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TUE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

What  are  the  causes  of  the  intolerable  condition  of  the
labouring  class  ?  According  to  the  bishop,  there  are  two
principal  ones.  In  the  first  place,  the  utter  suppression  of
all  organization  of  labour.  Formerly  a  sort  of  contract  existed
between  society  and  the  labourer  ;  the  artisan  satisfied  the
needs  of  society,  and  society,  in  exchange,  guaranteed  to  him,
by  means  of  the  guild  regulations,  both  work  and  wages.  1  oday
  he  is  abandoned  without  hope  to  the  mercy  of  the  capitalist. ­
  In  the  second  place,  the  more  and  more  general  use
of  machinery  and  the  development  of  the  large  system  of
manufacturing  are  always  lessening  the  number  of  artisans
who  can  dispose  of  a  small  private  capital,  and  increasing
that  of  the  wage-earners  who  depend  entirely  upon  the  evervarying
  demand  for  their  work.
Having  indicated  the  causes  of  the  evil,  Monseigneur  von
Ketteler  seeks  the  remedies.  They  will  never  be  found,  he
says,  in  liberty,  as  is  often  imagined.  For  the  labourer,  liberty
consists  in  offering  his  labour  at  a  discount  and  in  dying  of
hunger,  if  his  labour  is  not  needed.  Free  trade  merely  subjects ­
  him  to  the  competition  of  countries  where  wages  are
lowest.  You  speak  of  “  self-help,”  and  you  expect  the  working
man  to  raise  himself  by  his  own  efforts.  That  is  all  very  well
for  a  few,  the  fortunate  and  best  endowed,  who  may  be  able
to  make  for  themselves  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  masters  ;
but  can  the  others  cease  to  be  wage-earners,  and  are  not
wages  governed  by  the  “iron  law,”  as  demonstrated  by  Lassalle
and  Ricardo?
All  the  fine  speeches  of  infidel  Liberalism  will  not  persuade ­
  the  working  men  that  they  should  resign  themselves
to  living  in  privation,  while  those  who  make  profit  out  of
them  enjoy  all  the  refinements  of  luxury  and  sensuality.
Christianity  alone  can  reconcile  the  lower  classes  to  that
inequality  of  condition  which  is  inevitable  here  below.
The  true  believer  will  accept  without  bitterness  and  even
with  joy  the  heaviest  trials  of  a  life  of  labour,  because  he
expects  them  to  ensure  him  eternal  happiness.  Christianity
inspires  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  of  obedience,  of  order.  It
condemns  drunkenness,  evil  ways,  debauchery,  and  rebellion.