Communications
326 THE COMMONWEAL January 26, 1927 COMMUNICATIONS T CAN LABOR BE RECTIFIED ? Omaha, Neb. O the Editor:--I have just finished reading Frank H. Spearman's article, Can Labor Be Rectified?, in...
...Kosciuszko was, is, and will be till the end of history the great Pole and the pattern of every Polish patriot...
...If the writer were dwelling anywhere at present except in the nervous and dyspeptic area of his own mentality, he would know that to make a fuss about Mr...
...The neighborhood now has changed ; the "Irish" have migrated, and colored people live in the pretentious houses south of Thirty-fifth Street...
...O the Editor:--I have just finished reading Frank H. Spearman's article, Can Labor Be Rectified?, in The Commonweal of January 5. His assumption that the ma-jority of members of the trade and labor-unions of the United States are Catholic in faith will make anyone acquainted with the facts smile...
...Recently Cardinal Mundeleln confirmed a class of 400 adults in Saint Elizabeth's, "converts from Protestantism or paganism...
...If such attacks are made, by word of mouth, by radio, or by printed page, the public may be sure that they come from persons or organizations who are not within the ranks of Christian Science, whatever their claims may be...
...326 THE COMMONWEAL January 26, 1927 COMMUNICATIONS T CAN LABOR BE RECTIFIED ? Omaha, Neb...
...Who is responsible, to a large extent, for these peaceful adjustments ? The "corrupt" labor leaders...
...O the Editor :--A reviewer of Professor Dowd's book in- dines to the same thesis as the author--"the Negro problem can never be fully solved...
...CHESTERTON AND MR...
...Koseiuszko was and is a Pole...
...To add another dividing line will be to destroy the work entirely...
...How can anyone judge a class of people by the few who gain notoriety in the newspapers ? It would be just as fair to say that all Catholics are evil and corrupt, because a few of them are...
...He is evidently unaware of the arbitrations and the compromises which precede a strike...
...T KOSCIUSZKO: A LITHUANIAN Boston, Mass...
...The author of the article quoted the letter of Kosciuszko himself: "Know all men by these presents that I, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, formerly an officer of the United States of Amer- ica, and a native of Liuthania in Poland," etc...
...That he was born in Lithuania does not change things...
...The employer has a right to get a reasonable living out of his business, but he has no right to an interest on his investment until his employees have obtained at least a living wage...
...All religious leaders, especially the heads of the Catholic Church, are helping labor, doing it in a serious, practical way, and getting results...
...He has not heard (as I have) one of these same leaders argue with a group of angry men (the majority of them Catholics) until they were willing to arbitrate, instead of pre~mptorily calling a strike...
...Could it be made to house a library second to none in Latin- American history and literature...
...He will discover many fine instances of the understanding between the Church and labor in the records...
...we try to live in peace with everybody and even with our enemies, and we are Catholics, but we do not like and we will not let anybody steal our own ideals...
...The public supports the railroads, hence it should demand that a living wage be paid to these hard-worked men...
...Wright yawls --Mr...
...There is nothing essentially impudent in anyone criticizing Mr...
...O the Editor :--It is unfortunate that you should have published so distasteful an article as, Kosciuszko: A Lithuanian, which appeared in The Commonweal of December 29...
...We Poles are lovers of liberty for ourselves and for everybody...
...We call him a "New Englander," but is he not principally an "American"-January 26, I927 THE COMMONWEAL i| ill offspring and heir of the ideals of Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, and Wilson...
...It was tried, with not very much success in Canada...
...MR...
...The "black belt" reaches far and wide...
...Labor leaders are elected by their respective unions for short terms...
...Its weak- ness is that it divides men on creedal lines...
...The same of Kosciuszko and his Lithuanianism...
...O the Editor :--Elizabeth Church of Brooklyn, New York, has a communication in The Commonweal of December x5, which she ends by quoting these words: " 'The laborer's right to a decent livelihood is the first charge on in- dustry...
