The Catholic times. [volume], November 19, 1954, Image 4

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4—THE CATHOLIC TIMES
Friday, November 19. 1954
THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Published Every Week by
The Catholic Times Inc
Columbus. Ohio
NOTICE: Send All Changes of Address n
O Box 636 Columbus Ohio
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St. Francis de Sales. Patron of the Cathnhe Press.
Fray for us!
This Paper Printed by Union Labor
The Need Is Now
The announcement this week that ihc children
and the Sister^ who care for them ai St. Vincents
Orphanage were to get a new home brought joy to
all those who had any part in providing the neces
sary funds to accomplish this great work.
The love of and solicitude for little children arc
things close to the heart of our Divine I*ord as
we have been shown time and again in he Gospels.
It is not from sinful pride but rather from a realiza
lion of our furtnerance of a work so close to the
heart of Christ that our joys spring.
For nearly eighty years St. Vincent’s has been
haven of refuge for Christ’s little ones who, for
one reason or another, were deprived of home and
parents. Their plight and the great and good thing
that was and is being done for them by the good
Sisters at St. Vincent's are emphasized when we
ihink of our own homes and parents We who have
been so fortunate in having a good home and loving
parents can never adequately understand how
sin-.ularly we have been blessed.
The loving care and solicitude of the Sisters at
St. Vincent s for their little guests has been an in
«pinng sight jn the midst of our community. Their
lives are dedicated to this important and cherished
part of Christ’s work among us. Their love and
devotion has never failed. Knowing them, it never
will. It is of the unfailing Spirit, the love of one
member of Christ’s Mystical Body for another.
Buildings, though, are different. They do wear
nut and become out moded. Generation after gen
oration nf happy little people have, along with
the natural deterioration of brick and mortar, worn
out these stately but tired old buildings.
Under the interested direction of Bishop Ready,
long range plans were instituted Io remedy this sit
nation and were included in goal set for the Dioce
an Development Fund Campaign with the two high
schools for our youth. On the basis of the pledges
given at that time the plans are now about ready
to become a reality.
If for any reason, any of us have become slack
in our original intention, this week's announcement
should bring us up short and effect in us a renewed
determination to fulfill our pledge.
The need is apparent. The time is now.
A Prayerful Thanksgiving
Next Ihur-day. turkeys chicken'- cranberry
•auee. pumpkin pie and all the other mliday foods
will he set upon the table, as we all join with the
rest of the nation in the celebration of Thanksgiv
mg. Jt will be indeed a feast, reminiscent rtf the
first celebration in 1621 by the Pilgrims, who took
’ime out ’or three days to give thanks to God for
the blessings of the year.
But unlike earlier celebrations, this Thanks
givrng day will he essentially a prayerful one.
It will serve to remind all Americans to thank God
that political unrest, hunger, and fear of invading
atmies is not prevalent in the United States. In
line with the profoundly religious significance of
he holiday, the annual Thanksgiving Mass, estab
shed in the diocese by Bishop Ready, will be cele
hiated Thursday noon in St. Joseph Cathedral. A
pecial prayer will he said at the Mass for en
lightened leadership of mu religious and civil an
Ihonties.
Also emphasizing the religious aspect of thr
holiday, Governor Lausche this week issued a
Thanksgiving Day proclamation tor our state, urg
ing everyone to “manifest giatitude to the I-ord
whose goodness and generosity to this great nation
and state have been boundless.
“May we all, through virtue in our live and
through the respect and charity we show (or our
fellow men. including our brothers in other lands,
be worthy nf Gods continuing benevolence and
goodness toward us.”
Governor Lausche urges Ohioans to count then
blessings and “turn tn our Creator with humble
and aincere gratitude lxt us turn again to our in
dividual places of worship so as to find our strength
(instantly renewed by the inspiration and guidance
o be found only in religion."
