The Catholic times. [volume], November 02, 1956, Image 4

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4—THE CATHOLIC TIMES Friday, Nov. 2,1956
The Washington Letter
WASHINGTON In recent
days the Voice of America has
broadcast a talk hy a foreign
scholar which advocated popu
lation control and predicted
that traditional religion would
he replaced by something
whose “touchstone" will he the
ability to deal with the prob
lems of suffering.
The controversial talk was giv
en by the English Dr. Arnold
Toynbee based his appeal for
an who is not so well known as
an authority on the subjects
which he discussed.
The broadcast overlooked en
tirely the recent testimony of
two eminent British scientists
—speaking in their particular
fields who demolished much
nf the argument on which Dr.
Townbee based his appeal for
population control. To these
two could he added many oth
ers who have spoken in the
lame tenor in recent years.
Dr. Toynhee, speaking under
the auspices of the U.S. Gov
ernment, touched on “the prob
lem of population that was fore
seen by Malthus more than a
century and a half ago.” A
month before. Dr. C. B. Good
hart, speaking as a zoologist,
and Dr. G. V. Jacks, speaking
as an agriculturist, presented
the biological and agricultural
reasons why the 18th century
Malthusian theory was wrong.
Dr. Toynhee asked whether
mankind was going to rid itself
In a conversation with the
Governor of Puerto Rico he
mentioned coyly that North
Americans are really not so
rich. “After all,” he said, “if
ynu have one car, the advertis
ers tell you you must have
two and so you arc miserably
poor until you have two cars,
if you have a house in town,
they fell you you must have
another in the country and
once again you suffer as a poor
man until you have another
house in the country.” “The
idea) in lhe United States,” he
added humorously, “will he two
psychiatrists for every one
psychiatrist!”
Wo must agree in general
with the Governor that our
standard of life and economics
creates some major problems.
I am sure the following is not
the creed of most advertisers,
hut shame for those who en
dorsed this statement in New
York al the national meeting
nf advertisers “If we cannot
turn a luxury into a necessity
in six hours, we have failed
Indispensably Needed
Economics making a liv
ing has always heen a proh
lem in the family. Our eco
nomic system once forced chil
riren to pull coal carts. It also
once mercilessly enslaved worn
en Today's system brings in
its wake a heinous new prob
lem. Women now disdain their
virtue of Christian surrender
Msgr. Angelo DeH'Acqua,
Vatican Substitute Secretary of
State pointed out in a recent
letter to the annual Catholic
Social Week of Italy that
“workmen's organizations (un
ions) have been encouraged by
the Church, not that they may
fight against management hut
in order to promote harmony
between capital and labor, in
this way reaching the economic
ends to which they justly as
pire
The first thing to note about
this statement—written in the
name of the Holy Father him
•elf—is that unions are "en
couraged” hy the Church. They
•re not merely tolerated nor
permitted, hut encouraged.
This fact is not without sig
nificance in the current con
troversy within Catholic circles
in the United States on the
subject of right-to-work legis
lation.
In our opinion, the basic
point at issue in this contro
versy is whether or not unions
are to be encouraged by govern
ment as well as by private
groups. Some Catholic propon
ents of right-to-work legisla
tion have defended it on the
grounds that it does not pro
hibit the establishment of un
ions, nor directly interfere with
the individual worker's right tn
Organize That's true, hut it
really isn’t the basic is
sue in dispute. The fun­
Toynbee Talk Not Valid
Making Marriage Click
of war and pestilence “only to
he done to death by the third
scourge, famine.” He added
that “when we have done all
that science can do to increase
the world's food supply, the on
ly way left open to us for cop
ing with this continuing in
crease in population .. will be
to offset this increase by a cor
responding reduction in the
birth rate.”
The historian admitted that
a “formidable” problem is met
here, because to persuade par
ents to limit the size of the fam
ilies “might mean persuading
them to change spmc of the
tenets of their ancestral relig
ion.” But. he said, “the prob
lem of limiting the birth rate
will have to be faced.”