...Kopiee Kosciuszko, a big hill in Krakow (the heart of Poland) built by a whole Polish nation, Kosciuszko's sarco-phagus in the Royal Cathedral Catacombs in Krakow--his mon- ument in Washington, D. C., and in Poland in every larger city--his pictures in every Polish home honored the same as plc- tures of saints--are documents of the truth...
...REv...
...That statement which found publicity in the fine print items of our diocesan papers, carries its own lesson...
...WILLIAM FRANKLIN SANDS...
...Could it, perhaps, be made a second Douai for those who need what Douai did for England and Ireland...
...The Negro's soul is a surer problem than his social status...
...Wright is still dwelling in the z89o's . .9 ." etc...
...On the contrary, faithful adherents of Christian Science heed the counsel whicl~ Mrs...
...that he studied in Wilno University does not mean that he was not a Pole...
...His proposal for a Christian labor-union is not a new one...
...He is, and in my opinion, always has been a grotesque combination of verbal acrobat and heavy comedian who has long since become a bore...
...Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish poet, a genius who stands on the same level with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, was also born in Lithuania (part of Poland) and in his Pan Tadanor he says: "Lithuania, my dear country," but it would be foolish to deny him for such reasons the name of a Pole...
...Many writers have insisted a greater zeal in clergy and laity...
...O the Editor :--Mr...
...One would be led to believe that all labor leaders are reprobates, and that the most corrupt element is exploited in the public press...
...T. W. MCCULLOUGH...
...There are very few strikes accompanied by violence, and when it does occur, labor leaders are the first to quell it...
...It is unusual because it is many a long year since any critic of serious pretensions has given a thought to Mr...
...Suppose somebody was born in New England...
...T A LIVING WAGE Denton, Texas...
...Could such a foundation be made a meeting point for the best minds in the Catholic world of North and South America...
...This is the human and Christian in contrast to the purely commercial and pagan ethics of industry.' " All em-ployers should know these words...
...Lithuania at that time was in Poland and Kosci-uszko was a Pole...
...Wright is merely myopic--Mr...
...To say this in so many words in the New York Sun may be contestable, but I fail to see that it reveals any "bitterness ultimately becoming bile...
...Why not broadcast them ? Do all readers of The Commonweal know that sectioL men re- ceive starvation wages, and that despite this a certain railroad operating in Texas reduced them two and three-fourths cents per hour...
...He apparently does not realize that a strike is the last resort...
...Chesterton at all...
...Wilno University was and is now one of the Polish universities...
...Frank Spearman (The Common-weal, January 5) appears to be indulging in glittering gen- eralities...
...PETER MOP-A...
...FRANCIS JABLOWSKI...
...T CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE RADIO New York, N. Y. O the Editor:wFor your information and also for the benefit of your reading audience, I give below the state- ment from the Board of Directors of the mother church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, which appeared in The Christian Science Monitor on January 3. Authorized services and lectures on Christian Science are broadcast over Station WMCA (Hotel McA/pin) only: "Christian Scientists, mindful of the admonition of their leader, Mary Baker Eddy, do not assail the religious beliefs of other people...
...Chesterton has not been done for many years, and that to mask a personal spite behind the battery of an anonymous editorial is not done at all...
...RAYMOND VERNIMONT...
...That is very evident...
...In most cases, it has been absolutely proven that the violence was committed by agitators hired by the employers in order to mold public opinion against the strikers...
...T RELIGIOUS WORK FOR THE NEGRO San Francisco, Calif...
...T O the Editor:--A recent editorial in The Commonweal, the tune of which seems to be the effrontery of a Cuthbert Wright criticizing a G. K. Chesterton, is of so peculiar a venom that I have no recourse except to ask you to give space for this brief rejoinder...
...He has not considered that for the one strike that is called many are averted by fair settlements between the employers and the labor-unions...