While it is highly commendable to thank God
n Ihis special day, Catholics arc aware that one day
foes not suffice. Realizing that everything we
nave -our homes, health, happiness, our religion
comes from Almighty God, we will do well tn
wake every day a personal Thanksgiving,
Christmas Seal Sale
Wet the ropes?
Centuries ago in Rome a group of workmen
•n front of the Vatican were trying tn lift a huge
■one upon a pedestal Every resource of man power
“as exhausted The ropes were taut. Still the gran
ite stood, bare inches from the ground.
Suddenly an old sailor -houted "Wet the tope'’
They did, and the shi inking was tost enough to
lift the huge object the remaining distance.
When you buy Christmas seals you air vetting
’hr rope*. to make he prevention of tubercu
losis a sure thing.
Ftee chest Xiays imore than HO.tXM) last year,
’•eluding students at eight atholic high schools
medical research programs to restore former
TR patients to productive lives educational and
rgulative programs to fight TR all these life
saving services Christmas seals are providing day
in, day out, in Franklin county, through your Tu
berculosis Society. The once-a-year Christmas seal
sale (November 22 to December 24) is the society’s
only financial support.
Tuberculosis is still the number one public health
problem in the country. Last year, 692 new cases
M*re reported in Franklin county alone So buy all
’he Christmas seals you can. Use them on every
piece of mail.
Share Your Thanksgiving
One* again the Catholic*, of the I niter.’ Stair'
til open their hearts «nd their closets to warm
re enld bodir' of their suffering brethren through
nut the world Thanksgiving week, for the Mxth
time a Thanksgiving Clothing Collection fnr Rehi
geej and Victims of War will be conducted in the
Dioceses of our country-
We arc given a heartrending eye w lines' account
nf 'he suffering of hundreds of men "omen and
.■ tdren hn have been able to escape through the
“nn-Curtain We hear hn« the refugee*, frnm the
1 rhting in ’ndo-China and Korea have nothing hut
1
I
the clothes on their backs. As winter sweeps down
nn these unfortunate people, w’e are asked in the
name of Christian Charityto help. The Catholic Times
is certain that all of us in the Diocese of Columbus
will do our share.
This year a special appeal is made for clothing
for priests. The poverty of the people prevents them
from giving their generous support to the Church
in the countries which have been overrun by thr
armies. The congregation of refugees outside the
Iron Curtain presents not only a serious problem
to the Church in providing priests to minister to the
people but likewise presents serious problems of
support. Even behind the Iron Curtain it is possible
to give a minimum of help to the priests who have
remained with the people who are now being per
secuted for their faith. These priests also need our
help.
Our Lord has told us that we cannot close our
hearts to our brothers who need our help. We know
that the priests and laity of the Diocese will do their
generous share in the Thanksgiving Clothing Appeal
as they have in all the campaigns in the past.
usl Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Inconsiderate
A recent TV production gave to the enlightened
citizenry of America a dose of dramatics straight out
of the madhouse. An angel, female, laid aside her
wingt to engage in flirtatious hanky-pank with a
personable young lug, and finally tn marry him. The
angel, it seems, was bored with her celestial duties,
and preferred marital bliss on earth, complete with
mink coat and two-tone convertible.
Now, the constant effort of dramatists to find
new situations for the invariable plot of lovers and
their tribulations, is understandable. But the thing
ought to be done within the bounds of decency,
taste, and seemliness. And the dramatist ought to
have some faint notion of what he is writing about.
Perhaps we Catholics, who have knowledge of
angels and of our privilege to honor God in them,
do not speak clearly enough and often enough about
these marvelous creatures. Certainly, the non-Catho
lic world is vague enough about them. Or perhaps
vague is not the word idiotically wrong is a phrase
nearer the mark.
Firs’ of all, angels have no bodies. Therefore
angels have neither sex nor wings. "A female
angel lays aside her wings” is a short sentence yet
it contains three prodigious errors. It says that
angels are bodily beings, with sex, and wings. Of
course, angels are nothing of the sort.
