CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENKY WILLIAMS SAGE HD 8430j5|8i" ""'""">' ''""^ ^'"'ri'iufiSiM.ffiWS'" ^""^ "le social Cafholi 3 1924 021 454 917 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021454917 THE LABOR PROBLEM AND THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT IN FRANCE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK - BOSTON - CHICAGO - DALLAS ATLANTA * SAN FRANOSCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limitkd LONDON - BOMBAY - CALCUTTA HELBOURNB THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Lttj. TORONTO THE LABOR PROBLEM AND THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT IN FRANCE A Study in the History of Social Politics BY PARKER THOMAS MOON Instructor in History in Columbia University BeiD gork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1921 AU rights reserved ^5-05414- COPYBIGHT, 1921, By the macmillan company. Set up and printed. Published May, 1921. PEINriD IN Ta* DNtT»D STATES O* AMIttlOA TO MY MOTHER PREFACE Not until quite recently, in the United States, has anything like general public attention been directed to one of the most powerful and interesting of contemporary movements toward the solution of the insistent problem of labor unrest. There is a real need for an impartial historical study of this movement and a critical analysis of the forces which lie behind it. Such a need the present narrative does not pretend to satisfy com- pletely; but it is hoped that even a preliminary survey, such as this, will be of interest to those who concern themselves with the grave social and economic problems now confronting po- litical democracy. The movement in question, — generally known as the Social Catholic movement, — has expanded so rapidly in the last few decades that it may now be regarded as a force compar- able in magnitude and in power to international Socialism, or to Syndicalism, or to the cooperative movement. On the eve of the Great War, Social Catholicism was represented by or- ganizations in eyery civilized country where there was any considerable Catholic population. Its adherents were numbered by tens of millions; a host of journals, reviews, year-books, economic treatises, manuals, and millions of tracts were preach- ing its doctrines ; it had apologists in the universities and rep- resentatives in the legislatures of many European and several American states; its propaganda was growing by leaps and 30unds. It had already taken its place as second or third among :he great international movements for social reform. More- over, thanks to authoritative endorsements by papal encyclicals, ind thanks to the energetic efforts of its patrons in the hier- irchy, it has resumed its progress since the conclusion of peace md bids fair to command the substantial support of the great body of Catholic Christians throughout the world. via PREFACE The program of reforms advocated by the leaders of this movement presents an elaborate and far-reaching scheme ot economic reconstruction. One might call it a rival of the other " Proposed Roads to Freedom " described by Mr. Bertrand Russell. The program is all the more significant because several of its basic principles, which once appeared somewhat visionary, are gaining widespread popularity at the present time. For instance, the idea that a modernized guild system, with industrial democracy, was the true alternative to State Socialism, had little vogue a generation ago, except among Social Catholics, whereas today it is making remarkable head- way among British labor leaders, in the form of " Guildism or " Guild Socialism." The conservative wing of the British Guild Socialist movement, one might add, is Social Catholic. The scheme of Joint Standing Industrial Councils put forward by the Whitley Committee^ and incorporated in the Britisl: Goverment's reconstruction policy provides another indication of the same trend of thought, and the Whitley plan bears an astonishing resemblance to the scheme of industrial organiza- tion formulated many years previously by French Social Cath- olics. Again, the Social Catholics have insisted, from the be- ginning, that labor must not be regarded as a commodity, the price of which could be determined by the law of supply and demand. This principle is now officially recognized by a clause in the Treaty of Versailles. International labor legislation is a third principle of which the Social Catholics were among the earhest and most determined advocates. Yet another of the reforms of which Social Catholics, particularly in France, have long been supporters, is the establishment of an industrial, or, rather, a vocational senate as a complement to the existing parliament based on purely numerical or geographical rep- resentation. Under the name of " functional representation,' this idea is coming to be more and more widely debated. A genuine practical interest attaches to the question whether the Social Catholic movement is inherently antagonistic to other schools of social reform, or disposed to cooperate with them. In general, the Social Catholics have been opposed to PREFACE IX State Socialism, Bolshevism, and the anarchistic wing of Syn- dicalism. On the other hand, in promoting trade-unionism, in legislating against child labor, in protecting women from in- jurious industrial exploitation, in establishing social insurance, and in similar matters, there has been much cooperation be- tween Social Catholics and other friends of labor legislation. In the United States, there has been less of such cooperation than in Europe, principally because the Social Catholic move- ment was more backward in the New World. Very striking, however, is the manifesto on social reconstruction recently is- sued by four American bishops, in the name of the National Catholic War Council, championing in principle a minimum wage law; social insurance against sickness, invalidity, unem- ployment, and old age ; shop committees and labor participation in industrial management; cooperative selling and marketing; cooperation in production ; regulation of public service monop- olies; heavy taxation of incomes, excess profits, and inheri- ances. While this " Bishops' Program " contains several dis- tinctive features, it nevertheless explicitly approves many of the practical reform measures urged by American liberals, by labor leaders, and by Socialists. In France, Social Catholics helped to enact the law- of 1884, the charter of French trade-unionism, and have rivalled the Socialists in urging factory and labor legislation, working- men's insurance, and other reforms. In Germany, the early establishment of workingmen's compensation and of social in- surance was in no small part due to the influence of the Center or Catholic Party. In Switzerland, the Social Catholic leader, Decurtins, cooperated with Radicals and moderate Socialists to secure workingmen's compensation, to fix a maximum working day, to pass factory legislation, and to establish a Secretariat of Labor; he also obtained the support of the Radicals, and ul- timately the approval of the Swiss Federal Council, for his proposal that Switzerland convoke the first international con- ference on labor legislation. In England, Cardinal Manning became so conspicuous a champion of workingmen's demands that his portrait was borne on a banner in the great eight-hour- X PREFACE day demonstration of May 4, 1890. Instances need not be mul- tiplied. No one familiar with the recent history of France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, or Spain can be ignorant of the active participation of Social Catholics in Continental social politics. In the light of the facts just stated, it is clear that this move- ment is important enough to repay a more thorough analysis than it has yet received at the hands of Anglo-American his- torians, economists, and students of public policy. Among European publicists and scholars. Social Catholicism has been much debated. Unfortunately, most of the voluminous litera- ture on the subject has been controversial or apologetic, and no adequate general history of the Social Catholic movement has yet been published, in any language. Professor Nitti's history of Catholic Socialism, written in the Italian language, thirty years ago (1890), and subsequently translated into Eng- lish, is admirable, so far as it goes, but it covers only the in- fancy of the movement. Turmann, de Clercq, Calippe, Goyau, Eble, and Monicat, — to mention only a few, — have written scholarly and readable books on various special aspects of Social Catholicism ; their works, however, have not been translated, nor do they provide the general and impartial account that the ordinary reader would desire. There remains, therefore, an at- tractive field, still open, for historical investigation. To compress the whole history of the international Social Catholic movement within the two covers of the present mono- graph would be obviously impossible. It has appeared wise to focus attention principally upon the development of the movement in a single country. France is selected, because the Social Catholic program has there been elaborated in great detail and formally incorporated in the platform of a political party, the Action Liberale Populairc. Consequently, Social Catholicism has played a most interesting role in French politics. Unfamiliar though its name may appear to the eyes of Amer- ican readers, the Action Liberate Populairc or, as we may call it, the Popular Liberal Party, is quite as interesting, in point of political theory and social doctrine, as the Socialist and PREFACE xi Syndicalist movements in France. Nor is it insignificant in numerical strength. Before the war, Revolutionary Syndical- ism in France could boast, at the maximum, only two or three hundred thousands of adherents, since the national Syndical- ist organization, the Confederation Generate du Travail, em- braced at most 600,000 members, many of whom were not Syndicalists at all, but merely trade-unionists or Socialists.^ The Popular Liberal Party at that time had a dues-paying membership of over 250,000 and a voting strength of three- quarters of a million. The Unified Socialist Party had only one fourth as many dues-paying members, although its dues were eighty per cent smaller than those of the Popular Liberal Party.' From the war the Popular Liberal Party has emferged unquestionably more powerful than the Unified Socialist Party, both in parliamentary representation and in membership. In the elections of November, 1919, the Unified Socialists obtained only 68 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, whilst the Liberals won a hundred.* As an important political organization pledged to the social program of the French Social Catholic movement, the Popular Liberal Party will necessarily figure largely in the present narrative. The party, however, is not the movement; it is only a part, and not even the most important part, of the move- ment. In all probability, the Social Catholic vote, like the general Catholic vote, will remain scattered, and the influence of French Social Catholicism will be discernible not so much in the growth of a single party as in the penetration of several political parties by Social Catholic ideas. For this reason, the author has endeavored to sketch not only the activities of the Popular Liberal Party, but also the development of the Social Catholic movement prior to the formation of the party, and the work of various non-political organizations. In this attempt to reconstruct from scattered and all too fugitive sources the story of a comparatively recent political and social movement, — to analyze the factors that gave birth to the movement and then to portray the movement as a living force in practical politics, — the difficulties were so formidable xii PREFACE that the author more than once lost courage and was held to the task only by a lively consciousness of the inherently inter- esting and significant character of the subject. Finality is not claimed for the narrative as it is given here. It will betray some of the errors of judgment that are well-nigh inevitable in any endeavor to bring a puzzling array of facts into a com- prehensive synthesis for the first time ; it is certainly and un- avoidably incomplete. If it provides an objective and sub- stantially accurate picture of the movement, intelligible to the general reader as well as to the specialist, the author will con- sider his purpose achieved. For courteous replies to inquiries which often must have been troublesome and for assistance in collecting the materials used in the preparation of this study, the author is grateful to several officers of the Action Liberale Populaire of Paris, and particularly to M. Abel Tocquet. Thanks are also due to M. Arthur Saint-Pierre, of Montreal, for advice which facilitated the preliminary stages of research. The author is deeply in- debted to Professors Carlton J. H. Hayes and Charles Downer Hazen of Columbia University for reading and criticizing the manuscript. From Professor Hayes, who has done so much to stimulate the scientific study of social history and social politics, the author received not only inspiration and many a helpful suggestion for the improvement of this book in style or in content, but also patient assistance in the wearisome task of revising the proofs. Parker Thomas Moon. Columbia University, February 14, 192 1. CONTENTS CHAPTER PACE I. A Democratic Social Program in the Making . . i General Background i The Labor Problem in France : Facts and Theories. 1815-1848 6 French Pioneers of Social Catholicism .... 13 Conservative Traditions and Democratic Tendencies 28 II. Modification of the Program: 1848-1870 ... 38 Political Reaction 38 An Advocate of Social Legislation 42 Social Reaction: Causes 52 Le Play and Perin 58 Royalism and Social Catholicism 68 By Way of Summary 74 III. Popularization and Development of the Program . "jy The Commune and the Reaction Tj Count Albert de Mun and the Catholic iWorking- men's Clubs 80 The Social Aspect of Monarchist Politics ... 87 De Mun's Advocacy of Social Legislation . . . loi A Manufacturer's Experiment 113 IV. Encouragement from Abroad 121 V. Vanguard and Stragglers 140 VI. Effect of Papal Intervention 157 " On the Condition of the Working Classes " . .157 The Political Intervention of Leo XIII : The Rallie- ment 166 Immediate Ef5fect of the Encyclicals 172 VII. "The New Spirit": 1893-1899 194 VIII. Republican Defense and Piou's Dilemma . . . 216 xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER *'*•'■ IX. The Popular Liberal Party 223 The Product of a Century of Evolution . . . .223 Organization of the Party 227 Development of a Program 237 Social Catholic Influence on the Program . . . 246 Summary of the Party's Program of Social Recon- struction 256 Constitutional Reforms and Political Theories . . 261 "Liberalism" and Religion 279 Social Legislation and the Religious Question . . 285 Patriotism 295 Some Criticisms of the Party 299 ; X.. Survey, of the Contemporary Social Catholic Movement in France 315 General Survey 315 The Action Populaire and Its Publications . . . 321 The Doctrines of the Action Populaire .... 330 The Semaines Sociales 339 |_ The Young Men's Catholic Association .... 347 XI. Dissident Groups 353 The " Social Reform " School 354 A Monarchist Group : L' Action Franqaise . . . 361 The " Christian Democrats " 365 The Sillon and the Young Republic 375 XII. Conclusion 383 Summary 383 Opinions of the Social Catholic Movement . . . 386 Guildism, Guild Socialism, and the Social Catholic Program 390 Appendix : Explanatory and Bibliographical Notes 400 Index 46^ THE LABOR PROBLEM AND THE SOCIAL . CATHOLIC MOVEMENT IN FRANCE CHAPTER I A DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING General Background . Social Catholicism, like most important social movements of the present time, is nothing more or less than an attempt to find a solution of the problems created by the two greatest historical events of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, namely, the Industrial Revolution and the Political Revolution. The essential feature of the Industrial Revolution was the modernization of industry by the invention and introduction of power-driven machinery owned by capitalists, in place of hand tools owned by workingmen. Its effect was to multiply enormously the power of man to produce all the things which go to make up material wealth — from hosiery to houses, from pocket-knives to pianolas — and at the same time to place the working classes temporarily at the mercy of the factory and mine owners. Consequently while industrial capitalists were accumulating great fortunes, the condition of the working classes seemed to be going from bad to worse. Starvation wages were paid ; employment was uncertain ; women and chil- dren were toiling twelve and fourteen hours a day in the new factories, under unhealthful and often immoral conditions; family life among the workers of mill and mine seemed to be doomed to destruction; drunkenness and disease were under- mining the stamina of the race. Under such circumstances, it was inevitable that the working classes should be discontented. 2 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT even rebellious, and should show their unrest by participating in riots, strikes, labor agitations, socialistic propaganda. In short, the Industrial Revolution gave birth to the labor problem of the present age. The Political Revolution, — by which is meant the series of revolutions and reforms which, since the eighteenth century, have almost universally replaced divine-right monarchies and feudal aristocracies by democratic governments, — gave the labor problem political significance. A democratic government cannot be indifferent to the economic welfare of the working- man. For a time, the wealthier and better educated classes, con- trolling the governments of Europe, denied the necessity or even the wisdom of state-intervention in labor matters ; accord- ing to the principles of the " Liberal " or " laissez-faire " system of political economy, prevalent in the second and third quarters of the nineteenth century, economic liberty or free business competition was not to be tampered with by meddlesome states- men. This principle of non-intervention, however, soon broke down in practice. For its failure, four reasons may be found. First, the evils arising from the Industrial Revolution were so intolerable that philanthropic and humanitarian consider- ations demanded corrective legislation to abolish child labor in factories and mines, to regulate the conditions of employment of women, to ensure sanitary working conditions, to relieve extreme poverty. In the second place, the workingmen, when they obtained the right to vote, were inclined to regard the ballot as a weapon to be used in defense of their own economic interests, and consequently bourgeois politicians found it necessary, in bid- ding for workingmen's suffrages, to promise satisfaction of workingmen's grievances. This factor operated with fluctuat- ing force, according as questions of national defense, foreign policy, relations between church and state, and other political issues diverted attention from labor problems, but it was gen- erally of considerable significance. A third, and a most important reason for the growing dis- DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 3 regard of the principle of non-intervention, was the rise of trade-unionism. Even before they were able to exert any ap- preciable direct influence in politics, the workingmen in various trades discovered that they could materially improve their lot by the practise of collective bargaining, through the instru- mentality of trade unions. Notwithstanding early failures, due to the inexperience and incapability of their leaders, and despite repressive laws, the trade unions gained in numbers and strength so rapidly that towards the end of the nineteenth century they constituted, in industry and in politics, a force of the first importance. The influence of the trade-union move- ment in demonstrating the capacity of the working classes for democratic self-organization, in promoting a spirit of labor solidarity, and in breaking down the theory of " economic liberty," has often been ignored, but is coming to be appre- ciated. Trade-unionism provided the solid foundation of ex- isting reality on which schemes of social reform could be based. This is true not only of far-reaching plans of social reconstruc- tion, such as Syndicalism, Social Catholicism, or the British Labor Party program, but also of specific measures of labor legislation, such as legal limitation of the hours of labor, regu- lation of factory conditions, standardization of wages. When, by persuasion, by strike, or by threat of strike, trade unions had secured an increase of wages, a reduction of the hours of labor, or an improvement of labor conditions, in a number of the better organized industries, the enactment of a law ratify- ing such an achievement presented no such difficulty as the enactment of a law embodying some novel and untried prin- ciple. A fait accompli, in social politics no less than in diplo- macy, is a most convincing argument. Moreover, where em- ployers in some trades had been forced by the labor unions to grant certain concessions, these employers sometimes be- came advocates of legislation extending such concessions to other branches of industry.^ In short the trade-union move- ment made government intervention in labor matters almost in- evitable, and profoundly modified the attitude of legislators, economists, and reformers toward social legislation. 4 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT In the tfrfrd place, during the second half of the century, Socialism became a powerful political movement and revo- lutionary Syndicalism appeared as a menace to capitalism. The aim of Socialism was to use the voting strength of the poorer classes to gain control of democratic governments and then to substitute for capitalism collective ownership of the means of production and distribution. The Syndicalists pro- posed a different method of action, z^'-., the overthrow of the capitalistic organization of industry by means of " direct ac- tion " on the part of the workingmen, that is by means of general strikes. Both Socialism and Syndicalism were revo- lutionary in purpose; the success of either would mean the destruction of private capitalism. As the Socialist and Syndicalist movements gained head- way, the defenders of the capitalistic organization of industry wefe compelled to make concession after concession to the de- mands of labor, in the hope of convincing the workman that his situation could be improved immediately and progressively without waiting for or incurring the risks of a social revolu- tion. As they were now bidding against Socialists and Syn- dicalists, as well as against each other, the bourgeois parties became more and more generous in their offers ; the more radical among them were willing to grant old age pensions, national insurance, government employment agencies, housing reforms, recognition of trade unions, even the minimum wage and the establishment of a maximum limit for the number of hours in the working day. Conservatives, liberals, and rad- icals, all felt the compelling influence of the new situation. The foregoing statement is not meant to imply that vote-get- ting was the only motive behind the social reforms of liberal, radical, and conservative politicians, but merely that the sin- cere humanitarian motives of such politicians were strongly reinforced by the poHtical necessity, ever present in democratic countries, of offering the masses at least a part of what the masses demanded. The four reasons which have just been stated explain the breakdown of the tlieory that the state should not inten^ene DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 5 in labor questions. Converting this statement from the negative to the positive, the above reasons show why the pohtical de- mocracies established by the Political Revolution were bound to concern themselves with the labor unrest arising from the Industrial Revolution. Ttiis application of political democracy to the task of creating a more harmonious and perhaps a more democratic organization of labor, industry, and society has been happily designated " social politics " ; " it is the most vital political problem of the present age. In relation to this general background, the significance of the Social Catholic movement may be more easily perceived. Like Socialism and Syndicalism; Social Catholicism offers a' program for the solution of the labor problem created by the Industrial Revolution. Like the more conservative programs of social reform, Social Catholicism offers an alternative to social revolution, and makes a counter-bid for popular support against Socialism. Social Catholicism, however, cannot be re- garded as merely a counter-bid, or as a program of concessions. It is a separate social philosophy, based on the application of long-recognized ethical principles to modern problems ; niore-, over, it proposes to solve the labor problem by a bold organicj reorganization of the existing industrial system and of exist- ing democratic institutions, rather than by cautious com- promises and palliatives. The foregoing generalizations afford a standpoint from which to view the development of the French Social Catholic movement in its proper perspective. In the earliest stage of that development, the important features are, first, the growth of a conviction that social reform was necessary to remedy the evils arising from the Industrial Revolution, and, second, the acceptance of democracy as the political instrument and condition of such social reform. In the present chapter, an attempt will be made to analyze these two features; then, in subsequent chapters, we may study the elaboration of the so- cial program, and its influence on democratic politics. 6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The Labor Problem in France: Facts and Theories 1815-1848 Social Catholicism as an organized movement did not ap- pear in France until after 1870, but to discover the impulses and ideas which produced the movement, we must turn back to the first half of the nineteenth century, the formative period of the Social Catholic program. The peculiarities of the move- ment, the obstacles and the tendencies against which it had to struggle, and the nature of the motive forces sustaining it, can be explained only by reference to the circumstances under which its basic ideas had their inception. During the period from 181 5 to 1870 the Industrial Revo- lution, already started, made rapid progress in France.' The nurriber of steam-engines affords as good an index as any of the progress of the new industry. In 1820 there were ap- proximately 200 steam-engines in France ; in 1830, approxi- mately 600; in 1840, approximately 2,900; in 1850, approx- imately 6,800; in i860, approximately 18,700.* It was pre- eminently in the textile, mineral, and sugar industries, and in transportation, that the revolution made itself felt ; accord- ing to an incomplete estimate made in the years 1840-1845, there were 243 steam-engines in cotton spinning mills, 143 in silk spinning and weaving mills, 135 in wool spinning mills, 218 in coal mines, 209 in sugar factories." The first French railway was opened to traffic in 1828 (with horse-traction) ; the first French steam locomotive was set in motion in 1832 ; but by 1850 there were 3,002 kilometers of railway under ex- ploitation, and by 1870 there were 17,405.^" The enormous expansion of the textile industry may be gauged by the increase in the number of spindles for flax and hemp spinning from 57,000 in 1840 to 752,000 in 1865; for cotton, from 2,610,000 in 1834 to 6,800,000 in 1867." The production of coal in- creased from 8,816,000 metric quintals in 181 5 to 44,335,670 in 1850, and 83,036,818 in 1860.^" Only 1,125,000 metric quintals of cast iron were produced in 1819, as compared with 8,983.533 in i860." DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 7 The rise of the new industry was paralleled by the develop- ment of the labor problem in a new form,. The working- people employed in factories and mines represented, numer- ically, only a minority of the industrial population, but it was a minority that rapidly grew in numbers, in discontent, in class- conscious unrest. According to the census of 1872 there were 153,932 men and 10,887 women working in mines and quarries, and 593,964 men and 418,042 women in factories, shops and mills. If we add families of these workers, we arrive at 2,412,079 as the total industrial proletariat dependent upon mine and factory, as compared with 3,062,903 dependent upon the smaller industries. Conditions among the workers of mine and factory were ap- palling. In the textile mills of Alsace in 1828, the normal working day was fourteen or fifteen hours, according to the statement made by one of the mill owners.^* At Mulhouse, work began generally at five o'clock in the morning and lasted until eight or nine in the evening, often even later. In some factories the working day lasted seventeen hours, with a half hour for lunch and an hour for dinner.^' At Lille, the work- ing-day in the cotton mills was sometimes sixteen or seven- teen hours; four-year-old children were found working in the shops; and the average wage was forty cents (two francs) a day for an adult male worker, twenty cents (one franc) for a woman, nine cents (forty-five centimes) for a child between eight and twelve years, fifteen cents (seventy-five centimes) for a young person between thirteen and sixteen years of age.^" Villerme, who made a careful survey of factory conditions towards 1840 for the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, reported that in general the working day for all factory-work- ers in the cotton and wool industries was from fifteen to fif- teen and a half hours, i. e. at least thirteen hours of effective work, but in sonte places conditions were still worse." An- other investigator, in 1847, asserts that workingmen occasion- ally were employed twenty-four hours at a stretch in some of the factories in northern France.^^ Some suggestion has already been given regarding wages. 8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT A few additional statements may make the situation clearer. In 1832 the Baron de Morogues estimated that an industrial workingman might be able to earn, at thirty cents (i fr. 50 c.) a day, about ninety dollars (450 fr.) a year. The cost of sup- porting his family (counting three children to the normal family) would be, at a conservative estimate, over 170 dollars (860 francs), making no provision for sickness or accident, or for saving. In other words, his wages would pay little more than half the cost of the bare necessities of a hand-to-mouth life. He could live only if his wife and his children also worked in the factory ; counting their earnings, the family in- come would probably fall only a little short of the cost of liv- ing.^" The \'icomte Alban de Villeneuve-Bargemont, writing in 1834, said that according to his own investigations, the estimate of 860 francs for the cost of living was too low.^" Certain it is that a man's wages were often less than thirty cents a day. An industrial crisis — and crises were frequent — or an accident, or a spell of sickness, would suffice to plunge the family into destitution, which meant starvation, or pauper- ism, or crime, or, sometimes, all three.-^ The employment of women and children in the factories was one of the worst abuses. Children were needed in the textile factories, because they were cheap, and because " the task which is confided to them requires a delicacy of the fingers in mending threads, and a suppleness of the body in gliding under the loonHs, which are not found in adults." -- The chil- dren entered the factories at si.x to nine years of age, some- times earlier; they were compelled to work, like adults, thir- teen hours or more a day not including meal hours. -^ This might be harmful for the children, but, said the manu- facturers, it was necessary. It is proved by the facts that it is not to the spinning factories that the evil must be attributed. If you indicate [as a maximum] eight hours, ten hours, eleven hours of labor, according to the age of the children, you will condemn several industries to witness the slowing-up, even the cessation, of their operations, because they could not stand competition if they were deprived of child- labor.2* DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 9 What argument could be more conclusive? The effect upon the children was terrible. In soul and body they were starved, dwarfed, deformed. Contemporary ob- servers seem to have been horrified at the viciousness and the physical degeneracy of these child-workers. It is an unpleas- ant picture to dwell upon. The children, says Villerme, remain on their feet sixteen to seventeen hours a day, thirteen hours of which are spent in a closed room, with hardly a change of station or attitude. That is not work, a task, it is torture; and it is inflicted upon children of from six to eight years, underfed, poorly clad, obliged to walk, at five in the morning, the long dis- tance to the factories and then to walk back at night, exhausted.^^ In most of the fact.-ries, Villerme tells us, the employer did not permit the children to be beaten. Many foremen and adult workers, however, avowed that they often found it necessary to beat the children. It is even asserted that, in certain factories in Normandy, " in rush-seasons, when the workingmen spend the night at labor, the children also have to stay awake and work, and when these poor creatures, succumb- ing to sleep, cease to move, they are awakened by all possible means, including the use of the lash." ^^ That the working classes were so inhumanly exploited un- der the new indrstrial regime was due to a remarkable his- torical coincidence. The invention of machinery, which di- minished the importance of skilled labor and increased the im- portance of capital in industry, occurred just at the time when the new science of " political economy " was arising to exalt still higher the importance of capital, and to destroy any hope of government intervention on behalf of labor. The science of political economy was originated by a group of French writers, the so-called Economistes or Physiocrates,'-'' in the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Dr. Ques- nay,^® physician to Louis XV and Mme. de Pompadour, was their acknowledged chief ; prominent among his disciples were Du Pont de Nemours,^* president of the Constituent Assembly in 1790 and pr sident of the Council of Elders under .the Di- rectory, MarquiS de Mirabeau'"' (father of the famous Revo- 10 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT lutionary orator and statesman), Mercier de la Riviere,^' Le Trosne,^'' Father Baudeau '^ and Turgot," the great minister of Louis X\'I. Quesnay and his followers spoke with the au- thority of natural scientists. Their doctrine, said Du Pont de Nemours, was " the science of the natural Order." ^^ And by the " natural order " was understood the free play of private interests, untrammeled by legislative restrictions or regulations. " We have seen that it is of the essence of order that the private interest of an individual can never be separated from the common interest of all. . . . [Under a regime of liberty] private interest perpetually and urgently presses every indi- vidual to perfect and multiply the things he sells, to increase thus the sum of the enjoyments he can procure for other men, in order to increase, by this means, the sum of enjoyments other men can procure for him in exchange. Society then runs itself ; the desire of wealth and the liberty of possession in- cessantly promote the multiplication of production and the expansion of industry, and impart to society entire a movement which becomes a perpetual tendency toward the best possible condition." "" The functions of government, therefore, should consist principally in not obstructing the automatic and benefi- cent operation of economic laws, and in " punishing the small number of people who attack the property of others." " " Laissec fairc et laisscc passer ":^^ let industry and commerce alone. Again we read, The sovereign authority is not instituted to make laws: for the laws are all made by the hand of Him' who created rights and duties. The social laws, established by the Supreme Being, prescribe solely the conservation of the right of fropcriy and of the libcrtv which is inseparable from it. The ordinances of sovereigns, which are called positi^r laws, should be merely acts declaratory of these essential laws of the social order." The natural inference from such principles is that the cap- italist should be left free to drive as hard a bargain as he will DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING II with the workingman, while the government protects the cap- italist's property and restrains the workingman from forming labor coalitions which might prevent free bargaining between the employer and the individual employee. The Physiocratic school of economy flourished before the Industrial Revolution had profoundly affected France ; indeed, the Physiocrats were chiefly preoccupied with agriculture rather than with industry, and their doctrines were radically amended by later British economists, such as Adam Smith, M'althus, Ricardo, James Mill, and Nassau Senior. However, their " scientific " justification of economic liberty and of the free play of private interest remained a fundamental principle of economic theory and a maxim of statecraft throughout the greater part of the nineteenth century. In France, especially, even after many of the doctrines of the Physiocrats had been refuted, and after the effects of the Industrial Revolution had become manifest, economic science continued to insist as had the Physiocrats upon the unwisdom of legislative interference with economic laws, upon the neces- sity of economic liberty, and hence upon the inexpediency of governmental intervention in labor questions. These three correlated principles formed the core of what we may describe as Economic Liberalism. A Protestant economist, J. B. Say,*" who was himself an in- dustrial capitalist*^ and may be considered Adam Smith's foremost disciple (but not merely a disciple) among French economists,*^ held that the laws of political economy are not' at all the work of man. " They result from the nature of ' things, quite as surely as do the laws of the physical universe ; , they are not invented, they are discovered; they govern the rulers who govern others, and are never violated with im- punity." *^ Wages depend upon the law of supply and de- mand, and naturally tend to the barest minimum of subsistence ; profits depend upon supply and demand and upon the capacity of the individual." Who, then, will be so bold as to interfere? "We conclude, as a general thesis, that the most favorable 12 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT legislation for industry is that which procures for everybody in the highest degree Hberty and security of person and prop- erty." « As the Industrial RevoUition in France progressed, during the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the leading French economists became even more emphatic, if possible, in their defense of economic liberty and in their condemnation of intervention. The great economist of the period, Frederic Bastiat," has been styled, with much justice, " the incarnation of bourgeois political economy." " The rate of wages de- pended upon supply and demand, not upon the generosity or avarice of the employer, said Bastiat.** Liberty, pure and undefiled, was his solution for social problems. '' Oh ! So many things have been tried ! When will the time come, then, when we shall try the simplest of all: Liberty?"*" He be- lieved in liberty because he was convinced that economic laws were in themselves beneficent and harmonious, and tended to the improvement of society, if allowed to operate freely.^" " When you are thoroughly convinced that each of the mole- cules which compose a liquid has in itself the force whence re- sults the general level, you conclude that there is no surer or simpler method of obtaining this level than not meddling with it. All those, therefore, who adopt this point of departure, that interests are harmonious , will agree on the practical solu- tion of the social problem: to refrain from opposing and dis- placing interests." °^ Interests are harmonious, therefore the entire solution is in one word : " Liberty." '- Placing his faith in economic laws, rather than in artificial legislation, he quite naturally opposed any such measures of social reform as work- ingmen's insurance, workingmen's pensions, profit-sharing, free public education. °' Believing that he had discovered the veri- table solution of the economic problem, Bastiat died with the words " The Truth " on his lips."* Similarly Charles Dunoyer, in his treatise " On the Liberty of Labor, or simple exposition of the conditions under which human forces exert themselves with the greatest power " (1845),"° explained how the true means of remedying the evils DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 13 under which the working classes suffered were to be found in an extension of the regime of competition.^' He therefore condemned not only government intervention in behalf of labor, but even the formation of labor organizations, as disadvan- tageous to the free operation of economic laws.^' Thanks to his optimistic economic creed, Dunoyer was able to regard the existence of poverty in a comfortably philosophical mood. " It is well," he wrote, " that there exist in society certain lower regions into which families which do not conduct them- selves well are in danger of falling and from which they cannot escape except by virtue of good conduct. Poverty is this ter- rible hell. ... It is made to cause salutary fright; it exhorts them [workingmen] to practise the difficult virtues which they need to achieve a better situation." ^^ In short, Bastiat and Dunoyer preached the social benefits of an unrestrained economic struggle for life. A generation later, Darwin's Origin of Species (1859), setting forth the biological thesis that the difficulties of existence with " unerring power " select those variations of natural species which are best qualified to survive, and destroy the unqualified, seemed to pro- vide powerful support for economic individualism. If the struggle for existence had been demonstrated to be the agent of natural selection in biology, why not also in human society? Darwinism in biology and Liberalism in economics seemed to lend each other mutual confirmation. If Liberalism declined during the latter half of the nineteenth century, it was not for lack of philosophical appeal, but because of the rise of powerful opposing forces. One of the opposing forces was Social Catholicism. French Pioneers of Social Catholicism The ideas of Social Catholicism were conceived during a period when the Industrial Revolution was causing terrible suffering among the working classes, and the classical school of political economists was teaching that any effort to protect the working classes would be an unwise interference with economic liberty. Social Catholicism, therefore, had to find 14 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT not only a practical remedy for the appalling poverty of the masses, but also a theoretical refutation of classical or Liberal economic science. This necessity, growing out of the very situ- ation which called Social Catholicism into existence, will per- haps help to explain the distinctly anti-Liberal tendency which at first characterized and long afterwards embarrassed the movement. This hostility to Liberalism is a dominant note in the first protests raised by Catholics against the social consequences of the Industrial Revolution. As early as 1818, when the effects of the Industrial Revolution were manifest in England, but not yet in France, the Vicomte de Bonald °° pointed out that " not- withstanding the wealth of the nation, there is in England more individual poverty than anywhere else, and Mr. Morton Eden in his State of the Poor and Mr. Malthus in his Essay on the Principle of Population enter into almost incredible details on this subject." For his part, he would prefer " fewer mil- lionaires and fewer paupers " than existed in England. And he added, " I know that a Liberal philosophy will treat this consideration as superficial, and will refer, by way of reply, to the perfection of industrial arts, commerce, credit, etc., etc. But I confess that I do not conceive public wealth as an abstract matter without application to a very large part of the individual citizens." "" Ronald's attack on Economic Liberalism was the natural reply of a royalist, an aristocrat, a returned emigre, to the social and political philosophy of the new age.°' Chateaubriand ."' another royalist and returned emigre, emi- nent in politics and diplomacy under the Restoration, was un- certain what the future held in store, and seemed to believe that the old order was changing; but he could not accept the philosophy of Liberalism, nor could he regard the French Revo- lution without repugnance.'"'^ He resolutely maintained that in the teachings of Christianity were found the only enduring supports of a sound political and social order."* It is because of his emphasis on the social value of Christian doctrines that DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 1 5 Chateaubriand merits mention in this narrative, rather than for any constructive ideas as to the application of those doctrines. To be sure, he prophesied, in 1831, that " a time will come when it will seem inconceivable that a social order ever existed in which one man enjoyed an income of a million, while another had not the wherewithal to pay for his dinner." "^ But his reflections took the turn of forebodings rather than of pro- posals. Under the old regime, he believed, the inequality of property had been " tempered by the diffusion of moral laws," by charity, by religion. In the new order, he asked, " can a political state in which some individuals are millionaires while others die of hunger exist when religion is no longer present with its hopes beyond this world to explain the sacrifice?" He went on to say,— In the measure as instruction descends into the lower classes, they will idiscover the secret plague which infects the irreligious social order. The too great disproportion of conditions and for- tunes could maintain itself as long as it was concealed; but as soon as this disproportion was generally perceived, the mortal blow was struck. Reconstruct, if you can, the aristocratic fictions; try to persuade the poor man, — when he knows how to read and has no beliefs, when he possesses the same education as you, — try to persuade him that he must submit to all privations, while his neigh- bor possesses a thousand-fold superfluity; as a last resort, you will have to kill him.^« And on another page, Chateaubriand disposed in short order of the Saint-Simonians, Fourierites, Owenites, socialists and communists as visionaries."^ The " other-worldly " consolation so strongly emphasized by Chateaubriand is not the feature that modern French Social Catholics would stress. They seek in Christianity not a pre- servative of unjust economic inequality, but the principles for social reform to the end of doing away with social injustices. Herein, it may be remarked, is to be discovered the true measure of progress in social thought among French Catholics l6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT in the nineteenth century, — the progress from a conception of rehgion as a social anaesthetic to a conception of Christianity as the enemy of social injustice. Not all the early Catholic protestants against Liberalism were royalists by tradition. Buchez." ^ for example, had been a Carbonaro and a Saint-Simonian socialist and returned to the Catholic faith later in life. In his judgment, the individualistic political economy dominant in the early nineteeth century was positively immoral. '"' The poverty and degradation of the niasses was in truth neither inevitable nor a matter of indif- ference to the state ; rather, society should assure to every laborer a sufficient wage, and should also endeavor by means of sanitary and hygienic measures to improve the workingman's health.'" He advocated cooperative societies of production for small-scale industry. Workers in the same trade should estab- lish a joint c.ipital, eliminating the professional capitalist, and should set aside a fifth of their profits each year to maintain and increase their capital.'^ Buchez inspired philosophical economists like Dr. Ott '^ as well as artisans like Gillaud, Pascal, Genoux, and Perdiguier.'^ He founded a journal with the interesting name of "The Workshop" {L' Atelier), which flourished during the period 1840-1850, and which had as its motto St. Paul's famous dictum, " He who will not work, shall not eat," and as its purpose, " unceasingly to urge the working- men to make the conquest of their instruments of labor by means of free and voluntary association." ^* Buchez, however, was too radical in his political theories to be typical of the precursors of Social Catholicism. Whereas most Social Catholics abhorred the French Revolution, Buchez wrote, " the human purpose of Christianity is identically the same as that of the Revolution : it is the former that inspired the latter." " The religious element was frequently brought out with marked emphasis. Gerbet/ " bishop and philosopher, rebuked the political economists for their failure to recognize theology as the true basis of social economy, and in glowing sentences exhorted the Christian clergy to " take their stand in the Future, and establish themselves as at once the defenders, the modera- DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 17 tors, and the guides of the interests of the masses," for, " if the lower classes revolt before Christianity has been recon- structed in their spirits, Europe will witness terrible struggles, the like of which, perhaps, has not been recorded in the annals of the world." '''' One of his most remarkable utterances is found in a Lenten pastoral letter of 1838: "The proletarian without religion is either an idiot or a Communist." '^ Louis VeuiUot,^" whose distinguished career as a clerical journalist and controversialist began under the July Monarchy and continued through the Second Empire and into the early years of the Third Republic, very clearly held up Christian social economy as the contradictory of Political Economy. Brought up in the humble cottage of a cooper, Veuillot had almost from his boyhood nourished a furious hatred of the Free-Thinking bourgeoisie, which he regarded as hostile both to the church and to the common people. Political Economy, he held, " is as profoundly calamitous as it is profoundly im- pious," since it destroys the Christian notion of charity and divides men into the " hostile classes " of rich and poor. " Be- fore making the poor able to live. Political Economy first absolves the rich and fortunate from the duty of assisting them. By virtue of its counsels, the destitute [workingmen] become fodder for factories, just as in the eyes of certain diplomats they are fodder for cannon; and competition, like war, sacri- fices armies." *° The true science of social economy, Veuillot declared, would destroy destitution (mis^re), but not poverty (pauvrete), "which is a divine institution." This true social science was Charity. ^^ A journalist, like Veuillot, but much bolder in his concep- tion of the social mission of Christianity, was Jean Baptiste Henri Dominique Lacordaire.^^ After a youthful apostasy, Lacordaire was led back to the Catholic faith, he said, by his social ideas.^^ He was subsequently ordained to the priest- hood, and was the prime mover in reestablishing the Dominican order in France. Whether in the pulpit or in the press (for he collaborated with Lamennais on L'Avenir and later edited L'£,re Nouvelle), Lacordaire was indefatigable in championing i8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Christianity and democracy, in the name of " God and Free- dom." As regards social philosophy, he provided the later Social Catholics with an arsenal of arguments against Economic Liberalism and in favor of social legislation. His remarkable talent for incisive epigrammatic utterance gave his arguments added force. " Between the strong and the weak," he declared in 1848, " between the rich and the poor, between the master and the servant, it is liberty which oppresses and law which makes free." "' Developing the thought, he argued, " that absolute laissez-faire is the abandonment of the weak in the hands of the strong " ; " that whenever laws have been made it has been for the protection of the weakest " ; " that the work- ingman is weaker than the master"; that, therefore, the work- ingnlan should be protected by law.'° Enough has been quoted from Catholic writers of the first half of the nineteenth century to exhibit the nature of their attack on Economic Liberalism, and to show their tendency to substitute a Christian philosophy of social reform for the ac- cepted teachings of economic science. We may now turn from the theoretical to the practical side of the question, and examine the definite proposals advanced and the institutions founded by the pioneers of Social Catholicism, for the relief of the working- classes. The practical aspect of early Social Catholicism is well exemplified in the labors of the Vicomte Armand de Melun.^° Melun, an aristocrat by birth and a Legitimist by family tradi- tion, had been destined for a diplomatic career, but shortly after the July Revolution of 1830 he decided to devote his life to social rather than to the diplomatic service, and began to do charitable work among the poor in the Quartier Saint- Medard. At first, the idea that charity was a religious duty seemed to be the sum and substance of his social philosophy. As his thought developed, however, he evolved anabitious schemes of organized charity, then of an international chari- table organization ; he became an earnest advocate of social legislation; and, in the hope that by some such means the workingman might be protected from the rigors of the existing DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 19 competitive regime in industry, he proposed the revival of the old industrial corporations or guilds. In the field of charitable organization, he was the outstanding figure of his generation. He instituted what might be called a Charity Organization Committee (Cqmite des CEuvres), in 1842. In 1844 he estab- lished a review, the Annales de la charite,^'' concerning itself with questions relative to hospitals, child-labor, unemployment, the cooperative movement, prisoners, trade-unionism, popular education, and with social service generally. A few years later he organized an Association for Charitable Economy (Societe d'economie charitable) and even an International Association for Charity (Societe internatiorMle de charite) ; *' in March, 1848, after the overthrow of the Orleanist monarchy, he in- duced Mme. Lamartine and the wives of the other members of the provisional government to form a " Fraternal Association in Favor of the Poor " {Association fraternelle en faveur des pauvres). Before 1848, Melun was chiefly concerned with private charity; but after the Revolution of 1848, as we shall see, he became one of the foremost champions of social legisla- tion in the national parliament. The precursors of Social Catholicism rarely elaborated extensive programs of social legislation ; Economic Liberalism was still too strongly entrenched to permit any hope of radical labor legislation in the near future. But in agitating for mod- est measures of intervention, such as the legislative prohibition of child labor, the forerunners of the Social Catholic move-i ment helped to drive home the entering wedge for reforms of wider scope. Among the early opponents of child labor was Cardinal Croi, Archbishop of Rouen.*' In his Lenten Pastoral of 1838, the cardinal made a strong plea in behalf of the chil- dren, " these young plants," from whom " parents and employ- ers demanded fruit in the season of flowers." " Poor little children," he exclaimed, " God speed the day when the laws will extend their protection over your existence."'" The Vicomte d e Villeneuve-Bargemont. " a Catholic deputy and economist, was one of the most conspicuous authors and de- fenders, in the Chamber of Deputies, of the law of 1841 estab- 20 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT lishing a maximum working day of eight hours for children under eight years of age in manufacturing employments.'^ In the Chamber of Peers, this measure found one of its most vigorous champions in Count Charles de ]\Iontalembert,''^ a former collaborator of Lacordaire and Lamennais. The fact that the child-labor law of 1841 represents the French govern- ment's first departure from the principle of non-intervention in labor questions, lends some importance to the efforts of Alelun, Cardinal Croi, Villeneuve-Bargemont, Montalembert, and other Social Catholic pioneers in behalf of the reform. \'illeneuve-Bargemont °* merits more than passing mention. He attained prominence by his success as an administrative official, under the Empire and under the government of the Restoration period; in 1812 he became prefect; in 1828, coun- cillor of state; in 1830 he was elected to the national legis- lature. As a Legitimist, however, he could not hope for an important public career under Louis Philippe. A few years after the enthronement of Louis Philippe, consequently, we find \'illeneuve-Bargemont turning his attention from politics to political economy. A visit to Lille, where there were almost 32,000 paupers, in a population of 70,(X)0, seems to have made a tremendous impression upon his economic philosophy."^ The problem of preventing pauperism became his favorite theme. The very titles of his writings show the trend of his thought: Christian Political Economy, or an Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Pauperism in France and in Europe, and into the means of Alleviating and Preventing It (1834),°" Historv of Political Economy, or Historical, Philosophical and Reli- gious Studies on the Political Economy of Ancient and Modern Peoples (1841)," and The Book of the AtHicted (1841).^'' In the last-mentioned work, he portrayed the misery of the " indigent workingmen," and ascribed the lamentable condition of the laboring classes to the social indifference of profit-seek- ing employers and to the narrow-mindedness of legislators who thought their duty accomplished when they had prohibited labor organizations. \'igorously attacking the economic theories of Adam Smith DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 21 and J. B. Say, he declared that the great and pressing problem for economists to solve was not the augmentation of production, ■but the " equitable distribution " of wealth and the dififusion of prosperity."" The accepted economic science of the day he regarded as fundamentally false ; its errors he attributed to the heretical influence of the Reformation. A true Christian political economy would justify state intervention to protect labor against the " new feudalism of the employers." ^°° With all the authority of his administrative experience and economic erudition, Villeneuve-Bargemont advocated social legislation, — not merely occasional legislative intervention to alleviate some particularly outrageous abuse, but systematic regulation. The evil was deep-seated, and required thorough- going remedies. " The wretchedness," he said, " which crushes the laborers, has profound causes which must be cured. If one looks for the numerous causes of this general and perpetual poverty, one is compelled to recognize that the first and most active of all is found in the principle of an almost unlimited production and of an equally unlimited competition, which im- poses upon industrial entrepreneurs the ever-growing obliga- tion of lowering the price of labor, and upon the workingmen the necessity of surrendering themselves, their wives and their children to a labor the excessive quantity and duration of which exceed the measure of their strength, and for a wage which does not always suffice for even the most wretched exist- ence." ^"^ It would be unjust to accuse the employers of sole responsibility for these evils. The fault was with the situation. Machinery had revolutionized industry while the abolition of the old restrictive laws had allowed production to increase enor- mously; but in destroying the obstacles to industrial develop- ment, legislators had also destroyed the guarantees which pro- tected labor. The present task, therefore, was to renounce the economic theory of non-intervention, and to establish a system in which the workingmen would be treated as human beings rather than as merchandise. This task, the restoration of the working classes, he said, was " the great problem of our age." "^^ 22 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT To prepare the needed code of social legislation, a commis- sion composed of peers, deputies, state councillors, magistrates, and "enlightened citizens," should be established under the authority of the ministry of justice. This commission would examine ancient and modern legislation, institute investigations of the condition of the working-classes, and draft the necessary laws, in the light of their investigations.^"' Among the specific measures recommended as practicable, we find the following. In the first place, to correct the ignorance, immorality, and improvidence which were so fruitful a cause of wretchedness among the lower classes, the communes should establish compulsory and free schools for vocational training and for moral and religious instruction. Provident banks should be created at the expense of industrial towns and com- munes, or of charitable associations, and the workingmen should be obliged to lay aside a part of their wages, \vhen the rate of their wages was sufficiently high so that this obligation would not be burdensome. Workingmen's guilds should be created by law, for the purpose of fostering the spirit of asso- ciation and mutual aid ; but the mistakes of the old guild system should be avoided.^"* On another page, Villeneuve-Bargemont proposed that the following obligations be imposed by law upon manufacturers employing more than fifty workingmen: (i) to maintain per- fectly salubrious conditions in their shops, and to submit them to inspection; (2) to establish schools for adult workers; (3) to refuse employment to any person who is under fourteen years of age and who has not received a medical certificate of fitness for industrial labor; (4) to refuse employment to any person who has not learned reading, writing, and arith- metic ; (5) to separate workers of the two sexes, and to give adequate guarantees of respect for religion and good morals; (6) to form, for the laborers, provident or insurance funds, in which would be deposited the portion of wages in e.xcess of the needs of the workingman and his family."' As regards wages, Villeneuve-Bargemont held that " a just rate of wages should be the first condition of all industrial DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 23 enterprise." The capitalist's profit should be taken only after sufficient wages had been paid the workingmen. By a suffi- cient wage was meant a wage adequate to provide the working- man, according to the customs and requirements of the country in which he lived, ( i ) the wherewithal to exist properly, that is to say, to have nourishing food, clean and durable clothes, and a ventilated dwelling affording proper protection against the rigors of the seasons; (2) the wherewithal to support his family, which may be presumed to include a wife and and two children under fourteen years of age; (3) the wherewithal to make some provision for times of sickness and for old age. " If the wage cannot provide all these things for the working- man," ihe said, " it is no longer in conformity with the laws not only of nature, of justice, and of charity, but even of political prudence." ^"® For agriculture, Villeneuve-Bargemont demanded ( i ) a rural code, favoring small holdings, (2) government credits for agri- culturists, (3) alleviation of taxes, (4) agricultural cooperative societies.^"^ :■ Finally, he advocated international labor legislation. " If it is true," he said, " if it is recognized that unrestrained competi- tion is the principal cause of the evils which weigh upon the manufacturing classes, could one not interpose, in the midst of this universal competition, a moderating element, which the other industrial nations might be induced to adopt likewise in the general interest of humanity? Could it not be established in principle, for example, that the daily duration of effective labor, for all workers, should not exceed thirteen hours, twelve hours, or any other limit deemed proper? . . ." At that time, be it remembered, France had placed absolutely no restriction on the length of the working day, and even children, jf we may believe Villeneuve-Bargemont, were often compelled to spend sixteen or seventeen hours a day at the factory.^"* The importance of Villeneuve-Bargemont's contribution to the Social Catholic movement was very considerable. His were not occasional, ill-considered, incidental remarks on the social question ; they were erudite volumes, carefully composed 24 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT by an economist of recognized standing, and supported by the authority of long practical experience in administrative affairs, first-hand observation of social conditions in many countries, and wide acquaintance with the standard writers on economic science. His was a serious and heavily documented contribu- tion. None of the " pioneers " mentioned in these pages has a better claim to the title of " ancestor of Social Catholicism," with which a recent biographer ^°^ invests him. The influence of Villeneuve-Bargemont upon his contem- poraries is attested by M. Henry Michel : The Christian political economy of Villeneuve-Bargemont had in the eyes of contemporaries an importance which we have some difficulty in accounting for. The socialists cite this writer and use him as an authority. The economists make an honorable place for him. For the rest, his polemic against industrial competition is distinguished by the vivacity with which it is imbued and the Chris- tian socialism which there makes its first appearance. i"^" Gaston Isamhcrt. a reformist socialist or solidarist writer, tells us that the works of \'illeneuve-Bargemont prove that one can be " a Legitimist, a militant Catholic, a member of the In- stitute, and still have a mind accessible to the idea of economic justice." Villeneuve-Bargemont "may be ranged along with Sismondi "^ among precursors of labor legislation and con- sidered as an ancestor of the Catholic solidarist party, of which MAI. de Mun, Turmann, Fonsegrive, etc., are the present rep- resentatives." '" Among Villeneuve-Bargemont's friends ^^' was Charles ^e C oux," * " a Catholic professor who is forgotten nowadays," '" TJut who enjoyed a certain amount of influence in his day espe- cially among the group of Catholic publicists who prefigured the modern Social Catholic movement. The son of an emigre, de Coux had spent his youth abroad, part of the time in America, and long contact with Protestantism had weakened his Catholic beliefs. His studies in political economy, however, led him to form a high opinion of the social value of Catholi- cism, and, like Lacordaire, he was converted by his social DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 25 philosophy."" " Catholicism," he said, " in its practical conse- quences, presents the most admirable system of social economy that has ever been given to the world." ^" " The democratic tendency of Catholicism in countries where the poorer classes are menaced by imminent starvation is assuredly the most re- markable phenomenon of our epoch," ^^* he declared, and " to- day the combat is essentially the same as in the Middle Ages : ' Catholicism is now at grips with the aristocracy of capital as formerly with the aristocracy of the land." ^^^ De Coux was welcomed as an associate by Lamennais , Lacor - daire, and the little group of militant clerical but politically " liberal " journalists who had founded L'Avenir shortly after the revolution of 1830. He wrote the leading economic articles for the journal. He may, therefore, be regarded as '" the living bond of union between Villeneuve-Bargemont and the ephem- eral but brilliant movement of Lamennais." ^^° Subsequently, when a chair of political economy was established at the Bel- gian University of Louvain, de Coux was called upon to be its first incumbent. His economic theories were in large part those of Villeneuve- Bargemont and need not long detain us. The classical Liberal economists, he held, by concerning themselves mainly with the production of material wealth, had exerted a deleterious influ- ence upon society. To be sure, " gigantic fortunes arose here and there, towering above the mass of terrible wretchedness," but round about them the discontent of " a famished popula- tion " was like the ominous murmur of angry floods. Already " the maintenance of public tranquillity requires a deployment : of forces which in other ages would have sufficed to conquer the universe." ^^^ Such was the situation which the ideas of orthodox political economy could not remedy, but could only aggravate. What was needed was a Christianized political economy, which would give proper emphasis to the social value of virtue, and would have as its aim not the mere increase of production, but the welfare of society."^ Another remarkable attempt to translate Catholic principles into a practical program was that made by Frederic Ozanam.^ '^ 26 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT At a very early age Ozanam became interested in the problem of social reform, in its relation to Christianity. He was only - eighteen when he wrote his Reflections on the Doctrine of Saint- SimonP* Saint-Simon's challenge to the Pope to under- take a mission of social reform profoundly stirred the heart of the young Ozanam. It is well worth quoting, — Your predecessors have sufficiently perfected the theory of Chris- tianity; they have sufficiently propagated that theory. ... It is now the general application of this doctrine which must be your con- cern. True Qiristianity should render men happy not only in heaven, but also on earth. . . . You must not content yourself with preaching to the faithful of all classes that the poor are the be- loved children of God, but you must frankly and energetically em- ploy all the power and all the resources acquired by the Church militant to bring about a speedy improvement in the moral and physical condition of the most numerous class . . the clergy will always exercise a preponderant influence on the temporal in- stitutions of all nations, when it sets to work in a positive manner to ameliorate the condition of the poorer class, which is everywhere the most numerous class.^^' Ozanam's entire life might be regarded as a reply to Saint- Simon's challenge, and a not wholly unconscious reply. For, Ozanam himself tells us that his later works of charity were motivated not merely by a sense of pity, but also by a zeal to prove by means of deeds the faith which he professed.^-" Qzanam's program rested on the general principle that neither Liberty nor Authority must be exaggerated, but each reconciled with the other. Rejecting the extremes of absolute laisscs-fairc and dictatorial government intervention, Ozanam proposed as methods of ameliorating the condition of the masses : first, legislative intervention by the government under abnormal conditions ; second, the formation of voluntary asso- ciations among the workingmen. Every workingman, he be- lieved, was by nature entitled, as a minimum, to a wage suffi- cient to provide for the necessities of life, for the education of his children, and for the support of his old age.^"' These ideas, obviously, were not in harmony with the doctrines of the Liberal economists. " God does not make paupers," said Ozanam, DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 27 "... It is human liberty that makes paupers ." ^^^ Again, denying the accepted economic thesis that labor is a commodity, he declared, " the exploitation of man by man is slavery." ^"^ Pronouncements of this tenor may at first thought seem in- congruous on the lips of a litterateur and historian whose most vivid intellectual interest was in medieval culture, in the writ- ings of Thomas Aquinas and Dante, — since Ozanam was a pro- fessor of literature and a scholarly student of the Middle Ages, — but in this very incongruity, if incongruity it be, a closer scrutiny will reveal a characteristic feature of Social Catholi- cism. For the modern Social Catholics of France considered their propaganda essentially as an attempt to revive and apply the kindly medieval Christian doctrines enforcing the duty of charity, the sinfulness of avarice, the dignity of human labor, and the social responsibility of property, as substitutes for the individualistic counsels of the classical Liberal economists .^^° If the Social Catholics were quick to discern the potential merits of the trade-union movement, it was because they ad- mired the medieval guilds. Ozanam's most important practical achievement, the creation of the charitable society of Saint Vin- cent de Paul,^^^ — which rapidly expanded into one of the world's largest organizations for the relief of poverty, — had its thirteenth-century parallel in the work of the mendicant friars among the poor.^^^ At this point it is convenient to recapitulate what has been said regarding the origin of the social program of Social Catholicism. During the half-century beginning in 1815, while the Industrial Revolution was gathering headway in France, and while the Liberal economists were advising against any legislative protection of the working classes, numerous Catholic economists and publicists arose to combat Economic Liberalism and to urge that something be done to solve the labor problem resulting from the Industrial Revolution. These Catholic re- formers, who may be regarded as the pioneers of Social Catholicism, differed one with another as regards political views and as regards certain points in their social philosophy, but, taken as a group, they may be said to have laid down at least 28 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT five planks in what was to become the platform of the Social Catholic movement : ( i ) instinctive rebellion against the teach- ings of the Liberal school of political economists ; (2) an appeal to Christian charity and to Christian morals as the basis of a sounder economic and social philosophy; (3) faith in labor organization, and specifically in the possibility of reconstructing or adapting the medieval guild system to meet modern needs ; (4) insistence upon the justice of a minimum wage sufficient to support the workingman and his family in a style befitting human dignity and Christian decency; (5) advocacy of social legislation to protect the vVorking classes, above all, the women and children, against the ruthless pressure of modern industrial methods. These ideas, as has been shown, were originated and gained considerable influence during the period between the years 181 5 and 1848. How and Avhy they lost ground, and were funda- mentally modified, during the period of the Second Empire, that is, roughly speaking, between 1850 and 1870, will be explained in the following chapter. Conservative Traditions and Democratic Tendencies ^ Before passing on to the period of the Second Empire, how- ever, it is of interest to note that in the earlier period there had already begun to manifest itself a strong tendency on the part of certain Social Catholics to couple social reform with political democracy, while others evinced a contradictory desire to asso- ciate Catholic social philosophy with a reactionary political theory. Was Social Catholicism to become a democratic move- ment, or an adjunct of monarchist reaction, or was it to be neutral? As the subsequent bearing of the Social Catholic movement depended upon the answer to this question, it is im- portant that we trace the development of the controversy. The reactionary tendency was perhaps the more natural. By contrast with the French Revolution, which had expropri- ated, disestablished, and persecuted the Church, the Bourbon Monarchy, which had for centuries maintained Catholicism as the state religion, seemed the very champion and defender of DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 29 the Church. Even those CathoHcs who saw clearly the short- comings of the Bourbons abhorred the Revolution no whit less. Joseph de Maistre/ ^" one of the most eminent Catholic apolo- gists of the early nineteenth century, understood clearly enough that the Bourbon Monarchy had at times interfered with the free exercise of the pope's ecclesiastical authority in France, and that the French court in the eighteenth century had been deeply invaded by corruption and infidelity. In a sense, de Maistre was willing to regard the French Revolution as a provi- dential event, designed to purge the French monarchy of its vices.^^* But intrinsically, the Revolution was an abomination. Its spirit was " satanic." ^^' Said de Maistre, Frenchmen, it is amidst the din of infernal chants, the blasphemies of atheism, the cries of the dying and the agonized convulsions of outraged innocence; it is by the light of incendiary conflagra- tions, on the debris of the throne and of the altars, stained by the blood of the best of kings and an innumerable host of other victims ; it is in disregard of evils and in defiance of the public faith ; it is in the midst of all conceivable crimes, that your seducers and your tyrants have founded what they call your liberty.^^" De Maistre's counter-Revolutionary political philosophy was all the more influential, and is all the more significant in the present study, because he coupled with it a firm belief in the social value of the Gospel.^'^ During the period of the Restoration (1814-1830), the favors granted to the Church by Louis XVIII and Charles X encour- aged the monarchist sympathies of many French Catholics.^^* Louis XVIII's government maintained Catholic Christianity as the state religion ; "° it repealed the divorce law (1816) ; '-*'' it forbade the press to attack the state religion (1822);"^ under Charles X (1824-1830) a law was enacted making sacri- lege pimishable by death ;"2 both monarchs favored the reli- gious orders and religious education.^*^ That influential Cath- olic writers, such as Mgr. Frayssinous "* and the Vicomte de Bonald,"=* should have extolled the monarchy was inevitable, under the circumstances. Nevertheless, an anti-monarchical tendency began to manifest 30 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT itself during the second quarter of the century. Chateaubriand, whose name has already been mentioned, on a preceding page, in connection with Social Catholicism, was during his early life conspicuous as a royahst; but in 1824 even he quarrelled with the king, was dismissed, and became a critic of the government ; he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Louis Philippe, when the latter ascended the throne in 1830; and the conviction grew upon him that " Royalty and aristocracy are things of the past ; tliey are not vital ; the democratic idea grows, equality increases ; the sapper is at work under the thrones." ^*^ Louis Veuillot, another of the writers we have mentioned as a precurser of Social Catholicism, was like Chateaubriand a monarchist by predilection. And like Chateaubriand, he too felt conscious of the uneasy stirrings of the democratic spirit of the age. In his more optimistic moments, he dreamed of the day when a " baptized democracy," friendly to the Churoh, would organize a European confederation of republics under the presidency of the pope. " There will be a Holy Roman Democracy," he prophesied, " as there has been a Holy Roman Empire." ^" Veuillot, however, was an opportunist rather than a convinced democrat in politics; with him, the interests of religion transcended in importance all merely political ques- tions. Hence we shall find him, at the time of the revolution of 1848, giving his adherence to the provisional republican government, because that government seemed favorably dis- posed toward the Church, and on the other hand we shall find him supporting the Emperor Napoleon HI, and declaring, " France will reject parliamentarism as she has rejected Prot- estantism, or will perish in the attempt to vomit it. . . . The nation has said to a man: My orators tire me, rid me of them and govern me." ^*^ Veuillot, therefore, can hardly be taken as a protagonist of the democratic school of Catholic social reformers. His flirta- tions with democracy in the period 1838-1848 are interesting merely as a sign of the times. Probably the most powerful impulse toward political liberal- ism came from two men who cannot be classed as Catholic DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 3I social reformers, namely, de Tocgueville and Lamennais. Alexis de Tocqueville was not a devout Catholic himself,^*" but in his famous study of Democracy in America, first published in 1835-1840, he maintained a thesis which gave French cler- icals much food for thought. Political liberty and the separa- tion of the Church and state in America had not prevented the Catholic Church from flourishing, nor was Catholicism the enemy of democracy. On the contrary, he said, the Catholics " constitute the most republican and the most democratic class in the United States." Religion and liberty were found in alliance rather than in opposition. Generalizing from his ob- servations, de Tocqueville concluded that " the Catholic religion has erroneously been regarded as the natural enemy of democ- racy," whereas in reality, it was the most favorable of all the Christian religions to the equality of men. Moreover, democ- racy had need of religion. " Despotism may govern without faith but liberty cannot." "° Felicite Robert de Lamennais has not been classed with the Social Catholics, because, finding it impossible to reconcile his political philosophy with Catholicism, he repudiated the latter. Prior to his breach with the Church, however, de Lamennais had won many converts to his faith that Christianity and democracy were reconcilable, and had formed a band of ardent followers and collaborators — generally known as " Liberal Catholics " — many of whom remained within the Church and continued to exert a powerful influence in the direction of political democracy. Lamennais had become prominent, before the Revolution of 1830, as a brilliant apologist of Christianity, a defender of papal infallibility, an advocate of liberty. " You tremble before liberalism," wrote Lamennais in 1829. " Catholicize it and so- ciety will be reborn." ^^^ A group of able disciples — Lacor- daire,"^ de Montalembert, Gerbet, de Coux, de Salinis, Cazales, Combalot, Maurice de Guerin, and others acknowledged him as their leader, and as the future " O'Connell of France." ^^' The July Revolution of 183a gave Lamennais and his fol- lowers their opportunity. For the Catholics of France it was 32 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT no longer a question of choosing between an existing conserva- tive Bourbon monarch whom they considered friendly to the Church, and, on the other hand, a possible experiment with democracy. The conservative Bourbon monarchy had failed. It was now a forlorn hope. The choice was henceforth be- tween a Liberal constitutional monarchy, resting upon com- promise with the principles of the hated Revolution, and dis- tinctly unfavorable to the claims of the Church, and, on the other hand, an attempt to establish a Christian democracy. Louis Philippe's government was most unacceptable. Catholi- cism, by the Charter of 1830, was designated as the religion " professed by the majority of Frenchmen," not as the religion of the state. Freedom of worship was proclaimed. The num- ber of ecclesiastical holidays was reduced. The pope was no longer to be represented by a nuncio in France. A Protestant, Guizot, was brought into the ministry;"* the state assistance formerly given to ecclesiastical students was dis- continued.""* Lamennais and his associates seized the occasion to launch a vigorous democratic and Catholic campaign. In October, 1830, they"" founded a journal, for which they chose the suggestive title. The Future {L'Az'ciiir), and the motto, ''God and Liberty " ; in its columns they boldly proclaimed their faith in democracy and Christianity, in the pope and the people.^'^ The franchise, (declared L'Az-cnir, should be " extended to the masses." ^°' Belgium, Ireland, and Poland were pointed out as countries where the cause of the Church was the cause of liberty and of democracy. The galling fire of L'Az'enir's crit- icism, directed now against the monarchy, now against the ministry, now against Conservatives, now against Galilean opponents of the papacy,"" brought down upon the heads of the editors the heavy displeasure of the government. More than once haled into court, the editors defended themselves with such eloquence that they obtained a triumphant acquit- tal."" More serious than the hostility of the government, as events proved, was the opposition of conservative bishops to the cam- DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 33 paign conducted by L'Avenir. Certain of the bishops, still clinging to the Gallican idea of a French national church, shel- tered by the French national monarchy, found L'Avenir both too Roman (in its exaltation of papal authority) and too liberal (in its advocacy of freedom of the press, etc.) for comfort. Moreover, the journal was sowing a whirlwind of controversy. Many bishops, therefore, forbade their clergy to read L'Avenir}^'^ The orthodoxy of the Liberal Catholic movement fell under suspicion. Consequently, at Lacordaire's suggestion, the three princi- pal editors — Lamennais, Lacordaire, and Montalembert — in November, 1831, decided upon a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain- the sanction of the pope for their teachings. Gregory XVI received the three pilgrim journalists with courtesy, but gave no sign of approving their doctrines.^"^ After some delay the pope issued an Encyclical Letter, Mirari Vos, August 15, 1832," condemning the doctrine that the Church had need of regenera- tion or modernization, denying that freedom of conscience and liberty of the press were unqualified rights, and reproving those who incited peoples to revolt against their princes.^"^ Although the pope had tactfully avoided mentioning their names, the three editors could hardly have mistaken his intention.^"* They promptly published a declaration that, in .deference to the pope, they would abandon the publication of L'Avenir }^^ Lamen- nais, profoundly disappointed and humiliated, gradually aban- doned his ecclesiastical functions, discontinued all outward pro- fession of Catholic Christianity, and ended by denouncing the clergy along with the kings as conspirators against the people.^"" His repudiation of Catholicism brought the Liberal Catholic movement into further disrepute. Far from following the example set by Lamennais, Lacor- daire and Montalembert remained zealous Catholics and at the same time preserved their belief that political liberty could and should be christianized. Both became, however, more and more moderate in their political liberalism. Perhaps for this very reason, they were able to exert greater influence upon the con- servatives. Montalembert, the younger of the two, organized a 34 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT powerful Catholic political movement and led a vigorous cam- paign for liberty of religious education and liberty of associa- tion."' Even Veuillot's Univers, the most influential conser- vative Catholic organ, seemed to be persuaded, at one time, that liberty of the press, of education, of worship, was desir- able.^8 The Revolution of 1848, which overthrew Louis Philippe, again found Lacordaire and Montalembert prominent in the liberal movement. Montalembert declared that the Catholics were " ready to descend into the arena, with all their fellow- citizens, to claim all the political and social liberties." "« But his conception of political and social liberties was relatively narrow, and he soon fell to quarrelling with the more demo- cratic Catholic leaders. In the latter part of 1848 he attacked the tendency to " con- fuse socialism with democracy and democracy with Christi- anity," — a tendency to which the democratic Catholic organ L'£.re Nouvelle had been, in his judgment, all too prone. Mon- talembert's hostile attitude was characterized by his former inti- mate associate, Lacordaire, in these caustic sentences: M. de Montalembert ... is destroying with liis own hands the edifice which represents his life-work, and he is preparing the way for calamities which will make him tremble, later on. He and his friends have employed against the Rre Nouvelle an even more odious tactic than was employed against the Avenir. They have wittingly diverted attention from the true point of the question, in order to persuade their readers that the Ere Kouz'elle was a revolutionary, demagogic, socialist journal; they have suppressed or denatured the replies made to their attacks, concealing their silence now by hypo- critical manoeuvres, now by calculated assaults. I have never seen anything which seemed to me further from fairness. So the separa- tion is complete and irremediable.''" As for Lacordaire, who during the interval between 1832 and 1848 had become a celebrated preacher and had reestab- lished the Dominican Order in France, an opportunity for liberal service soon offered itself. Not long after the Febru- ary Revolution of 1848, Maret, a priest who believed in " a DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 35 decided, frankly-avowed alliance with democracy," and in " a true and paciBc socialism," came with Frederic Ozanam, the founder of the Society of Saint Vincent-de-Paul, to ask Lacor- daire to enter the lists once more, as in 1831, for the defense of religion and liberty."^ Yielding to their persuasion, Lacor- daire launched a new joumal."^ The prospectus, published on March i, 1848, and signed by Lacordaire, Maret, Ozanam, Charles de Coux,"^ and others, announced that the purpose was to reconcile religion and the democratic Republic, to de- mand from the Republic liberty of education, liberty of asso- ciation, amelioration of the condition of the workingmen, and protection of " the peoples who have lost their nationality by unjust conquests which time cannot rectify, and those other peoples which, following our example from afar, aspire to achieve their own political and moral emancipation." ^^* The very title of Laconlaire's new organ — " The New Era " {L'Ere Nouvelle) — was eloquent of hope and confidence.^" It is significant that among Lacordaire's associates on The. New Era was Frederic Ozanam, whose pronounced social views have been adverted to in the preceding section of this chapter. Perhaps more clearly than any other man of his generation, Ozanam perceived the opportunity for the Catholic Church to become the protectress of the common people in both economic and political life. Again and again he exhorted his fellow-Catholics to interest themselves in the masses, as the medieval Church had interested itself in the conversion and civilization of the barbarians. " Let us go over to the bar- barians," he cried.