselves directly
concerned ought to do.
12.
The Apostolic voice did not thunder forth in vain. On the
contrary, not only did the obedient children of the Church hearken
to it with marveling admiration and hail it with the greatest
applause, but many also who were wandering far from the truth,
from the unity of the faith, and nearly all who since then either
in private study or in enacting legislation have concerned
themselves with the social and economic question.
13.
Feeling themselves vindicated and defended by the Supreme
Authority on earth, Christian workers received this Encyclical
with special joy. So, too, did all those noble-hearted men who,
long solicitous for the improvement of the condition of the
workers, had up to that time encountered almost nothing but
indifference from many, and even rankling suspicion, if not open
hostility, from some. Rightly, therefore, have all these groups
constantly held the Apostolic Encyclical from that time in such
high honor that to signify their gratitude they are wont, in
various places and in various ways, to commemorate it every year.
14.
However, in spite of such great agreement, there were some who
were not a little disturbed; and so it happened that the teaching
of Leo XIII, so noble and lofty and so utterly new to worldly
ears, was held suspect by some, even among Catholics, and to
certain ones it even gave offense. For it boldly attacked and
overturned the idols of Liberalism, ignored long-standing
prejudices, and was in advance of its time beyond all expectation,
so that the slow of heart disdained to study this new social
philosophy and the timid feared to scale so lofty a height. There
were some also who stood, indeed, in awe at its splendor, but
regarded it as a kind of imaginary ideal of perfection more
desirable then attainable.
15.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, as all everywhere and
especially Catholic workers who are pouring from all sides into
this Holy City, are celebrating with such enthusiasm the solemn
commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the Encyclical On the Condition of the Working Class, We deem it fitting on this occasion to
recall the great benefits this Encyclical has brought to the
Catholic Church and to all human society; to defend the
illustrious Master's doctrine on the social and economic question
against certain doubts and to develop it more fully as to some
points; and lastly, summoning to court the contemporary economic
regime and passing judgment on Socialism, to lay bare the root of
the existing social confusion and at the same time point the only
way to sound restoration: namely, the Christian reform of morals.
All these matters which we undertake to treat will fall under
three main headings, and this entire Encyclical will be devoted to
their development.
16.
To begin with the topic which we have proposed first to discuss,
We cannot refrain, following the counsel of St. Ambrose(14) who
says that "no duty is more important than that of returning
thanks," from offering our fullest gratitude to Almighty God
for the immense benefits that have come through Leo's Encyclical
to the Church and to human society. If indeed We should wish to
review these benefits even cursorily, almost the whole history of
the social question during the last forty years would have to be
recalled to mind. These benefits can be reduced conveniently,
however, to three main points, corresponding to the three kinds of
help which Our Predecessor ardently desired for the accomplishment
of his great work of restoration.
17.
In the first place Leo himself clearly stated what ought to be
expected from the Church:(15) "Manifestly it is the Church
which draws from the Gospel the teachings through which the
conflict can be brought to an end, or rendered, at least, far less
bitter. It is the Church,
again, that strives not only to instruct the mind, but to regulate
by her precepts the life and morals of individuals, and that
ameliorates the condition of the workers through her numerous and
beneficent institutions..."
18.
The Church did not let these rich fountains lie quiescent in her
bosom, but from them drew copiously for the common good of the
longed-for peace. Leo himself and his Successors, showing paternal
charity and pastoral constancy always, in defense especially of
the poor and the weak,(16) proclaimed and urged without ceasing
again and again by voice and pen the teaching on the social and
economic question which On the Condition of the Working Class presented, and
adapted it fittingly to the needs of time and of circumstance. And
many bishops have done the same, who in their continual and able
interpretation of this same teaching have illustrated it with
commentaries and in accordance with the mind and instructions of
the Holy See provided for its application to the conditions and
institutions of diverse regions.(17)
19.
It is not surprising, therefore, that many scholars, both priests
and laymen, led especially by the desire that the unchanged and
unchangeable teaching of the Church should meet new demands and
needs more effectively, have zealously undertaken to develop, with
the Church as their guide and teacher, a social and economic
science in accord with the conditions of our time.
20.
And so, with Leo's Encyclical pointing the way and furnishing the
light, a true Catholic social science has arisen, which is daily
fostered and enriched by the tireless efforts of those chosen men
whom We have termed auxiliaries of the Church. They do not,
indeed, allow their science to lie hidden behind learned walls. As
the useful and well attended courses instituted in Catholic
universities, colleges, and seminaries, the social congresses and
"weeks" that are held at frequent intervals with most
successful results, the study groups that are promoted, and
finally the timely and sound publications that are disseminated
everywhere and in every possible way clearly show, these men
bring their science out into the full light and stress of life.
21.