A book of quizzes asks this question. “Is an angel
a biological possibility?” The answer given is, quite
properly no, since biology is the laboratorian science
of organisms, that is, living bodies, and a “biological
possibility" would be a possible organism. The
question really means, “Can a spirit be a body?”
And manifestly the answer is no,
Rut the quiz book knows nothing of spirits. It
assumes an angel means an organism. Its answer to
the question about ’be possibility of angels is a
dandy. The book says that an angel is a biological
impossibility because it would have to possess a
breast bone protruding four feet to give balance
and “purchase” to its wings. What a thing is
science!
The utter absurdity of the quiz book's answer
does not prevent one’s wondering how the scientist
arrived at his conclusion about the precisp length
nf the angelic prow. It seems that to know this
fact one would have to know the size of the angel
and its weight. Maybe, as Mark Twain would say,
it would be a good thing to know the angel’s na
tionality too.
The fact is that an angel is a pure spirit. And a
spirit is not a kind of shadowy body. A spirit is
not a body at all. It has neither weight nor dimen
sion. It occupies no space. An angel is said to be in
a place when it exercises its powers there. Rut it
is not a thing with quantity.
The spirit that is called the human soul is def
initely in the human body, and it constitutes the
oody as an existing body of the human kind Man
■s a wondrous compound of matter and spirit, the
only thing nf his kind in the universe But the
soul is not in the body as a hand is in a glove. It is
not merely inside the body as the internal organs
are inside the hody. It is in the body in the sense
that if is compounded with matter tn constitute the
human substance. It is in the body somewhat as
hydrogen is in water.
Yet even Webster seems to suggest in his defin
ition of soul that it is a kind nf inner fog-man with
shadowy arms and legs inside the fleshy members
nf a human hody Nothing could be more mislead
ing nothing could be further from the truth,
We live in a bodily world, and we get all our
knowledge from bodily beginnings, that is, from
the findings of the outer senses. We cannot come
face to face, so to speak, with spiritual substance.
Rut we can understand w hat spiritual substance
means. For we have a mind or intellect hy which
we rise from sense-findings to the knowledge of
things non material. We cannot grasp by our senses
what is meant by unity, goodness, truth, loyalty,
patriotism, friendship yet we do know what these
things arc And we can rise from our knowledge
nf bodily being to knowledge of non-bodily being,
from organic substance to non organic living suh
stance, that is. from organism to spirit.
The V show, and the quiz book, and maybe even
Webster, seem to assume that we cannot reach an
understanding of what spiritual substance means.
Rut we can. And it is an insult to human intelli
gence to assume that we cannot. It is an affront to hu
man sanity to present the figure of an angel, a spiritual
substance, as a hody with wings. The TV idiocy
gave a new twist to the nonsense in making the
wings detachable.
The TV play also portrayed the absurdity of an
angel bored with its heavenly assignments An angel
looks upon God in heaven. It is constituted in full
perfection and fulfillment of its intellectual being
that is, it possesses perfect .eatitudc or happiness.
This complete happiness is changeless, unhoring,
not subject to weariness or routine. To this same
happiness man aspires by the whole drive of his
nature, but he requires (as indeed does an angel)
supernatural aid to achieve it, and he cannot
achieve it this side of heaven. And heaven is not a
place for boredom or dissatisfaction.
The sad mistake of these material representa
tions of things non material, and of interpreting
perfect fulfillment in terms of material experience
is inevitable in authors and playwrights who will
not take the trouble to learn what they are writing
about. And sn the art of novelist and dramatist i«
turned tn a powerful instrument fnr the dissemin
ation nf calamitous error.