^^^ Being an historian, Ozanam . formulated a historical theory of political evolution : " all that I know of history," he declared, " gives me reason to believe that democ- racy is the natural goal of political progress and that God is guiding the world towards democracy." "'' The optimism of the editors of The New Era seemed justi- ' fied by events when, in the elections of April 23, 1848, Lacor- daire, three bishops, ten other ecclesiastics, and a strong body of Catholic laymen were elected to the National Assembly. The white-robed figure of Lacordaire, sitting on the Extreme Left, 36 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT was loudly acclaimed. It was a token of the anticipated alli- ance of Catholicism and democracy.^'' Even more conspicuous than Lacordaire, in the Revolution of 1848, was Alphonse de.J^ajnartine, a Catholic litterateur and politician, who had slowly gravitated trom moderate royalism, in the 'thirties, to democratic republicanism, in the 'forties, and whose declamatory History of the Girondins (1847), glorifying moderate revolutionary principles, had done much to stimulate the liberal movement. Lamartine was the most conspicuous of the parliamentary leaders in the revolution of 1848; it was he that proclaimed the provisional government ; in the new repub- lican cabinet he held the post of foreign minister; it was the magic of Lamartine's eloquence that on more than one occasion saved the new republic from falling a prey to mob violence."" The spirit of Lamartine's political and social philosophy may be caught from the following passage, brief as it is, which he penned in 1849. The two great and the richest conquests are, in politics, the sover- eignty of all, exercised through universal suffrage, and in morality, the right of every one to the providence of all, the right to assist- ance by means of vyrork or by state-aid. . . . Death from poverty or hunger is then banished from our economic laws, as death by the political scaffold is banished from our revolutionary laws. . . . Transport the infinite charity of Christianity from the conscience of the individual into the conscience of governments, and you will have created the Republic imperishable, for you will have incor- porated into your government all that the age contains of truth and all that the Gospel contains of charity.^*" So general and so spontaneous was the acceptance of the new regime by the Catholics, that the alliance between the French Church and democracy seemed on the point of being realized. Even conservntives like Louis Veuillot urged accept- ance of the provisional government and declared that the Cathohcs would make the most sincere republicans.^*^ The papal nuncio at Paris entered into diplomatic relations with the government and assured its leaders that the pope would approve their action."^ DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL PROGRAM IN THE MAKING 37 The year 1848 marked the climax of the first stage in the development of the Catholic democratic or liberal movement in France. It also marked a climax in the development of Social Catholicism. For, as the reader has undoubtedly inferred from the fact that many of the men mentioned in the second section of this chapter as Social Catholics appear in the present section as democrats, the Catholic democratic and social movements had tended to merge. The New ^Era, championing democracy, ; was also the advocate of social reform. In their prospectus, March i, 1848, the editors declared. We regard with sorrow the moral and physical afflictions of so many of our brothers who bear, in this world here below, the heaviest portion of the common labor, a portion rendered more bur- densome than ever by the very development of industry and of civilization. We do not consider these evils impossible of remedy. . . . We look to the Republic, and rightfully so, to employ its power in alleviating the sufferings of the majority of its children.^^a This is a thoroughgoing acceptance of the two principles upon which the idea of modern social politics rests, namely, the need of reforms in the interest of the laboring classes, and the acceptance of political democracy as the instrument of such reforms. The two essential foundation-stones of democratic Social Catholicism had been laid. CHAPTER II MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM 1848-1870 Political Reaction The New Era was not as close at hand as Lacordaire, Oza- nam and their associates of 1848 had dreamed. The demo- cratic and social movement which had made such rapid prog- ress among French Catholics from 1830 to 1848 was violently interrupted at this point. During the period from 1848 to 1870, while a few indomitable optimists held fast to the program of the earlier period, the more influential Catholic intellectuals showed a preference for a less advanced program. In politics and in economics alike the reactionary tendency was so strong that it left a deep impress upon the body of ideas which was to form the heritage of the later Social Catholic movement under the Third Republic. In its political aspects, the aftermath of the Revolution of 1848 brought, instead of triumph, a grievous disillusionment for the group of Catholic democrats. To begin with, the re- publican National Assembly elected in May, 1848, thoroughly out of sympathy with socialistic experiments, decided to sup- press the '• national workshops " ^^* which had been instituted by the provisional government. Thereupon the workingmen in the eastern part of the city grew rebellious, erected barri- cades, and demanded the dissolution of the Assembly. Rather than yield, the Assembly sent General Cavaignac with armed forces to quell the disturbance. The Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. Affre, who rushed to the barricades in the vain hope of restor- ing peace, was mortally wounded; his death seemed to sym- bolize the tragic failure of Christian intervention in the struggle for democracy."^ The bloody conflict that ensued in the streets 38 MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 39 of Paris during the terrible '" June Days " (June 23-26),^^" re- sulted in the triumph of General Cavaignac, but it rendered illusory any hope of founding a democratic government upon the basis of fraternal accord and good-will.^" Disappointments for the Catholic democrats followed thick and fast. In the presidential elections of December, 1848, La- martine, who had run as a republican candidate, obtained only a few thousand votes, while the Bonapartist pretender. Prince Louis Napoleon, posing as a republican, by clever electioneering secured the great majority of the Catholic votes, and won an overwhelming victory. The Catholic democrats of the New Era group steadfastly opposed Louis Napoleon's candidacy, but their voice was not heard. ^'* While Louis Napoleon was transforming the Second Repub- lic into the Second Empire he continued to enjoy strong Catholic support.^*® The reason for this support is not far to seek. In the first place, the revolutionary movement of 1848 had demonstrated that democracy was a dangerous experiment, fraught with perils of civil strife; the revolutionary disturb- ances had given socialistic extremists an opportunity to assert themselves in Paris; moreover, in France and elsewhere the democratic uprising had been followed by demonstrations of an alarming anti-clerical spirit.^**" In Italy, Pius IX had been compelled to flee from the papal states, and a republic had been established in Rome.^°^ On the other hand, Louis Napoleon skilfully taught the Catholics to look to him as a powerful friend and protector. When the pope appealed to the Catholic powers for aid against the Roman revolutionists, Louis Napoleon's government dis- patched a French military expedition to restore the papal gov- ernment at Rome.^"^ Hardly less gratifying to French Cath- olics was the educational reform put through under Louis Napoleon's presidency. In January, 1849, Louis Napoleon's minister of education, M. Falloux, created two extra-parlia- mentary commissions on primary and secondary education, and appointed some of the most prominent clericals,— notably Mon- 40 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT talembert, de Melun and Abbe Dupanloup, — as members. The investigation led to the enactment of the important Educational Law (the Falloux Law) of 1850, which permitted the Catholics to establish " free " or private primary and secondary schools, in competition with the public schools. Priests were not required to show certificates of capacity ordinarily required of teachers in primary schools. In each canton, the ministers of the different religions were to supervise the religious instruc- tion, which was included as part of the official curriculum of prima n- education. General advisory powers were given to a Superior Council, whose membership included representatives, among others, of the clergy and of the free schools. As a re- sult of this law, 257 new Catholic schools were founded within two years ; 32 state lycccs were closed ; and the religious orders greatly increased their educational activities. Thus an issue which had long been the subject of bitter controversy under Louis Philippe was settled under Louis Napoleon in a manner very favorable to Catholic interests.^"' A majority of Catholic leaders were therefore quite willing to acquiesce in the coup d'etat of 1851 which, while restoring universal suffrage, instituted a plebiscite on the proposition of granting to Louis Napoleon the power to draw up a new con- stitution. Montalembert exhorted Catholics to vote for the revision. To vote for Louis Napoleon, is it not equivalent to voting for all that he has done, choosing between him and the total ruin of France? ... I recall the great religious reforms which have signal- ized his government : liberty of the press guaranteed ; the pope rei-stablished by French arms ; the Church restored to possession of her councils, her synods, the plenitude of her dignity, and wit- nessing the gradual increase in the number of her colleges, her communities, her works of salvation and charity. I seek in vain for any other system which can guarantee for us the conservation and development of like benefits. . . .^'^ \'euillot, the great clerical journalist, repeated in other words the same eulogy of Napoleon.^"' Under the new constitution promulgated by Napoleon in January, 1852, the president's term of offite was lengthened MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 41 to ten years, the ministry was responsible to him alone, and, in effect, a monarchical government was established under repub- lican forms. On December 2, 1852, the final step was taken, when, having secured authorization by a plebiscite (November), Napoleon assumed the title and powers of emperor. During the first few years of the Empire, the Church con- tinued to enjoy favor with the government. The bishops were free to hold provincial councils and to communicate with the pope ; pensions were provided for aged and infirm priests, and the salaries of the bishops were increased; French cardinals were ex officio members of the senate; public affronts to re- ligion were punished ; religious orders were allowed to expand ; negotiations were opened for modification of the Organic Arti- cles, which had been so distasteful to ultramontanes. Con- sequently, the Empire continued to enjoy Catholic support, although a few Catholic leaders still cherished democratic ideas. The Catholic group in the national legislature dwindled away, as its members identified themselves with other parties. Patriotism, economic interests, and gratitude for favors granted to the Church obscured the issue between democracy and mon- archy.^^" Under these circumstances, the Catholic democratic move- ment failed to find new leaders, while its former champions dropped away one by one. Ozanam died in 1853. Lacordaire, after making a strenuous attack on the Bonaparte government, turned from political to ecclesiastical affairs.^"' The Nezv Era ceased publication. Montalembert, to be sure, lost his en- thusiasm for Louis Napoleon, as the illiberal character of the Empire became manifest ; he persistently attacked the govern- ment and advocated liberty, but not in a very democratic sense. 108 Moreover, a certain amount of support was given by Mgr. Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans, who, although he himself was disposed in favor of a liberal monarchy, contended that the Church was not interested in maintaining a particular form of government, but merely desired that the government should be Christian/^" But the liberalism of Montalembert and Du- 42 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT panloup failed to find general favor. And the reactionary tendency received a very powerful stimulus from the Syllabus of Errors (1864), in which Pius IX condemned many popular conceptions of liberalism.'""' So weak had the democratic iden become that, when in the later years of his reign Louis Na- poleon became less friendly to clerical interests, no strong re- publican movement arose among French Catholics. Some who were dissatisfied with Napoleon III looked to the Legitimist pretender, the Count de Chambord, for the salvation of France. Democracy was far from their thoughts.^"^ In short, the democratic tendency of French Catholics was checked, was even reversed. This change made it highly prob- able that Social Catholicism would be linked up with an un- democratic political philosophy, and would be seriously em- barrassed thereby when democracy finally triumphed in France. An Advocate of Social Legislation Although the political reaction was closely followed by a movement of social reaction, there arose, before the latter carried all before it, an influential Catholic advocate of social legislation, whose ideas and achievements demand some con- sideration. The work of \'^icomte Armand de JNIelun in the years 1 849-1 851 represents a transitional stage from the demo- cratic and liberal reforming spirit of 1848 to the conservatism of the Second Empire. The Revolution of 1848 had found Melun busily engaged in charity organization and social service work. Through his review, the Annalcs dc la charite. through his national organ- ization, the Society of Charitable Economy, through his Inter- national Association for Charity, and through the charity or- ganization committee (Comite dcs ccmres), he inspired and directed the social service movement of the period in both its theoretical and its practical developments. -"- Though a Legitimist by family tradition, he welcomed the February Revolution of 1848, because it appeared to have brought about a reconciliation of the priest and the working- man, and because it seemed to open up glorious vistas of Chris- MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 43 tian democracy.^os " Events have outstripped the most auda- cious thought," he declared, " and the dream of a few has be- comle the awakening of all." The social questions formerly relegated to a distant future for settlement now demanded an immediate and positive solution. " Social economy " had in- augurated her reign, and was imposing the duty of solving " the most terrible problems." " Charitable economy, her sister," he added, more modest, and too often charged with the duty of picking up the dead and healing the wounded who have fallen on the battle- field of society, cannot abandon her in this high and perilous position, but must mount the throne with her, share her labors, and participate in her rule; fof, in the government of human affairs, in the study and solution of the questions which are now the order of the day, charitable economy has a special mission to fulfill.^"* Responding to Melun's appeal, the Society of Charitable Economy promptly organized five sections for the study of con- ditions among the poorer classes, and a special committee to prepare a comprehensive plan for the general organization of public assistance.^"^ Melun himself, meanwhile, persuaded the wives of the members of the provisional government to form a Fraternal Association in favor of the poor.^"^ He also urged Lamartine and other friends to bring to the attention of the Constituent Assembly a project to " base all public charity on the principle of fraternity, and realize the thought we have so often discussed, the union of the state with private charity." Lamartine took great interest in the scheme, but procrastinated, and the only result was discouragement for Melun.^"^ Perhaps because he was more interested in practical chari- table work than in social or political theories, Melun was not ■^rushed in spirit by the failure of the " national workshops " which he had never approved) or by the June insurrection, in fact, his political career did not begin until after these events. In 1849 he redoubled his efforts to persuade the gov- ernment to aid the poor, and decided to present himself as a candidate for the Legislative Assembly in order that he might personally work for the realization of hjs ideal. Considering 44 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT only his personal convenience, he wrote in February, 1849, he would not seek to enter parliament, but considering the need, he could not hold aloof. He said, I tell myself every day that there is a great work to be done, the consummation of all my achievements, the inauguration of charity in politics, the reconciliation of rich and poor, of him who possesses and him who suffers; and it is only from the height of the [legislative] tribune, and through legislation, that the treaty of peace can be accepted ; it is only with the authority of universal suffrage that one will have the right to recall the causes of the Feb- ruary revolution, which you see . . . so nearly forgotten. . . .^"^ Such ideas inevitably brought down upon Melun's head accusations of socialism, so strong was the laissez-faire spirit at the time. His own reflection on the accusations is worth quoting : Of late I have had my days of combat and almost discourage- ment. I had published separately the two articles which appeared in the Annalcs on the intervention of society in the sphere of cliarity ; and my friends the Catholics, those for whom I was working, could find nothing better to do than to accuse me of socialism and to put my work on the index. I admit that I was revolted by such intolerance and by so small an understanding of the needs and duties of the moment; and I was tempted to despair of the aim which I pursued, on seeing those who should have sec- onded me casting stones at me ; but the storm quickly passed, public reason came to my aid, and today even the extremists recognize that society as well as the individual must be charitable.''™ The charges of socialism were certainly absurd, in the mod- em sense of collectivism, but in a certain sense, the accusation was not entirely without justification. Melun's conception of social intervention in economic affairs was so diametrically op- posed to the accepted doctrine of laissez-faire that it might well be called revolutionary. Melun himself confessed, — " If I fol- lowed my inclination, in two years I would be anathematized as a socialist and repelled as a revolutionist." ^^° In the election of May, 1849, he represented himself as a champion of religion and of order, as a servant of the cause MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 45 of " the weakest and most unfortunate of our brothers." ^^^ He was elected by a large majority. On June 23, 1849, he asked the Assembly to appoint a com- mittee of thirty members to study the question of public as- sistance for the poor, in fulfilment of article XIII of the constitution."^ The task of the committee was not to run through the whole gamut of economic questions, from tariffs to trade unions, but merely to consider remedies for the more obvious sufferings of the working-classes. The code of laws to be elaborated by the commission, should " enter into his home with the workingman to render his lodging more sanitary, and into his shop, to make the air purer and the work less dangerous and more healthful ; [it should] facilitate his savings, encourage his thrift, take care of [him in] his involuntary idle- ness, concern itself with his sickness and infirmities, and not leave him without support in the sterile and often friendless days of his childhood and old age." ^^^ When the bill came up for debate, July 9, 1849, Victor Hugo, though intending to support it, stirred up opposition by his tactless remarks; but when the debate seemed to be going against him, Melun opportunely intervened with a graceful ap- peal for unanimity, and unanimity he secured.^^* The most eminent leaders in the house were appointed to the committee of thirty; Thiers, Montalembert, Berryer, Buffet, Arago were among them. A Catholic bishop, Mgr. Parisis, was chairman. Its deliberations lasted years; scores of pamphlets, bills, schemes, reports were considered ; it was the clearing-house for the social legislation of the day.^^^ In committee, as well as in the Legislative Assembly (1849-51) as a whole, there were sharp differences of opinion on social questions. The republican extremists of socialistic tendency were a negligible minority. The conservative major- ity was divided. One wing, of which Thiers was the most il- lustrious representative, usually opposed social legislation, whether through confidence in the orthodox economic doc- trines of non-intervention and laissez-faire, or through an in- tense fear of socialism, or through solicitude for property- 46 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT rights. The other wing, represented by Melun and by other Catholic deputies, and supported by the Society of Charitable Economy, desired moderate social legislation."" IMelun has left us a vivid picture of the situation in the committee. In one of his letters he tells us how he almost dreaded to bring any project before the committee, for when schemes were pro- posed, the inexorable logic of our friend the ultra-econonust, M. Buffet, opens the attack; MM. Randot, de Seze, Bechard, can think of nothing but exaggerated decentralization; the excellent bishop of Langres [Mgr. Parisis, chairman of the committee] says a word or two about the rights of private charity . . . and after our poor projects have been riddled from every side, it is hard to save even a few shreds of their mutilated articles. Occasionally M. Thiers . comes to our aid; more often, he energetically com- bats socialist and humanitarian theories, and from the pinnacle of his eloquence hurls his thunderbolts at Utopians and philan- thropists. On those days, to add the finishing touch to our de- feat, Emanuel Arago fa Republican, regarded as an extremist] never f.nils to defend us, and the committee, frightened by our defenders as well as by our assailants, adjourns in dismay at the evil it was on the point of committing in doing something . Treated as a socialist by the majority with which I vote, as a philanthropic idiot by the great politicians, as an enemy of private and religious charity by the bishops and the Catholics, I am never- theless held responsible by many for the inaction of the committee, which I convoke every day and which I urge forward with all my strength.-'' Melun's own scheme of social legislation, which he would fain have induced the Committee to support, was set forth in a pamphlet on " The Intervention of Society to Prevent and Alleviate Poverty" (i84o).2i8 He wished to steer a middle course between socialism and laissez-faire. Society, he said, should be neither a communistic organization blotting out private property and htmian personality, nor a " heartless mechanism " leaving each individual to survive or perish as best he might. But society should be a great protective asso- ciation, defending the workingman against ignorance, sickness, vice, poverty, excessive labor and unemployment, — for these MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 47 were no less inimical to his safety and happiness than theft and murder, to suppress which everybody admitted to be the duty of the state. To wait until the workingman had become a pauper, or was on the verge of starvation, before coming to his relief, was, in Melun's view, the most short-sighted of policies. An ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure. Social legislation should be preventive rather than merely palliative. Melun's scheme for the prevention of poverty was compre- hensive, if nothing more. Maternity hospitals, day-nurseries, orphan asylums, popular education, vocational training, welfare associations for young workingmen, — these formed but part of the series of institutions which should follow the workingman from infancy to old age, offering relief to the unfortunate and aid to all, encouraging thrift, promoting education, alleviating distress. These manifold agencies should be coordinated and fostered by a supreme council appointed by the National As- sembly; — perhaps it would be too ambitious, he said, to de- mand a special minister of state for social welfare. Under the central council would be formed a pyramidal structure of local committees, managing public institutions for poor relief and cooperating with private charitable enterprises. ^^^ His fundamental ideas were first, that the state should supplement and utilize private efforts for social service, rather than re- placing them, and, second, that the vast complex of public and private institutions needed to be coordinated. Furthermore, Melun desired the development of association among employers and workingmen, to the end that the wage- system might be transformed into profit-sharing. The idea was characteristic of the period. Cooperative production and profit-sharing were regarded by many social reformers as panaceas. Melun did not go quite so far; he merely recom- mended association as one of the many remedies. As respects labor legislation Melun held that the govern- ment had the right and the duty to intervene to correct the evils of industrial competition. " When competition shows itself inhumane and unfair, if it crushes the child and the 48 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT adult," he declared, social legislation must be adopted to pro- tect the health and morals of the young worker ; to prevent his being employed at too early an age, or before he has had an education; to restrict hours of labor; to protect the adult laborer against unhealthful shop conditions, dangerous mechan- ical installations, and excessive labor. In the matter of unem- ployment, also, society must intervene to protect, labor. Fur- thermore, the government should foster insurance against old age, but without instituting compulsory contributions for old age pensions. Such social legislation, Melun believed, would involve the establishment of a protective tariff system in order to defend French industries against competition of less progressive na- tions. It also would involve the setting up of international standards for labor. Taking a glimpse into the future, he predicted that the movement then afoot in many countries of Europe " will not permit any country to continue abusing human strength; the reduction of hours will become general law." Perhaps, he added, it would even be necessary to re- quire that employers found schools, dispensaries, institutions for the shelter of the sick and the aged, and old-age pension funds."" Melun's scheme was not accepted in its entirety by the Com- mittee of Thirty. But his ideas bore fruit in a number of the measures which the committee induced the Legislative As- sembly to adopt. In the words of one of his biographers, Fortunately RL de Melun was charged with the duty of reporting numerous special bills to the Assembly, and his friends drafted, under his inspiration, those that he had not been able to present himself. Consequently, the Legislative Assembly in its session of 1850 was able to vote, successively, a law on insalubrious dwell- ings,22i a law on pension funds,222 and a law on mutual aid societies, -=3 ^s well as a law on the education and guardianship of juvenile offenders. ^-^ The committee on Assistance [t. e., the Committee of Thirty] also presented a bill on foundlings, which reestablished the found- ling depots ; "-'■• it had also adopted other bills, on hospitals and hospices,228 on outdoor relief, on medical service in the country, MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 49 on apprenticeship,^^? on the employment of women and children in manufacturing industries.^^s Most of the bills had been pre- pared and discussed in advance by the Society of Charitable Economy (founded by Melun). ... 229 Melun had the great gratification of seeing that his efiforts in their behalf were appreciated by the workingmen themselves. In May, 1851, he wrote: Already the workingmen are singularly well disposed towards me, and boundlessly grateful for the good I have not yet done them. Saturday, one of the most advanced members of the Moun- tain, strongly opposed to the majority, announced to me that in the day of the people's triumph only one member of the Right would not be excluded from the popular unity. It was I. It seems that the associations [of workingmen] were so touched by my visit that my name is never pronounced except with enthusiasm and veneration.230 Had Melun been made responsible for the general report of the Committee of Thirty he might possibly have persuaded the Legislative Assembly to venture further in the path of social legislation and create the comprehensive organization of which he dreamed. But Thiers, more accomplished as a parliamentarian and as a writer, was chosen to make the general report. The document prepared by Thiers was a model of literary composition; even those who disagreed with his con- clusions could not help applauding the great statesman's felic- itous phrases. But Thiers represented the non-intervention- ist tendency and his voluminous report was more destructive than constructive in tendency. Caution was the dominant theme. " The state, like the individual," said Thiers, " should be beneficent. But, like the individual, it should do so as a virtue, that is to say, freely, and, moreover, it should do so prudently." Among the really novel proposals advanced in recent times for the relief of poverty, " few are compatible with respect for property, for individual liberty, for the public for- tune." Many were " chimerical and impracticable." In fact " there is little that is novel to be done, if one desires to keep within the limits of common sense." The pretended duty of so THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the state to assure employment to workingmen was an ab- surdity hardly worthy of refutation. Cooperative production associations would mean " nothing more nor less than anarchy in industry," because their fatal tendency would be towards equal division of profits, which would result in " the stifling of human genius," and the workingmen would " perish by suf- focation and be sacrificed to mediocrity." Compulsory in- surance against old age was out of the question ; even govern- ment contributions to voluntarily established old-age pension funds would be wrong in principle, for, — in all these systems [of social insurance] you take from the poor to give to other poor people, with a thousand chances of being mistaken, of taking from the thrifty poor to give to the improvident, taking from the industrious poor to give to the shiftless, — and one has no right to do that; for, after all, it is on each man's ovirn toil that his fate should depend, and not on the state. . . .^^i Alelun's comment on this report shows the gulf that lay between the two men: It was a veritable volume, such as one might expect from so ingenious a mind and so accomplished a writer. When he [Thiers] read it to the committee, there was nothing to do but applaud the felicitous ideas, the charming pages. He spoke of private charity in very good terms, refuted the socialist doctrines very clearly, held up schemes of universal reform to ridicule; — and if a timid voice raised the objection that although he had combated the panaceas of charlatans very ably, it would perhaps be well to in- dicate some better remedies for evils which could not be denied, he fell back on the statement that it was almost impossible to find such remedies, and that it was necessary for poor humanity to live with its maladies, fearing lest it kill itself in attempting a cure.232 Melun ironically remarked that he feared the poor would not be much aided by '' this voluminous masterpiece." " The most eloquent pages give very little warmth or nourishment to people who suffer from cold and hunger." "'* With Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat of December 2, 1851, Melun's political career came to an abrupt end. He was among those who were imprisoned for raising a protest. Upon MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 SI his release, he retired to private life. Sceptical and distrustful toward the Second Empire, he nevertheless had keen enough an insight into the social background of political events to write : In representing the empire as the perfection of the republic and the consecration of democracy and of universal suffrage, one responds well enough to the instincts of the working class, which, seeing the impossibility and the vexatious consequences of Louis Blanc's doctrines, prefers the emperor, acclaimed by masses, to the monarch by divine right or by legal claim. The liberties which the [new] presidential constitution impairs mean little to the laborer, and democratic tendencies always aim toward the despotism of a man or of a convention. The people, when they think and talk politics, desire above all that authority have the air of coming from them. . . . They do not care much for offices; three years ago it was very difficult to persuade them to elect a workingman among their representatives. Louis Napoleon is certainly the most popular, the least bourgeois, the least aristocratic power on earth. ^^^ As in ensuing years he witnessed the progress of political and social reaction, the growing hostility between the masses and the bourgeoisie, he became more and more pessimistic, and looked back with the regret of disillusionment to the time when, in his own words, I had faith in the future of my country and dreamed of her great and holy mission in the world; and in the struggle against the Voltairian and egoistic tendencies of the government and the ruling classes, I saw the triumph of religious and charitable ideas.^ss One consolation he had. " There will remain," he said, " among the parliamentary achievements of assemblies now silent and vanquished, some few laws of genuine service to the poor." ^'* And he had just reason for self -congratulation ; the social laws of 1850-1851 represented a solid achievement, and several of them have continued in force, with only slight amendment, to the present day. 52 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Social Reaction : Causes After Melun's retirement, the spirit of social reaction be- came widely prevalent among Catholics. Social and political conservatism triumphed over the spirit of reform. It will be remembered that the Liberal Catholics of 1830-1848, — Oz- anam, Lacordaire, and their friends, — had proclaimed a two- fold mission for Christianity in the " new era " : on one hand, democratic political liberty must be Christianized; on the other hand, the economic organization of society must be reformed in harmony with Christian ideals. After 1851, both aspects of that mission were pretty generally denied, or else inter- preted in a very conservative sense, with the result that the democratic and social program which had been evolved before 1848 was profoundly modified, if not altogether discarded, during the years 1851-1870, and the Catholic social-reform movement in France, while it allied itself politically with the cause of monarchy, grew decidedly cautious about proposals for changes in the economic order. The causes of the po- litical reaction have already been suggested. It remains to indicate the reasons for the social reaction. . It is not difficult to assign causes for the retrogression of Social Catholicism after 1848. One obvious cause was the fact that the movement, if it may be called a movement, lost "its leaders. Villeneuve-Bargemont, the economist, died in the year 1850; Ozanam, in 1853; Lacordaire, in 1861 ; Gerbet, in 1864; de Coux, in 1865. Lacordaire had been almost silenced some time before his death. Montalembert (d. 1870) survived most of his associates, but was primarily interested in the politi- cal controversy regarding religion and liberty, and was terrified by socialism. The career of Melun also lasted throughout the period of the Second Empire, but Melun, after 1851, de- voted himself to private charity rather than to social legisla- tion. As the old leaders disappeared, new leaders were not found to take the vacant places. Or rather, the Catholic lead- ers of the new generation refused to follow the trail blazed by Ozanam, Lacordaire, de Coux, and Villeneuve-Bargemont. MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 S3 The tendency of the times changed ; for what reasons, remains to be seen. The Revolution of 1848 did much to discredit the idea of radical social reform, and particularly of social legislation. In the first flush of revolutionary enthusiasm, in the spring of 1848, everything had seemed possible. The ^revolution, from its inception, had shown a marked social penchant. By one of its first decrees the provisional government promised " to guarantee the existence of the workingman by his work," and " guarantee work to all citizens " (Feb. 25, 1848).^" The decree was drafted by a socialist, Louis Blanc, and its approval was expedited by the insistence of a group of workingmen who had fiocked to the Hotel de Ville to urge the measure. The next day, the government announced that it would establish " national workshops " to provide labor for the unemployed. Accordingly, public workshops were opened, and thousands of workingmen entered government employ.^^^ Meanwhile a commission, presided over by Louis Blanc, had been estab- lished at the Luxenibourg Palace to inquire into the conditions of labor, and had promulgated various social reforms, — among others, the limitation of the working day at Paris to ten hours, and in the provinces, to eleven hours (decree of March 2, 1848).^^^ The provisional government seemed to be making rapid progress along the path of social legislation. As a matter of fact, however, the majority in the provisional government was opposed to Louis Blanc. The experiment with " national workshops " was not what many people were misled to believe it, a sincere attempt to realize Louis Blanc's program of social reform. Louis Blanc had advocated the estabhshment of "social workshops" (ateliers sociaux), by which he meant genuine cooperative societies for industrial production. The government was to provide the capital, in the first instance, and to organize the workshops during the first year; once thoroughly established, the workshops were to become autonomous, under the management of officials elected by the workingmen; all workingmen were to receive equal wages; net profits were to be divided into three equal 54 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT parts, — one for distribution to the workers as a wage bonus, one for the support of the aged, the sick, and the infirm and for the alleviation of crises, and one for equipment. These social workshops, it was hoped, would prove so efficient that private capitalists would be unable to compete with them, and private capitalism would be gradually eliminated or ab- sorbed by the new organization of industry.^*" Now the " national workshops " established by the provi- sional government of 1848 were not true " social workshops " but merely makeshift devices for the public employment of unemployed men. Many of the men were set to work, not at their proper trades, or in productive industrial enterprises, but at such tasks as excavating in the Champs de Mars or planting liberty trees. Even then, there was not work enough, and thousands of men found themselves with Httle or nothing to do. The wage paid by the state was a mere pittance. The manager was an opponent of Louis Blanc's socialism. Never- theless, the conservative classes seem to have regarded the national workshops as the realization of Louis Blanc's social- ist ideas, and when, inevitably, the national workshops proved to be so costly and so useless that they fell under general condemnation, Louis Blanc's socialism and his theory of the " right to work " suffered blame. Socialism was deemed dis- credited.^*^ The failure of Louis Blanc's committee on labor to accom- plish any solid reforms was another blow to socialism. Blanc resigned the chairmanship in May, 1848, and the committee was considered dissolved. Louis Blanc found it advisable to depart from France in haste, and lived in exile during the en- suing twenty years. ^*^ If Catholics after 1848 regarded socialism as dangerous, im- practical, nay more, as a deadly menace to society, it was not merely because socialistic theories had been discredited in 1848. It was partly because the socialistic movement had changed in character. With the Revolution of 1848, socialism, passing definitely from its Utopian stage, became a political and revo- lutionary movement."* The Utopian socialists, notably Saint- MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 55 Simon and Fourier, who flourished in France during the first part of the nineteenth century, had hoped for the reorganiza- tion of society by voluntary action of the upper classes.^** They were not dangerous agitators of the proletariat. More- over, some of the Utopians showed a distinct tendency to re- gard Christianity as an ally, not as an enemy. Saint-Simon's famous appeal to the pope has already been cited."^ Cabet held that Christianity and communism were synonomous terms.^*" Pierre Leroux took the Christian ideas of charity and human equality as his starting point. ^*' When we come to Louis Blanc, whose influence was greatest during the 'forties, we find a certain hostility to Christianity : ^** still, the socialistic workingmen of 1848 were not anti-Christian to any marked degree. But after Louis Blanc's flight, the spirit changed. In part this was due to the bitter resentment which the workingman felt at the readiness of the Catholics to ap- plaud and even promote the transformation of the semi-so- cialistic provisional government into an undemocratic empire. The labor movement under the Second Empire became in- creasingly anticlerical.^*" In part the change was due to the influence of Proudhon, whose ideas exercised considerable influence among French socialists, although, strictly speaking, he is to be classed as an anarchist rather than as a socialist. Proudhon wished to substitute the idea of justice for religion ; he was outspoken in his attacks on the Church. " The tyranny of the priests," he wrote in 1855, " is worse today than in 1815- 1825 ; their avowed plan is to kill science, to stifle every liberty. If ever democracy gets another inning, and I count for some- thing, it will be all up with Catholicism in France." ^'^ Moreover, after 1848 the socialist movement came increas- ingly under Marxian influence. The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels marked the begin- ning of modern socialism. Marx and Engels were both He- braic in race, and decidedly anti-Christian in philosophy. The Marxian sociaUst movement of the second half of the nine- teenth century found many of its leaders among Jews and free-thinkers. The socialists came more and more to be re- 56 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT garded — and in some measure justly — as enemies of Chris- tianity as well as of capitalism.-^^ The growing anticlerical tendency of socialism made the Catholics only more hostile to socialism. Montalembert, who is certainly not to be classed among the extreme reactionaries, wrote in 1851, " to vote against Louis-Napoleon is to decide in favor of the socialist revolution." ^^'"- And the more firmly the Catholics supported Louis Napoleon, the more anticlerical the socialists became. Their hostility to socialism made it all the easier for some Catholic economists and sociologists to join with the Liberal economists in decrying excessive governmental inter^-ention in labor problems, and even in justifying the existing economic organization of society. The pious Blanc Saint-Bonnet,-'^ for example, stoutly maintained that the economic order placed each man in the station he deserved. Prosperity, he declared, was the measure of virtue. Men's souls, rather than social institutions, needed to be reformed. " Open your eyes," he said, " this life is nothing but a system organized so as to keep man in poverty, in order that man may exercise all the virtues for the purpose of escaping from poverty." On the other hand, Blanc Saint-Bonnet urged the bourgeoisie to strive for the restoration of Christianity among the masses, and the clergy to acquaint themselves with political economy. " Every- thing for the people, nothing by the people." Blanc Saint- Bonnet's economic system was little more than the classical or Liberal political economy in a new garb of Christian phrase- ology. Not all Catholic thinkers of the period would go so far as Blanc Saint-Bonnet in adopting Liberal political economy. A few there were who saw danger in the prevalent drift toward liberalism in economics and away from liberalism in politics. .\ugustin Cochin, who had been associated with the Liberal Catholic group of 1848, and who had achieved some prominence in municipal politics at Paris, vehemently rebuked the CathoHc leaders who claimed to be promoting the interests of religion MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 184S-1870 57 by favoring the reactionary tendencies of the Second Empire. " People imagine," he said, " that to preach rehgion is to preach patience. Religion in the role of police is pleasing to small-spirited men. This path is narrow, this enterprise is sterile, it will lead to the detestation of God and of them who preach God." ^^ A second Catholic writer, J. Bourgeois, very candidly pointed out that his co-religionists had made a monumental blunder in abandoning the earlier Catholic social teachings and rushing to the defense of economic Liberalism, since 1848. Economic Liberalism, he maintained, caused industrial anarchy, starva- tion-wages, unbridled competition, speculation, corruption of morals, and a whole train of corollary evils. Socialism was a natural, though not a true, reply to economic Liberalism. The duty of Catholics was to make themselves the sincere and serious champions of a social program which would correct the errors of both economic Liberalism and socialism. ^^^ Still another, Jean Baptiste Bordas-Demoulin, writing in a somewhat more democratic spirit, made an earnest plea for Catholic support of the democratic movement in both politics and economics. If Christianity becomes democratic, he de- clared, democracy will become Christian. Economic democracy could be achieved, he believed, by the concurrent influence of governmental intervention, i. e., social legislation, and labor organization, or association. By promoting these influences. Catholics would help to bring about " the social reign of Chris- tianity." 2=" Bordas-Demoulin drew most of his ideas from Franqois Huet, whose book entitled The Social Reign of Christianity ^^' is an interesting attempt to reconcile Catholicism and the French Revolution, and to use the two as a basis for a sort of " Chris- tian socialism." As one student of his theories remarks, Huet was not a socialist in the modern sense, for he opposed exces- sive governmental regulation and defended freedom of labor as well as interest on capital. His scheme was to establish equality of economic competition by endowmg each man with 58 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT a patrimony, an education, and a right to public assistance. As regards politics, Huet was a republican and dreamed of a future universal Christian republic."' Bourgeois, Bordas-Demoulin, and Huet, however, cannot be taken as genuine representatives of Catholic ideas on social re- form, during the period of the Second Empire. The really typical Catholic economists of the era, the men who formulated the social philosophy which was to be handed down from the Second Empire to the Catholics of the Third Republic, were Le Play and Perin. And Le Play and Perin, as the following paragraphs will attempt to show, felt very strongly the influ- ence of the social and poHtical conservatism of their day. Le Play and Perin The economists who dictated the social philosophy of the French Catholics during the latter part of the Second Empire period were far from approving the social program which had been developed in the period 1832-1851 by men like Villeneuve- Bargemont, Ozanam, and Melun. Frederic Le Play,="° a French engineer, economist, and sociologist, and Charles Perin, a Belgian professor of economics, were the two outstanding figures. These two men wielded an enormous influence in economic thought, particularly among Catholics. They claimed to represent Christian social economy as contrasted with the old materialistic political economy. But the Chris- tian social economy of Le Play and Perin was not the Chris- tian economy of a Villeneuve-Bargemont or a Melun ; it was a system fundamentally hostile to the social legislation which \'illeneuve-Bargemont and IMelun had demanded. Strongly as he criticized the existing social order, Le Play was even more opposed to any serious attempt to modify that order by means of social legislation. Admitting that the moderate British factory acts of 1833, 1842, 1844, and 1847, restricting the employment of women and children, had brought beneficial results, Le Play nevertheless emphatically condemned government regulation of industry in principle.^"" As excep- tions, legislation to prevent the disruption of family life and MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 59 to enforce respect of Sunday might perhaps be admitted. Labor legislation was a last resort, to be relied upon only un- der abnormal conditions, and, in most cases, the remedy was worse than the evil. Le Play believed that social reform was to be accomplished not by social legislation alone, but by the threefold work of (i) enlightening public opinion, (2) reforming morals and customs, (3) establishing proper institutions and laws. The part of the state in this regenerative process would be relatively small and would be more negative than positive ; to be specific, the state should reestablish liberty of testament, and should repress violations of industrial liberty ; on the positive side, the state should be content to favor and support the action of in- dividuals, especially of individual enlightened capitalists. The state should intervene, however, where private initiative was in- capable of acting, as in the case of preventing the industrial employment of women. In the main his doctrine was of a strongly anti-interventionist tendency. It led almost irresisti- bly to the conclusion that, " for the time being, we must re- nounce the hope of seeing the present state of suffering reme- died by the initiative of the rulers." Perhaps this is one reason why Le Play's school of political economy received such strong support from men of wealth.^"^ Le Play was equally mistrustful of labor organization. The laboring classes were incapable of forming unions which would contribute to the solution of the social problem. " Among the panaceas which have been lauded in our time, labor organiza- tion is one of the most overworked. . . . These societies can not afford, from the point of view of results, the same ad- vantages as individual labor or even capitalism, properly un- derstood." If labor organizations or guilds were formed at all, they should be entirely free and voluntary.^'^ The following message from Le Play's book on Social Reform in France exhibits his fundamental opposition to any vigorous form of labor organization: One would reestablish, it is true, the stability of men's positions in life, — that excellent characteristic of the middle ages, — by re- 6o THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT turning to the closed guilds and to compulsory engagements. This return to the past, however, is not at all desirable; for, one would destroy thereby the liberty of labor, which, despite certain grave but remediable evils, is one of the rare features of superiority in our epoch of instability and antagonism. It is as necessary as ever to assure the existence of improvident families; but we must ob- tain from the intelligent employment of free will the result which our forefathers obtained more easily from the regime of regula- tion. To attain this end freely, we must found agriculture and the manufacturing industry on the family [la famille souche, i.e., the family in which the chosen son takes the father's place as head of the family and proprietor of the family patrimony] and voluntary patronage. The return to constraint would be opportune only if our employers and our workingmen, persisting in their deplorable antagonism, refused to follow the example of the model factories of France and foreign countries.^"' Martin Saint-Leon, the eminent historian of the French craft-guilds, believes that he finds in Le Play merely a con- demnation of compulsory guild organization, not a repudiation of the guild idea in toto. Says Martin Saint-Leon, A mind such as that of Le Play could not fail to appreciate the value of the great social force of association, especially of pro- fessional association. But, — and it is from this point of view alone that we are not able to adhere to the conclusions formulated by that great mind, — Le Play desires the free guild, i. c, not merely open, respecting the right of each individual to labor and to economic liberty, but also voluntary and resulting from private initiative.""* Compare this with Le Play's own statement, quoted above, that the idea of industrial association was an over-rated " panacea." Even more negative is the following passage from the pen of Le Play: Comparing the distress which nowadays weighs upon manu- facturing populations with the prosperity which they formerly en- joyed, people have often been led to praise the principle of the former guilds of crafts and trades. It has even been proposed to reestablish and perfect them. The experience acquired in a host of factories, and even in whole regions of Europe, counsels us to re- ject this proposition,""' MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 6l The practical influence of this doctrine may be seen in the debates of the Legislative Body; in 1864, for example, we find an important employer, Kolb-Bernard, echoing Le Play's theories and opposing a bill to legalize labor unions.^*' The true bases of social reform, according to Le Play, were religion, property, the family, and patronage. Religious piety, he held, brought temporal blessings as its reward. Property was an essential bulwark of social order, and should be widely diffused. The family was the natural unit of social organiza- tion. Finally, much social good might be accomplisl^ by the voluntary action of employers and large landowners, who should encourage their employees to marry, to acquire homes of their own, and to lead pious, moral lives. The beneficent role of the capitalist is what Le Play understood by the word patronage.^^'' Le Play's thoroughly aristocratic version of Catholic social doctrine appealed chiefly to capitalists, to wealthy landed pro- prietors, to engineers (Le Play himself was an engineer), — in a word, to the upper and middle classes. ^°^ In Le Play's hands. Social Catholicism lost its democratic features, was re- shaped on a conservative model, and was coupled up with monarchist and aristocratic ideas in the domain of political theory.^'^ Le Play, in this sense, is the successor of de Maistre and Bonald, rather than of Ozanam and Lacordaire. Six characteristics of Le Play's system were destined to affect the future development of Social Catholic thought. (i) In the first place, it was counter-revolutionary; it claimed to set itself squarely in opposition to " the false dog- mas of 1789." ^'"' Plence, (2) in politics, it associated Catholi- cism with monarchism. (3) In the field of social reform, while repudiating democracy and equality, it sought to conserve liberty, and to ameliorate the condition of the masses by the benevolent voluntary action of the upper classes. (4) In method, Le Play was much more thorough, more scientific, than his predecessors ; casting aside a priori reasoning, he laid the basis for his sociological theory in a painstaking study of typical families, in the most minute detail. Le Play's in- 62 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT fluence and example were very beneficial in promoting ob- jective, scientific research among Catholic sociologists. (5) While the object of his research was to discover the true facts about existing conditions, Le Play was far from falling into the complacent belief that " whatever is, is right," that existing conditions were the inevitable result of natural laws. In his book on the Organization of Labor he explains his difference with the Liberal economists on this point: The trouble came about because several writers, ignorant of the practise of prosperous shops, have established a systematic de- marcation between the economic and the moral order. These writers have exalted into theories the most regrettable facts of the new manufacturing regime. They have taken no account of the reciprocal duties imposed upon employers and upon workers by time-honored customs, which all the social authorities of the Con- tinent and of England herself continue to respect. Thus, for ex- ample, they have assimilated the social laws which determine the wages of the workingmen to the economic laws which govern the exchange of produce. By this [error] they have introduced into the regime of labor a germ of disorganization ; for they have led the employers to exempt themselves, with easy consciences, from the most salutary obligation of custom.^'i (6) Emphasizing very strongly the moral aspect of the social problem, Le Play assigned to religion a very large role in re- forming social customs, in fostering industry, sobriety and thrift on the part of the workers and charity on the part of the employers.^" Much the same drift towards conservatism that we have found in Le Play's doctrine is evident in the teaching of Charles Perin,^" a Catholic professor at the University of Louvain. Perin's best-known works were published after 1870, but his influence had already begun to be felt before that date, and he properly belongs with Le Play as one of the conservative Catholic economists of the Second Empire period whose ideas left a strong impression on the Social Catholic movement of the Third Republic period. He has been called the " creator of Christian political economy," "* the " father of the liberal Catholic economists." "^ Nitti, writing in 1890, asserted that MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 63 Perin " is still the Catholic Socialist writer who enjoys the largest credit among French Catholics." ^" To Perin, as to Le Play, the social problem was more a prob- lem of morals than of institutions. Genuine social reform was to be secured only by a reform of morals, in accord with the Christian religion ; let everybody practise charity and industry, and the social problem would disappear. The great obstacle to be overcome was the prevalence of the rationalistic ideas which had characterized the French Revolution. The social problem, said Perin, arises from impious conceptions which affirm the absolute sovereignty of man over himself, vsrhich attempt to substitute, in the social order, the authority of reason for the authority of God. . . . To escape from the precarious situation in which the workingmen live, there is only one way; and that is to efifect a counter-revolution in the ideas by which the present regime is inspired.^'^ Reactionary and monarchist as he was in politics ^'^ and in social philosophy, Perin was at bottom a Liberal in his economic theory. Liberty, he maintained, was an essential principle in an ideal economic system.^^" Owing to the corrupt condition of existing society, the government might be called upon to correct certain evils by means of legislation, in order that genuine economic liberty might be reestablished ; 2*° but the principle of government regulation was inherently dangerous: As soon as you admit that the State has the right of regulation in questions of production, as soon as you accept, as the basis of economic organization, the intervention of the State in the rela- tions between private interests, you are heading straight toward socialism.281 Regarding the question of intervention from another angle, he observed : If it should happen, because of the apostasy of the nations, that charity is dethroned and society delivered to the contrary of char- ity, which is utilitarian individualism, enslavement to legal regula- tion will reappear fatally as a necessary condition of the material existence of society.^^^ 64 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT It would be unfair to represent Perin as an exponent of ab- solute economic liberty, an uncompromising opponent of all government regulation. He justified social legislation for the repression of flagrant economic abuses, it must be repeated, and he claimed to diiTer from the " Liberal " economists in that he recognized the value of Christian charity and of asso- ciation in industry. Let him speak for himself : — We demand that the labor question — in which nowadays the economic question is concentrated — be solved by all the forces which the social organism offers us, by liberty and by public au- thority, the role of each being measured by its rights and its influence. If one is a socialist because he represses the liberty to do evil, and because he protects the weak by means of legal regu- lation against the injustice of the strong, the Catholics are social- ists. They are so today as they have been in every age, because they obey today as in every age the impulse of the Church, which incessantly claims from the government laws to protect the weak, and which, in all places and at all times, has fostered, organized, and patronized association, under the rule of justice and charity given to men by the Gospel. ^83 But, using the terms in their true sense, he said, " We are neither Liberals nor Socialists." ^** Herein lay Perin's great- est contribution to the Social Catholic movement. He claimed that Christian political economy differed from Liberal politi- cal economy and from Socialism in that it assigned to lib- erty its just role, without exaggeration, in harmony with the dictates of justice, and without prejudice to the operation of Christian charity. The idea that Christian political economy was the only true economy gave enormous encouragement to Social Catholics of a later generation, who regarded Perin with imperishable gratitude while they carried his ideas much further in the direction of social legislation. The agencies to which Perin looked for a solution of the labor problem were: first, Christianity and, second, the free organization of industry on something resembling the plan of the medieval guild system. Christianity would bring capital- ists and workingmen alike to a sense of duty, of renunciation, of justice, of charity.2«° The modernized guild, — as we may MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 65 call it for lack of a better term, — would combine two potent principles of social reform, namely, patronage and associa- tion. In the guild, the relations of employer and employee, of superior and inferior, would be preserved in their most salutary form ; direct contact would make the employers more conscious of their responsibility as regards the material and moral well-being of their employees, and the workingmen would be benefited by the influence of their betters. On the other hand, the guild would embody the principle of association without false ideas of equality, and without infringement of individual liberty, for the association would be hierarchical, voluntary, and free from external constraint. ^^^ Advocacy of the guild idea is the most significant trait of resemblance between Perin and Ozanam ; it is a feature that appears very conspicuously in the Social Catholic movement of our own generation. Among the less eminent Catholic economists of the period, Metz-Noblat and the Abbe Corbiere may be mentioned as further illustrations of the tendency, which has already been seen in Blanc Saint-Bonnet, Le Play, and Perin, to repudiate schemes of extensive social reform and to fall back upon the ac- cepted doctrines of liberal political economy. Alexandre de Metz-Noblat ( 1820-1871 ) firmly believed in Ricardo's theory of rent and in Malthus' law of population (with some modifica- tions) ; in fact, he was convinced of the reality of most of the " economic laws " discovered by the classical economists, — Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, J. B. Say, Bastiat, eic.^" The economic life of society, he tells us, is governed by providential laws. Wages are determined by the law of supply and de- m!and.^'* The following passage from his treatise on Economic Laws shows how absurd it would be to attempt by social legis- lation to interfere with the laws which govern wages and profits : Political economy proves that the laws according to which wealth distributes itself naturally, when the play of interests is free, are the most equitable that it would be possible to adopt ; and that, fur- thermore, these laws are not conventional and contingent, but are 66 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT established by. God and therefore necessary ; that any attempt to modify them would be vain and disastrous, and that instead of thereby increasing the welfare of the masses, one would plunge the workingmen into frightful poverty because one would inflict steril- ity upon productive power.^^" These economic laws are not in conflict with moral law. " We cannot admit," he said, " the alleged antagonism of scientific truth and religious truth, because the contradiction of two truths would be a logical monstrosity, the very supposition of which is revolting to good sense." ^°° But natural economic laws are often misapplied. Hence, humanity " cannot return to happiness and realize the harmony of all interests by merely returning to liberty." Corrective action on the part of the State, to reestablish harmony and, so far as possible, liberty, in the operation of economic laws, is therefore necessary. In Metz-Noblat's system, however, such intervention could play no very large role.^"^ Morality, he believed, was the most im- portant curative agent. ^"'^ Let us add in conclusion, that he favored cooperative societies, but thought it impossible for co- operative production to replace private capitalism entirely.^^^ Abbe Corbiere, like Metz-Noblat, attempted to show that there is no contradiction between economic science and re- ligion. Even more than Metz-Noblat, he relied upon the class- ical or liberal economists, upon Bastiat, Say, Smith, Ricardo, and Malthus.-°* Economic liberty was the ke)mote of his philosophy. Liberty, he declared, was the divinely imposed natural condition of human progress. ^°° In Abbe Corbiere's work on Social Economy from the Christian Point of Viev:, we find the same lyric enthusiasm for liberty, for the harmonies of economic law, as in Bastiat or in any other of the recog- nized liberal economists. It is not surprising that Abbe Cor- biere should deny the " right to work " (the slogan of the proletarian revolutionists of 1848), and the "right to assist- ance." ^°° In only two respects does he leave the way open for social reform, other than moral regeneration. First, he admits that it is the duty of a Christian State to supplement the inadequate work of private charity in relieving destitution MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 67 and misfortune.^'' In the second place, he justifies the prin- ciple of labor organization or association, as an exercise of liberty, a sacred right, and a source of social good ; such asso- ciation, however, must be absolutely free and voluntary, and must not interfere with normal competition.^®^ If these Catholic economists were, from a modern point of view, excessively timid in proposing remedies for social in- justices, if they were inclined to uphold " economic liberty," and to preach morality rather than to point out the opportuni- ties for social legislation, it was not because they were less progressive than their contemporaries, but, as a matter of fact, because they shared both the fears and the prejudices of their contemporaries. The Catholic economists before 1848 had been more advanced than the recognized bourgeois economists ; after 1848 Catholic social philosophy, for the reasons which have been explained, merely fell back towards the intrenched position of orthodox political economy. The dominant spirit of the Second Empire period was, in political economy, a re- vulsion against socialism.^"" The bourgeois economists. Catho- lic and non-Catholic alike, feared socialism, exalted economic liberty, preached morality as the cure of social disorder, and showed the danger of extensive social legislation.^"" Hippolyte Passy, for example, declared that " from the moment that you admit that something should be done in favor of any par- ticular fraction of society, even though it be the most numer- ous fraction, you are abandoning political economy, you are practising socialism." ^"^ Louis Napoleon himself, while claim- ing to be the friend of the workingman, echoed the same warn- ing against excessive government regulation of industry: " perhaps the greatest danger of modern times," he said in 1849, " comes from the false opinion, . . . that a government can do everything and that it is essential in any system to respond to all requirements, to remedy all evils." '"^ Jules Simon, a liberal and non-Catholic, who was regarded as an authority on labor problems, emphatically defended liberty of industry and asserted that the government should not intervene to regulate individual activity except when that 68 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT activity is notoriously incapable of directing itself without pro- foundly disturbing society, and should not assume any function un- less that function is indispensable and cannot be exercised either by individuals or by free and voluntary association. For him who is convinced of the identity of politics and morals, or, to speak more generally, of the universality and legitimacy of the moral law, these principles have the same force as geometric axioms.^"' Jules Simon was fully aware of the deporable conditions ex- isting among the laboring classes ; in fact, he published a sen- sational book, The M'oman Worker, exposing some of the worst evils ; yet he proposed as a remedy, not social legislation, but the acquisition of new markets, the establishment of provi- dent institutions, education, the revival of family life, and the reform of morals.'"* In one of his books he said, " There is only one reform to accomplish ; it is not to renounce liberty, but to complete it." '"' Again he declared, " It is clear that if the State fixes the hours of labor and the wages of the work- ingman, it takes away all liberty from the manufacturers." "*° The evils of free competition in industry were very grievous, but they must be accepted as the price of progress. '' While competition dashes forward, more than one falls bleeding on the road; but the power of the human spirit is doubled, dis- coveries follow one another," and, in short, civilization rolls on in the path of progress, ruthlessly and inexorably.'" ROYALISM AND SoCIAL CATHOLICISM It has already been shown how the politically liberal and democratic school of Catholic social reform was submerged by the wave of political and social reaction which swept over France during the Second Empire period. Especially during the earlier years of Louis Napoleon's reign, the prevalent tendency of Catholic leaders was to accept Bonapartism in politics and a kind of moralized Liberalism in economics; in both politics and economics they retreated from the advanced position taken by Ozanam and Lacordaire in 1848. It was not a complete reaction. The political philosophy of the Sec- ond Empire represented a compromise between the democratic MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 69 theories of the French Revolution and the monarchical practises of the first Napoleon. The social policy of the Second Em- pire was a melange of traditional Bourbon paternalism and mod- ern economic Liberalism, tinged, perhaps with the socialist ideas which had interested Louis Napoleon before his acces- sion to power.'"^ In the latter half of Louis Napoleon's reign, this system of social and political compromises was rejected by an increasing number of Catholics, for one reason or another. By his sup- port of the Italian national movement in 1859, imperilling the independence of the Papal States, he made it quite impossible for French Catholics to regard him as a protector of the Church ; consequently, even though he subsequently revised his Italian policy, and maintained French troops in Rome as a guarantee of papal sovereignty, he could not overcome the dis- trust of the clericals. ^"^ His refusal to assist the Catholic Poles in 1863 in their rebellion against Russian oppression,^^" and his humiliating failure in the Mexican intervention epi- sode,'^^ merely strengthened clerical opposition. The advan- tages enjoyed by Catholic schools since the Fallpux Law of 1850 were curtailed by administrative decrees in the 'sixties, and Victor Duruy, an adversary of religious education, was appointed minister of education (1863).^" The government attempted to bring the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul under its control, and, by claiming the right to appoint the chairman of that society, precipitated a conflict which led to the dissolution of the central committee.^^^ These and similar incidents led many Catholics to regret that Catholic votes had helped to place Louis Napoleon on the throne. So thoroughly, however, had the monarchist sentiment captivated their imagination, that they turned not to democracy but to royalism."* For the development of Social Catholicism, this royalist trend of thought was specially significant. It meant that as the in- fluence of Lacordaire and Ozanam waned, the ideas of de Maistre and Bonald gained popularity ; it meant that the organ- ized Social Catholic movement was to be launched, after 1870, under royalist colors, and under the handicap of association yo THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT with political opposition to the republican form of govern- ment. The royalist pretenders did much to encourage the idea that the cause of Christian social reform was bound up with the cause of royalty. The Count of Paris, who represented the Orleanist claims, published a study of Labor Organlcations in England, in 1869, in which he took what must be considered, for the age, a fairly advanced stand on labor problems. There was no panacea, he said, but there were a number of partial solutions. Experience had proved that " nothing is more ex- pensive than cheap labor " ; hence, mere business shrewdness should compel employers to pay decent wages. Legislation should be enacted to protect women and children against em- ployers who demanded excessive labor. Arbitration and the free discussion of disputes between employers and employees had brought very happy results in England ; it was not a rad- ical solution, but it would prepare the way for further solutions. Cooperative production, he thought, should not be regarded with disfavor. Education of the working-classes was to be regarded as a reform of the highest importance, for upon it de- pended the success of all other reforms in the interest of the masses.'^' The Legitimist pretender, the Count of Chambord, did not content himself with rambling reflections on the labor problem. He boldly and unequivocally identified himself with the char- acteristic reform to which the pioneers of Social Catholicism had been most powerfully attracted, i. e., the guild organization of industry. In his public " Letter on Labor," '^* April 20, 1865, Chambord declared : Royalty has always been the patron of the working classes; the establishments [etablissements] of Saint Louis, the regulations of the crafts, the system of guilds, are manifest proofs of this. It is under this protection that French industry grew and arrived at a degree of prosperity and of just renown which, in 1789, left it inferior to none. The Revolution, on the contrary, had been a disaster for labor. MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 71. The Constituent Assembly did not content itself with giving greater freedom to industry, to commerce, and to labor, as the cohiers had demanded; it threw down all barriers, and instead of freeing the guilds from the fetters which troubled them, it pro- hibited even the right of assembly and the privilege of agreement and combination. . . . The liberty of labor was proclaimed, but the liberty of association was destroyed by the same blow. Hence the individualism of which the laborer is still the victim today. Con- demned to isolation, he is penalized by the law if he wishes to make an agreement with his fellows, if he wishes to organize, for his defense, for his protection, for his representation, one of those unions which are his natural right, . . . and which society should encourage and regulate. . . . The individual, remaining without protection for his interests, has been all the more rendered a prey to unlimited competition, against which he had no resource other than coalitions and strikes. Up until last year, these coalitions were liable to severe penalties, which most of the time fell upon the most capable and honest workingmen, whom the confidence of their comrades had made leaders or representatives. It was a wrong. . . .^^' After contrasting the benefits conferred upon labor by the monarchy with the evils wrought by the Revolution, the Count of Chambord went on to observe that a sort of " industrial privileged order " had arisen, " holding in its hands the ex- istence of the laborers." Though many of the industrial cap- italists had shown great Christian charity and zealous benevo- lence, " protection is not yet sufficiently exercised," and " the moral and material interests of the working classes are still badly neglected." ^^« By way of remedy, the count proposed " the voluntary and regulated constitution of guilds " as the most effective safe- guard against individualism, unbridled competition, and in- dustrial license. To the workingmen must be restored their right of concerted action within the limits prescribed by the necessities of public peace and respect for the rights of all. " The only means to this end " was " liberty of association, wisely regulated and restricted within just limits." " In a word," he continued, " what is demonstrated is the necessity of voluntary and free association of workingmen for the de- fense of their common interests." It would be natural that 72 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT within these associations, there should be formed some sort of trade-unions, delegations, or representative institutions through which the workingmen would be able to negotiate with employ- ers or employers' associations for the amicable settlement of disputes regarding wages and conditions of labor. In other words, the organization of labor would make possible the creation of joint shop-committees, representing employers' and workingmen's unions.'^" Certain safeguards would be necessary to prevent the labor unions from being used for purposes inimical to public order. Meetings must not be held without preliminary notice. The government should have the right of representation at any meeting, and should make sure that " the aim and object of the meetings were not forgotten or exceeded " ; but the gov- ernment would allow " entire liberty " in the debates and pro- ceedings and would intervene in labor disputes only in a friendly manner, at the request of both parties, to facilitate agreement. In this way, he believed, the labor organizations would enjoy substantial freedom, while the government would be able to repress disorders. This form of organization, he predicted, would lead to a community of interest between capital and labor. Peace and order will result from these deliberations [of the joint committees], in which, according to reason and experience, the most capable and conciliatory representatives of both parties will par- ticipate. An equitable satisfaction will thus be assured to the laborers ; the abuses of competition will be avoided as much as possible, and the domination of industrial privilege will be con- fined to narrow limits.^-" Furthermore, the Count of Chambord suggested, the guilds might "enter into the organization of the commune and into the bases of the electorate and of the suffrage. " ^=i This is, in embryo, the idea of functional or professional representa- tion, which Social Catholics of a later generation were to elaborate, and which was destined to gain considerable popu- larity. The Count of Chambord did not enter into further details. MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 73 His description of the new form of labor organization leaves much to be desired in respect of clarity and elaboration. Ap- parently the guild (corporation) is to be a sort of outer shell embracing within itself separate unions of capital and labor, with a mixed committee. But he gives us no hint as to the precise nature of the constitution which he proposes for the guild. For all its vagueness, the pretender's " Letter on Labor " is a significant document. At that date (1865), labor unions had no legal status in France; in fact, up until 1864, every " coalition, whether on the part of employers with a view to forcing a diminution of wages, or on the part of the working- men with a view to stopping work in a shop," had been il- legal, and its principal authors were liable to the penalty of from two to five years' imprisonment. This clause of the penal code had been repealed in 1864, but labor organization was still not recognized as legitimate; trade-unions and employers' associations were organizations outside the law, existing on suflferance.'^^ Therefore one of the principal demands of labor leaders was for legalization of trade-unionism. It re- quired twenty years of agitation (1864-1884) to induce the government to grant such a reform. Now the significance of the count's letter is that as early as 1865 the reactionary Le- gitimist cause -was placed on record as favorable to the legal- ization of labor organization. We shall see some of the most extreme political reactionaries standing shoulder to shoulder with socialists as champions of labor's right to organize. Chambord's stand on the question of labor organization was calculated to revive the idea that Catholic social reform was bound up with the cause of the Bourbon Pretender. In this connection, the concluding paragraph of his letter is worth quoting : Above all in the face of the present difficulties, does it not seem [right] that the truly Christian and truly French monarchy, faithful to all the traditions of its glorious past, should today do for the emancipation and the moral and material prosperity of the work- ing classes what it has done in other periods for the enfranchise- 74 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ment of the communes? Does it not appertain to it [royalty] to summon the working-people to enjoy liberty and peace, under the necessary guarantee of authority, under the spontaneous tutelage of devotion and under the auspices of Christian charity? ^2' By Way of Summary If the reader will turn back to Chapter One of this volume, he will find a statement of the five principles ^^* which had been laid down, in the period 1815-1848, by the group of Cath- olic reformers whom we may regard as the pioneers of Social Catholicism. It is now opportune to ask, in what respects had these five principles suffered modification during the Second Empire period? To what extent had the embryonic demo- cratic and social program of French Catholicism been modi- fied? . In the first place, the instinctive rebellion against the harsh teachings of the Liberal or Classical school of political economy was no longer so characteristic. A number of Catholic writers had become enthusiastic converts of Adam Smith, J. B. Say, Ricardo, and Malthus. Others, like Le Play, and, above all, Charles Perin, attacked orthodox economic Liberalism in cer- tain of its extreme aspects, but were at heart partisans of economic liberty, averse to any large conception of social legis- lation. A few remained uncompromisingly hostile to economic LiberaHsm and individualism. In the second place, the foremost Catholic economists and sociologists of the Second Empire period were, in the author's opinion, disposed not so much to make Christian charity and Christian morality the basis of a different social and economic philosophy, as to include them in the prevalent philosophy. Charity and morality, to Le Play, were factors which should correct the abuses of the existing regime and mitigate its evils; they were not principles dictating a fundamentally different organization of industry. To Perin, Christianity did offer the basis of a different organization; he desired the formation of guilds ; but the reform was to take place within rather than against the existing order ; the classical principle of economic MODIFICATION OF THE PROGRAM — 1848-1870 75 liberty was not to be controverted, but used, by Christian so-^- cial reform. In the third place, it had been asserted that the condemna- tion of labor organization by the classical economists was ab- solutely pernicious; that the most promising means of erad- icating the evil effects of individualism and competition in industry was the creation of labor organizations; that the guild system, destroyed by Turgot and the Revolution, should therefore be adapted to modern needs and restored. Under the Second Empire, this principle survived, but not univer- sally. Le Play, as we have seen, had little confidence in labor organization. Perin, to be sure, strongly favored the guild idea, but wished the new guilds to be entirely voluntary. Chambord made the guild, vaguely defined, the central fea- ture of social reform. It was an idea that subsequently ap- pealed strongly to Catholic royalists. Insistence upon a just family wage was no longer so em- phatic under the Second Empire. As was quite natural with economists whose thoughts were preoccupied with the menace of socialism, Le Play, Perin, and their contemporaries tended to be less belligerent than their precursors in attacking the injustices under which the workingmen suffered. In the fifth place, social legislation for the protection of the working classes was no longer so strongly supported in principle, although the necessity of minor measures (such as restriction of the employment of women, interdiction of labor on Sunday, etc.) was admitted. The theoretical dangers of social legislation, — the peril of socialism and the destruction of liberty, — were so insistently held up to view, and voluntary individual moral or benevolent action was so frequently urged as the proper instrument of social reform, that the idea of social legislation may be said to have suffered a distinct set- back. While the social program was thus moderated, the democratic program was absolutely discarded |by the more influential Catholic leaders and writers of the period. A majority ac- quiesced in Louis Napoleon's rule, hoping that the Church 76 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT would benefit by his protection. Others, especially in the 'sixties, cherished the hope that the Legitimist pretender or the Orleanist pretender could be restored to the throne. Conse- quently, Catholic ideas of social reform tended to lose their democratic spirit and associations. Le Play and Perin place their faith in the beneficence of the upper classes. Social re- form becomes an aristocratic " uplift " movement rather than a democratic effort to establish a better social order. With the Legitimists the undemocratic tendency reaches its extreme; Christian social reform becomes the function of divine-right monarchy, aided by the private charitable endeavors of the upper classes. CHAPTER III POPULARIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM The Commune and the Reaction Under the Second Empire, bourgeois economists and sociolo- gists, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, had shown so strong a tendency to react against positive programs of legislative ac- tion for the relief of the working classes, and to content them- selves with exhortations to moral reform, that some violent shock, some terrible explosion of the pent-up forces of social discontent, seemed necessary to awaken them to a sense of real- ity. Such a shock was provided by the Commune, that tragic insurrection of the Parisian populace in the spring of 1871, following the downfall of the Second Empire and the defeat of France by the Germans. As in the February Revolution of 1848, the popular uprising of March, 1871, was tinged with socialism. It was not thor- oughly socialist in character, but sufficiently so to be alarming to the propertied classes. The socialists were conspicuous, though a minority, among the leaders of the Commune.^''' While foreign socialists hailed the uprising as the inaugural victory of the proletarian revolution, French conservatives, realizing in their fright that the existing social order was men- aced, sent troops to besiege Paris, in April. The resolute re- sistance of the Commune was not easily overcome. Not until May 21 did the national troops succeed in forcing an entry into the city. Still the city's defenders held out ; though barricade after barricade was captured; though various quarters of the city were in flames ; though artillery added to the havoc ; though the troops of " law and order " took savage vengeance on the defenders. In their desperation, the insurgents shrank from 77 78 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT no deed of horror. While the conflict was raging, they massa- cred batches of hostages — clergymen, policemen, and bour- geois — whom they had been holding. But at length the last barricade was taken, after eight days of street-fighting ; Paris was once more in the hands of the national government; and the work of punishing the rebels was taken in hand. Thou- sands were summarily executed; other thousands were con- demned to imprisonment or deportation. Altogether, it has been estimated, Paris lost 80,000 citizens.''" The Commune, it should be repeated, was not a socialist proletarian revolution, but socialism played a large enough role in it to terrify the governing classes. Even after the Commune had been crushed and its surviving authors con- dignly punished, the government seemed to regard socialism with mixed feelings of panicky fear and vengeful hatred.'