The English historian then
treated of another "problem,”
namely, how to fill “the spir
itual vacuum” in man's soul.
“This vacuum.” he asserted,
“has been created hy the rise
of modem science. Science has
expelled religion in its tradi
tional forms yet science, hy it
self, is incapable of filling the
void.”
He said he expected 20th
century man to set out on a
quest “for the recovery of re
ligion.” He added that he be
lieves man will recover it, but
that religion “will come back
in forms that will be so differ
ent from the traditional forms
that, at first sight, man’s new
Making a Living
By Msgr. Irving A. DeBlanc
to man. They compete with him
instead of complete him. This
concept is a major one upset
ting family life, and with 20
million women employed in our
economic system the tie-up is
obvious.
A man feels that his stature
grows when he has some weak
ness tn protect, so he simply
detests an independent woman.
Though ho may hold only a
humhle rank in society, his
pride and self confidence are
restored when he returns home
and knows he is indispensably
needed and his wife contributes
to this realization.
Indirect Management
A man usually wishes to bp
the master, to command. He un
dertakes the responsibilities
and has to make the decisions.
A woman likes to feel that she
has a master, to feel the
strength of a man, because she
finds if reassuring and right
that this strength should he at
the service of her happiness. At
the same time she likes tn
guide this strength and to make
a man do what she wishes.
This, however, she sets out to
do indirectly, leading a man
on to decide what she wishes
him to decide.
A woman's greatest success
is when she can give a man the
impression that he decides ev
erything, while she inspires all
of his decisions. Throughout
this process she is still fully
The Yardstick
Church Encourages Union
damental question is
whether or not right to-work
legislation encourages the nor
mal development of trade un
ionism.
In the opinion of many, per
haps the majority, of Catho
lic students of industrial rela
tions—certainly the majority
of those who have written on
the subject the answer to this
question is in the negative.
Right-to-work legislation, in
the judgment of these observ
ers, hampers the normal growth
and lessens the stability of
trade unionism, particularly in
those industries and trades in
which there is a heavy turn
over in employment.
A groat deal of factual evi
dence in support of this con
clusion is available in an article
hy Father lco Brown S.J., Di
rector of lhe Jesuit Institute of
Social Order in St. 14)ms, and
one of the Most competent Ca
tholic labor economists in the
United States.
Net Effect
Father Brown's article, en
titled “Right-to-Work Legisla
tion," was published in the
March 1955 issue of Social Or
der, 3908 Westminster Place, St.
Iztuis 8, Mo. We recommend it
very highly as one of the best
available studies of the impact
of right-to-work legislation on
the development and growth
of trade unionism
religion may hardly be recog
nizable.” “The touchstone of
religion,” he continued, “is its
capacity to deal with the prob
lem of suffering, and our suf
ferings seem likely to be great
in the testing time that lies
ahead of us.”
Dr. Goodhart, assistant cura
tor of the Cambridge Universi
ty (England) Zoology Museum,
told the British Association for
the Advancement of Science
that Malthus was wrong in pre
dicting that the growth of the
human population must even
ually outstrip any possible in
crease in food supplies.
Dr. Goodhart said he does
not agree that human fecundity
has a constant value that could
he altered only by artificial
means. He added that the fe
cundity of women is determin
ed hy social, economic and
physiological factors. In west
ern countries, he asserted,
these factors have made low
fecundity advantageous. In dis
ease-stricken areas, large fami
lies are still prevalent and are
necessary for race survival. Im
proved medical services and
economic prosperity decrease
the fecundity rate, he declared.
Dr. Jacks told the same as
sociation that 100 years from
now the world would be able to
feed its probable population of
six hillion people. Soil fertility
could be maintained and
enough food available.
conscious that she is dominated
hy the very force of which she
is mistress.