The materialistic world supposes that anybody
can joke about angels—even when nobody actually
sees the joke. It is blandly assumed that in a world
where the main business of life consists in having
the right car and being sure with Schuysterhouse,
nobody need be sure or right in knowing what
angels are. or what they are for, or why we ought
to know them, and love them, and seek their
aid in getting on tn heaven Anri this bland as
sumption is a deep injury to the human soul.
e 1
Wil
1
7'
WASHINGTON LETTER
WASHINGTON—Fourteen for
mer students at Georgetown Uni
versity here will occupy seats in
the 84th Congress when it or
ganizes in January, 1955.,
This announcement oy the Uni
versity’s press focuses attention
upon a phenomenon t,hat is pecul
iar to .he Capital, and one that
is probably causing some an
xiety in the present time.
Each year, for as long as any
one can remember, a great num
ber of young men have come
here from the States, to get jobs
and to study while they work.
Some of these young men work
in the offices of Senators and
Congressmen, others hold gen
eral patronage jobs at the ..U.S.
Capitol building (running eleva
tors, sorting mail, etc.), others
w'ork “downtown" ih Government
departments, and still others
find private employment.
Then, assured a means of live
lihood and money for tuition,
they enroll in one of the several
colleges and universities here,
seeking degrees, notably in law.
Georgetown, conducted hy the
Jesuits and the oldest Catholic
college in the United States, has
traditionally attracted a consider­
LOHS F. RLDENZ
A Big Job
Scarcely were thr Congres
sional elections over when the
Communists began to move. On
the Friday following the nation
al contest (No
vember 5) the
Daily Worker
ran a full col
um editorial,
containing in
structions
about the first
step which
must he push
ed the new
Congress. 11
was, of course,
the abolition of the House Com
mittee on Un-American Activi
ties and the Senate Sub-Commit
tee on Internal Security. The
“witch-hunting expeditions” of
these two committees into inves
tigation of subversion must
cease, the Red organ decreed.
This immediate movement by
the fifth column against “the
Red menace drivel” is in accord
ance with the commands they
received from Stalin long ago,
that they must always set the
pace and “never lose tempo."
They hope to get the advantage
thereby over patriotic Ameri
cans. Their drive within Con
gress to end the “witch hunt
ing" committees has been the
first measure upon which the
Reds have been set, in the
“line” which has been unfolding
during the past several years.
Those Americans who wish to
preserve this country from fur
ther Communist inroads can be
come as active as the Soviet fifth
columns.The very closeness of the
political contest in so many
states presents a unique oppor
tunity for a strong non-partisan
moral force to exercise influence.
And that influence can be in
the direction of continuing the
present committees, urging that
they be carried forward with
even more vigor than in the
past.
"Hippodrome Stunt*"
We can be stimulated to da
much about this because of the
statement^ which Representative
Give Thanks By Giving
I
I
Capital Colleges Produce Leaders
able number of these young men
to its law school.
A lot of these men, especially
those who get jobs at the Capitol
or in Government departments,
learn a great deal about govern
ment while earning theif degrees.
Many of them return home, enter
politics and come back to Wash
ington as. legislators or Govern
ment officials. Michael V. Di
Salle, who was to come back to
this city as U.S. Director of
.Trice Stabilization in 1950, took
la law degree at Georgetown in
|193l. He supported hin.self dur
ing his student days by a private
'enterprise—a messenger and de
livery service he founded and
built up.
Of course, not all of these men
who attend Catholic schools here
are Catholics. For example, of
the 14 Georgetown alumni who
will hold seats in the next Con
gress, only four are known here
to be Catholics. Senator Dennis
Chavez, of New Mexico and Sen
ator Joseph C. O’Mahoney of Wy.
oming are Catholics. Senators
Alan H. Rible of Nevada and
Lyndon Johnson of Texas are
not.
Representatives Antoni N. Sad-
In Congress
Emanuel Geller, chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee,
made immediately after the elec,
tions. Mr. Teller indicated that a
sub-committee of the Judiciary
Committee would take over the
work of the long-standing House
Committee on Un-American Ac
tivities. To that he added—and
this is the point worth noting—
that it would not resort to the
“hippodrome stunts” of the
Velde Committee.