Nor is the benefit that has poured forth from Leo's Encyclical
confined within these bounds; for the teaching which On the Condition of the Working Class
contains has gradually and imperceptibly
worked its way into the minds of those outside Catholic unity who
do not recognize the authority of the Church. Catholic principles
on the social question have as a result, passed little by little
into the patrimony of all human society, and We rejoice that the
eternal truths which Our Predecessor of glorious memory proclaimed
so impressively have been frequently invoked and defended not only
in non-Catholic books and journals but in legislative halls also
courts of justice.
22.
Furthermore, after the terrible war, when the statesmen of the
leading nations were attempting to restore peace on the basis of a
thorough reform of social conditions, did not they, among the
norms agreed upon to regulate in accordance with justice and
equity the labor of the workers, give sanction to many points that
so remarkably coincide with Leo's principles and instructions as
to seem consciously taken therefrom? The Encyclical On the Condition of the Working Class, without question, has become a memorable
document and rightly to it may be applied the words of Isaias:
"He shall set up a standard to the nations."(18)
23.
Meanwhile, as Leo's teachings were being widely diffused in the
minds of men, with learned investigations leading the way, they
have come to be put into practice. In the first place, zealous
efforts have been made, with active good will, to lift up that
class which on account of the modern expansion of industry had
increased to enormous numbers but had not yet obtained its
rightful place or rank in human society and was, for that reason,
all but neglected and despised - the workers, We mean - to whose
improvement, to the great advantage of souls, the diocesan and
regular clergy, though burdened with other pastoral duties, have
under the leadership of the Bishops devoted themselves. This
constant work, undertaken to fill the workers' souls with the
Christian spirit, helped much also to make them conscious of their
true dignity and render them capable, by placing clearly before
them the rights and duties of their class, of legitimately and
happily advancing and even of becoming leaders of their fellows.
24.
From that time on, fuller means of livelihood have been more
securely obtained; for not only did works of beneficence and
charity begin to multiply at the urging of the Pontiff, but there
have also been established everywhere new and continuously
expanding organizations in which workers, draftsmen, farmers and
employees of every kind, with the counsel of the Church and
frequently under the leadership of her priests, give and receive
mutual help and support.
25.
With regard to civil authority, Leo XIII, boldly breaking through
the confines imposed by Liberalism, fearlessly taught that
government must not be thought a mere guardian of law and of good
order, but rather must put forth every effort so that
"through the entire scheme of laws and institutions...both
public and individual well-being may develop spontaneously out of
the very structure and administration of the State."(19) Just
freedom of action must, of course, be left both to individual
citizens and to families, yet only on condition that the common
good be preserved and wrong to any individual be abolished. The
function of the rulers of the State, moreover, is to watch over
the community and its parts; but in protecting private individuals
in their rights, chief consideration ought to be given to the weak
and the poor. "For the nation, as it were, of the rich is
guarded by its own defenses and is in less need of governmental
protection, whereas the suffering multitude, without the means to
protect itself relies especially on the protection of the State.
Wherefore, since wage-workers are numbered among the great mass of
the needy, the State must include them under its special care and
foresight."(20)
26.
We, of course, do not deny that even before the Encyclical of Leo,
some rulers of peoples have provided for certain of the more
urgent needs of the workers and curbed more flagrant acts of
injustice inflicted upon them. But after the Apostolic voice had
sounded from the Chair of Peter throughout the world, rulers of
nations, more fully alive at last to their duty, devoted their
minds and attention to the task of promoting a more comprehensive
and fruitful social policy.
27.
And while the principles of Liberalism were tottering, which had
long prevented effective action by those governing the State, the
Encyclical On the Condition of the Working Class in truth impelled peoples
themselves to promote a social policy on truer grounds and with
greater intensity, and so strongly encouraged good Catholics to
furnish valuable help to heads of States in this field that they
often stood forth as illustrious champions of this new policy even
in legislatures. Sacred ministers of the Church, thoroughly imbued
with Leo's teaching, have, in fact, often proposed to the votes of
the peoples' representatives the very social legislation that has
been enacted in recent years and have resolutely demanded and
promoted its enforcement.
28.
A new branch of law, wholly unknown to the earlier time, has
arisen from this continuous and unwearied labor to protect
vigorously the sacred rights of the workers that flow from their
dignity as men and as Christians. These laws undertake the
protection of life, health, strength, family, homes, workshops,
wages and labor hazards, in fine, everything which pertains to the
condition of wage workers, with special concern for women and
children. Even though these laws do not conform exactly everywhere
and in all respects to Leo's recommendations, still it is
undeniable that much in them savors of the Encyclical, On the Condition of the Working Class, to which great credit must be given for
whatever improvement has been achieved in the workers' condition.
29.
Finally, the wise Pontiff showed that "employers and workers
themselves can accomplish much in this matter, manifestly through
those institutions by the help of which the poor are opportunely
assisted and the two classes of society are brought closer to each
other."(21) First place among these institutions, he
declares, must be assigned to associations that embrace either
workers alone or workers and employers together. He goes into
considerable detail in explaining and commending these
associations and expounds with a truly wonderful wisdom their
nature, purpose, timeliness, rights, duties, and regulations.