...Eddy has given on page 444 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, in the following words: 'Students are advised by the author to be charitable and kind, not only toward differing forms of religion and medicine, but to those who hold these differing opinions.' --The Christian Science Board of Directors...
...Mr...
...T Boston, Mass...
...This solves the question...
...Wright, it will be remembered, is the author of a promising if anaemic pamphlet--Mr...
...He will find that the man who "gave one of the finest addresses I have ever heard...
...Spearman admits that he has "never come in contact pleasantly or unpleasantly with a labor-union...
...About two years ago, Cardinal Mundelein designated Saint Elizabeth's as a parish church for colored Catholics, and made the Fathers of the Divine Word its parish priests...
...Spearman would do a little research work, and be- come acquainted, not merely with the heads of the international and national unions, but with the men who are at the heads of the local unions as well, he might modify his views some- what...
...Enough of such division already exists to confuse thinking...
...More recently, the sermon delivered by Dr...
...There the w~iter sacrifices one column of his magazine's space to defending a third-rate and superannuated writer at the expense of a young and unknown journalist, incidentally producing such gems of amiability as these: "Mr...
...That churd~ was once a large and prosperous "Irish" parish...
...Some labor-unions have suffered from the intrusion of the Klan...
...The results were notable then...
...Ryan at Saint Aloysius Church, Detroit, to the delegates of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, last October...
...Spearman would have us believe, they elect "atheists, communists and reprobates," is it not a serious indictment of the Catholic labor-union man ? ELIZABETH CURRY...
...EDGAR G. GYOER, Christian Science Committee on Publication...
...Previous to their taking over that church, a parochial school and club for colored people had been in operation...
...Spear-man admits that he bases his conclusions on "opinions made up from stories in the press...
...To discover the attitude of the Church toward labor, he should read the addresses at the Denver, 192I, convention of the American Federation of Labor, especially that of Bishop Tihen...
...A PAN-AMERICAN COLLEGE Washington, D. C. T the Editor :--Is there anything practical in the sug-O gestion that the Catholic University would be the most appropriate place in the world for the employment of a million- dollar fund in the foundation of a Pan-American college...
...Our holy Queen Jadwiga converted Lithuanians from paganism to the Catholic faith...
...REV...
...We have had Lithuanians from the beginning...
...Spearman further states that in "our labor-unions the Catholic workman is numerically a very considerable element and that the non-Catholic cannot claim any appreciable' pro- portions...
...WRIGHT Kent, Conn...
...It is encourag- ing to know what may be done, from what has been done at Saint Elizabeth's in Chicago...
...Many other great Poles were born there...
...If Mr...
...Christian Scientists who differ with the religious beliefs of other persons do not resort to abuse, misrepresentation, or vilifi- cation...
...If the Catholics constitute a large majority of the membership it would be reasonable to suppose that they would elect Catholics as leaders, but if, as Mr...
...Periodically we are reminded in the Catholic press of the duty of interesting ourselves in his spiritual progress...
...CUTHRERT WRIGHT...
...they are more notable now...
...Do you suppose that our present interest in our neighbors could extend to the consideration of such a project...
...Students of sociology have investigated that question in its many phases, from politi- cal equality to intermarriage...
...What does reveal bile of an extremely misplaced and improper sort is the editorial...
...G. K. Chesterton, but there is something unusual in doing so...
...If he will take note of the pro- ceedings of last Labor Sunday (the first Sunday in September) he will learn that thousands of the pulpits throughout the land were filled by speakers from the ranks of organized labor...
...His further assumption that labor leaders of the United States are "indifferent" to what is being done by their members is equally unwarranted...
...a man who would win the heart of any Catholic through his straightforward, unassuming attitude of Christian Charity," is not the exception, by any means, in the labor-unions...
...Shame on these selfish and unjust railroads...
Vol. 5 • January 1927 • No. 12