^' Jules Favre, then foreign minister, issued a circular note to the French representatives abroad, proposing an international European entente against the socialist Internationale. " The Internationale," he declared, " is an organization of war and of hate. It has for its basis atheism and communism; for its aim, the destruction of capital and the annihilation of those who possess capital ; for its method, the brutal force of great num- bers, which will crush whatever attempts to resist it." '^* To suppress the Internationale, the French National As- sembly in 1872 passed a law defining as an attack on public peace " any international association which, under whatever name it may assume, and notably under the name of the In- ternational Working Men's Association, aims to provoke the suspension of labor, the abolition of the right of property, of the family, of religion or of freedom of worship." Affiliation with such associations was heavily penalized.'''" Certain mem- bers of the Assembly even proposed to reestablish the clause of the penal code against coalitions or unions of workingmen."" Freedom of association, said a member of the majority party, would be a " dangerous weapon " in the hands of labor.''^ A parliamentary inquiry into the conditions of the work- ing-classes, instituted in 1872, resulted in a report, written by DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM ' 79 an industrial capitalist, Ducarre, justifying the existing or- ganization of industry, opposing trade-unionism, and conclud- ing: The liberty of labor formulated by Turgot and decreed by the great Constituent Assembly is the essential reason for our indus- trial prosperity. It leaves to all French citizens, workingmen or employers, the task of regulating their economic relations as they understand them. It forbids any collectivity, whatever be its name, form, or origin, to substitute itself for their private initiative. The existing laws do not intervene except to protect and secure the execution of conventions freely consented to by them and between them. Perfectible, like all the works of man, these laws must be kept in touch with and on a level with progress and civilization. But they must respect, above all, and in the most absolute manner: the individual liberty of labor.^^^ In the general reaction against socialism, the Catholic lead- ers were as emphatic as any.^'* To them, even more than to others, the Commune had appeared as a terrible object lesson. The Communards, it will be recalled, had confiscated the property of the religious orders, had separated church and state and suppressed the public worship fund. Among the hostages massacred by the Communards had been the Archbishop of Paris, and a number of priests.^'* Catholics naturally felt that socialism and revolution, as manifested in the Commune, were inherently anti-religious in purpose and criminal in method. Socialism, it seemed, was the foe of religion as well as of so- ciety and of property.'^^ While opposition to socialism was perhaps the first element in the emotional reaction of Catholics after the Commune, the reaction was so genuine and so powerful that it had a posi- tive as well as a negative side. So painful was their con- sciousness of the reality of the social problem, that Catholics threw themselves into various branches of charitable and set=-^ tlement work with unaccustomed ardor. In September, 1871, the directors of Catholic charitable societies concerned with the welfare of the poorer classes came together in a congress 8o THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT at Nevers, and created a nation-wide Union of Catholic Wel- fare Societies ( Union des associations ouvrieres catholiques de France), which, through its annual congresses, helped to arouse interest in social problems and to organize Catholic philan- thropy.'^' In 1872, the great Catholic economist, Le Play, founded what he called " Unions of Social Peace " (Unions de la Paix socialc) to give practical expression to his theories of social reform. Their aim was to refute popular errors, such as socialism, to strengthen paternal authority and the stabiHty of the family, to establish good relations between capital and labor, to encourage thrift and home-ownership, to protest against the employment of women in factories and encourage work at home, to protect women against immorality, to support the principle of cessation of labor on Sundays, ctcP'' This activity, while important enough in its way, had no very direct bearing on radical social reform or labor legislation. It is significant, in this study, as a background for the more aggressive movement launched about the same time by two young army officers, Count Albert de Mun and Count Rene de La Tour du Pin. Starting where Le Play and Perin left off, de Mun and La Tour du Pin, and their followers, gradually de- veloped a remarkable constructive program of labor reform and social legislation, which was so sweeping and so radical that many conservatives branded it as socialist. It was chiefly due to the efforts of de Mun and La Tour du Pin that the Catholic reaction produced a Catholic social movement capable of play- ing a conspicuous role in the social politics of the Third Re- public. They may be regarded as the initiators of the contem- porary Social Catholic movement in France. Count Albert de Mun and the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs Count Albert de Mun's own story of his " social voca- tion " "* and of his first experiments with Catholic working- men's clubs reads almost like a romance; it is the story of a novel adventure and of generous enthusiasm. Like many an- DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 8l Other ambitious youth of noble family,''^ Albert de Mun had studied military science at the ficole de Saint-Cyr; he had passed five years (1862-1867) in active service with the French cavalry in Algeria; upon his return to France he had married and had been assigned to garrison duty at Clermont-Ferrand. Thus far his was the typical career of an aristocratic army officer. At Clermont-Ferrand, howiever, he discovered for the first time the existence of the working classes and speedily became interested in charitable work as a member of the local Conference of Saint Vincent de Paul.'^° The outbreak of the Franco-^rnssian war in 1870 found him a lieutenant, attached to a cavalry division of the ill-fated army of Metz. Taken prisoner by the Germans at Metz, he was interned at Aix-la-Chapelle. There, in the company of a fel- low-officer — (Captain) Count Rene de La Tour du Pin, — he had ample opportunity to reflect tfpon;the causes of his coun- try's disaster. A social turn was given to the philosophizing of the young French officers by conversation with a German Jesuit, the Reverend Father Eck, who placed in their hands Emile Keller's suggestive treatise on Catholicism and Democracy,^*^ as well as by discussions with Dr. Lingens, who subsequently became a prominent member of the German Center Party, and who was -abundantly able to enlighten de Mun and La Tour du Pin regarding the progress of Social Catholicism in Ger- many.^" Returning home at the close of the war, de Mun arrived just in time to assist in the suppression of the Paris Commune. The virulent hatred engendered by the struggle, the impiety of the insurgents, and the massacre of the hostages, not even spar- ing the priests, left an ineffaceable impression upon his memory ; the Commune, he declared, was a " monstrous insurrection," a " crime." But along with his detestation of the Commune, de Mun in his memoirs confesses also to a revulsion of feeling against the bloody reprisals in which the victors indulged. " M. Thiers," he writes, " cherished the spirit of the bour- geoisie of 1830; he had no love for the people and his policy toward them was ungenerous." Moreover, being charged with 82 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the official duty of inquiring among Parisian shopkeepers re- garding the causes of the Commune, de Mun was shocked at the ignorant indifference of the bourgeoisie toward the prob- lems of the poor.'*^ Little might have come of de Mun's observations had not a certain Maurice Maignen,'" lay brother of the congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul,"'^ called upon the young officer — de Mun was then thirty years of age, — and begged him to address a small Catholic Club of young workingmen on the Boulevard Montparnasse.'*" Maignen did not mince words. Dramati- cally pointing to the charred ruins of the Palace of the Tuileries, which had been burned during the Commune, Maignen declared, " The persons truly responsible for the Commune are you, the rich, the great, the fortunate (les heureux de la rie), who have amused yourselves within these ruined walls ; who pass by without seeing the people, without knowing the people ; you, who know nothing of the soul, the needs, the sufferings of the people." »" Deeply touched by the appeal, Lieutenant de Mun promised lo speak at the Club's next meeting. Accordingly, one wintry night, bravely accoutred in uniform, with sky-blue cape, silver epaulets, and sabre, and with speech carefully written and memorized, the young nobleman presented himself before the group of workingmen. It was his first public speech. In the excitement of the moment, he was overcome by a strange emo- tion, as though he were pronouncing some solemn covenant, as though he were dedicating himself irrevocably. And walk- ing out into the night, after the meeting, he felt certain that this was the decisive moment of his life. At any rate, such was his recollection thirty-seven years later.'*' A fortnight after his maiden speech, Albert de Mun, with his brother Robert, and Maignen, induced La Tour du Pin, Paul Vrignault (an official at the foreign office), Leon Gautier (professor at the £cole des Chartes and an enthusiastic admirer of the middle ages), Armand Ravelet (editor of the Monde), and two members of the National Assembly, Baron Leonce de Guiraud (deputy from the Aude), and fimile Keller (deputy DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 83 from the Haut-Rhin), to join with them in forming a " Com- mittee for the foundation of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs in Paris." The Committee's first act was to launch an "Appeal to Men of Good Will." ^*» " The labor problem," began the Appeal, " at the present hour is no longer a problem to be discussed ... it must be solved." The remedy proposed was the multiplication of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs on a huge scale in "a last effort to save the people [from revolutionary doctrines] and to hasten the reign of God in the regenerated shop." " To subversive doctrines and dangerous teachings, we must oppose the holy teachings of the Gospel ; to material- ism, the notion of sacrifice; to the cosmopolitan spirit, the idea of country; to atheistical negation. Catholic affirmation." " The men of the privileged classes," continued the manifesto, " have duties to be fulfilled with regard to their brothers, the workingmen; and society, though it has a right to defend itself with arms in hand, knows that shot and shell do not cure, and that something else is needed." The Appeal, rein- forced by an article in Le Figaro (Jan. 17, 1872), made a great sensation. Felicitations, contributions, threats, poured into the office of the committee. Flushed with enthusiasm, the committee resolved that their first campaign should be launched in the stronghold of pro- letarian revolution, in Belleville, the worst of the working-class districts of Paris, where the bourgeois hostages had been massacred, and the fighting had been fiercest during the Com- mune. Albert and Robert de Mun were detailed for the task. Certainly it was a curious enterprise for two young noblemen, to found a workingmen's club in a district where they did not know a single person. Nevertheless they succeeded. A house in the Rue Levert was secured as the home of the new Club ; a score of young artisans were recruited as members; six or seven bourgeois consented to act as the Council of Directors ; and a Brother of Saint Vincent de Paul, as director.^^" At mounted upon the back of a chair and delivered a stirring speech.'°^ The meeting sang the Club song, " neither the the formal inauguration of the Club, April 7, 1872, de Mun 84 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT verses nor the music " of which, de Mun admits, " are master- pieces." =" " Quand Jesus vint sur la terre, Ce fut pour y travailler; II voulut, touchant mystere, Comme nous etre ouvrier. Esperance De la France Ouvriers, soyez Chretiens I Que votre ame Soil de flamme Pour I'auteur de tous les biens ! " The words of the chorus, — " In you the hope of France we see. Workers, you must Christians be ! " — indeed must have awakened strange echoes in the streets of Belleville, only a few minutes' walk from the spot where the blood of an arch- bishop '" had been shed by proletarian revolutionists. And the inhabitants of the Rue Levert must have stared in some surprise at the unusual group of young officers and aristocrats descending the hill after the meeting, " drunk with victory." '" \ ictory, indeed, did seem to smile auspiciously on the Count de Mun and his work during the ensuing months. In May he was called upon to found a branch of the " Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs " (CEuvre des cercles catholiques d' ouvriers), as it was now called, at Lyons, where the seeds of enthusiasm had been sown by one of the ladies who had heard the speech of April 7.'" In June, the Association invaded Montmartre and established a Club near the site of the san- guinary Parisian battle of May 23, 1871.^°° In August, de Mun instituted a Club in the industrial quarter of the Croix- Rousse at Lyons, where, forty years earlier, insurgent working- men had raised the desperate battle-cry, " Live working, or die fighting." ''" A year later, in August, 1873, the Clubs made a pilgrimage to Notre-Dame-de-Liesse (near Laon) ; at that time, seven Clubs had been established in Paris alone, and many others in Lille, Roubaix, Bethune, Maubeuge, Arras, Laon, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 85 Saint-Quentin, and Aire-sur-la-Lys ; two thousand men march- ing as pilgrims of the Association now thundered out the chorus so feebly chanted sixteen months previously at Belleville, — " In you the hope of France we see. Workers you must Christians ljgj>'358 When the General Assembly of 1875 was convened, the Association boasted 130 committees, 150 Clubs, and 18,000 members, — " the magnificent fruit," writes de Mun, " of three years of labor and apostolate." ^^' The Association continued to expand rather rapidly in the next few years, although it never attained great size. By 1884 it boasted 400 committees and 50,000 members. Subsequently, it seemed to lose its expansive power, particularly among the urban workingmen. By 1900, it had only 60,000 members, more of whom were rural than industrial workers. The failure of the Clubs to attract the industrial workingmen in any large numbers was probably due, as an unsympathetic historian sug- gests, to the workingmen's " repugnance for an authoritarian patronage," and also to their distaste for religion. They were unwilling to be patronized by benevolent aristocrats.'*" Small as its membership was, the Association nevertheless possessed a real national significance. Its development was accompanied by a nation-wide campaign to rouse the Catholic upper classes to their social duty; it ultimately made de Mun a conspicuous figure in national politics ; it excited alarm in anticlerical circles; and it provided the initial impetus of the present-day Social Catholic movement in France. The Associa- tion, in short, was relatively unimportant as an organization, but decidedly important as a starting-point for de Mun's career and for the Social Catholic movement. Count Albert de Mun, as secretary-general of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, toured the length and breadth of France, everywhere awakening enthusiasm by his fiery eloquence. On one occasion he thrilled his audience by pointing to a mural painting of Peter the Hermit and exclaiming, " Look at him, he is still speaking to you ! " '" Indeed, the bishop of Poitiers admiringly called de Mun, " the orator of a new crusade." '^^ The anticlerical press was stirred. Le Temps (September 5, 86 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 1897) gave space on its front page to an account of this " strange missionary, this even more extraordinary officer," who " is called Captain de Mun." L'Anncc politique likewise com- mented on " the strange apostolate of a captain of cavalry, Count de Mun, who with the consent of the minister of war, devoted his eloquence [talent de paroles] to [founding] com- mittees of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs all over France." '"' So insistent were the complaints of anticlericals, that in 1875 de Mun was compelled to choose between the Association and his future military career. He chose the former.^"* At its inception, the Association was less akin to the spirit of Ozanam than to that of the conservative Joseph de ^laistre, of Le Play, or of Veuillot. Reactionary abhorrence of revolution, rather than confidence in the democratic social mission of Christianity, characterized the period from 1871 to 1876. At a time when the National Assembly of France was with one hand sternly suppressing the revolutionary socialist International '^° and with the other hand generously increasing the budget of worship ; "'° at a time when the basilica of the Sacred Heart was being erected on blood-stained Montmartre to " expiate the sins of Revolution," was it strange that the founders of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs should declare themselves soldiers of the " Counter- Revolution " ? ^" The Counter-Revolution was primarily religious. It meant the reconquest of the masses for Christianity; it meant the militant defense of Catholic orthodoxy against the modern "errors" defined in Pius IX's Syllabus of 1864.'"^ The Counter-Revolution was likewise a social movement, in the sense that it aimed by means of religion to bridge — though not to close — the gulf between rich and poor; in this respect de Mun and his associates at first worshipped a purely aristocratic ideal, — " the devotion of the governing class to the poorer classes." '"^ Furthermore, the Counter-Revolution was patri- otic ; de Mun and de La Tour du Pin were army officers, veter- ans of the Franco-Prussian war, and very emphatic antagonists of anti-patriotism and anti-militarism."" And, finally, the Counter-Revolution was political. Over against revolutionary, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 87 anticlerical republicanism, must be set Legitimist, clerical royal- ism. The Count de Mun himself has confessed that at the time of MacMahon's election (1873) "the Count de Chambord ap- peared to me not merely as the representative of hereditary royalty, but as the living and crowned embodiment of the Counter-Revolution." " As a Catholic and a patriot all my heart belonged to him." Well may the Count de Mun, in his memoirs, aflftrm that the Association was kept free from mon- archist influence.^'^ Strive as its leaders might to maintain " an exclusively Catholic," politically neutral attitude, the As- sociation could hardly have been other than royalist in spirit. In fact, if we may believe M. Georges Goyau, the organization " was in effect an electoral bureau for the cause of mon- archy." "2 The Social Aspect of Monarchist Politics De Mun's formal entry into politics accentuated the mon- archist and counter-revolutionary features of his program, but at the same time, as it will presently appear, reacted upon his social program in such a way as to make him a conspicuous advocate of social legislation. The ominous republican drift of by-elections to the National Assembly, the enactment of the Republican constitutional laws (January, February and July, 1875), and the rapid rise of anti- clericalism in Paris, afforded convincing proof that the mon- archist-clerical-conservative cause stood in desperate need of able protagonists.^'^ His extraordinary eloquence and his demonstrated administrative ability rendered the secretary- general of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs particularly avail- able. In the spring of 1875 he began to receive invitations — from Lille, from Toulouse, from Morbihan — to become a can- didate for election to the National Chamber of Deputies."* He himself was beginning to feel the stirrings of political ambi- tion. " The tribune [of the Chamber of Deputies] appeared to me as the theater where our ideas, being affirmed with eclat, could best arrest attention and convince opinion. Then, I saw the Catholic Church menaced, already attacked with violence by 88 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT those whose reign was beginning, and I burned to defend it on the very battlefield where it might be attacked, with the weapon that God had given me. Finally, — why should I not admit it? — a certain amount of ambition urged me to engage in parliamentary conflicts the oratorical ardor hitherto expended in private meetings." "^ De Mun entered the political arena in 1876, when he became a candidate for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in the general election of February-March. Pontivy, in Brittany, was the district which he selected as the scene of his first electoral con- test. His platform was primarily clerical and counter-revolu- tionary : The Revolution today is seeking to consummate its work of destruction by giving the death-blow to the religion of our fathers, and everywhere those who speak in the name of the Revolution openly declare war on Catholicism.'^" The religious question domi- nates political issues. . . It is therefore the part of Catholics to take in hand the defense of the social order, and, by protecting their religion in its rights and its liberty ... to give France once more the peace and stability of which she stands so sorely in need.'" Elected, de Mun took his seat with the Extreme Right in the Chamber of Deputies. The strenuous antagonist of " the Revolution," however, was not long permitted to retain his place. Henri Brisson, a Masonic dignitary,^" upon whom de- volved the duty of reporting on the validation of de Mun's election, demanded an investigation."" The " candidate of the court of Rome," ^^^ said Brisson, had received the frank and public support of the Catholic clergy.'*^ Between charge and counter-charge, the debate waxed warm. Gambetta, ever the foe of clericalism, thought the matter important enough to throw his eloquence into the scales against de Mun.''- A com- mittee of inquiry, composed exclusively of Republicans,'" reported unfavorably,"* and although de Mun produced affi- davits controverting the committee's allegations, the invalida- tion of his election was decided by a vote of 297 to 171, on July 13, 1876."' His parliamentary debut could not have been more unfortunate. The circumstances of his invalidation led DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 89 him, more than ever, to believe that Republicanism was inher- ently opposed to Catholicism, and that the anticlericals had un- justly thrown him out of the Chamber of Deputies because he had too boldly announced his intention of defending the Church.^'* Returning to his district, de Mun was immediately reelected, in August, 1876, and the Chamber could hardly refuse to recog- nize his mandate.^*' In the general election, held in October, 1877, he obtained almost twice as many votes as his Republican rival.^^* His temerity in declaring war on the Revolution amazed the Chamber. On February 21, 1878, for example, he said. The other day we heard it aflSrmed from this tribune, — by M. Boysset, — that we were the enemies of liberty, because we are the enemies of the Revolution. Very well, for my part, I assure you that, — on the contrary, — we save liberty, because we combat the Revolution. Where is the liberty that you have given us? I turn to the people . . . and I ask what the Revolution has given them. Ah ! I will tell you : it has destroyed the ancient organization of labor and has replaced it with nothing but the fever of competi- tion.ss9 This last remark, touching on the controversial question of labor organization, was true enough to be resented; Floquet, one of the Republicans, could not refrain from an angry inter- jection — "If that is what you teach in your seminaries, you justify us a thousand times over " [in suppressing the budget- ary appropriation for the Catholic seminaries].'^* Continuing, de Mun reminded the Chamber that on May 4, 1877, Gambetta had cried, " Clericalism, that is the enemy," ^'^ and that in February, 1878, another Republican, Boysset, had asserted, " between the Catholic Church and the Republic, no conciliation is possible." '^^ A voice from the Republican benches interrupted de Mun with the remark, " It is true." Accepting the challenge, de Mun went on to say, — Very well, so be it, it is true! since you wish it to be so! And 90 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT henceforth you must forget " clericalism " and say frankly that the enemy is Catholicism. . . . It is not I that have said it, but I accept it thus, and in the future you will not be astonished at our want of confidence in your Republic.^"' A few months later, November i6, 1878, the Catholic orator said to the Republican Left, " You are the Revolution, and that is enough to explain why we are the Counter-Revolution." " It is in the great work of social reform that the Counter- Revolution consists, and that is the idea, that is the cause, which we serve in the Association of Catholic W^orkingmen's Clubs." ''* De IVIun, after these attacks, was again exiled from the Chamber of Deputies, on the ground that his election was not valid. '"'' This second invalidation made him all the more bit- terly opposed to anticlerical Republicanism. When he returned to the Chamber, in 1881, it was as one of the most aggressive of Legitimists.''' His sensational campaign speech at Vannes, March 8, 1881, proclaimed the necessity of restoring the mon- archy ; politically, as the indispensable means of reconciling strong and paternal authority with true liberty ; socially, as the instrument of Christian social reform; patriotically, as the restorer of French prestige. A brief quotation will help to explain the irresistible temptation which de Mun felt to identify the causes of Social Catholicism and Monarchism: But, in these troubled spirits ... the dominant feeling ... is of deception, of profound realization of the bankruptcy of Revolu- tion. The people have been promised everything : power, wealth, and independence ! They have been given only the mask of a chimerical sovereignty, and behind that mask there is only a slave, a slave who carries on his shoulders the politicians whose fortunes he has made, a slave who belongs, body and soul, to the industrial furnace into which he is thrown like so much coal. All sorts of promises have been made to the workingman. But his leisure, his health, his old age, his home, his future, his profes- sional interests, — who cares about them? After ninety years they [the politicians] have gotten to the point where they discuss whether it is proper to restore to the workingman a part of the right of DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 91 association of which the Revolution despoiled him ! And that is all that they can do to attempt to solve this social question, this eco- nomic question which is the vital question of modern times, which confronts all the governments of Europe, and the importance of which ought to be made clear by the public interest, in the absence of a sense of justice. Gentlemen, I have spoken of justice. Where is it at this moment? It is like liberty, it is like authority, it is dead; the Revolution has killed it. . . . And when a government . . . affords neither author- ity, nor liberty, nor justice,— I ask,— of what can it avail itself? ... I do not mean to say that the monarchy will suffice by itself to solve the social question; but I say that the monarchy alone can fruitfully work at the task, because it i^ the necessary base of the whole political order. I do not say that the monarchy will solve the social question in a day, but I say that it will strive to solve it, without relaxation, honestly, faithfully, not with phrases, promises, and theoretical formulas, but with principles and institutions, with encouragements to men of good will, with the practical assistance of specialists. . . .^^' The political contest between Republicans and Monarchists for the electoral support of the masses tended to accelerate the development of de Mun's social program, especially as regards legislation, while temporarily linking that program with royal- ism. To explain the process, we must turn back, for a moment, and trace the development of the social attitude of the mon- archists. As long as a monarchist majority controlled the National Assembly (1871-1876), the monarchists gave themselves no very great concern regarding labor questions. To be sure, they authorized an investigation of labor conditions ; but of the two reports which were made on the subject, one was never discussed,'^* and the other was so complacently optimistic that it failed to nerve the Assembly to action.^"^ Nevertheless, one important reform was carried through. A bill passed by the Assembly in 1874 excluded from " indus- trial labor in manufactories, factories, mills, mines, and work- shops " all children under twelve years of age (with the excep- tion that in certain industries children were allowed to work six hours a day) , restricted the period of labor to twelve hours 92 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT a day for young persons between the ages of twelve and six- teen ; excluded children under twelve, girls, and women from mines; prohibited the employment of children at night, or of girls in mills and factories at night, or of children and girls on Sundays and legal holidays.*"" It is perhaps worth noting that the Count de Melun, a brother of the great Catholic charity organizer, acted as chairman of the committee reporting the bill,*" and that £mile Keller, the Catholic deputy from Belfort who in 1873 had joined with de Mun in the enterprise of found- ing Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, not only voted for the bill, but insistently demanded provision for its more effective en- forcement.*"^ The first elections (1876) under the Republican constitu- tional laws gave the Republican groups a majority in the Cham- ber of Deputies,*"' and resulted in the appointment of a Repub- lican ministry, headed by Jules Simon. Thrown into the op- position, the Monarchists devoted more attention to the inter- ests of the masses. In June, 1876, a Bonapartist and clerical deputy, Laroche-Joubert,*"* whose son, Edgar Jean, later be- came a member of the Popular Liberal Party, interpellated the Government regarding its plans, or lack of plans, for social reform.*"' " If I have presented this interpellation," said La- roche-Joubert, it is because, up to the present, I have seen that this Assembly, and the one preceding, were much occupied with political questions, with dynastic competitions, but that the most burning question, the ques- tion that places us on a volcano, that every moment threatens to cause an upheaval, has never, or almost never, been considered. I have believed it to be my duty, — I, who know the masses because I have lived with them, because I shared their lot at the beginning of my career, who know their legitimate aspirations, — I have believed it to be my duty to call the attention of the govern- ment to the necessity of concerning itself with giving satisfaction to the interests of the most numerous class. . ^"^ The aged president of the council of ministers, Jules Du- faure, a typical bourgeois and moderate republican, rebuked Laroche-Joubert in these words : DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 93 . . . When you demand the amelioration of the material condi- tion of our fellow-citizens, you encourage in the country — permit me to say — ideas which are not true. [Applause from the Left and Center.] Do not tell the people that they should look to the government for the amelioration of their condition. . . . Tell them that what they should demand from the government is the freedom and protection of labor [lively applause from the Left and Center.] Whereupon Laroche-Joubert sarcastically remarked, I take notice of the words of the Government and of its declara- tion that it has done all that it should do, when it has promised the country liberty, order, and a definitive constitution.^"' It is worth noting that Dufaure's reply was applauded by the Republican Left and Center. The Republicans had much to learn. It is an interesting fact that after the Child Labor Law of 1874 a whole decade elapsed without further social legislation. The decade 1874-1884 witnessed the definite triumph of repub- licanism over monarchism, and the beginning of the great con- flict between clericalism and anticlericalism ; but it was barren of social reform. The explanation is obvious. In the first place, the labor movement as yet had neither formulated its program precisely nor organized its tremendous numerical re- sources; in the second place, defense of the Republic against real and rumored dangers from monarchism and clericalism still furnished bourgeois Republican deputies with the best of all electoral platforms in the elections of 1877 and 1881. An undertone of social discontent, however, began to make itself audible after the constitutional crisis of the Seise Mai, 1877, had been safely passed and Republicans placed in control of the Republic. Perhaps it was with some idea of drowning this ominous undertone in the din of a new conflict that in 1880 a Republican cabinet — the same cabinet which proved its veneration of liberty by declaring July 14th the national holi- day of France — declared war on the teaching orders, and expelled the Jesuits from their educational establishments.*"' At any rate, such was the suspicion expressed by the organ of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs : 94 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The campaign undertaken by the government against the religious orders and against the liberty of education is nothing but an expedi- ent to divert the attention of the electoral masses from the social question.*"^ One of the most striking instances of a monarchist attack on the indifference of the Republican Government to the labor question is to be found in the debates of March, 1881, on a bill to limit the working-day in industry to ten hours.*^" Cyprien Girerd, a Republican of the Left, speaking for the Government, had declared that no reason could justify so grave an attack on the liberty of labor, " which is the most sacred of all our liberties," and had urged the Chamber to reject the bill.*'^ Oither Republicans *^^ had spoken against the measure. Marcel Barthe, for example, declared that a recent inquiry by the Government had proved the Bill to be " absolutely useless " ; twelve hours' labor a day was not destructive of the working- man's health ; moreover, the hours of labor tended to decrease " by the natural and normal development of our industries.'' The employment of children in factories had the advantage that " the fathers and mothers have the joy of seeing them work before their eyes. They can direct them, instruct them, and teach them to work faster and better." (This was not irony on Barthe's part; it was earnest argument.) The bill would have the effect of increasing class-division and antago- nism; hence it should be rejected.*^' Another Republican, Louis A. Hugot, opposed the bill, say- ing that state intervention in such matters was nothing else than socialism, and, once started in that direction, " you cannot tell where you will stop." Hugot used the classical economic argument against labor legislation : The nature of things is stronger than all the laws, all the decrees and all the regulations in the world, and ... the legislators may strive in vain, for economic laws cannot be eluded at will.*i* Such Statements afforded fimile Keller, a clerical-monarchist deputy, an unequalled opportunity to contrast Republican neg- lect with Monarchist championship of the working classes. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 95 The Republican Chamber, he asserted, had not examined the social problem under any of its aspects ; the end of the session was drawing near, and it was high time to treat the question with the gravity it deserved, " for, at this moment, the Chamber is giving the measure of its sympathy for the laborers." He took the Government to task severely for the " singular atti- tude " which it had taken in opposing the bill. " A Repub- lican government," he said, " a Republican assembly, are in contradiction with the principles which they pretend to profess in treating the labor question in such a manner." The masses, as he attempted to demonstrate, were beginning to see through the mask of selfish bourgeois republicanism. He quoted the complaint raised by a labor assembly in 1876: Our bourgeoisie, like Lot's wife, stands petrified, motionless. It occupies the political offices, the functions of administration, and, thanks to the capital which it possesses, it has in its hand the economic world. The workingman, for his part, is condemned to a subjection a hundred times more oppressive than the political con- ditions against which our fathers rebelled in '89 and '93. The bourgeoisie has absolutely discarded the bonds which for- merly attached it to the people, since it no longer has need of the people to overthrow the nobility. . . . For the majority of the bourgeoisie, politics is only a means to dupe their fellow-citizens and to obtain their votes. They practise politics without sincerity and traffic in democratic, socialist, or other ideas just as the capitalist traffics in leather, iron, or copper goods. Once in power, they are our worst enemies. In 1880, Keller continued, workingmen at Lyons had de- clared that " the first act of the bourgeoisie, once it had gained control of the government, was to betray its former ally [the proletariat] and to monopolize the benefit of the Revolution by substituting itself for the fallen class [the nobility]. . . . The poverty of the workers has increased in direct proportion as the wealth of the new possessors, and ten years of the Republic have made no change. ..." " Well, gentlemen," said Keller, " it is not by repression, it is not by dry and hard refusals, such as we have heard from the lips of the under-secretary of state, that we shall succeed in 96 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT directing the aspirations of the working class ; we must examine their demands closely; we must see what they contain that is right, and give them satisfaction in just and legitimate meas- ure." "» As regards the specific question before the house, the regula- tion of hours of labor, Keller submitted a counter-proposition, which was more radical, in several important respects, than the bill originally reported by the committee: (i) it provided a maximum working week of 6i hours, whereas the committee's bill would have permitted 70 (ten hours a day) ; (2) it ap- plied to mines as well as to factories and mills; (3) it pro- hibited the employment of women at night and the employment, day or night, of women in the first month after child-birth ; (4) it provided more severe penalties.*^* Keller had the satis- faction of seeing provisions for limitation of the working- week to six days, and for prohibition of the employment of women at night, incorporated in the text finally adopted by the Chamber but the bill as voted applied only to young persons and women, and established 66 hours as the maximum week.*" In the same debate, Keller took occasion to discuss the ques- tion of the guild organization of industry. As he was an associate of de Mun's in the enterprise of founding Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, it is not surprising that he should express similar views. The debate, said Keller, had clearly revealed one dominant fact, and that was the lamentable turn of events, as concerned labor, since 1791. " The famous law of 1791," abolishing the guilds, had established the liberty of the em- ployer, the liberty of capital, but had destroyed the liberty of the workingman, who had hitherto enjoyed the right of asso- ciation. In defence of his thesis that abolition of the guilds was a mistake, Keller cited the following passage from Louis Blanc : . . . The guilds had been formed under the dominant influence of the Christian spirit. A passion, which no longer exists in our man- ners and customs, or in public affairs, at that period brought condi- tions and men closer together: this passion was charity. The life of the workingman was not troubled by bitter jealousies, by the DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 97 necessity of hating his fellow-being, by the pitiless desire to ruin him by surpassing him. While frankly admitting that in many respects abuses had crept into the guild system, before its abolition in 1791, and denying that he was a partisan of the restoration of the old regime, Keller voiced his strong conviction that the law of 1791, in forbidding all association, all organization of labor, was in large measure responsible for the alarming turn which the labor problem had taken.*^^ This is the characteristic feature of the monarchist social philosophy of the period ; it is the view emphatically stated by no less a personage than the Legitimist pretender. The Legiti- mist pretender, the Count of Chambord, was distinctly aware of the value of a social reform program as a political asset. His Letter on Labor (1865) had portrayed the monarchy as the historic protector of the right of labor to organize, — a right which the Revolution had destroyed.*^" Shortly after the Com- mune (1871), in a solemn manifesto, Chambord had declared. It is the laboring classes, these workingmen in field and town, who have suffered most from this social disorder; their condition is the subject of my most earnest attention and of my favorite studies.*^") Six months later, in another declaration, he had dramatically asked, who, besides a hereditary monarch, " will assure to the working classes the benefits of peace, to the working man the dignity of his life, the fruits of his labor, and security for his old age ? " *^^ By such promises Chambord endeavored " to prove to France and principally to the working classes, on which side are to be found their true friends and the constant champions of all their interests." *^^ Count Albert de Mun, who had appeared in the political arena at precisely the moment (1876) when the monarchists had lost their majority in parliament, was just the spokesman that the Count de Chambord needed. As secretary-general of the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, de Mun had acquired a preeminent position as an exponent of Catholic ideas 98 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT of social reform, and as a critic of the existing capitalistic regime. It is not surprising, then, to find Chambord writing to de Mun, Among these working classes, who are the constant object of my attention ; among these dear workingmen surrounded by so many flatterers and so few true friends, you better than any one else can serve as my interpreter. . . . Let them know well that I love them too well to flatter them, and, to express my whole idea in a word, repeat to them incessantly that God must return to France as master, in order that I may reign there as king, in order that France may be saved.*''' The task of acting as the Pretender's " interpreter " to the working-classes, and as the spokesman of Catholic social ideas in parliament, had a marked effect in clarifying de Mun's thought and in giving his program a practical trend. From the beginning, de Mun and his associates in directing the work of the Catholic Workingmen's Qubs had made the principle of association (among workingmen, capitalists and philanthropic aristocrats) the first article of their social program. In their first manifesto, they had characterized the workingmen's club as " the threshold of the future edifice, and the living type of the Catholic labor associations that we shall see flourishing some day." "* The conception had been vaguely presented in de Mun's speech at the inauguration of the first club founded by the Association in 1872.*" Gradually the idea had taken the form of a definite conviction that the medieval craft guilds, abolished at the time of the Revolution, should be restored in modern industry.*^" Still, in 1876, de Mun had been none too specific: the guilds, he had asserted, " will spontaneously arise as they should be, and they will always be good and legitimate because they will be Christian." " As to their form and their statutes," he lamely added, " it is not for us, but rather for practice and experience, to determine them." *" After his entry into politics, de Mun became both more out- spoken in his denunciation of the existing regime and more precise in his program for the future. His attacks on the existing regime of anarchical capitalist competition were no DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 99 less candid than those of the socialists. In competitive indus- try, he declared, " the workingman is used like the coal which is shovelled into the engine. . . ." *^^ " I hear people pro- claiming absolute liberty of labor as the principle of the emanci- pation of the people," he said, " and I see that in practise it leads to the enslavement of the people." *^'' The Revolution, in the name of liberty, had destroyed the ancient organization of labor instead of reforming it. Laissez faire! Laissez pas- ser! the " magic formula of liberal economy," had served to cover the abuse of force. As a result, the fever of speculation invaded everything; merciless conflict took the place of fecund emulation ; hand-industry was crushed ; profes- sional labor falls into decadence; wages shrink; pauperism spreads like a hideous leprosy; the exploited laborer feels the ferment of an implacable hatred growing in his heart; he has no refuge except in resistance and no recourse except to war ; the coalition and the strike take the place of the organization of labor.*^'' To say such things before a great assembly of workingmen was dangerous. De Mun was rebuked by conservatives; he was accused of socialism. " We are called socialists," he said, " because we recognize what there is of justice in the demands of the workers." Admitting that he had seen, and commiser- ated, the sufferings of the working class, de Mun vehemently denied the charge of socialism ; socialism was the " logical Revolution," and he stood for the Counter-Revolution.*^^ Merely denouncing abuses was not sufficient : a positive pro- gram was needed. " It is not enough to talk," he said, " we must act and put in practice the labor reform we have under- taken. The abolition of the right of industrial organization was the consequence of the principles of liberty of labor ; we purpose to reconquer that right." Industrial organization should take the form of '' the Catholic guild, which is neither a trade-union, nor a tribunal of arbitration, but a center of Christian activity where the interest of the profession is su- perior to private interest, where antagonism between capitalist and workingman gives way to patronage exercised in a Chris- tian spirit and freely accepted." *^^ lOO THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT What we demand, is the right for masters and men to form freely together professional associations united by the bond of Christian confraternity and common interests, in order to remedy the antagonism which divides them, the isolation which leaves the laborers without protection against the abuses of competition which lead to the decadence of the trade.*^' The guild idea was primarily applicable to small industries, to the arts and crafts, but the same principle must govern the great industries in which machine-production had been intro- duced. If from the arts and crafts, that is to say, the professions in which . the human being has not become an accessory of the machine, we pass to industry, to the estabhshments in which mechanical motor forces are predominantly employed, the situation is doubtless delicate, and the applications will consequently be different ; but the cause of the evil is the same, and the principles from which the remedy must be drawn subsist in their integrity. It is always the same thought : limit competition, associate common interests, im- pose upon the employer the duties of patronage, uplift labor and the condition of the laborer. . . .*^* De Mun demanded not only labor organization, but labor legislation. The Christian moral law forbade the sacrifice of the body and soul of the workingman to the production of wealth. In the name of this morality, we demand that his [the laborer's] work should not be excessive, and that his hours of labor should be regulated otherwise than by the law of interest and of the neces- sities of competition ; we demand that his wife shall be permitted to remain the mistress of his home and shall not be engulfed with him in the whirl of labor without limits ; we demand that his child shall grow up apart from this fever which devours his body pre- maturely and withers his soul; we demand, finally, that the work- ingman shall regain possession of what has so justly been called the great charter of his independence, the right to rest on Sunday.''^^ This program, formulated in 1878-1879, became more specific in 1882. In a speech at the tenth general assembly of the Workingmen's Clubs, May 7, 1882, de Mun described the guild as follows : DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM lOl The guild as we conceive it is a community formed among em- ployers and workingmen of the same profession, held together, first of all, by acceptance of the principle of social justice, which im- poses on the former as well as on the latter reciprocal duties : that is the moral bond ; and united by a common possession, by a corporate property arising from the voluntary sacrifices of both (classes) : that is the material bond. . . . To administer its affairs, to govern it, there is a trade board (conseil syndical) elected by the association and composed of em- ployers, workingmen and that element of the upper class whose special role I have described.^^s The trade board governs the guild, morally and materially ; it discusses common interests ; it adminis- ters the collective property and economic institutions [presumably, social insurance against accidents, old age, etc.] ; it supervises the preservation of the homestead and the education of the children; it is, in short, the guardian of the community. . . . For these professional communities, freely formed, raised up by private initiative, sustained by the family spirit, and invested with property rights in the guild property [patrimoine corpordtif], we demand legal existence, not toleration, but the sanction of law for their regulations.*^' Moreover, de Mun has caught an anticipatory glimpse of the scheme of professional representation which was subse- quently to be so widely discussed: We have greater ambitions and still larger visions; and when one thinks what the world of labor might be, thus organized, it is not difficult to perceive how the guild, when legally existing, might in the future become the basis of a sincere, fair, and true representa- tion of interests in the domain of politics. *^^ In the same year de Mun asserted the necessity of social legislation, — " a legislation which will respect divine law, pro- tect the weak, limit the fever of competition, prevent excessive labor, and, by giving the laborers their Sunday holiday, pre- serve their souls and their bodies." ^^^ De Mun's Advocacy of Social Legislation in the Chamber of Deputies, 1883-1891 In the great debate of 1883 on the legalization of trade- unionism,**" de Mun's oration *" against economic individual- I02 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ism and in favor of the guild organization of industry created notliing less than a sensation. He was the first speaker to take the floor, and his ideas were so aggressively and emphati- cally stated that the debate proved to be more a discussion of his views than a deliberation on the technical provisions of the bill. The fundamental cause of the modern labor problem, he maintained, was the false doctrine of the Liberal or individual- istic economists. Leaving aside the generous intentions and magnificent phrases which had filled men with enthusiasm for liberty, he said, there was a doctrine which could not be over- looked. " I mention it," he said, because in my opinion it is still, and in a very large measure, the cause of the malady from which the world of labor is suffering. It is the doctrine which consisted in considering labor as a com- modity instead of regarding it as an act of human life, the noblest of all, — an act for which rules could not be traced without consider- ing the man who is its author. The principle established, all the rest follows as a logical sequence If labor is in fact a commodity, once it is delivered he who sells it and he who buys are quit ; hence there are no longer any reciprocal duties between employer and workingman ; the interest of the former is to buy at the lowest price, and the interest of the latter is to sell at the highest price ; therefore the struggle between capital and labor arises. They [the economists] forgot that! They were enthusiastic for theories without weighing the practical consequences sufficiently. And when a system was built upon the law which a celebrated economist, Cobden, formulated in the sentence, — " When two work- ers are trying to get a wage, wages decline ; when two employers are trying to get one workingman, wages rise." — they did not think what miseries are accumulated in the first of these alterna- tives, " wages decline," and what industrial crises, that is to say, after all, new miseries, are implied by the second : " wages rise." Thus it has come about that not only is the individual working- man isolated from his fellows, his interests being opposed to theirs, but also a grievous division has been created between those who purchase labor, that is to say, the employers, on one side, and on the other side those who sell it, that is to say, the workingmen. This is a new situation. . . This social situation has received a name, it is individualism, and DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM I03 it is the plague which infects our diseased society, from top to bot- tom. An illustrious English statesman, Mr. Gladstone, has saifl that this century would be called the century of the workingmen. That is true if you mean that the history of this century is filled with the echoes of their sufferings and of their vain attempts to escape the yoke of individualism. The mistaken idea of economic liberty or individualism had led the Constituent Assembly to abolish the guilds in 1791 and to prohibit any industrial organization to take their place. In showing how this policy had resulted in the oppression and degradation of the laboring classes, de Mun quoted socialist writings with telling effect. But, socialistic as his indictment of the capitalist regime might sound, he could not sympathize with the socialists in their proposals for reform. " In my opinion, and I say this without wishing to offend any one," he said, the socialist program " is the most dangerous of chimeras and would lead to the worst of despotisms." Turning to the bourgeois parties, de Mun demanded, What have you done to avert this peril? . . . What have you done, in the last half-century, to appease the regrets of the workingmen, and to remedy the plague of isolation which preys upon them? . . . Since you have been in power, what have you done to lessen the evil, to prevent the explosion? When, at what moment, have you concerned yourselves with the situation of labor? When you were absolutely compelled to do so ; when the crisis burst out before your eyes, under your very feet, so to speak; but until then you spent your time in political quarrels, in the scramble for cabinet offices. And even now the Government had no sound program. Co- operative production, which seemed to be regarded as a panacea, had been tried in practice and had proved to be successful only in special situations ; it was not a remedy which could be applied to industry in general, and even where successful it did not touch the root of the problem, since cooperative production enterprises soon became in effect capitalist organizations, in which the shareholders hired employees. Coming to the question of trade unions, de Mun expressed his belief that the legal recognition of trade unions might in I04 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT some measure relieve the existing situation, but he could not see how it would remove the division and antagonism between capitalists and laborers. What is lacking in the unions as you conceive them — unions of employers or unions of workingmen, but isolated and separated from one another — is precisely what is the great want, the great social necessity of our times, and what existed at the basis of the old guild institutions, namely, personal contact, conciliation of in- terests, appeasement, which cannot be had except by the reconstruc- tion of the industrial family. Under the proposed law, the labor unions would be unable to realize a genuine, permanent amelioration of labor conditions. Employers' unions would be formed to resist labor unions. In the clash of organized interests, the employers would tend more and more to forget their social duty. Capital and labor would be organized for war, and " in this impious war, every- body will suffer: the workers first, because they are weaker; the masters, also, who little by little will be ruined ; and finally, the country. . . ." Therefore, in addition to permitting the legal organization of separate labor unions and employers' unions, the Chamber should grant special encouragement to unions which brought employers and workingmen together in a common organiza- tion. Such mixed unions (syndicats mi.vtcs) should be em- powered to receive bequests and legacies, to establish collective funds, to create institutions for insurance against sickness, un- employment, accidents, old age. Unions of this type were best suited to improve the conditions of the workingmen, to cultivate a spirit of social responsibility among employers, and to remove the causes of antagonism between capital and labor. S'uch unions, in fact, were the most promising modern substitute for the medieval guilds. Moreover, they responded to a real desire on the part of the employers and laborers alike ; in support of this assertion, de Mun presented petitions signed by more than six thousand five hundred employers and workingmen. The amendment which de Mun and his friends presented, to give eflfect to the ideas which have been summarized, was not DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 105 accepted by the Chamber. The Republicans regarded the pro- posal with undisguised suspicion; de Mun, they knew, was a clerical, and his mixed unions, they asserted, were designed to strengthen the hold of clericalism and monarchism on the masses. Perhaps the following sentences from a speech by Lockroy will give the flavor of the Republican replies to de Mun. Asserting that de Mun's scheme was nothing less than a clerical conspiracy against the work of the French Revolu- tion, Lockroy said. Never, perhaps, has an enterprise of this kind been more elo- quently defended, more cleverly conducted, and more dangerous for society. They [de Mun and his followers] rely on a true fact; they rely on the difficult situation in which workers and capitalists have momentarily been placed by unemployment and foreign com- petition; they rely on a true sentiment, that is, the desire of capital- ists and laborers to organize and to end a struggle ruinous to both ; they rely on this fact and this true sentiment to attack the present regime and to demand that we say our mea culpa for the French Revolution, return to the institutions of the past, and destroy the great work of Turgot and the revolutionary assemblies. . . . I wonder whether it beseems a representative of the monarchy, a representative of clericalism, to stand before this assembly and take the part of the workingmen against us.**^ In ithe trade-union debate of 1883, de Mun sprang at a single bound into the front rank of orators on social questions in the Chamber of Deputies. Thenceforward, he took an important part in most deliberations on labor problems, and continually reaffirmed his principles, with more and more specific applica- tions. On January 14, 1884, in the course of a debate on trade- boards in mining industries, he again put forward the guild organization, combining workers and employers and containing within itself the natural means of arbitration, as the true remedy for labor unrest."^ In a debate on January 25, 1884, regarding the Government's program for the alleviation of the labor crisis, he renewed his charge that the Republican Government was neglecting the workingmen. He cited statistics and quoted economists to I06 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT prove the gravity of the situation. In the face of existing discontent, unemployment, poverty and industrial anarchy, the Government was doing little or nothing. "It is not for me to explain," he said, " who is responsible for the fact that as yet no definite law in favor of the laborers has been sanctioned by the republican assemblies." Addressing the Government, he asked. Will you at once begin the laborious, difficult task of legislation for the protection of the workers? It has been said with truth, that there were a large number of bills in your portfolios, but they have been slumbering there for the last three years. Will you study the creation of a corporative [guild] organization of labor, based on the union of masters and men? We have asked you to provide the means ; you refused ; but we still demand them. He proposed, besides the guild, national and international labor legislation; he hoped that France would welcome and act upon the Swiss proposal for an international congress on labor legislation. He also advocated the encouragement of con- sumers' cooperative societies.*** Accident insurance, said de Mun on October 20, 1884, should be based upon labor organizations rather than upon the admin- istrative bureaucracy of the government. Invoking the ex- ample of the law recently passed by the German Reichstag, he urged the Chamber of Deputies to adopt a system of accident insurance administered by unions. Such a system would be the safest and most effective method of insurance, and it would be a step in the direction of guild organization. Furthermore, he added, it would in no way outrage justice to make accident insurance compulsory ; compulsory insurance was " perhaps the only practical and truly efficacious method of solving this grave social difficulty." *" In a debate on November 20, 1884, regarding the labor crisis in Paris, de Mun intervened to make another plea for the guild, and to deliver another warning against the Govern- ment's policy. What means this universal complaint regarding the disorganization DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 1 07 of labor? That the social institutions which we lack are needed. Well, gentlemen, every time we take up these questions, you know what happens. We run up against the stone wall of impotence. In this Chamber all questions of providence, against accident, against sickness, against old age, have been discussed ; what has been the result? Nothing. If the Government persisted in refusing to foster a construc- tive labor organization, it would be compelled to adopt palliative measures to relieve labor troubles, and such measures would take on more and more a state-socialistic character : the choice must be made between healthy industrial organization and state socialism. " Every time, gentlemen, that one mentions state socialism to you, you cry out in protest; nevertheless, you are being pushed towards it inevitably, by the force of events, by the economic situation which presses upon you from every quarter; you can escape from anarchy only by throwing your- selves into state socialism." ^** The progress de Mun had made toward formulating a prac- tical program of labor legislation may be estimated by the plat- form which he sketched, in 1885, as the basis for a clerical party, a " Catholic Union," which at the time he dreamed of founding.*^^ The party would maintain (i) for the Church, liberty and security; (2) for the Family, liberty of religious education, the sanctity of marriage,^** and protection of the homestead;**' (3) "for the People, — the limitation of labor by .the legal establishment of the Sunday holiday ; the prohibi- tion of night work for women and the progressive suppression of factory work for mothers and for children of both sexes; protective legislation against accidents, sickness, involuntary un- employment, and the inability to work resulting from old age ; and, to render this legislation practical and efficacious, a cor- porative [guild] organization of labor destined, in the words of the Encyclical Humanum Genus, ' to protect under the aegis of religion the interests of labor and the morals of the working- men '." *=» The projected Catholic party never materialized. It was not reactionary enough, in its political program, to suit some Io8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT clericals ; it was too much so to suit others. The papal nuncio, considering the scheme inopportune, advised de Mun to aban- don it ; and de Mun renounced his project. *^^ The bourgeois Republican anticlericals were to continue in power, while the Catholics remained divided; and, as regards social legislation, dreary decades were to elapse, during which the Republicans, while talking much of labor problems, made painfully slow progress in actual social legislation. Some of the reforms out- lined by de Mun in 1885 were accomplished in fragmentary and hesitant fashion : — the restriction of female and child labor, by the laws of 1892, 1900, 1909; accident compensation, by the law of 1898 ; old age assistance, in 1905 ; old age pensions, in 1910; the Sunday holiday, in 1906. After tlie failure of his project for a Catholic party, de Mun devoted more of his attention to the elaboration of his social program. In the years 1886 to 1889 he presented, in concert with a small group of his friends in the Chamber of Deputies, a series of remarkable bills embodying his ideas. In some respects these bills were not as radical as those which socialists were presenting at the same time, but they were unquestionably much more radical than the measures that the republican ma- jority was willing to enact. De Mun's Bill for the Regulation of Labor, presented on February 20, 1886, proposed as '' a minimum of very insuffi- cient reforms": reduction of the working-day to eleven hours for adult laborers (the legal limit was then twelve hours and was not enforced) *" ; observation of Sundays and legal holi- days as days of rest ; reduction of the working-day to eight hours on Saturdays and on days preceding hohdays ; absolute prohibition of the industrial employment of children under twelve years of age (the existing law prohibited employment of children under ten years of age) ; requirement of a medical certificate of fitness for employment of children between twelve and sixteen years of age; prohibition of the employment of girls under fourteen years of age in factories; exclusion of girls and women from heavy labor and from shops in which DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 109 toxic substances were handled; non-employment of mothers during the four weeks after childbirth.*^^ Another bill, likewise presented by de Mun and his associ- ates in 1886, provided compulsory sickness insurance and old age pensions for workingmen. The insurance and pension funds were to be raised by joint contributions of workingmen and employers, the workingmen paying not more than half the premium, and in no case more than three per cent, of their wages. These funds were to be administered, in each region and for each trade, by elected boards of workingmen and employers. In addition to sickness indemnities and old age pensions (for himself, his widow, or his orphaned children), the workingman was to receive gratuitous medical treatment.*^* A somewhat similar scheme for the insurance of workingmen against accidents was proposed by de Mun's bill of February 2, 1886. Workingmen were to receive compensation, or in case of fatal accidents their survivors were to receive pensions, ac- cording to a schedule stated in the bill ; negligence or slight im- prudence on the part of the victim was not considered sufficient to invalidate his claim. To guarantee the payment of accident indemnities, employers were required to form regional insur- ance unions, which would be managed by elected boards of workingmen and employers. The cost of the insurance was to be borne for the most part by the employer (75 per cent. at a minimum), but in part by the workingmen (at most 25 per cent.)."^ Two bills on industrial arbitration and conciliation boards, presented by Le Cour, were signed also by de Mun. Arbitra- tion of questions regarding wages, length of working hours, conditions of health and safety, might be invoked by either workingmen or employers; arbitral boards were to be com- posed of an equal number of members chosen by the working- men and members chosen by the employers. Employers and workingmen in any trade were legally authorized, but not com- pelled, to institute a permanent board of arbitration and con- ciliation.^^" no THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The proposals outlined in the bill of February 20, 1886, re- garding child-labor, the employment of women, and the eleven- hour day, were carried further in a bill presented by de Mun in December, 1889. The bill, he explained, did not pretend to exhaust the question, but included simply certain " indispens- able " reforms. The maximum working-week for adult work- ers of either sex, in factories, shops, and mines, was to be reduced to 58 hours, with no work on Sundays or legal holi- days, and only eight hours on Saturdays or days preceding legal holidays. Children were not to be employed, in any case, under the age of thirteen years (the 1886 bill had proposed twelve years), and not under the age of sixteen without a medical certificate of health. Women were not to work at night, or underground, or in shops employing toxic materials, or under conditions prejudicial to their health, or during a period of four weeks following childbirth. To make the code of labor laws truly effective, a special corps of labor inspectors was to be created, and a supervisory committee was to be instituted.*" .\ specially interesting feature of this bill was the provision that shop-regulalioH'^ and wage-schedules should be posted in all shops and regularly notified to the labor inspectors. In this way, the ini,pectorate would obtain ample data to enable the Chamber of Deputies to study the question of a minimum wage. Two additional bills presented in 1889 embodied other de- tails of de Man's program. The first, presented on December 5, by Thellier de roiiclieville, Le Gavrian, de Mun, and others, protected small wages against seizure.''^'^ The other, presented on December 7, aimed to prevent the excessive division of land, by permitting the division of inheritances in value, without involving the break-up of the family farm as a workable unit.*''" De Mun's activity was not limited to the presentation of bills outlining his solution of the labor problem. In the debates on social legislation he constantly employed his eloquence in urging reforms. In the debate of January 29, 1889, for in- stance, he delivered a remarkable reply to the spokesman of DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM III orthodox political economy, Frederic Passy, who had declared that labor reform must be accomplished by private initiative rather than by legislative action ; de Mun maintained the neces- sity of legislative intervention and of international agreement on labor legislation, and urged his friends, whatever their opinions on other matters, to support him in taking a strong attitude on this question.**" Again, in the discussions early in 1891, re- garding the restriction of child-labor, the employment of women, and the reduction of the working-day, de Mun took a very active part, striving to secure effective legislation.*'''^ Count Albert de Mun's social program as presented before the Chamber of Deputies in the years from 1883 to 1891, far from representing the final expression of Social Catholic ideas in France, was destined to undergo considerable modification and amendment in subsequent years; nevertheless, it marked a great advance. The counter-revolutionary impulse which led to the formation of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs had been translated into a definite, detailed social program, a program decidedly modern in tone, despite de Mun's admiration of the middle ages and inclination toward monarchism; and de Mun had become a leading advocate of social legislation in the Chamber of Deputies. The program may be summed up under three heads. (A) Labor Organisation : The right of labor to organize was to be recognized in law, and every encouragement, legislative and otherwise, was to be given to the formation of mixed arbitra- tion and conciliation boards, mixed unions, and other institu- tions tending toward the inter-organization of capital and labor. The ideal to be approached was not one-sided labor- unionism, which could merely exact concessions from capital- ists, but rather, a modernized form of guild organization, embracing both capital and labor and reconciling their interests. Such an organization would secure respect of the rights of the workingman, would admit him to a share in the management of industry, and would help to restore his interest and crafts- manlike pride in his trade. Ultimately, the trade organizations would become, in large part, the agencies for the regulation of 112 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT wages, hours, and industrial conditions, and for social insur- ance. (B) Labor legislation: The principle that the Government should intervene to protect not only women and children, but also adult male workers, against excessive hours of employ- ment and unhealthful conditions was fully recognized. As re- gards adult male workers, a weekly maximum of fifty-eight hours of labor was fixed. Sundays and holidays were to be respected. Women were not to be employed at night, or un- derground, or in unhealthful occupations, or in heavy labor, or during four weeks after childbirth. Children were excluded absolutely from factories up to the age of thirteen; girls, to the age of fourteen; and a certificate of health was required before children between thirteen or fourteen and sixteen years of age could be employed. The details here given were not intended to represent the maximum of the desirable, but merely what w as considered practicable and " indispensable " at the period. The establishment of a minimum wage, for example, was not definitely included, but it was proposed to collect wage statistics with a view to action on the wage problem. Furthermore, it was believed that social legislation in France should be supplemented by international agreements ; such agreements would enable national legislation to proceed further without danger of ruinous foreign competition. (C) Social Insurance : The workingman was to receive an old age pension, and was to be insured against the consequences of accident and sickness. To place these social insurances in the hand of the state, de Rlun believed, would only aggravate the evils of bureaucracy and accelerate the drift toward state social- ism ; instead, he would entrust the management of insurance funds to boards representing the employers and the working- men themselves. By this device, he hoped not only to secure a better system of insurance, but to foster the inter-organization of labor and capital on a trade basis. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM II3 A Manufacturer's Experiment A political or social movement is rarely the result of a single impulse; more frequently it is produced by a combination of dynamic factors. So it was with the Social Catholic movement under the Third French Republic. Count Albert de Mun's political and social campaign was only one element, albeit the most impontant element, in creating the new current of social philosophy. Having followed the development of de Mun's ideas down to the year 1891, we may now turn back to trace the influence of a second factor in the situation, and to show how this second factor, though of independent origin, entered into close combination with the first. In this case, the impulse toward social reform comes not frorti the ranks of the feudal nobility, but from the industrial bourgeoisie, from the owners of the Harmel Cotton Mills. This dynasty of industrial magnates had been founded in the early days of the Industrial Revolution by Jacques Harmel, a hand- spinner, who was one of the first to introduce the new spinning machines into France. One of his sons, Jacques Joseph Har- mel, founded the great spinning mill of Val-des-Bois in the year 1840.*"^ That the factory at Val-des-Bois became inter- nationally famous as a social experiment was due to Jacques Joseph Harmel's originality, an originality consisiting largely in a really sincere and almost saintly religious devotion. Shocked by the irreligion and immorality prevalent among the working- classes, he strove at first to convert his employees to Christi- anity by personal contact and personal example. This means proving to be of small effect, he hit upon the idea of founding and fostering welfare associations which while ameliorating the material conditions among his workingmen would also exert a salutary moral and religious influence. *°^ Thanks to his per- sistence and enthusiasm, the experiment proved successful. The Val-des-Bois became in some sort a modern guild. In- stead of strikes and class-conflict, " Christian Democracy " and " social peace " reigned at Val-des-Bois, and the title, " the good father" (Bon pere), which the workingmen gave to their 1 14 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT master, expressed the " family-like " harmony which pervaded the establishment.*"* The organization of Val-des-Bois was developed by Jacques Harmel's son Leon, who fully realized the significance of his father's and his own innovations as a social experiment, an attempt to establish a " Christian guild " as a pattern of indus- , trial organization. Leon Harmel's books, — Manual of a Chris- tian Guild (1876),"= and Employer's Catechism (iSSg),*"" provide us with an excellent description of what the Harmels actually accomplished and with a statement of the theory upon which they worked.*"' The \'al-des-Bois guild was an organism, a union of associa- tions, rather than a simple union. This complexity was in- herent in the theory itself, for the Harmels were striving to combine several principles in a harmonious practical system. The simple principle of union by itself was considered inade- quate ; it tended to create labor-unions hostile to capital and bent on class warfare. The principle of democratic control of industry would logically lead to the elimination of the em- ployer. The principle of capitalistic paternalism, if taken alone, was inadequate because it failed to awaken any vital response among the workingmen. The Harmels attempted to make a Christian synthesis of these principles. In the first place, the workers were permitted, nay encouraged, to form various associations — a men's club, a women's association, a girls' society, a mutual benefit society. Democratic control was practised in the management of these associations, and was represented by elected shop-committees, but was not car- ried to the extreme. The Guild Board, an elective council of workingmen. was consulted on such questions as shop-manage- ment and wage-schedules, but had no sovereign authority in these matters ; the policy of the employers was to act with democratic advice and consent, but not to abdicate their author- ity. The third principle, paternalism, received expression in manifold efforts on the part of the employers to promote the material and moral welfare of the workingmen, to foster and guide even the institutions controlled by the Workers. The DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM US paternal influence may be seen in the fact that one of the employers acted as chairman of the Guild Board, and the super- vision of general guild interests was entrusted to a committee composed of the members of the firm, the chaplain, the school- director, and representatives' of the various workingmen's associations. In this fashion the three principles of associa- tion, democratic control, and capitalist paternalism were com- bined and balanced in a complex organism consisting of first, employers, second, the general committee of employers and representatives of the workingmen's institutions, third, the workingmen's Guild Board, fourth, shop committees, fifth, vari- ous economic, social and religious associations among the work-people. The Guild Board was in many respects the most interesting feature of the organization. Its meetings were held every six weeks, as a rule, and were concerned with general questions, such as workingmen's insurance, wages, shop-regulations, super- vision of the guild institutions. For matters of detail, the Board was divided into four sections, each of which held weekly meetings. One section had charge of accident-compen- sation, sickness-benefits, life-insurance, and the savings-bank. Another secured discounts from licensed tradesmen. A third purchased coal and potatoes at wholesale prices. Vocational training was supervised by one of the sections. In these and similar matters the workingmen gained valuable experience in collective action and obtained very considerable material advantages for themselves. For example, by licensing a butcher, a baker, a grocer, a vegetable-dealer, and a cheese- dealer to supply the guild-members, and by guaranteeing these licensed tradesmen against bad accounts, the guild secured a discount of five per cent, on all purchases by members. Again, by purchasing coal in large quantities, a twenty per cent, sav- ing was effected ; on potatoes, vegetables and bread the saving was ten per cent. Seasonal exhibits of clothing were arranged, enabling the members to select their wearing apparel from a large stock and to purchase at wholesale prices. The members of the guild also enjoyed the benefits of what Il6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT we now call social insurance. All members were insured against accident and death. In case of sickness, a very small daily indemnity of from ten to thirty sous was paid. More- over, when a woman was sick and unable to discharge her home duties, a girl was sent to do the household work. A physician was paid by the employer to give free medical assist- ance. Medicines were provided without charge. In serious cases, a patient might be sent to the hospital at Rheims, without expense to himself. In case of accident, the worker received half-pay while he was disabled ; if permanently crippled, he re- ceived a life annuity; if he was killed, his family received a compensation proportional to his wages. Harmel was especially interested in promoting the family life of his employees. Instead of erecting barren and unsightly tenements, in which no family could enjoy privacy, and all were condemned to live in depressing squalor, he built separate cottages each with as large a garden as the family desired. These he rented at 140 francs a year. A dowry of one hun- dred francs was given to girls at the time of their marriage. Weddings were made the occasion of social festivities. Alothers received material and medical assistance at time of childbirth. Morality was preached and vice discouraged. Every possible means was employed to make the workingman's home a stable center of contentment and happiness. Many years in advance of national legislation, a rule was established at Val-des-Bois that no children should be employed under the age of twelve years. Free primary education was instituted and school-attendance was made compulsory. Fur- thermore, as has been remarked, the guild had a system of vocational training. The higher positions in the factory were filled from the ranks of laborers, and the idea that promotion was the normal result of expertness was sedulously cultivated. Probably the moral effects of the guild organization were quite as important as its material advantages. The working- man who was secure in his employment, protected against acci- dent or sickness, participating in the management of guild affairs, was no longer a " wage-slave," a cog in the machine, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAM 1 17 but a self-respecting human being. He felt a pride in his trade and in his home. The increase of savings indicated the growth of self-respect among Harmel's workingmen; in the year 1877 almost 19,000 francs were deposited in the guild savings-bank. Moreover, a healthy social life, fostered by the various associa- tions, satisfied the human craving which under different cir- cumstances would have been indulged in vicious amusements. Musical clubs, recreation-rooms, billiards, bowling, skittles and theatrical entertainments afforded harmless forms of amuse- ment, while the deliberations of the various boards and com- mittees and the meetings of the associations offered an inter- esting and useful means of occupying leisure hours. The net result was contentment, a commodity as satisfactory to the workingmen as it is profitable to the employer. Strikes and lockouts were inconceivable. Just how large a part religious elements played in the guild at Val-des-Bois would be difficult to estimate. Certainly it was a very important part. In founding the guild institutions, the Harmels, by their own testimony, had at heart the religious welfare of their workingmen quite as much as the harmonious and efficient conduct of the factory. The members of the guild were encouraged to join purely religious Catholic societies. The chaplain and the friar who directed the schools were mem- bers of the governing committee. The whole life of the com- munity was pervaded by the Christian spirit. Harmel, when he came to discuss the theory of the guild, insisted that unity and harmony could not be obtained without frankly accepting Chris- tianity as the moral basis. Because his experiment in industrial management was so distinctly Catholic in character, Leon Harmel took the keenest possible interest in Count Albert de Mun's campaign for the establishment of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs. What Har- mel had achieved in fact, — the reorganization of industry on a Christian basis, — de Mun was demanding in theory. Har- mel's experiment and de Mun's propaganda inevitably con- verged. Contact between the two was established in the year 1873, Il8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT when de Mun's Catholic Workingmen's Clubs were making a pilgrimage at Liesse. The club members were marching in a procession, when they were surprised to see Harmel and a detachment of workingmen from Val-des-Bois appear from behind an ambush. This was Harmel's manner of announcing that Val-des-Bois had joined de "Sinn's Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs.'*"' That Harmel was warmly welcomed goes almost without saying. He supplied precisely what the Association needed, the confirmation of practical experience for its doctrines. Hitherto, the directors of the Association had eloquently but somewhat vaguely recommended the restoration of the guild regime in industry ; now, however, they had before their eyes a concrete example, a practical working model. Restoration of the guild in a modernized form was no longer an ideal glowing dimly through the mists of the distant future; it was a program f(ir immediate action. What Harmel had done, other Christian employers could and should imitate. Hence we find the leaders of the Association becoming more positive and much more definite in their propaganda for the guild idea. At the request of de Mun's friend, La Tour du Pin, Leon Harmel prepared a Manual setting forth the principles and de- scribing the operation of the Christian guild."" He laid the proofs of this book before the national Congress of the Associa- tion, at Bordeaux, in 1876, together with a report on the same subject. His definition of the guild may be quoted: The Guild may be defined as follows : The Christian labor guild is farmn, in 1891, gave renewed confidence to Social Catholics EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 179 and Christian Democrats and called public attention to the fact that Catholicism, no less than socialism, advocated certain definite measures of social legislation, presented an ambitious social program, and claimed to champion the welfare of the masses. In the Chamber of Deputies, Count Albert de Mun could now invoke the authority of the Encyclical for what had hitherto appeared as his own personal and somewhat paradoxi- cal compound of religious conservatism and social radicalism. Would it be possible for the Socialists and the clericals now to cooperate in forcing social legislation through the Chamber of Deputies, overpowering the opposition of the bourgeois Repub- licans ? One of the most conspicuous of the Marxian Socialist leaders, Paul Lafargue, seemed to think that such a combina- tion was not lonly possible but desirable. The very suggestion of such a combination was sufficient to throw the Chamber of Deputies into an uproar. It was in the debate of December 8, 1891, that Lafargue made his appeal."*'^ He had taken the floor to plead for the release of imprisoned labor agitators, and to denounce the Government's policy of persecuting labor. The minister of the interior, he had de- clared, treated " the Socialists and the workingmen with a brutality and an illegality to be found only in despotic states." The alternative to the Government's policy of blind repression was a policy of social reforms and appeasement. This was the real issue, he declared ; it was the one transcendent issue. The religious question, which had so long been given first considera- tion, was only a diversion, a distraction. Lafargue himself was anti-Christian, as far as religion was concerned. " I am an atheist; I am a materialist," he frankly announced. But he considered the labor problem more important than religious controversies. Religion, he thought, was a personal affair. He did not ask people whether they were Christians, or whether they were eager for the separation of Church and State. The question of separation of Church and State was only a " toy," with which the bourgeois politicians had " amused " themselves during the last twenty years. But he did ask, he went on to l8o THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT say, "are you for the suppression of the wage-system? Are you for the socialization of the means of production? Are you for socialist reforms ? " Regardless, therefore, of religious diflferences, he wished to solicit " the cooperation of all who desire labor reforms, of all who wish to alleviate human sufferings." " We address our- selves," he continued, "as much to this side of the Chamber [the Right] as to that [the Left]." When L^fargue attempted to reinforce his plea by mention- ing Leo XII I's Encyclical on the labor problem, indignant ex- clamations from the anticlericals of Center and Left cut him short.""' Even the president of the Chamber of Deputies tem- porarily forgot his function as impartial moderator and de- livered a stinging retort. Frenchmen, said the president, had not waited for the pope's authorization to become socialists. Another remark of Lafargue's created a sensation. " One of the best socialist speeches " which had been delivered in the Chamber of Deputies, he asserted, was made by the Social Catholic orator. Count Albert de Mun. After the noise had subsided, an anticlerical jeeringly remarked, that Lafarg^e had good reason to express such views since the " reactionaries had voted for him." Another deputy called him " a soldier of the pope." Still others interjected sarcastic comments."" After several other speakers had taken the floor, either to uphold the policy of the Government °"° or to assert that the Church was attempting to turn the socialist movement into channels serviceable to clerical interests,®"® or to reject the pro- posed amnesty because it was a " political manifestation accom- panied by a suggestion of alliance between socialism and Cath- olic socialism," ""' Count Albert de Mun, in his turn, arose and replied to Lafargue.