30.
These teachings were issued indeed most opportunely. For at that
time in many nations those at the helm of State, plainly imbued
with Liberalism, were showing little favor to workers'
associations of this type; nay, rather they openly opposed them,
and while going out of their way to recognize similar
organizations of other classes and show favor to them, they were
with criminal injustice denying the natural right to form
associations to those who needed it most to defend themselves from
ill treatment at the hands of the powerful. There were even some
Catholics who looked askance at the efforts of workers to form
associations of this type as if they smacked of a socialistic or
revolutionary spirit.
31.
The rules, therefore, which Leo XIII issued in virtue of his
authority, deserve the greatest praise in that they have been able
to break down this hostility and dispel these suspicions; but they
have even a higher claim to distinction in that they encouraged
Christian workers to found mutual associations according to their
various occupations, taught them how to do so, and resolutely
confirmed in the path of duty a goodly number of those whom
socialist organizations strongly attracted by claiming to be the
sole defenders and champions of the lowly and oppressed.
32.
With respect to the founding of these societies, the Encyclical On the Condition of the Working Class
most fittingly declared that
"workers' associations ought to be so constituted and so
governed as to furnish the most suitable and most convenient means
to attain the object proposed, which consists in this, that the
individual members of the association secure, so far as is
possible, an increase in the goods of body, of soul, and of
property," yet it is clear that "moral and religious
perfection ought to be regarded as their principal goal, and that
their social organization as such ought above all to be directed
completely by this goal."(22) For "when the regulations
of associations are founded upon religion, the way is easy toward
establishing the mutual relations of the members, so that peaceful
living together and prosperity will result."(23)
33.
To the founding of these associations the clergy and many of the
laity devoted themselves everywhere with truly praiseworthy zeal,
eager to bring Leo's program to full realization. Thus
associations of this kind have molded truly Christian workers who,
in combining harmoniously the diligent practice of their
occupation with the salutary precepts of religion, protect
effectively and resolutely their own temporal interests and
rights, keeping a due respect for justice and a genuine desire to
work together with other classes of society for the Christian
renewal of all social life.
34.
These counsels and instructions of Leo XIII were put into effect
differently in different places according to varied local
conditions. In some places one and the same association undertook
to attain all the ends laid down by the Pontiff; in others,
because circumstances suggested or required it, a division of work
developed and separate associations were formed. Of these, some
devoted themselves to the defense of the rights and legitimate
interests of their members in the labor market; others took over
the work of providing mutual economic aid; finally still others
gave all their attention to the fulfillment of religious and moral
duties and other obligations of like nature.
35.
This second method has especially been adopted where either the
laws of a country, or certain special economic institutions, or
that deplorable dissension of minds and hearts so widespread in
contemporary society and an urgent necessity of combating with
united purpose and strength the massed ranks of revolutionarists,
have prevented Catholics from founding purely Catholic labor
unions. Under these conditions, Catholics seem almost forced to
join secular labor unions. These unions, however, should always
profess justice and equity and give Catholic members full freedom
to care for their own conscience and obey the laws of the Church.
It is clearly the office of bishops, when they know that these
associations are on account of circumstances necessary and are not
dangerous to religion, to approve of Catholic workers joining
them, keeping before their eyes, however, the principles and
precautions laid down by Our Predecessor, Pius X of holy
memory.(24) Among these precautions the first and chief is this:
Side by side with these unions there should always be associations
zealously engaged in imbuing and forming their members in the
teaching of religion and morality so that they in turn may be able
to permeate the unions with that good spirit which should direct
them in all their activity. As a result, the religious
associations will bear good fruit even beyond the circle of their
own membership.
36.
To the Encyclical of Leo, therefore, must be given this credit,
that these associations of workers have so flourished everywhere
that while, alas, still surpassed in numbers by socialist and
communist organizations, they already embrace a vast multitude of
workers and are able, within the confines of each nation as well
as in wider assemblies, to maintain vigorously the rights and
legitimate demands of Catholic workers and insist also on the
salutary Christian principles of society.
37.
Leo's learned treatment and vigorous defense of the natural right
to form associations began, furthermore, to find ready application
to other associations also and not alone to those of the workers.
Hence no small part of the credit must, it seems, be given to this
same Encyclical of Leo for the fact that among farmers and others
of the middle class most useful associations of this kind are seen
flourishing to a notable degree and increasing day by day, as well
as other institutions of a similar nature in which spiritual
development and economic benefit are happily combined.
38.
But if this cannot be said of organizations which Our same
Predecessor intensely desired established among employers and
managers of industry - and We certainly regret that they are so
few - the condition is not wholly due to the will of men but to
far graver difficulties that hinder associations of this kind
which We know well and estimate at their full value. There is,
however, strong hope that these obstacles also will be removed
soon, and even now We greet with the deepest joy of Our soul,
certain by no means insignificant attempts in this direction, the
rich fruits of which promise a still richer harvest in the
future.(25)
39.