It is true, he also announced
that the chairman of the new
group would be Representative
Francis Walter of Pennsylvania,
who has hitherto shown a keen
interest in coming to grips with
the Communist infiltration. But
we must remark that the alleged
“hippodrome stunts” before the
House Committee on Un Ameri
can Activities were those reck
less and insulting acts by Com
munist witnesses before that
committee for the purpose of dis
crediting it.
We hope, then, that Mr. Gell
er's words do not convey any let.
ting up in inquiries into subver
sion. and that they do not define
a policy which will yield to Red
intimidation.
"Reform" Screen
The arguments to be advanced
by the Kremlin’s followers and
their friends are underscored in
the Daily Worker of November
1. as well as in the issue of four
days later. They contain the same
sort of talk which has stood
America on its head on s( many
past occasions. In a word, they
denounce all probing into the
widespread pentration of Amer
ican life as “forgeries,” “fakery”
and “baloney.” These fabrica
tions are alleged to be the pro
duct of “fascist forces’ who raise
the outcry against the “Red men
ace” as a cover for “their attacks
on labor, democracy, and the na
tion’s best interests.”
Now, if the Communists were
to present these arguments di
rectly to the American people,
they would get nowhere with
such fairy tales Ruf they are
bound to receive succor from cer­
I
•'ft
fwB
.i-izZ I
KOREAN
lak of Connecticut, and Paul J.
Kilday of Texas are Catholics.
Representatives James T. Patter
son of Connecticut, John M. Rob
ison, Jr., of Kentucky, Harrison
A. Williams, New Jersey, Edmond
A. Edmondson, Jr., of Oklahoma,
Francis E. Walter and Richard M.
Simpson of Pennsylvania, Mar
tin Dies of Texas and Burr P.
Harrison of Virginia are believ
ed not to be.
Changes in the control of Con
gress, and also of the executive
branch of the Government, have
an influence upon this arrange
ment. Control of the Senate and
House means control of the pa
tronage available in connection
with Lheir operations. For ex
ample. if the Democrats organ
ize the Senate it seems likely
that J. Mark Trice, a Republi
can appointee, will step down as
Secretary of the Senate, a very
influential position. He is like
ly to revert to the office of Sec
retary to the Senate Minority.
Mr. Trice did not come here
from the States. He is a native
of this city. He is, however, one
of those who took a law degree
at Georgetown University while
working at the Capitol. He is a
Methodist.
tain commentators and editors in
the secular press, who refuse to
tell the American people what
the Communist line involves,
and who keep alive the fiction
that the Communists are in the
camp of “reform.”
We hear this absurd argument
so much—and we hi ll now hear
it again to such a degree—that
1 must repeat what I have writ
ten a number of times before.
The whole assertion that moves
against the Communists are in
anyway moves against labor, “de
mocracy” or the interests of the
people is absurd and untenable.
For the Communists hold fast to
Stalin’s injunction in the “Foun.
dations of Leninism” that
reforms are used, by the Com
munists merely as a screen or
cover for their illegal activities
to bring forward the establish
ment of the Soviet dictatorship
by violence.
Hallucination Widespread
I would advise that patriotic
Americans, in their campaign to
keep alive the Congressional
committees, spread this state
ment by Stalin far and wide. It is
to be found on page 104 of the
Little Lenin Library edition of
his work, and on page 101 of
the Marxist Library edition, both
authorized by Moscow.
Added emphasis is put on this
subject because the hallucina
tion that in some way or other
the Communists are connected
with “reforms” is still wide
spread and is promoted by too
many of our secular newspapers.
In case anyone under Commun
ist influence should raise the
question that the “Foundations
of leninism” was first publish
ed in 1934 and therefore is an
“old book,” it can be decisively
stated that it is one of the Marx
ist-Leninist classics which dom
inate Communist discussions.
At this very minute it is being
sold on a large scale in at least
threF Communist book stores of
considerable size in New York
city, and is bring widely distrib
uted and studied in all Stalmitp
circles.