®"" First of all, Count de Mun explained that he never had and never would call himself a Socialist, because socialism was " entirely opposed," in its point of departure, to his own re- ligious convictions, and because he considered the coUectivist ideal to be " neither just nor practical." But, this reservation made, he said, EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION l8l I do not need to tell anybody here that in effect I am agreed with the socialists, with the speaker [Lafargue] who has just addressed you, regarding the criticism of the present economic order and re- garding a very large number of social reforms which are daily demanded by the laborers. [Applause from the Left.] M. Lafargue could rightly say that, on these points, I was much more in agreement with him and with his friends than with a large number of members of the majority of this Chamber. [Noise in the Center.] De Mun then went on to say that, although he was separated from the Socialists by his religious convictions, he was even more widely separated from the bourgeois Republican majority. There is unquestionably a profound disagreement between us [Social Catholics and Lafargue], an abyss which will not disappear; it results from the firmness of my religious convictions. But this abyss, — I regret to say, — I perceive not only between myself and him, but also between myself and the greater number of the mem- bers of the majority [applause from various benches] and I must add that furthermore I am separated from the majority by an equally profound disagreement touching social reforms, in principle and in application. When de iMun, continuing, affirmed that the social reforms which he and the Socialists had incessantly demanded were to be realized not by attacking the Church, but with the aid of the Church, members of the Left interrupted him, saying that there were only seven " socialists " in the Right, and that de Mun's own friends were opposed to his social doctrines. De Mun replied, Do I not know, as everybody knows, that between myself and many of my friends there are disagreements on these questions of social reforms? Have I ever drawn back from the painful duty of de- fending my ideas here against my best friends? No, never! Hi's profound convictions, he said, could be influenced neither by the regret that his friends refused to support him, nor by the applause, sincere in some cases, and ironical in others, of the other parties. As for the specific question under deibate, namely the amnesty i82 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT for labor leaders, he could not a^ree with Lafargue. It was not right to " efface the condemnations pronounced against the men who have stirred up and excited popular passions." He considered violence in labor disputes to be unwise and deplor- able. The wiser course was, not to condone class warfare and violence, but to satisfy the legitimate claims of labor. This latter course he would defend with all his heart. It was high time for bourgeois anticlericals to take alarm. With both Social Catholicism and Revolutionary Socialism promising the workingman solid material benefits, would mere middle-class Republicanism be able to survive? As Eugene Spuller, a prominent anticlerical politician, pointed out, It is certain, in fact, that at the present hour the general principles of the Revolution are being battered down with redoubled vigor by all the Socialists. Whether it be the pretendedly scientific so- cialism of Karl Marx or the Christian socialism of men who claim to draw their inspiration from the teachings of the Church, little matters. There is evident a movement against the liberty of labor and even against the principle of property, as these principles were understood and comprehended by the Revolution, and the social evolution of the Church can only give new force to this move- ment."*" The Church, Spuller believed, was endeavoring to dominate the masses, to seize the leadership of the people. Apparently he was much perturbed by the prospect of what might happen " if the Church, taking the lead, starts to excite the masses in what they call their social claims." Again he said, '" the Church is taking a step in the direction of the masses, now that she is detached from the princes and monarchies and needs anotiier support; and this is what must be clearly perceived and pon- dered." ""^ To quote still further from the same author, — Nothing is more interesting to follow than the great and profound movement of opinion which may be observed almost everywhere and which is pushing the Catholics of all countries into the front rank of those who place social questions above political or dynastic questions. . . . Turned in this direction, and marching in this path, with the power of rejuvenation and of transformation of which her long EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 183 history gives so many proofs, the Church is preparing to play an infinitely more important role than is commonly believed in the great affairs of the twentieth century, of which we are beginning to catch the first glimpses.^^^ While Spuller was pointing out how old-fashioned bourgeois anticlericalism and Republicanism were exposed to the twofold peril of proletarian socialism and " Christian socialism," a few of the younger and more enterprising bourgeois anticlericals, far from seeing a menace in socialism, were going over to the proletarian movement and assuming its leadership. Repub- licanism and anticlericalism, they thought, should logically lead to socialism, and could not be established on a firm basis with- out socialism. Jaures and Millerand were the most conspicu- ous of these younger leaders, who annexed the popular doctrines of socialism to the older principles of bourgeois anticlerical Republicanism or Radicalism. This new move on the part of the Radicals was a direct challenge to Social Catholicism and as such vitally affected the latter movement. The point will per- haps be made clearer by a brief review of the tactics which Millerand and Jaures pursued. Alexandre Millerand, a young lawyer, began his political career as a Radical. It was as a Radical that he figured in the Paris municipal elections of 1884. His transition to socialism occurred during the later 'eighties. In 1885 he was elected to the Chamber by a combined Radical and Socialist vote. In 1888 we find him subscribing to the socialistic (it was hardly Marxian) program of the " Socialist Group " in the Chamber. In 1891, as counsel for the Marxist Paul Lafargue, who was then on trial for expressing violent proletarian sympathies in the warfare of the classes, Millerand identified himself more emphatically with collectivism. And on November 28, 1891, he joined with Goblet, Lockroy, Sarrien, and Peytral in pub- lishing a proclamation in the Petite Republique, calling upon all Socialists and all Republicans to cooperate in disestablishing the Church, limiting the working-day, restricting child-labor and ferriale labor, establishing old-age pensions, and enforcing hygienic conditions in the factories."'^ i84 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT It was Alexandre Millerand who, in the famous debate of December 8, 1891, pointed out to the Republicans the peril of a rapprochement between socialism and Social Catholicism. The social trend of the Church made clericalism more than ever the enemy. He said, Yes, we have to sustain a conflict with the Church at this mo- ment. . . Today, in fact, everybody knows that it is a conflict with- out mercy . . . between the Republican idea and the Church, . . . the Church which — as M. de Mun has just told you — thinks to draw to herself the toiling masses by holding before their eyes the hope that socialist doctrines will be defended by none better or more eloquently or more effectively than by those who, like M. de Mun, vaunt the Catholic doctrine.*"* The Republican party, said Millerand, must make some reply to this doctrine. Should that reply consist merely of speeches? Did they believe that the laboring classes would content them- selves indefinitely with the promises showered upon them, promises which " hitherto have not been followed by realities "? Did the Republicans not see that promises must be accompanied by deeds? Labor laws had long been discussed but had not been voted. Bills regarding accident-compensation, old-age pensions, and many other questions, " slumber in the legislative pigeon-holes and have not yet assumed, in the eyes of the worker, of the laboring class, the aspect of living realities." The Government and the immense majority of the Republican party had made promises which they had not yet honored. " Do you not understand," he asked them impatiently, " that you must seize eagerly every occasion to prove to the working- men that your promises and your declarations are not merely vain words ? " °°* Millerand, then, was a bourgeois anticlerical who thoroughly understood the importance of bringing anti- clericalism and socialism into alliance. Jaures, another bourgeois intellectual, a university lecturer, in fact, certainly gave no outward sign of marked socialistic inclinations when he entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1885. He took his seat among the middle-class anticlericals of the EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 185 Left Center. In 1888 he was still sufficiently a bourgeois to remain outside the parliamentary " Socialist Group." Being defeated in the elections of 1889, he returned to academic life. When next he appeared in politics, it was as a collectivist can- didate from Carmaux, in the elections of 1893. It is significant that in espousing collectivism Jaures did not forsake Radical- ism. He declared it necessary to " annex to the economic pro- gram of Socialism the political program of Radicalism." The Radicals, discerning that Jaures would be more valuable as an ally in the bourgeois struggle against clericalism, militairism, and monarchism than dangerous as an apostle of the proletarian revolution, helped to elect him in 1893. He fulfilled their ex- pectations. He rendered splendid service in the Dreyfus case ; he approved socialist cooperation with the bourgeois Repub- licans during the years 1899-1905, when anticlerical legislation occupied parliament's tirrie much to the disadvantage of social legislation; and under his tactful and conciliatory leadership the Socialists in the Chamber of Deputies, though they waxed in numbers, were a menace less to the Radical bourgeoisie than to the clericals and the militarists."'^ The entry of bourgeois anticlericals like Jaures and Millerand into the Socialist movement, coinciding almost exactly in point of time with the Catholic ralUement to the Republic, meant that the Social Catholic republicans or rallies had to encounter extremely vigorous opposition from the Socialists as well as from the reactionaries. In the electoral battle of 1893 the rallies were raked by a cross-fire of criticism from the social- istic Radicals or parliamentary Socialists on one hand, and from uncompromising monarchists on the other hand. The predicament was embarrassing. Despite their embarrassment, the rallies were determined not to mince words. Their foremost orator. Count Albert de Mun, not only declared and reiterated his decision to accept the Republic, but, going still further, he challenged the conserva- tives no less boldly on the social question than on the constitu- tional issue. Imagine the consternation of wealthy reaction- l86 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT aries when they read in the morning papers that the most brilliant orator of the Right, a member of the hereditary aris- tocracy, had uttered words such as these: The great problem of the moment is socialism. There are two ways of attacking this problem : in alliance with the capitalists or in alliance with the people. To make an alliance with Judaism "^^ and High Finance is to prepare the path for a socialism which will go to no one can tell what excesses. At the risk of appearing as one crying in the wilderness and as an extremist, I say: that which needs to be protected is not capital, it is labor ! We must not allow the belief to exist that the Church is a cassocked police- man who throws his weight against the people in defense of, and in the sole interest of capital ; it must be understood, on the con- trary, that the Church acts in the interest of and for the defense of the weak. When the people know this, when they are thoroughly convinced that the Church is not made for wealth, then our efforts will be on the threshold of success, and the idea of the Holy Father will be realized. " Repeat that," he said to me, " speak often of the social action of the Church." •"" The ire of the conservatives at this speech need not be left entirely to the imagination of the reader. Some faint indica- tion of their frame of mind may be gathered from the follow- ing passage which appeared in a royalist journal: To speak of forming an alliance with the people against the capital- ists, to take the part of labor against capital systematically, and of the workingmen against the employers, is nothing more nor less than preaching class war [la guerre sociale] ; it is speaking like the leaders of the militant Socialist party, like those who desire the destruction of society.""* From M. Piou, whose nature was more that of a shrewd lawyer-politician than that of an ardent apostle of Christian Socialism, we should expect less resonant words than those of de Mun in regard to the social question. Even M. Piou, however, ventured to say that the way to defeat socialism was not by uncompromising opposition, but by magnanimous con- cession of complete justice to labor. " It is by conceding all that is just that we can block the path to socialism." No EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 187 hesitation existed in his mind that, " at least," any " democratic legislation " ought to favor the organization of industry, foster more intimate relations between labor and capital, develop in- dustrial arbitration, social insurance, profit-sharing, and old- age pensions. These proposals may sound conservative enough to many a twentieth-century reader, but they were not conserva- tive when they were made. In 1893 the trade-unions were still hampered by restrictions; social insurance was virtually non- existent; and an old-age pension law was still seventeen years in the future. Nevertheless, labor legislation was with M. Piou a minor issue, subordinate to the great controversial questions of repub- licanism and religion. For, as the political leader of the Con- stitutional Right, he was busily engaged in organizing the forces of his party for the impending electoral contest of August, 1893, in which the great question would be whether the Catholics would follow the pope's advice and accept the Re- public. On the eve of the elections, M. Piou met with about two hundred Catholic leaders at the residence of Baron Hely d'Oissel and organized the group of the Republican Right. Prince d'Arenberg was given the presidency of the party, at least in name, and a Delegation of Studies (delegation d' etudes) was formed to study the policies which the new group should adopt. In the list of the members of the Delegation, we recognize the name of M. Piou, and also of MM. D. Guibert and A. Viellard, members-to-be of the future Popular Liberal Party.«»» At a party -banquet on June 20, two months before the elec- tions, M. Piou defined his plan to build up the party of the Republican Right (Droite republicaine) , " to accept the Repub- lic " unequivocally, and to defend " order, authority, religious liberty, social justice." France, he said, was weary of revolu- tions, and athirst for tolerance, justice, and reform.'"" It was not easy to turn a deaf ear to those who would have led the new party astray from the "path of republicanism, religious liberty, and social reform marked out by M. Piou. i88 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT On one hand, the monarchist d'Haussonville invited the rallies to cast their lot with him, and generously offered, while remain- ing a monarchist, to say nothing about it in the electoral cam- paign.'"^ Had the rallies yielded to his inducements, the whole movement of Republican Social Catholicism might have been derailed and perhaps irreparably damaged. For d'Hausson- ville and his fellow-monarchists, as has been pointed out, were no less reactionary in social than in political questions. What negation of de Mun's Social Catholic doctrine, or of Leo Xni's doctrine, could be more complete than d'Haussonville's rhetorical question : " Why seek to compromise the Church in questions in which it has no call to meddle ? " and his reply, " the Church has been involved only too frequently in our political conflicts ; let us not involve it in our economic strug- gles ? " '°- Fortunately for the Social Catholic movement, d'Haussonville's words were not heeded. On the other hand, the moderate Republicans, particularly the Progressists, sought to incorporate the rallies into an essentially conservative, anti-socialist, republican coalition. M. fitienne Lamy, a Republican of recognized standing since the 'seventies, painted a glowing picture of a two-party system, in which the alternation of conservatives and liberals in power would propel France gently and safely along the path of con- servative progress.'"" Would M. Lamy's vision, imported from England, win the favor of the rallies and be realized in the formation of a Tory or conservative party in France? To the vision of a coalition party, moderate or conservative in temper, such as M. Lamy had in mind, M. Piou was not at all blind. In one of his more sanguine moments, he gave utter- ance to the hope that from the small beginnings of 1892-1893 there would grow a great " parti tory " or " parti conservateur democratique," with the motto emblazoned on its banners of " A Republic open to all, tolerant, and fair " (Republique ouverte, tolerante et honnete). "All those," he went on to prophesy, " who mean to resist the apostles of socialistic Neo- Radicalism and the fanatics of Free-Masonry, will take their place in our ranks, and they are legion ! " '"* EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 189 M. Leon Say, a wealthy economist, an abhorrer of socialism, and owner in part of the Journal des Debats, felt something of the same longing for a party of aristocratic conservatism, unit- ing the Progressist Republicans and the rallies, as a counter- poise to the socialistic tendencies of the Left.'"' A coalition of this sort, with the Center of the Chamber of Deputies, would have been formed at the expense of M. Piou's social program, since on the benches of the Center, among the Progressists were to be found very few friends of any but the mildest social legislation. In truth, MM. Leon Say, Frederic Passy, Yves Guyot, and other leading Progressists were indomitable foes of any law that smacked of socialism. Had M. Piou and his followers become simply Progressists, de Mun would have been more than ever " a voice crying in the wilderness," almost alone in his Social Catholicism. As a matter of fact, M. Piou's Republican Right was a little too strong in its clericalism, a little too emphatic in its opposi- tion to the classical school of political economy, to lose its identity in a merger with the moderates and Progressists, who were for the most part anti-interventionists and individualists. However, a number of the rallies, mostly those who were least touched by Count Albert de Mun's social message, showed a very strong inclination toward such a merger, and in the course of the decade from 1893 to 1903 many of them preserved a divided allegiance between the Republican Right and the Pro- gressist group ; two score of them definitely went over to the Pro- gressists in 1897 '"* ; while others maintained their ambiguous position until several years after the formation of the Popular Liberal Party.''"^ It might be said with much truth that the more conservative a rallie was in his attitude toward social re- form, the more he tended to drift from the Republican Right toward the Center. In fact, in questions of social justice, the Chamber presented the appearance of an army whose wings were advancing rapidly, eager for the fray, while the center hung back in caution, loath to leave the shelter of its com- fortably intrenched position. The question quite naturally arises, why did not the more Ipo THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ardent clerical reformers, those who like de Mun were called Christian Socialists, ally themselves with the Socialists of the Extreme Left, so that in very truth the two wings would ad- vance together toward a new conception of social justice, drag- ging the reluctant Progressists and other moderates of the Cen- ter willy-nilly behind them? Had not the Socialist Paul Lafargue declared, in 1891, that "one of the best Socialist speeches which has been delivered here [in the Chamber of Deputies] was made by M. de Mun "? And had not de Mun, on his own part, confessed that he was more in sympathy with Lafargue than with the Center?'"' In practice, the two extremes of the Chamber were frequently found arrayed on the same side in economic controversies, — both opposed to the Center and Left Center. But any solid coalition of Socialists and Social Catholics was quite impossible. With the exception of Lafargue and perhaps one or two others, the parliamentary Socialists and Socialist-Radicals went out of their way to repudiate the assistance of the Right '°° and found a working agreement with the anticlerical defenders of capital- ism far less repugnant to their taste than a combination with the clerical advocates of social reform. The Socialists showed more interest in the spiritual welfare than in the material con- dition of the masses. By a paradoxical inversion of their own materialistic interpretation of history, the Socialists seemed to act as if philosophical questions of religious opinion were far more substantial and weighed incomparably heavier in the scales of their decision than did the solid, material, economic class- interests of the proletariat. The paradox is hard to understand unless one remembers that Jaures, Millerand, and not a few other leading Socialist politicians were not bona fide " pro- letarians " at all, but sons of the middle class. Perhaps the reader will not find it surprising, then, that in- stead of heaving a sigh of relief when an important group of monarchist-clericals became converted to the Republic and to social reform, the Radicals and many of the Socialists gave signs of positive indignation. It was their Republic; what right had the rallies to intrude? If the Church became Repub- EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 191 lican, what would become of Alexandre Millerand's famous phrase that "between the Republican idea and the Church" there was " a struggle without mercy " ? '^^ The rallies could not be genuine Republicans ! It was incon- ceivable. Alexandre Millerand, who had succeeded to the editorship of Gambetta's celebrated journal, the Petite Repub- lique/^^ as well as to Gambetta's anticlerical apostolate, joined with his fellow-Socialist Jean Jaures and with Camille Pelletan, who was far from being a Socialist, to sound the battle-cry against clericalism and to sign a manifesto urging the union of " all true Republicans in the Social Republic." '^^ The party in power, Charles Dupuy and the Radicals, could not have been better pleased. Once more clericalism rather than capitalism would be the enemy. The premier could re- gard the parliamentary Socialists as allies against rather than allies of the Christian Socialists and rallies, whom he scorn- fully styled " resignes." ^^' With one hand he could invite the Socialists to take their stand with the Left and even with the Center on a bourgeois platform of three planks only, to wit, (i) vague promises of labor legislation, to be conceived in the spirit of " Republican solidarity," (2) tax reform, (3) enact- ment of an Associations Law (which would strike at the mo- nastic orders).'^* At the same time, letting not his left hand know what his right performed, he could sternly curb the labor movement by forcibly suppressing, on July 7, 1893, the Paris Labor Exchange, which had served as a hotbed of Revolution- ary Syndicalist agitation.'^^ Such was the situation in the summer of 1893, when the new party of the rallies or the Republican Right, out of which was to grow the Popular Liberal Party, entered its first general electoral contest. The group was fiercely assailed, both by the mona^rchists upon whom it had turned its back and by the " true " Republicans or anticlerical bourgeois Radicals and So- cialists, whom it had attacked in the name of social reform without revolution and republican liberty without anticlerical- ism. ''" The result was bitterly discouraging for the men who had 192 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT thought to blaze a trail in which all Catholic Frenchmen might follow, as Republican rallies, toward a happier state of democ- racy and social justice. Of the 95 rallies who presented them- selves as candidates, only 35 were elected. Most disastrous of all, the leaders went down in defeat. To lose Count Albert de Mun and Jacques Piou, both, was a heavy blow. What added to the sting of defeat was the knowledge that certainly in de Mun's case '" and probably in the case of Piou,"' the disaster was caused by the opposition of monarchists who refused to accept the Republic and who were determined to punish the leaders of the ralliement. If the new group of rallies was, so to speak, decapitated by the loss of its leaders, the groups of Royalists, Bonapartists, and Boulangists were quite as grievously dismembered. WTiereas in the preceding election these three groups had made a very respectable showing with 211 seats, they retained only 58 seats in 1893. The French nation in 1893 pronounced de- cisively tlie doom of monarchism. Hitherto the avowed ene- mies of the Republic had been influential and numerous. Henceforth their number was destined to decline until the dwindling monarchist group in the Chamber all but disap- peared."" The losses of the monarchist Right were the gains of the Center, the Left, and the Extreme Left. The moderate and " opportunist " Republicans, who had possessed 245 seats in 1889, swept all before them in 1893 and entered the new legis- lature with an absolute majority of 317 seats. The quarrels of the clericals and the anticlericalism of the Socialists were prob- ably responsible in no small part for this gain. The Extreme Left, that is, the Radicals and Socialists, made a distinct advance. Altogether there were 122 Radicals and about 50 Socialists in the new legislature, as compared with 119 Radicals and Socialists in the old.'^" With orators like Jean Jaures, Jules Guesde, Rene Viviani, Alexandre Millerand, Marcel Sembat, and Edouard Vaillant, the Extreme Left and particularly the Socialist group were not likely to prove a negligible factor in the new Chamber of Deputies. Nor was it EFFECT OF PAPAL INTERVENTION 193 likely that the bourgeois Republicans would be allowed to for- got that the Socialists had polled something like 6oo,cxx) votes.'''^ Well might middle-class politicians ponder the words of the Socialist Jaures : You have silenced the old lullaby [i. e., religion] which stilled human poverty, and human poverty, awakening with cries, confronts you and demands its place today, its large place in the sun of the natural world, the only one which you have not darkened. ... It is you who have raised the revolutionary temperature of the pro- letariat, and if you tremble today it is your own work.'^^z CHAPTER VII " THE NEW SPIRIT " 1893-1899 As Jaures pointed out, there lay a grave danger for middle- class Republicanism in the very fact that, thanks largely to the diversion provided by the rallies, the monarchists had been routed, the clerical cohorts disordered, and the Republicans, apparently, more securely than ever intrenched in power. Having defended the Republic for the bourgeois parties, the Socialist working-classes might now attempt to conquer it for themselves. From the very first, the Socialist group in the newly-elected Chamber of Deputies of 1893 gave unmistakable signs of an aggressive disposition. Hardly had the session opened before Jean Jaures in an eloquent oration,'^' unfurling, so to speak, the red flag of the social revolution, led the Socialist deputies in a vehement attack on the ministry. It was the siege of Jericho reenacted. The oratory of Jean Jaures, like the trumpetings of the Israelites of old, brought the enemy's fort- ress crashing down in ruin. In reality, however, the ministry was less like a fortress than like a house divided against itself, for the president of the council, Charles Dupuy, could not agree with his Radical minister of finance, Peytral, on con- troversial questions such as the desirability of an income tax. Because of its internal weakness, the Dupuy ministry col- lapsed when Jaures sounded the attack, and tendered its resig- nation on Nov. 25, 1893."* But it was not the Socialists who stepped into Dupuy's place. An interesting illustration of the permanence of social struc- ture which enabled the same aristocratic or wealthy families to remain in positions of power and affluence though kingdoms and empires might rise and fall and republics have their day was the choice of Jean Casimir-Perier, a wealthy capitalist and 194 "THE NEW SPIRIT" 195 grandson of Louis-Philippe's famous minister, to succeed Charles Dupuy as head of the cabinet, Dec. 3, 1893."' With a homogeneous Moderate ministry, Casimir-Perier undertook to stand at bay, protecting the existing capitalistic regime against socialist onslaughts and at the same time defending the anticlerical legislation of the Republic against Catholic at- tacks.'^" A series of anarchistic exploits, particularly the hurl- ing of a bomb in the sacred precincts of the Chamber of Deputies itself,'-' gave the new ministry an opportunity to inaugurate its campaign against agitators, call themselves what they might, who menaced the social order. Four drastic bills, conferring extraordinary powers upon the administrative au- thorities for the swift and sure repression of every conspiracy against property or life, were hastily consented to by the Chamber.'^^ As the Radicals and Socialists with one accord protested against his harsh policy, Casimir-Perier tended more and more to look toward the Right of the Chamber of Deputies in hope that there he might find additional support. Perhaps with the aid of the rallies a new and a stronger Moderate major- ity might be built up as a bulwark against socialism and anarch- ism. But to gain the rallies' votes the ministry would have to make certain concessions in religious matters. The Casimir-Perier ministry made its offer to the rallies by the mouth of Eugene Spuller, minister of public education, who had been the friend and counsellor of the great Gambetta, and who was the brains of the Moderate or Opportunist party. Spuller's much-quoted speech of March 30, 1894, may be re- garded as the Moderate Republicans' formal response to the ralliement of the Catholics to the Republic. In effect, Spuller offered a truce in the battle against clerical- ism if the clericals would join in a crusade " against all fanat- icisms, whatever they be, against all sectaries, to whatever sect they belong," i. e., chiefly against Revolutionary Socialism and Anarchism. Spuller's words created enough of a sensation at the time to warrant the quotation of a few sentences here: It is my profound conviction that after twenty-five years of exist- ence, after the proofs of its independent vitality and power of 196 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT resistance which the Republic has given, this struggle [against the Catholic Church] should, if not cease, at any rate assume a different character. I maintain that the Church itself is changing, that it is evolving, despite its claim of immutability. I say that now, instead of serving as a bond for the parties of monarchism, you behold the Church rushing to the front [of the forces] of democracy. I say that in this movement the Church will perhaps drag you, you Republicans, further than you wish to go, for, if you do not take care, it will recover among the masses the influence which you have lost. That is why, gentlemen, I believe that nothing must be abandoned of our old traditions in our incessant battles for the advantage of secular and civil society ; but I also believe that it is necessary that a new spirit should animate this democracy and those who repre- sent it. . . . This new spirit is simply this : instead of petty, mischievous, vexatious warfare [interruptions by the Extreme Left]. . . . This new spirit of which I speak, I do not mean to say that under any pretext it should be a spirit of feebleness, of condescension, of sur- render, of abdication ; on the contrary, I say that it should be a lofty and a broad spirit of tolerance, of intellectual and moral renovation . . . quite different from that which has hitherto pre- vailed. . . I demand that we be inspired by the spirit of tolerance. . Tolerance today, tolerance tomorrow . . . always; tolerance. It is the future of free societies. We can have no other if we genuinely desire that the Republic shall inaugurate in this country the reconciliation of all Frenchmen, the rallying of all citizens around the flag of la patrie, if we wish that this Republic which we have founded shall live and repose on the perfect and mutual agreement of all spirits, of all hearts.'^* SpuUer's remarkable speech was probably motivated not only by the ardent hope of uniting the forces of " order " and patriotism in the Republic, but also by the conviction that the Ghurch would not be a menace to the Republicans if tolerated by them. In his interesting book on The Political and Social Evolution of the Church, a reprint of articles which he had written during the critical years of the ralliement, Spuller dis- cusses the liberal forces at work in the Church, and defends the thesis that the Catholic conservatives who had accepted the Republic would prove willing to help support conservatism, with the bourgeois Republicans, against subversive social agita- " THE NEW SPIRIT " 197 tion. SpuUer was thinking merely of political expediency; he certainly was not moved by any sympathy for Catholicism. "If philosophy, if free- thought, have ever had a loyal and convinced champion, it is myself. . . . Opportunist I have always been and will always remain." Such was his own pro- fession of faith. As he said, he was " emancipated from all positive religion " and the cause of the Church was not his.''^" The " New Spirit " proclaimed by Spuller did not mean that the rallies would be permitted to enter into the cabinet. It was enough of a privilege to vote for the ministry ; to ask more would have been presumptuous of these novices. Casimir- Perier himself took pains to make that point clear. While he solicited the support of all " fair-minded men " (honnetes gens) for the maintenance of the social order, nevertheless he declared that " to confide the republican standard to them (the rallies), to give the guardianship of our constitution to them, these neophytes, would be a grave imprudence." ^'^ And Spuller also admitted, subsequently, that " it never entered the heads of true Republicans to go and seek our adversaries in order to put them in our places. . . . We are not likely, after twenty- four years [of Republican rule] to say to them : ' The place is warm, won't you be so good as to take it? ' " '^^ Even though the New Spirit gave promise of at least a temporary respite from the aggressive anticlerical campaign, the Catholic Republicans or rallies could not entirely relish the bargain that was offered. To be sure, they were more than willing to join a crusade against Revolutionary Socialism as well as against anarchistic terrorism; but those who shared de Mun's philosophy of Social Catholicism soon found them- selves joining with the Socialists to .defend the rights of labor against the Government. The first part of the foregoing assertion, relative to the readi- ness of the rallies to aid Casimir-Perier against Revolution- ary Socialism, was beautifully illustrated in a debate on April 30, 1894.'^^ The most eloquent of the Socialist orators, Jean Jaures, had opened fire on Casimir-Perier, whom he accused of forming an anti-Sodalist coalition with clericals and monarch- 198 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ists and of regarding the Right as, "if not a necessary pari, at least an ornament of the Government's majority." Jaures simultaneously attacked the rallies, particularly Count Albert de Mun, whom he styled a " Christian Socialist " and whom he accused not only of having " endeavored to borrow from socialism all that you could in order to restore in this country the influence of Christianity as constituted in the Church [to this accusation de Mun retorted, " Quite the contrary! "], but also of having accepted the Republic only at the bidding of the pope and in order to combat the Republican f)olicy." So- cial Catholic writers and orators, Jaures went on to say, were quite as vigorous as the Socialists or the Anarchists in con- demning the existing capitalistic exploitation of the masses, and quite as much a menace to " the social order." Count de Mun's reply, delivered on the spur of the moment, was one of his most brilliant speeches, considered merely as a model of the orator's art. In substance, it was a violent attack upon socialism. He accused the Socialists of attacking two fundamental principles, property and authority, which were absolutely necessary in human society. He traced the philo- sophical ancestry of socialism back to the doctrines of the Encyclopedic, of Rousseau, of Diderot; he proved that at least some of the Socialists were preaching the necessity, nay the inevitability, of a violent social revolution; and, while proudly pointing to his own record of unflagging zeal in behalf of tangible social reforms during the past twenty years, he up- braided the Socialists for retarding real social reforms by teach- ing the working classes to look for an unreal Utopia which nobody, not even a Socialist, could describe. Let de Mun speak in his own words : Very well. With such doctrines [social revolution, class struggle, etc.] do you know what you are doing? I say it with the accent of a sorrowful conviction, you are delaying, you are retarding, perhaps you are rendering impossible the most just, the most neces- sary, the most urgent social reforms. . . . Turning to Alexandre Millerand, wh'O had interrupted him, de Mun continued: "THE NEW SPIRIT" 199 For twenty years past I have demanded, here in this tribune, the most precise social reforms; it is not my fault if hardly a single one of them has been achieved. My responsibility is absolutely cleared. It is yours that is in question. You teach the people to expect nothing, to hope for nothing, from the progress of ideas, of institutions, of laws, and to seek in their labor organizations not the means of defending their rights but a weapon of combat, preparing by means of continual violence for civil war. You display before their eyes the/ ideal prospect of a coUectivist'society, the functioning of which not a single one of you can explain. . . . There was developing in this country, little by little, an immense movement of generous pity which more and more turned the living forces and the intelligence of the nation toward the sui5ferers, the weaklings, life's disinherited children. I make bold to say, since you ask what I have done, that I have borne my share in this great movement of charitable work and of ideas. [Approving shouts of " Tres Men! " showed that other members of the Chamber agreed.] The need of justice was convincing every heart. But your fear- inspiring doctrines, your terrifying deeds of violence, will check this movement, perhaps, and the responsibility will be yours. I say it with profound conviction: you have cruelly betrayed the cause of the people. For these reasons de Mun regarded the Socialist party as " a permanent peril to public security " and promised to sup- port the Government in combating Socialism, overlooking differences of opinion on other matters. Wrathfully arising from the Socialist benches, Alexandre Millerand declared, in answer to de Mun, " We have before our eyes a Government which lives by the support of a Re- publican and clerical majority." Turning to the Government, he warned Casimir-Perier that the ministry must choose be- tween the Left, with social reform, and the Right, with the support of " the Church and High Finance." Casimir-Perier refused to make any such choice. As a re- sult, when the vote of confidence was put, he was opposed by the Socialists, the Radicals, and a number of clericals, who refused to sanction his policy of conciliation, and was upheld by de Mun and other rallies, as well as by the moderate Re- publicans. 200 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The economic views of those rallies who were also Social Catholics made it impossible to preserve such an alignment of parties. On specific economic questions, the tendency was to- ward a combination of these rallies with the Socialists against the Government, for the Government was hostile to Catholic as well as to Socialist ideas of labor reform. In fact, Jonnart, the minister of public works, had once condemned both Social- ism and Social Catholicism in a single epigram: " AI. de Mun would like to lead us back into the middle ages ; his friends of the Extreme Left dream of taking us back into primitive so- ciety." "* The following incident will make this point clearer. On May 22, 1894, Jonnart was interpellated by the Chamber on the question of his refusal to permit the employees of the national railways to participate in a trade-union congress. Jonnart justified his repressive policy by declaring that " the formation of trade unions by the employees of the state is the destruction of all discipline and of all administration." "' This claim no sincere Social Catholic could admit, since the desirability of labor organization was a cardinal principle of Social Catholicism. Therefore, a group of Catholics, among whom de Mun was the most conspicuous, voted against the Government and witih the Socialists on this issue. Thus for a moment Socialists and Social Catholic rallies found them- selves uniting against the Government. On the other hand, it should be remarked that a few of the rallies joined with men like Leon Say, Deschanel, Barthou and the opponents of social legislation in general in supporting the Government."" This conservative or, more accurately speak- ing, individualist, wing of the Republican Right will bear watching, for it will be a source of great weakness to the Popular Liberal Party after 1902. The Casimir-Perier ministry was overthrown by the com- bined votes of Socialists, Radicals, and Social Catholic rallies. But a new ministry representing any or all of these groups was not possible at that time. President Carnot gave the Radicals an opportunity to form a cabinet, but they found the " THE NEW SPIRIT " 20I task too great for their strength.'^'' Consequently .the cabinet crisis resulted in merely a change of persons, not of principles, and Moderate Opportunism remained in power, with Qiarles Dupuy in place of Casimir-Perier. The new ministry, like the old, was pledged to defend the existing economic and re- ligious order against Socialists and clericals.''^' Possibly these details regarding the politics of the early 'nineties are wearisome, and they may seem irrelevant to the subject of this monograph, but they show how fluid the political situation was at this time. The Social Catholic rallies like de Mun were alternately voting with the Center against the So- cialists and with the Socialists against the Center. The con- fusion arose from the fact that there were two fundamental and conflicting lines of division in the Chamber. The Social Catholic rallies were favorable to social legislation, especially legislation tending toward the autonomous organization of in- dustry, and were opposed to anticlerical legislation. The Center was opposed to social legislation and inclined to com- promise on anticlerical legislation. The Radicals were inclined to compromise on social legislation, but were zealously favor- able to anticlerical legislation. The Socialists were favorable to both. The Opportunists or Moderates of the Center, intuitively perceiving that they could not permanently stand alone, against rallies. Radicals, and Socialists alike, made many false starts, sometimes leaning to the Left and sometimes seeming to incline toward the Right. Upon their action much depended ; indeed, their ultimate decision is the key to the subsequent political history of France. If the Center should seek support from the rallies it would have to enact labor laws and favor labor organization, while declaring a truce on the religious question. The " New Spirit " would come into its own. Such an alliance would enable the Social Catholic rallies to devote more attention to constructive social reform and less to negative defense of religious inter- ests. If, on the other hand, the Center sought support from the Left, it would have to make some concessions to state 202 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT socialism unless it could persuade the Extreme Left to devote most of its attention to anticlerical legislation. In this latter case, the Social Catholic rallies would be foredoomed to a position of negation and almost of impotence, since they would be ever on the defensive in religious matters and would be unable to sympathize with state-socialistic legislation in eco- nomic matters; consequently they would be free to develop their own program but would lack the power to realize it. Because so much depended upon the ultimate alignment of tihe parties, and incidentally because there is no better way of depicting the spirit and temper of the times out of which the Popular Liberal Party grew, it may be worth while to follow a little further the story of the Center's hesitations and false starts, and the resulting evolution of the other parties. After several cabinets had attempted to maintain their at- titude of opposition to both Right and Left, a move was made in 1895 toward a combination of Center and Left. In October of that year President Faure asked Leon Bourgeois, a member of the Radical group, to try his hand at forming a cabinet. By adroitly drawing into his Government, along with his own Radical followers, several more moderate men, notably Ribot and Poincare, Bourgeois succeeded in patching together a precarious majority which he described as being " inde- pendent of the adversaries of the Republic and of those who have accepted the form of our institutions without accepting their spirit and their poHtical and social consequences [one can almost see the rallies writhing under this taunt] ; inde- pendent likewise of those who believe that progress can come of the class struggle and of violence." ''"' The Bourgeois cabinet, brief as was its duration (less than six months), gave the country its first taste of the new Rad- icalism, which consisted essentially of anticlericalism tinged with socialism, but no more than tinged. The former quality was seen in the Government's proposal to enact a law against the monastic orders; the latter in its ineffective advocacy of progressive inheritance and income taxes, and in tihe reopen- ing of the Paris Labor Exchange, which had been closed by the "THE NEW SPIRIT" 203 Moderate Dupuy. The docility of the Socialists during the Radical administration was a significant portent/*" When the Radical Ministry was at length forced out of of- fice, maimly by the opposition encountered in the Senate, the New Spirit once more resumed its sway, and for more than two years, from April 29, 1896, to June 15, 1898, the tendency was toward a coalition of Center and rallies. If the new presi- dent of the council, Jules Meline, a Moderate, tended to con- ciliate the rallies, the Radicals had only themselves to blame, for they had refused his invitation to enter the cabinet. And reasons of political necessity made it compulsory for Meline to secure a safe majority in the Chamber by conciliating either the Left or the Right. M^line's Moderate Government, then, showed itself distinctly friendly toward the rallies. Meline might almost have been suspected of clericalism, had his personal convictions not been so well known as to make such a suspicion absurd. No clerical could have attacked the anticlericalism of the Radicals more vigorously. For example, in October, 1897, Meline declared: We show a sincere respect for religion, and that is what most offends a certain party which regards religion as a relic of servitude, which should be extirpated. Instead of war, we seek pacification in the domain of religion. Does not history teach us that religious quarrels are always a cause of weakness, in internal as well as in foreign affairs?'*^ Rebuking the Radicals for " treating as monarchists all those who are not republicans of yesterday, and for excom- municating those whom they contemptuously call rallies," he exclaimed : As though after twenty-seven years of the Republic, it was not per- missible to open our ranks to sincere and loyal men, like our col- league the Count d' Alsace, whose every vote, without an exception, since the beginning of the legislature, has been as republican as ours ! I do not hesitate to say that the support of such men is an honor to the Government, and that they lend it greater strength than certain revolutionary collectivists whose names I need not mention.''*^ 204 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The Count d' Alsace, to whom Meline referred, had recently led about forty rallies into the Progressist fold where they might prove their sincere republicanism without becoming anti- clerical."' Obviously Meline was bidding, quite frankly, for further support from this quarter. One of the most interesting features of Meline's administra- tion w^as the enactment of several measures of social legisla- tion. The policy of the Government was the policy of which de Mun had long been tlie foremost champion, viz. the policy of adopting tangible, conciliatory reforms for the amelioration of the condition of the laboring classes, while opposing Revo- lutionary Socialism. To Meline the French workingmen owed their first Work- ingmen's Accident Compensation Law (1898). To Meline's administration the mutual aid societies of France owed the great " charter of mutualism," the law of 1898. Old-Age Pensions, which he promised,'** and the further restriction of child labor, and regulation of the employment of women and young persons, were among the other reforms proposed, but which could not be carried through the legislature.'*' Nor was de Mun's demand granted, that France should take the initiative in convoking an international congress for social legislation.'*" In making this suggestion, it may not be altogether irrelevant to add, the Catholic Social orator again reproached the Social- ists for preventing immediate reforms while they dreamed of Utopias. But, and this is the important point, he offered to co- operate with the Socialists, if they were willing, in promoting labor legislation. The Socialist Jules Guesde rephed by calling de Mun and his friends the cnfants perdtis of Socialism, whom it was not even worth while to " take the trouble of combat- ing," since they were really helping " to destroy the social order at the very moment when they believe they are flocking to its rescue." '*' It requires no very profound reflection to understand why the New Spirit, as embodied by the Meline Ministry of 1896- 1898, was predestined to return once more to the realm of departed spirits, after its brief incarnation. Three major rea- " THE NEW SPIRIT " 205 sons might be assigned: (i) (the attitude of the Socialists; (2) the revival of anticlericalism in the Dreyfus affair; (3) the quarrels among the rallies. Consider first the attitude of the Socialists. During the Radical administration of Leon Bourgeois, from Nov. i, 1895, to April 23, 1896, they had been unwontedly mild; they had been sincerely anxious to avoid any incident which might overthrow the Ministry, although the Ministry was, after all, a " bourgeois " Ministry and had explicitly repudiated col- lectivism. One month after the replacement of Bourgeois by Meline, a great Socialist gathering was held at Saint-Mande.'*' Millerand, Jaures, Edouard Vaillant, Jules Guesde, — all were there. With the applause and consent of his associates, Alex- andre Millerand there formulated a program on which all the various Socialist factions could agree, in his opinion. The program included three essential points: (i) intervention of the State to convert from capitalistic into national property the different categories of the means of production and ex- change in proportion as they become ripe for social appropria- tion; (2) capture of the Government through universal suf- frage; (3) international understanding among the workers.''*' In relation to the development of French Social Catholicism, Millerand's famous Saint-Mande speech is interesting in two respects. In the first place, the speaker took special pains to flout Social Catholicism, calling it " Christian Socialism, which is only a sham Socialism, since, far from working to set men free, it works only for the rule and domination of imperilled theocracy." In the second place, Millerand took such care to repudiate violence and bloody revolution, and to avoid em- phasizing the " class struggle," and to reconcile " International- ism " with patriotism, that he started parliamentary socialism well on the road towards the status of a respectable bourgeois party. If the " Social Revolution," the very thought of which had struck terror into the hearts of order-loving bourgeois, simply meant the gradual nationalization, one by one, of certain great commercial and industrial enterprises as they became " ripe," the " menace of socialism " would vanish, or 206 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT at least be lost in the dim purple vapors of the distant horizon. And if the Socialists, instead of fomenting strikes, appealing to class hatred, and coquetting with " direct action," intended henceforth to exert themselves principally in gaining votes and winning parliamentary elections, why should a coalition of Socialists, Radicals, and even Moderates be inconceivable? Certain of the Socialists themselves undoubtedly had this very possibility in mind. Basly, for example, on Sept. 6, 1896, declared : " It would be better to devote our attention to giving the country a Radical Ministry than to preaching doctrines which will appear fantastic even in the year 2700." "" In other words, the Socialists were beginning to pluck at the sleeve of the middle-class Republicans, who seemed too much inclined to walk arm in arm with the rallies. Nor should it be overlooked that Millerand emphasized pre- cisely that part of the Socialist program which was least ac- ceptable to Social Catholics. Had he proposed to devote atten- tion to reducing the working-day, or to building up labor organ- ization, or to authorizing the fixation of a minimum wage in each industry, de Mun and his friends might have given valuable help. But government-ownership of public utilities and of " ripe " industries was considered by the Social Cath- olics to be of no real advantage to the workingman, dangerous to organized labor and destructive of liberty. While the SociaHsts, under Millerand's guidance, were pre- paring themselves for a coalition with the Radicals, certain clericals were engaging in the antisemitic campaign which led straight to the Dreyfus Affair and provoked an anticlerical counter-movement. This was the second of the reasons men- tioned in an earlier paragraph, for the failure of the New Spirit and the formation of an alliance between bourgeois anti- clericals and SociaHsts. For several years past, a savage antisemitic campaign had been conducted by a group of journalists and politicians who apparently believed that the best way to defend Catholicism was to assail Judaism. Since 1892 Edouard Drumont's flam- boyant newspaper. La Libre Parole, had been engaged in stir- "THE NEW SPIRIT" 207 ring up race-hatred, denouncing the Jews as cruel capitalists, as treacherous enemies of national patriotism, as corrupt poli- ticians. The charge which the antisemites constantly repeated was that a clique of Jewish financiers was intriguing with venial politicians to dominate the Republican government, to honey- comb the army, to ruin the nation, and to oppress the masses. A fair specimen of antisemitic literature may be found in Paul Lapeyre's book on Social Catholicism.^'^ As a cure for " the Jewish pest," — that " devouring canker," — he prescribes the total expulsion of the Jews and their transportation to some " fertile but desert country " where they would have to " re- form their habits or die of want." The " modern Jews," he says, " are descendents of those who crucified Jesus." Or one may turn to the pages of another Catholic writer, the Marquis de La Tour du Pin, who in an article published in 1898 proposed this program: " (i) Treat the Jews as aliens, and dangerous aliens; (2) recognize and forswear all the philosophical, political, and economic errors with which they have poisoned us; (3) reconstitute in the economic as well as in the political order the organs of our own life, which will render us independent of them and masters of our own house." ^=2 Echoes of the antisemitic campaign soon reached the Cham- iber of Deputies. For example. Viscount d'Hugues, a clerical deputy, in 1894 caused a sensation in the Chamber by claiming to have in his possession proof positive that the great Jewish financier Rothschild had given money to anarchistic agitators in order that they might disorganize and disgrace the labor movement.'''^ " Juiverie " (Judaism) and " High Finance " were almost in- variably coupled together in denunciation by clerical dema- gogues. The revelation of outrageous financial irregularities in the Panama Canal enterprise, in which Jewish bankers and Republican deputies were concerned, furnished new grist to the antisemitic mill, and seemed to lend some justification td the charges of the agitators."* 2o8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The economic aspect of antisemitism as a crusade against immoral " high finance " appealed irresistibly to the so-called Christian Democrats, a school of ardent young priests, journal- ists, and politicians, who most vehemently championed democ- racy, political and social. At their congress at Lyons, in 1895, these Christian Democrats enthusiastically elected as their honorary president one of the most aggressive antisemites, Drumont. And one of the speakers at the congress, Gayraud, extravagantly demanded " the expulsion of all the social ex- crements, and notably of the Jewish excrement." '" This frenzied antisemitic campaign led straight into the his- toric " Dreyfus Affair." "° In the year 1894-1895 an obscure Jewish captain of artillery, Alfred Dreyfus by name, had been convicted as a spy and a traitor and deported to Devil's Island. Suspecting that injustice had been done, several Jews, includ- ing Joseph Reinach, Bernard Lazare, and the accused man's own brother, inaugurated a campaign to " revise " the penal sentence. Several Protestants, — Scheurer-Kestner, Ranc, and Gabriel Monod, — likewise rallied to the defense of the Jewish officer. And Emile Zola's historic letter, " J'accusc," published in a Parisian journal, dramatically charged the military au- thorities with having committed a crime against Dreyfus. On the other hand, the antisemitic Christian Democrats, the mon- archists, and many patriotic ex-officers like de Mun, stoutly maintained that the honor and patriotism of the army were at stake, and that traitors such as Dreyfus well deserved condign punishment. It remained only for the anticlerical Republicans to make of the Dreyfus controversy a momentous political and religious issue, in which Jews, Protestants, Free-Thinkers, Radicals, Opportunists, and Socialists would unite in accusing the clericals of religious intolerance, of conspiracy against the Repubhc, and of shameful perversion of justice. Had the antisemitic agitation been more temperate in past years, the contention of the pro-Dreyfus party, that Dreyfus had been made the victim of an antisemitic plot, might have lacked plausibility. As it was, the two-edged sword of re- ligious intolerance, which the antisemites themselves had forged, "THE NEW SPIRIT" 209 was now effectively turned against them. Once more clerical- ism was " the enemy " and Socialists were ready to join with middle-class anticlericals in defending the Republic.'" The Dreyfus Affair, then, was the second of the circum- stances which we have indicated as reasons for the failure of the New Spirit. At first the president of the council, Meline, was inclined to assert " there is no Dreyfus Affair." '^^ He insisted that clericalism was not a real menace to the Re- public, but only a scare-crow rigged up by the Radicals for the purposes of party politics. " If clericalism did not ex- ist," he declared, " you would invent it." "° Meline's attitude was almost cynical. He said : Clericalism has become the great electoral platform of the Radical party. It is, for that matter, the old tactics, the well-known tactics of the party [to denounce clericalism]. Every time the Radical party finds itself in a tight place and feels itself squeezed too uncomfort- ably by the Socialists, it lugs out the specter of clericalism to create a diversion and to restore order among its routed troops. The manoeuvre is very convenient and makes it unnecessary to have a program.''^'' " Specter " or reality as it might be, " clericalism " became once more the issue of the day with the advent of the Dreyfus Af- fair, and the New Spirit of tolerance took its departure in ' 1898. As a third cause of the New Spirit's failure, the quarrels among the rallies have been mentioned, but not explained. That the rallies or Catholic Republicans continued to be as- sailed by the monarchists was hard enough, but that they, the rallies, should exhaust their strength and fritter away their energy by combating each other was positively ruinous. The trouble arose in this wise. The energetic Assumptionist Fathers, who had already established a very influential journal, the Croix, with wide-spread provincial branches, created in 1895 an agency called the " Justice-fiquality Office " (Secre- tariat Justice-Egalite) J^^ This agency speedily developed into a committee, with far-reaching ramifications, devoted to the most vigorous kind of politico-religious propaganda, fiercely 2IO THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT brandishing the sword, or rather the pen, against the Free Masons, Free-Thinkers, and Jews, who were acxused of per- secuting the Catholic Church. The Justice Equahty commit- tee's poHcy was so strenuous that even mildly anticlerical Re- publicans would be antagonized. It was the kind of an organ- ization to which the Radicals could point the accusing finger when they cried, " Lc clericalisme, voila I'ennemi! " On the other hand, there was the Christian Democratic movement, already mentioned. Of the Christian Democrats, Httle need be said in this place, save that with the unrestrained enthusiasm of young and altruistic men they made of democ- racy almost a dog^a ; that by their whirlwind campaigns for very radical social reform, as well as by their quasi-religious faith in democracy, they flustered and angered the more con- servative Catholic Republicans ; and that their furious anti- semitism furnished the anticlericals with splendid campaign material. Another cross-current among the rallies was created by the group which followed the Count of Alsace into the Progressist camp and sought to draw other Catholic Republicans along with them, thinking it better to pursue a policy of " peaceful pene- tration " than of unremitting hostility toward the Republican majority in the Chamber. Their strategy much resembled that later employed by Piou, in the Popular Liberal Party, ex- cept that Piou asked all fair-minded Republicans to rally round the standard which he himself had raised, whereas the Count of Alsace asked the Catholics to follow the banner of an exist- ing Republican group. Had the Catholics who accepted the Republic gradually drifted apart and filtered into the various Republican groups, it is conceivable that the clerical issue might have disappeared. But events so shaped themselves that while the most moderate, conciliatory element became Progressist, the remaining ele- ments, each strongly determined to follow out its own par- ticular aim — antisemitism, monarchism, clericalism, militarism, or what not, — were thrown together in confusion, much as when several swiftly running currents in a turbulent river "THE NEW SPIRIT" 211 suddenly rush together in swirling, boiling, eddying tumult. That the various Catholic currents were tending to con- verge, of their own accord, was shown by the convocation of a Catholic Congress in 1896 and by the creation of a Federa- tion in 1897 to promote Catholic interests in the elections of 1898. The managing committee of the Federation included two representatives of each of seven important Catholic groups: (i) the Justice-Equality committee, (2) the Young Men's Catholic Association,'^^ (3) the Catholic Committee (an off-shoot of the Chesnelong Committee of Religious De- fense),'^^ (4) Lamy and his followers,'^"'* (S) the National Union, (6) the Union of Commerce and Industry, and (7) the Christian DemocratsJ^^ For its program, 'the Federation adopted three cardinal principles : acceptance of the republican constitution, reform of anti-Catholic laws in so far as they offended liberty and justice (droit commun), and sympathetic cooperation with all lovers of liberty and justice.''"* The Dreyfus Affair in 1897 and 1898 accentuated this move- ment of union and at the same time threw it into confusion. While the coalition of Jews, Protestants, anticlericals, and antimilitarists supporting Dr£yfus caused the various Catholic factions to huddle together in opposition, feeling that the pro- Dreyfus coalition was really anti-Catholic, at the same time the excitement caused each Catholic faction to become more extreme in its particular direction. The Christian Democrats became more antisemitic, the Justice-Equality committee more militantly clerical, and so on. Harsher discord rather than closer unity was the result. Worst of all for the clerical cause, it led the Catholic Republicans to accept, in some measure, the support of clerical monarchists who like Paul de Cassagnac alluringly pictured the advantages of Catholic political solidar- ity. The defenders of "Republicanism" and denouncers of " clericalism " could ask nothing better. Here was proof that the clericals were foes of the Republic. Entering the electoral contest of 1898 with their unwieldy Federation, the Catholic groups manoeuvred so clumsily that their more agile antagonists, the Radicals and Socialists, easily 212 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT carried off the victory. On the first ballot, where no strategy was required and each party simply voted for its own candi- dates, the rallies proved stronger than the Socialists, for the former elected 31 deputies,"" the latter only 26; and the Mod- erate Republicans (now generally styled the Progressists "') had 182 seats as against the 143 of the Radicals and SociaHsts, and the yj of the various conservative groups (rallies, National- ists, and Conservatists or monarchists). The disciples of the New Spirit might well have been pleased with the first ballot; the Government would be stronger than before. But two weeks later, when the second ballot was taken in the 181 constitutencies where no candidate had received an absolute majority, and when it was necessary to combine with other parties or be lost, the unwieldiness of the Federation be- came painfully apparent. Of the 181 seats in dispute, the Catholic groups of the Right gained only 17, the Progressist Republicans yj, while the Radicals. and Socialists by their skil- ful combinations won no fewer than 92.''°° The second ballot thus reversed the effect of the first. In the new Chamber the Extreme Left, including 57 Sot-'alists,'"" 74 Socialist-Radicals, and 104 Radicals, was so nearly equal in size to the ministerial party, the Progressist Republicans, with their 254 votes, that the ministry would certainly be compelled to rely pretty definitely upon outside support from the Right, or else to make terms with the Radicals. As we shall see, presently, the latter course was taken, and the left wing of the Progressist group associated itself with the Extreme Left to form a ministerial majority for Waldeck-Rousseau, and to exorcise the New Spirit. Just a word of explanation may be necessary to show clearly how the Catholics defeated themselves on the second ballot in the elections of 1898 and placed the New Spirit in so sorry a predicament, ^^'here the clerical rallies pursued a policy of whole-hearted cooperation with the more moderate Republicans, such as had felt the touch of the New Spirit, they were bril- liantly successful. For example, in the Socialist stronghold of Roubaix, — Jules Guesde's beloved " Holy City " of Socialism. " THE NEW SPIRIT " 213 — a young Republican Catholic by the name of Eugene Motte (who was one of the group that subsequently founded the Pop- ular Liberal Party) took great care to affirm his sincere re- publicanism ; from every campaign mass-meeting he sent formal greetings to the president of the Republic ; and the result was that he wrested the seat, with an overwhelming majority, from one of the strongest Socialist leaders.^^^ Similarly in the dis- trict of Carmaux the rcdlie Marquis de Solages (likewise a member-to-be of the Popular Liberal Party), ousted the So- cialist Jean Jaures from his seatJ^^ In some cases, also, where a rallie was competing with a Progressist and a Radical, he withdrew on the second ballot and threw his votes to the Prog- ressist in order that the Radical might not winJ'^ Had these tactics been universally followed, the sincerely Republican rallies and the New Spirit Progressists would have been strongly dominant in the new Chamber. But many New Spirit Progressists, — if the term may be used for those Progressists who were inclined to conciliate the Church, — who would otherwise have been glad to cast their votes for rallies on the second ballot, were probably prevented from so doing by the knowledge that the Catholic Federation comprised what they regarded as fanatically clerical and ill- disguised monarchist elements as well as moderate Republican elements. And, futherraore, in a number of cases, the extrem- ist elements in the Federation assisted Radicals to defeat Mod- erate Republicans. This paradoxical manoeuvre on the part of the clerical extremists was inspired by the mistaken idea that the election of Radicals would lead to such excesses of anticlericalism that there would soon appear an irresistible national revulsion of feeling against Radicalism and perhaps even against Republicanism. It was said that the best way to discredit the Radicals was to vote for them ! Concrete instances are eloquent. At Dole, in the Jura, 1,700 strongly clerical voters held the balance between Jean Baptiste Bourgeois, a radical anticlerical, and Cyrille Leculier, a Moderate. By abstaining from voting, the clericals allowed Bourgeois to win, by 52 votes.'^* At Grenoble, a Socialist and 214 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT one of the most violent of all anticlericals, Alexandre Zevaes, was elected because the clericals refused to vote for a Moderate Republican who had declined to give a written promise that he would labor for the repeal of exis.ting anticlerical legisla- tion.'" The number of such cases, where the clericals could have prevented but did not prevent the election of strenuous anticlericals, was no less than 62, according to the Journal de Rouhaix?'"^ In other districts, clericals of the Justice-Equality type induced a Moderate Republican deputy to make the prom- ise that he would advocate the repeal of anticlerical legislation, and as a result a number of his voters deserted him, so that a vigorous anticlerical was elected. In still other cases, the ex- tremists supported royalists against li'beral Catholic 'candi- dates endorsed by the Government, or needlessly attacked men like Charles Dupuy and thus angered the IModerate Repub- licans."' The sequel to the elections of 1898 is quickly told. Im- mediately upon the assembling of the new Chamber, the Rad- icals and Socialists by means of an interpellation attempted to compel the Meline Ministry to choose definitely between an entente with the rallies and an entente with the Extreme Left, between the New Spirit and militant anticlericalism. In his embarrassment, the president of the council half turned his back on the Right, but nevertheless opposed a resolution which would compel him to rely upon " an exclusively Republican majority." Foreseeing that the left wing of his own party would not tolerate a coalition with the Right, and no less clearly divining, on the other hand, that the support of the Radicals would be too dearly purchased at the expense of his principles, Jules Meline resigned, on June 15, 1898. His had been a longer term of office than any since the days of Thiers."^ The Radicals now took the helm as masters, with Henri Brisson as the chief of a Radical ministry. But the new min- istry proved too frail to weather the fierce storms of popular excitement aroused by the Dreyfus case. Clumsily the premier allowed himself to be drawn into a test of strength on the simple issue of patriotism, of suppressing the agitation of the pro- "THE NEW SPIRIT" 21 5 Dreyfus extremists as injurious to the morale of the army. On this issue, the majority of the Chamber turned against him. Brisson resigned.'^® Following the short-lived Brisson cabinet, — it had lasted only four months, — Charles Dupuy formed his third cabinet, Oc- tober 31, 1898, and for a brief space France slipped back once more into the old, smooth-worn groove of Moderate Opportun- ism. But times had changed. Dupuy found himself inces- santly colliding either with the aggressive Radicals and So- cialists or with reactionary antisemites; the Dreyfus Affair grew more and more troublesome ; and at length the Moderate Government was jolted out of office, June 12, 1899.''*'' With Dupuy, the era of Moderate Opportunist cabinets passed away, and the New Spirit, which had still been hovering wistfully in the background, now altogether vanished from sight. CHAPTER VIII REPUBLICAN DEFENSE AND PIOU'S DILEMMA The ministerial crisis of June, 1899, marked a turning-point in the history of the Republic. For the men of the Moderate Opportunist or " Progressist " group, holding the balance be- tween the Right and the Left in the Chamber of Deputies, were compelled by the force of circumstances to make the most momentous decision of their career. Too weak to govern alone, they must choose either Catholics or Radicals and Social- ists as collaborators. Upon this decision depended the future of France. Between Socialist advocates of class warfare and Catholic advocates of class conciliation ; between the anti- militaristic internationalism of the Extreme Left and the mili- tant patriotism of the Right; between religious "pacification" on the basis of liberty of conscience and religious warfare for the extirpation of Catholic monastic orders and Catholic schools — between the two extremes the Moderates must choose, and France must accept the decision. For ten days the destinies of Moderate Opjxjrtunism and of France hung in the balance, while among the party leaders negotiations went on for the formation of a new cabinet. Finally, on June 2^, the names of the new ministers were published.'-^ It was to be a cabinet of all the contradictions, rather than of " all the talents," one might have said at first glance. There was Rene Waldeck-Rousseau, that " furious anti-Socialist," corporation lawyer, disciple of the great Gam- betta's Moderatisni, — as president of the council, selecting for the post of minister of commerce an avowed Socialist, none other than Alexandre Millerand! There was an army officer of the Second Empire, a man who had helped to extinguish the Commune in the blood of proletarians, — General Gallifet, — 216 REPUBLICAN DEFENSE AND PIOU'S DILEMMA 217 joining hands as minister of war with an antimilitarist Radical like Caillaux and a Socialist like Millerand as fellow-ministers ! The lion was lying down with the lamb in truly millennial fashion. What could it mean? Simply that a Moderate Op- portunist leader had formed a Moderate-Radical-Socialist coali- tion, a coalition the elements of which were fundamentally dis- agreed on the social question, on the fiscal question (i. e., the income-tax), on the military question, on the colonial question, on almost every question indeed, excepting the question of anti- clericalism. It was a " Ministry of Republican Defense" {de- fense republicaine) against the clericals and monarchists who were considered to be conspiring for the overthrow of the Re- public. The presence of a " Revolutionary '' Socialist in the Govern- ment v/as, on second thought, not so very revolutionary.'^'^ Alexandre Millerand's speech of 1896 at Saint-Mande, rob- bing the Social Revolution of its terrors and making it an af- fair of slow political evolution, might well have convinced even so redoubtable an antagonist of socialism as Waldeck- Rousseau that such a Socialist as Millerand, if actually con- fronted with the practical problems of government, would prove little different from any bourgeois politician. As Wal- deck-Rousseau himself said, socialism was a very remote peril, whereas the " reactionary peril," the clerical-nationalist-mon- archist peril, was much closer at hand. And, in fact, through all the trying debates on the Associations Bill (which was in part directed against the monastic orders), he found the So- cialist minister and the Socialist deputies trusty allies, excellent anticlericals. So faithful were some of the Government's So- cialist supporters that on occasion they did not hesitate to vote a motion of confidence in the Government, even when that motion formally and explicitly condemned the funda- mental Socialist doctrine of collectivism."^ To be sure, some few concessions had to be made to the economic program of the Socialists, as the price of the new alliance. Millerand''** was pernnitted to issue decrees im- proving the condition of workingmen employed by contractors 2i8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT doing government work ; "' he made the consultative Superior Council of Labor partly elective;"" he created Trade Boards (coitscils dn travail) to settle disputes between capital and labor and to supervise labor conditions/" His greatest work was the Millerand-Colliard Law of 1900,"' which established an eleven-hour working day, to be reduced to loj^ hours after two years and to ten hours after four years, for women and children and also for men working in the same factories. \\'hen it is considered that hitherto the legal maximum for children had been ten hours and for women, eleven, Millerand's law, salutary as it undoubtedly was, can hardly be classed as revolutionary. Socialism had indeed grown moderate, almost tame. One or two other projects were taken up: old-age pen- sions were one item of the Government's program, but Wal- deck-Rousseau allowed the Senate to hold up the bill which the Chamber passed on this subject and then he allowed the Chamber to adjourn a new Pensions Bill which his Govern- ment introduced ; the matter was not important enough, in his eyes, to be made a question of confidence. '°° Similarly a bill for the protection of railway servants was passed by the Cham- ber, then mutilated in the Senate, and nothing came of it.'"" Again, the Government proposed an inheritance tax, with progressivity up to a million, but when the Chamber of Depu- ties, more unkind than the Government to millionaires, insisted upon extending the principle of progressivity beyond the mil- lion mark, the Government allowed the Senate to reduce the rate fixed by the Chamber.'"^ It was plain that the heart of the premier was not in these economic reforms. Waldeck- Rousseau was interested in other matters. One fact stands out with unmistakable clearness in the record of the Waldeck-Rousseau-Millerand cabinet. The Govern- ment of Republican Defense reincarnated the spirit of Gam- betta's militant anti-clericalism, hostile to Spuller's New Spirit of tolerance. The idea of SpuUer and Meline had been to conciliate the Catholics by tolerance in order to combat the SociaHsts ; the guiding principle with Waldeck-Rousseau was to conciliate the Socialists in order to combat the Catholics. REPUBLICAN DEFENSE AND PIOU'S DILEMMA 219 Had all the Catholics been rallies, i. e., had all Catholics been whole-heartedly and scrupulously obedient to the spirit of Leo XIII's admonitions; had they made it their aim merely to change the personnel and policy of the Government but not the form of the constitution, Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet would have been impossible. But a certain number of Cath- olics continued to look with ill-disguised approval, if not with open sympathy, upon the agitation conducted by sio-called " Nationalists " like Paul Deroulede and Jules Guerin ; "^ a few eminent Catholic writers, like the Marquis de La Tour du Pin,"' continued to pen glowing descriptions of the theoretical superiority of a Christian monarchy over a parliamentary re- public ; and it was easy for anticlericals to charge that clerical- ism was hostile to the Republic. Moreover, the strenuous de- nunciation of Judaism and Free-Masonry by certain antisemitic Catholic journals enabled the anticlericals to accuse the Cath- olics of religious intolerance and bigotry. And the Govern- ment was not disposed to let any manifestation of anti-Repub- licanism or antisemitism go unreproved. Dreyfus, the Jewish captain of artillery against w^hom the wrath of the antisemites had been especially directed, was granted full pardon by the president of the Republic, who acted, of course, at the dicta- tion of the ministry, although Dreyfus had just been found guilty in a second trial.''"* The bouse of the antisemitic agita- tor, Jules Guerin, was melodramatically besieged by troops, until after thirty-seven days' resistance he capitulated and was dragged away to trial for alleged conspiracy against the Re- public; he was sentenced to ten years' detention.'"' Sixty- seven " suspects " were arrested and brought up for trial. Paul Deroulede and other men who had been prominent among the Nationalists were exiled.''"" Still further Waldeck-Rousseau carried his campaign of Republican Defense. Not only the principal antisemites and monarchist agitators, but also the Catholic monks who were accused of sympathizing with them, must be punished. In November, 1899, the Government instituted proceedings against the Assumptionists — the monastic order which had founded 220 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the Croix and ithe Justice-Equality committee — as enemies of the Republic, and in course of time a decision was obtained ordering the dissolution of the order.'" Priests and bishops who protested were deprived of their salaries.'"'* But this was only a beginning. The great work of Waldeck-Rousseau was the Associations Law of July i, 1901. The idea had long been a favorite one with him. Almost twenty years previously, as minister of the interior in the Ferry cabinet, he had proposed an attack on the monasitic orders. The bill, as presented in November, 1899, permitted great liberty for political and other associations, but provided that no association including foreigners, — and that meant the monastic orders, — could be founded without previous authorization by act of parliament (art. 13) and that any association involving renunciation of the right to marry or to own property was illegal and could be dissolved by simple ministerial decree (arts. 2, 6). Despite the protests of the Catholics, \\'aldeck-R'Ousseau carried the bill through triumphantly and placed it upon the statute books, July i, 1901.'°° Only one regret troubled him. The Education Bill (lot dii stage scoladre), a companion to the Associations Bill, had been defeated; had it been passed it would have closed to graduates of Catholic schools all public offices for which a secondary education was required, by prescribing- that the three last years of secondary education must be taken in a public school as a condition of eligibility to careers in Government service. There was a great outcry against the Education Bill, however, as too flagrant a violation of liberty of conscience, and it was stifled in committee.*"" For the purposes of this study the anti-Catholic policy of W'aldeck-Rousseau's Government is interesting only so far as it helps to explain the political and social-political situation out of which grew the Popular Liberal Party. Waldeck-Rous- seau's anticlericalism threw the Catholic rallies, whether be- longing to Piou's Republican Right or to the right wing of the Moderate (Progressist) group, into the sharpest kind of op- position to the ministerial majority. On some occasions in REPUBLICAN DEFENSE AND PIOU'S DILEMMA 221 the past decade, the Social Catholics of the Right had shown a remarkable tendency as social reformers to join forces with the Socialists in overcoming the repugnance of the Moderates (to social reforms. Now, against the anticlerical Moderate- Radical-Socialist ministerial combination, the Social Catholics as Catholics found themselves almost irresistibly impelled to- ward alliance with that part of the Moderate or Progressist group which defended religious liberty and opposed the Gov- ernment. There were but two courses open. Either the Social Cath- olics must become members of the Progressist Opposition in order to defend religious liberty, and thereby run the risk of having their own special program of social reconstruction sub- merged by Progressist individualism, or else they must form a distinct party organization of their own, which might pre- serve their politico-isocial program and at the same time form one of the elements, with the Progressists, in a liberal bloc, opposed to anticlericalism. Radicalism, and Socialism. It was Piou's decision to form such a separate party, and Count Al- bert de Mun's decision to join him, that brought into existence the Liberal Group, which was subsequently called the Popular Liberal Party, and which became the chief exponent in the Chamber of Deputies of the Social Catholic view of economic reforms. Piou, it should be remarked, and several other founders of the Liberal Group, were hardly very advanced in their social program, but the fact that de Mun and other vigorous Social Catholics joined with Piou, and ultimately imposed their pro- gram upon the party officially, made the Liberal Group a real representative of Social Catholicism as well as of democratic political liberty. Both elements were necessary, if the Liberal Group was not to be entirely impotent in questions of social legislation. With- out the principles of Social Catholicism, the Catholic Repub- licans would be philosophically unable to meet social problems in a constructive spirit. Without a willingness to accept and use political democracy. Social Catholics living in a republican 222 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT nation would be practically unable to realize their desires and would be little better than Utopians, dreaming of an impractic- able reconstruction of society 'by an improbable Christian mon- arch. Only by combining a loyal acceptance of democracy with a vigorous advocacy of social reforms could the Catholics in France hope to prevent the anticlericals, Radicals, Socialist- Radicals, and Socialists from winning in increasing numbers the votes of the working^en, even of Catholic workingmen, who failed to understand why the Christian religion should be incompatible with a republican form of government or with social justice. CHAPTER IX THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY The Product of a Century of Evolution The Popular Liberal Party is the most influential political organ of the Social Catholic movement in France. Numer- ically, it is stronger than the Socialist party and more powerful, probably, than the Syndicalist movement. Moreover, the pres- ent trend of public opinion toward social legislation, toward functional representation, toward industrial arbitration and conciliation, and toward labor-participation in industrial man- agement augurs well for a party which has long been advocat- ing such principles and elaborating plans for their application. By way of introduction to a discussion of the program and present influence of the organization, it may not be amiss to suggest the significance of the Popular Liberal Party in re- lation to the two greatest features of nineteenth-century his- tory, namely, democracy and industrialism. The nineteenth century, — to revert to the theme discussed in the first chapter of this book, — was largely concerned with efforts to adjust modern society to two new and revolutionary facts, the fact of the Industrial Revolution and the fact of the democratic revolution. The Popular Liberal Party's program represents the culmination of century-long endeavors on the part of French Catholics to make such an adjustment. The Popular Liberal Party accepts industriahsm and democracy as facts, and pro- poses a whole series of political and economic reforms as the means by which society and government may be adjusted to the new situation. The Popular Liberal Party's program, it has been said, is the culmination of a century-long evolution. A brief review of the story told in the foregoing chapters will make clear the meaning of this statement. 