All these benefits of Leo's Encyclical, Venerable Brethren and
Beloved Children, which We have outlined rather than fully
described, are so numerous and of such import as to show plainly
that this immortal document does not exhibit a merely fanciful,
even if beautiful, ideal of human society. Rather did our
Predecessor draw from the Gospel and, therefore, from an
ever-living and life-giving fountain, teachings capable of greatly
mitigating, if not immediately terminating that deadly internal
struggle which is rending the family of mankind. The rich fruits
which the Church of Christ and the whole human race have, by God's
favor, reaped therefrom unto salvation prove that some of this
good seed, so lavishly sown forty years ago, fell on good ground.
On the basis of the long period of experience, it cannot be rash
to say that Leo's Encyclical has proved itself the Magna Carta
upon which all Christian activity in the social field ought to be
based, as on a foundation. And those who would seem to hold in
little esteem this Papal Encyclical and its commemoration either
blaspheme what they know not, or understand nothing of what they
are only superficially acquainted with, or if they do understand
convict themselves formally of injustice and ingratitude.
40.
Yet since in the course of these same years, certain doubts have
arisen concerning either the correct meaning of some parts of
Leo's Encyclical or conclusions to be deduced therefrom, which
doubts in turn have even among Catholics given rise to
controversies that are not always peaceful; and since,
furthermore, new needs and changed conditions of our age have made
necessary a more precise application of Leo's teaching or even
certain additions thereto, We most gladly seize this fitting
occasion, in accord with Our Apostolic Office through which We are
debtors to all,(26) to answer, so far as in Us lies, these doubts
and these demands of the present day.
41.
Yet before proceeding to explain these matters, that principle
which Leo XIII so clearly established must be laid down at the
outset here, namely, that there resides in Us the right and duty
to pronounce with supreme authority upon social and economic
matters.(27) Certainly the Church was not given the commission to
guide men to an only fleeting and perishable happiness but to that
which is eternal. Indeed "the Church holds that it is
unlawful for her to mix without cause in these temporal
concerns"(28); however, she can in no wise renounce the duty
God entrusted to her to interpose her authority, not of course in
matters of technique for which she is neither suitably equipped
nor endowed by office, but in all things that are connected with
the moral law. For as to these, the deposit of truth that God
committed to Us and the grave duty of disseminating and
interpreting the whole moral law, and of urging it in season and
out of season, bring under and subject to Our supreme jurisdiction
not only social order but economic activities themselves.
42.
Even though economics and moral science employs each its own
principles in its own sphere, it is, nevertheless, an error to say
that the economic and moral orders are so distinct from and alien
to each other that the former depends in no way on the latter.
Certainly the laws of economics, as they are termed, being based
on the very nature of material things and on the capacities of the
human body and mind, determine the limits of what productive human
effort cannot, and of what it can attain in the economic field and
by what means. Yet it is reason itself that clearly shows, on the
basis of the individual and social nature of things and of men,
the purpose which God ordained for all economic life.
43.
But it is only the moral law which, just as it commands us to seek
our supreme and last end in the whole scheme of our activity, so
likewise commands us to seek directly in each kind of activity
those purposes which we know that nature, or rather God the Author
of nature, established for that kind of action, and in orderly
relationship to subordinate such immediate purposes to our supreme
and last end. If we faithfully observe this law, then it will
follow that the particular purposes, both individual and social,
that are sought in the economic field will fall in their proper
place in the universal order of purposes, and We, in ascending
through them, as it were by steps, shall attain the final end of
all things, that is God, to Himself and to us, the supreme and
inexhaustible Good.
44.
But to come down to particular points, We shall begin with
ownership or the right of property. Venerable Brethren and Beloved
Children, you know that Our Predecessor of happy memory strongly
defended the right of property against the tenets of the
Socialists of his time by showing that its abolition would result,
not to the advantage of the working class, but to their extreme
harm. Yet since there are some who calumniate the Supreme Pontiff,
and the Church herself, as if she had taken and were still taking
the part of the rich against the non-owning workers - certainly no
accusation is more unjust than that - and since Catholics are at
variance with one another concerning the true and exact mind of
Leo, it has seemed best to vindicate this, that is, the Catholic
teaching on this matter from calumnies and safeguard it from false
interpretations.
45.
First, then, let it be considered as certain and established that
neither Leo nor those theologians who have taught under the
guidance and authority of the Church have ever denied or
questioned the twofold character of ownership, called usually
individual or social according as it regards either separate
persons or the common good. For they have always unanimously
maintained that nature, rather the Creator Himself, has given man
the right of private ownership not only that individuals may be
able to provide for themselves and their families but also that
the goods which the Creator destined for the entire family of
mankind may through this institution truly serve this purpose. All
this can be achieved in no wise except through the maintenance of
a certain and definite order.
46.
Accordingly, twin rocks of shipwreck must be carefully avoided.
