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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
15
TWO VIEWS ON THE “OPEN SHOP.”
(Continued from Page 8.)
and, it enforces, in the domain of morals, the precept
laid down by the Master that we “must render to
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the
things that are God’s.’’
II
THE CHURCH AND THE LATEST
“OPEN-SHOP” DRIVE.
(From America, November 20, 1920.)
Those acquainted with the inner factors at work
beneath the present industrial situation have long
been aware of the systematic efforts that would soon
be made at the destruction of trade unionism itself
under the covert of the “open shop’’ plea. The real
issue at stake now is not the question merely of the
open or closed shop, but of the existence of trade
unions themselves. On this issue the Church can not
be neutral. The following is the definite statement
given out in a special dispatch to The New York
Herald by the social department of the Catholic Bish
ops’ Welfare Council:
*V r -
American employers is becoming so strong that
it threatens not only the welfare of the wage-
earners, but" the whole structure of industrial
peace and order. Employers sometimes favor
the “open-shop’’ because they do not want to
be limited in the employment of men to union
members. But the present drive is not of that
kind. The evidence shows that in its organized
form it is not merely against the closed shop,
but against unionism itself, and particularly
against collective bargaining. Of what avail is it
for workers to be permitted by their employers
to become members of unions if the employers
will not deal with the unions? The workers
might as well join golf clubs as labor unions if
the present “open-shop” campaign is successful.
The open-shop” drive masks under such
names as “the American plan,” and hides be
hind the pretense of American freedom. Yet its
real purpose is to destroy all effective labor
unions, and thus subject the working people to
the complete domination of the employers.
Should it succeed in the measure that its pro
ponents hope, it will thrust far into the ranks of
the underpaid, the body of American working
people.
There is great danger that the whole nation
will be harmed by this campaign of a few groups
of strong employers. To aim now at putting into
greater subjection the workers in industry is blind
and foolhardy. The radical movements and dis
turbances in Europe ought to hold a lesson for
the employers of America. And the voice of the
American people ought to be raised in the en
deavor to drive this lesson home.
The Church does not approve of every labor union,
and there are some against which she expressly warns
her children, much less does she approve of all the
actions of trade unionists, but her attitude towards
labor unionism itself, under the existing social system,
is one of undeviating support and protection. This
support she will try to make practical in every way
that justice and charity suggest.
CLERICAL LIFE; SOME OF ITS SERIOUS
AND HUMOROUS SIDES.
(Continued from Page 5.)
and other things necessary for the Holy Sacrifice, but
at that time there were very few, if any. 1 well re
member the day I arrived in my new parish, I went
down to the church, as it was Saturday, to see if
there were any confessions to be heard. An old
lady was putting out the vestments for the next day,
and I noticed that she was placing white vestments
on the press, when the day following was a feast of
the Apostles, and the color, of course, was red. I
said to her: “The color for tomorrow is red.” “Red?”
she replied, “Well, all I’ve got to say is that white is
the only color we’ve here, and they were good enough
for Father D., God rest his soul, and they must be
good enough for you.” I wore white on the feast of
Sts. Simon and Jude. I had fallen heir to an un
finished church, rather heavily burdened by debt, and
had a congregation of between 400 and 500, every
one of whom was in moderate circumstances. Most
of the men were employed as section men on the
railroad, and a number of the girls were employed in
the cotton and woolen mills. In a short time our
stock of vestments increased, and gradually we secured
everything needed for the church. The people, though
poor, were very generous, and within three years we
paid most of the debt, furnished the church and had
the happiness of seeing it dedicated. Bishop Gibbons,
then of Richmond, and now Cardinal and Archbishop
of Baltimore, came on and preached on the occasion.
However, as I remember the occasion, it seems to
me that my housekeeper was the most prominent
figure after the two Bishops. From the point of view
of dress she was simply resplendent. Of course, I
can’t describe what she wore. What man, except a
feminine man milliner or modiste could? She per
mitted me to direct the exclusively church ceremo
nies, but all else was under her exclusive control.
The next day I complimented her on the success of
her efforts, and she said that things went well in the
church, she thought, but one of the boys had let some
candle grease fall on the new carpet. Of course,
there is always a fly in the ointment.
For some time I had other missions to attend, and
so I went one day to a sale and bought a horse. He
was a beautiful animal to behold and very gentle,
but he had some serious complaint, pleura pneumonia,
heart trouble, neuralgia, corns, bunions or chronic
cholera morbus. I am not an expert, so I can’t tell.
He was a lovely beast to contemplate as he grazed in
the fields, but as a means of travel, I regret to say
he was not a success. I purchased another who was
not a physical beauty, but was guaranteed sound.
He was, but he had been the property of a peddler,
and every time on the road that a woman raised her
voice he seemed to recognize a possible customer,
and he would stop and look back at me and almost
wink. It took many months and much effort to break
him of this habit.