Inquiry Corner
Father Healey
Q. In a recent Inquiry Corner
it was stated that *‘we cannot
appear to recognize the adminis
tration of the Sacraments by
others" and yet the Church it
self recognizes the marriage of
non-Catholics. intimating that
the Church does recognize that
others can perform Sacraments.
A. There is a great difference
between recognizing the validity
of the Sacraments administered
by non-Catholics and joining in
such administration. The Church
has always taught that the Sac
raments CAN be administered by
anyone having the required pow
er. Christ gave the Apostles the
right and duty of administering
the Sacraments and no one else
has the RIGHT to administer
them (i.e. no one but the bish
ops and priests who have this
power from the Apostles and
are united to the One True
Church). It is for this reason
that a Catholic may not show
approval of anyone not so au
thorized administering the Sac
raments. In his encyclical on
Christian Marriage Pope Pius XI
quoted Church law (Canon No.
1012) and said, “there can be no
true marriage between baptized
persons ‘without it being by that
very fact a sacrament’.” Remem
ber that the couple being mar
ried are the ministers of the
Sacrament, so baptized Protest
ants are not only validly mar
ried but are also receiving the
Sacrament of Matrimony when
they enter into marriage. They
are probably unaware that the
Church represents Christ and
that the Catholic Church is the
only authorized custodian of the
Sacraments, but Catholics should
know and act accordingly.
Q. What are the indulgences
for the Way of the Cross?
A. There is a plenary indul
gence to be gained every time
a person makes the Stations of
the Way of the Cross. There is
ANOTHER plenary indulgence if
the person receives Holy Com
munion on the same day, or ev
en within a month after having
made the Stations ten times.
“There is an indulgence of ten
years for each station, if for
some reasonable cause they are
unable to complete the Way of
the Cross,” as the Reccolta
states. Those impeded from mak
ing the Stations in Church (e g.
the sick) can gain the same in
dulgences by having in their
hands a Crucifix specially bless
ed for this purpose, reciting
twenty times the Our Father,
Hail Mary and Glory Be, while
meditating on the Passion.
MONSIGNOR HIGGINS
Q. Does the. Church have an
answer to those who say that the.
Immaculate Conception belittles
the institution of marriage, ex
aggerating the importance of
virginity?
A. First of all it is necessary
to state that the doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception refers to
the Blessed Mother’s freedom
from Original Sin from the first
instant of her existence, not to
her perfect and perpetual vir
ginity. Since it was the model
established by Catholic devotion
which revolutionized family life
it would be historically inaccu
rate and grossly unfair to stale
that our belief in Mary's virgini
ty represents any belittling of
marriage. The Blessed Mother
has been the model for all Chris
tian women, married ones who
see in her motherhood and lov
ing obedience to her husband a
guide for their lives, and unmar
ried ones who find her spotless
purity their inspiration. While
the Holy Family is different
from the average family in many
ways the differences have never
hindered devotion to that Family
as the model of families. The
great respect Catholics have for
dedicated virginity in no way
denies the dignity of the Sacra
ment of Matrimony. (See Pope
Pius XII “On Holy Virginity”,
an encyclical issued March 25,
1954)
Q. If the message of Fatima ix
so important why ivas it delayed
so long? It seems to me that
practically no one knew of it un
til ten or fifteen years ago!
A. The message of Fatima add
ed no new note to the teaching
of the Church. It is important
in all apparitions that the
Church first make sure that it
is authentic. Any private revela
tion or devotion which is truly
from God will grow and the de
votion to Our I^ady of Fatima
passed that test too. From 1917
until 1936 it grew and transform
ed the country of Portugal, to
the extent of a pub*ic pledge of
thanksgiving and dedication to
Our Iady in the latter year. The
spread of the devotion and the
message of Fatima has been re
markable since that time, and
has answered the obvious need
of the world in these critical
years.
Send questions to Father Ed
ward F. Healey, Inquiry Corner,
the Catholic Times, Box 636, Co
lumbus 16, Ohio.