For, as one is wrecked upon, or comes close to, what is known as
"individualism" by denying or minimizing the social and
public character of the right of property, so by rejecting or
minimizing the private and individual character of this same
right, one inevitably runs into "collectivism" or at
least closely approaches its tenets. Unless this is kept in mind,
one is swept from his course upon the shoals of that moral,
juridical, and social modernism which We denounced in the
Encyclical issued at the beginning of Our Pontificate.(29) And, in
particular, let those realize this who, in their desire for
innovation, do not scruple to reproach the Church with infamous
calumnies, as if she had allowed to creep into the teachings of
her theologians a pagan concept of ownership which must be
completely replaced by another that they with amazing ignorance
call "Christian."
47.
In order to place definite limits on the controversies that have
arisen over ownership and its inherent duties there must be first
laid down as foundation a principle established by Leo XIII: The
right of property is distinct from its use.(30) That justice
called commutative commands sacred respect for the division of
possessions and forbids invasion of others' rights through the
exceeding of the limits of one's own property; but the duty of
owners to use their property only in a right way does not come
under this type of justice, but under other virtues, obligations
of which "cannot be enforced by legal action."(31)
Therefore, they are in error who assert that ownership and its
right use are limited by the same boundaries; and it is much
farther still from the truth to hold that a right to property is
destroyed or lost by reason of abuse or non-use.
48.
Those, therefore, are doing a work that is truly salutary and
worthy of all praise who, while preserving harmony among
themselves and the integrity of the traditional teaching of the
Church, seek to define the inner nature of these duties and their
limits whereby either the right of property itself or its use,
that is, the exercise of ownership, is circumscribed by the
necessities of social living. On the other hand, those who seek to
restrict the individual character of ownership to such a degree
that in fact they destroy it are mistaken and in error.
49.
It follows from what We have termed the individual and at the same
time social character of ownership, that men must consider in this
matter not only their own advantage but also the common good. To
define these duties in detail when necessity requires and the
natural law has not done so, is the function of those in charge of
the State. Therefore, public authority, under the guiding light
always of the natural and divine law, can determine more
accurately upon consideration of the true requirements of the
common good, what is permitted and what is not permitted to owners
in the use of their property. Moreover, Leo XIII wisely taught
"that God has left the limits of private possessions to be
fixed by the industry of men and institutions of
peoples."(32) That history proves ownership, like other
elements of social life, to be not absolutely unchanging, We once
declared as follows: "What divers forms has property had,
from that primitive form among rude and savage peoples, which may
be observed in some places even in our time, to the form of
possession in the patriarchal age; and so further to the various
forms under tyranny (We are using the word tyranny in its
classical sense); and then through the feudal and monarchial forms
down to the various types which are to be found in more recent
times."(33) That the State is not permitted to discharge its
duty arbitrarily is, however, clear. The natural right itself both
of owning goods privately and of passing them on by inheritance
ought always to remain intact and inviolate, since this indeed is
a right that the State cannot take away: "For man is older
than the State,"(34) and also "domestic living together
is prior both in thought and in fact to uniting into a
polity."(35) Wherefore the wise Pontiff declared that it is
grossly unjust for a State to exhaust private wealth through the
weight of imposts and taxes. "For since the right of
possessing goods privately has been conferred not by man's law,
but by nature, public authority cannot abolish it, but can only
control its exercise and bring it into conformity with the commonweal."(36) Yet when the State brings private ownership into
harmony with the needs of the common good, it does not commit a
hostile act against private owners but rather does them a friendly
service; for it thereby effectively prevents the private
possession of goods, which the Author of nature in His most wise
providence ordained for the support of human life, from causing
intolerable evils and thus rushing to its own destruction; it does
not destroy private possessions, but safeguards them; and it does
not weaken private property rights, but strengthens them.
50.
Furthermore, a person's superfluous income, that is, income which
he does not need to sustain life fittingly and with dignity, is
not left wholly to his own free determination. Rather the Sacred
Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church constantly declare in the
most explicit language that the rich are bound by a very grave
precept to practice almsgiving, beneficence, and munificence.
51.
Expending larger incomes so that opportunity for gainful work may
be abundant, provided, however, that this work is applied to
producing really useful goods, ought to be considered, as We
deduce from the principles of the Angelic Doctor,(37) an
outstanding exemplification of the virtue of munificence and one
particularly suited to the needs of the times.
52.
That ownership is originally acquired both by occupancy of a thing
not owned by any one and by labor, or, as is said, by
specification, the tradition of all ages as well as the teaching
of Our Predecessor Leo clearly testifies. For, whatever some idly
say to the contrary, no injury is done to any person when a thing
is occupied that is available to all but belongs to no one;
however, only that labor which a man performs in his own name and
by virtue of which a new form or increase has been given to a
thing grants him title to these fruits.
53.