223 224 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT In the first half of the nineteenth century, when the Indus- trial Revolution in France was beginning to bring forth its first fruits of " progress and poverty," and when the generally ac- cepted teachings of " economic Liberalism " or laissez-faire, seemed to condemn the working classes to a lot little better than slavery, there appeared among the leaders of Catholic thought a movement of sympathy for the workers and a protest against the doctrines of the economists. The laisse::-fairc theory, said these Catholics, had been used as a pretext for destroying the guilds and prohibiting any organization of labor ; the result had been industrial anarchy; and in his isolated and defenseless condition the workingman had fallen a victim to ruthless ex- ploitation. In the absence of industrial organization and of protective legislation, individual employers, be they ever so philanthropic, could not pay decent wages or dispense with child labor or grant shorter working hours, without being ruined by less scrupulous competitors. Absolute industrial liberty, in short, was responsible for social injustice which no Christian could condone. A Christianized political economy, based on respect of the human rights and dignity of labor, must be substituted for " economic Liberalism." In some cases, no doubt, this denunciation of " Liberalism " in economics was simply a taunt which resentful clericals, aristocrats, and monarchists, eager to undo the work of the French Revolution, might cast in the teeth of the Liberals, who were, in their turn, glorifying the Revolution and oppos- ing Church, aristocracy, and monarchy. In other cases, the social reaction of the Catholics seems to have been an impul- sive protest against injustice. In still other cases, it was in- spired by the idea that the Church had a great mission to fulfil in achieving the spiritual uplift of the masses. But whatever the motives, the result was the development of a rudimentary program of social reform based on Christian principles and opposed to economic Liberalism. To combine this Catholic reaction against industrial liberty with a movement for political liberty might seem paradoxical. Nevertheless, in the second quarter of the century a group of THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 225 so-called Liberal Catholics — men such as Lamennais, Maret, Ozanam, and de Coux, — had endeavored to fuse the two ele- ments, political liberty and Christian social reform, in the glowing fire of their own ardent enthusiasm ; but their striving had been in vain, and the fire they had kindled flickered out in the ohill atmosphere of scientific economic individualism and of political reaction under the Second Empire. With the ad- vent of the Third Republic, the disjunction of democracy and Social Catholicism seemed complete. In the early years of the Third Republic we find that the Catholics who are denouncing economic Liberalism are also repudiating political Liberalism ; they are proclaiming the neces- sity of a monarchical restoration, a " Counter-Revolution." Such was the gospel of Count Albert de Mun and of La Tour du Pin before 1892. When Leo XIII opportunely intervened in 1892, urging all French Catholics to cease their furtile anti-Republican agitation, many of the monarchist Social Catholics obediently abandoned their political program of monarchical restoration and leaned all the more heavily upon their Catholic social program, much as a man deprived of one leg would contrive to get along on the other. A lifeless loyalty to the constitution as a fait ac- compli served some of these "rallies" or former monarchists as a useful crutch. Others, like La Tour du Pin, refused to part with their monarohism. Consequently, during the 'nineties there could be seen, from the viewpoint of social politics, at least seven different types of Catholics : first, monarchists who were indifferent to social re- form, being reactionary in politics and liberal in economics ; second. Social Catholic monarchists, who held that monarchy was essential to social reconstruction, and who were anti- liberal in 'both politics and economics; third. Social Catholic Constitutionalists or rallies, who were anti-liberal in economics but attempted to be neutral in politics; fourth, other rallies who were liberal in economics, i. e., opposed to extensive social legislation; fifth, Progressists, who sincerely accepted the Re- public and hoped that their own presence in the moderate 226 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Republican group would serve as a leaven, making the whole lump more tolerant in religious matters, — men who were usu- ally liberal both in politics and in economics; sixth. Christian Democrats, who seemed so eager not merely to reconcile but absolutely to identify Christianity with political and social democracy that they fell under the suspicion of being more democrats than Christians; and finally, those indifferentists, all too numerous, who from discouragement or from sheer indolence held aloof from all programs and parties. The need for a constructive politico-social program and a fighting organization was revealed by the Dreyfus affair, which began as a skirmish between the most belligerent clericals and the most alert anticlericals, and developed into a general battle in which the ill-organized Catholic groups found their scat- tered forces no match for \Valdeck-Rousseau's strong anti- clerical bloc or coalition of Moderates, Radicals, and Social- ists. Convinced that the Catholic religion in France was men- aced by the anticlerical bloc, some of the most resolute cham- pions of CathoHcism stepped forward from the various groups just enumerated, and drew together to concert a plan of ac- tion. Liberal Constitutionalists, Social Catholic rallies, and Catholic Progressists, and perhaps even a few individuals from among the other groups, were ready to rally around a new standard, if only a leader courageous and wise enough to raise it could be found. It was at this moment that Jacques Piou, that veteran Con- stitutionalist, stepped forth from the Republican Right and unfurled the banner of "liberal action" {Action Liberate). Says Count Albert de Mun, The whole work of Jacques Piou rests upon these ideas. At the moment when the great crisis of the raUicment [i. e., the acceptance of the RepubHc by Catholics] so profoundly divided the Catholics, he offered . . . the practical means enabling them, without abandon- ing aught of their principles, to follow the inspirations of their conscience, to join in an honest entente with those whose aid was indispensable for the success of their cause, and to consecrate them- selves — free from the confusion of constitutional struggles — to the championship of religious liberties, to the promotion of social THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 227 reforms, to the service of the nation. It is enough to entitle him to their perpetual gratitude.soi In the passage just cited, de Mun implies that the new party- founded by Piou was neutral as regards the question of po- litical liberty. But as a matter of fact, the party when it came to work out its program not only accepted the Republic, but proposed a very remarkable series of thoroughly demo- cratic reforms, calculated to make the French Republic much more liberal than it actually was. And with its democratic program of political reform, the party combined the program of social reconstruction which de Mun and other Social Catholics had been elaborating. Thus the Popular Liberal Party, like the Liberal Catholics of 1830-1848, attempted to accept Liberalism or democracy in politics, while repudiating Liberalism in economics ; or, to say the same thing in different words, it succeeded in the task which the Liberal Catholics had failed to achieve, the task of adapting the Catholic social pro- gram to political democracy. Organization of the Party The Popular Liberal Party (Action Liberale Populadre) grew out of the Liberal Group (Action Liberale) *°^ which was formed in 1899 by a group of Catholic deputies,*"^ resent- ful of Waldeck-Rousseau's aggressively anticlerical policies.*"* Jacques Piou, the man of politics, keenly alive to the strategy of party manoeuvres, was the center of the group and became the president of the managing committee (comite directeur) ; his influence as the chief of the old " Constitutionalist " group of the " Republican Right " entitled him to the place of honor no less justly than his alertness and activity in constituting the new party qualified him for the post of greatest responsibility. Piou represented the group, of Catholics who out of respect for the clearly manifested will of the people had accepted the Republic, but still held aloof from' the recognized Republican parties and in practice acted for the most part on a negative program of resisting anticlericalism, combating socialism, de- 228 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT nouncing antimilitarism. Baron Amedee Reille, a naval officer who joined with Piou, was of a more conservative, aristocratic type, the type which from that day bo this has suppHed the Popular Liberal Party with what might be called a right wing, tremendously patriotic, emphatically Catholic, firmly convinced that the mission of the nobility is to serve faithfully the inter- ests of France, of the Church, and of the People. But the most distinguished member of the triumvirate '°^ which founded the party was Count Albert de Mun, whose recent admission to the Academic Francaise had designated him as one of the fore- most orators of France, and whose services in founding the Catholic \\'orkingmen's Clubs, and in championing the cause of Social Catholicism, had won 'him universal recognition as the spokesman of the rising Social Catholic school of economics. Modestly enough, de Alun consented to lend the full support of his influence and the prestige of his name to the party, without claiming the honor of its presidency. To quote the eulogistic words of an admirer: The authoritative voice of the Count de Mun encouraged him (Piou), or rather this encouragement was expressed by an act, the acceptance of the vice-presidency of the future association. Thus M. de Mun, by the impulsive warmth of his conviction and of his heart, gave to all a model of union and of discipline. Like a proud godfather who does not claim paternal authority, he brought a precious gift to the cradle of the Liberal Party.*"" Or as a writer in I' Association catholique ^"^ a little less pic- turesquely declared, " the name of M. de Mun, whatever place it may occupy, is a banner [drapeati] for the party to which he belongs." It was de Mun's influence which gave the nascent party its Social Catholic character. The deputies who flocked to the standard raised by Piou, de ]\Iun, and Reille formed a heterogeneous group. Of the fifty- eight members of the Liberal Group as shown by the Annuairc dii parlcmcnt of 1901, sixteen had been classed as rallies in previous issues of the Annuairc, three as Rcpublicains libcraux. one as a Rcpublicain progressiste, two as nationalistes, one as an indcpendent}°^ THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 229 From anotiher point of view, one might say tiiat the group was formed by the affiliation of certain former Monarchists and " Nationalists " as well as certain Progressists with the bulk of Piou's Constitutionalist group, the Republican Right. This fact is clearly shown by a count of the members of the Liberal Group (in 1901) who continued at the same time to be members of other groups, espousing the new without forsaking the old. No fewer than 18 of the 58 members of the Liberal Group in 1901 called themselves Progressists as well as Liberals,*"' and 22 were inscribed in the group of National Defense, as Nation- alists.*^" The Nationalist group, it should be explained, was recruited mostly from antisemitic patriots, most but by no means all of whom cherished Monarchist sympathies, avowed or disguised as the case might be. There remained something like thirty simon-pure " Liberals." Upon analysis, the social elements appear no less heterogene- ous than the political components of the Liberal Group in this earliest stage of its career, from 1899 to the elections of 1902. Of the seventy-four deputies who were affiliated with the Liberal Group (including a number, at least fourteen, who were only transiently so affiliated), about thirty were owners of landed estates, sixteen belonged to the legal profession ; there were fif- teen industrial capitalists and engineers, including Eugene Schneider of the famous Creusot munition works, and Armand Viellard-Migeon, administrator of the Suez Canal; several members were bankers, journalists, magistrates; Jules Jaluzot, proprietor of the famous Magasin du Printemps, represented mercantile interests ; Jules Gaillard had been an attache d'am- bassade; Abbe Gayraud, an " apostolic missionary," had for- merly been a Dominican professor of theology and scholastic philosophy at the Catholic University of Toulouse ; Louis Passy had achieved distinction as savant and economist, Henry Cochin as something of a litterateur and medievalist ; de Mun's gift of oratory had won him membership in the Academie frangaise, while his economic studies had given him some eminence in the field of social science. With a membership of this character, — including aristocratic 230 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT landowners and army officers, industrial capitalists, lawyers, publicists — the group might quite naturally have been expected to manifest a most reactionary spirit of opposition to all meas- ures of political progress or of social justice. But mirabile dictu, this naturally conservative coalition was destined to be- come one of the most nadical parties in France, in the sense that it adopted an elaborate constructive program of political and economic reforms, boldly conceived in a spirit of democratic progress. Perhaps for the sake of a clear understanding, it would be well to examine the organic structure of the party before at- tempting to study its program. The Liberal Group {Action Lib- eralc), founded in 1899, was not a full-fledged political party, in the Anglo-Saxon sense, but merely the embryo of such a party, merely an informal group of deputies in the Chamber. As the general elections of 1902 drew near, the leaders of the group, considering that some public declaration of policy was necessary, delivered program speeches before a meeting in the Hall of the Agriculturists of France {la salle des Agricultcurs de France), July 5, 1901 ; °^^ a permanent secretariat was estab- lished and an office opened at 7, rue Las-Cases, and the mana^ ing committee organized the electoral campaign. ^^^ The brain of the party was there, but as yet the body had not formed. After the elections, however, the body was added to the brain, and the Liberal Group became the Popular Libera! Party {Action Liberate Populairc). The addition of the ad- jective " Popular " was significant. It meant that the party " appealed to the mass of the electors and no longer solely to the elected, and that it was determined to rest upon the demo- cratic foundations of the country." ^" As the membership- certificates declared. It [the party] styles itself Popular because, on the one hand, it desires to derive its strength from the people by the number of its adherents ; on the other hand, it is solicitous above all to defend the interests of the workingmen, which are constantly betrayed by those who promise everything before the elections and hold none of their promises afterwards.si* THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 23 1 The Popular Liberal Party was the first legally constituted political party in the Third Republic. In other words it was the first to take advantage of the Associations Law of July i, 1901, by depositing its constitution at the office of the prefect of police, May 17, 1902.^" And it was a pioneer in the path which other French parties have subsequently followed, the path of firmer party organization and clearer definition of pro- grams. To the student of comparative government this feature is of particular interest, as marking a definite stage in the evolution of the French parliamentary system from the irre- sponsibility of loose, overlapping groups, ever in a state of flux, and with the vaguest of platforms, toward a system of well- knit party-organizations, with clear-cut programs, and a genuine responsibility before the electorate for a sincere endeavor to fulfill electoral promises. From the embryonic stage of the Liberal Group, the Popular Liberal Party developed at once into a state if not of maturity at least of organic perfection. In the eyes of the law, the Liberal Popular Party was an association, legally incorporated, and represented by a Central Committee (Comite central). The Central Committee,^^" being composed of founders to- gether with new members chosen by coojptation, served as a general staff, ensuring not only effective discipline *^' but also unswerving perseverance in the plan of campaign. A party, to serve as a genuine representation of the views and interests of a popular following, must have sufficient continuity of pro- gram to prove its own sincerity and to enable the voters to pass upon its merits intelligently; a party which constantly veers in its aims, and makes its appeal to the passion of the moment or to personal loyalty cannot easily contribute to the stable development of constructive policies. As the practical fulfilment of electoral promises, of course, would naturally be the duty of the parliamentary representatives of the party, it is of interest to note that most of the members of the Central Committee were also members of the group of the Popular Liberal Party in the Chamber of Deputies ; usually, also, one or more senators were included in the Central Committee, but 232 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the party was too thinly represented in the Senate to warrant the creation of a separate party group in that chamber. The ranks of the party were filled by Sustaining Members (again I use an equivalent, rather than a translation, of the French phrase — mcmbrcs socictaircs) and Ordinary Members {mcmhrcs adherents) , the former paying 500 francs as a life- subscription or 25 francs a year, the latter subscribing one franc annually.*'* Women, as well as men, were eligible. By exact- ing an annual payment of at least one franc from each of its members, the party excluded indifferent adherents from its membership, and voluntarily kept its membership strength much inferior to its voting strength ; when, therefore, the party claimed 160,000 members in 1904*'° and 265,000 in 191 1,'*-" no more convincing proof could be asked that a genuine and a numerically important popular foundation had been laid for the parliamentary group. The Unified Socialist Party, it sliould be remembered, had only 35,000 members in 1905 and approximately 63,000 in 191 2;*-' that is, the Popular Liberal Party had more than four times as many members, although it exacted four times as heavy a payment from its members by way of dues. True to one of the cardinal principles of its politico-social program, the Popular Liberal Party in its own organization endeavored to give a living demonstration of the virtues of decentralization. In their local groups and committees, the members of the party enjoyed entire freedom of self-adminis- tration ; the national party did not even demand that the prop- erly of the local groups should be vested in the name of the National Organization ; *" the only requirement was fidelity to the purpose and spirit of the party. The local committees were more or less spontaneously organized on the basis of the commiunc. of the canton, of the arrondisscmcnt, and of the departement. In course of time, as the number of local com- mittees became unwieldy, passing the thousand mark, a ten- dency developed to form provincial or regional federations as intermediaries between the Central Committee and the local committees. A Federation of ithe North, a Federation of the THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 233 Southwest, a Regional Committee of Lyons, a Federation of Languedoc, of Provence, sprang into being. " Even in its method of organization, the Popular Liberal Party reacts against the Jacobin tradition," by returning to the ancient. " provinces " as more natural divisions than the modern " de- partments " — those " bureaucratic fictions " created by the Revolution. ^^^ As an army must have its officers' training camps, its stations, its economic auxiliaries, and manifold other supporting serv- ices, so a political party, if it would achieve victory through superior organization, has no less need of training camps, re- cruiting stations, of economic and social auxiliaries. The officers' training camp, one might say, of the Popular Liberal Party was the National Young Men's Liberal Federation (Federation Nationale de la Jeunesse Liberate), an organiza- tion affording an outlet for the energies as well as training for the faculties of the young men who in the coming generation would furnish the officers — the local leaders, the deputies, the secretaries - — of the party. The Jeunesse Liberale, as it was commonly styled, rendered valuable service in extending propa- ganda, in supplying watchers for election-day, in keeping order at public mass-meetings, and in a thousand diflEerent ways.^^^ Alongside of the Jeunesse Liberate, it may be remarked parenthetically, there was also an Association Cdtholique de la Jeunesse Frangaise (French Young Men's Catholic Associa- tion), which, being organized on a broader basis, — a religious rather than a partisan basis, — was not directly ancillary to the Liberal Popular Party, but indirectly brought added strength and new recruits to the party by stimulating the Social Catholic propaganda in France.*^^ Of the various other organizations auxiliary to, or, rather, affiliated with, the Popular Liberal Party, this is not the place for an extended description, but only for the barest mention. The Patriotic League of French Women (Ligue patriotique des frangaises) , founded in the same year that the Popular Liberal Party was legally constituted, was very closely in sympathy with the party and exerted a powerful social influence in its 234 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT behalf. Within less than five years from its foundation, the Patriotic League had attained a membership surpassing three hundred thousand.^-" Less imposing in numerical strength, but quite interesting in their way, were the Union of Free Working- men ( Union des travaillciirs libres) *^' and the Federal Unions (Unions federates) °^' of Catholic employers, both of which supported the Popular Liberal Party. Returning to the party itself, we find that in its methods no less than in its organic structure it was designed as a well-knit, powerful association rather than as a loose political group. Beginning in 1904 it held national congresses or conventions (1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 191 1, 1912, 1914)^" at which the program of the party was studied and formulated with something like scientific thoroughness. By way of illus- tration, one might mention the fact that, preparatory to the congress of 1904, a detailed questionnaire regarding the ques- tion of the labor-contract (between employer and workingman) and the problem of workingmen's pensions was sent out to the local committees, and an analysis made of the replies, as a pre- liminary basis for the discussion of those topics at the conven- tion.«»" But the national conventions were by no means the sole or even the most important manifestation of the association's unity and energy. In the interim between the conventions, the Cen- tral Committee continued its incessant labors of direction and organization; the parliamentary group knew little rest in its political opposition to the Government or in its legislative cham- pionship of the party's program; public speakers (confcrcn- cicrs) were constantly engaged in carrying the propaganda of the party into every nook and corner of the country; and by the written as well as by the spoken word an uninterrupted campaign was waged. The party published a weekly Bulletin (Bulletin hebdomadaire) , a Quarterly Bulletin (Bulletin trim- cstricl), popular tracts, and an almanac.*'^ In addition, many local committees issued departmental or regional bulletins; members and friends of the party were active on the editorial staflfs of many a newspaper ^'^ and penned articles for period- THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 235 icals such as the Correspondant or the Association catholique, not to mention books on controversial political and social ques- tions. Most striking and aggressive of all the methods of action adopted by the Popular Liberal Party were its Popular Secre- tariats, its Employment Bureaus, its Industrial Unions, its People's Halls, and its Legislative-Political Museum. Possibly the political value of social propaganda and of labor unions was suggested by the dependence of the Socialist Party upon " Red " trade unions ; ^^^ but it may equally well have been suggested by de Mun's Catholic Workingmen's Clubs,^^^ which antedated both the trade unions ^^^ and the Socialist Party by many years ; or it may have been suggested by the activities of either the Belgian Clerical Party or the German Center Party. At any rate, the Popular Liberal Party laid great stress upon social propaganda as one of its principal means of action. It urged its local committees to found, and many of its committees did actually establish, secretariats populaires — People's Secre- tariats or Bureaus — which offered free assistance, advice and information to workingmen about industrial or agricultural questions or about the perplexing provisions of the tax-laws and the military service law.'^° Many of the local committees became actively interested in the formation of industrial trade unions, and of provident societies of divers sorts. *^^ In some of the larger cities, the Liberal Committees established People's Halls (Maisons du peuple), where the offices of the People's Secretariats might be located, where workingmen's organiza- tions or study-clubs might find a home, or lectures be given, and where an employment bureau could be maintained.^^* The employment bureau, be it remarked, was an audacious and an original method of party propaganda. Dr. Leon Jacques, the eminent student of French political parties, has the following vigorous commentary to make on this point : It is melancholy to note how, among men of the greatest sincerity, political preoccupations can trammel the true practice of religious sentiments. The A. L. P. [Popular Liberal Party] expects that the possessors of the power of employment (capitalists, merchants, 236 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT manufacturers, landowners — and most of them are either Catholics or non-Catholics who are equally anxious to recruit their employees among men of order — and the possessors of the power of consumption will do their duty, their imperious duty, and will reserve their personal preferences, their recommendations to their friends, to their coreligionists, to the members of the A. L. P. The result would be, if these instructions were followed to the letter, that the workingmen or employees and the merchants not belonging to the A. L. P. would find neither work nor clients, respectively, in circles sympathetic to this party! The A. L, P. is the first political organization in France, we believe, that has introduced such con- siderations in the economic sphere and has advocated such methods of combat (employment bureaus and lists of preferred trades- men). ^'o The originality and the serious character of the Popular Liberal Party may be seen also in the establishment, soon after the organization of the party, of a Bureau of Research {Section d' etudes). The Bureau of Research, under M. Alaze-Sencier's direction, conceived the remarkable idea that a political organ- ization posing as the champion of definite social and political principles ought to possess scientific compilations of all avail- able data regarding those principles. With industry equal to his originality, M. Maze-Sencier and his colleagues set to work and not only collected a library of books on political and social problems, but also accumulated and classified public documents — laws, bills, reports, decrees — of France and of foreign countries, so that any deputy belonging to the party might, when drafting a bill or preparing a speech, avail himself in- stantly of a dossier or file of documents on the subject in hand, already classified. At first the collection extended back to 1889; subsequently it was pushed still further back. Not only official documents, but even articles from domestic and foreign journals and magazines were methodically collected and classi- fied. A careful record was made of elections, and a political chart of France kept up to date. A circulating library was created. A catalogue of parliamentary and other documents was published, and pamphlets were prepared and distributed. In its novel enterprise of laying g, solid scientific foundation THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 237 for its political program, the Popular Liberal Party was un- questionably conscientious.**" Development of a Progra M From the foregoing exposition it should be clear that the Popular Liberal Party, growing out of the embryonic Liberal Group of 1899, very rapidly developed into a highly organized association, with a vigorous organic life. We are now ready to ask the question: toward what end did the party direct its efforts ? As one follows the evolution of thought in his speeches, from year to year, the conclusion is inevitable that Jacques Piou, founder of the Popular Liberal Party, was at first much clearer about the general nature of the party which he was creating than about the details of its program. On July 5, 1901, when the Liberal Group was beginning to strengthen its organization for the coming electoral conflict of 1902, Piou delivered a " program speech," ^*^ setting forth very eloquently the mission and the spirit of the group, but defining very vaguely its legislative program. The supreme mission of the Liberal Group was to combat " the Collectivist- Jacobin-Sec- tarian " coalition, i. e., Waldeck-Rousseau's Anticlerical-Radi- cal-Socialist Government. " Our watch-word is simple," he said, " it is : repulse the artisans of national destruction, and chase them out of office; deliver ourselves . . . from counter- revolutionists and clericals." The real counterrrevolutionists, he hastened to explain, were the so-called Republicans whose anticlerical passions led them to destroy liberty ; the real " cler- icalism," most to be feared, was Free-Masonry, which he re- garded as an intolerant religious sect whose ecclesiastical poten- tates grasped after political power and endeavored to use the government to oppress other religions, particularly the Catholic religion. Against the Free-Masons and the Socialists, Piou hoped to see a great Opposition bloc take shape, in which the Liberal Group would be one of the several " army corps." We who defend by constitutional methods ^*^ all the ideas of order, 238 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT of progress, of justice, which alone can assure to society a stable equilibrium, — we have desired in our turn to enter the fray and to urge those who are of our way of thinking to contribute their contingent of efforts in the forthcoming struggle. I say, their con- tingent of efforts ; for you understand, of course, that we have no idea of marching forth to battle entirely by ourselves; we are only one of the corps of the great electoral army. . . . The issue, he beHeved, would be clear-cut: Whether you like it or not, France today is divided into two camps : on one side are all the violent fanatics, all the Jacobins, all the bigots, supported by the Collectivists ; on the other side are all the patriots, all the independents, all the liberals, all the mod- erates supported by the conservatives. Henceforth it must be a choice between one and the other of these camps. The time for hesitation and for diffidence is past. In his speech of July 5, 1901, Piou seemed convinced that the Liberal Group should be just one of the army corps in the mighty host of the Opposition ; but a few months later he seemed to have a more ambitious vision of a huge liberal and Catholic association somewhat like the German Center or the Belgian Clerical Party, the largest parties of Germany and Belgium respectively. Over and above all individual enterprises, there is a general, col- lective enterprise which would soon modify the forces and the equilibrium of the parties. Can you imagine what would be the - power of an immense association grouping under a single banner, in a single effort, towards a single goal, the advocates of the most popular of all liberties, the liberty of conscience? It would very soon count its adherents by the thousands and thousands. It would very soon radiate throughout the entirety of France. Men of the North and men of the South, rich and poor, savants and working- men, intellectuals and peasants, all would form just an immense army corps, capable of resisting the allied forces of Free-Masonry and Collectivism, and of sweeping away at the first onslaught bour- geois Radicalism with its stale claptrap and its threadbare shams. . . . Those who doubt it do not even need to thumb the pages of history, although for that matter every page of history tells the story of the miracles accomplished by free association. Merely let THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 239 them look across our frontiers to the East and to the North and they will see how the Belgians, defeated, crushed, have accom- plished the most audacious and at the same time the most fecund political and social reforms; how the German Center after getting the better of the Kulturkampf and of the Iron Chancellor himself, made itself the arbiter of the parties. The day that France has her people's association,^*^ the reign of the bigots will be ended. But an organization can succeed only on a double condition: severe discipline, a precise program.^** Though he had no program to offer, indeed, he stoutly main- tained that a successful program " must be the work of neither one man, nor of one group," but a joint product. Piou was acutely conscious that a program was vitally necessary. " A program," he said, " which corresponds to the problems occu- pying public opinion and to the interests which move the masses is the necessary bond of every association which desires to live." Again, — "A long campaign is not a guerilla warfare; it pre- supposes a plan concerted in advance and followed out." The general spirit of the program he indicated in his peroration, when he exhorted his hearers : You are being denounced to your country as the spoiled children of the great national family, as morose stragglers whose eyes are ever turned backward, toward the Past. Tell the country, prove to the country, that you are its loyal sons, its ardent servants, that you love all that it loves, — social justice, scientific progress, polit- ical liberty, — and that your supreme ambition is to be of assistance in its onward march toward the light and toward fraternity.^*' More definite are Piou's ideas in his Rheims speech, January 26, 1902. He declares that the mission of the Liberal Group is to restore respect for justice, to put the army above politics, to establish equality before the law (in other words, to repeal the provisions of the Associations Law which denied to mo- nastic orders the rights enjoyed by other associations), to estab- lish liberty of conscience without privilege, in short, " to repair all the evil which has been done " and to " substitute for the Jacobin Republic the Liberal Republic." In passing, he paid 240 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT his respects to the Government's progressive inheritance-tax bill. The Government, it seemed, had planned to subject even very small inheritances to the tax, but had been unduly generous toward multi-millionaires by refusing to extend the principle of progressivity above the million mark, whereas Piou had advocated the exemption of small inheritances (under 2,000 francs) and the imposition of progressive supertaxes on in- heritances above a million.'*" Count Albert de Mun likewise inveighed against the rule of the " Jacobins " and Socialists. Ever more interested in social matters than was Piou, de Mun dealt in detail with the social-economic policy of the Government and pointed out that much if not all of the really valuable constructive work of the Socialist minister, Alillerand, had been prepared by his prede- cessors. The application of the accident compensation law was a case in point ; or, to take another example, Millerand's idea of establishing trade boards (coiiscils du travail) and of making part of the Superior Trade Board (Conseil supcricur du travail) elective had long been advocated in principle by Catho- lics. Millerand's law on industrial disputes and arbitration, declared the Catholic orator, was distasteful both to working- men and to employers; Millerand might have profited by bor- rowing the Social Catholic scheme of industrial conciliation along with the idea of industrial representation.**' Summariz- ing his program, de Mun declared, " We are determined to protect religion against the bigots, the nation against the cos- mopolites who menace it, the people against those who deceive them in order to exploit them and profit thereby." "*' \'ague in its constructive program and immature in its organ- ization, the Liberal Group went into the elections of 1902 with one guiding principle very clearly conceived and faithfully fol- lowed, — to fight in alliance with the other moderate and con- servative groups against the anticlerical and Socialist coalition. " If the moderates remain divided, or even scattered, thev are lost," declared the Liberal Group's campaign manifesto. " In opposition to the Ministerial and Collectivist coalition there must be a patriotic and liberal coalition." In many constitu- THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 241 encies the policy of moderate coalition was very successfully practised by the Liberal Group, the Opposition Progressists, and the Nationalists.**" The result of the elections was such as to encourage the new group to adhere to its general policy and to elaborate its organ- ization and program. In the expiring legislature, the Liberal Group had claimed the allegiance, at one time or another, of more than seventy Deputies, but as almost a score of these proved disloyal, the group hardly comprised more than fifty-six or fifty-seven members. Now although sixteen of these mem- bers were defeated in the election of 1902 (mostly by Radicals and Radical-Socialists, but a few by Republicans and two or three by Socialists ),^°° besides three lost by retirement and one by death, nevertheless the Liberal Group as a whole regis- tered noteworthy gains, and the election of thirty-six new mem- bers, not in the preceding legislature, more than counter- balanced the losses. With old members reelected, members newly elected, and converts from other groups, the Liberal Group in the new legislature boasted no less than eighty Depu- ties,*" — a gain of more than twenty members, or forty per cent. The electoral victories of the Liberals, it is interesting to note, were mostly at the expense of the moderate Republicans and Radicals ; whereas the nine new converts came, with two exceptions, from the Extreme Right or from the Nationalists. Thanks in no small part to the fresh vigor displayed by the Liberal Group, the Right as a whole (including " Conserva- tives," "Nationalists," and "rallies") regained some of the ground it had lost in previous elections. In 1898 it had comprised only 94 members; in 1902 it comprised 119. And in addition, the large " Progressist " fraction, including Meline, Ribot, and Poincare, which had broken off from the moderate Republican group, and opposed the Waldeck-Rousseau minis- try, might be counted as lending the support of its 127 votes to the Right, on certain questions. Of the moderates who sup- ported the Government, only sixty-two held their seats. The Radicals, to be sure, gained eight new seats, and the Radical- 242 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Socialists forty-three; but the Socialists suffered a severe re- \'erse, losing fourteen of their fifty-seven seats. Altogether, the coalition, — which became known to history as the bloc, — of 62 Republicans, 233 Radicals and Radical- Socialists, and 43 Socialists, upholding the Government, could muster 338 votes, as opposed to the 252 votes of the Opposition groups (5 dis- sident Radicals, 127 Progressists, 35 rallies, 43 Nationalists, and 42 Conservatives, according to the official communique). '" The Liberal Group was a sort of leaven permeating the various other opposition groups, since some of its adherents were Conservatives, some Nationalists, some rallies, some Pro- gressists, at the same time that they were Liberals. This situ- ation was most promising. The Liberal Group bade fair to become the organizing spirit, the nucleus of an Opposition bloc which might realize Piou's long-cherished dream of a great conservative-liberal party, a party favorable to social and polit- ical reforms but opposed to Revolution, favorable to religious liijerty and opposed to the establishment of Free-Thinking and Free-Masonry as state religions, favorable to patriotism and opposed to anti-militarism. Said Piou, when the first returns of the elections became known, A mere sketch of an organization, begun almost under the enemy's fire, has sufficed to check, sharply, the progress of the Socialistic Radicalism in the nation. A more complete organization would soon assure the defeat of Socialistic Radicalism : this organization is the task of tomorrow. It will be accomplished.*'^ Perhaps it was a real advantage, for the organization of the Liberals, that their leader, Jacques Piou, was defeated in the elections of 1902. However unwelcome his relief from parlia- mentary duties may have been, it afforded him an opportunity to devote his entire energy to the enormous task of creating the first well-organized, legally-constituted political party in the history of France. The result, the organization of the party, is already known to us. It remains to be seen how with the organization the program developed. When the first regular national convention of the Popular THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 243 Liberal Party assembled at Paris in 1904, the Party had, prop- erly speaking, no detailed constructive program of social and political reforms. In the constitution {Statuts, art. 2) of the party, to be sure, we read that The Popular Liberal Party has for its aim to defend public liberties on the basis of loyalty, to the Republican form of govern- ment [sur le terrain constitutionnel], by all legal means, particularly by electoral propaganda; to favor legislative reforms, to create or develop benevolent societies and social institutions; to ameliorate the condition of the working classes. Moreover, de Mun and a few other Social Catholics among the Liberal ranks had their own distinctive program of social reconstruction. And Piou, as well as other Liberals, had spoken eloquently of the defense of liberty, of the army, of the workingmen's interests, — but usually in a negative sense or in general terms. The party as a whole still lacked an official program of specific constructive reforms. A vahant beginning was made by the first party convention Paris, 1904).*°* Thanks to the happy device of sending out a questionnaire to the local committees and analyzing the returns systematically, in advance of the congress, it was possible for the assembled delegates to formulate their views with but little wrangling and without resort to that oracular vagueness which the Unified Socialists have sometimes employed to conceal their dififerences. Resolutions were adopted favoring Old Age Pen- sions for Workingmen (and specifying the method of organiz- ing the pension fund),*^' legal recognition of collective bar- gaining in industry, Sunday rest, a law rendering an attempt at conciliation obligatory in industrial disputes, a law regarding the discharge of employees, a law regulating payment of wages in kind, certain important extensions of the legal capacity of the trade-unions, completion and codification of labor legislation .*==® A series of interesting constitutional reformB was proposed: among them, proportional representation with the scrutin de liste; a law obliging all voters to vote ; the restriction of cam- paign placards to certain spaces, equal for all parties ; the use 244 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT of identical paper for ballots of all parties and the enclosure of the ballot in an envelope (in order to put an end to the notorious violation of the secrecy of the ballot by the use of distinctive ballots for Government candidates) ; observation of the ballot-counting by watchers, equal in number for each party.'" Each convention, thereafter, set itself the task of elaborating the party program, a few details at a time. For example, the Convention of 1905 devoted special attention to the problem of educational institutions and to the problem of labor organ- ization ; most interesting was the resolution adopted at this time, favoring parallel trade-unions of workers and employers, with mixed boards as bonds of union.'°' The convention of 1906 extended the party platform by laying down planks on the legal limitation of the maximum working-day, on vocational training, on electoral frauds, on the desirability of writing a Declaration of Rights into the Constitution, of creating a Su- preme Court, of altering the method of presidential elections, on professional representation, on the verification of legislative elections by the Supreme Court, on the referendum, and on decentralization. *°° In the convention of 1908 ten " fundamental principles " were adopted as the basis of a draft for revision of the national con- stitution. The principles were: 1. The necessity of harmonizing the prescriptions of the constitution with the moral law and with those of the natural laws, the application of which is most favorable to man, and consequently to societies; 2. Recognition of the Republic as the form of Government accepted by the country ; 3. Electoral reform, proportional representation, scrutin dc liste, obligatory and secret voting. 4. Principle of decentralization and regionalism. 5. Professional organizations and trade-boards. 6. Constitution of a central executive power and modifica- tion of the mode of election and the powers of the president of the Republic. THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 245 7. Maintenance of the principle of the two Chambers, with representation of interests by the Senate. 8. EstabHshment, at the summit of the organization of the country, of a Supreme Court to protect public liberties and to guard the Constitution. 9. Right of constitutional revision. 10. " The convention furthermore resolves that a special committee of five members . . . shall be joined to the Committee of Social Studies, to collaborate on the preparation of succes- sive reports on each of the articles of the draft constitution and to submit them to later conventions, and, subsequently, to the judgment of public opinion." **" The convention of 1909, continuing the work, dealt with the important problems of the minimum wage, professional repre- sentation, and the status of government employees.'"^ That of 191 1 adopted resolutions in favor of the referendum, arbitra- tion and conciliation boards, old-age pensions, and state sub- vention of schools in proportion to the number of scholars. ^•'^ It is hardly necessary, in this connection, further to amplify the list; the manner in which the program developed should already be sufficiently clear. In short, the Popular Liberal Party, evolving from the Liberal Group, however vaguely its program and character may have been conceived at the outset, in course of time not only became elaborated into an organization which furnished a model to other French political groups, but also worked out a con- structive program which, regardless of its strength or weakness in other respects, was unequalled by that of any other French political party in scope and precision. In a sense, the program was not original, at least in its ele- ments. Proportional representation, certainly, was not a nov- elty. Professional representation had long been advocated by certain Monarchists.^"^ The organization of industry by paral- lel trade-unions, with mixed boards, was a favorite idea of the Social Catholics. And so one might continue. But the virtue of the Popular Liberal Party was its ability to prepare a synthesis and a practical expression of these ideas, and to im- 246 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT pose that synthesis upon a heterogeneous group of Catholic politicians as a working program. In this circumstance lay the great service of the Popular Liberal Party to Social Catholi- cism ; for the first time, French Social Catholic principles, with slight modifications, were proclaimed by an effective political organization. Social C.vtholic I.njfluence on the Program When the program of social reforms advocated by Count Albert de Mun and other Social Catholics during the 'eighties and 'nineties is compared with the program adopted by the Popular Liberal Party in the first decade of the new century, a remarkable similarity appears, a similarity so striking that the historian must instinctively connect the two programs and ask himself whether the second was evolved from the first, and in what manner. The question has already been answered, in part. The Liberal Group formed by Jacques Piou in the legislature of 1898-1902, with little or no program except of constitutional opposition to Waldeck-Rousseau's coalition of anticlericalism and Socialism, happened to include a few men like de Mun, de Gailhard-Bancel, and de Grandmaison, who had not only contagious enthusiasm but also a definite, well-matured pro- gram of Social Catholic reforms. Count de Mun's prestige and eloquence gave additional weight to the Social Catholic program. Some of the other elements in the group were indif- ferent to social reform ; some inclined toward the individualistic doctrine of non-intervention; but none had a rival program which could stand comparison vnth that of the Social Catholics. It was inevitable that the merely Catholic elements of the group should be leavened by Social Catholicism. The addition of the adjective " Popular " to the name of the group in 1902, and the insertion in the party's constitution of the words, " to ameliorate the condition of the working classes," were evidence of the growing influence of the Social Catholics. The organizer and president of the party, Jacques Piou, who had hitherto appeared to be more interested in purely political THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 247 and ecclesiastical questions, now began to concern himself more and more actively with the social problem. When Piou had dealt with the social problems in 1901 it had been to denounce the socialists. Speaking before the annual meeting of the Societe d'economie sociale, May 30, 1901, he accused socialism of being the chief cause of class antagonism, and he urged his hearers (who, by the way, represented the extremely timid wing of the Social Catholic movement, if indeed they could be called Social Catholics at all) to struggle with all their might against the menace of socialism, which would establish materialism in place of religion, militias armed with intelligent bayonets in place of permanent armies, the State as an educational institution U'Etat educateur] in place of the family, free love in place of the family, capital under the domination of the labor union, taxes with the object of equalizing wealth, the levelling of all classes by law, and finally the idea of patriotism evaporating into I know not what cosmopolitan sentimentalism. Even the most promising passage of his speech was very vague : If this socialist movement had no other aim than to obtain for labor its legitimate share in the production of wealth, to multiply chari- table and provident institutions, to leave the field open for col- lective or individual initiative, to render the acquisition of property and capital easier by means of thrift and mutual aid, an agreement [entente^ could soon be effected and social peace would not be a hope which has almost become a dream. Today where is the man so unfeeling that he has no compassion for the condition of the workingmen who are confronted each morning with the problem of obtaining their daily bread, and in whose path both destitution and unemployment lie in wait? Where is the employer so forgetful of his interests and of his duties as not to respect the liberty, the in- terests, the rights of his workingmen? Where is the politician who does not take pride in embodying in our laws, and through the laws, in our customs, this sentiment of solidarity, this spirit of justice, which are the guarantees of social harmony? ss* It is only fair to add that the orator hastened to daub a few streaks of qualifying realism over the too roseate picture he had just painted. Many of these well-wishers, he feared, were " more sincere than active," and the masses, misled by social- 248 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT istic " illusions," seemed determined to hurl themselves in vain against " the power of facts, the resistance of reason, and of economic laws." Consequently " the antagonism between capi- tal and labor becomes more embittered' every day." ^"^ Two months later, in another speech to the Societe d'economie socialc, he heaped more crushing denunciations upon the so- cialists, accusing them of wishing to substitute free love for marriage. He warned his hearers that " the crusade of athe- ism [apparently referring to socialism, one infers from the context], which pursues relentlessly its satanic mission, no longer confines itself to attacking the child and the working- man, but now attacks the young girl and the married woman. The enemies of the social order have thoroughly grasped the fact that they will triumph only when they have conquered the women." In passing, he asserted that the Old Age Pensions Bill then before the Chamber of Deputies was laudable and necessary in its purpose, but false and socialistic in its method.'"" In 1903, however, we find Piou dealing with the social prob- lem in a much more constructive spirit. Though his principles may have remained unaltered, his emphasis has shifted ; whereas in 1901, his words were the words of a disciple of Le Play, placing chief emphasis upon provident societies among the workingmen and paternal benevolence among the employers, as the alternative of socialism, his speeches in 1903 have more of a Social Catholic ring, and with the Social Catholic he places emphasis upon the necessity of social legislation and of indus- trial organization. Socialism is now described not as the in- carnation of " atheism " but as a " warning and a punishment to societies materially opulent but morally bankrupt." *'' The great " error of the century just ended was to ignore, too fre- quently, the importance of social responsibility." To the prob- lem of social justice the Catholics must give their immediate attention. If the violent conflict joined between the Jacobin policy and the Liberal policy should cause us to forget the poverty, the sufferings, the injustices which surround us, our indifference would serve the THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 249 cause of the destructionists [the Socialists] better than does their own indefatigable activity. And the Liberals must strive to remedy the maladies of modern capitalistic society not merely by preaching benevolence and thrift ! Trade unions must be fostered, and social legisla- tion promoted. On the subject of social legislation his remarks were particularly significant. France, he said, should press forward to the goal and complete her social legislation, founding it upon this double basis : obligation in matters touching general interests placed under the guardianship of the State ; liberty in all those matters touching private rights and interests. As for the role of the Liberals, — I hope that our friends of the Liberal Party [Action Liberale], the progress of which is so rapid, may some day have the oppor- tunity to put the finishing touches on this legislation, and that in the meantime it should be the subject of their chief concern and the basis of the program which they will submit to the country when the time comes [for an election]. Moreover, he did not disdain to enter into details — pointing out how shamefully social reforms had been neglected, and how much remained to be done. The law of 1864 permitting labor coalitions was " the A B C of justice" ; the law of 1884 legal- izing trade-unions was a "tardy victory (revanche) of the ancient rights of labor over the sophisms of the Revolutionary philosophy." How many years and how many injustices it required before women and children were effectively protected against the excesses of homicidal overwork? It is hardly five years ago that mutual aid societies obtained a charter which might be called almost liberal. As for the law on old age pensions, that is still to be enacted. Another thing which is still to be done, is the creation of an Industrial Code. Property has its code, commerce also ; both voluminous and bulky. There are a number of rural codes and a forest code ; but the code of the laborers is not yet in existence. . . . The wage-contract is nowhere defined and regulated; no legal representation is assure4 to th? vyorkingmen, the famous trade 250 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT boards conceived by M. Millerand being still-born; no gratuitous and expeditious jurisdiction save the very incomplete jurisdiction of the trade-boards,'^' which does not include clerks — protects them against the ruinous delays of ordinary justice. . . . Arbitration exists only in name. . . . As for the trade-unions, they are not permitted to unite in groups, or to engage in commerce, or to possess property, the bill which granted them these rights having been cast, together with its elder brother regarding trade-boards, into the oubliettes of parliament . . . What they could be, what they would be, these trade-unions [syndicats] under a regime of wise and prudent liberty, my friend M. de Gailhard-Bancel has told you with that ardent conviction and that high competency which have made him one of the initiators and one of the chiefs of the unionist movement in France. There is a domain where law is sovereign, a domain which is placed under the direct protection of the law ; it is the domain of major social interests, such as hygiene, safety, morality, assistance; how many parts of this domain remain unexplored ? "" In 1904, Piou gives voice to the emphatic statement: " If State SociaHsm is a peril, the complete abstention of the state is a desertion. The law must not only arm individual and collective initiatives with powerful means of action; it has also the duty of regulation, even of constraint, in all matters touching hygiene and safety, protection of the weak and repression of abuses." "" If we allow two more years to elapse, and then once more measure the Liberal leader's progress, we find that by 1906 he has arrived at a point where his social program is definite, precise, confident, constructive. '' In the face of the growing antagonism between capital and labor," he writes, the Popular Liberty Party desires to play the part of the peace-maker, by assisting to restore fraternity in our manners and customs, and justice in our laws. In its conferences, in its journals, in its conventions, it studies and advocates the reforms which appear to it to correspond best to the wants and aspirations of industrial democracy : labor legislation and trade boards, trade organization and labor representation, the right of property for trade unions, obligatory conciliation of indus- trial disputes, Sunday rest, limitation of the working-day for women and children, workingmen's pensions, etc. At the same time it constantly appeals to the initiative of its com- THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 251 mittees and of its adherents for the creation of social service institutions, people's bureaus, mutual societies, popular libraries and clubs, loan funds, dwellings, workingmen's gardens, etc. To facilitate the establishment of such institutions, it [the party] has a Research Committee, admirably organized, always ready to place at the disposal of its friends information about everythmg that is being done in France and abroad, complete documents re- garding all sorts of social institutions, and model constitutions and by-laws. The party's dominant idea is that the hour has come to leave the realm of speculation to enter into that of practical applications. All these questions have been studied thoroughly : the social program of the Catholics has been worked out again and again. Those who are still searching for it, dwell in the clouds. There is not a meeting of the Young Men's Association, not a congress, not a social week [i. e., a week's course of popular lec- tures in sociology] at which the program is not developed, elab- orated, with an abundance of details which leaves nothing in ob- scurity. What is lacking is not a program, it is the realization of the pro- What contributed, probably as much as anything else, to lend precision to the social program of Piou and his party, was the vigorous campaign waged by the Social Catholic writers who contributed to the Association catholique — the magazine founded as the organ of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs and devoted to social questions.^" In 1898, on the eve of the for- mation of the Liberal Group, the Association catholique ex- horted the Catholic Deputies in the Chamber not to content themselves with strengthening the old Liberal Left Center, but to raise their own distinctive standard of Catholic Social re- forms."^ This, it will be observed, was exactly what the Popular Liberal Party undertook to do. Again, in 1899, the editor of the Association catholique, Henri Savatier, warned the Catholics, who were at that moment rejoicing over the forma- tion of their Catholic Federation for campaign purposes, that, " Catholic electoral organization is doubtless very necessary, but it will not produce serious and lasting results unless it is in a posi- tion to reap the fruits of social action." s'* 252 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Almost literally this advice became the fundamental idea of the Popular Liberal Party ; for the Party devoted itself so earnestly to social work as a foundation for political propaganda that it vi^as really more than a political party ; — as a literal translation of its name would suggest, it was an association for Popular Liberal Action (Action Liberale Populairc), social and political. Not only did the Social Catholic organ point out in advance the general path which the Popular Liberal Party followed in fact ; the social program no less than the general tactics of the Party were foreshadowed in the Association catholiquc. Commencing with the issue of November 15, 1895, the maga- zine always published in the front of each number a " Pro- gram," which had been decided upon by the editors on June 15, 1895. The " fundamental reform," according to this Program, was the " corporative reorganization of Society " — i. e., the reconstruction in modern form of the medieval organization of trades into guilds or corporations. This fundamental idea, the Popular Liberal Party inscribed at the head of its own social program. The Association catholique's Program also included a series of other reforms which might be realized immediately before th6 slow process of social reconstruction was com- pleted. These reforms were: IL " Liberty of the Church in its establishment, in its re- cruitment, in its instruction." The Popular Liberal Party, it will be observed, demanded the same liberty for the Church. in. Preservation of the family by recognition of the indis- solubility of the marriage bond and the rights of the father and by protection of the home. IV. The organization of trades in autonomous bodies (corps). V. The grant of additional legal rights and capacities to trade unions (whether composed of laborers or of employers or of both), " the right of owning property, as extensive as the needs of association require "; " the right of professional jurisdiction over their members " ; the right of representation before the government. Trade unions which " unite without confusing the different elements (t, e., capital and labor) of the profession THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 253 should have Conciliation and Arbitration Boards, and should be empowered to draft regulations which, when approved by a referendum to all members of the trade and confirmed by the Government, should be binding upon the whole trade." We shall find the Popular Liberal Party introducing a bill to this effect in 1906. VI. These self-imposed trade regulations, supplemented by legislation, should assure the protection of women and children, the limitation of the working-day " according to the conditions of the trade," and the interdiction of Sunday work in factories and workshops. VII. Cooperative societies of consumers and of producers, mutual provident societies, and mutual credit associations should be organized among agricultural workers, farmers and landbwners. VIII. " This regime of organized trades should establish wages on a basis sufficient for the support of an average family and for the maintenance of benefit funds to provide for the expenses resulting from accidents, sickness, old age, etc." This became one of the characteristic contentions of the Popu- lar Liberal Party, that " social insurance " against accidents, sickness, unemployment and old age although supervised and rendered obligatory by the State, could best be organized by the trades, without creating a new army of public officials. IX. International agreements regarding labor legislation and the regulation of banking. X. Eradication of the " usurious speculation " which " con- sists in legally appropriating the products of the labor of others." Still more striking becomes the evidence of the Association catholique's influence upon the Popular Liberal Party's pro- gram, when one turns to the program drafted by the so-called Union of Reviews of Christian Social Economy {Reunion des revues d'economie sociale chretienne) in 1898. Formed in 1897, ^^^ including La Justice sociale. La Sociologie catholique, and Le XX Sibcle as well as U Association catholique, the Union of Reviews was in reality an enlargement of the circle of influ- 254 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ence of L' Association catholique."^ The program of the Union of Reviews was simply a more precise elaboration of the Pro- gram of 1895. Dealing first with the question of trade organ- ization, the Union of Reviews recommended: 1. That all members of each trade should be registered by the government, in the same way that the registered seamen (inscrtts niaritimes) were already enrolled. 2. That these registered men should form, for each trade, the Trade Corps (corps professionel). 3. That each Trade Corps should have regulations binding on all members. 4. That in each trade, that is, within the Trade Corps, trade unions (syudicats) should be permitted to develop freely. 5. That at the head of each Trade Corps there should be a Board (Coiiscil), composed of delegates of the trade unions, " in such a way as to afford equal representation to the differ- ent elements of the trade." 6. That the Board of each Trade Corps should apply general labor laws to the particular trade, and should formulate the regulations (coutumcs) of the trade. 7. That the regulations of the Boards should require vaHda- tion (homologation) by the Government and, if demanded, sanction by referendum to all members of the trade. 8. That the Boardls should have certain judicial functions, and also authority to levy assessments or dues. 9. That the Boards should " nominate the representation of the trade in the next higher degree." *" Here we have in its bold outlines the scheme of industrial reconstruction later pro- posed by the Popular Liberal Party. To be sure, certain features will be modified, and emphasis shifted ; but in the large, the scheme is the same. The program of the Union of Reviews also contained an interesting section on Property and one on Speculation. As for the former, the Union advocated the legal protection of family property, favoring the acquisition of inalienable " home- steads " and permitting parents to will the home to one child, excluding the others from share or compensation ; also, THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 355 corporative property was to be recognized, all public, profes- sional, or charitable associations being permitted to own prop- erty, with the proviso that the Government should regulate the amount and the use of the property. Regarding Speculation, the Union of Reviews formulated a curious and interesting system : all stock-exchanges were to be controlled by a " body representing all trades," and expert delegates of the trades were to assist the brokers ; brokers must be registered and must pay a special tax ; misrepresentation of stocks should be penalized, " bulls " and " bears " punished, fictitious operations inter- dicted, and negotiable bonds — which encourage stock gam- bling — abolished. In the long run, it was hoped, the recon- struction of trade-^organizations and the revived moral influ- ences of Christianity would go to the heart of the evil.'^^ In all this, the principles of the Union of Reviews were quite as closely in accord with the ideas of the pioneers of French Social Catholicism as they were prophetic of the program of the Popular Liberal Party. One other circumstance, — unimportant in itself, perhaps, like a straw floating in the river, but very significant as a sign which way the tide is flowing, — may be noted as an evidence of the decisive influence of the Social Catholic element in the formu- lation of the Popular Liberal Party's program. When the first national convention of the party assembled, in 1904, to work out a social program on the basis of an analysis of the social committee's replies to a questionnaire, it was a Social Catholic writer, a contributor to the Association catholique, who prepared the report on the results of the questionnaire, and by his skilful classification of the replies frorh the com- mittees assisted the convention to come to definite conclusions, embodied in resolutions.*'* It would be a mistake to suppose that the Social Catholic element was completely victorious in forcing the adoption of its entire program upon every member of the party. The party, in strict truth, was more or less eclectic. Its aim was to present a working program, and to gain all possible support for that program. There were always a few members of the party who 256 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT had small sympathy for the extreme demands of the more ardent Social Catholics, and who evinced a marked inclination to clamber down off the social platform of the party. The same can be said of any party or movement, of the Socialist movement as well as of the rest. On the whole, however, the Popular Liberal Party officially accepted and faithfully advo- cated — as its record in parliament will testify — the greater part of the practical program of the Social Catholic Movement. A Social Catholic writer, M. Zamanski, in the Association catholiquc (May, 1910), even while expressing some criticism of the personnel, hastens to affirm that the policy and aims as well as some of the most notable leaders of the party were genuinely Social Catholic. " The name of M. de Mun, in whatever place it may be found, is a banner for the party to which he belongs. In its official declara- tions his party [the Popular Liberal Party] has most frequently based its views upon the studies pursued in the School [t. e., the Social Catholic school], its orators, like M. Lerolle and M. de Gail- hard-Bancel, have candidly acknowledged its inspiration, and the names of several of its reporters, M. de Clerq, M. Maze-Sencier, will be found signed to articles in the magazine. " One might wish that the Party's parliamentary representation were more homogeneous and more compact in the social conflict, especially when that conflict is waged about a Bill where our prin- ciples are at stake. Replenished with new elements which had been eflFectively trained in the study of labor problems, it might be, in our modern debates, the great social voice of Christianity, like the German Center. "However, the Popular Liberal Party has not too much restricted its ambitions : the labors of its committees, of its congresses, the foundation of associations for social work and of social institutions, the researches, the opinions of its Research Committee, at any rate prove that it has aspired to be an active association which might translate into facts the social doctrine with which its leaders were inspired." *'» Summary of the Party's Progr.\m of Social Reconstruction A lover of epigrams might sum up the social philosophy of the Popular Liberal Party by saying — in terms of Hegelian THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 257 logic — that economic Individlualism was the "thesis," Social- ism the "anti-thesis," and the Popular Liberal program the " synthesis," of the modern doctrine of economic liberty. In- dividualism, said the Socialists, exaggerated individual liberty to such an extent that the laboring masses fell under the tyranny of their employers ; Socialism, said the Liberals, ignored indi- vidual liberty to such an extent that the laboring masses, and also the upper classes, would be crushed by the tyranny of the Socialistic State. True liberty, declared the Popular Lib- eral Party, could be assured neither by individual liberty with- out social authority, nor by social authority without individual liberty, but only by the moderation and reconciUation of the two opposite ideals. This was the essence of the social pro- gram of the Popular Liberal Party : to safeguard the working- man both against the abuses of individual liberty and against the abuses of the power of the state.^*" The characteristic feature — one might call it the corner- stone — of the Popular Liberal Party's scheme of social recon- struction was the reintegration of the trades, industries, and professions. Economic individualism hadi endeavored to re- gard each industry as a fluid and ephemeral association of free economic units — individuals. Socialists and Syndicalists had regarded the workingmen and the employers in each industry as natural enemies, irreconcilably separated. But the Popular Liberty Party considered each trade or industry a natural spcial entity, in which capital and labor should' be intimately associ- ated in the harmony of common endeavor. The perfectly organized trade, as conceived by the party, would comprise all the capitalists, all the clerks, all the common laborers in each industry, each class organized in one or more trade-unions (syndicats), and all these classes represented and united by a board or trade council, containing an equal number of dele- gates from each class. A well-knit industrial organization of this kind would most effectively prevent capital from tyranniz- ing over labor, or idee versa, it was heldi, and at the same time serve as a bulwark against excessive interference and unintel- ligent bureaucracy on the part of the state. 258 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Since, quite obviously, such a regime of organized trade corps could not spring into maturity over night, like a mushroom, the Popular Liberal Party proposed, as a beginning, first, to foster by every possible expedient the rapid development and exten- sion of the existing trade unions, which could serve both to train their members in the responsibilities of association, and to provide the nuclei for the future organized trades. The Liberals became even more radical than the Socialists in de- manding privileges for the trade unions. In the second place, the Liberals believed that the Government should immediately take the initiative of preparing a complete list of the persons engaged in each industry, declaring that all persons engaged in a given industry — in a convenient geographical division — should constitute a " Trade Corps," and elect a " Trade Coun- cil," by classes. The Trade Council should be recognized guardian of the interests of the Trade; it should be consulted on all labor legislation, authorized to administer and apply general labor laws in its own particular trade, and empowered to devise regulations for the Trade, subject to referendum. The Trade Council, in other words, should be the government of the Trade. **^ Whatever one may think of its practical value, one cannot but admire the intellectual symmetry of the scheme of social reconstruction which the Liberals based upon their idea of the Organized Trade. Industrial conciliation and arbitration would no longer be perplexing problems, they would be normal functions of the Trade Councils. In years past, all labor legislation had been opposed and many desirable reforms re- tarded or blocked by the argument tliat laws passed by the national legislature were too rigid, failing to take into account the special conditions in particular industries ; with the Trades organized, not only would general laws be referred to the Trade Councils for specialization and adaptation, but it would be very easy for the Trade Councils to impose additional regu- lations, drafted with expert knowledge. Labor legislation would be placed on a scientific basis. Vocational training, sadly neglected heretofore, could be supervised and fostered THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 259 by the Trades with real efficiency, contrasting sharply with the blundering benevolence of the central governmlent. Col- lective bargaining could be recognized and legalized. Social insurance — against old age, accident, sickness, unemployment, — could be developed without the disagreeable necessity of cre- ating a host of unproductive parasitic public officials and office- seekers. Best of all, it was hoped that the intimate relations between capital and labor, as represented in the Trade Councils, would gradually substitute class cooperation in place of the class-struggle. The Revolutionary Syndicalists believed that the worker must save himself by battling — rather blindly, perhaps — for his mystical faith in the " social myth " of the general strike; the Revolutionary Socialists promised to save the workingman by imposing upon industry a ready-made and not very precisely elaborated system of collective-ownership; the Popular Liberal Party was content to bring employers and workingmen in each trade together, for amicable collaboration, and then to wait for common-sense and fraternal sentiments to do their work, spontaneously as far as possible. The organization of industry may be regarded as the first and most important chapter of the Popular Liberal Party's social program. Regarding the remaining chapters — on the regulation of hours and conditions, on social insurance, on wages, only the briefest suggestions need here be given. Suf- fice it to say that the party advocated drastic curtailment if not the interdiction of the employment of women and children in industry, the limitation of working-hours, even for adult male workers, the enforcement of Sunday rest, the protection of the health of the workers; as far as social insurance is con- cerned, the party firmly believed obligatory insurance against old age, sickness, infirmity, unemployment, and accident to be most desirable and urgent ; as for wages the party accepted the principle of the minimum wage and its spokesmen were gen- erally inspired by the papal doctrine that every workingman is by justice entitled to a living wage, sufficient to support his family decently, educate his children properly, and provide against the day of need. In all these matters, the party desired 26o THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the initiative to be taken by the state, the administration and application to be entrusted to the Trades. Certain other aspects of the Party's social program ought at least to be indicated in this place, to show the scope of the plan. Financial speculation and usury should be curbed. Stock-exchange operations should be taxed and regulated. Agricultural cooperation and mutual aid societies should be encouraged. And by various methods — especially by favor- ing the acquisition of small inalienable family patrimonies, and by reinforcing the legal authority of the father — the family should be strengthened and preserved as a fundamental insti- tution of Christian society. In the Popular Liberal Party's vision of the future reconstructed society, the Family and the Organized Trade stood like supporting columns, with the Church ensuring the stability of the social order, and at the same time protecting the liberties of the people by preventing the burden of the national govemmfent from bearing directly with all its crushing weight upon the isolated individual.''^ .\s a closing remark upon this subject, it may be added that to the minds of the Liberal leaders religion must be the ulti- mate solvent of social problems. The problem of usury and capitalism, they held, had developed because Jews and Prot- estants disregarded the Church's teachings regarding the sin- fulness of usury. The chaotic condition of labor had resulted from undue interference of irreligious monarchs and of the anti-Christian Revolution with the old organization of in- dustry. The degradation of the workingman was the logical consequence of unmoral economic systems founded upon false " scientific " theories instead of upon Christian morality. In the words of Jacques Piou, The social question, which exists in fact, whatever Gambetta may have said to the contrary, is above all a moral question. The aug- mentation of wages, easier access to property, a better distribution of capital, will remain inefficacious palliatives if the spirit of the people fails to shake off the yoke of materialistic doctrines and fails to rediscover its divine ideal. . . The Decalogfue and the Gospel are the great factors of true social progress. . . . THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 261 A divine law is not violated with impunity. France is learning that fact today by sad experience. In the measure that she breaks with her religious traditions, she grows weaker, she becomes dis- organized, depopulated, loses her rank in the world and her con- fidence in her own destinies. Foreigners dare to say that she is the first of the dying nations. . . . The solution of the social problem is in Christianity. The Social- ists will never find anything to surpass the Sermon on the Mount, or to replace it.^^' CoNSTITiUTIONAL REFORMS AND POLITICAL THEORIES With its ambitious program of social reconstruction, the Popular Liberal Party combined a scheme of political or con- stitutional reforms hardly less remarkable in their combina- tion of radicalism and conservatism. At the outset, as the reader will recall, the Liberal Group, growing into the Popular Liberal Party, could hardly agree upon any clear or compre- hensive theory of government, for the group was constituted by the combination of the most diverse elements, — conserva- tive nationalists sighing for a return to monarchy, reluctant rallies, sincerely endeavoring to swallow the bitter medicine of republicanism without making too wry a face, and convinced Republican Progressists. (Their only common ground was defense of the Church and of the social order against anti- clericalism and Socialism. Their leader, however, though he might be Unked to monarchism by his friendships, and by the necessity of political alliances, cherished at heart the convic- tion that since the mass of the nation seemed determined to maintain the Republic, it was the duty of conservatives to join together in a great "Tory party," a party of conservative progress, with a program of reconstruction to preserve and ameliorate existing institutions, as an alternative to the pro- gram of the parties of the Left, which, to his way of thinking, was essentially a program of negations, destructive rather than constructive in aim. This conviction, which may be regarded as the keynote of his party's political philosophy, Jacques Piou very clearly ex- plained two years before the formation of the Liberal Group 262 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT in an article in the Revue des deux mondes (June 15, 1897), entitled " The Conservatives and Democracy." The institutions of France do not depend any longer upon a con- stitutional formula. The crisis through which France is passing is not of such recent origin, nor are its causes so trivial. Since 1789 she has been pursuing a task without precedent in history. From the aristocracy which she was, she wishes to transform herself into a democracy. No nation, before her, has ever realized or even conceived a like enterprise. So prodigious a transformation appears as the most extraordinary ambition, or rather the most foolhardy. In order to realize it, France has hazarded her destinies in revolutions on five or six occasions; and, behold, after a century of pains and of conflicts, she seems to have victory in her grasp. This victory is not complete, but it is sufficient to render any retreat impossible. The old organism having been destroyed, we must com- plete the new, whatever the price, or perish. . . . * * ^ The hour has come, even for the most obstinate " to pardon the inevitable " and to think of their children more than of their an- cestors. So let the conservatives overcome their diffidence, let them forget the affronts received, the injustices suffered, the calumnies, all these detestable legacies of a century of revolutions : one does not revenge oneself on his country. It depends upon them whether democracy shall be the most beneficent or the most perverse of powers. In the midst of many sorrows, a few happy omens seem to presage better days. . . . Shall we be present to witness the first gleams of a new aurora? Are the Conservatives going to decide, at last, to follow the nation in its evolution and to second it in its efforts ? ^** Though the details of the Popular Liberal Party's program were worked out piecemeal, according as public interest veered from one quarter to another, there runs through tlie whole program and history of the party, with a logical consistency rather unusual in politics, this basic idea enunciated by Piou, to enlist the naturally conservative elements of the nation in the patriotic endeavor to make democracy in France a truly benefi- cent agency, tolerant of popular liberties, genuinely repre- sentative, sanely constructive in social questions, strong and stable enough to command respect at home and abroad. In particular, the constitutional reforms advocated to this end are THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 263 interesting in their combination, if not altogether original in their conception. A. Parliamentary Reform In the program of the Popular Liberal Party we find a broad conception of parliamentary reform. The Qiamber of Deputies and the Senate, said the Liberals, did not truly represent the desires and interests of the people. In four re- spects the existing system of representative government was really misrepresentative, vis., (i) a large number of voters never participated in elections, (2) the elections were not fairly conducted, (3) the parliamentary strength of the parties was not proportional to their voting strength, and (4) repre- sentation was based entirely on geographical divisions, rather than on economic interests. How were these defects to be corrected ? I. To begin with, the party from its very first national con- vention demanded that voting be made obligatory, as in Bel- gium (and subsequently Spain). The justification for this de- mand was " that there is no right without a duty " ; moreover, " under a regime of universal suffrage the national will is effective only if it is exercised by the totality of the citizens." As a practical reason for the measure, the party pointed to statistics showing that in the national elections of 1902 no fewer than 2,284,027 electors, or almost 21% of the total num- ber of those qualified to exercise the franchise, abstained from voting. As a large proportion of these abstainers might safely be counted as conservatives, compulsory voting would probably be as advantageous to the party as to the nation.^*' II. At the same party convention of 1904 was proclaimed a second demand or group of demands, for the protection of " the sincerity and security of the vote." Under the existing system, the secrecy of the ballot was notoriously violated, and electoral frauds were all too frequent.^^" The safeguards pro- posed by the Popular Liberal Party were: (i) codification of the election laws; (2) the use of the same kind of paper for the ballots of all parties, and the enclosure of ballots in 264 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT envelopes (under the existing regime, the Government supplied the voter with an official ballot, which he might cast for the Ministerial candidate, while the Opposition candidates fur- nished their own distinctive ballot-papers, and as the ballots were not enclosed in envelopes there was practically little secrecy about them) ; (3) the restriction of campaign-posters to spaces equal for all parties; (4) substitution of a civic pass-book {livret civique) in place of the voter's identification card, as a more certain means of identifying voters; (5) the registration of each elector solely in the district where he had resided for six months; (6) recognition of the right to contest registrations ; (7) the right of any voter or candidate to prosecute any elector or official for failing to execute the law ; (8) appointment of official tellers and watchers, an equal number for each party. The mere enumeration of these de- mands is an illuminating commentary on the susceptibility of the French electoral laws to fraud and injustice.^^' In its convention of 1906, the Popular Liberal Party, again consider- ing the question of electoral frauds, made several interesting additions to its program: that in large districts, the list of voters should be printed and distributed ; that a private booth should be provided for marking the ballot ; that severe penalties should be laid on the exercise of undue partisan pressure by government officials; and tliat the verification of elections should be entrusted to a Supreme Court.''' The last-men- tioned point was important, since the number of Opposition deputies whose election was invalidated by the decision of the parliamentary majority was ordinarily considerable. In 1906, for example, twelve seats were " taken " from the Popular Liberal Party if we may believe the Bulletin of the party. III. Not content with demanding an honest vote and an obligatory vote, the Popular Liberal Party advocated with great earnestness the restoration of the large constituency (scrutin dc liste) system with proportional representation."' The Liberals were among the first and remained among the most ardent champions of this great democratic reform. One of the earliest proportional representation bills on record THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 265 was that drafted by Jules Dansette, a leading Liberal, in I9CX).