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FOUR
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA OCTOBER 27; 1956.
Bulletin
France And Suez
THIS
WORLD OF OURS
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen's
Association of Georgia, Incorporated
JOHN MARKWALTER, Editor
416 Eighth Street, Augusta, Ga.
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1955-1956
HOLST BEALL, Macon President
E. M. HEAGARTY, Way cross Honorary Vice-President
MRS. L. E. MOCK, Albany Vice-President
TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President
DAMON J. SWANN, Atlanta V. P., Publicity
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus V. P., Activities
JOHN M. BRENNAN, Savannah Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta 1 Financial Secretary
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
Vol. 37 Saturday, October 27, 1956 No. 11
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Monroe, Georgia,
and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided by para
graph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations.
Member of N.C.W.C. News Service, the Catholic Press Association
of the United States, the Georgia Press Association, and the National
Editorial Association.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Geor
gia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Archbishop-
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, and of the Right Reverend Abbot
Ordinary of Belmont.
First Bishop Of Atlanta
The installation of the Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland as
First Bishop of Atlanta will be a memorable event in the
history of the Catholic Church in Georgia.
(By Richard Pattee)
For the first time in decades
and certainly since the end of the
war, France has found a
rallying point around which
public opinion and the govern
ment have managed to attain
a very solid
unity ’in the
crisis over the
Suez- Canal. At
no time since
1945 have the
people of
France demon
strated as effec
tively precisely
what they want
and resolved so unanimously to
make their will felt in a matter
of major importance to the na
tion and the world. The only real
dissenters in the present con
tingency are the Communists and
they always dissent anyway so
that this is no novelty.
Inside and outside the govern
ment .there has been a heartening
closing of the ranks in support of
a common policy. Even assuming
that this policy is wrong, it is
encouraging to note that France
for once has reacted firmly and
unequivocally. No one today has
the slightest doubt as to where
the French stand in the face of
the challenge out of Cairo. And
this is all to the good for it was
high time that France found an
issue on which its emotions and
convictions could be aroused in a
national sense.
Suez has brought Frenchmen
of the most varied convictions to
gether On what to do in Algeria
and this must be construed as a
major accomplishment. Up to a
few weeks ago the followers of
Mendes France were of the per
suasion that reform must come
first and once political and other
liberties were granted, the agita
tion in Algeria would die for
want of a cause. The partisans of
Robert Lacoste believed that the
military situation must be liqui
dated first and then reform in
stituted. Now they are agreed that
nothing much can be done in Al
geria so long as the Suez sore spot
persists.
The xenophobia and exultant
nationalism of Nasser plus the
deteriorating situation in inde
pendent Morrocco are both con
tributing to a more realistic ap
praisal of the. state of affairs in
Alberia. In Morocco the cost of
living is rising and there are an
estimated 100,000 unemployed.
Mahjoub Ben Seddik, Moroccan
trade unionist told a recent con
gress of the Istiqlal Party that
independence was a chimera un
less accompanied by a real im
provement of the statue of the un
derprivileged. Barbers and ene
mies of the present Moroccan gov
ernment bid fait to plunge the
country into civil war. ’ This fact
cannot fail to have a sobering in
fluence on the Algerians, some
of whose nationalist leaders are
already talking of a more morer-
afe program, in which autonomy
under French guidance would be
the goal rather than total inde
pendence.
Since Cairo is involved in the
encouragement of the more recal
citrant factions all over North
Africa, Nasser’s step in Suez has
had the curious effect of bring
ing a great many people up short
in the realization that the head
long plunge toward independence
may be a little premature in some
quarters. A great many French
who have argued the cause of
Arab nationalists, have begun to
wonder if . perhaps immediate in
dependence is not a sham and a
share, since it is clear that the
tendency is toward the imposi
tion of a new form of social and
economic enslavement in the
place of the old “colonialism.”
It is curious that from all sec
tors of French opinion; socialist
and conservative, the conviction
is growing; that the way the West
meets the challenge of Nasser is
going to set the pattern for the
next few years as to conduct of
the newly created Arab states;
whether they will follow the road
of hard work and moderation or
that of irresponsibility. The deci
sion to maintain troops on Cyprus
was a tremendous one ar.d mark
ed a very real variation in policy
since the last war. If a firm, al
though not necessarily needling
or belligerent, attitude is main
tained toward the Egyptian gov
ernment, it is quitet possible that
the contribution toward French
unity will have been very great.
Out of this tight and profoundly
unfortunate situation may come
at least one solid bit of progress
in restoring France to its role of
a decisive influence in the affairs
of the world.
Not long after the discovery of America by Columbus,
intrepid Spanish priests came to this part of the world to
spread the Gospel of Christ and the teachings of His Church
among the Indians who inhabited the region.
Georgia soil was dampened with the blood of some of
these saintly missionary priests, who suffered violent deaths,
like martyrs, at the hands of the savage' natives.
For a period of more than a hundred years, until the
Spaniards were driven from Georgia by the English settlers,
a chain of missions flourished along the Georgia Coast, with
some scattered mission stations in the interior.
Catholics were not welcomed in the English Colony of
Georgia, but members of our Faith did settle here, and joined
with other colonial inhabitants in the fight for American
independence.
When the diocese of Charleston was established in 1820,
Catholics in Georgia came under the jurisdiction of that See.