Far different is the nature of work that is hired out to others
and expended on the property of others. To this indeed especially
applies what Leo XIII says is "incontestable," namely,
that "the wealth of nations originates from no other source
than from the labor of workers."(38) For is it not plain that
the enormous volume of goods that makes up human wealth is
produced by and issues from the hands of the workers that either
toil unaided or have their efficiency marvelously increased by
being equipped with tools or machines? Every one knows, too, that
no nation has ever risen out of want and poverty to a better and
nobler condition save by the enormous and combined toil of all the
people, both those who manage work and those who carry out
directions. But it is no less evident that, had not God the
Creator of all things, in keeping with His goodness, first
generously bestowed natural riches and resources - the wealth and
forces of nature - such supreme efforts would have been idle and
vain, indeed could never even have begun. For what else is work
but to use or exercise the energies of mind and body on or through
these very things? And in the application of natural resources to
human use the law of nature, or rather God's will promulgated by
it, demands that right order be observed. This order consists in
this: that each thing have its proper owner. Hence it follows that
unless a man is expending labor on his own property, the labor of
one person and the property of another must be associated, for
neither can produce anything without the other. Leo XIII certainly
had this in mind when he wrote: "Neither capital can do
without labor, nor labor without capital."(39) Wherefore it
is wholly false to ascribe to property alone or to labor alone
whatever has been obtained through the combined effort of both,
and it is wholly unjust for either, denying the efficacy of the
other, to arrogate to itself whatever has been produced.
54.
Property, that is, "capital," has undoubtedly long been
able to appropriate too much to itself. Whatever was produced,
whatever returns accrued, capital claimed for itself, hardly
leaving to the worker enough to restore and renew his strength.
For the doctrine was preached that all accumulation of capital
falls by an absolutely insuperable economic law to the rich, and
that by the same law the workers are given over and bound to
perpetual want, to the scantiest of livelihoods. It is true,
indeed, that things have not always and everywhere corresponded
with this sort of teaching of the so-called Manchesterian
Liberals; yet it cannot be denied that economic social
institutions have moved steadily in that direction. That these
false ideas, these erroneous suppositions, have been vigorously
assailed, and not by those alone who through them were being
deprived of their innate right to obtain better conditions, will
surprise no one.
55.
And therefore, to the harassed workers there have come
"intellectuals," as they are called, setting up in
opposition to a fictitious law the equally fictitious moral
principle that all products and profits, save only enough to
repair and renew capital, belong by very right to the workers.
This error, much more specious than that of certain of the
Socialists who hold that whatever serves to produce goods ought to
be transferred to the State, or, as they say
"socialized," is consequently all the more dangerous and
the more apt to deceive the unwary. It is an alluring poison which
many have eagerly drunk whom open Socialism had not been able to
deceive.
56.
Unquestionably, so as not to close against themselves the road to
justice and peace through these false tenets, both parties ought
to have been forewarned by the wise words of Our Predecessor:
"However the earth may be apportioned among private owners,
it does not cease to serve the common interests of all."(40)
This same doctrine We ourselves also taught above in declaring
that the division of goods which results from private ownership
was established by nature itself in order that created things may
serve the needs of mankind in fixed and stable order. Lest one
wander from the straight path of truth, this is something that
must be continually kept in mind.
57.
But not every distribution among human beings of property and
wealth is of a character to attain either completely or to a
satisfactory degree of perfection the end which God intends.
Therefore, the riches that economic-social developments constantly
increase ought to be so distributed among individual persons and
classes that the common advantage of all, which Leo XIII had
praised, will be safeguarded; in other words, that the common good
of all society will be kept inviolate. By this law of social
justice, one class is forbidden to exclude the other from sharing
in the benefits. Hence the class of the wealthy violates this law
no less, when, as if free from care on account of its wealth, it
thinks it the right order of things for it to get everything and
the worker nothing, than does the non-owning working class when,
angered deeply at outraged justice and too ready to assert wrongly
the one right it is conscious of, it demands for itself everything
as if produced by its own hands, and attacks and seeks to abolish,
therefore, all property and returns or incomes, of whatever kind
they are or whatever the function they perform in human society,
that have not been obtained by labor, and for no other reason save
that they are of such a nature. And in this connection We must not
pass over the unwarranted and unmerited appeal made by some to the
Apostle when he said: "If any man will not work neither let
him eat."(41) For the Apostle is passing judgment on those
who are unwilling to work, although they can and ought to, and he
admonishes us that we ought diligently to use our time and
energies of body, and mind and not be a burden to others when we
can provide for ourselves. But the Apostle in no wise teaches that
labor is the sole title to a living or an income.(42)
58.
To each, therefore, must be given his own share of goods, and the
distribution of created goods, which, as every discerning person
knows, is laboring today under the gravest evils due to the huge
disparity between the few exceedingly rich and the unnumbered
propertyless, must be effectively called back to and brought into
conformity with the norms of the common good, that is, social
justice.
59.