*°" Despite rebuffs, Dansette and other Liberals per- sisted in bringing in proportional representation bills, in legis- lature after legislature,*"^ until in time, as other parties swung into line and even assumed the leadership of the campaign, proportional representation became one of the leading issues of the day. There seems to be little question that the existing system of voting with the scrutin d'arrondissement resulted in the election of grossly misrepresentative parliaments. According to one calculation,*"^ the elections of 1906, had they been conducted under the system of proportional representation, would have given the right wing of the Chamber (including Conservatives, Nationalists, Liberals, and Progressists) 248 seats in place of the 185 actually obtained, and the " Republicans," Radicals, and Socialists would have suffered a corresponding loss. In- deed, more than one of the orators who denounced propor- tional representation was candid enough to confess that this fact lay at the root of the opposition to electoral reform. To cite one instance, the Radical-Socialist Rene Renoult, speaking in the name of " a large number of my Radical-Socialist friends," declared. We only know that it appears from minute and conclusive calcula- tions, computed on the basis of the elections of 1906 and of igio, that more than 100 seats would pass from the Left to the Right [if proportional representation were adopted]. M. Joseph Denis interjected the remark, " In that case, you occupy them without right." But Renoult continued, in an alarmist tone, " and no one can give us assurance that if this should happen the Republican party and even the constitution itself would not be exposed to a grave crisis." *°^ The leading advocates of proportional representation, — Liberals, Progressists, and Conservatives, — naturally felt no aversion to the transfer of a hundred seats from Left to Right. Nor were they ready to believe that the safety of the Re- public depended upon the size of the Radical party. Jacques 266 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Piou believed that proportional representation would make the Republic more stable than ever, by reconciling opposing elements. " Proportional Representation," he said, " would be the Edict of Nantes of modern times, the great pacifying measure which by tolerance and justice will prepare the way for the necessary reconciliations." *"* If the RepubHcan regime was in danger, it was only because some " Republicans " had preferred party advantage to justice. To show how strongly the Liberals were supported in this view by the Progressist Republicans, we quote the following paragraph from a speech of Joseph Reinach, — If the parliamentary regime is perhaps on the eve of entering into a crisis more serious than all those which it has passed through, it is because the Chambers no longer appear to be dominated by solicitude for public interests. And if the solicitude for public interests has wavered in the Chambers, it is because the latter have been chosen by majority vote, by the scrutin d'arrondissement which cannot be anj^hing but a majority vote, and because the scrutin d'arrondissement is the most absurd of majority systems by reason of the inequality of the constituencies, since in the same department, in the same city, 4000 votes are sufficient to elect a deputy in one constituency while just across the river, or across the street, 15,000 or 20,000 votes are required; at the same time the scrutin d'arrondissement is the most pernicious of majority systems for all those other reasons, political, administrative, moral, which you will excuse me from repeating, since they have been presented twenty times in this tribune.^^' When after many a heated debate, a scheme of departmental scrutin dc listc with a modified form of proportional repre- sentation came to a final vote in the Chamber of Deputies, July II, 1912, the Popular Liberal Party unanimously voted in the affirmative and had the lively satisfaction of seeing the great reform of which they had been the first champions ap- proved by a handsome majority (339 to 217). It is interest- ing to note that the most solid support for the bill came from the Liberals and the Progressists; the Unified Socialists gave rather weaker assistance; but the groups in between the two wings were for the most part opposed. Thomson (Democratic THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 267 Left), Clementel (Radical Left), Caillaux (Unified Radicals), Augagneur (Republican-Socialist), — such are the names one finds in the column of those who voted " Contre." '"^ Immediately, Combes and Clemenceau and other eminent anticlerical Republicans formed a committee to make a last stand, in the Senate, in defense of the majority system and the Radical party. And so indomitable was that last stand, that, what with amendments and endless debates, the Electoral Reform Bill was first mutilated, then stifled. A last desperate expedient to overcome the senatorial op- position was suggested by Paul Pugliesi-Conti (who had been affiliated with the Liberal Party in the previous legislature) on January 30, 1914. He proposed a sort of referendum, an " enquete." Each voter should be asked : " (i) Are you in favor of maintaining the majority sys- tem?" " (2) Are you in favor of establishing the representation of minorities by the system of proportional repre- sentation with the quotient ? " The Radicals and Radical-Socialists condemned this proposal out of hand as a disguised plebiscite, smacking of " boulan- gisme," and a majority of the Chamber helped to defeat it; but the Popular Liberal Party, some other members of the Right, and some Socialists supported it.'"' Not many months afterwards, the outbreak of the Great War caused propor- tional representation to be laid on the shelf, with other domestic problems, until the return of peace. In July, 1919, an Electoral Reform Bill establishing propor- tional representation was finally carried through and placed upon the statute-books. The reform was not complete, since in the new law there was a provision that every candidate re- ceiving an absolute majority of the votes cast in his district should be elected; but proportional representation was to be applied in all other cases. The law of 1919, therefore, may be regarded as a partial fulfilment of the demand which the Popular Liberal Party had inscribed in its program!.*'* IV. The most interesting of the four reforms advocated by 268 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the Popular Liberal Party to improve the representative system remains to be mentioned. Philosophically, it rests upon the same fundamental principle as proportional representation, to wit, that the members of the national legislature should in justice and reason represent the convictions and interests of the different elements of the nation, rather than the arbitrary geographical divisions called arrondisseviotts. Proportional representation would make the Chamber a more faithful por- trait of the state of the parties in the country at large. But to afford a true index of the vital economic interests of the nation, something more was needed, " Professional Repre- sentation " or " Functional Representation " as it is sometimes called. The Popular Liberal Party committed itself very definitely to this idea. At the party convention of 1909, this resolution was passed : The convention resolves that pending the time when representation of professions can be established in the great assemblies of the country, — and the convention favors such representation in prin- ciple, — there should be constituted a general representation of the professions, emanating from a scheme of trade organization analo- gous to that proposed by a group of Deputies of the Popular Liberal Party in July, 1906; and that, henceforth, the existing professional organizations should be obligatorily consulted on all laws concern- ing the professions.'"" The scheme of trade organization referred to was outlined in a bill, of which the provisions will be discussed in a later chapter; in this connection it may be explained, however, that the bill contemplated the establishment of " corps " in each trade or profession. All lawyers would be enrolled in the law corps, physicians in the medical corps, ironworkers (including capitalists, managers, clerks, and workingmen) in the iron-industry corps, and so on. Given this groundwork of industrial organization, it would be a simple matter to rear from it a form of political representation, say in a " Senat profcssioncl," each trade corps being assigned a number of senators proportionate to its membership. But until the THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 269 foundation had been laid, and all men enrolled in their proper trade corps, it would be idle to* dream of establishing a Pro- fessional Senate. For this reason the Liberals thought it unnecessary to bring in a bill delineating the scheme. They contented themselves, in the Organization of Labor Bill of 1906, with the hope that France might achieve " some day, the reality and the plenitude of national representation by the representation of interests in an upper chamber." ""> B. Safeguards against Parliamentary Despotism The four reforms just enumerated, namely, obligatory vot- ing, precautions against election frauds, proportional repre- sentation, and professional representation, had as their general object the better representation of the people in the parliament. A second group of political reforms was advocated by the Popular Liberal Party with the aim of safeguarding the country against the dangers of a centralized and despotic parliamentary government. Under the French governmental system, as it existed, the entire power of government Avas focussed in a council of ministers nominally appointed by the president of the republic but really depending upon parliament, and chiefly upon the Chamber of Deputies. The hierarchy of prefects, sub-prefects, miscellaneous government officials and government employees constituted a vast bureaucracy un- der the control of the national ministry. Local autonomy was reduced to the vanishing point. The entire political life of the nation was in the grip of whatever group of parliamentary leaders happened to be in power. Incessant cabinet changes, due to shifting combinations of parliamentary groups, rendered the system as unstable as it was despotic.'"^ The introduction of proportional representation for the Chamber of Deputies, and the creation of a Senate represent- ing organized economic or professional interests would go far, it was hoped, to make parliament both more representative in membership and more stable in its policies. But, as addi- 270 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT tional safeguards of liberty, the Popular Liberal Party pro- posed the following measures :*(a) inscription of a declaration of rights and liberties in the constitution ; (b) creation of a supreme court as guardian of the constitution ; (c) strengthen- ing of the position of the president of the republic, (d) civil service reform, (e) decentralization, (f) the referendum. A word about each is necessary. (a) The constitutional laws under wlhich the Third French Republic is governed are almost unique among modem con- stitutions in that they contain no declaration of the inviolable rights of citizens and impose no effective restriction upon the powers of parliament. The French constitutions of 1791, 1793, and 1795, the Charter of 1814, the constitution of 1830, the constitution of 1848, even the constitution of 1852, — all had contained declarations of rights and liberties. But the constitution-framers of 1875, disregarding the historical tra- dition, omitted any such declaration.""^ Since then, in the view of a prominent member of the Popular Liberal Party, " the citizens have been delivered over to the caprices of parliament, as the citizens of the ancient pagan state were subjected to the caprice of Caesar." °°* The Popular Liberal Party therefore proposed that a series of declarations, based on the historic Declaration of the Rights of Man, but amended and rectified, should be inserted in the constitutional laws. The declarations should safeguard: the liberty of the individual within the law; inviolability of the private domicile except in cases of crimes and misdemeanors specified in the penal laws ; liberty of conscience ; and freedom for the various religious confessions to follow their own rules of organization; liberty of education, and freedom for the parent to choose between public and private schools for his children; liberty of association and of assembly; freedom of the press ; freedom of work ; " and all other liberties the en- joyment of which is compatible with public morality and the respect of the equal rights of others." °°° (b) To secure observance of these constitutional prescrip- tions, some body independent of the legislative and executive THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 271 powers was considered necessary. In other words, a Supreme Court must be created and invested with authority to pass on the constitutionality of administrative decrees and legislative acts. This idea was quite frankly borrowed from the con- stitution of the United States. M. Souriac, whose very in- teresting report on constitutional reforms provided the basis for the party convention's resolutions, made the following statement : . . . We believe that a new organ is needed, and we believe that we may find in the celebrated Supreme Court of the United States a model which may be adapted to our country, to our needs. Almost a hundred and twenty years the constitution of the great American republic has been in existence, and during this time pro- found changes have occurred in society, in political customs, in conditions of life, with the dizzy rapidity which accelerates all events in that country. The Supreme Court, immutable in its organic structure, impassive in the midst of social upheavals, inaccessible to fear as to money . . . has remained what the authors of the act of 1787 made it, like a central point about which everything gravi- tates, moves and changes, without ever affecting it. Such an example, coming from a nation which has found much strength and prosperity under a republican form of government, is well calculated to attract us. . . .^"^ But the Popular Liberal Party did not propose an exact dupli- cation of the American model. The method of appointing the Supreme Court in the United States was held to be " not ab- solutely perfect," since the president's choice of members must be submitted to the Senate, "which is sometimes very much influenced by political [partisan] considerations." Moreover, the Supreme Court, instead of reviewing all legislation and definitely annulling unconstitutional acts, waited until some citizen made complaint about a given law, and then did not annul, but merely refused to apply it. In designing a tribunal for France, the Liberals hoped to correct ithese defects. The Supreme Court would have the right to annul unconstitutional laws, and would review the acts and ordinances of the executive power and of admin- istrative officials. With bo large a function, the court would 272 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT necessarily be larger than the American Supreme Court. It was suggested that there should be 125 judges, of whom 25 should be appointed by the president of the republic, 25 by the Senate, 25 by the Chamber of Deputies, 25 by regional as- semblies, 25 chosen by trade organizations and from the " batonnicrs de I'ordrc dcs avocats pris des Cours d'Appel." Once constituted, the Court would fill any vacancy in its mem- bership by choosing from a list of candidates proposed by the same authorities that selected the original incumbent of the vacant post. Furthermore, the Supreme Court would main- tain a representative in each region of France to bring to the attention of the court all cases subject to its jurisdiction.^"' Futhermore, the Supreme Court would be intrusted with the duty of verifying the powers of members elected to the twt) chambers of parliament.'"' (c) Another constitutional reform obviously inspired by ad- miration of the United States concerned the election and the powers of the president of the republic. Under the existing constitutional laws of 1875 the president was nominally in- vested with very considerable powers ; he could dissolve parlia- ment, demand reconsideration of laws, propose legislation, ap- point ministers of state and civil and military officers, nego- tiate treaties, and issue administrative decrees.'"" But in practice, the president was a dignified figurehead, the chief ceremonial officer rather than the chief magistrate of France, and his important political functions were exercised by the council of ministers responsible to parliament.'^" This state of aflfairs was most distasteful alike to tihe more patriotic poli- ticians, who considered a strong and stable executive essential to the maintenance of the country's international prestige, and to authorities on constitutional law, who deplored the concen- tration of all authority in the hands of a fluctuating parlia- mentary majority.'^'^ The Popular Liberal Party ascribed the weakness of the president to the fact that he was elected by the legislative chambers, rather than to any inadequacy of constitutional powers. Therefore it was proposed that the president should THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 273 be chosen by " a great body of independent electors, truly rep- resentative of the nation,'' i. e., by an electoral college based on universal suffrage. His term of office should be four instead of seven years, so that he would not lose contact with the peo- ple, but he might be reelected after an interval of four years. Moreover, he should have the right to submit to the Supreme Court any laws which appeared to him to be unconstitu- tional.'^^ (d) Among the measures designed to curb the power ex- ercised by the parliamentary majority through the cabinet, not the least important was civil service reform. Government officials and employees, in the opinion of the Popular Liberal Party, were not adequately protected against the arbitrary au- thority of the ministry. This wajs all the more serious because government employees were so numerous. France, said the general secretary of the party, " is certainly one of the coun- tries that has the most government employees, every year their number increases, in such proportion that there are at the present time . . . more than a million, that is, one government employee to every forty inhabitants." °^^ In the words of Jacques Piou, the president of the party, these government employees who have no protection are, like us, without a constitution. . . . Their advancement, their rights as heads of families, their liberty of conscience, all are subject to the discretion of petty tyrants who reign like lords and masters in their districts, and of petty Caesars who populate the benches of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The government employees must have not only these rights secured to them, — and that will be a great novelty in this country, — but also the right to vote freely, because they are citizens on the same footing as the others. To refuse this, is to say that universal suffrage is a universal lie. Piou went on to explain that the government employees at present could not vote freely. " What sort of political liberty is it, when they receive their ballot-papers from the hands of the prefect or of the minister? " '" Favoritism and discrimination in the appointment and pro- motion of government employees were perhaps the most fla- 274 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT grant evils. By way of remedy, the Popular Liberal Party pro- posed that appointments should be based on the results of competitive examinations, and that candidates fulfilling the re- quirements could not be rejected by the arbitrary will of a minister. The reason for rejection must be stated, and appeal might be carried to the council of state. Promotion, likewise, was to be safeguarded against personal favoritism and partisan or religious discrimination ; the minister, in making promotions, must follow the recommendation of a commission elected by the employees. Furthermore, government employees should have the right to form unions for the defense of their profes- sional interests; the right to strike, however, should not be granted to the personnel of public utilities vital to national de- fense, I. c, government railways, posts, telegraphs, and tele- phones. Finally, no government employee should be subject to disciplinary punishment for having manifested, outside of his official office or his government work, poUtical or religious opinions at variance with those of the government.'" Such a charter of civil service reform would not only pro- tect the rights of the government employees as individuals; it would also have an appreciable effect upon the general polit- ical situation. The army of government employees would no longer be an effective instrument of party control, for patron- age and discrimination would have been reduced to a minimum. Thanks to this reform, in conjunction with the electoral reforms already mentioned, the government employees would become free voters ; their emancipation might even affect the political balance of power, for, as M. Piou pointed out in 1909, it was a long time since the opposition had been defeated by a majority as large as the number of government employees."" (e) Another measure aimed against bureaucratic centraliza- tion was the restoration of local autonomy and " regionalism." The idea was by no means novel ; as M. Piou said at the Con- vention of 1907, it was a question about which Frenchmen talked constantly but never thought, — the exact inverse of their at- titude regarding Alsace-Lorraine.®" The faults of the existing, centralized system of government THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 275 were many and grave, — " expensive and inconvenient adminis- tration, indifference to public affairs, regression of privarte ini- tiative and progress of bureaucracy, extinction of local in- dustries, sickly and factitious art and literature, stupidly uni- form education, ignorance of economic interests, destruction of everything that is picturesque and of all differentia- tion. . . .""^ Under the existing regime, France was divided into 86 ad- ministrative districts, the departements, on lines laid down more or less arbitrarily by the National Constituent Assembly in 1790, regardless of historic traditions, and of local sentiments and interests alike. Local self-government had almost disap- peared, partly because the departement rarely corresponded to any lively local sentirr^nt or regional interest, partly because the departmental assemblies (conseils generaux) had very re- stricted powers, their decisions being subject to veto by the central government. The real power in the departement was the prefect, appointed' by the minister of the interior. As opposed to this system, there has grown up recently in France a strong " regionalist " movement, which aims at the creation or restoration of larger administrative units cor- responding to the thirty-odd " provinces " of the old regime, and the grant of considerable powers of local self-government to such regions or provinces. Much is said in defense of their plan by the advocates of regionalism. It would simplify ad- ministration ; it would reduce the number of local-government centers from 86 to about 30, it would therefore cut down ad- ministrative expenses and diminish the army of bureaucrats. Moreover, if the boundaries of the new provinces were drawn with due regard to geographical unity, economic coherence, and historic tradition, local government would become a genuine expression of local interest, rather than a lifeless bit of polit- ical mechanism. Most of all, the provincial assemblies would be able to resist what many regarded as the despotic sectarian tendencies of the central government. Such were the arguments put forward in the conventions of the Popular Liberal Party. The question of decentralization 2/6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT came up, rather unexpectedly at the convention of 1906, when the draft of a " liberal " constitution was under discussion, and the following clause was added to the draft, by a unanimous vote: 8. That the provincial and municipal regimes should be established on the basis of a large measure of decentralization: (i) safe- guarding local liberties and franchises ; (2) constituting genuinely autonomous regions, held together by the bonds of an irreducible national unity and solidarity, but working for the interests of the nation by means of the free, competent, and harmonious adminis- tration of local interests; (3) loosening, so far as possible, the chains of administrative control, which should exercise its authority only in very grave cases and always subject to possible appeal to a supreme jurisdiction against abuses.®'* A lively debate arose at the next party convention in 1907, where the majority sentiment in favor of regionalism was vigorously opposed by minority speakers. M. Souriac, who had analyzed the replies to a questionnaire on the topic, pre- sented the case for decentralization and regionahsm. Geo- graphical environment, he observed, has a profound influence upon human life ; hence arises the necessity of allowing men living in the same environment to seek the most suitable means of adjusting themselves to the local situation. If each region were allowed freely to develop its own prosperity, general pros- perity could only be promoted. °^'' It was not proposed to restore exactly the historic " provinces." Some of them had been unwieldy in size, others far too small. Moreover, rail- ways, canals, and the dtevelopment of modem industry had created new local interests and affiliations. The new regions should conform to the economic facts of today quite as much ais to the historic facts of yesterday. Twenty-one was sug- gested as the number of regions.®" In each region a representative assembly would be created, elected perhaps by the organized economic and professional interests. Questions concerning local roads, railways, other public utilities, and local economic interests could well be transferred froml the national government, which too often THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 277 acted with partisan bias, to the regional assemblies. As there would be only 21 instead of 86 local government centers, each would become more important ; it would be the seat of the re- gional court of appeal, the local university, the army-corps, as well as of the assembly and the administration. Around it would grow up a flourishing local sentiment. Local customs and fetes would be revived. Local history and traditions would be taught. Provincial journalism and literature would be stimulated. And while a picturesque and colorful differ- entiation between the regions of France might arise, national patriotism had nothing to lose thereby. National life would but be enriched and national loyalty intensified by the in- creased devotion of all Frenchmen to their country, their cus- toms and traditions. "^^ A vision of the future, this, not an immediately practicable plan. For the present, M. Souriac recognized, only a modest beginning could be demanded of a government hostile to the regionalist ideal. He therefore proposed for the immediate future, that the general councils of neighboring departements be permitted to hold joint sessions and to deal with such ques- tions as local railways, asylums, normal schools, agricultural schools, and, possibly, poor relief. The expense of such enter- jwises would be covered by surtaxes (centimes additionels ex- traordinaires) ."^^ Furthermore, the communes should be granted a larger meas- ure of autonomy. Specifically, they should have greater free- dom in financial matters, greater control over public services and primary education ; and they should be free to grant sub- ventions to religious bodies. As a check on the possible abuse of such power, the referendum should be adopted and the right of appeal to the Supreme Court should be established."^* M. Souriac's picture of the existing situation, which these reforms were designed to correct, is worth reproducing as a commentary on centralized government: If the existing regime manifests, in the departments, its lack of logic and its disregard of the most natural laws, it demonstrates 278 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT its oppressive character even more clearly in the communes, where it takes the form of administrative bureaucracy, the yoke of which . . . tends to become more and more crushing as the Jacobin poHcy feels the need of imposing its odious machinations on the country. The formidable power of the prefects constantly an- nihilates the authority of the mayors and municipal councillors. Sometimes this is done directly, in the extremely numerous cases where the prefect can substitute his own action for that of the mayor, or annul his acts and the deliberations of the municipal council; at other times [the prefect asserts his supremacy] in- directly, by menaces. ..." If you dare to take such a decision against us," he tells the municipality, "we will pay you back by refusing to approve your budgets or by blocking all the measures for which you need our help." Certain prefects have thus come to exercise a scandalous pressure at the time of elections, con- straining mayors and councillors to influence the persons under their administration (and God know all that signifies!) in favor of a candidate who often represents opinions opposed to theirs.'-'' (f) One other important political reform remains to be mentioned, the referenduin. Here again, the dominant motive is distrust of irresponsible parliamentary majorities as unrep- resentative of the popular will. Increasingly democratic na- tions have felt the force of Jean Jacques Rousseau's criticism of representative government, that the nation was free only at the time of elections."*" Once elected, parliaments can not be corripelled to obey the public opinion. Moreover, where elec- tions are contested on diverse issues, one cannot even be sure what is the opinion of the majority. The referendum is often proposed as the logical corrective of parliamentary irresponsi- bility, as the most accurate means of ascertaining public opinion. At its convention of 1906, the Popular Liberal Party cau- tiously proposed that the referendum be introduced in muni- cipal affairs, and gradually extended to questions of regional and professional scope.""' In 191 1, however, the party took a bolder stand. " Considering," — so ran the resolution adopted by the 191 1 convention, — that the laws voted by parliament are not always the expression of the will of the nation, and that the unlimited power of parliament THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 279 constitutes the most dangerous of dictatorships; be it resolved that the nation should be called upon, by means of the referendum to pronounce judgment upon important laws of general interest touching the rights and liberties of the citizens.'^^ " Liberalism " and Religion While its program of political reforms would entitle the Popular Liberal Party to call itself " liberal " in the sense often given to that term in Anglo-Saxon countries, to imply- that the party was " liberal " in all matters would be a gross error. It is certainly not " liberal " in the manner of the classical economists, to whom liberty mjeant the freedom of industry from regulation. And most of all it would be a mis- take to assert that the party represented " liberalism " or " modernism," as opposed to " ultramontanism " or to the strict interpretation of religious dogmas. As regards religious questions, it must be observed, at the outset, that the party is not an exclusively Catholic party, but rather a political and social party. It opens its ranks, in the words of an official pamphlet, " to all those wlio accept our program of true liberty and social justice." ^^' It does not make religious belief a condition of membership, or an article of its program. In short, it takes no position as a party, re- specting theological dogmas or purely religious questions. In its membership, however, the party is predominantly if not exclusively Catholic, and this because its political program, in so far as it concerns the relations of church and state, does not appeal to non-Catholics. Moreover, the leaders of the party have been drawn from among the most ardently Catholic politicians. M. Piou, the president of the organization, has rarely neglected an opportunity to defend the interests of the Catholic Church. Count Albert de Mun, who held the office of vice-president until his death, was in his private life most devoutly religious, and in his public life most emphatically Catholic; his unreserved acceptance of papal authority, more- over, marked him as an " ultramontane " ; his membership in the party would of itself be sufficient proof that the organiza- 28o THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT tion was not in any sense heterodox, or " modernist," or op- posed to ultramontanism. The " Hberahsm " of the Popular Liberal Party, therefore, cannot be interpreted as liberalism in dogmas or in faith, but merely as advocacy of certain liberties in politics. " In po- litical matters," said M. Piou, " liberalism properly understood is a germ of progress; in matters of religious doctrine it is the abandonment of the truth and the beginning of confu- sion." ''^" ]\I. Eugene Flornoy, an enthusiastic admirer of the party, phrases this conception tersely: The word [liberal] needs to be defined; it means the defense of religious, civic, and economic liberties, menaced by Masonic, Jacobin, and socialist tyranny, not a philosophic thesis inherited from dog- matic liberalism. The distinction is essential. It must be insisted upon, since some minds are troubled about it. . . . Free-Masonry refuses religious liberty to Catholics, Jacobinism refuses civic liberty to citizens, socialism denies economic liberty to the various elements of labor. To this triple denial, the Popular Liberal Party replies with a triple affirmation.'^^ By what means tlie Popular Liberal Party sought to pre- serve industrial liberty while safeguarding the rights of the workingmen, and to secure political liberty with democracy, the foregoing sections have attempted to explain. It remains to be seen what was understood by religious liberty. In the first place, it meant liberty of ecclesiastical organiza- tion, " the right for the Church to organize itself as it will." In the constitution of the RepubHc, the Popular Liberal Party would inscribe, as an inviolable right, " freedom of conscience, and of belief, and, therefore, of the various religious confes- sions, which should be allowed to observe their own particular rules of organization." "^^ This right of independent organiza- tion was violated by the law of Dec. 9, 1905, separating Church and state. Under the terms of the law, the churches and the former property of the church (or at least so much of the property as was not confiscated) were to be handed over to "associations for religious worship" (associations cnltucllcs), organized on lines laid down by the law. In case several rival THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 281 associations professing to represent the same religion dis- puted possession of a given church, the council of state was to judge between thenx."^^ The Catholics disliked this pro- vision, first, because it tended to substitute lay associations for the clergy in the control of religious worship, and, secondly, because it virtually made a political, non-Catholic body, the council of state, the supreme judge of orthodoxy.'*^* This was not freedom of religious organization. Count Albert de Mun declared that no legal organization of the Church in France was possible without a previous agreement with the Holy See, and his view seems to have been accepted by the Popular Liberal Party in its convention of 1909.'^^ In other words, if the state attempted to legislate upon the subject of church organization, the principle of religious liberty demanded that the proposed laws be acceptable to the supreme representative of the re- ligious organization in question. In the second place, the Popular Liberal Party demanded liberty of association for the Catholic monastic orders as well as for non-Catholic organizations. " Liberty for all, so be it! " said M. Piou in 1901, "but liberty for the religious orders just as well as for Free-Masonry and for the Socialist Union." '^* Now the Associations Law of 1901 required that no religious order could exist without special authorization by an act of parliament defining the functions of the order (art. 13). Religious orders already in existence must obtain such authorization or disband (art. 18). No new establishments (such as the hospitals or schools) could be founded even by authorized religious orders without the permission of the council of state (art 15). Moreover, the council of ministers was given the power to revoke the authorization of any order (art. 13)."" This law placed the monastic orders at the mercy of the anticlerical majority in parliament. A large number of the demands for authorization were flatly refused, and religious orders were suppressed by the score. The con- vents and property of the unauthorized orders were confis- cated, leaving their former inmates homeless. Hundreds fled to foreign countries, where they 'found greater tolerance than 282 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT in France."^' Freedom of association, therefore, was a very real issue. What the leaders of the Popular Liberal Party de- manded was equality of rights for Catholic and non-Catholic associations. They felt that it was unjust to require a special legislative act for the authorization of a rehgious order, when other associations could be formed freely. In the words of M. Piou, If it requires a law to permit the Trappists to cultivate the soil in silence, or the Carmelites to rise at night for prayer, why does it not require a law for these trade-unions in which the world of labor concentrates its millions of adherents, nr for this Socialist Union which covers the entire country with its groups, or for this society [Free-Masonry], at once official and secret, cosmopolitan and French, which may be described as a sword with its hilt in the Grand-Orient and its point wherever one governs, wherever one administers . . . ? Either legal authorization for all, or legal authorization for none."'" In the third place, religious liberty implied Hberty of re- ligious education. Upon this point, the Popular Liberal Party laid great stress. There were two principal grievances. First of all, the public schools, for which CathoHcs and non-Catholics alike were taxed, were theoretically " neutral " as regards re- ligion, and practically, — since many teachers were hostile to Catholicism, — anti-Catholic. That this was the case was proved by M. Piou and by other Liberals in the Chamber of Deputies, in 1910.°*° The Catholic deputies alleged that the original attempt at religious neutiiahty had succumbed in re- cent years before the inroads of an aggressive atheism which was intolerant enough even to expurgate mention of God from literary selections in school-books. For example. La Fontaine's couplet, " Petit poisson deviendra grand Pourvu que Dicu lui prcte vie " had been somewhat ludicrously revised to read : " Petit poisson deviendra grand Pourvu que I'on lui prete vie." THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 283 With the aim of proving that the purpose of the party in power was to use the public schools as a weapon against Chris- tianity, M. Piou cited numerous speeches and Writings of anti- clerical statesmen. For instance, M. Viviani (quoted by M. Piou) had said, The Republic calls to herself the children of the workers, and of the peasants, and into these darkened minds, into these darkened consciences, the Republic has poured, little by little, the revolution- ary ferment of education. That has not been enough. Through our older citizens, through our parents, we have snatched religious belief away from human consciences. This situation had arisen as the result of two laws, — the law of March 28, 1882, which while making primary instruction ob- ligatory and establishing free public schools, omitted religious instruction from the curriculum of the public schools,**^ and the law of Oct. 30, 1886, providing for the laicization of the teaching staff in the public schools."*^ Secondly, the members of the Catholic religious orders were forbidden to teach either in private or public schools. The Law of Associations of 1901 had prohibited members of the unauthorized orders to give instruction."^^ The law of July 7, 1904, had gone a step further, decreeing that " teaching of every grade and of every kind is interdicted in France to the congregations [i. e., re- ligious orders] ." "^* Since the Catholic private schools were for the most part conducted by the religious orders, these laws struck a severe blow at Catholic education; to continue their schools, the Catholics had to create a staff of lay teachers, — no easy task. In the face of these difficulties, the Popular Liberal Party inscribed in its program " liberty of education and of paternal or tutelary authority as concerns the education of children " ^*^ and "Repartition proportionnelle scolaire." The former im- plied that members of Catholic religious orders should be free as other citizens to teach or to maintain schools, and that the right of Catholics to have private schools should not be con- travened. Parents should be free to choose to which school 284 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT they should send their children and, if they so desired, to pre- vent their children from receiving what they considered im- moral or irreligious instruction. By the awkward phrase. Repartition proportionncUc scolaire, was meant that the public funds, derived from taxation of Catholic and non-Catholic citizens alike, should be used for the support of Catholic and non-Catholic schools alike, in proportion to the number of children attending each. It was admitted that the state should not be asked to bear the cost of founding private schools, or to support private schools whose attendance was small and existence precarious. But for well-established schools, the principle of proportional subvention should apply to the run- ning expenses and to the supplies (food, clothing, etc.) given to poor children. This, said the orators of the party, was the minimum of justice and liberty. In M. Piou's words, — - What? The Government requires all the citizens to contribute for the support of education, and uses the taxes which the Catholics pay to impose on their children an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian doc- trine ! But that is robbery ! What should be done then? Employ the system . of sub- sidized liberty. Each will found the kind of school he wishes, and the State will be obliged to share the expenses of these schools in proportion to the number of their pupils.'*' Repartition proportionncUc scolaire was one of the principal pKjints in the program of the Popular Liberal Party. It was often referred to as " R. P. S.," and associated with Repre- sentation proportionncUc and Representation professionnellc to form a trilogy, the so-called " three R. P.'s," the best-known feature of the party platform. By way of criticism, Leon Jacques, historian of " The Polit- ical Parties under the Third Republic," observes that if the principle of educational freedbm with the R. P. S. were granted, the revolutionary syndicalists would have quite as good a right as the Catholics to found separate schools for the dissemination of their particular philosophy, and to claim government support for such schools. " That is the danger," he concludes, " of too simple formulas, ' of ideas of blind THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 285 justice.' The school question is much too complex and too delicate to be solved by the R. P. S. alone. , " 947 Social Legislation and the Religious Question It has been necessary to indicate the religious program of the Popular Liberal Party, because religious questions have played so large a role in the politics of the Third Repliblic. Perhaps it will not be without interest also to suggest the re- lation between the religious question and the social question, as regards the attitudte of the party. In the first place, it must be recalled that the program bor- rowed by the Popular Liberal Party from the Social Catholic movement was based, in principle, upon Christianity. To strive for the amelioration of the condition of the working classes was considered a duty imposed by religion. This was a thought which the party's leaders never tired of repeating. M. Piou, speaking at the party convention of 1906, expressed the idea in these words: Reforms, even bold reforms, which tend to bring the different conditions of men closer together, to give the greatest possible well-being to those who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, to alleviate so many unjust sufferings, to relieve so much unmerited wretchedness, do not inspire us with the slightest terror. We regard them as the acquittance of a sacred debt which a sublime law has imposed upon the fortunate and the powerful in favor of the disinherited and the weak.^*^ He made it even plainer in an address at the convention of 1907: A distinguished atheist once said, — and that time he was right, — " If all the Christians did their duty, the social question would be solved." If all do not do their duty, let us do ours at least. We alone shall not solve the social problem; but if we succeed in alleviating some unmerited sufferings, in contributing a little to the well-being of some disinherited homes, in pacifying some spirits by justice, some hearts by kindness, we shall have satisfied our consciences and rendered good service to our country."*^ 286 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT On another occasion, Piou declared that to be truly a Christian was to observe, as regards the workingman, the first of the divine laws, " to be the friend, the brother of the humblest and hold out both hands to lift him from his poverty and to help him to rise." '"^'' Similarly Count Albert de Mun, vice-president of the party, affirmed unequivocally that reforms in the interest of social justice were dictated by Christianity. Therefore, gentlemen, Catholicism being essentially a social re- ligion, — which nobody among us disputes, — its action must neces- sarily be extended beyond personal questions, beyond individual relationships : it must be extended to the very life of society, to all the relationships to which it gives birth, and particularly to those engendered by economic life, for economic life involves all the questions which most directly concern humanity, — the family and its subsistence, property and its use, public peace and the prosperity of the nation. In this order of ideas, it is not merely a question of alleviating poverty and succoring destitution, it is a question of guaranteeing social rights ; it is no longer a question merely of charity, but a question of justice."'''- And de Mun went on to develop the corollaries of this proposi- tion : social legislation favorable to labor organization, insur- ance of the workers against accidents, sickness, and old age, and protection against unsafe or unhealthful conditions. The program is already s^ familiar to the reader of these pages that it need hardly be repeated here. But the Popular Liberal Party emphasized its social pro- gram not merely because of a sense of duty. There was also an element of political calculation. As the anticlericals be- came increasingly aggressive in their attitude toward the Church, the Popular Liberal Party, desiring to avert further anti-Catholic legislation, would have preferred that parliament concern itself more with the workingman and less with the pope. One of the most interesting cases in point was the parliamentary debate of February lo, 1905. At that moment, it was a question whether the Chamber of Deputies should devote itself to the long-pending question of THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 287 old-age pensions for workingmen, or to the question of separ- ating Church and State. M. Theodore Denis, a member of the Popular Liberal Party, -wished to interpellate the Govern- ment " on the necessity of discussing andl voting the law on workingmen's pensions before the bill for the iseparation of Church and State." °^^ His interpellation was postponed by the Government, but another interpellation, on the strictly ec- clesiastical question of what was to be done about the nomina- tion of bishops to fill certain vacancies, was discussed at great length. After several hours of debate, M, Denis rose to re- mark — Well, gentlemen, you have passed an agreeable afternoon. {Laughter) . . . For three hours we have been talking about the religious question ! For my part, I begin to feel a sentiment of shame. During the past six years we have been spending four- fifths of our time discussing problems of comparative theology. {Laughter and applause from various benches) . . . I said that for six years past the French Chamber has trans- formed itself into an interminable conference, in which Huguenots and papists, turn and turn about, come and argue without sparing us the least detail of their religious controversies. We have returned to the height of the sixteenth century, with the difference that in place of arquebuses we use stamped paper, which is quite as formidable, and that instead of putting the van- quished to death, one is content to despoil them of their belongings. For six years past, Protestant pastors, Free-Mason preachers, unfrocked priests or cassocked cures {Laughter) monopolize our discussions and argue us deaf, dumb, and blind, while we servie"' as a laughing-stock for rival nations, which during that time have progressed in the vast international field of commerce and industry and have realized praiseworthy social ameliorations at home {Ap- plause from the Center and Right.) ^^^ This was a little more than the Government could bear in silence. The president of the council himself hastened to re- buke M. Denis for asserting that France was a laughing-stock. Did not many nations come to borrow from France? Whereat M. de Ramel, a clerical, exclaimted that " the French Republic is more backward than all the monarchies, as concerns social reforms." Unwilling to let such a taunt pass, M. Deveze, a 288 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT socialist, retorted, " It is the clericalism of France which is the laughing-stock of Europe." "'** M. Denis, continuing his speech after these interruptions, said that the question was really very simple and very clear. " Yes or no. Does the Chamber wish to decide, at last, to keep the promises made so long ago to the workingmen?" As the time was short, the Chamber must choose between vot- ing the separation of church and state, for which it had no mandate, and voting a law on old-age pensions, which had been promised for years. \Miereas the separation of church and state was promised by less than a hundred deputies, a large majority among us pledged ourselves to vote the workingmen's pensions. Why should we de- liberately break these pledges today? The time had come, he declared, for the Republicans to change their policy. Two courses were of)en. Some people held it would be better " to think much less about the pope and much more about the people" (Applause on the Right). Others thought it better to keep on interminably rolling the Sisyphus' rock of religious war. Speaking for the Popular Liberal Party, M. Denis added, " wfe ask the Chamber not to sacrifice the interests of millions of workingmen to the fan- tasies of a handful of fanatics." Accordingly, ^I. Denis pro- posed the following motion : The Chamber, affirming its confidence in the Government, and resolved to bring the law on workingmen's pensions to completion, decides that the discussion of this law will be placed on the agenda immediately after the vote of the Army Bill.^^' As M. Denis took his seat, amidst the applause and con- gratulations of his friends. Marquis de I'Estourbeillon, another member of the Popular Liberal Party, ejaculated, " The people will see, once again, who are its friends." The anticlerical majority, however, rejected the motion, and decided that the Budget, the Army Bill, and the Separation of Church and State should be given precedence over Workingmen's Pensions.'" THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 289 The question arises, why were the opponents of the Popular Liberal Party so much more eager to enact laws unfavorable to the Church than laws favorable to the workingmen. M. Piou offers an explanation, which we quote because it illumines his point of view, but regarding the merits of which the reader must be left to judge for himself. Twenty-five years ago there was founded, in our country, a school [of politicians] which had no program other than anticler- icalism ; it lived on that issue and on that alone. This school is com- posed of men who had called themselves reformers, ready to change the whole aspect of society; they wished to destroy all, to reform all. Once in power, they deemed it simpler to inhabit the house which they had proposed to destroy; the arrangements seemed com- fortable, and the furniture, though a little in the style of the Em- pire, was much to their taste. The old abuses, so often denounced, became pillows, whereon the new masters enjoyed the most agree- able repose, oiium cti-m dignitate. When the people become impatient, when the clients complain and demand the promised reforms, they start to cry : " The gov- ernment of priests is advancing against us, down with clerical- ism ! " And the crowd, seized with fear, and believing that it sees a black spectre rising up before its eyes, repeats, " No government of priests ; down with clericalism ! " '^7 Having employed the Socialists as parliamentary allies against clericalism, the bourgeois Republicans were still unwilling to pay the price of the alliance by conceding economic reforms. Nothing remained but to raise the cry of " Clericalism, that is the enemy,'' more strenuously than ever. For, M. Piou de- clared, they judged it " easier and less dangerous to sacrifice the Catholics than to satisfy the Socialists." °^^ Seated com- fortably at the " banquet table " themselves, they used " cler- icalism " as a bugbear to frighten others away.°'° The Socialists, on the other hand, had allowed themselves to become the tools of the bourgeois anticlericals, said Count Albert de Mun, who showed the reverse side of the picture painted by Piou. Prior to 1893, according to de Mun, parlia- ment had voted some social reforms, with much hesitation to be sure ; but at any rate the law of 1884 on trade-unions, that 290 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT of 1892 on the employment of women and children, and that of 1893 on accidents and hygiene, had been enacted. It was not the socialists who had achieved the reforms, for the social- ists at that time counted for little in the legislature ; the reforms had resulted from the collaboration of men of all the parties, and had been prepared by studies and researches in which, said de Mun, the Social Catholics had borne " a very large part." Since 1893, when the socialists had entered the Cham- ber of Deputies, and especially since 1898, when they became "masters of the majority," v^^hat had they accomplished? "Nothing has been done for the people," de Mun replied; " there have been inflammatory speeches, confused expositions of collectivist doctrines, but as for results, nothing except the Dreyfus Aflfair, the Associations Law, the disorganization of the army, and the reUgious war, that is to say, the preparation for the social war." That is what, in five years, the Socialists have given the people. On the contrary, look across the border, and see what is happen- ing in Belgium ; there the Catholics have been in power twenty years and no state in Europe today has a more advanced, a more constantly and boldly progressive social legislation. It is a striking contrast, and I advise you to present it frequently before the eyes of the country.'"" The fatal mistake of the Socialists, as de Mun saw it, was to have so vaunted the anticlerical program while they were in the opposition that they knew no other when they arrived in power. They reduced their ideas of government, the ideas which had given them their strength, to the narrow measure of a program of perse- cution, urged on ... by that hatred of Christianity which under- lies all the revolutionary doctrine; . . . and, instead of remaining an independent party, proud of its ideas, they subordinated their policy to that of Free-Masonry, of the Free-Masonry which adores negations, as Goyau says, and which has need neither of affirma- tions, nor of programs, nor of reforms, since all its doctrine is re- duced to negation, to hatred of Christianity. . . . For the Social- ist party, it is the beginning of bankruptcy.*"^ THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 291 There was undoubtedly an element of truth in de Mun's ob- servation. Certain of the Socialist leaders, it can hardly be denied, gave anticlerical legislation precedence over economic reform. Other Socialists and Syndicalists who wished econ- omic reforms to come first, did not fail to point out the danger of diverting attention from economic to religious questions. For example, Raoul Briquet, writing for the Mouvement social- iste of Aug. 15, 1902, declared that the capitalists were using the religious question as a red herring to throw the Socialists off the scent. These cure-eaters [i. e., bourgeois anticlericals] do not care to be " eaten " by the workingmen. For them anticlericalism is a convenient diversion, by which they win the support of the pro- letariat against the clericals while at the same time they can avert from capitalism the ardor of their fiery ally. Indeed, whilst anti- clerical demagogy rages in Socialist circles, labor policy is suffering a prolonged check: social laws remain unfinished on the parlia- mentary work-table; every day the courts of commerce revise with monstrous partiality the decisions of the trade boards; the civil tribunals interpret in a reactionary sense the law on accidents ; the Millerand-CoUiard law °°^ is systematically violated, and on the very day when the Republican and Socialist press celebrated the triumph of the ministry in the Chamber, M. Trouillot [minister of commerce, industry, posts, and telegraphs] published a decree still further weakening the law. It is deplorable that the socialist party should be absorbed by the anticlerical passion to the point of neglecting its essential function. Alexandre Millerand was another of the Socialists who came to feel that too much attention was being given to clericalism, too little to socialism. But when Millerand, in 1904, com- plained that the campaign against the religious orders threat- ened to eclipse entirely the question of social legislation, the great socialist leader, Jean Jaures, impressively warned him not to forget that anticlericalism was the only means of holding the Republican and Socialist coalition, the famous bloc, to- gether for later social reforms. " Ah, take care ! " cried Jaures, ". . . you imagine perhaps that by leading the ma- jority to renounce what you call the aibsorption, the hallucina- 292 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT tion, the fascination of the clerical peril, — you imagine that you will have more strength, more energy for social reform. But no ! . . . You will have injured, if not broken, the instru- ment of action [the bloc] and you will not repair it." ""^ To Jaures, it was a question of tactics. Though the economic pro- gram of socialism might temporarily be neglected in favor of anticlerical legislation — for which the Socialists were as eager as the bourgeois parties — a time would come when out of gratitude the bourgeois parties must help the Socialists to vote social reforms. Moreover, it is an indisputable fact that some of the Socialists held their economic program before the Cham- ber most persistently. Nevertheless, it is hard to understand why France, with so large a Socialist delegation in Pariiament, did not make more rapid progress in social legislation, — unless the explanation offered by de Mun is given some weight. The very fact that the Socialists were inclined to emphasize the anticlerical rather than the economic side of their program made the Popular Liberal Party more insistent upon the social value of Christianity. If the Socialists, while accusing Christi- anity of keeping the poor in subjection, were doing little them- selves to help the workingmen economically, the wisest course for the Catholics would be to act as the genuine champions of social reform, and to contrast the services of Christianity with the services of socialism to the people. Hence we hear Piou, at the party convention of 1906, declaring that although the Socialists pretended to have a monopoly of devotion to the people, the Popular Liberal Party was really the most faithful servant of the masses. We desire their progress; we wish the condition of the lower classes to be improved ; ... we desire that all those who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow should have an easier life, wages more sufficient for their needs, labor more in proportion to their strength ; we wish poverty to be alleviated, suffering consoled ; and we ask our friends all over France, above all, to promote en- terprises for the assistance of the toilers and of the down-trod- den. . . If the government is animated by a sincere love of the people, if it proposes reforms which are just, we are ready to lend our aid. THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 293 Resolute as we are to defend our religious convictions against the government. . . we are just as strongly disposed to collaborate with it, if it wishes, when dealing with social reforms which are marked with the seal of justice. (Applause.) But what we will not do is to deceive the people. . . . ^^* Above all, the leaders of the Popular Liberal Party strove to refute the charge that Christianity was " other-worldly," in the sense that its aim was to hold out the promise of future rewards for passive submission to social injustice in this life. " To defend Christianity," said Piou, " is to defend the social order." But the defense will be effective only on two conditions: first, that we keep in full view, always, the divine beauties of its social teachings, of that law of love and fraternity which has regenerated the world and which alone prevents the world from returning to paganism ; second, that we never permit the masses to suppose that the prospect of eternal happiness obliges them to submit passively to their present wretchedness and forbids them to improve their so unhappy condition.^^^ That Christianity had been accused of indifference to social injustice was in part the fault of the Catholics, said Count Albert de Mun. He was the antagonist, he said, not only of the " alarming progress of socialism," but also of " the inertia of Catholics who abandon to socialism the duty of assuring the protection of the weak, and thus abandon a part of their heritage." He protested, not merely against the calumny which discredits the Catholics in the minds of the people, but against the abdication which favors this calumny, and which denatures their religion, to the point where it appears, to deceived eyes, as a sort of social gendarmerie, instituted for the security of the rich.""" Too often, said de Mun, " the Catholics have forgotten the fun- damental character of their faith, and it is thus, as I said . . . that they have allowed socialism to despoil them of a portion of their heritage." "" That the Socialists had derived from Christianity the idea of 294 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT human fraternity, of indignation against injustice, of pity for suffering, Piou most vigorously maintained. Christianity, he said, lives even in the materialist systems, almost all of which borrow its morality, and do not endure, perhaps, except by virtue of this part of the Christian heritage, which they have not been able to re- pudiate. It is found even at the bottom of socialism, in its pity for human suffering, an entirely Christian sentiment, by which socialism fas- cinates and attracts the crowds. Materialists and Socialists unwittingly undergo the influence of the Church, which they call "the eternal enemy"; they render it homage even in their denials; they proclaim themselves and believe themselves to be free-thinkers, when they are only ungrateful tributaries of the Gospel. What more striking proof of its permanent vitality, in our troubled times, could there be, than this obsession with social re- forms by which all minds are haunted, than this immense effort made by individuals and by governments to ameliorate the condi- tion of those who labor and suffer? Of all the laws, of all the institutions, springing up during the last century from the idea of assisting the unfortunate and doing justice to the workingmen, one might make a great collection which would be a glorious monument to the honor of humanity and a marvellous act of faith in honor of Christianity."^* All that was really good in socialism had been borrowed from the precepts of the Christian religion. This was a favorite reply to attacks on the Church by anti-clerical Republicans and Socialists. To sum up the foregoing remarks, it might be said that the relation between the social question and the religious question as affecting the Popular Liberal Party was twofold: on one hand, when the Church was attacked by anticlericals, the party tended to assert the social value of Christianity with all the more vigor; on the other hand, when socialists and bourgeois republicans devoted themselves more to religious than to labor problems, the party perceived and exploited at its full value the opportunity to accuse its opponents of being less sincere than itself in the desire to befriend the workingmen. , THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 295 Patriotism Before concluding the sketch of the Popular Liberal Party, one other great political issue should at least be mentioned, namely, patriotism. For patriotism was one of the most strongly marked characteristics of the party. If no iriention of patriotism is found in the program of the party before 1914, if the issue is almost ignored by the party conventions from 1904 to 1911, it is not because of indiffer- ence; it is because the attitude of the members was taken for granted. They were not merely patriotic, but ultrapatriotic. A party numbering among its members so many army officers and noblemen could hardly be otherwise.^"" Patriotism, to the leaders of the Popular Liberal Party, sig- nified in the first place pride of country and devotion to the national progress. Piou, de Mun, and other members of the party incessantly recalled the historic greatness of France, re- buked the anti-patriotic tendencies of socialism, syndicalism and Free-Masonry, and exhorted their fellow-citizens to work together in harmony for the greater glory and prosperity of France. In the second place, it meant a strong army. The members of the party were invariably to be found among the most vehe- ment parliamentary opponents of antimilitarism, among the most vigorous upholders of military efficiency. When the great political contest arose in 1913-1914 regarding the Three Year Military Service Law which the socialists opposed as militar- istic, the Popular Liberal Party made support of the Three Year Law one of the principal planks in its platform for the elections of 1914."° Patriotism also meant insistence upon national prestige and defence of national interests abroad. Count Albert de Mun was ever proclaiming the necessity of a strong policy in Africa.®^^ Piou was quite as emphatic on the subject of French interests overseas. Perhaps a brief quotation from Piou's speech of July 7, 1900, on the Far Eastern Question will best exhibit his attitude: 296 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT We did not enter China for humanitarian considerations alone, but also for high political reasons. We have to defend there not only our own nationals, but also all those whom secular conventions have placed under our protection. We have to defend a religious protectorate which has long given us an unrivalled primacy in that country and which, despite the mutilations it has suffered, still ensures us a place among the elite there. We have to defend there, finally,— do not forget, — an im- portant material interest, that is to say, our Tonkin protectorate. In the past we could disagree regarding the necessity of acquiring that protectorate. Today, it is our own property, and belongs to our national patrimony. The soil of Tonkin, sprinkled with so much blood, has become a prolongation of the French mother-country, and we must defend it as we would defend the mother-country itself.o" \\ith their almost chauvinistic emphasis on the army and on colonial interests, the leaders coupled a patriotic sentiment of a more constructive nature. Patriotism meant not merely military prowess or colonial expansion, but also a fervent desire to make the mother-country a shining example of social justice. Speaking at the party convention of 1914, Piou ex- pressed this sentiment in eloquent terms : We believe that the highest ambition of a nation nourished on the marrow of the Gospel is not for riches, but for fraternity; that true glory for such a nation consists less in victories won by fire and sword in wars with its neighbors, than in victories won by devotion and justice in the war against poverty and human suf- fering.'^' The great war of 1914-1919, for the time being at least, sealed the patriotism of the Popular Liberal Party with the approval of public opinion. That France was not better pre- pared for the conflict, was said to be the fault of Socialists, Syndicalists, and antimilitarists generally, who had delayed the Three Year Service Law, who had honeycombed the army with doctrines of antimilitarism, internationalism, and insubor- dination ; it was the fault of the successive cabinets which had been so occupied with the campaign against clericalism that they had allowed military efficiency to be impaired by favoritism, by THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 297 discrimination against Catholic officers, and by corruption. As one of the political groups which had most consistently advo- cated military preparedness and most impressively warned the country against the perils of antimilitarism, the Popular Liberal Party found in the war an endorsement of its patriotic stand. During the war partisan activities were virtually suspended. The young men among the leaders and parliamentary repre- sentatives of the party were in active service with the armies in the field.'^* One of the most promising members of the parliamentary group, Lt. Col. Driant, was killed heroically at Verdun, exhorting his men to die rather than yield before the Gerntan attack. Perhaps the most pathetic sacrifice was that of Count Albert de Mun. Military service was, of course, out of the question for a man of his age. He could not even de- vote his gift of oratory to the national cause, for he had long suflered from a heart-disease which would have made an at- tempt to speak in public tantamount to suicide. Any unusual exertion threatened his life. His sword and his voice had failed him; the pen alone remained. He, therefore, plunged into journalism; every day a patriotic article appeared over his name in the Echo de Paris. So influential were his articles, that he soon won the name of " minister of public confidence." When the government decided to publish a Bulletin des Armees for the benefit of the soldiers in the field, de Mun, though a " clerical " and formerly an opposition leader, was one of the first writers whose collaboration was invited. Fully aware that his daily articles and his feverish activity were killing him, he persisted, refusing to spare himself, and continued his work until death arrested his pen, on the night of October 6-7, 1914. " Albert de Mun veritably fell on the field of battle, having deliberately and voluntarily sacrificed his life for France." °" The vacant seats, decorated with a ribbon, in sign of mourn- ing, in the sector of the Chamber of Deputies where sat the Popular Liberal Party, gave mute but eloquent testimony to the manner in which the party had met the test of patriotism. And even a casual observer of the Chamber's debates in 1919 could not fail to be impressed with the change which the war 298 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT had wrought in the alignment of parties. Now it was the Right (including the Popular Liberal Party) and the Center which supported Clemenceau on every test of patriotism ; it was the Extreme Left which opposed him. As far as patriotic questions were concerned, the party had become a member of a new bloc, hostile to the Bolshevist and pacifist or internationalist tendencies with which the left wing of the Socialist party had become identified. This new alignment of parties held good in the general elec- tions of November, 1919, when the Popular Liberal Party en- tered an electoral coalition with other patriotic parties for the purpose of combating Bolshevism. By presenting combined lists of candidates, the coalition parties were able to achieve a notable victory. And when, after the elections, the Bloc na- tional rcpublicain — as the coalition was styled — held a great banquet to celebrate its triumph, a representative of the Popu- lar Liberal Party was found among the principal speakers of the evening, joining with the leaders of the Democratic Repub- lican Alliance, of the Republican Federation, and of the Radical and Socialist-Radical Federation of the Seine, in the expression of a desire to perpetuate the " Sacred Union " which had been cemented during the war."* Indeed, it appeared that for the time being at least the " New Spirit " of religious tolerance and reconciliation had reappeared. The moderate Republicans, it seemed, had revoked the decision of 1899 ^"d had chosen to lean on the Right, rather than on the Extreme Left, for support. Perhaps the most striking evi- dence of the altered situation was the fact that Alexandre Millerand, as premier, introduced a bill for the reopening of diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Was this the Alex- andre Millerand who, not so many years ago, had declared that " between the Republican idea and the Church " there was a " struggle without mercy " ? °" Was this the Socialist who in 1899 had joined the bourgeois anticlerical cabinet of Waldeck- Rousseau and by so doing had personified the policy of the anticlerical bloc? It was a long road that Millerand had trav- elled since 1899! THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 299 Some Criticisms of the Party It is too early to predict to what extent the patriotism evinced by the Popular Liberal Party during the war will disarm hos- tile criticism in the future. Perhaps it would not be rash, however, to assert that the situation will not be fundamentally altered, because the intransigent reactionaries, on the one hand, and the more anticlerical among the Republicans on the other hand, will still see in the Popular Liberal Party an enemy of their own special aims. Criticism of the party has been consistently contradictory. One critic complains that the party is too cold, a second, that it is too hot. The reason for this situation is that the critics see the party from opposite viewpoints. For abjective histor- ical study, this cross-fire criticism is distinctly advantageous, for each critic corrects the other. The controversy is waged most hotly on the question whether the Popular Liberal Party is a genuinely republican and liberal group, or merely a disguised monarchist and ultraclerical fac- tion. From the anticlerical Republican standpoint, M. Debidour in his scholarly history of L'£glise catholique et I'etat sous la Troisikme Republique ^''^ asserts that the members of the party were " pious noblemen " and " well-intentioned bourgeois " who " too manifestly preserved their royalist — and at the same time ultramontane — preferences." Similarly, Professor Georges Weill, in his Histoire du catholicisme liberal en France/''^ de- scribes the members of the party as either " republicans by sub- mission or resigned monarchists " (republicains de resignation ou monarchist es resignes) and seems to sympathize with the view of the " Catholics of the Left," who " know that it is simply the former Conservative Union, reorganized under a new title." M. Leon Jacques, in his admirable work on Les Partis poli- tiques sous la IIP Republique,^^" devotes six pages to a critique of the Popular Liberal Party, and expresses the same convic- tion that it is not genuinely republican and liberal, that it is too clerical. A genuine republican party, he argues, would not 300 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT content itself with recognizing that " the Republic is the con- stitutional government of the country " and abstaining from all direct or indirect action against the Republic while asking no one to renounce his own person preferences. A political party, says M. Jacques, requires its adherents to make the choice among the various possible forms of government and, by rea-on of this sincere and definitive choice, demands their unreserved adherence to the entire program of the party. Because it fails to take so strong a stand either in favor of republicanism as the best possible form of government or in favor of some other constitution, the Popular Liberal Party, in the opinion of M. Jacques, cannot be considered a full-fledged political party; it is only " a powerful party organization, the organization of a party which is striving to find itself, which tries to constitute itself, groping its way, uncertain of its elements and of the ter- rain on which it is to fight." M. Jacques suspects that the liberalism of the party is only contingent and provisional, that it is only a matter of tactics. Unwilling to take the party program at its face value, he insists that the " veritable goal " of the party is obscure. He hints that some of its members would not be reluctant to profit by favorable circumstances to effect a coup d'etat. M. Jacques quotes toasts made by Major Driant and M. L. Millevoye at the Popular Liberal Party ban- quet, June II, 1911. M. Millevoye concluded his toast with the words, " we engage ourselves here, that if ever the day comes — and it is not so far distant as you suppose — when you and I, in a mutual understanding, in a common fraternity, can seize [saisir], can take possession of [cmparcr] the ma- chinery of the government of this country, well then, for the sake of France and in the name of France we will not leave [office] ." "^^ To construe this as an appeal to violence requires disregarding the context and reading a very great deal between the lines. Major Driant's speech was more bellicose. I do not fear to say quite openly . . . that there exists in Paris a MiHtary League determined to employ itself for the preservation [salut] of the country, should the occasion arise. . . . The day when a grave crisis breaks out in Paris, of whatever nature, whether THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 301 it come from a general strike, or an internal crisis, or an external crisis, we will convoke all the members of this League at the Wagram Hall, — and we will convoke you at the same time. And the day when we do that, you will say to yourselves that you must come in large numbers, disciplined, silent, and resolved. From that meeting we will go out by fours, like a troop, and we will go on that day wherever the genius of France leads us. If it gives us no direction, I will give one : to begin with, it will be to the Grand-Orient [Masonic headquarters]. This last remark was greeted with salvos of applause. An- other speaker at the same banquet, M. Chaligne, raised his glass " to the hope of seeing our liberal republican young manhood combat, even by force if necessary, the unjust laws decreed by this sectarian government and Masonic dictatorship against the freedom of education." ^^^ These speeches made it quite clear that certain members of the Popular Liberal Party would be inclined to resort to violence, under extreme circumstances, for the defense of religious liberty or to save the nation in case of foreign menace ; but they do not at all prove the existence of any ulterior motives, any mental reservations, in favor of monarchism. In fact, at this very convention of 191 1, the president of the party emphatically declared, " Political pro- gram, social program, religious program, economic program, you have formulated them in such fashion that I venture to say no party in France can invoke a clearer or more precise program. If tomorrow, fortune, to speak the language of the secularists, or rather, if Providence, as I would say, permitted that the collection of Jews and Free-Masons, of Liberal Prot- estants, of atheists of every brand, who have won influence in parliament, and inspire the legislation there, if all those people were overthrown and you arrived in power, you would have nothing to do but to take this program, which has been drafted during the last seven years: it contains everything." And this program, be it remembered, was both republican and demo- cratic. As for those who accused the party of having no program, M. Piou said, they " simply admit that they have not taken the trouble to read it." "^^ Some of the more extreme '' Christian Democrats," who 302 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT make democracy almost an article of faith, agree with the anticlericals in accusing the Popular Liberal Party of insincere republicanism and of sham liberalism. Abbe Naudet, for ex- ample, complains that the party is neither popular nor liberal.*" And Abbe Dabry, another ardently democratic priest and jour- nalist, bitterly arraigns the party on the same grounds. In his more or less autobiographical book, Les Catholiques repub- licains, written in 1905, Abbe Dabry sustains the charges which he made in 1901 against the Piou committee out of which the Popular Liberal Party developed. The charges were: I. That the committee comprised, as members, elements strongly suspected of hostility to the Republic; 2. That it adopted as its sole electoral platform religious demands, and that thus it presented itself to the country essentially as a party of reaction.'^^ " All the hypocritical rallies are arrayed under his [Piou's] banner, to combat us," Abbe Dabry complains."*' Abbe Dabry is especially emphatic in his argument that the Popular Liberal Party, far from being a liberal political party, is merely a reactionary faction, which attempts to unite all Catholics into a clerical party. Such tactics, he holds, are con- trary to the desires of the Holy See and are worse than inex- pedient. The policy of Leo XIII, Abbe Dabry believes, was to induce the French Catholics to abandon their isolation and to merge with the Republican parties. He writes : We are the leaven of society, and we must be also the leaven of the political groups ; to be that, we must enter into all of them, excepting those which from diflferent points of view are opposed to the traditions or the doctrines of the Church, as are the royalists and the Socialists. That, to my mind, is why the exclusive group- ing of Catholics under any [party] name whatsoever is an error, and why, also, supposing the Piou group were to disappear, there would be no interest in replacing it Quite the contrary! 8" The union of Catholics for religious interests, Abbe Dabry holds, is thoroughly commendable, but such a union must not enter into partisan politics. Solemnly he utters the warning: For the love of our country and of religion, let no one think of THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 303 demanding, under whatever name it may be — Catholic party, Catholic Republican party, Liberal party,— the union of Catholics for political action ! Let as many parties be founded in the Re- public as you will, but let it be with a political and not with a con- fessional program; let it be in the name of a political party and not at all in the name of religion.^ss The result of the Popular Liberal Party's insincere republican- ism and exclusive clerical policy, according to Abbe Dabry, has been nothing short of disastrous. And of the Liberal Party [Action Liberate], M. Piou, what have been the results? The suppression of the religious orders, the as- sassination of Christian education, the denunciation of the Con- cordat, Hell risen up from the abyss to govern us! What trophies ! "89 Curiously enough, another journalist-priest, Abbe Em- manuel Barbier, attacks the Popular Liberal Party not on the ground that it is a confessional party, or that it is insincere in its liberalism and republicanism, but precisely for the contra- dictory reason that it is not exclusively Catholic and that it is genuinely liberal and republican. Abbe Barbier, in fact, as- serts that M. Piou and his friends insist so strongly upon repub- licanism that " it has become impossible to remain a good Catholic without being a republican, and that, after all, this qualification of republican takes precedence over that of Cath- olic." It is the same with the title of liberal. M. Piou has imposed it in such a manner that not only does one no longer dare to declare himself a liberal candidate, but if someone — and I am reporting actual facts — happens to say to the electors : we, liberal Catholics ... his friends rebuke him for his imprudence in not calling him- self just simply liberal.'^" Citing various actual cases in which the Popular Liberty Party refused to support Catholic monarchist candidates against re- publicans or socialists, Abbe Barbier bitterly accuses the party of not being even Catholic. Its own candidates, he asserts, " declare themselves Democrats, Frenchmen, Patriots, every- 304 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT thing except Catholics." ""^ In another place, he says, '' The Liberal Party [Action libcralc] . . is not a frankly Catholic organization. . . . Contrary to its raison d'etre, it is a political organization ; it is such necessarily, by the vice of its origin." Indeed, Abbe Barbier does not hesitate to assert that the Popular Liberal Party is disobedient to the doctrines of the Church. To be sure, the leaders of the party had received much encouragement from Rome, but such encouragement was based upon a misunderstanding of the party's policy. Rome '■ could not " show favor to an association whose program demanded merely liberty and equal rights for the church. On the contrary, The (Popular) Liberal Party, which is proposed to us and which imposes itself as the organized embodiment of the papal policy, places itself thereby in manifest contradiction with the doc- trine of the Church and, above all, with the instructions of Leo XIII in the Encyclical from which the Rallieinent [Catholic ac- quiescence in the Republic] was born.°"- Abbe Barbier therefore concluded that, as far as the Popular Liberal Party is concerned, the name, the program, and the policy must be changed; " the rest may be preserved, if one so desires." For, ' the name is equivocal, the program is false, the policy bad." ""^ And just as Abbe Dabry ascribes all the reverses of the Catholics in France since 1899 to the Popular Liberal Party's lack of sincere liberalism and to the party's exclusively Catholic composition, so Abbe Barbier ascribes the same reverses to diametrically opposite causes, namely, the fact that the Popular Liberal Party is not a primarily Catholic party ; and that it is really republican and liberal. Abbe Barbier argues that the Republic has never been really popular with the people "''* ; it is therefore a mistake to base electoral appeals on repub- licanism. He illustrates his point by analyzing the elections of 1002 and 1906. According to his calculations, the "mon- archist. Catholic, and independent " and other clerical candi- dates who were not comprised in the Popular Liberal Party, THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 305 and who were " more determined in political opposition as well as in Catholic defense," gained 333,555 votes in 1906 above their total in 1902. On the other hand, the " Liberals " [Popu- lar Liberal Party] lost 248,064; the "Nationalists," 245,731; the Progressists, 233,580.°"^ The conclusion is implied that the Popular Liberal Party is politically inexpedient for the Catholic cause. An interesting comparison may be made between Abbe Bar- bier's figures and the statistics quoted by supporters of the party. At the party convention of 1908, a report was read stating that the strength of monarchism had steadily declined since 1885. The total number of votes received by candidates declaring themselves monarchists compared with the number of votes received by republican candidates was: Year Republican Votes Monarchist Votes 1876 4,028,153 3,202,333 1877 4,367,202 2,577.882 1881 5,128,442 1,789,767 1885 4,327,162 3,541,484 1889 5,026,583 2,795,314 1893 5,382,622 1,202,213 i8g8 7,060,939 876,737 1902 7,758,268 711,998 1906 7,842,221 610,925 M. Louis Hosotte, a Catholic historian of the Third Republic, gives a table '""' which shows the same striking phenomenon, the dwindling away of monarchist sentiment in politics. The table is reproduced here in abbreviated form, omitting the figures for the anticlerical Republican, Radical and Socialist parties, and adding the figures for 1914 and 1919. National 200 Orleanists Assembly 200 Legitimists 1871 30 Bonapartists Chamber of 55 Orleanists Deputies 25 Legitimists 1876 75 Bonapartists 3o6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 1877 207 Conservatives (t. e., monarchists of various fac- tions) I88I 90 Conservatives 188s 202 Conservatives 1889 105 Royalists 59 Bonapartists 47 Boulangists 1893 58 Conservatives 35 Rallies (Catholic monarchists who had become Re- publicans) 1898 44 Conservatives 32 Rallies 18 Nationalists (mostly clerical and repubhcan) 1902 41 Conservatives 35 Rallies 43 Nationalists 132 Progressists or dissident Radicals i9o(J 78 Conservatives or Liberals (evidently including Popular Liberal Party) 24 Nationalists 79 Progressists 1910 19 Conservatives 34 Popular Liberal Party 76 Progressists 1914 32 Conservatives 33 Popular Liberal Party 50 Progressists 1919 27 Conservatives 3 Action fratifaise 100 Popular Liberal Party 106 Progressists. The table is obviously incomplete and faulty. Nevertheless, it shows clearly enough that the monarchist parties have almost disappeared, their decline being very marked since the papal encyclical of 1892, and that the Progressists and Popular Liberal Party are the only remaining solid groups friendly to the Churdi. THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 307 The same conclusion might be drawn from the figures given by M. Leon Jacques, a Republican unfriendly to the Popular Liberal Party, and by the Annuaire du Parlement, although exact statistics are quite out of the question because until 1910 the groups in the Chamber of Deputies overlapped and shaded into one another in a most bewildering fashion. The only fact that is really clear is that the Monarchist factions ihave almost entirely disappeared from parliament, whereas the Popular Liberal Party and the Progressists have continued to receive a very large number of Catholic votes. In the elections of 1914, the Progressists polled a million votes, the Popular Lib- eral Party three-quarters of a million, and the Right (includ- ing the monarchists) only 345,000.