Cooperation Overlooked
A ladylike person is not the
competitive type. Man needs
certain feminine qualities
which he lacks a woman needs
their masculine counterpart.
One must complete the other.
Men do not find a parallel sup
port in other men, nor dn wom
en find it in other women.
“Apart from all question of the
passions.” Canon T^clercq in
forms, “that is why the volun
tary celibate, whn has been
called to the supernatural vo
cation of the religious life,
makes the great sacrifice not
only of certain aspirations but
even of the satisfaction of cer
tain fundamental needs.”
This masculinized emphasis
nn competition has invaded ev
en our Catholic schools for
gpls, where? the best competi
tor is generally rewarded hut
rarely is the best cooperator
signaled out.
Hidden Texet
We turn finally to nur gov
ernment. not because like the
Church it is usually such a con
venient scapegoat, but because
realistically and in practice lhe
government should be more
conscious of its role in econom
ics and the family. Take for
example the system of taxa
tion. Many larger families suf
fered because of hidden taxes.
By Msgr. George G. Higgins
The important thing to
keep in mind is that the Church
is in favor of unions as a mat
ter of principle. If and when
this principle is universally
agreed to in the United States,
the union shop—prohibited by
the right to-work legislation
will cease to be a matter of con
troversy. In other words, there
will he no particular need to
worry about union security if
and when there is no longer
any serious opposition to un
ions or, to put it another way,
if and w hen unions are univer
sally "encouraged.”
Not Universally Encouraged
That unions are not univers
ally encouraged at the present
time in the United States was
made abundantly. clear, a few
months ago. during the partial
ly successful campaign to re
peal the 1954 Ixniisiana right
to-work law. The original law,
which applied to agricultural
workers as well as to craft and
industrial workers was repeal
ed in June. But, immediately
thereafter, the Louisiana leg
islature passed another right
to-work law applying exclusive
ly to agricultural workers.
Unfortunately, the substitute
law extended the definition of
agricultural labor to include a
number of workers in the pro
cessing branches of the rice and
cotton industries. These work
ers were not covered under
the terms of the 1954 statute.
By Faith and Love
The Church repeats, al the beginning of Sun
day’s Mass, the reassuring message addressed hy
the Prophet Jeremias to his suffering, perse
cuted people twenty-five centuries ago: “The
Ixird saith, 'I think thoughts of peace and not
of affliction you shall call upon Me and I will
hear you and that other reminder of God’s
kindness, uttered by the Psalmist David, long
before the time of Jeremias: “Lord Thou hast
blessed Thy land .” We need to remember
constantly that the Lord has, indeed, blessed the
earth He created, and particularly the land in
which we live and if, despite His gifts and
blessings, there is suffering and disorder, hatred
and wars, wp need to bear in mind that the
l-ord thinks “thoughts of peace and not of af
fliction.”
Yes, and He says that in nur difficulties
and fears we are to call upon Him and He will
hear us. Why is it that in these times of crises,
when evil seems to be gaining victories on every
side, we fail to turn to Him for the help He
is ready to provide? Why is our faith so weak?
Sunday’s Gospel points out how this lack of
active faith is a common human failing. Christ
Himself was on the boat beset hy the storm
described in that Gospel, yet His disciples were
not reassured by His presence: they woke Him
from His sleep with a terrified plea to “Save
us, we are perishing!” “Why are you fearful, O
you of little faith?” was His reproachful ques
tion, hut He arose and stilled thp storm so that
“there came a great calm."
On our voyage through life wp encounter
many a storm there are storms of temptations
and evil influences storms of misunderstanding
and bitterness storms caused by men’s greed
and men's weakness, storms caused by ignorance
storms which are black with the threat of ap
proaching war and which all too often break
with the awful destructiveness of armed con­
Still A Great Man
We were a bit discouraged to read recently a
professedly learned essay that seemed to seek
to take Chesterton off the pedestal his genera
tion had erected for him in love and admiration.