Pope Pius IX, in 1850, issued a decress which in part
read: “Since the Bishops of the Province of Baltimore have
thought it opportune that an Episcopal See be established in
Savannah, Georgia, we have thought it fitting to grant that
petition; therefore, we hereby erect an Episcopal See in the
city of Savannah which will embrace the state of Georgia
and that portion of the State of Florida which is east of the
Appalachicola River. The See shall be a suffragan of Balti
more.”
The territory of Florida became a Vicariate-Apostolic'in
1857 and the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1870 leaving the
Diocese of Savannah to embrace the entire State of Georgia.
In 1937, the Savannah Diocese was designated as the
Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta, with the erection of a Co-
Cathedral in the Ctiy of Atlanta.
In July of this year, the growth of Catholicity in Georgia
was noted when Pope Pius XII divided the State into two
distinct dioceses, naming Bishop Hyland as the first Ordi
nary of the newly created Diocese of Atlanta.
The Faithful of the Diocese of Atlanta are indeed blessed
that the Holy Father has chosen the former Auxiliary of
Archbishop O’Hara as their First Bishop. They receive not
a stranger as their Ordinary, but a trusted friend, who knows
and understands the problems of the area. Bishop Hyland
is revered and loved by all Georgians. The Diocese of. Savan
nah will miss their beloved Auxiliary.
The Bulletin, on behalf of the Catholics of Georgia,
wishes to congratulate Bishop Hyland on the occasion of his
installation as Bishop of Atlanta. We pray that Almighty
God will shower blessings upon him as he undertakes the
difficult task of establishing a new Diocese.
Work For The 'Older Worker'
THE BACKDROP
Without fanfare, Secretary of
Labor James P. Mitchell, the only
Catholic in the Eisenhowe? cabi
net, has been working effectively
to break down the barriers which
many employers are raising
against employ
ment of the so-
called “older
worker.”
As the pro
portion of per
sons over 45
years of age
rises, due to ex
tension of the
normal life span, the employ
ment _problems of our older citi
zens are becoming increasingly
acute. The letters-to-the-editor
sections of our daily newspapers
are full of the tragic complaints
of middle-aged and older workers
about their inability to get 'jobs.
One letter, which recently came
to the attention of this writer,
was written by an accountant, 45
years old, whose company had
been acquired by another firm.
His new employers dismissed
him, although, his work had been
eminently satisfactory, with the
explanation that they preferred
younger men. The writer of . the |
letter reported that all his efforts
to obtain employment with other
firms had failed. Everywhere he
was told that he .was too old.
Secretary Mitchell was not the
first to become aware of the prob
lems of the older workers, but he
appears to have been the first to
attempt to do something about it.
Several months ago he made a
pilot study of the job performance
of older workers to find out
whether there was any basis for
the belief of employers that older
workers were less efficient than
younger workers.
From his long experience as a
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
personnel officer for large retail
establishments, Mitch ell had
come to the conclusion that chro-
nolical age was not a reliable
measure of a worker’s worth.
When the pilot study developed
data supporting his conviction, he
followed up by allocating $500,-
000 in special funds to states to
help older workers obtain jobs.
Mitchell’s study, carried out in
eight clothing and ;s'noe manufac
turing plants, showed that the
output of piece-rate workers re
mained stable through the age
54. And the output of those in the
55-64 age group was at least 90
per cent as high as. that of the
younger, groups. .
Many individual workers in the
55-64 age group, according to the
survey, had higher output rates
than those ©f the average work
er in younger age groups. Many
younger workers, on the other
hand, had a lower output than
the average of the older work
ers.
Since the completion of. the stu
dy, Mitchell has traveled around
the country reporting what his
survey showed to employer
groups and trade associations.
“The only reliable way to judge
a worker,” he told one group re
cently, “is on his individual ex
perience, skills, abilities and per
formance — not on his chrono
logical age.”
The Secretary is trying to con
vince employers that it is to their
advantage to retain their older
workers and to hire persons 45
years of age and older when they
need additional employes.
For one thing, he points out,
twice as many older job-seekers
as younger job-seekers have held
skilled jobs. They are more stable.
They are absent from work less
than younger employes. They ai'e
also more flexible—one in four
of Ihe older joh-seekers covered
in the survey changed occupa
tions in order to get work.
One of the objections most fre
quently raised by employers to
the employment of older workers
is that they, increase the cost of
company pension systems. Mitch
ell’s study showed that firms with
pension systems are much less
likely to hire older workers than
those who do not have them.
Firms with pension plans, Mitch
ell discovered, hire only 17 of
every 100 older workers seeking
jobs, while those without pension
plans hire 45.
Mitchell challenges the conten
tion of employers that hiring old
er workers increases the ultimate
cost of their pension plans.
The older worker, hired later
in life, he maintains, is likely to
receive a smaller .pension for a
shorter time than the, young
worker who spends most of his
working life with a single com
pany. This, is true because the
size of pensions usually is based
on length of service and the size
of the workers earnings in the
years just before retirement.
Younger workers, moreover, ac
cording to Mitchell’s study, have
greater opportunity to achieve
high earnings. Their longer life
expectancy also means that they
will live longer after retirement,
and draw pensions for longer
periods.
Although Mitchell’s campaign
to break down the barriers to em
ployment of the older workers
is only a few months old, it is be
ginning to pay off. He was able
to report last September that job
placements of older workers were
more than quadrupled in a special
(Continued on Page 5)