**' We are now in a position to sum up and evaluate the con- tradictory criticisms of the Popular Liberal Party with re- spect to political liberalism. In the opinion of Republicans and Christian Democrats the supreme defect of the party is its failure to become a genuinely liberal Republican party rather than an exclusively Catholic party of uncertain Republicanism. In the opinion of clerical Monarchists, the supreme fault of the party is its insistence upon republicanism and liberalism, its refusal to be more Catholic than liberal. The Christian Demo- crats and the Monarchists agree — but for contradictory rea- sons — in blaming the party for Catholic electoral reverses. The explanation of these contradictions seems reasonably clear. In the first place, the charges levelled at the party by Republicans and Christian Democrats are true, in part. The party has never made belief in republicanism as the best con- ceivable form of government an article of faith. And it is Catholic in its membership and in its policies. Moreover, many of its members were formerly Monarchists. The party insists on acceptance of the republic merely as a fait accompli, as the constitution desired by the people, not as an abstract ideal. To Republican enthusiasts, this coldness, this objectivity, is so exasperating that the Popular Liberal Party remains suspect even when it inscribes at the head of its " Political Program " the unequivocal declaration, 3o8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The Republic is the constitutional government of the country; the Popular Liberal Party recognizes it, and, without requiring any one to renounce or abandon his inmost preferences, absolutely forbids, by its very statutes, any direct or indirect action against the Re- public.888 That the party accepts the Republic passively, there can be no question. The party convention of 1908 unanimously voted a resolution approving " recognition of the Republic as the form of Government accepted by the country." °®'' And in the party's official bulletin for July 15, 1919, the following declara- tion is found : From the first day, the A. L. P. (Popular Liberal Party) declared that the form of government was not to be discussed. Its loyalty was never denied for an instant. . . . Today, the situation is clear. The Republic has held the flag of France during four years and carried it to victory. It is indis- putably the national government of France entire, crowned by the victory of right and the admiration of the whole world."""" While such an attitude of definitive passive acceptance was not enough to satisfy Republican critics, it was too much to suit Monarchist critics. It meant the utter abandonmtent of mon- archist political agitation. In short, the party is subjected to a cross-fire from Monarch- ists and extreme Republicans, not because its own policy is ambiguous or paradoxical, but because it is so definitely neutral, because it accepts the existing Republic without expressing any opinion as to the relative merits of republicanism and monarch- ism in general. Because it is exposed to a cross-fire, such a policy is perhaps not the easiest to popularize. But whether the party would have gained more votes by swinging to one or the other extreme, is a question which partisans answer ac- cording to their individual prejudices, and to which no scientific answer can be made. One other general criticism should be remarked. M. Leon Jacques declares that the economic program of the Popular Liberal Party is " perhaps a little theoretical and abstract." Continuing, he observes: THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 309 The mentality of the workingmen has changed since Le Play's time, and, besides, a number of the workingmen no longer practise any religion. Should one not fear that they would feel ill at ease in [industrial] organizations more or less directly but effectively inspired by the Christian ideal of gentleness, of hope in the "be- yond," and of resignation ? i""! Such a criticism rests upon a misconception or ignorance of the development of the Social Catholic doctrine since Le Play's time and, in particular, of the wide gulf that separates the pro- gram of the Popular Liberal Party from the program of Le Play. In the first place, the Popular Liberal Party derives its economic program from the Social Catholic school, rather than from the School of Le Play. It is an advocate of radical social legislation and of public recognition and promotion of trade organization, — two principles upon which it is frankly at variance with Le Play's doctrine. Le Play was essentially a non-interventionist ; the party is conspicuously interventionist. In the second place, the Popular Liberal Party does not ask, as M. Jacques implies that it asks, non-Christian workingrrien to belong to Christian labor organizations. It aims to foster Christian trade unions, to be sure, but it leaves a place for non-Christian unions. It plans that both should be freely organized. The only compulsory organization in the party's scheme is a general regional organization of the trades for the purposes of trade representation and for the promotion of trade interests. Into such an organization both the Christian and non-Christian trade unions, freely and voluntarily consti- tuted, would fit as subordinate units. Just how the Christian ideal of hope in a future life would be impressed upon such an organization, M. Jacques might find it difficult to explain. But as concerns the Christian ideal of " gentleness," perhaps M. Jacques is right ; the scheme is certainly not inspired by the ideal of class-confiict and industrial warfare. In the third place, M. Jacques betrays either ignorance or prejudice when he asserts that the economic program of the Popular Liberal Party is "theoretical and abstract." What- 3IO THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ever may be its faults in other respects, the program is anything but theoretical or abstract. Its most striking characteristic, as any one familiar with the program can hardly fail to recognize, is its insistence upon practical, specific reforms rather than upon vague general formulae such as " the social revolution," " col- lective ownership," etc. It is the one party which more than any other has consistently declared that social legislation must deal with the real diversity of conditions and interests actually existing in industry, commerce, and agriculture, and that, there- fore, all such legislation should be adapted to local and special conditions by the representatives of the trades and regions con- cerned. Events have increasingly tended to demonstrate the practical character of the program. The principle that repre- sentatives of capital and labor in the organized trade should have at least a consultative voice in regard to industrial legis- lation has finally triumphed, after long opposition ; it was the principle upon which the Government proceeded in carrying through the eight-hour day law of 1919."°^ The conception of joint industrial boards, representing capital and labor, is one to which prominent business men are turning as to the only escape from an impasse; it is the idea which the British Govern- ment adopted in its reconstruction program. It is not an entirely idle boast which the Bulletin of the Popular Liberal Party makes when, in its issue of July 15, 1919, it declares: The social program of the Popular Liberal Party is not dis- tinguished, as is well known, from that of the " Social Catholic School " founded by Count Albert de Mun. For this reason it has sometimes been said that the Popular Liberal Party was " very ad- vanced " from the social point of view. Eulogy or reproach — but, as for ourselves, we have always con- sidered it a eulogy — the statement was correct. .\nd it is not to- day, or yesterday, that \vc became accustomed to occupying a posi- tion of advanced guard in social matters. Our oldest readers will perhaps recall that one day, a score of years ago, our friend, M de Gailhard-Bancel, expounded from the floor of the Chamber of Deputies some of our social principles con- cerning the organization of labor, and that his ideals, much too novel in that assembly, provoked "commotion" [Mouvcmcnts divers] in THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 311 certain parts of the house. M. Millerand, visibly interested, in- terrupted to say: "Those are ideas of the future." In the mouth of this experienced politician, always well-posted on social questions, this was a profound remark of great signifi- cance. In effect, subsequent experience has not ceased to confirm this forecast, for the ideas of the Social Catholic School do not cease to receive from events and from time the most brilliant confirma- tions. Whether it is a question of the legal rights of trade unions, or of the weekly holiday — which we in the Popular Liberal Party more accurately style the Sunday holiday, — whether it is a question of workingmen's pensions or of mutual aid, of collective bargaining or of trade jurisdictions, — on all these questions and on many others, besides, the Social Catholic School's solutions — our solu- tions — have ultimately, little by little, imposed themselves, and constitute today the most solid and beneficial parts, as well as the most practical parts, of contemporary social legislation. But it is interesting to signalize as a particularly solemn and valuable confirmation of one of the most important principles of this doctrine of the future, that which has been received at the hands of the Peace Conference and which is inscribed, with incomparable authority, in the Treaty of Versailles. We have the right to assert, not without pride, that the first article of the international labor legislation, sanctioned by the signatures of the Powers, bears witness clearly to an indisputably Catholic idea and Catholic initiative, even in its terminology, and reproduces the formula of one of the most essential revindications of the social program of Leo XIII and of Count Albert de Mun. Respectfully we quote this great text: " In right and in fact the labor of a human being should not be treated as merchandise or an article of commerce. . . ." ^""^ In conclusion, it may be noted again that the Popular Liberal Party is only one manifestation of and not the inclusive organ- ization of the Catholic social and republican movement in France. As representative of the Catholic republican move- ment, it shares Catholic votes with the Progressists and with other Republican groups. As representative of the Social Catholic movement it is the only group which has so formally and fully accepted the Social Catholic program of social legis- lation, but there are numerous deputies outside its ranks who advocate the same program. Moreover, the Social Catholic 312 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Movement seems unwilling to identify itself with a political party ; it prefers to work by means of non-partisan social propa- ganda rather than by means of party politics. Its influence, therefore, may be regarded as a broad stream in which the Popular Liberal Party is only one current. The influence of the Popular Liberal Party is difficult to evaluate. The party has now about one hundred representa- tives in the Chamber of Deputies (some of these members sit in the Progressist and other parliamentary groups). It is, there- fore, larger at present than the Socialist Party, as regards par- liamentary representation. But the influence of a political party is not always to be calculated by simple arithmetical processes. In the deliberations of the Chamber of Deputies it has played a role more important than its numbers and its status as an Opposition group (prior to the war) would warrant. Espe- cially in social legislation, in the question of proportional repre- sentation, and in the agitation for decentralization, it has been very conspicuous. Its ideas have had more telling effect than its \otcs. Perha])s the party would have exerted a still stronger influ- ence had its membership been more homogeneous. Its mem- bers vary from enthusiastic advocacy to passive acceptance in their attitude toward democratic government, and in their atti- tude toward labor problems they run through the same gamut. Moreover, so many great capitalists and aristocratic land- owners are included in the party that workingmen might pos- sibly feel inclined to suspect the sincerity of its professed desire for " amelioration of the condition of the workingmen.'' Indeed, certain of the deputies belonging to the parliamentary group are, if not insincere, at least unenthusiastic, in their advocacy of the social legislation demanded by the party plat- form. On the other hand, the party includes too many peasants and workingmen, too many strenuous champions of labor in- terests, too many candid critics of capitalism, to be acceptable to men of wealtlh who have not been to some degree affected by the Social Catholic reform movement. THE POPULAR LIBERAL PARTY 313 In other words, the heterogeneity of the party militates against success. But this very heterogeneity makes the indirect influence of the party greater. To begin with, the party is genuinely national, it represents all the various elements of national life — labor, capital, peasantry, landed aristocracy, liberal professions, shopkeepers, the army and navy, the intel- lectuals, — and it represents all regions of France. Such a party, in attempting to solve economic problems, must neces- sarily act as an instrument of class-conciliation; it must seek solutions which will be acceptable to agriculture and commerce as well as to industry, to capital as well as to labor, to the middle and professional classes as well as to laborers and em- ployers. Furthermore, such a party is particularly fitted to break down the traditional resistance of the upper classes to labor legislation. In this respect the Popular Liberal Party has had a very marked effect. It has been exceedingly influ- ential in leading aristocrats and bourgeois to take an active interest in social questions and to adopt a positive and con- structive program of social legislation, just as it has provided a bridge by which many former Monarchists could pass over from royalism to democratic republicanism. And at the same time it has accustomed the working-class elements which it has reached to regard the upper classes as possible allies and friends, rather than as uncompromising enemies. Such a role of social conciliation, when coupled with a very advanced pro- gram of social and political reforms, is undoubtedly of great though imponderable service to social and political democracy. The service is imponderable because it is a service of propa- ganda and of influence more than a service of votes. The Popular Liberal Party is even more an association for propa- ganda than a political group. Herein lies its most solid ele- ment of strength. Its 250,000 or more dues-paying members; its 2,000 committees scattered through the length and breadth of France ; its propagandist literature ; its social clubs, its affiliated organizations, — all these give it an influence that is difficult to measure. Should the party realize its hope of forming a new parlia- 314 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT mentary bloc favorable to social legislation, to democratic con- stitutional reforms, and to religious liberty, the patient work of study and propaganda might suddenly reach the stage of fruition. The post-bellum situation, with the loyalty and patriotism of the party vindicated, with social problems in the foreground, with anticlericalism temporarily at least in the background, is peculiarly favorable for such hopes. But even should these hopes prove illusory as regards the immediate future, the Popular Liberal Party would still have its major task to perform, its task of education or propaganda. Said M. Eugene Floumoy, in his book defending the party, the great aim is to train a working-class elite, inspired with the ideas of the party. To train an elite is a painfully slow process. But it is a process which oftentimes leads to ultimate success, and which always leaves its impress upon the spirit of the age. The task of the sower is perhaps more important than that of the reaper. There are always parties ready to gather in the harvest when the ideas have been popularized and have matured. The Popular Liberal Party is at present a sower of ideas ; who reaps the harvest is of Httle importance, for the sower, rather than the reaper, determines the nature of the crop. CHAPTER X SURVEY OF THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT IN FRANCE General Survey The contemporary Social Catholic movement in France is an extraordinarily complex and at the same time a very simple phenomenon: complex in its manifold and interrelated organ- isms and manifestations ; simple in its doctrines and impulse. Its external m&nifestations embrace a whole congeries of social and political associations and of social-service institu- tions. In politics, it is more or less faithfully, but not entirely or exclusively, represented by the Action Liberale Populaire or Popular Liberal Party, an association exceptionally well de- veloped in its constitution and program, relatively weak in its parUamentary representation, relatively strong in its dues-pay- ing membership. In the non-partisan sphere of social research and propaganda, it is represented by the extraordinarily active Action Populaire of Rheims, by the " Social Catholic Study Union," by important national congresses {Semaines sociales) held every year for the discussion of social and economic prob- lems, and by local conferences and conventions, held more fre- quently, for the same purpose. In the press, it is represented by a serious monthly review, Le Mouvement social — a veri- table mine of information on social developments and social studies the world over, — by an important fortnightly review, Le Correspondant, by many other periodical publications which appeal less to the learned world than to the people, by the Annee sociale internationale, wiiich is probably the most com- prehensive and pretentious international year-book on social and labor questions, by series of pamphlets, by innumerable books concerning the detailed specific applications as well as the f un- 31S 3l6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT damental principles of social theory. ^'"'* Among the working- men, it has formed " Catholic Workingmen's Clubs," Catholic trade unions and industrial federations; among the employers it has formed parallel organizations ; ambng the consumers it has organized a Social League of Consumers (Ligiic sociale d'a<:licfeurs) with twenty-eight local sections. Among the young men its influence is disseminated by the French Young Men's Catholic Association (the A. C. J. F. or Association Catholiquc dc la Jcuiifssc Fran(;aisc), an oflfshoot of Count Albert de Mun's Workingmen's Clubs. It maintains people's secretariats, workingmen's garden associations, social informa- tion bureaus, mutual aid and insurance societies. ^°°^ These are a few of the manifestations of the movement. The works of private charity conducted by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and by the clergy are not touched on here, because they aim not so much at reform of the social order as at reHef of the wretchedness incident to that order. Complex as it may be in its organs of action, the movement is simple enough in its fundamental principles. The impulse in back of all the above-mentioned enterprises arises from the conviction that, in the first place, neither the labor problem nor the social questions of the day can be solved except in harmony with the doctrines of justice, charity, and the dignity of man,^°°* doctrines inculcated by the Christian Church, and, in the second place, that for individual Christians it is an urgent duty — a duty enjoined by charity and by justice as well as by the neces- sity of removing the grievances which give revolutionary so- cialism its strength — to engage actively in social service. In a most general way, the characteristic features of the Social Cath- olic doctrine are :( i ) recognition that the existing organization of industry, involving as it ofttimes does the inhumane exploitation of human labor, stands in need of reform; (2) insistence that such reform, to be beneficial, must be in harmony with Chris- tian principles, and that Christians should take an active part in it; (3) opposition to revolutionary socialism and revolution- ary syndicalism, on one hand, and to the individualistic, non- interventionist teachings of the classical or Liberal economists CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 31? on the other hand ; (4) acceptance of Pope Leo XIII's encycH- cal letter " On the Condition of the Working Classes " (1891), together with subsequent papal encyclicals on the same subject, as the platform of the CathoHc movement for social reform; (5) assertion that the conditions of labor should be such that the workingman may be able to enjoy needful leisure and repose, that he may observe Sunday as a holiday, that his wife and children may not be swallowed up by the factory, that he may obtain a wage sufficient to maintain a decent home, sup- port his family and provide against accident, sickness, unem- ployment, and old age; (6) advocacy of social legislation, national and international, to assist in realizing such conditions and to develop institutions which will ultimately relieve the state, to a large extent, of all except a general supervision of such conditions ; (7) great emphasis on a modernized guild organization of industry, that is, the encouragement of trade unions and the formation of joint boards of capital and labor, for the purpose of protecting the rights of labor, of settling industrial disputes amicably, of regulating wages, hours of labor and industrial conditions, of conducting social insurance, of maintaining vocational training, of increasing pride of trade, skill of work, and intensity of production, — in short, of solving the labor problem without recourse to state socialism or social revolution; (8) defense of the right of property, coupled with a desire to generalize the enjoyment of this right by increasing the number of small holdings and by fostering thrift; (9) championship of small holdings and agricultural cooperation as the twin principles of agrarian reform; (10) favorable atti- tude towards divers schemes of cooperative production, profit- sharing, and co-partnership which, although often admitted to be inapplicable to large industries, tend to bridge the chasm be- tween capital and labor, and to improve conditions at least on a small scale. Through the whole program of the Social Catholics there runs the thought of reconciling liberty with authority, of avoid- ing both the laissez-faire regime, in which the individual is everything, and the socialist regime, in which the state is every- 3l8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT thing, and of building up a regime in which modernized guilds will act as buffers between the state and the individual, a regime in which the perils of unmitigated individualism and of social- ism will alike be obviated, while the liberty of the individual and the interest of the group will both be secured in just measure. It is an attempt to find a new point of view from which the two greatest politico-social ideas of the modem age, individualism and collectivism, will be seen as exaggerations of complementary verities rather than as merely mutually contra- dictory conceptions. The essential unity of the contemporary French Social Catholic movement is a matter of historical development as well as of doctrine. Perhaps a bird's-eye review of the rise of the movement will enforce this statement. The origins of the movement may be traced back, as the early chapters of this book attempt to demonstrate, to the unorgan- ized and more or less sporadic protests of Catholic intellectuals in the first half of the nineteenth century, protests against the so-called " liberal " or orthodox school of poHtical economy, which made labor a mere merchandise, to be bought as cheaply as possible, and forbade the state to protect the workingman, protests also against the destruction of the guilds and the inter- diction of all industrial combinations or labor unions by the French Revolution. With Lacordaire and Ozanam these pro- tests were perhaps most eloquent ; with \"ilIeneuve-Bargemont they were the inspiration of a serious attempt to rewrite polit- ical economy from a Christian and social, as contrasted with a non-Christian and individualistic, point of view. Under the Second Empire the movement to create a Christian social economy gained headway, under the leadership of Le Play and Perin. But under the leadersihip of these sociologists, the movement was given a less practical, though more scientific direction. With the Third Republic, the organized movement begins to take form. It is in a very real sense the child of the past; it inherits its ideas, and particularly the idea that Christian social economy is the true solvent of social problems and the true CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 319 corrective of social errors, such as individualism and socialism, from Perin and Le Play ; and the maxims of Ozanam and La- cordaire are on its lips. But it shows a more practical spirit, partly because it is organized for practical purposes, and partly because it has found in Germany a mbdel for emulation. The beginning of the organized movement is the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, created by the zeal of Count Albert de Mun and Marquis de La Tour du Pin, in 1871, with the object of disseminating Catholic ideas and combating so- cialism among the workingmen, of fostering a spirit of social service among the upper classes, and of reviving the ideal of the Christian guild. The guild conception was tremendously strengthened when the Association in 1873 found an ally in Leon Harmel, a Catholic manufacturer, who had actually formed something resembling a guild in his own factory. As the Association expanded, more rapidly perhaps than its found- ers had dared hope, the need of a well-defined social-economic doctrine became increasingly apparent. Consequently, the en- terprise which at the outset had been merely an organization for practical social work, disclaiming any desire to become a new " school " of economic thought, in opposition to the schools of Le Play and Perin, gradually developed a doctrine distinct from, even opposed to, that of the followers of Le Play and Perin. Out of the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs grew the so-called " Social Catholic School " of sociology and economics. The Council of Studies formed by the Association in 1872 was the nucleus around which clustered a group of Social Catholic writers. The monthly review, L' Association catho- lique, founded in 1876, served as their organ. Strive as they might to remain eclectic and to conciliate the older schools, the new group found itself irresistibly impelled, by the stimulus of popular propaganda, by the influence of German and Austrian Social Catholicism, and by de Mun's entry into politics as its spokesman, to adopt a more and more advanced social pro- gram, a more and more distinctive social viewpoint. As fric- tion with the older and more conservative schools increased, it 320 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT became necessary to divorce the review from the Association in 1891, to the end that the former might be freer and the latter less embarrassed by doctrinal controversies. About the same time, in May, 1891, appeared the papal encyclical on the Condition of the Working Classes. This pro- nouncement from Rome immensely encouraged and stimu- lated the nascent Social Catholic school. The Association, which had lost its initial impetus, gained new life. The Asso- ciation caiholique became more aggressive. Hope was stimu- lated that the whole body of Catholic thought might be won over, that the rival schools of Catholic sociology might be brought together. In 1896 the editors of L'Association catholique took the initiative in establishing periodical conferences of the directors of Catholic reviews dealing with social questions. Through these Reunions francaiscs des Revues catholiques sociales, as they were called, the influence of L'Association catholique was widely extended. '"'" Moreover, out of the Reunions grew the Social Catholic Study Union or Union d' etudes des catholiques sociaux, in 1901-1902, an organization under the chairmanship of Henri Lorin, one of the group that had grown up around the Council of Studies of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs. ^'"'* Out of the Study Union, in turn, grew the Sonmnes sociales, the great annual congresses, beginning in 1904, in which the leading French exponents of Social Catholicism coine together for the discussion of social questions.^"'"' Probably the most conspicuous organizations at present carrying forward the Social Catholic movement in France are the Seiiiaiiies sociales and the Action populaire, the Association Catholique de la Jcunesse Frangaise, and the Action Liberale Populaire or Popular Liberal Party. How the Scmaincs so- ciales resulted, indirectly, from the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Qubs has just been explained. The Popular Liberal Party, as was shown in the foregoing chapter, took the presiding genius of the Workingmen's Clubs, Count Albert de Mun, as vice-president, and borrowed its social program. The Association Catholique de la Jcuiicssc Francaise. originating in CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 321 1886 as an offshoot of the Workingmen's Clubs, was fostered by Count Albert de Mun, and consistently maintained the closest relationship with the parent association as well as with the or- ganizers of the Semaines sociales and with the Popular Liberal Party. In fact, a sort of interlocking directorate of leaders is very noticeable in these three organizations.^"^" Finally, the Action populaire, founded at Rheims in 1903, as a general cen- tral bureau of propaganda and information, inherited not only the doctrines of the Social Catholic school, but, in 1909, took over the monthly review, L' Association catholique, which was now rechristened Le M ouvement social. The Action Populaire, it may be added, is, like the A. C. J. F., on terms of closest inti- macy with the Popular Liberal Party, the Association of Cath- olic Workingmen's Clubs, and the Semaines sociales. In short, all four enterprises are overlapping in membership, harmonious in doctrine, and kindred heirs of a commion legacy. With the many less conspicuous or subsidiary organizations which help to make up the contemporary Social CathoUc Move- ment in France, it is impossible to deal in this preliminary sur- vey. Some of them will receive passing attention, in the follow- ing sections, others will be totally ignored, else the narrative would become too involved. It is the purpose of the following sections to give some idea of the nature and aims of those branches of the contemporary Social Catholic movement which have been neglected thus far. Regarding the Popular Liberal Party, which was described in the preceding chapter, and the Association of Catholic Work- ingmfen's Clubs, which was dealt with in Chapter III, nothing more need be added. The Action Populaire and Its Publications The Action Populaire "" owed its inception to Abbe Leroy, a young French priest who was then engaged in work among the people, and who had conceived the idea of founding a sort of Volksverein in France. The German Volksverein, or Peo- ple's Union, which served as a model for the enterprise, was a powerful Cathohc association (embracing more than three- 322 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT quarters of a million members in 1913) ; and at the same time it served as a social secretariat and propaganda bureau, printing and distributing Social Catholic literature, and organizing study- courses and conferences on social questions. In the year 1912- 1913, for example, the Volksverein organized 3,427 meetings and distributed 851,145 books and brochures and more than 11,000,00 leaflets, tracts, and journals."" Abbe Leroy's idea was to imitate the Volksverein as a social secretariat and propa- ganda bureau, not as a popular association ; perhaps he did not consider the time ripe for the latter, in France. The Action Populairc was to serve as an information bureau; it was to build up a great social library comprising contributions from Catholic sociologists and experts, both lay and clerical, and it hoped to publish, for popular distribution, a great series of thirty-page pamphlets. Because the financial support was wanting, the beginnings of the enterprise were modest, even humble. At first, a few secretaries and editors housed in a kitchen and a shed at Rheims constituted the Action Populaire. Gradually it expanded. A quaint eighteenth-century hotel, the Institut Maintenon, 5 Rue des Trois-Raisinets, in the shadow of the great Rheims cathe- dral, was taken over as headquarters. By 1912, the central office employed sixteen editors — ten priests and six laymen — besides twenty-seven secretaries ; ten persons were kept busy sending out the mass of literature which was daily dispatched from the bureau ; several travelling secretaries were engaged in visiting libraries and booksellers in the interest of the organiza- tion ; it had several hundred collaborators and correspondents in France and abroad ; and in its admirable library some 400 French and foreign reviews, besides a remarkable collection of social and economic treatises and official documents, were on file. It became, in the words of a prominent Social Catholic, " a sort of permanent bureau of Social Catholicism." ^"^^ From the outset, the Action Populaire regularly published a series of five-cent yellow pamphlets, three a month, each about thirty pages in length. This pamphlet series attained a circu- lation of about three thousand within a year or two and is very CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 323 widely known. It now comprises over three hundred mono- graphs on social questions, monographs contributed by the fore- most French Social Catholic writers, by foreign social Catholics, and by non-Catholic economists. Old-age pensions, mutual aid, cooperative associations, labor unions, mixed industrial boards, housing, problems, strikes, representation of trades, employ- ment service, apprenticeship and vocational training, child-labor, workingmen's gardens, education, accident compensation, con- sumers' leagues, the C. G. T., socialism, factory inspection, income taxes, alcoholism, — such are the subjects treated. In addition to these yellow pamphlets, the Action Populaire subsequently inaugurated other series. A series called Les Actes Sociau.v made the principal laws, papal pronouncements, and other documents on social matters available at five cents each. Another series, Les Plans et Documents, comprised documentary and doctrinal monographs, designed for social study clubs. A third, Les Tracts Populaires, consisted of mere leaflets. A fourth, Les Feuilles Sociales, was made up of brief summaries, in the form of questions and answers, of various longer pamphets, and was destined for popular propaganda. Besides the pamphlets and leaflets, the Action Populaire published several series of manuals and annuals. The earliest of these was the Guide social, published annually since 1904, a volume of about four hundred pages. This is a serious and well-documented annual survey of the various aspects of the social problem, a survey which aims rather to give accurately the latest information, statistics, and bibliographical data than to set forth doctrines or dogmas. The latest issue,^"^* for ex- ample, opens with a calendar of parliamentary debates, laws, decrees, and ordinances on social matters. There follows a collection of recent papal documents on social questions, with a brief description of the principal agencies and the difficulties of Catholic social action. This by way of introduction. Part One of the volume analyzes the census of 1911, quotes the leading opinions on the problem of the declining birth-rate, and on possible remedies, and provides a seven-page bibliography of official documents, books, and articles on the subject ; there 324 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT follow statistical and documentary studies of the housing prob- lem, and of hygiene, with bibliographies. Part Two deals with trade-unionism, syndicalism, labor organization, employ- ers' unions, and the cooperative movement, giving statistics, quoting opinions, and providing bibliographies. Part Three is devoted to labor legislation ; Part Four to Accident Insurance, Workingmen's Pensions, and Mutual Insurance. The Guide social, said the preface to the edition of 191 1, " aims to repro- duce, as on a moving-picture film, the living and moving image of realities in perpetual motion." ^'"■^ The Guide social proved so useful and so popular, — within a year or two its circulation had reached six thousand, — that the Action Populaire in 1910 resolved, while continuing it, to prepare also a much larger and more pretentious annual on the same general model. The Annee sociale internationale for 1910, a volume of 978 pages, was followed by the Annee sociale internationale for 191 1, for 1912, for 1913-1914, the last issue being a ponderous tome of 1256 pages. The Annee has become a truly monumental work. Though it is very frankly a Catholic publication, its range and accuracy of information make it an invaluable handbook and bibliographical guide for any student of social problems, of labor problems particularly. Primarily French, and Catholic, it is nevertheless genuinely comprehen- sive and international. Turning to the section on trade-union- ism, for example, one finds not merely a survey of Catholic trade-unions in France, but also a much longer account of the revolutionary Syndicalist trade unions and of the C. G. T., with copious quotations from Syndicalist writers, reports of the C. G. T. officials, and a review of the C. G. T. congress of 1912 at Havre ; there follow sections on trade-unionism in all coun- tries, — on the Christian trade unions and the Socialist unions alike, — the most recent available statistics being given under each country together with a brief statement of recent tenden- cies and developments; then one finds an account of the vari- ous Socialist, Christian, and neutral international trade-union organizations; a special section is devoted to feminine trade- unionism, another to a statistical summary of the strength of CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 325 organized labor in all countries, a third to a survey of strikes in all countries and of recent legislation. It is the boast of the Action Populaire that, Nowhere does there exist, even in Germany, where social writers are legion, any publication even remotely resembling the Annie sociale. It was established to fill a gap : its success is witness to a need, a universal need we venture to say, for from all countries, even from the most distant, the Action Populaire receives demands for the Annee sociale.^"^' But the Annee is not designed uniquely as an international work of reference. " It is above all a breviary of action ; each of its pages urges the reader to act." "" In this sense, it provides the historian of the French Social Catholic movement with a comprehensive survey of the fields in which that move- ment is active, of the directions in which it endeavors to make its influence felt. In the first place comes the work of social propaganda, education, and research, a work in which the Catholic Employers Association of Northern France, the Work- ingmen's Clubs, the Fraternal Union of Commerce and Industry, Study Clubs, the Action Populaire itself, social secretariats, social libraries, national and local congresses, and the Social League of Consumers, appear as the active organizations. Part One groups under the general rubric of " The Fam- ily," a series of reforms in which the Social Catholics interest themselves. They are alarmed by the low birth-rate, which means a stationary or declining population in France, and they would combat the evil by opposing religion to neo-raalthusian- ism. They would provide cheap and salubrious dwellings for the poor, and are interested in legislation with this object. They have already made much progress in giving working- men the use of garden plots. They desire legislation designed to aid each family to acquire and hold securely a small prop- erty or a house. They support the campaign against unsani- tary conditions, infant mortality, contagious diseases, tuber- culosis, adulterated foods, alcoholism, obscenity and por- nography, criminality. They would reduce the high cost of 326 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT living, encourage saving, promote domestic training, reform divorce legislation so as to stabilize the family, repress the white-slave traffic. Part Two deals with " Producers and Consumers." A paragraph summary of interests of the Social Catholics in this field is almost impossible. Legislation favorable to trade unions is to be enacted. Catholic labor unions and employers' unions are to be promoted, joint industrial boards are to be created, arbitration and conciliation are to be substituted for strikes and lockouts, farmers' unions are to be developed, trade organizations are to build up systems of vocational training and employment bureaus, cooperative societies are to be en- couraged, financial speculation is to be controlled. Part Three takes up the relations between " The State and the Workingmen." Here the Social Catholics are interested first of all in immediate labor legislation, secondly, in effective factory inspection, thirdly, in the transfer of industrial regu- lation to trade organizations, and finally, in the international- ization of labor laws. The fields of state action with which the Annie deals are hygiene and security, limitation of the working day, night-work, holidays and vacations, employment of women and children, protection and fixation of wages, civil- service reform. Part Four gives a survey of socialism and anarchism, two movements which the social Catholics combat as dangerous er- rors. Finally, Part Five deals with social insurance and mutual aid. Ever desirous of promoting mutual aid societies, espe- cially in connection with trade organizations and trade unions, the Social Catholics are in general hostile to the exclusive man- agement of old-age pensions, accident insurance, sickness in- surance, and unemployment insurance by the state. Their desire is, rather, that these social insurances should be made compulsory by the state but actually conducted by private mu- tual aid societies and by trade unions. A third manual published by the Action Populaire, beginning in 1910, was designed as a practical handbook for those who CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 327 wished to found or were engaged in directing social service institutions such as labor unions, employers' unions, coopera- tive societies of credit, consumption or production, people's secretariats, workingmen's gardens, societies to provide cheap dwellings, employment bureaus, domestic science schools, mu- tual aid societies, agricultural unions. The nature of this Manuel social pratique may be judged by turning to a particular chapter, say to the chapter on cooperative production. One finds there a section on the utility of cooperative production so- cieties, a section on the legal form of organization to be adopted, a third section on the taxes to which such a society is subject, a fourth on practical considerations such as the provision of capital and the establishment of a clientele, a fifth on methods of profit-sharing, a sixth on the privileges which such a society enjoys, a seventh on the central organizations with which such a society should afifiliate.^"^' Perhaps it is unnecessary to describe in detail the other hand- books,^ — the Manual of Practical Law,^°^^ the Practical Guide to the Public Assistance Laws,^"^" the Economic and Social Vocabulary,"^^ the Illustrated Almanac,"'^ the Practical Manual of Religious Action,^"^^ the Guide to Religious Ac- tion,"^* the Guide to the Free School."^' In 1908 the Action Populaire entered still another field of social propaganda. It began to publish social reviews. The first was La Revu6 de I' Action Populaire, a little green-covered magazine published the tenth of the month and the twentieth of every other month, and aiming to encourage religious and social action; the review frequently contains useful judicial studies of social legislation as well as detailed information re- garding practical social work. Subscribers to the review also received, on the thirtieth of each month, the Study Club Cour- ier {Le Courrier des CercUs d'Etudes), which provided ma- terial for discussion by study-groups, and on the twentieth of every other month. Trade Union Life {La Vie Syndicate), a review designed to encourage Catholic trade-unionism. Among the Action Populaire's numerous periodical publica- tions, Le Mouvement social is by far the most important, Le 328 THE Social catholic movement Mouvement social was simply the continuation, under a new name, of L' Association catholique, the review of social and labor questions founded by the Association of Catholic Work- ingmen's Clubs in 1876. The review had served as the organ of the clubs until 1891, and had led a more or less independent existence as the principal French Social Catholic review from 1891 to 1908, inclusive. Under its old management, L' Associa- tion catholique had made itself not only the forum for Social Catholic discussions, but also one of the most informing and best documented French reviews of labor questions. To con- tinue that tradition, the Action Populaire was preeminently well equipped, with its editorial staff, its social information bureau, its contact with Catholic social opinion. Accordingly, in 1909, the Action Populaire took over L'Association catholique, re- named it Lc Mouvement social, and entrusted it to Abbe G. Desbuquois — director of the Action Populaire — and Joseph Zamanski as joint editors. In the first issue of Le Mouvement social, the new editors paid tribute to the past work of the review and proclaimed the identity of their own spirit with that which had dominated L'Association catholique }°^^ The con- tinuity of the review was indisputable. The characteristic of Le Moiarment social which first ar- rests the attention of the reader is the wealth of documenta- tion. It reprints labor laws and important bills. It provides a critical bibliography of books on social and economic ques- tions, in all languages. Every year more than eight hundred social or economic articles from the leading French foreign reviews are analyzed, significant portions being quoted. These bibliographical notes are so arranged and printed that the reader may — and is urged to — cut them out and by pasting them in a scrap-book provide himself with a very thorough and up-to- date topical bibliography on any or all social questions. More- over, the principal social legislation, parliamentary discussions, social and labor congresses, investigations, reports, and events of the month are noted in news items. Finally, the leading articles each month are usually either very serious and de- tailed studies of economic and legislative problems, or careful CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 329 expositions of social and economic theory. Sometimes they deal with French, sometimes with foreign labor problems. Often they are written by foreign experts, and printed in Eng- lish, German, or Italian, with a French translation as supple- ment. Besides its pamphlets, manuals, and reviews, the Action Populaire distributes books on labor questions. The type of book may be judged by a few specimens. In 1908 the Action Populaife published a volume by Leon de Seilhac on Labor Congresses in France, a scholarly contribution to the history of the Confederation Generate du Travail}"" The following year, was published a book entitled Toward Professional Or- ganization, by Eugene Duthoit, professor of political economy at the Catholic University of Lille ; the book examined in turn the problems of labor legislation, employment of women, the wage contract, unemployment, and trade-unionism, with a view to proving the importance and necessity of trade-organization as the core of social reform.^"^^ Similar in aim, but different in method, was O. Jean's book on Trade-Unionism, which re- viewed the history of trade-unions from the time of the medieval guilds down to the present) and discussed the role of trade unions in social legislation, industrial pacification, co- operative production, mutual aid, etc.^"^® One finds among the Action Populaire's publications such works as the practical legal commentary on workingmen's pensions, by J. Hachin and A. Agasse,^"'" or the discussions and reports of conven- tions of the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs relative to appren- ticeship, and the formation of a Catholic labor elite}"^^ Even the drama and the novel serve their turn as instru- ments of social propaganda. Toward the Humble, a three-act play by Maurice Rigaux,^°'= and When the Soul is Right,^°^^ a novel by the same author, are examples. Charles Calippe's study of Balzac's Social Ideas,^"^* likewise published by the Action Populaire, and Rene Johannet's Evolution of the Social Novel in the ipth Century,^°^^ show how even literary criti- cism is drafted to serve the social cause. Altogether, the Action Populaire distributed about 1,000,000 330 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT pamphlets, 200,000 almanacs, 150,000 leaflets, and 60,000 vol- umes, from 1903 to 1912. This is, presumably, in addition to its periodical reviews. ^°^' That the Action Populaire served not merely as a distributing and editorial centre for social literature, but also as an informa- tion bureau has already been suggested. Every year thousands of inquiries are received by the office at Rheims, and thou- sands of replies sent out, telling the inquirers how to found a trade union, or a mutual aid society, or where to find au- thoritative information on the question of social insurance, or what speaker to obtain for a public meeting. One corre- spondent asks what works he should consult on the funda- mental principles underlying the social sciences ; another de- sires to know what employment young girls, leaving their home village, should seek ; a third wishes to get in touch with a re- liable society for the provision of cheap dwellings. Or again, the Action Populaire will be requested to send an expert to help organize a social-service institution, of one sort or an- other."" Finally, the Action Populaire has of late years engaged in- creasingly in the work of organizing study-courses, participat- ing in social conferences, organizing popular conventions. Its representatives make extended speaking tours. Particularly important are the conventions held by the A. P. at Paris and at Rheims, since 1907, sometimes for the clergy, sometimes for the workingmen, sometimes for social workers. By 191 1, representatives of the A. P. had spoken at about 200 conven- tions."'* Doctrines of the Action Populaire Thus far we have been preoccupied with a mere catalogue of the means by which the Action Populaire strives to realize its aims, and have given little heed to the nature of the aims them- selves. To correct this omission, we turn to Abbe Desbuquois, director of the organization and editor of Lc Mouvciiicnt social, for an exposition of his views. In a series of articles in Le Mouvement social for iqi2, CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 331 Abbe Desbuquois sets forth the fundamental principles of " So- cial Catholic Action " as he conceives them. At the outset, the writer announces that he finds his chief inspiration and author- ity in Rernm Novarum and the other papal encyclicals on the social question ; the statement is significant, as evidence that the Social Catholic Movement in France is decidedly ultramon- tane.i°=» By way of historical preface, Abbe Desbuquois explains how economic questions have come to play as important a role as they do in modern society. The industrial revolution created terrible extremes of wealth and poverty, and made industry more fluid and dynamic. On the other hand, the advent of political democracy placed the weapon of universal suffrage in the hands of the masses, who naturally attempted to wield it in their own economic interest. " Hence, during the past sixty years, the progressively social character of legislation, the birth and development of a labor code." At the same time, " the employers, jealously defending their rights or their in- terests, exert a parallel influence on the same public authori- ties, and often in opposition to the efforts of the wage-earners." Political as well as social life is overshadowed by economic in- terests. Social and political life having become so predominantly economic in character, the measure of religious influence is its ability to penetrate economic life. Accordingly, Catholicism must work for the organization of modern industry on a basis acceptable to Christian morality. Now from the viewpoint of Christian morality two funda- mental laws of human existence lie at the basis of social philoso- phy. First, man must work in order to live. Secondly, man must live " toward God." And the second of these command- ments is greater than the first. Labor, in the eyes of Christian- ity, is dignified as the means by which mankind may exist in its aspiration toward God. Because of this relationship be- tween work and man's moral aim, the labor question must be regarded as moral, quite as much as it is economic. Con- siderations of morality run through all problems of capital and 332 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT labor. Thus, the wage question involves the moral principles of contractual equality, commutative justice, the living wage, legitimacy of property. The necessity of Christian action in behalf of morality in labor questions, says Abbe Desbuquois, has been proclaimed by Leo XIII and Pius X. So important is the task and so binding the obligation, that a Catholic is not truly a Catholic unless he is " social." The term " Social Catholic " is employed at pres- ent only because not all Catholics have awakened to their re- sponsibility ; with the progressive awakening, it is hoped, the ad- jective " social " will become unnecessary. The function of Social Catholicism, in the Abbe's opinion, is not merely to render charitable service in giving bread to the hungry, a home to the homeless, care to the sick, work to the unemployed. Preventive rather than palliative action is to be preferred. The aim should be to restore the social organ- isms which are capable of preventing destitution, to create em- ployment bureaus which will reduce idleness to a minimum, to build airy and sanitary dwellings in which the plague of tu- berculosis will not find easy lodging, to organize industry so that injustice will not prevail, to Christianize manners and thought, to combat irreligion, intemperance and vice. The mission is twofold : it embraces spiritual influence and temporal reform. The errors to be combated, in the realm of economic ideas, are Socialism and Liberalism (/. c, economic laissez-faire) , — '' the two poles of contemporary social error." These doc- trines, says the director of the Actic-n Populairc, rest upon a pagan materialism repugnant to Christianity. Socialism rep- resents numbers ; Liberalism, wealth ; neither, justice. Social- ism on the one hand, and individualistic " plutocracy " on the other hand, " both aspiring to tyranny, would condemn man- kind either to the despotism of numbers or to the despotism of wealth." Either of these alternatives would be " brutal and materialistic." Liberalism (or economic laisscc-fairc) refused to permit the state or the guild to protect the workingman against pitiless CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 333 exploitation. By its excesses it gave birth to revolutionary Socialism. Both errors, Abbe Desbuquois believes, have misled many Catholics. Liberalism, for its part, has induced many to re- gard economic laws as something apart from morality and to forget the fact that labor is a human activity, not a merchan- dise. Contrary to the opinion of Liberal economists, economic laws are in truth human laws, rather than physical laws, and as human laws they must be based upon morality. Hence, political economy, rightly conceived, should become a moral science, conditioned in part by material conditions but rising above and dominating them. In a direction contrary to Liberal- ism, many sociologists have rushed to the opposite extreme, ignoring the material basis of economic science, and pursuing will-o'-the-wisp Utopias. Error lies in either extreme, truth in the balanced consideration of both material facts and moral laws. Similarly, the exaggeration of either liberty or equality as a philosophical concept leads to social error. Liberalism's fundamental defect is that it exaggerates individual liberty to the point of destroying all real equality. Socialism, on the contrary, exaggerates equality to the destruction of all liberty. Christian sociology seeks a middle course, assigning to both liberty and equality their proper values, because it posits the twofold nature of man, social and individual. As an indi- vidual being, man has certain imprescriptible rights, — above all, the right to the pursuit of happiness, i. e., salvation. This right implies an inalienable liberty, in which all men are born equal. On the other hand, as social beings, men have reciprocal and unequal rights and duties, and are subject to social laws. They play different roles in the family, in the commune, in the church, in the association, in the state. The child has neither the same rights nor the same duties as the parent: to treat them as equals is absurd. Human beings are unequal in strength, in wisdom, in wealth, in age, in sex, in social re- sponsibilities. Christian sociology recognizes such social in- equality and its corollary: the necessity of social laws. 334 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Having disposed of opposing social philosophies in this man- ner, Abbe Desbuquois proceeds to explain his constructive program in detail. The organization of labor is the first point considered. The principle of unionism or association in industry, he re- minds us, had been emphatically declared by Leo XIII and Pius X as a major remedy for the evils of anarchic industry, but the precise form which the principle of association was to take, — whether in labor unions, parallel unions of employers and working^en, mixed unions, or cooperative unions, — had not been specified. Catholics were therefore free to favor different forms of labor organization. Abbe Desbuquois himself considered mixed trade unions of capital and labor an unpractical ideal, popular as it had form- erly been with Count Albert de Mun and other Social Catholics a generation ago. A more practical scheme was the formation of separate or parallel employers' unions and labor unions, and the establishment of joint boards, representative of both unions, harmonizing the interests of capital and labor. Such '■ guilds " or inter-unions, if we may use the word, of capital and labor, would form great federations or " labor corps " uniting all persons engaged in each of the general categories of economic employments — industry, agriculture, commerce, the liberal professions. The proper name for such a system of guild organization, observes Abbe Desbuquois, would be " syndicalism," had not a false, revolutionary meaning been attached to that term."" In opposition to many advocates of the guild system. Abbe Desbuquois does not believe that membership in the trade unions should be rnade compulsory by law, or that the trade unions should have the right to enforce the " closed shop " and to impose regulations upon organized workers. Such rights, he fears, would injure the guild movement in two ways: first, they would arouse antagonism, since the trade unions at present embrace only a small minority of the workers and are unrepresentative of the majority; second, they would make the trade unions too much the creatures of the government. CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 335 dependent upon state support and subject to political control, whereas their true mission is to serve as autonomous social organizations, as bulwarks -against state socialism. Ultimately they should take over the functions of industrial regulation and insurance, but as autonomous private organizations, rather than as shadows of a socialistic state. With this goal in mind, the trade unions must be encouraged, consulted, fostered. Gradually they will become more representative, less revolu- tionary. A kind of customary law for industry will grow up under their influence. The process must be slow and organic rather than abrupt and despotic. In this, as in all social mat- ters, liberty and authority must be harmonized and balanced. Social legislation constitutes the second important element of constructive social reform. After a preliminary observa- tion that most civiHzed states have found social legislation necessary, Abbe Desbuquois discusses the attitude of the vari- ous schools of thought on this question. His classification of the " non-interventionist," "ultra-interventionist," and " in- terventionist " doctrines is not without interest. Among the " non-interventionists," i. e., the opponents of la- bor legislation, he includes the famous " Manchester School " of Liberal political economy, and the contemporary Liberal school represented by economists like Yves Guyot. The latter, in an opportunist spirit, make practical concessions to the demand for social legislation, but cling in principle to the ideal of economic liberty. With them belongs also a group of Catholic sociologists, who resemble the Liberals in their distrust of the state and their concern for liberty, and who tend to draw closer to the classical or Liberal political economy. The " ultra-interventionists " are, of course, the Socialists, ranging from revolutionary Marxian collectivism to the state socialism and reformism of Millerand, Viviani Briand, Benoit- Malon, Fourniere, Delville. Revolutionary syndicalism, bom of Marxism, belongs with this group historically, but aims to substitute itself for the state. The " interventionist " group includes several schools. The Social Catholic school is interventionist in that it asks the state 336 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT to promote public welfare, but it assigns to state intervention only a " secondary role," and regards the organization of in- dustry as the principal reform. The " Democratic " school is more individualist; it demands intervention in the interest of the individual rather than of society or of social organisms. The " Solidarist " school borrows from biology and sociology the principle of union for preservation of life, the idea of social solidarity; it asks the State to cooperate in protecting public interests, to remove obstacles impeding free association, to repress abuses, to impose on all the duties of providence and solidarity. Finally, the " Eclectic " school deems that the State should protect the weak, in the general interest. In the opinion of the Social Catholics the non-intervention- ist and ultra-interventionist positions are equally false. The state should be neither a policeman whose sole duty is to pro- tect private rights, nor an omnipotent source of all rights. It should, in the opinion of the Social Catholics, (i) protect in- dividual rights, and (2) promote pubhc welfare, not by sub- stituting itself for private authority, for the trade union, for the family, but by fostering and supplementing the activity of private individuals and social organisms. It should give ju- ridical force to moral obligations. This is not a " vague compromise between socialism and liberalism " ; it is not a bastard system. If it pursues a mid- dle course, declares Abbe Desbuquois, it is because the truth habitually lies between contradictory errors. Social Catholic interventionism is an organic doctrine based on the very nature of society and of the state. Nor is it an a priori doctrine, as was the Liberalism of Ricardo or the Socialism of Marx. It is based upon historical study and economic observation as well as upon deductive reasoning. In this respect, it is much sounder than its rivals. The Marxian thesis of the concen- tration of capital is not borne out by facts ; Abbe Desbuquois observes that certain industries, to be sure, are concentrat- ing, but that small industries still subsist, in which small enterprises are the rule, and that in agriculture the number of small holdings is increasing in 52 departments of France. CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 337 Liberalism is no less at variance with the facts when it asserts that economic liberty is the best assurance of social peace and progress ; the facts prove quite the contrary. Elaborating further the Social Catholic theory of interven- tion, Abbe Desbuquois sets limits to state action. The state should not assume functions which can be discharged equally well or better by private organization; for example, the state should leave the administration of social insurance to private associations. Moreover, the State is not as well fitted as the guilds or the industrial unions to draft detailed regulations for industry. In general, his reply to the ultra-interventionists is that modern society is suffering from excessive state inter- vention, prejudicial to individual liberty and to freedom of association. On the other hand, as against the non-interventionists, he as- serts that the state is obliged, — by its very raison d'etre, — to protect public welfare by ensuring justice, repressing abuses, eliminating dangers. The right of private property and the freedom of labor are conditioned by man's individual right to existence and by man's social character. Thus, one indi- vidual's rights to property, or to labor, may be limited by the right of other individuals to existence. The rights of the strongest and richest may be limited, to increase the rights of the weak and the poor ; the result will be increased general welfare in which all will share. The state is bound to make sure that workingmen are not condemned to excessive labor; that they enjoy leisure on Sundays ; that women, and above all, children are not employed to their detriment. Abbe Desbuquois is con- vinced that this conception of social legislation is in harmony with papal doctrine. Much remains to be done in France, he points out, in the field of social legislation. In the sanction of the Sunday holi- day, the limitation of the working day, the protection of women and children, the formulation of a " charter " for the guild system, the organization of social insurance, and the protection of workingmen's savings, French legislation is woe- fully incomplete and imperfect. But under the influence of 338 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the Socialists and Radicals, the state, instead of completing its proper task, is arrogating to itself functions to which it has no right and is assuming administration of enterprises which properly belong to private organizations. Government owner- ship of economic enterprises is necessary in certain cases, but it is always a danger, because the state has such power over its employees; against the danger, a genuine civil service re- form might be some safeguard. As he arrives at his conclusion. Abbe Desbuquois grows eloquent. We are living, he writes, in an age of enormous possibilities. It is an age when new inventions are continually revolutionizing industry. Who can foresee the effects of the single fact of aerial navigation? Moreover, the laboring class is restless, stirring uneasily with the force of new ideas, dream- ing of international proletarian uprisings. International finance, at the opposite extreme of the social scale, is more powerful than ever before; it pulls the strings of diplomacy; it decides war and peace. Startling developments of industry, proletarian insurrections, devastating capitalistic wars are not " chimerical " perils.'"*^ In the face of these eventualities, the social order seems to require " a stronger authority, a more extensive right of surveil- lance and control, a right of prompt and sure repression." Consequently, " revolutionary tradition," hoping to legitimize and prolong '' a century of encroachments and oppression," exalts the state as the unique authority, the source of all au- thority. In this, revolutionary tradition gravely errs. Granted that the state is the supreme organ of law and justice in society, granted that it is the promoter of public prosperity, nevertheless it should utilize for the accomphshment of its mission such social authorities as are independent by origin. Its imperious social duty will be all the more difficult to perform if the state persists in laying its own hand — often clumsy and heavy — directly upon the delicate and intricate fabric of society and industry. It will therefore be an historic moment when the state, conscious of this peril, decides to recognize the authority of social institutions such as the commune and CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 339 the province and trade organizations and associations, — when it authenticates the statutes or customs, the privileges, which will enable these organizations to become stabilizing institu- tions, endowed with limited but certain powers, alleviating the burden of the central government, touching the springs of national life with a delicacy of which the state itself is in- capable, and adapting themselves infinitely better than the state to the complexity of a society in which everything is in- terrelated and interdependent. There need be no fear lest the state's supreme authority be impaired ; for, free and autonomous as the various minor social organisms may be in their proper spheres, they will still be subjected, in so far as national in- terests are concerned, to national surveillance. As equilibrating and stabilizing elements, coming between the state and the individual, trade unions, guilds, and profes- sional organizations are especially to be favored, fostered, and developed. Such institutions will protect society against the tyranny of the state, on the one hand, and against the peril of anarchic individualism on the other hand. Nor is this their only merit. They are peculiarly fitted to develop social leader- ship, to train the " elites " so sorely needed in modern life. Facing these grave and complicated problems. Abbe Desbu- quois concludes, the Social Catholics rely confidently upon the inspiration of the Church, and are firm' in the conviction that, in measure as they succeed in realizing the Social Catholic program, the state will become the instrument of justice with- out becoming, by excessive intervention, the embodiment of a new tyranny. Such are the aims and the principles of the Action Populaire. The remark may be added that the organization seems to have been particularly successful in winning the approbation not only of Social Catholic leaders, but also of the higher clergy in France and of the Holy See.^"^^ The Semaines Sociales "*' If the Action Populaire of Rheims may be styled the central office of the Social Catholic Movement, the " Social Weeks " 340 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT or Scimiines sociales might well be called the national con- gresses of the movement. For it is in the Scinaiiies sociales that leading Social Catholics of all shades and parties, repre- senting all regions of France, annually foregather for the dis- cussion of social problems. These assemblies have become so important that even anticlerical Socialists and Syndicalists recognize them as impressive manifestations of the numerical strength and intellectual vigor of the movement."*" Every- body knows what the Scmaines sociales are, says £tienne Lamy."*° In the words of a contributor to the Revue hebdo- inadaire, Today, all courses and all classic works treating of economic doctrines give a large space to the study of Social Catholicism. And all signalize the " Semaines sociales" as the most character- istic and most notably scientific manifestation of this sociological school.!""" The institution is not peculiar to France. The German Social Catholics under Hitze's leadership had organized social study courses and conferences at Miinchen-Gladbach and at other places since the 'nineties. The Belgians held their first " agricultural week " in 1905, and their first " labor week" in 1908. Holland inaugurated a " social week " at Utrecht in 1906. Spain and Italy followed the example in 1907. The Poles inaugurated similar conventions at \\'arsaw, Przemysl, and Posen — that is, in each of the three sundered fragments of Poland — in the same year. The Lithuanian Roman Catholics held their iirst " social week " at Kovno, in January, 1909. Luxemburg, Switzerland, Austria, and other countries de- veloped similar institutions. Even Latin America adopted the idea in 191 J, when Uruguay convened the first " social week" of South America. The " social week " is now almost uni- versal in Catholic countries, and the more important of these congresses are usually attended by numerous foreign delegates, so that the movement is at once national and international in character.""' The Sciuauw sociale of France was originated in 1904 by the CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 341 joint efforts of a group of enthusiastic young Social Catholics belonging to the " Federation of the South-East," a regional organization of study-groups whose organ was the Chronique sociale de France, and of the Social Catholic Study Union which had been formed in 1902 under the chairmanship of Henri Lorin — one of the leaders trained up in the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs under the influence of Count Albert de Mun and the Marquis de La Tour du Pin. The Semaines sociales, therefore, represented a continuation of the movement inaugurated by de Mun and La Tour du Pin.^"*^ The purpose which the founders of Semaines sociales had in mind was explained by Henri Lorin. As practical Catholics, he said, they wished to recognize clearly the implications of Catholic doctrine from a social point of view. They wished the " requirements of justice, as implied in the affirmations " of their faith, to be realized in the details of social relation- ships. Furthermore, he added, We desire to discover in the doctrines which attempt to solve the social question virhatever unconsciously Catholic and, therefore, profoundly true elements they may possess, and we wish to give to the men who thus unwittingly participate in the ideas which are ours, knowledge of their aifinity with the Christian conception, knowledge of the extent to which they have borrowed from it and of the agreements into which logic should guide them.i"*^ The Semaine sociale, as its founders conceived it, was to be a sort of migratory popular university for social research. In one city after another, year by year, it would enable the leading Catholic experts on social and economic questions to instruct serious students as well as large popular audiences, in short one-week courses. At Lyons in 1904 the first Semaine sociale was attended by 231 French laymen, 222 French priests, and 19 foreigners. The bulk of the assembly merely attended the popular lectures, but a hundred or so more earnest students attended the conference courses religiously and took copious notes, as one might do at any university. The next year, at Orleans, seven or eight 342 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT hundred persons attended. At Dijon, in 1906, a still larger crowd — about 1200 — was attracted. At Amiens, in 1907, there were about 1400. At Marseilles, in 1908, at Bordeaux in 1909, at Rouen, in 1910, at Saint-Etienne in 191 1, at Limoges in 1912, at Versailles in 1913, the " social week " continued to draw the same large attendances. Some 1500 persons visited the Scmainc at Versailles, — the largest of all, — including 24 delegates from Belgium and smaller delegations from Algeria, Germany, Brazil, Canada, England, Spain, Italy, Holland, Ar- gentine, Switzerland. ^°°'' During the war, the Scniaines were suspended; in 1919, however, a Scmainc was held at Metz. To attend as a student at one of the Sciitaiiics sociales, says Abbe Charles Calippe, is no " sinecure." From eight o'clock in the morning until eleven at night, the student " has hardly time to breathe." In the morning, he attends two lecture- courses, each lasting an hour and a half ; after lunch, he is taken to visit neighboring factories, cooperative societies, trade unions, or workingmen's gardens ; late in the afternoon, there is another lecture-course; and, finally, in the evening there is a general lecture, open to a more popular audience as well as to the real students. '°°^ Representatives of all social classes, — excepting only the socially inert, — attend the Semaincs. Professors, lawyers, journalists, and engfineers, representing the intellectual bour- geoisie, rub shoulders with ordinary workingmen and with aris- tocratic landed proprietors. Many, if not most, represent some active social interest: they are chairmen of study clubs or of young men's associations, organizers of trade unions or of mutual-aid societies, founders of workingmen's gardens, or writers on social questions. Particularly important, consider- ing the future development of the movement, is the large at- tendance of the clergy. The Semaincs are usually held under the patronage of the local bishop or archbishop, and receive many encouragements from the episcopacy. Every year several hundred of the clergy attend ; sometimes there are five or six hundred. By the Scmaine socialc the clergy are kept in touch with lay experts on social legislation, with lay economists and CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 343 sociologists, as well as with priests, like Abbe Antoine, Abbe Calippe, Abbe Sertillanges, and Father Rutten, who are leaders in social action and social theory. Thus the clergy are kept abreast of new developments in social reform and in economic doctrine, and return to their parishes inspired with ideas, which they can hardly avoid trans- mitting to their parishioners. They act as a leaven, which has not yet thoroughly permeated the Catholic masses, but is bound to have a very wide influence, and will in all probability pro- duce — in the course of time — a substantial unity of social doctrine among French Catholics. Another factor which may tend to promote such unity is the care with which the speakers at the Semaines sociales are chosen so as to represent not only the main body of Social Catholic thought, but also more or less divergent wings of the movement. For example, Urbain Guerin and Georges Blondel, eminent economists belonging to the Reforme sociale or Le Play school, represent the right wing, more conservative than the school of de Mun. Max Turmann, professor at the Cath- olic University of Fribourg, member of the French academy, and author of a book on the development of Social Catholicism, is one of the representatives of the left wing, which shades into the Christian Democratic movement, more radical than de Mun's school in its attitude toward democracy and social legis- lation. Abbe Lemire, father of the " workingmen's gardens " and one of the most prominent and radical political representa- tives of Christian Democracy, was among the speakers at one of the Semaines (1905) ; if he was omitted from the program of later years, possibly it was because he got into difficulties with his ecclesiastical superiors. To name the lecturers at the Semaines sociales would be almost the same as giving a list of the leading Social Catholics of France (and Belgium). To those already mentioned, should be added, — and even then the list is by no means com- plete, — the names of Abbe Desbuquois, director of the Action Populaire; Joseph Zamanski, joint editor of Le Mouvement social and a member of the secretariat social of Paris; Raoul 344 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Jay, professor in the faculty of law of the University of Paris, member of the Superior Council of Labor, secretary of the French Association for the Legal Protection of the Working- man, and an eminent authority on social legislation ; Jean Brunhes, founder of the French Social League of Consumers, and professor at the Catholic University of Fribourg; fitienne Alartin-Saint-Leon, librarian of the Alusee social and historian of the guild movement ; Eugene Duthoit, professor of political economy at the University of Lille, and one of the " masters " of French Social Catholic theory; Professor Boissard, likewise of Lille ; Professor Chenon, of the Paris Faculty of Law ; Abbe Antoine, formerly professor at Angers, one of the foremost students of the theological principles involved in social ques- tions ; Charles Broutin, a common laborer — a " fitter " — active in the Christian labor movement in northern France ; Abbe Ca- lippe, professor at the theological seminary of Amiens, and author of several works on the Social Catholic movement ; Abbe Scrtillanges, one of the greatest preachers of Paris, and pro- fessor at the Catholic Institute; Maurice Deslandres, of the University of Dijon, vice-president of the Social League of Consumers ; Moysset, editor of the Rcviic des Deux Mondes; fitienne Lamy, editor of Le Corrcspondant. The number of professors is worth noting; it means that in the Catholic Uni- versities the social doctrines of the Seiiiai)ics sociales are being imparted to the rising generation of Catholic intellectuals. Among the foreigners who speak at the French Sonaines sociales, Belgian Social Catholics are the most numerous. Car- ton de W'iart, Belgian premier during the Great War of 1914. was one of the speakers at the Scmainc of 1910. Mgr. De- ploige, rector of the In-stitut dc philosophic of Louvain, deliv- ered a lecture at the Soiiainc of 1913, criticizing the theories of Durkheim, the great Belgian sociologist. Most interesting of all is Pere Rutten, a Dominican, who out of sympathy for the proletariat exchanged his white friar's habit for the miner's smutty frock, lived the toilsome life of a day-laborer, and eventually became the active leader of a hundred thousand Catholic trade-unionists in Belgium. CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 345 In scope and tendency the deliberations of the Semaines so- ciales closely resemble the Guide social or the Annee sociale Internationale of the Action Populaire. Above all, they are concerned with the development of industrial organization or unionism, social legislation, the protection of family Hfe, the popularization of Christian conceptions of the dignity of labor, of social justice, of social responsibilities. The predominant tendency of the Semaines sociales has been favorable to democratic social politics. The studies pursued in the annual conferences, says fitienne Lamy, have prepared even " those Catholics who are most distrustful of the state " to recognize the necessity of labor legislation, such as measures against child labor, restriction of the employment of women, protection of the Sunday holiday. It was only natural that many Catholics should distrust state intervention in economic questions, since state intervention in religious questions had been so hostile and illiberal toward the Church. " It was by becoming atheist that the state became anti-social." Neverthe- less, the idea of the social duties of the state had triumphed, and the Social Catholics in the Semaines sociales had even approved in principle certain of the reforms proposed by the Socialists. However, unlike the Socialists, the Catholics de- sired to increase the autonomy and authority of industrial or- ganizations, rather than to centralize all the functions of social supervision in the national government.^"^^ Lamy's statement that the Semaines sociales had converted even the most anti-interventionist Catholics to the cause of social legislation is probably an exaggeration. Certain it is, at any rate, that from the more conservative wing protests arose against the too radical spirit of the congresses. For example, in La Reforme sociale, the organ of Le Play's disciples, we find an article by Eugene Rostand, a Catholic and former president of the Society of Social Economy, rebuking the socialistic tendencies manifested by the " young Catholics " in the Semaine sociale of Bordeaux (1909). Prefacing his rebuke with an expression of sympathy for the generous intentions of the younger Social Catholics, Rostand endeavored " to put these 346 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT sincere and ardent spirits on their guard against an orientation which is false in itself and dangerous to the cause to which they are devoted." There was an alarming drift, he asserted, towards " interventionism and state socialism." Catholics who denounced capitalism were playing into the hands of the Social- ists and Syndicalists. To apply Christ's social teachings and moral maxims to modern society, as the radical Social Catholics were doing, was to commit a grievous fallacy. Moreover, — and here Rostand proceeds to use the very method of argu- ment he has just condemned, — Jesus sanctioned inequality among men as well as the right of property. Cathohcs, he concluded, should beware of social legislation, although excep- tions might be made in favor of legislation to enforce the Sunday holiday, encourage thrift, protect women and children, combat alcoholism, and foster the acquisition of homes by workingmen.^'"' The Scinaiiics socialcs, we may conclude, are far from pro- ducing, at present, any genuine unanimity among the various Catholic groups interested in social reform. The conservatives still attack the radicals. But the fact that all take part in the discussions, and in an amicable spirit, is perliaps a circum- stance favorable to the increase of harmony, and to the further spread of the strongly positive doctrine of the genuine Social Catholics. Even though among conservative economists op- position to that doctrine may continue to be encountered, the fact is indisputable that the Scmaincs are rapidly popularizing among the Catholic clergy and laity, and above all among the intellectuals of the rising generation, a constructive conception of social reform. And this service is the more significant because the purpose of the instruction at the Scmaincs is to equip Catholic leaders not merely with general theories and principles, but also with specific knowledge and practical infor- mation, to the end that they may be prepared for practical service in behalf of labor reform and social welfare. This purpose explains the brief but expressive phrase chosen as the motto of the Scmaincs sociales: "Science for Action," — "La Science pour I' Action." CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 347 The Young Men's Catholic Association The French Young Men's Catholic Association (the A. C. J. F. or Association Catholique de la Jeunesse Frangaise), another important organization participating in the contem- porary Social Catholic movement, serves in some sort as a recruiting bureau for the Popular Liberal Party, the Action Populuire, and the Semaines sociales. It contributes the en- thusiasm and the progressive spirit of youth to the social move- ment. , It was precisely for this role that the A. C. J. F. was founded, in 1886, by Count Albert de Mun, as an offshoot of or rather as a preparatory school for the Association of Catholic Work- ingmen's Clubs. The A. C. J. F. is therefore a lineal descend- ant of the Workingmen's Clubs Association, which is universally acknowledged as the parent organization of the contemporary Social Catholic Movement in France. In March of 1886, Robert de Roquefeuil and five other young men gathered at the Paris office of the workingmen's clubs. Count Albert de Mun, father of the workingmen's clubs, there addressed them, describing his dream of a great army of young men, organized in local groups, united by a central com- mittee, devoted to the mission of reforming society in accord- ance with Christian principles. Inspired by the veteran lead- er's enthusiasm, the six youths then and there formed the Association Catholique de la Jeunesse Frangaise, a national association with six members.^"'* Enthusiasm was theirs if nothing more. And enthusiasm soon bore fruit. In the short space of fourteen months the association of six members had become a federation of twenty local groups, embracing a thousand members. The first general convention, held in May, 1887, at Angers, received the valuable encouragement of Mgr. Freppel, the local bishop. The sec- ond general assembly, at Paris, in June, 1889, was patronized by Cardinal Richard and by Leon Harmel, the wealthy manu- facturer who had organized his textile mills on the guild model. The third convention, at Lyons, in April, 1891, represented 348 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT sixty groups. In June of that year the A. C. J. F. was power- ful enough to organize a meeting of 8,000 young men at Notre Dame; in September, to organize a pilgrimage of 1,500 to Rome, where the tricolor flag of the Association was blessed by the pope. Year by year the Association grew in numbers and its general conventions gained in importance. At the con- vention of BesanQon, for example, in 1898, the list of speakers included the most brilliant intellectual and political leaders of Catholic France : Count Albert de Mun, deputy and orator, Leon Harmel, apostle of the guild idea and leader of the Chris- tian Democrats, Abbe Lemire, initiator of the workingmen's gardens movement and one of the most active advocates of .■^ocial reform to be found in the Chamber of Deputies, Brune- tiere, a convert to Catholicism from positivism whose literary genius had won him an international reputation, and Social Catholic writers such as Georges Goyau, Fonsegrive, and Sava- tier. At the time of its convention at Chalon-sur-Saone, May, 1903, the Association comprised 631 groups and about 30,000 members. Less than a year later, the number of local groups had increased to 850. Thus the Association continued to ex- pand.'"" Thanks to the large autonomy which they enjoy, the local branches have developed a remarkable diversity of character. There are rural groups and urban groups. Some are simply study clubs, others are very active in social welfare work, in the charities of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, in forming rural credit societies, in founding trade-unions, in social secre- tariats. Some groups are composed of young aristocrats and bourgeois, others of peasants, others of young laborers, others of clerks, others of college students. The original type was essentially bourgeois. Its members were young men of the middle and upper classes, just finishing their collegiate work, or entering the professions, who gathered regularly for the dis- cussion of science, literature, art, philosophy, religion, — of everything except politics, — but, above all, of social questions. Since 1891, and more especially since 1902, the association has taken on a less bourgeois character, and made rapid headway CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 349 among the peasants and also among the laborers, especially, in the latter category, among the miners and metallurgical work- ers. At about the close of the year 1903, it was calculated that the farmers' groups represented 45 per cent., the laborers' groups 35 percent., and the others (clerks, students, bourgeois) 20 per cent, of the total.