Out attitude toward this man of massive fat
and sinewy wit and wisdom may possibly be
extreme. A parodist of one of his poems put
it this way—our way:
.“God built him on a generous plan
Because He really liked the man.
And we, who knew his worth, are quite
Convinced that God was in the right.”
Not all of Chesterton’s work can possibly
survive. He was a professional journalist, “for
bread and cheese," as he put it and some of
his copy will perish with the transient stuff
he had to write about or will become fairly
unintelligible to another age or merely un
interesting.
Yet it is our guess that his studies of the
English classical author^ will remain for their
insight and acumen that much of his poetry
has enduring merit, if one does not mak?
extravagant claims that his familiar essays
with their sheer exuberance and freshness are
authentic literature, worthy of Montaigne or
Francis Bacon, though far more engaging.
What strikes us as quite everlasting about
GKC's reliques are the more serious and solemn
(if he could ever be solemn) studies of the ideas
that made up the thinking of that world he
finally repudiated when he made his submis
sion to the Faith. Chesterton had an uncanny
eye to pierce the fog of quackery and pretense.
Father Healey’s
Q. What are the indulgences
for the First Saturdays?
A. The Raccolta gives the fol
lowing information on the de
votion to the Blessed Mother
on Saturday. "The faithful who
on the first Saturday of each
month perform some special ex
ercises of devotion in honor of
the Blessed Virgin Immaculate,
in order to make atonement
for the blasphemies whereby
the name and the prerogatives
Find the Real American
of the Blessed Virgin are re
viled. may gain a plenary in
dulgence on the usual condi
tions.” Also those who perform
such exercises on the first Sat
urday of eight successive
months may gain a plenary in
dulgence at the hour of death
simply on invoking the Holy
Name of Jesus, accepting death
with resignation and receiving
the sacraments of Penance and
Holy Eucharist The devdtion
flict. The fear aroused by these storms can cause
us to do foolish, irresponsible things: to forget
our obligations, to ignore the principles given
us for our guidance in time of danger, to resort
to evil methods in retaliation for the evil prac
tices we see around us even to give way to
panic or despair. We forget, as the disciples did,
that Christ is with us, always, thinking “thoughts
of peace and not of affliction,” blessing the
land, ready to quiet the storms that shake the
world—if we will but call upon Him.
And how do we call the Savior to our aid
in times of strife and disorder? Not with mere
shrieks of alarm our hearts, as well as our
voices must be raised to Him our faith must be
deep and sincere. And the sincerity of our faith
must be revealed in our lives, shaped according
to God's Iaw that is, in love, as St. Paul ex
plains in Sunday's Epistle.
"He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the
Iaw,” the Apostle saws, with an almost startling
emphasis on how our love of God must find ex
pression in our love of our fellow men. He cites
some of the Commandments—“Thou shalt not
commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou
shalt not hear false witness Thou shalt not
covet”—all requiring men to respect the person,
the property and the rights of their fellow men
and adds, “If there is any other Command
ment, it is summed up in this saying, “Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ Love does
no evil to a neighbor. Ixive is therefore the ful
fillment of the Law.”
When we are unjust toward any of our fel
lows, when we indulge in meanness of any sort,
when
wp
withhold charity from those who need
help that we can provide, when we refrain from
the acts of kindness that go to brighten the
world, it is we and all of society that suffer.
For we are failing to fulfill the I^aw and we are
showing ourselves unconcerned for God's help
it is by our faith and our love that we call Him.
He could be laughingly devastating in oral or
written debate, and sham was always the object
of his attack, as was fuzzy thinking, or uncritical
acceptance of fads.
He was gifted with uncommon logical pow
ers of analysis and deduction. Though he seemed
to let his imagination range freely, it was always
in control of his practical reason. Some of his
great works, like Orthodoxy and The Everlasting
Man, can pile joke on joke and laugh on laugh,
but all the while in magisterial fashion he is
laying bare the fallacies and pointing out the
dangerous implications of some specious great
error which his contemporaries have naively
embraced.