The redemption of the non-owning workers - this is the goal that
Our Predecessor declared must necessarily be sought. And the point
is the more emphatically to be asserted and more insistently
repeated because the commands of the Pontiff, salutary as they
are, have not infrequently been consigned to oblivion either
because they were deliberately suppressed by silence or thought
impracticable although they both can and ought to be put into
effect. And these commands have not lost their force and wisdom
for our time because that "pauperism" which Leo XIII
beheld in all its horror is less widespread. Certainly the
condition of the workers has been improved and made more equitable
especially in the more civilized and wealthy countries where the
workers can no longer be considered universally overwhelmed with
misery and lacking the necessities of life. But since
manufacturing and industry have so rapidly pervaded and occupied
countless regions, not only in the countries called new, but also
in the realms of the Far East that have been civilized from
antiquity, the number of the non-owning working poor has increased
enormously and their groans cry to God from the earth. Added to
them is the huge army of rural wage workers, pushed to the lowest
level of existence and deprived of all hope of ever acquiring
"some property in land,"(43) and, therefore, permanently
bound to the status of non-owning worker unless suitable and
effective remedies are applied.
60.
Yet while it is true that the status of non-owning worker is to be
carefully distinguished from pauperism, nevertheless the immense
multitude of the non-owning workers on the one hand and the
enormous riches of certain very wealthy men on the other establish
an unanswerable argument that the riches which are so abundantly
produced in our age of "industrialism," as it is called,
are not rightly distributed and equitably made available to the
various classes of the people.
61.
Therefore, with all our strength and effort we must strive that at
least in the future the abundant fruits of production will accrue
equitably to those who are rich and will be distributed in ample
sufficiency among the workers - not that these may become remiss
in work, for man is born to labor as the bird to fly - but that
they may increase their property by thrift, that they may bear, by
wise management of this increase in property, the burdens of
family life with greater ease and security, and that, emerging
from the insecure lot in life in whose uncertainties non-owning
workers are cast, they may be able not only to endure the
vicissitudes of earthly existence but have also assurance that
when their lives are ended they will provide in some measure for
those they leave after them.
62.
All these things which Our Predecessor has not only suggested but
clearly and openly proclaimed, We emphasize with renewed
insistence in our present Encyclical; and unless utmost efforts
are made without delay to put them into effect, let no one
persuade himself that public order, peace, and the tranquillity of
human society can be effectively defended against agitators of
revolution.
63.
As We have already indicated, following in the footsteps of Our
Predecessor, it will be impossible to put these principles into
practice unless the non-owning workers through industry and thrift
advance to the state of possessing some little property. But
except from pay for work, from what source can a man who has
nothing else but work from which to obtain food and the
necessaries of life set anything aside for himself through
practicing frugality? Let us, therefore, explaining and developing
wherever necessary Leo XIII's teachings and precepts, take up this
question of wages and salaries which he called one "of very
great importance."(44)
64.
First of all, those who declare that a contract of hiring and
being hired is unjust of its own nature, and hence a
partnership-contract must take its place, are certainly in error
and gravely misrepresent Our Predecessor whose Encyclical not only
accepts working for wages or salaries but deals at some length
with its regulation in accordance with the rules of justice.
65.
We consider it more advisable, however, in the present condition
of human society that, so far as is possible, the work-contract be
somewhat modified by a partnership-contract, as is already being
done in various ways and with no small advantage to workers and
owners. Workers and other employees thus become sharers in
ownership or management or participate in some fashion in the
profits received.
66.
The just amount of pay, however, must be calculated not on a
single basis but on several, as Leo XIII already wisely declared
in these words: "To establish a rule of pay in accord with
justice, many factors must be taken into account."(45)
67.
By this statement he plainly condemned the shallowness of those
who think that this most difficult matter is easily solved by the
application of a single rule or measure - and one quite false.
68.
For they are greatly in error who do not hesitate to spread the
principle that labor is worth and must be paid as much as its
products are worth, and that consequently the one who hires out
his labor has the right to demand all that is produced through his
labor. How far this is from the truth is evident from that We have
already explained in treating of property and labor.
69.
It is obvious that, as in the case of ownership, so in the case of
work, especially work hired out to others, there is a social
aspect also to be considered in addition to the personal or
individual aspect. For man's productive effort cannot yield its
fruits unless a truly social and organic body exists, unless a
social and juridical order watches over the exercise of work,
unless the various occupations, being interdependent, cooperate
with and mutually complete one another, and, what is still more
important, unless mind, material things, and work combine and form
as it were a single whole. Therefore, where the social and
individual nature of work is neglected, it will be impossible to
evaluate work justly and pay it according to justice.
70.
Conclusions of the greatest importance follow from this twofold
character which nature has impressed on human work, and it is in
accordance with these that wages ought to be regulated and
established.
71.
