CATHOLIC  SOCIALISTS.

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Mayence,  like  Lassalle,  thinks  that  the  “  self-help  ”  of  Herr
Schulze-Delitsch,  that  is  to  say,  the  savings  of  the  working  men
themselves,  will  not  be  sufficient.  But,  while  the  Socialist
agitator  demands  a  hundred  millions  of  thalers  from  the  State
to  reform  the  existing  order  of  things,  the  Catholic  prelate
appeals  to  Christian  charity.
The  social  question,  he  says,  is  closely  connected  with
Christianity.  Is  not  the  first  and  great  commandment  of  the
Gospel  to  love  our  fellow-men  and  aid  those  who  suffer?
Should  we  not  sacrifice  everything  in  order  to  fulfil  it  ?  But  how
is  this  duty,  which  Christ  imposes  upon  us  in  such  pressing  and
even  menacing  language,  to  be  performed?  Experience  has
shown  that  it  cannot  be  done  by  alms  alone  ;  and,  inasmuch
as  economic  laws  always  reduce  wages  to  an  insufficient  minimum, ­
  the  end  can  only  be  attained  by  putting  the  labourer  in
the  way  of  bettering  his  condition  by  the  utilization  of  capital
belonging  to  him.
“  May  God  in  His  goodness,”  cries  Von  Ketteler,  “  bring  all
good  Catholics  to  adopt  this  idea  of  co-operative  associations
of  production,  upon  the  basis  of  Christianity  !  Thus  alone  can
salvation  be  brought  to  the  labouring  classes.  The  freedom
promised  by  Liberalism  is  like  Dead  Sea  fruit,  fair  on  the  outside ­
  but  dust  and  ashes  within.  Liberalism  proclaims  freedom
of  contract  ;  but  for  the  labourer  without  capital,  it  is  merely
freedom  to  die  of  hunger  ;  for  how  can  he  live,  if  he  does  not
accept  whatever  conditions  may  be  imposed  upon  him  ?  Freedom ­
  to  go  where  he  likes,  Freizügigkeit,  is  another  meaningless
phrase  ;  for  is  not  the  working  man  who  has  a  wife  and
children  tied  to  the  spot  where  he  is  settled?  How  can  he
seek  employment  elsewhere,  when  he  lacks  the  means  of
satisfying  his  first  needs?  Freedom  of  labour;  what  is  it,
except  the  competition  of  labourers  reducing  their  wages  to  the
lowest  point  ?  Free  trade  ;  what  other  result  has  it  except  to
enable  the  rich  to  buy  what  they  want  in  the  cheapest  market,
and  to  reduce  the  working  man  to  the  level  of  those  who  can
u  sist  upon  the  least?  Christianity,  practically  applied,  can
alone  bring  it  about  that  these  liberties,  of  which  capitalists
ow  reap  the  entire  profit,  may  also  benefit  the  labourers.