If this be negative though most necessary,
one need only turn to his expositions of Catho
lic thought scattered like pearls and almost
at random through much of what he wrote.
One might single out his study of St. Thomas,
a most unlikely thing to come from his hands
yet it is possibly unique. He would seem to
have known little or nothing of the intricacies
and depths of St. Thomas, matters which have
occupied great minds and professional scholars
for centuries. Yet, he began by dictating half of
the book without consultation of the known
authorities. He skimmed through a book or two,
and a classic was the result.
Etienne Gilson, an outstanding Thomist,
said of it: “Chesterton makes one despair. I
have been studying St. Thomas all my life fend
I could never have writtten such a book.”
of the five first Saturdays
calls for receiving Holy Com
munion, recitation of the Ros
ary and at lease fifteen min
utes Reflection on it on five
successive first Saturdays.
Q. Would you please print
something on the life of St.
Jerome?
A. St*. Jerome was born in
Dalmatia, studied in Rome and
was probably the greatest mas
ter of language in his time.
After years of study he retired
to the desert in Syria, returned
to Rome as the adviser to Pope
St. Damasus, at whose request
he undertook the great work of
bringing out a scholarly Latin
version of the Bible. He devot
ed most of his life to this work
and his version, known as the
Vulgate, is still the standard
text used by the Church. He
ended his days in Bethlehem,
wrapped in prayer and study,
WST AMONG
OURSELVES
Passing Comment
Co ^dered or
inconsiderate
James Whitcomb Riley tells of happy uproar among the
children when “Granny comes to our house.” He says, “All the
kids around the place is *ist a-ruunin’ crazy.” We need another
poet now to turn a tuneful hand to commemorating the uproar
caused by the advent of the Modern Science of Advertising.
With TV, this science has most emphatically come to our house.
And not children, but solemn-faced and unctuous men are
running crazy. It is the visitor and not the visited who produces
the uproar. The children in Riley's verse, delighted with Granny’s
visit, would likely lose their rampant joy and huddle into fright
ened groups if Granny, instead of dealing out kisses and
gifts,
u'ere to emit a wild yell and leap nimbly over the kitchen table.
Yet such an antic would be mild (like a cigarette you name it) in
in comparison with stunts now exhibited by TV advertisers.
It is not so much in extravagant claims for their products,
—although these are wild enough, in all conscience,—that adver
tisers are running crazy. It is in money contests and give-aways.
Here all care, not to mention plain sanity, has been thrown
to
the winds. From the crudities of Two-for-the-Money to the ab
surdities of High Finance, the make-you rich-quick boys are
on
the air and the ether. The fall-out is judged by some scientists,
to contain a deadly threat.
There used to be, away back in radio days, a program called
The Sixty-four Dollar Question. Last year a TV advertiser upped
the ante to $64,000. Not to be outdone, another advertiser sprung
a Big Surprise. This somewhat involved and foolish program may.
be worth $100,000 to a contestant with a wide knowledge of recon
dite trivia and enough fortitude to withstand a barrage of inani
ties from “the star of our show,” a garrulous and giggling MC
trying to be witty and genial at the same time and not succeeding.
Was this the end? Was the sage decision of Signor Prato, Sr.,
“Basta cosi,” strong enough to introduce a measure of sanity inta
these TV proceedings? By no means. Consider there was once
a show' called Break the Bank which was really an effort of con
testants to break through the nearly incessant chatter and sing
ing of Mr. B. Parks. Only when Mr. B.P. was completely out
of
breath, which was seldom indeed, did the contestant have a brief
opportunity to qualify for prizes. But the old game has gone.
In its place we have “Break the Bank for $250,000.” That’s the
opportunity—a quarter of a million! Of course, it will take a lot
of doing, and devious ins and outs and changes of locals on
stage, to come near that staggering goal. But the fact is that
the goal is there.