In the first place, the worker must be paid a wage sufficient to
support him and his family.(46) That the rest of the family should
also contribute to the common support, according to the capacity
of each, is certainly right, as can be observed especially in the
families of farmers, but also in the families of many craftsmen
and small shopkeepers. But to abuse the years of childhood and the
limited strength of women is grossly wrong. Mothers, concentrating
on household duties, should work primarily in the home or in its
immediate vicinity. It is an intolerable abuse, and to be
abolished at all cost, for mothers on account of the father's low
wage to be forced to engage in gainful occupations outside the
home to the neglect of their proper cares and duties, especially
the training of children. Every effort must therefore be made that
fathers of families receive a wage large enough to meet ordinary
family needs adequately. But if this cannot always be done under
existing circumstances, social justice demands that changes be
introduced as soon as possible whereby such a wage will be assured
to every adult workingman. It will not be out of place here to
render merited praise to all, who with a wise and useful purpose,
have tried and tested various ways of adjusting the pay for work
to family burdens in such a way that, as these increase, the
former may be raised and indeed, if the contingency arises, there
may be enough to meet extraordinary needs.
72.
In determining the amount of the wage, the condition of a business
and of the one carrying it on must also be taken into account; for
it would be unjust to demand excessive wages which a business
cannot stand without its ruin and consequent calamity to the
workers. If, however, a business makes too little money, because
of lack of energy or lack of initiative or because of indifference
to technical and economic progress, that must not be regarded a
just reason for reducing the compensation of the workers. But if
the business in question is not making enough money to pay the
workers an equitable wage because it is being crushed by unjust
burdens or forced to sell its product at less than a just price,
those who are thus the cause of the injury are guilty of grave
wrong, for they deprive workers of their just wage and force them
under the pinch of necessity to accept a wage less than fair.
73.
Let, then, both workers and employers strive with united strength
and counsel to overcome the difficulties and obstacles and let a
wise provision on the part of public authority aid them in so
salutary a work. If, however, matters come to an extreme crisis,
it must be finally considered whether the business can continue or
the workers are to be cared for in some other way. In such a
situation, certainly most serious, a feeling of close relationship
and a Christian concord of minds ought to prevail and function
effectively among employers and workers.
74.
Lastly, the amount of the pay must be adjusted to the public
economic good. We have shown above how much it helps the common
good for workers and other employees, by setting aside some part
of their income which remains after necessary expenditures, to
attain gradually to the possession of a moderate amount of wealth.
But another point, scarcely less important, and especially vital
in our times, must not be overlooked: namely, that the opportunity
to work be provided to those who are able and willing to work.
This opportunity depends largely on the wage and salary rate,
which can help as long as it is kept within proper limits, but
which on the other hand can be an obstacle if it exceeds these
limits. For everyone knows that an excessive lowering of wages, or
their increase beyond due measure, causes unemployment. This evil,
indeed, especially as we see it prolonged and injuring so many
during the years of Our Pontificate, has plunged workers into
misery and temptations, ruined the prosperity of nations, and put
in jeopardy the public order, peace, and tranquillity of the whole
world. Hence it is contrary to social justice when, for the sake
of personal gain and without regard for the common good, wages and
salaries are excessively lowered or raised; and this same social
justice demands that wages and salaries be so managed, through
agreement of plans and wills, in so far as can be done, as to
offer to the greatest possible number the opportunity of getting
work and obtaining suitable means of livelihood.
75.
A right proportion among wages and salaries also contributes
directly to the same result; and with this is closely connected a
right proportion in the prices at which the goods are sold that
are produced by the various occupations, such as agriculture,
manufacturing, and others. If all these relations are properly
maintained, the various occupations will combine and coalesce
into, as it were, a single body and like members of the body
mutually aid and complete one another. For then only will the
social economy be rightly established and attain its purposes when
all and each are supplied with all the goods that the wealth and
resources of nature, technical achievement, and the social
organization of economic life can furnish. And these goods ought
indeed to be enough both to meet the demands of necessity and
decent comfort and to advance people to that happier and fuller
condition of life which, when it is wisely cared for, is not only
no hindrance to virtue but helps it greatly.(47)
76.
What We have thus far stated regarding an equitable distribution
of property and regarding just wages concerns individual persons
and only indirectly touches social order, to the restoration of
which according to the principles of sound philosophy and to its
perfection according to the sublime precepts of the law of the
Gospel, Our Predecessor, Leo XIII, devoted all his thought and
care.
77.
Still, in order that what he so happily initiated may be solidly
established, that what remains to be done may be accomplished, and
that even more copious and richer benefits may accrue to the
family of mankind, two things are especially necessary: reform of
institutions and correction of morals.
78.
When we speak of the reform of institutions, the State comes
chiefly to mind, not as if universal well-being were to be
expected from its activity, but because things have come to such a
pass through the evil of what we have termed
"individualism" that, following upon the overthrow and
near extinction of that rich social life which was once highly
developed through associations of various kinds, there remain
virtually only individuals and the State. This is to the great
harm of the State itself; for, with a structure of social
governance lost, and with the taking over of all the burdens which
the wrecked associations once bore. the State has been overwhelmed
and crushed by almost infinite tasks and duties.
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