A Program For
Conservatives'
Last week’s column called at
tention to the confusion sur
rounding the word “capitalism.”
It was pointed out that the word
means so many
contradict o y
things, to so
many different
people, as to
be almost more
of a hindrance
than a help to
:he understand
ing of contem
porary econom
ic problems.
The same
thing is true
of several oth­
er w'ords commonly used in the
discussion of contem y o a y
problems. The W'ords “conserva
tive” and “liberal” come to
mind immediately. Both of these
words have fallen upon evil days
and. as often as not, are regard
ed as derogatory rather than
complimentary adjectives. “Con
servative” has almost come to
be synonymous with “reaction
ary,” and “liberal” synonymous
with “socialist” or worse.
A serious attempt is being
made, however, to salvage the
word conservative as a badge of
political honor Within the past
four or five years several import,
ant books have been published
by competent scholars who are
not only proud to be identified
personally as conservatives, but
are firmly, indeed passionately,
convinced that conservatism is
the only sound political philos
ophy.
All In One Basket
The best of these books. “The
Conservative Mind” by Russell
Kirk of Michigan State College,
was reviewed in this column a
year ago last July. W thL recent
weeks Professor Kirk has pub
lished a sequel, “A Program for
Conservatives,” the objective of
which is to propose a number of
applications of the conservative
theory in the practical order.
After reading this second vol
ume by the leading defender of
the conservative tradition, we
are still of the opinion that its
author has not yet arrived at a
satisfactory political philosophy
and has not yet fully redeemed
the good name of conservatism.
He is a brilliant writer and a
welcome ally in the important
struggle for the preservation and
application of religious values
in American society. On most of
the important issues of the day
he would seem to be on the side
of the fcngels. His criticism of
The wrong kind of liberalism—
that is, the kind that denies the
existence of original sin and dis
regards ’he lessons of history
and tradition—is second to none.
Nevertheless, he is too readily
inclined to put all of the so-called
liberals and radicals in one has
ket and to condemn them indis
criminately.
Furthermore, wnile he is any
thing but a blind defender of the
economic status quo, he is too
readily inclined, in our opinion,
to belittle if not condemn even
the good things that have been
accomplished in the field of so
cial reform through the initiative
and under the sponsorship of so
called liberals and radicals. He
is also overly pessimistic about
the possibility of applying
Christian social teaching to the
problems of a mass production
economic system.
A Personal Dislike
It would be fair to say, in sum
mary, that Professor Kirk's so
cial philosophy lacks precision.
It seems to be made up in part
of personal opinions or prejud
ices elevated to the level of prin
ciples. This is notably the case
in his treatment of labor unions
in the United States. He seems
to say, for example, that so-call
ed horizontal or industrial un
ions i.e., unions like the CIO
Auto Workers which include in
their membership all of the em
ployees of a given industry—are
essentially bad and essentially
irreconcilable with the philos
ophy of conservatism. “The
growth of ’horizontal unionism’
in the past 25 years,” he says,
“has done infinite mischief
'horizontal unionism’ partakes
far more of collectivism than
community.” To which he adds,
for good measure, that the per
formance of American unions in
general “is infinitely disappoint
ing”
Professor Kirk’s unqualified
condemnation of industrial un
ionism would seem to be a clear
case of elevating a personal dis
like for the fact and the conse
quences of mass production in
dustry into a principle of social
philosophy. Nor is it an isolated
case. Mr. Kirk makes the same
mistake with regard to social se
curity legislation. The extension
of social security to the self
employed and to professional
people, he says, is “indefen
sible on moral grounds.”
If this is what conservatism
means—opposition to industrial
unions and opposition to the ex
tension of social security to mil
lions of people who need its
protection Professor Kirk, it
seems to us, is wasting his time
trying to sell conservatism to the
American people as the hope nf
the future. The American people
are not going to buy it in its
present fnrm. and 1 can’t say that
I blame them.