Groucho Marx went along for years (advertising what L.
Welk calls the Dotch Car) with a spontaneous and well rehearsed
program of questions, wise cracks, laughable insults, and a slightly
off-color nuances. Top prize was $440 with a chance of a side
premium for saying “the secret word.” Now you bet your life on a
thousand dollar gamble, with opportunity to halve or double the
dot, and an outside flutter on as much as $10,000.
Endless dollar-a-second shows, tic-tae-toe contestants, guest
ing games for cash and other such, are multiplying hourly like
Ellis P. Butler’s guinea-pigs in the expressman’s room. New ad
vertisers rush madly to get into the act. What a far way we have
come since Dr. I.Q. cried, “Eight silver dollars to that gentleman
for answering this question.”
e e
The non-cash give-aways are legion. Their producers always
describe them (and the advertised product as well) as “fabulous.**
Yet it is pretty certain that old Aesop, the master fabulist, would
never have bothered to speak of such things had he known of
them. You can have a trip to Paris or Pakistan, a mink coat or
a mandolin, a bottle of perfume or a motor boat, if your mind
teems with such essential items of human knowledge as the number
of holes ir a telephone-dial or the name of the vice-president of
Bolivia in 1943.
The cost of living, the take-home pay of laborers, and the
size of TV prizes constantly increase. Only old John Daly holds
firm in his mysterious line. No wide extravagance there! A total
of $50 is offered, and the contestant works it out by grudging
fives. This MC certainly guards the plate, as they say of a batter
who manages to hit a few consecutive fouls. It takes an average
of three “conferences” to induce John D. to flip a card. A close
and canny contest indeed. And all to help the public smell better
or shave with a superior brand of electricity.
What supports the Big Money Contests? Facial good, com
plexion skear (fortified with lanolin, that is to say, sheep grease),
deodorants, watch bands, automobiles, hair dope,—of such im
portant elements does modern life consist. No beers? Not yet,
apparently. No cigarettes? Ah, yes, to be sure. Hesitant Herbie of
old old twofer show. “As soon as the bell sounds, flame as many
as you can of tropical fruits and vegetables beginning with the
letter Z,—for instance, Zalami.”
And what of the rich and varied information that is turned
over to an eager public by the skilled contestants and the var
ious bank-managers who take oath that nobody has seen these
questions before, even the janitor? Well, a studious man, at
tentive to the programs and diligent in taking notes, might amass
as deal of knowledge. But one fears it would be composed
of
elements which recall the saying of Thomas a Kempis, “There
are manv things, the knowledge of which is of no profit to the
soul.”
having reached the age of sev
enty or more, dying in 419 A.
D. His feast day is September
30th. He is named as patron
saint of students.
Q. What are the steps re
quired for canonization of a
saint?
A. After a preliminary in
vestigation by the local bishop
a report is sent by a commis
sion which he appoints to the
Congregation of Rites in Rome
It the results are favorable
and the Pope approves, a for
mal commission is appointed to
investigate further. The person
may then be titled venerable.
Through investigation of the
person’s private life and writ
ings, etc. and proof of two
miracles are required for bea
tification and again in the sec
ond investigation which pre
cedes the cannonization. At the
conclusion of all this sacred
and scientific process the
Holy Father himself decides in
fallibly onr the state of the per
son and issues the formal
statement declaring the person
a saint.
Q. What should be done with
sacramentals (e.g, old rosaries,
crucifixes) when they are no
longer usable?
A. Objects which have been
set aside by the blessing of the
Church cannot be treated an
ordinary refuse. When it if
necessary to discard a sacra
mental or blessed object it
should be burned and th*
ashes placed in some spot
where they would not be
un
derfoot e.g. in the shrubbery.
Send questions to Father Ed
ward F. Healey, Inquiry Cor
ner, The Catholic Times,
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