^""^ From its birth, the A. C. J. F. was in the truest sense of the word a child of the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, that enterprise in which Count Albert de Mun and Marquis de La Tour du Pin, with their associates and dis- ciples, had constituted the original nucleus of the contemporary French Social Catholic Movement. Alexandre Souriac, vice- president of the A. C. J. F., writing in the year 19 13, gave the clearest possible proof that the A. C. J. F. continues to regard itself, — in his words, — as the " daughter of the Association of Clubs." "" Count Albert de Mun, for his part, wrote in 1903 that the A. C. J. F. was founded " in close agreement with the principles and ideas of the Association of Catholic Working- men's Clubs." ^°'* De Mun, it may be remarked, took a pater- nal interest in the younger organization; he was the most welcome of all orators at its conventions and banquets, and when his ill health forbade him to speak on such an occasion, he sent a long letter to be read in lieu of an address.^"'® The social ideas of the A. C. J. F. are the ideas of the Social Catholic movement with which the reader is already familiar. Alexandre Souriac, as spokesman of the association, in 1913, contributed an article to the Reforme sociale, summarizing these ideas under three general headings. In the first place, comes the family, the primary unit of society. The A. C. J. F. advo- cates a series of reforms, such as the legal interdiction of night- work, the legal enforcement of the Sunday holiday, the repre- sentation of family interests in municipal councils, and legisla- tion enabling each family to acquire an inalienable " family patrimony," and other measures calculated to promote family life and to prevent the destruction of the workingman's home by economic causes. In the second place, the A. C. J. F. believes in the scheme of 3S0 The social catholic MOVEMENT industrial unionism, — the interorganization of labor and capi- tal, — advocated by de Mun and other Social Catholics. The first step in this direction is the creation of trade unions (only a minority of the French workingmen are unionized, one should remember), and so far as possible the establishment of mixed boards or other organizations bringing capital and labor to- gether. The government should foster the movement toward trade organization and should recognize the unions as the rep- resentatives of trade interests. The final step is the extension of the role of the trade organizations to include such matters as prevention of unemployment, provision of old-age pensions, management of social insurance, regulation of Shop conditions and hours of labor, determination of wages. Thirdly, as regards the political aspect of social reform, the A. C. J. F. favors much the same program as the Popular Liberal Party : social legislation, increasing recognition of or- ganized economic interests, decentralization, etc. Religious policy is regarded as having an important connection with social policy, because the A. C. J. F. considers Christian prin- ciples such as charity, fraternity, class conciliation, social justice, and obedience to authority as indispensable bases of social reform. It is declared, therefore, that the state should adopt an attitude friendly rather than hostile to the Church. ^'""' It was remarked, at the beginning of this section, that the A. C. J. F. served as a recruiting bureau for the Action Popu- laire, the Sentaiues sociales, and the Popular Liberal Party. By way of conclusion, it may not be inappropriate to return to this assertion, for it explains the chief significance of the organization. A few illustrations will serve to bring out the point more forcibly. One of the most valuable members of the staff of the Action Populairc is Joseph Zamanski, who, with the collaboration of Abbe Desbuquois (director of the Action Populaire) edits the most important organ of that organization and of the French Social Catholic movement, — Le Mouvem^nt social. This brilliant young sociologist served his apprentice- ship in the A. C. J. F. ; he was a member of its executive com- mittee at one time. One of the incidents of his career in the CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 351 A. C. J. F. will bear repetition. At a time when the apaches had taken a fancy to invade the Paris churches in ruffianly fashion, Zamanski with other members of the A. C. J. F. fought off the invaders and came away bleeding and bedraggled, but victorious.^""^ Zamanski serves likewise as a link between the A. C. J. F. and the Semaines sociales, for he has been a prominent lecturer in the more recent sessions of the Semaines. At the Semaine of 191 1 he delivered lectures on " How to realize justice in the wage-contract " and on " Labor legislation in France " ; at the Semaine of 1912 he lectured on " the employment of women " ; at the Semaine of 1913, on "the responsibility of labor." ^""^ Jean Lerolle, at one time president of the A. C. J. F., is another personal link with the Semaines sociales. In 1910 he discussed the employment of children at night; in 191 1, "the question of labor"; in 1912, "the family and the problem of pensions " ; in 1913, " the legal protection of children." ^"'^ To the Popular Liberal Party also, the A. C. J. F. has con- tributed energetic and able recruits. Jean Lerolle, whose name has just been mentioned, became in 1912 a member of the par- liamentary group of that party, as deputy from the 7th arron- dissement of Paris. Henri Bazire, who preceded Lerolle as president of the A. C. J. F., took an active part in the national conventions of the Popular Liberal Party, and became a mem- ber of the executive committee of the party.^"" Alexandre Souriac, another officer of the A. C. J. F., was selected to pre- pare very important reports for the party conventions of 1906 and 1907."°' With the Popular Liberal Party, in fact, the relations of the A. C. J. F. have been extremely cordial. Count Albert de Mun, to whose inspiration the foundation of the A. C. J. F. was due, took so active an interest in the Popular Liberal Party, of which he was vice-president, that he urged the former associa- tion to aid the latter. The Popular Liberal Party, he told the A. C. J. F., aimed to unite all those " who sincerely wished to give satisfaction, by means of honestly prepared reforms, to the legitimate demands of the workingmen, and to aid 352 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT them to shake off, by the strength of trade organization, the yoke of Socialist trade unions." Such a program, he declared, agreed with the fundamental principles of the A. C. J. F., and deserved the latter's enthusiastic support.^""" Jacques Piou, president of the Popular Liberal Party, was invited to address the convention of the A. C. J. F. at Chalon-sur-Saone, May lo, 1903 ; the frantic applause with which the convention approved his stirring appeal for aid in the struggle which his party was waging left room for no doubt that the A. C. J. F. could be "ounted upon to give the party the most ardent support.^*"" CHAPTER XI DISSIDENT GROUPS Considered collectively, the Association of Catholic Work- ingmen's Clubs, the Popular Liberal Party, the Action Popu- laire, the Semaines sociales, and the Young Men's Catholic Association might be considered as representing what has been called the " Social Catholic School." Theirs is a fairly clear- cut and distinctly original program of social politics, a pro- gram offering three converging methods for the solution of the modern labor problem, namely, first, social legislation to pro- tect the workingman against the abuses of the modern indus- trial system and to foster industrial organization; second, the unionization of labor and the inter-organization of labor and capital on something resembling the guild plan, to the end that ultimately the organized trades may take over from the state, in large part, the duties of labor legislation and social insur- ance; third, Christian moral action to strengthen the spirit of charity, justice, fraternity, as opposed to avarice and social indifference on the part of capitalists and materialism and violence on the part of the proletariat. Now the distinguishing feature of the Social Catholic School is that while asserting most vigorously both the need of social legislation and the need of trade organization, it fits the two into a balanced scheme of society compatible with the main- tenance of private property and a considerable measure of in- dividual Hberty. But it is very easy by overemphasizing one element of this program to neglect the others and destroy the equilibrium. By stressing the need of social legislation, that is, of state intervention, one arrives at state socialism pure and simple. By exaggerating the case for trade organization, one passes over to revolutionary syndicalism. By exalting pri- .35.3 354 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT vate property and liberty one may return to economic Liberal- ism or laissec-faire individualism. The so-called " Social Catholic " organizations which in- herit the spirit of Count Albert de Mun, maintain the nice equilibrium between the three ideas, and yet put much stress on all. Of these organizations we have completed our survey. It now remains to glance at some of the groups which have felt the influence of the Social Catholic school, but differ from that school because they do not maintain the balance between its three principles. Such a survey of what might be styled — in no derogatory sense — the " heretical " schools, is an essen- tial part of this study, for otherwise it would be impossible to comprehend either the difficulties with which the Social Cath- olic movement is confronted or the full measure of the move- ment's influence. The " Social Reform " School The " Social Reform " School is one of the conservative Catholic groups which tends to diverge from the Social Cath- olic doctrine on the issue of social legislation. The group, as a whole, is more timid than are the genuine Social Catholics in asserting the necessity of state intervention in labor ques- tions. Hence, by a logical connection of ideas, the thesis of trade organization is also weakened, because the group is un- willing that the state should make such organization in any sense compulsory. Moral action, therefore, becomes the prin- cipal factor in social reform, and the rights of property and liberty are exalted. The divergency, however, is not so wide as to set an impassable gulf between the " Social Reform " School and the Social Catholic School ; on the contrary, the two schools are very cordially and intimately associated and the influence of the latter is so strongly felt in the former that a future complete agreement is not at all beyond the range of probability. Historically, the " Social Reform " and the Social Catholic schools are closely related. The former was founded by Le Play, the eminent Catholic conservative sociologist of the Sec- DISSIDENT GROUPS 355 ond Empire,^""' and embraces his most faithful disciples. The latter, as the reader will doubtless remember, was at the outset merely an enterprise of popular propaganda, without a distinct doctrine of its own, and much under the influence of Le Play, whom it venerated as the greatest French master of Catholic social economy. The Social Catholic School, in its early years, regarded itself not as a rival or an opponent of the " Social Reform " School, but as a co-worker, primarily concerned with practical action among the masses, while the " Social Reform " School was more concerned with the study of economic phe- nomena and with a more scholarly kind of propaganda. It was only as the Social Catholics, with the progress of their activity, gradually developed a doctrine of their own, that the two schools began to diverge.^"^'' At the present time, the " Social Reform " School, as we have designated it, is represented by the Society of Social Economy {La Societe d'&conomie Sociale) -and the Unions of Social Peace (Unions de la Paix Sociale). The former is a learned society founded by Le Play, in 1856, for the scientific study of social institutions by the method of minute comparative obser- vation, particularly observation of typical families, — a method which he had introduced. The Society holds annual assem- blies and conducts deliberative sessions every winter. True to the spirit of its founder, it is interested in encouraging the inductive or empirical method of sociology, and in questions of social reform. It is essentially a learned body, without a definite practical program of social reform; but its studies tend to foster interest in social problems and their proposed solutions. Its president, in 1914, was Paul Nourrisson, a law- yer; its secretary-general, F. Lepelletier, professor of political economy in the Faculte libre de droit de Paris. Among its vice-presidents, we find Georges Blondel, professor at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques, who is already familiar to us as a lecturer at the Semaines sociales. On the council were men like Bechanx, honorary professor of political economy at Lille, Brants, professor of political economy at Louvain, Hubert- Valleroux, a lawyer, Honore, manager of the big department 356 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT store of the Louvre, Paul Bourget, and Martin-Saint-Leon, historian of the guilds and lecturer at the Semaines sociales. Glancing through the list of members, one comes, perhaps with some surprise, to the name of Jacques Piou, president of the Popular Liberal Party. That the leader of a party with so radical a program of social legislation should belong to the Society is not, on second thought, astonishing. The Society, it must be remembered, is primarily a learned body rather than a propagandist organization with a definite program.^"'" The Unions of Social Peace, on the other hand, were dis- tinctly propagandist. They were founded by Le Play in 1872, in the midst of the reaction against the Commune and against socialism, — a reaction which they endeavored to strengthen. Their purpose to this day remains much the same: to conduct profiaganda against revolutionary social doctrines, to preach social conciliation, moral regeneration, and social peace. They strive to propagate and put into practice the doctrines which the School of Social Peace deduces from the methodical study of facts. Dis- carding all irritating polemic, they appeal, irrespective of parties, to all men of good faith who desire to assure the respect of the law of God and the reign of social peace. It is by the experience of the -past and the study of the present that the Unions strive to illuminate the essential conditions for the maintenance of stability in the family and harmony in the factory. To restore these neces- sary conditions wherever they have been disturbed is the task which they assume, to the end that by their modest efforts they may con- tribute to the prosperity of the nation.^^^^ It is the duty of each member of the Unions to gain one new recruit every year, and to distribute Le Play's works as well as the other literature of the school. The propaganda of the LTnions is, obviously, somewhat erudite. The fortnightly review " Social Reform " (La Reforme sociale),^°''^ founded by Le Play in the year 1881, serves as the organ of the Unions of Social Peace as well as of the Society of Social Economy. It is therefore the mouthpiece of the school, and for that reason we have applied its name to the school. DISSIDENT GROUPS 357 The name, incidentally, is reminiscent of Le Play's famous work. La Reforme sociale, published in 1864. In an article on the social ideas of the Le Play or " Social Reform " School, in 191 3, Frederic Charpin, secretary of the editorial board of La Reforme sociale, gives a concise summary of the program. The program is based on the following se- quence of fundamental principles: social peace is the criterion of social welfare ; social peace may be secured by respect of the moral law, and, notably, of the Decalogue; the practical ob- servance of the moral law necessitates incessant effort; such effort is a matter of free human volition ; hence, a large measure of freedom is desirable although absolute individual liberty is to be repudiated. These principles, as well as their practical applications, are put forward as the results of scientific socio- logical observation and inductive reasoning. The practical applications may be grouped under four heads. First, the family. The family, in the view of Le Play's dis- ciples, is the most important social unit; to preserve and strengthen it must be the primary aim of all reform. The law and the custom of the equal division of inheritances are re- garded as prejudicial to the family, because they bring about the infinite subdivision of family inheritances ; when a small prop- erty is divided among numerous heirs it is destroyed, because each portion is too small to provide a workable farm. Much to be preferred would be a system in which family properties are maintained intact, passing from generation to generation in lineal descent, and serving as a material basis for family continuity. In the interest of the family, Charpin continues, the principle of private property must be maintained inviolate, for collectivism would imperil the family. Thrift should be encouraged, housing schemes promoted, agriculture fostered, and the employment of women and children in industry re- stricted ; — all of these measures, it is believed, will conduce to the greater stability of family life. Finally, the campaign in favor of the hien de famille (that is, the acquisition of a small but virtually inalienable patrimony by every family) is warmly endorsed. 358 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT In the second place, communal and regional autonomy should be developed. This point is perhaps more political than social in character, but it has a bearing on the social question. De- centralization of government is considered to be a safeguard against the socialistic tendencies of the modern national state. In advocating a revival of local self-government and " regional- ism " Le Play was a forerunner of the important contemporary " regionalist " movement in France, and his disciples are found in the ranks of that movement. In the third place, the trade-union movement is to be pro- moted and diverted from dangerous paths. Le Play, it will be remembered, had been decidedly sceptical of the value of trade-unionism. Charpin believes that had the master lived longer, he would have favored the trade unions. Even Charpin, however, shows some traces of Le Play's distrust of labor unions. The labor unions, he insists, must be free and volun- tary. They must have no power or authority over non-mem- bers. Perhaps gradually they may develop a sort of customary law, an unwritten law, respecting wages, the limitation of the working day, shop regulations, etc.; they may assume charge of employment bureaus, and may develop mutual and co- operative societies. But the trade union must not be given a predominant place in the social structure, nor must it over- shadow the family in importance, or tend to promote the re- placement of private by collective property. In short, the " Social Reform " School reproduces the Social Catholic doc- trine of trade organization, but with many misgivings and reservations. In the fourth place, as regards social legislation, Charpin's program is more negative than positive. State intervention in labor questions is to be admitted only as a last resort. " We do not deny the necessity," says Charpin, of state intervention " in certain cases — few in number — where, to use Lacor- daire's words, ' it is liberty which oppresses and law which emancipates.' But it is a last resort [i(n pw-aZ/cr]." i"" In its attitude toward Social Catholic organizations such as the Action Popiilairc and the Semaincs sociales, toward the DISSIDENT GROUPS 359 Popular Liberal Party, and toward Social Catholic writers, La Reforme sociale is extremely friendly, except when its fear of socialistic tendencies is aroused. Thus in 1905, on the eve of a general election, La Reforme sociale commented very fa- vorably upon the Popular Liberal Party as an organization claiming the allegiance of " all those who desire honest elections and a fair government " ; but it was the religious and political, rather than the social program of the party which earned La Reforme sociale's commendation.^"'* The Action Populaire is also regarded with friendly eye; its publications are favorably reviewed ; and prominent members of the " Social Reform " group have contributed pamphlets to the Action Populaire' s series.^"'^ As regards the Semaines sociales, it has already been observed that members of the " Social Reform " group frequently par- ticipate in these conventions. La Reforme sociale publishes enthusiastic accounts of the Semaines sociales, but it also chides the lecturers who are too radical in their theories. ^"'^ Similarly in reviewing books of Social Catholic tendency La Reforme sociale finds it possible to extend cordial personal com- pliments with one hand while administering doctrinal reproof with the other. Thus Lepelletier, a member of the editorial board, in reviewing a new edition of Professor Paul Pic's Traits elementaire de legislation indnstrielle , praises Professor Pic's scholarship and accuracy in the highest terms, but remarks that he is at times too much inclined toward state interven- tion.i"" In fact. La Reforme sociale again and again voices the cha- grin of an obsolescent economic philosophy confronted by a seemingly irresistible modern tendency towards radical social legislation. Hubert- Valleroux, writing on " The New Spirit and Labor Legislation," disconsolately remarks : Those of my colleagues who are as old as I, may remember the time — long past, to be sure, but not to be thought of without emotion,— when we had the cult of liberty ; it was a goddess whom we loved to salute and salute passionately. . . . Today all is changed: that liberty which we had been accustomed to venerate 360 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT is treated with the utmost contempt; it is a thing of the past, a superannuated conception, an idea which has had its day. The popular idea nowadays, he continues, is mass despotism. That is the new spirit.^"'* The same hostility toward state intervention determines the attitude of men like Hubert- Valleroux toward trade-union or- ganization. He professes to be a friend of the trade-union movement but he dislikes anything smacking of obligatory membership or the closed shop. The trade unions must be entirely free and voluntary. Moreover, he would make the union liable for damages. Any person, whether a member or not, if injured by the action of a union, and notably any person deprived of employment by the action of the union, should have the right to sue for damages. For such damages the property of the union and the personal property of its officials should be held as security. In case of non-payment, the union might be dissolved by the courts. Such a law would, it is obvious, be a very serious handicap to the trade-union move- ments. It is inspired by a spirit of distrust.^"" Enough has been said to show that in the " Social Reform " School there is an influential element which still cherishes the ideal of economic liberty and retreats only with the greatest resistance before " the rising tide " of social legislation. As regards social legislation and regarding trade-unionism as well, its spirit is more often critical and negative than positive and constructive. Perhaps the negative tendency has been over- emphasized in the foregoing paragraphs. If so, it is because we desired to bring out more clearly the dissidence between the " Social Reform " School and the Social Catholic School. And perhaps the unfairness of this sketch may be partially cor- rected by reminding the reader that, after all, many members of the " Social Reform " School are more inclined toward Count de Mun's view of social legislation and labor organiza- tion than toward the views of Hubert-Valleroux. Some accept almost all of the Social Catholic program, Others admit only a small part. Thus one might say that the DISSIDENT GROUPS 361 " Social Reform " school represents Social Catholicism diluted with anti-interventionist Liberalism. The diluting element, be- ing negative, and opposed to the spirit of the age, tends to de- crease in potency; the positive element of Social Catholicism tends to become stronger. Without indulging in dangerous prophecy, the opinion may be hazarded that the " Social Re- form " School will gradually be more and more permeated by Social Catholicism. A Monarchist Group: L'Action Francaise The Action Frangaise is a second group which seems to have been influenced in some measure by Social Catholic ideas, but by overemphasizing some and underemphasizing others diverges far more radically than the " Social Reform " School from the Social Catholic School. Indeed, so far does the divergence go in this case, that the Action Frangaise is essentially antagonistic to organizations like the Popular Liberal Party, which accept the Social Catholic program in its entirety. The slight simi- larity of names. Action Frangaise and Action Liberate Populaire (Popular Liberal Party), has led some observers of French politics to confuse these two organizations; no error could be more misleading. The Action Frangaise originated in July, 1899, in the midst of the Dreyfus crisis, as a group whose aim was to react against the prevailing tide of liberalism and anti-patriotism. It was reorganized as the Ligue d'Action Frangaise in 1905,^°^" but never succeeded in becoming much more than a small coterie of reactionary aristocrats and chauvinistic intellectuals. Never- theless its influence has been relatively large and its official journal, the Action Frangaise (edited by Charles Maurras and Leon Daudet) has been sufficiently clever and audacious to wield a real power in politics. Because the social program of the Action Frangaise is inci- dental to and instrumental to its political program, more atten- tion must be paid to political philosophy than in the case of the " Social Reform " School. By a brilliant adaptation of modern sociological methods of 362 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT reasoning, U Action Frangaise transmutes time-worn concepts such as nationalism and monarchism into scientific verities. Nationalism, with the Action Frangaise, is no mere sentiment. It is a fact demonstrated by sociology. Scientific observation shows man to be a social animal. Being social he has need of social groups. The nation is the supreme social group. Na- tionalism is, therefore, natural and necessary. National patriot- ism should take precedence over all other political issues. Applying the same method to the question of the best form of government, one discovers, first of all, that monarchy is the traditional constitution of France. To this fact, the theorists of L'Actioii Frangaise attach great weight, because, in their view, for a nation to attempt to cut itself ofl from its history, from its past evolution, is as absurd as for a plant to repudiate its roots. Moreover, assuming national greatness to be a supreme desideratum, the monarchical form of government again appears to be vindicated by scientific observation. In the days of the monarchy, France enjoyed glory and prestige, whereas, with a republican form of government, France was compelled to suflfer humiliation and to accept a position of inferiority vis-a-vis the neighboring monarchy of Germany. The clique of Jews, Prot- estants, and Free Masons who had obtained control over the republican government were paralyzing France. To restore the national greatness of France, one must overturn that clique and reestablish the historic monarchy. Moreover, the principle of republicanism is false. Any elective or democratic government is forced, by its very nature, to be concerned, above all, about its own reelection, whereas an hereditary monarch, free from such concerns, is inclined to devote himself primarily to the public welfare. On such grounds, the leaders of L'Action Frangaise con- clude that " the restoration of the national monarchy is for France the certain condition and the only chance of salva- tion." "" Not for France alone, but for the Catholic Church in France also, monarchy is the only hope. " There is no longer any pos- DISSIDENT GROUPS 363 sible security for the Catholic Church in France outside the monarchy." ^°*^ The RepubHc, the leaders of the Action Fran- gaise point out, has proved itself hostile to the Church. The Monarchy, on the other hand, is traditionally Catholic. With the restoration of the king to his throne, Catholicism should be restored to its place as the historic religion of France and en- dowed with not mere liberty, but privileges. ^"^^ Because it promises privileges to the Church, L' Action Fran- gaise has won the support of many Catholics. But the group is not by origin or composition essentially Catholic. Its leader, Charles Maurras, a former disciple of Anatole France, is cer- tainly not a devout Catholic, and is regarded as an atheist by some French churchmen. fitienne Lamy, one of the most conspicuous Catholic poli- ticians in France, once attacked the Action Frangaise as insin- cere in its clericalism. For the leaders of U Action Frangaise clericalism was merely a matter of tactics. " For them, the Church is a very useful tool at the service of the monarchy," he said. They were not so much interested in defending the Church as in getting Catholic support. The Action Frangaise strives to make royalty and the Church one and indivisible, so that the Church may see her salvation only in the restoration of the king, and the Catholics and the monarchists form a single army. Such tactics, Lamy indignantly declared, constituted open dis- obedience to the counsels of Leo XIII and of Pius X. By representing Catholicism and monarchism as inseparable, the Action Frangaise was really injuring the Church; it was keep- ing alive a harmful cause of dissension among Catholics ; it was furnishing the anticlericals with a pretext for attacking the Church as the enemy of the Republic."'* The attempt of the Action Frangaise to enlist Catholicism in the support of monarchist reaction is one feature, it may bes remarked in passing, vsrhich marks the antagonism between this party and the Action Liberate Populaire or Popular Liberal Party. The latter, as was shown in an earlier chapter, accepts 364 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT the Republic, forbids its adherents to conspire against the exist- ing form of government, and desires democratic reform of the republican constitution, with liberty and equality before the law for the Church. The two programs — monarchy with religious privilege, and republic with religious liberty — are diametri- cally opposed. Coming at last to the social theories of the Action Frangaise, we may observe that they, quite as much as the religious policies of the party, are colored by the political preconception in favor of monarchy. To the workers as to the Catholics, the Action Frangaise says, " you have nothing to gain from democracy, but everything to hope for from the monarchy." The working classes, say the party's leaders, are the principal victims of " the democratic mystification." Democratic social legislation is a snare and delusion. To pass laws restricting the number of hours which an adult laborer may work is to " oflfend his dignity and arrest his activity." The state should intervene as little as possible, and should transfer, so far as possible, all functions of this kind to the trade organizations. Thus, the .Iction Frangaise leans so heavily upon the Social Catholic thesis of industrial organization that it all but discards the Social Catholic thesis of social legislation. Moreover, the thesis of industrial organization, in the hands of the Action Frangaise, assumes a form repugnant to the Social Catholic School. The .Iction Frangaise, like the Social Catholic School, favors the guild organization of industry. But the latter school, abhorring class hatred, aims at the con- ciliation of labor and capital on a basis of social justice, mutual interest, and Christian concord, while the Action Frangaise, fostering class antagonism, aims at an equipoise of opposing forces. The theory of the Action Frangaise is that Today the king appears, above all, as the king of labor, the king of production ; his interest is that labor organization should attain its highest de\eIopment, appealing to that which gives it its rigor- ously laboritc cliaractcr, the class spirit, in order that the capitalist bourgeoisie may accomplish its historic mission. The king tends to maintain the captains of industry between two walls, — on one DISSIDENT GROUPS 365 side a central government absolutely independent of the capitalists, on the other side, a working class strongly organized. . . . i^^s To favor the class-conscious labor movement is almost a tacti- cal necessity for the Action Frangaise. If the workingmen should become reconciled to the capitalists, or converted to social democracy, one could hardly expect them to aid in the overthrow of the republican government. But revolutionary syndicalism, vowed to " direct action " against the capitalists, and scornful of political democracy, might prove a useful ally ; it would at least help to discredit the democratic form of gov- ernment; and it might conceivably join forces with the mon- archists in using violence against the republican bourgeoisie.^"^" In a word, the Action Frangaise agrees with the Social Cath- olics in recommending the guild form of industrial organization, but differs from them in regard to the question of social legis- lation and the question of class antagonism. The difference seems to be traceable to a political preconception in favor of monarchy. Being hostile to the Republic, the Action Frangaise naturally has no faith in social legislation by the Republic. Hoping for a monarchical restoration, the Action Frangaise is prone to regard revolutionary syndicalism — which is so repug- nant to the Social Catholics — as a possible ally against democ- racy. The " Christian Democrats " In precisely the opposite direction, but for precisely the same reason, the " Christian Democrats " diverge from the Social Catholic School. Like the Action Frangaise, the Christian Democrats make their social theories dependent upon their preference for a particular form of government. In the case of the Christian Democrats, however, political democracy, not monarchy, is the favored constitution. And whereas the polit- ical theories of the Action Frangaise lead to the rejection of the Social Catholic theory of democratic social legislation, the polit- ical theories of the Christian Democrats lead to the exaltation of such legislation as the great instrument of social reform. The Christian Democratic movement in France has been so 366 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT important that a somewhat more extended consideration must be devoted to its rise and its doctrines. It should be remarked in advance that no hard and fast line may be drawn between this movement and the Social Catholic movement proper. Superficially, their programs are much alike. The difference between the two movements is essentially a difference of em- phasis, and such a difference is clearly recognizable only in extremes. Even today the two merge into one another through a continuous zone of intermediate gradation, so that leaders like Max Turmann may be called, sometimes. Christian Demo- crats, sometimes. Social Catholics. The French Christian Democratic movement arose about the time of Pope LeoXJII's famous encyclicals (on the labor ques- tion, 1891, and on acceptance of the French Republic, 1892). The leaders, who were, for the most part, brilliant young priests engaged in popular journahsm, or in politics, believed that the time had come fur the Church to stand forth as the fearless champion of the masses. Militantly democratic was the tone of the numerous journals and reviews, such as Abbe Naudet's Social Justice, Abbe Six's Christian Democracy. Abbe Dabry's Calhulic Life, and Abbe Garnier's The French People, through which these ardent young journalist-priests poured forth their new gospel of political and social democracy, during the decade of the 'nineties. One of their band. Abbe Gamier, toured France to found a " National Union," a strenuously democratic organization. Two others, namely Abbe Lemire and Abbe Gayraud, were elected to the Qiamber of Deputies, the former in 1895, the latter in 1897.^°" The movement was at first spontaneous rather than con- certed or organized. But in 1896 and 1897 great conventions were held at Rheims and Lyons, respectively, and out of them grew the " Christian Democratic Party." ^°^' The party was thoroughly democratic, strongly social in tendency, and pas- sionately anti-Semitic."^" Edouard Drumont, leader of the anti-Semitic campaign, was recognized as foster-father of the new organization. Leon Harmel, the benevolent Catholic capi- talist who twenty-three years previously had come to the DISSIDENT GROUPS 367 support of Count Albert de Mun's Workingmen's Clubs,^'"'" now became chairman of the national committee of the Chris- tian Democratic party.^"'^ It was he that led imposing " labor pilgrimages " to the Vatican, and obtained from Leo XIII, in 1897, t'^c encouraging declaration : " if, in a word. Democracy will be Christian, it will give to your country a future of peace, prosperity, and happiness." ^""^ It was Harmel, also, who at this same period endeavored to steer the French Young Men's Catholic Association in the direction of Christian Democ- racy.^°°^ The Christian Democratic movement seemed first to be sim- ply a new development of the older Social Catholic movement inaugurated by Count Albert de Mun and his disciples in the 'seventies. To advocate social legislation, to repudiate social- ism, to champion the principle of labor organization, to empha- size the social mission of Christianity, — all this was merely what the Social Catholics had been doing for years past. In fact. Abbe Gayraud claimed that the Christian Democratic Party was an indirect offshoot of Count Albert de Mun's Work- ingmen's Clubs. A difference of spirit, however, gradually became apparent. The older generation of Social Catholics had made a great point of class conciliation and of the devotion of the upper class to the service of the masses ; the benevolent role of the aristoc- racy was one of de Mun's most cherished conceptions. But the Christian Democrats believed that men were born with equal rights, and hence that there should be no upper classes. The masses should help themselves. They endeavored to en- courage the workingman to defend his own interests, by means of the ballot and of the trade union. For this reason they repudiated the mixed unions of labor and capital, so long vaunted by the Social Catholics. Such unions, they con- sidered, tended to prevent labor from becoming independent. Much to be preferred were parallel but separate employers' unions and labor unions. The same idea of self-help charac- terized the Christian Democratic program of social politics. Their cry was for more democracy, for direct government ; for 368 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT proportional representation and for the referendum. This per- fected political democracy, they hoped, would be used by the people as an instrument for democratic labor legislation and social insurance. From the first, the Christian Democrats were radical ex- ponents of bocial legislation and trade-unionism. In the early 'nineties we find Abbe Naudet, one of the leaders of the move- ment, advocating trade-unionism as the only means of organ- izing the power of labor, and demanding state intervention in favor of the unions. " In order," he said, " to assure the work- ingman the protection of which he has need, we must have a guild organization of industry, and, in order that this organ- ization may be effective, we wish it to be obligatory." In another speech Naudet declared, " To crown my social pro- gram I boldly and fearlessly demand state intervention to sanction the articles elaborated by the guild." The unions or guilds were to be made compulsory, by law, and their decisions were to be upheld by the authority of the government.^°°* In a book published in the year igcx) and entitled Democracy and the Christian Democrats, Abbe Naudet outlined a radical program for Christian Democracy. In the first place, the gov- ernment should be made thoroughly responsive to the will of the people, by means of the popular referendum, representation of minorities, representation of professions or trades, and local self-government. Democracy should then be used as an in- strument for the betterment of the conditions of labor. It should pass laws against monopolies, regulate the Stock Ex- change, limit the working day, prohibit work at night or on Sunday, establish the minimum wage and obligatory insurance in government contract work, establish accident compensation and old-age pensions for all, promote profit-sharing and co- operative enterprises, and readjust the burden of taxation. The government should also foster the organization of indus- try, in the form of parallel unions of labor and capital, with mixed boards or joint councils.""' Another Christian Democrat, Abbe Fesch, in his Anncc so- ciaie en France for 1898, summarized the Christian Democratic DISSIDENT GROUPS 369 program as follows: (i) Agrarian reforms for the benefit of small holders, (2) progressive taxation of incomes and unpro- ductive capital, (3) trade-union organization, with permanent arbitration committees comprising delegates of employers and of labor, (4) labor legislation, including the minimum wage, Sunday holiday, limitation of hours, suppression of night work except in factories with continuous fire, exclusion of mothers from industrial establishments, restriction of the employment of young girls, obligatory social insurance, international labor legislation, (5) cooperation, (6) regulation of commerce and of the Stock Exchange, (7) proportional representation of professional or trade interests, (8) decentralization, (9) laws against Jews and Free-Masons.^''^* While many of the reforms which the Christian Democrats advocated were not essentially different from those which the Social Catholics favored, the latter soon recognized that the Christian Democrats were actuated by a spirit radically differ- ent from their own. Christian Democracy was appealing to the class-conscious action of labor ; Social Catholicism, to the recon- ciliation and mutual devotion of the classes. While criticizing the theories of the Christian Democrats, the Social Catholics made repeated efforts to conciliate them and generously opened the pages of L'Association catholique to Christian Democratic writers and to theorists like Goyau and Turmann who held an intermediate position between Christian Democracy and Social Catholicism. The Social Catholic con- gresses or Semaines sociales also showed marked hospitality toward Christian Democrats like Abbe Calippe, Goyau, Tur- mann. And gradually, one may say, an important group of Christian Democrats became so closely identified with the Social Catholic movement that a real fusion took place. More- over, experience having shown the Christian Democratic scheme of parallel unions of labor and capital to be more prac- tical than the original Social Catholic scheme of mixed unions, most Social Catholics in course of time were converted to the parallel unions. The result was a conciliation both of per- sons and of doctrines. 370 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Nevertheless, another group of Christian Democrats, notably those who were most interested in political agitation, drifted away from, instead of towards, the Social Catholic School, because to them the all-important issue was political liberalism. WTiat especially widened the gulf was the establishment of Piou's Liberal Group (1899), which developed into the Popular Liberal Party (1902). This new party, as we have seen, ac- cepted in large part the social program of the Social Catholic School and honored the veteran leader of that school, Count Albert de Mun, with the post of vice-president. Now the Popular Liberal Party, by opening its ranks to former mon- archists who consented merely to refrain from agitation against the republic, and by merely accepting the republic as the exist- ing form of government without declaring republican democ- racy to be the best possible form of government, gave offense to many of the Christian Democrats. For, to them, political democracy was a principle to be enthusiastically embraced and ardently defended, not to be coldly accepted. The Popular Liberal Party, they declared, was simply a manoeuvre of the reactionary monarchists and conservatives, an attempt to create a confessional Catholic party within which the conservatives would have the upper hand. Consequently, although the program of the Popular Liberal Party, as it gradually developed, was very similar to their own, these Christian Democrats attacked the new party with a vio- lence of indignation which knew no bounds. Abbe Dabry, for example, waged what he called a " terrible campaign " against the Popular Liberal Party. In his book on The Republican Catholics, published in 1905, Dabry declared that the organiza- tion of the party was the supreme blunder, the great political crime, the cause of the anticlerical legislation which marked the early years of the new century. ^'"" He himself would have preferred that Catholics should join the existing republican parties, or that a new democratic republican party, not confes- sional in character, should be organized to cooperate with the Progressists, the Moderate Republicans, the Socialist-Radicals, and even the Socialists, against the reactionaries.^""* DISSIDENT GROUPS 371 Similarly, in his polemic entitled Why the Catholics Have Lost the Battle, Abbe Naudet assailed the Popular Liberal Party quite as vehemently-^"^^ The party, he scornfully de- clared, was neither popular nor liberal. Abbe Lemire, a Christian Democratic priest, who had been elected to the Chamber of Deputies, held aloof from the Popu- lar Liberal Party, and gravitated away from the Social Cath- olics ;'^"'' in time he became suspected of modernism and had trouble with the ecclesiastical authorities. Their breach with the Popular Liberal Party, as has been suggested, made it difficult for the extreme liberal wing of the Christian Democratic group to remain on good terms with the Social Catholic School, many prominent members of which were more or less closely identified with the Popular Liberal Party in politics. Increasingly, this Christian Democratic faction was drawn toward non-Catholics who held similar political doctrines, and increasingly it fell under the suspicion of wavering in its re- ligious orthodoxy, of attempting to " modernize " the doctrines of the Church to suit its own political philosophy. Conserva- tive clergymen like Abbe Barbier openly accused the Christian Democrats of " modernism," the heresy of making religious truth depend upon changing popular sentiments rather than upon unalterable divine revelation. Abbe Lemire, for example, had attempted to apply his democratic theories to the govern- ment of the Church. Various Christian Democrats had shown a disposition to sympathize with the " higher criticism " of the Bible.""! With the purely theological aspect of modernism we have no concern in this narrative, but the relation of modernism to the social philosophy of the Christian Democrats is pertinent. This relationship was, pointed out by Joseph Zamanski, one of the editors of Le Mouvement social and a vigorous exponent of Social Catholic doctrines. The heart of the modernist thesis, he said, was what has been called " religious immanence," the idea that every vital phenomenon has for its primary stimulus a need, for its primary manifestation, a sentiment. The need 372 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT of divinity, it would appear, engenders a certain sentiment in which faith reposes. Now if in some such manner as this '' one discovers God within himself " and can even deduce from a " vague aspira- tion " the most precise dogmas of a given religion, as do the modernists, it is all the easier to follow the same process in regard to sociology, and to " draw sociological conceptions from the mysterious depths of the soul." As a matter of fact, Zamanski continues, " we notice with pain that some of our friends have an unlimited confidence in this method." It is the extreme Christian Democrats to whom Zamanski here re- fers. To them, he says, the basis of social science appears to consist in discovering what they, like the modernists, call the " aspirations of the modern spirit," in obeying what they con- sider to be undeniable social necessities. Under the influence of the generous emotions awakened by knowledge of social needs, these persons think their good inten- tions an adequate equipment for solving a problem which re- seals itself from day to day as they proceed. Invariably they exalt Life, " Life possessing a truth and a logic of its own, different from rational logic and truth, as the immanentists say." Just as the religious modernists construct religion on the human sentiment of aspiration toward the divine, the social modernists believe that social action should be the product of a sentiment of love ; just as the Church is regarded as the emana- tion of the collective conscience of the believers, the new society is expected to be the emanation of " a collective sentimental- ity." But the thesis of religious immanence, the writer observes, leads fatally to the acceptance of all religions as true. And similarly, what might be called the thesis of " social imma- nence " or social modernism, " leads its victims into all sorts of fantastic ideas, into all kinds of action successively undertaken and abandoned, into all the follies of an activity which is not subjected to the guidance of reason." In other words, Zaman- ski considers that the reliance of the Christian Democrats upon DISSIDENT GROUPS 373 popular aspirations as the basis of their social doctrines, rather than upon fixed principles, is an exact sociological counterpart of the modernist error in religion, and results in social vagaries rather than in solid contributions to social reform.^^"^ Modernism and the extreme form of Christian Democracy were not only similar in their method of argument, as Zamanski claimed, but they were actually associated and akin. Christian Democratic reviews were organs for modernist views of re- ligion, as well as for democratic views of politics and society. Consequently, when modernism was condemned by Pope Pius X in 1907, some of the Christian Democrats were involved. Two Christian Democratic organs voluntarily suspended pub- lication, namely. Tomorrow (Demain), a weekly, published at Lyons, by Pierre Jay, and the Fortnightly (Quinsaine), the important Parisian review built up by Georges Fonsegrive dur- ing the decade 1897-1907. Two others, — Abbe Dabry's jour- nal. Catholic Life (La Vie catholique), and Abbe Naudet's Social Justice (La Justice sociale) — were condemned by de- cree of the Holy Office, Feb. 13, 1908."°' The Social Catholics, who had disliked modernist tendencies of the Christian Democrats, applauded the pope's action. The Social Catholic movement had been scrupulously orthodox and made a great point of loyalty to the Holy See. Commenting on the pope's action, Henri Bazire, a former president of the A. C. J. F., and a prominent member of the Popular Liberal Party, declared that the association of modern- ism and social reform by the Christian Democrats had done grave injury to the Social Catholic movement. He said. It was the misfortune of well-intentioned Catholics to permit them- selves to be imposed upon by a school of overrated intellectuals, and to associate their own revindications with the most risky affirma- tions. What was there in common between the thesis on im- manence and the reform of the labor contract, between fair wages and the authenticity of such and such a Mosaic book? Neverthe- less, it is impossible to deny that, in public opinion, a certain con- fusion arose, due to the fact that too often it was the same men, the same publications, who with the same conviction defended these 374 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT causes of unequal value. Who shall say how much injury was done the Social Catholic movement by this confusion? One would have to go back ten years to take account of it. From Americanism to modernism, not forgetting reform of education for women, everything has been loaded on the poor vessel of Social Catholicism or of Christian Democracy, at the risk of sinking it. Nothing is as heavy as dead weights. . . . The great words of science, democracyl, progress, are used by the confusionist Catholics as an accompaniment to celebrate the re- conciliation of the Church and the century; and in this vast per- spective Christian social reform no longer appears except as a part of the intellectual movement which has been called Catholic reform- ism. No error was more disastrous, and if Social Catholicism has not obtained larger results in France, the fault is not solely with bourgeois egoism, with conservative prejudices, but also with the doctrinal temerities of certain of its partisans who, under its ban- ner, sheltered theses of the purest liberalism in religious matters, of the most inconscient individualism in the social order. Rome has spoken, and we cannot mark too clearly the abyss which separates the Social Catholic School from modern- The Christian Democrats — to return to our original thesis, — diverged from the Social Catholic School by reason of their greater faith in political and social democracy, and, hence, of their greater emphasis upon social legislation. One wing of the Christian Democratic movement, as we have seen, carried the belief in democracy to such lengths that it became estranged from the Social Catholic School, associated itself with modern- ism, and exposed itself to papal condemnation. But the other wing, led by men like Calippe, Goyau, and Turmann, remained orthodox in religious doctrine and participated so actively in the Social Catholic movement that one could hardly regard them as exterior to it. And, thanks to their influence, certain Chris- tian Democratic ideas, such as the parallel unions of capital and labor, were carried over into Social Catholicism, with the result that the Social Catholic movement of today represents no longer the original doctrine of de Mun exclusively, but a synthesis, more democratic than de Mun's earlier conception and more in harmony with the spirit of the age. DISSIDENT GROUPS 375 The SiLLON and the Young Republic One very interesting offshoot of the Christian Democratic agitation has been left out of the discussion, up to this point, in order that it might be considered separately. It is the league or association called "The Furrow" (Le Sillon), together with its successor, the League of the Young Republic. The Sillon grew out of a group of students who began to hold meetings in the crypt of the College Stanislas in 1894 and who continued to meet together in subsequent years at the Ecole Polytechnique. The movement expanded rapidly. In Paris and in the provinces local Sillons, study clubs, and " People's Institutes " were founded. A journal. The Democratic Call {L'Eveil democratique) , and a review, The Furrow (Le Sil- lon), popularized the ideas of the association. In 1902 the Sillon began to hold national congresses or conventions. The first was attended by a mere handful of delegates ; the second, by 300, the third, in 1904, by 800; the fourth, in 1905, by 1500 ; the fifth, in 1906, by almost 1900. Moreover, instead of limit- ing its membership to Catholics, as it had done at first, after 1906 it opened its doors to all believers in the religion of democ- racy, regardless of theological creeds, and styled itself the " Greater Furrow " (Le Plus Grand Sillon). So rapid was its growth, and so active were its leaders in popular propaganda and polemic that the Sillon soon became a very considerable force in shaping public opinion. Moreover, it really had a direct influence upon a large number of workingmen.^^"^ The Sillon was not a political party or a school of political economy; nor was it an ordinary propagandist association. It was something more, — " a movement, a life, a common soul," — a brotherhood claiming the allegiance of heart as well as of mind. Its aim was to impart, at first to a chosen few or elite group, and through them to the masses generally, an ardent spirit of political and social democracy, of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Adepts in the philosophy of the Sillon seemed at times to experience super-rational ecstasies of fraternal spirit ; they became mystics, devotees of democracy.^"" 376 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The program of the movement was essentially the Christian Democratic program. Starting from the assumption that Catholicism and repubhcanism were mutually compatible and, in fact, that repubhcanism had need of Catholicism, the Sillon endeavored, in the words of one of its leaders, '' to place at the service of French democracy the social forces which we find in Catholicism." Christianity was necessary to democracy, be- cause a republic was, of all forms of government, the one requiring the greatest virtue, and, therefore, the greatest amount of Christianity. We have need of moral strength in order to sacrifice our own interests to the coinnion interests. One must therefore respect the sources from which men draw moral strength; and Christianity is an incomparable source of democratic energy since it identifies the individual's interests with the general interests.^^"' The disciples of the " Furrow " were, above all else, democrats and republicans. They were democrats because they believed democracy to be the most perfect form of government; re- publicans, because they deemed the republic the most perfect form of democracy. ^^°^ The economic program of the " Furrow " was twofold. On one hand, the state was to intervene, by means of social legis- lation, to repress abuses and to maintain for all citizens a minimum of material welfare sufficient to safeguard the liberty and dignity of each. Thus, the state should establish obliga- tory social insurance, and should enact factory laws. But on the other hand, the action of the workingmen themselves was necessary. " The proletarians themselves must organize and, in particular, must develop cooperative societies and trade unions." These organizations oiTered '' not merely a remedy for present evils, but an instrument of social transformation." The wage-system was not to be considered as " the final stage of evolution." Just how it would be replaced was not exactly clear, but the system of cooperative production, at any rate, was preferable to it. Moreover, associations of workingmen should be permitted to establish common properties, in addition DISSIDENT GROUPS 377 to the private properties of the members. Thus there would be three forms of property: private property owned by in- dividuals, common property owned by associations of working- men, collective property owned by joint stock companies. The co-existence of these three forms of property, it was held, would be " a guarantee of independence, a source of moral energy and moral dignity." ^^"^ Opinions of the Sillon's program differed. An anticlerical historian, Georges Weill, regarded it as " Catholic liberalism in the broadest, most advanced, least exclusive form."^^^^ Abbe Barbier, a conservative, viewed it as a program of class- hatred : the " Furrow," he said, " preaches everywhere the levelling of the classes, uses every occasion for incitement to the class-struggle, promises, every day, the suppression of capitalism, foments contempt and hatred of the employ- ers." ^^^^ Another critic, de Marans, discovered that the " Fur- row " consisted essentially in a " rejuvenation of the old thesis of the liberal-conservatives, which is presented [by the ' Fur- row '] as the most 'advanced' and the most 'opportune' at- titude a Catholic can take." The philosophy of the " Furrow," said de Marans, was merely a " travesty " of the old individual- ism; it was the old individualistic conception of democracy modified by the recognition of the necessity of social legisla- tion. In spirit, it was " retrograde." ^^^* " Advanced " or " retrograde " — whichever it might be — the philosophy of the " Furrow " was not acceptable to the Holy See. In a letter to the French archbishops and bishops, August 25, 1910, Pius X formally condemned certain of the " Furrow's " principles and practices. The pontiff's discus- sion of these points is interesting. The " Furrow," he said, had been misled by its false con- ception of the method to be employed in uplifting and regen- erating the masses. The " Furrow " stood for popular sov- ereignty and the levelling of social classes. But on this point it was in direct opposition to Catholic doctrine, for Leo XIII had branded as erroneous the idea of popular sovereignty and of class-levelling. 378 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The " Furrow," Pius pointed out, was very emphatic in up- holding the dignity of man, and in claiming liberty as neces- sary to that dignity. Liberty, as the " Furrow " defined it, meant that except in matters of religion every individual is autonomous. From this principle, the following conclusions were drawn. First, political emancipation : the people are to- day in subjection to an authority distinct from themselves, and they must be freed. Second, economic emancipation : the peo- ple are today dependent upon employers who possess the in- struments of their work, and who exploit, oppress and abase them; the yoke must be shaken off. Third, intellectual eman- cipation : the people are dominated by a caste called the ruling class, whose intellectual development enables it to exercise un- due influence ; this bond too must be broken. This triple eman- cipation is also a levelling process, and will establish equality as well as liberty. A political organization founded upon the double basis of liberty and equality is democracy. Political equality would arise from popular sovereignty, for all men would be equally sovereign, since all sovereignty be- longed to the people. All men would be equally kings. This sovereignty, resting with the people, would be expressed by means of election or selection, but would not leave the people or become independent of them. Similarly, in industry, each man would be a sort of master. Cooperative production would be substituted for the wage sys- tem, and cooperative societies would be multiplied to such an extent that they competed among themselves, and the working- men might be free to choose among them. ^^Mth the increase of liberty and equality, and the decrease of authority, a new moral principle was needed as an offset to individual egoism. This new principle was to be zeal for the welfare of the trade and of the public, taking precedence over each individual's instinctive concern for his own and his family's welfare. In a society where this love of public wel- fare existed, and where each workingman had the soul of a master, each citizen the spirit of a king, human dignity would reach its highest expression. And this spirit of fraternity, or DISSIDENT GROUPS 379 the love of common interests, might be conceived as expanding in ever wider circles, from the trade to the nation, from the nation to the whole world. Such was the ideal, the vision, of the " Furrow," as summar- ized by Pius X. The vision, Pius asserted, rested upon a series of errors. In the first place, the " Furrow " professed a fallacious doc- trine of popular sovereignty. It made the people the source of all governmental authority. Catholic doctrine, on the con- trary, regarded God as the source of all power ; if, in democratic states, the people elected their rulers, they did not thereby con- fer authority, but merely designated the person to be invested with authority by God. If all the people were equally the possessors of sovereignty, there would be no authority. In the future city to which the " Furrow " aspired, there were to be neither masters nor servants, but all were to be free, all comrades, all kings. This, says the pope, is contrary to common sense. There will always be wicked persons who must be curbed by the exercise of au- thority. There must be an authority to direct collective activity toward the common good. The " Furrow " was likewise in error with regard to the conception of fraternity, which it based upon the zeal for com- mon interests, or simply upon the notion of humanity, uniting with equal love and tolerance all mankind, regardless of errors and perversities. Catholic doctrine taught that the only genu- ine source of fraternity was love of God. Experience con- firmed this doctrine, by showing in numerous instances how little men cared for the interests of all, when their own evil passions were aroused. Christian charity, not common in- terests, was the only solid foundation of fraternity. And Christian charity, while applying to all men, did not mean tolerance of wrong convictions, of vice, and of error, but zeal for their betterment. Finally, Pius attacked what he regarded as the false idea of human dignity underlying all the errors of the " Furrow." The " Furrow," he said 380 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT would have us believe that man will not truly be man until the day that he has acquired a conscience, enlightened, strong, independent, autonomous, that can dispense with a master, obedient only to it- self. . . . Such an idea was simply visionary. Even the greatest men had no such infalHbility of self-direction and such an extreme of dignity. And should one deny the name of man to humble toilers who performed their duty nobly, in humility, obedience, and patience? In the second part of his letter, the pope proceeded to dis- cuss " the influence of these errors upon the practical conduct and social action " of the " Furrow." The study groups of the " Furrow " were conducted according to the theory of popular sovereignty ; there was no leader, no master ; each member was equally master and pupil. Priests who entered such groups forgot the respect and obedience due to authority. Catholics who became filled with the new spirit of the " Fur- row " could no longer respect a Church which had existed nineteen centuries without reahzing the " Furrow's " ideals. The " Furrow," Pius went on to remark, enfeoffed religion to a political party ; it made Christianity the servant of democ- racy. Christianity, however, was superior to political parties, and the Church had never attached itself to any one form of government. It had left to each nation the freedom to choose what it considered the form of government best suited to its own interests. The " Furrow " had at first been thoroughly Catholic. But when it became the " Greater Furrow," and included men of all faiths, it became an interconfessional association, and it was absurd to expect the Catholic nucleus to make the " Greater Furrow " Catholic. No longer Catholic, the " Furrow " had attempted to substitute "a generous ideahsm " for religion; as a result it had become visionary and Utopian. Or, to put it in another way, the " Furrow " had been " captured " by " the great modern movement of apostasy organized in every coun- try for the establishment of a universal Church, which will have neither dogma nor hierarchy, nor rule for the mind, nor DISSIDENT GROUPS 381 curb for the passion, and which under pretext of liberty and human dignity would bring about in the world, if it could have its way, the legal rule of artifice and force, the oppression of the weak and of all who suffer and work." In conclusion, the pope urged that the bishops should select well-educated leaders, equipped with a thorough knowledge of practical social science, to take charge of Catholic social work. The Catholic members of the " Furrow," he added, might con- tinue to have their preference for democracy in politics, if they purged their doctrine of the errors which had been pointed out ; they might also preserve local organizations of the " Furrow," provided that such organizations were exclusively Catholic and were called Catholic Furrows.^^^° The pope's letter was the death-blow for the " Furrow." Marc Sangnier, leader of the association, declared that he un- hesitatingly submitted to the pope's correction. The " Fur- row " was abandoned. But, he maintained, his loyalty to the republic and his ardor for democracy were undiminished. Having renounced the work of educating young Catholics, he and his friends now con- sidered themselves able to enter a field where their action would be freer. At first he seemed to hope for the evolution of a new poUt- ical party, uniting Free-thinkers and Catholics on a platform of proportional representation, labor legislation, religious jus- tice, anti-alcoholism, regulation of high finance, democratization of the army, and extension of education. Such a party being impossible to create, at present, he decided to found a league for political and social propaganda. The new league, the League of the Young Republic, differed from the " Furrow " in being more definitely concerned with politics, and less with religion and morals. Nevertheless, its aims bore a strong resemblance to those of the defunct asso- ciation. Republican and democratic, it desired " that the Re- public may be loved, that the Republic may become the living and organic expression of the soul of France." The Republic had need of moral strength and should therefore respect the 382 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT sources — notably, Christianity — whence citizens might draw such moral strength. Catholics should be free to work in the " common house of the Republic " without having to hang their heads or submit to humiliation. The democratic spirit should be expressed in various polit- ical and economic reforms. Proportional representation, rep- resentation of trades or professions, the popular referendum, civil service reform, and democratization of the army were proposed as steps toward the political ideal of the Young Re- public. In the direction of economic democracy, the burden of reform rested chiefly upon the working^en themselves, who must use trade-unionism and cooperative production as step- ping-stones toward a future economic system more fraternal than the present one. Private property was not to be de- stroyed, but collective ownership by trade unions or trade associations was to exist side by side with individual owner- ship. To some extent the state might participate in the work of economic reform, by passing labor legislation; for example, night-work should be interdicted, the sweating system should be repressed, and the law should grant to all workingmen the benefit of old-age pensions, accident compensation, and in- surance against industrial diseases.'"* Such was the program of the League of the Young Republic, much like that of the " Furrow " in its emphasis on democracy and fraternity. Speaking at the first national congress of his new league, in October, 1912, Sangnier, former leader of the " Furrow," declared that the condemnation of the " Furrow " by the pope had proved to be " the best proof of the poHtical liberty of the Catholics," because it showed that, after abandon- ing a confessional organization at the pope's request, they were now able to work in a larger, freer field : I say that this a proof that one can be a Catholic, absolutely and filially loyal to the authority of the Church, without losing, for all that, the right to be republican and democratic as much as and more than ever.m' CHAPTER XII CONCLUSION Summary We have now completed our general narrative of the Social Catholic movement in France. We have seen how it originated in sporadic protests against industrial anarchy, how it took organized form after 1870, and branched out into a network of interrelated organizations: the Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, the Young Men's Catholic Association, the Popular Liberal Party, the Action Populaire, the " Social Weeks," the Consumers' League. And we have also traced the influence of its ideas upon associated movements that can hardly be called, in the strict sense of the term, Social Catholic, and yet which owe much to Social Catholicism, namely, the Chris- tian Democratic movement, the " Furrow," the League of the Young Republic, the " Social Reform " School, the Action Frangaise, the last-mentioned being an antagonist of as well as a debtor to Social Catholicism. None of these divergent schools of thought are as important, numerically, as the central body of the Social Catholic movement, but each helps to radiate, in some degree, the influence of that movement. The following tabular statement, showing how the Social Catholic movement stands on the main points of social politics, in comparison with other Catholic schools, and with non-Cath- olic schools, will perhaps be convenient by way of recapitula- tion. A general observation may be hazarded regarding the table. In the Social Catholic program the three elements, — social legislation, labor organization, and conservation of individual rights, — are balanced, or, rather, interwoven. If one of the 383 384 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Comparison of Social Reconstruction Programs Social Catholics (including Popular Liberal Party) Political action and social legislation " Liberal " economists, e. g., A. Le- roy-Beaulieu, Vvcs Guyot, C. Jannet Social Reform School Action Francaise Christian Democrats (aUn Sillon and ^'oung Republic) Socialists (1. c, demo- cratic or par- liamentary Socialists) Syndicalists Guild Socialists Comprehensive and radi- cal program including social insurance, restric- tion of hours, minimum wage, etc. But opposi- tion to government own- ership and state social- ism. Less radical. Comprom- misc between " liberal " ftrinciple, but more or ess grudgingly conceded in case of women and children. Less radical. Comprom- ise between *' liberal " and Social Catholic pro- grams. Less radical. Democratic social legislation a delu- sion. Reorgani2ation of trades under influence of monarchy is the only solution. More radical. Political democracy the indispens- able instrument of social democracy. Strong pro- fram of labor legislation, 'or protection of indi- vidual rather than for or- ganic reform. More radical. Political democracy the main in- strument of reform. La- bor legislation, social in- surance by state, govern- ment ownership. Repudiated altogether. Program of labor organ ization Guild organization of in- dustry, trade, agriculture, and professions, to be created and promoted by state. Inter-organization and reconciliation of labor and capital. Functional representatio n. Socicd legislation and so- cial insurance to be ad- ministered in lar^e part by guild organizations. Less radical program. Unions to be free and voluntary, without au- thority. Less radical. Free and voluntary guilds. Benev- olent action of employers. Guild organization, under patronage of monarchy. Class-conscious opposition of labor to capital. Less radical. Parallel or- ganisation of labor and capital. T-ess emphasis on organic character of reform. More radical but less im- portant. Would expro- P r i a t e capitalist, but would leave labor organ- izations with compara- tively small functions. overshadowed by author- ity of socialistic state. More extreme. " Direct action " of organized labor to achieve social revolution, i. c, destruc- tion of capitalism and of wage-system. Protection of private prop- erty and economic liberty Maintained, in so far as com- patible with moral law and social welfare. More emphasis on economic liberty and property rights More emphasis Liberty to be restricted. Inequality of wealth per- petuated. Limited by social legislation. Minimized. Minimized. Control of industry by Minimized, guilds. Democratic social legisla- tion. National or social ownership. Func- tional representation. This is essentially a middle term between the Social Catholic and State Socialist programs, combining the latter*s thesis of social ownership with the former*s principle of guild control. CONCLUSION 38s Bolshevists or Communists Political action and social legislation More radical. Dictator- ship of proletariat as rep- resented by soviet form of government. State ovvnership of land, indus- tries, banks, etc. State monopoly of grain trade, etc. Program of labor organ- ization Shop committees j indus- trial and agricultural councils, Soviets, etc. Capitalist elimi- nated. Control by soviet government. Protection of private prop- erty and economic liberty Most property rights de- stroyed. Liberty sub- ject to dicta- torship of pro- letariat. three elements is given more emphasis, or a different twist, the whole program takes on a different complexion. For instance, if we lay more emphasis upon economic liberty, we have a con- servative program such as that of the " liberal " economists and the Social Reform school. By stressing political action one may arrive at the Christian Democratic, and, ultimately, at the Socialist program. Again, if we decide that the purpose of labor organization is revolution, rather than reform, we shall repudiate social legislation and adopt the Syndicalist program. It is also worth noting that when one element is stressed, the others suffer. Where economic liberty is prized above all things else, there can be little social legislation and no effective labor organization. Where political action is exalted, as with the Socialists, no very large role is left for labor organization and individual rights tend to be minimized. Conversely, the extreme advocates of labor action, namely, the Syndicalists, repudiate social legislation and refuse to recognize either prop- erty-rights or economic liberty. Consequently, each of the other programs is more emphatic on one point, and less so on one or both of the others, than is the Social Catholic program. This fact makes it impossible to assign to the latter its proper place in a graduated scale of radicalism. The most that can be said is that the Social Cath- olic program aims at profound and far-reaching economic re- construction without revolution, and that it is, in a sense, a synthesis of the leading ideas that have been put forward by each of the opposing schools of social reform. 386 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Opinions of the Social Catiholic Movement We must not have any illusions on this score: the only redoubt- able adversary, — because it has a social conception and is a party of concessions, — which confronts Revolutionary Socialism is Cath- olic Reformism [i.e.. Social Catholicism]. m^ Such was the estimate which Hubert Lagardelle, one of the most prominent among French SociaHst-Syndicalist writers, placed upon the importance of the Social Catholic movement in 1898. Fourteen years later, Lagardelle found his judgment of the vigor of the movement confirmed by events. Writing in Le Mouvcwcnt sociaUste for September-October, 1912, La- gardelle says of the " Social Catholics " : The Semaine sociale ^'i" of Limoges has affirmed the vitality of Social Catholicism. There is in this movement an intellectual fermentation which Socialism no longer possesses. It is its strength. Let us recognize it, because it is our adversary.ii^" French Radicals likewise recognize that the Social Catholic movement is attaining such formidable proportions that its opponents have reason for alarm. The Radical or Radical- Socialist journal, Le Rappel, points out the danger. The cler- ical victory in the Belgian elections of 1912, says Le Rappel, may well serve as a warning to France: Despite the plural vote, despite the gerrymandering of electoral districts, the Belgian clericals would not have carried off the vic- tory if the Church had not toiled throughout past years, with as much perseverance as sagacity, to conquer democracy by its bene- fits. But by the boldness, and, in a sense, the generosity of its so- cial policy, it has extended its action among the popular classes to the point of disquieting socialism itself. That is what we should meditate upon at the present hour, when, by its patronages [worlcingmen's friendly societies], by itsi vaca- tion-colonies, by its people's kitchens and its workingmen's gardens, by its trade associations and its trade unions, by the admirable work of its " Semaines sociales" [social-study congresses], the Church is striving in France as elsewhere to effect the conquest of the proletariat. . . . The day when, even in parliament, the Radical CONCLUSION 387 party will find itself in conflict with two " social " parties, one Catholic and the other Socialist, what will it do? And how will it become again the party of the people, as it was formerly, if the masses are divided between the Church and the Revolution? It will still have, of course, the resource of political oratory, but it seems truly that the time for that is past, in France as in Bel- gium.1121 From an opposite quarter, namely, from the camp of the clerical antagonists of Social Catholicism, are heard similar expressions of alarm at the progress and direction of the move- ment. Gaston Defoyere, in a polemic entitled " The Syndical- ist Revolution Promoted by the ' Social Catholics,' " ^"^ sets forth the thesis that the Social Catholic movement has become an exceedingly dangerous ally of Revolutionary Syndicalism. His argument is after this manner. " The Republic had been founded and maintained contrary to and against the will of the nation." The Republicans, determined to eradicate the old traditions in society as well as in government, and resolved to advance ever further in their innovations, soon arrived at the idea of state socialism. Catholics protested, especially against the application of the state-socialist idea to education, but were not sufficiently on their guard against economic state socialism. Count Albert de Mun, notably, in the late 'eighties and early 'nineties, made " imprudent " speeches accentuating the state- socialist idea of " labor as a social function." " An entire Catholic social school then followed the penchant toward state socialism ; today that school is integrally Syndicalist." ^^^^ The action of these " Social Catholics " is " demoralizing," not merely from the point of view of " sound doctrine " ; their action " has been in fact noxious and revolutionary for the past twelve years." In short, " they have become the effective, blind accomplices of the subverters of traditional values." The latest and " most dangerous " form of Revolution, De- foyere adds, is that of " integral Syndicalism promoted by the Social Catholics." "^* Having quoted first the opinions of adversaries, perhaps it 388 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT is only fair to give the supporters of the movement a hearing. Fidao-Justiniani, in Lc Mom-cincnt social (the chief Social Catholic review), asserts: With a movement that is very slow, perhaps, but also very sure, "Social Catholicism" — doctrine and action — gains ground, imposes itself upon the attention of our contemporaries, wins their suf- frages. This is his preface to a general review of books published during the year 191 1. Even Socialist and Syndicalist writers, Fidao-Justiniani observes, are devoting attention to the move- ment. The Syndicalist theorist, Lagardelle, in a book on Le Socialismc ouvricr, seems " dazzled " by the briUiance of the latest Social Catholic convention. Georges Guy-Grand, in his Lc Proccs dc la Democratic, discusses the " generous and vague Christianity" of the so-called Social Catholics; if Guy-Grand had familiarized himself with the Social Catholic review — Lc Mouvcmcnt social — or with the recent publications of So- cial Catholic writers on the most detailed problems of industry and social legislation, says the reviewer, he would not have used the adjective " vague," at any rate. Fidao-Justiniani concludes his article with a confident declaration that, while Socialism and .Syndicalism are breaking up into cross-currents and losing headway. Catholic Reformism or Social Catholicism is ever advancing, united, strong in its logic and its principles.^^^' Professor Max Turmann, another Social Catholic writer, and member of the Academy, agrees with the Syndicalist La- gardelle that the Social Catholic movement is the only formid- able rival of revolutionary collectivism : Social Catholicism constitutes, in the modern world, a powerful force, which, by reason of its intensity and its diversity, may be compared, and almost everywhere is opposed, to revolutionary col- lectivism.1126 Finally, Joseph Zamanski, one of the leading figures in French Social Catholicism, discusses the contribution of the movement to the progress of French social legislation. The CONCLUSION 389 following long extract from one of his articles, is interesting enough to be worth quoting: . . . The resistance which every social law encounters in the country and in parliament comes from minds in which the principles of 1791 have left their stubborn imprint, and the best of these laws we have to wrest by sheer strength from the tenacious thought of a regime of bourgeois ensconced in power. I do not say that some Catholics, in industry or in Parliament, do not sometimes lend them [the opponents of social legislation] assistance; we have had to signalize, in these pages, inconceivable opposition, also the survival of the old orthodox Liberalism, the power of prejudice and of blind interest. All the same, the ini- tiators are in our ranks, when they are not among the Socialists. The first idea, the first bill, the first text, the first legislative effort comes from the Right [clericals] or from the Left [Socialists]. And when the reform has won the support of public opinion, when various studies have perfected it, a Government Bill appears which hardly conceals the original label, obtains the vote, and reaps the honor. How many of them during the past thirty years have had for their first and true signature the name of M. de Mun or of one of his friends ! It was M. de Mun who, in 1885, with Mgr. Freppel, presented a bill on workingmen's pensions. The first text on the regulation of wages in sweated industries was also his work, and public opinion had been apprised of the wretchedness which this form of industry engenders, by the books of Abbe Meny, quite a long time before the official investigation was instituted to reveal cer- tain details and elaborations of the facts. The workingmen's gardens, with which the Government announces its intention to concern itself, have existed for twenty years and their initiator. Abbe Lemire, is also the father of the family patrimony [bien de famille] . The Government Bills themselves are elaborated, discussed, re- viewed, and perfected in private associations like the Society for Legislative Research or the Association for the Legal Protection of the Workingmen, in which Catholics like M. Lorin play an impor- tant part; and it is the Superior Council of Labor, where so many times the weight has been felt of M. Jay's competent and generous words, which furnishes the texts later stamped with approval by the Office of Labor. Then, when the Bill has become law, it finds in our social school its most sincere defenders, champions who regard the Bill's defects with clear vision and without complacency. Is it not right that, 39° THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT some day, we should receive credit for our efforts to acclimatize pension legislation while improving it? But with that as with other matters, gratitude is ephemeral, when it is given at all. The part which M. de Mun has so proudly claimed in the patriotic work which France has begun to inaugurate, we can claim also in the social work of the " republican reign." For that as for the other we are rewarded by persecution; it is a coinage familiar to us ; for us, it has been current coinage through- out history, but history is in itself our magnificent recompense. Today, in the endeavors and struggles for the amelioration of the general conditions of labor, we are forming the true policy for tomorrow. This social policy will in the end vanquish the last traces of resistance on the part of the old Revolution. But, in all probability, it will set two doctrines in opposition, one which will draw from the ever vernal sap of Catholicism its principles and its strength, the other which will attempt to rear on the ruins of the " Republican Party," the new Revolution.^^^' The gist of all these commentaries on the significance of the Social Catholic Movement in France, — commentaries inspired by such diverse preconceptions and prejudices, — is that the movement is the one great potential and actual rival of revo- lutionary Socialism ; according to the Social Catholics, the move- ment is, by reason of its soundness of doctrine and vigor of growth, the unique bulwark against the erroneous and destruc- tive propaganda of the revolutionary parties, while according to the revolutionaries themselves and in the view of the clerical reactionaries, the movement is misguided, an unwitting ac- complice of Socialism or of Syndicalism. Between these two views, the reader is left to judge for himself. But on one point there seems to be virtual agreement, namely, that the Social Catholic movement is vigorous, that it is a force of such mag- nitude that it is either a great peril or a great hope. GuiLDisM, Guild Socialism, and the Social Catholic Program One feature of the Social Catholic program has been rendered particularly significant by the trend of events during and since the war. A generation ago, the Social Catholics were almost if not absolutely alone in advocating the reconstruction of in- CONCLUSION 391 dustrial society on the basis of the guild. When Count Albert de Mun, in the 'eighties, defended the principle of guildism, he found few sympathetic auditors in the French Chamber of Deputies. The very word, " guild," was abhorrent to Liberals and Socialists alike. Since 1914, however, there has been a veritable revolution in public sentiment. Ideas which were formerly almost the exclusive property of the Social Catholic movement have become popular over night. The full import of this change of sentiment can hardly be grasped unless one views it in historical perspective. To measure the magnitude of the contemporary swing of the pendulum towards guildism and similar forms of democratic industrial organization, one must trace the course of the pen- dulum back to the opposite extreme. What more striking contrast could be conceived than that between present-day ideas concerning industrial organization and the ideas be- queathed to the nineteenth century by the French Revolution? Historians have not sufficiently emphasized the fact that the French Revolution was directed against guildism, against any form of trade-unionism, as well as against feudalism. Dur- ing the Revolution, the Constituent Assembly did not merely sweep away the old guild system (by the law of March 2-17, 1791) ; it formally sanctioned the doctrine that " the annihila- tion of all kinds of guilds of citizens belonging to the same social class and trade is one of the fundamental bases of the French Constitution " (the Le Chapelier Law of June 14-17, 1791). There should be no trade unions, no special group in- terests, but only individual interests and " the general interest," said the author of the latter law. Workingmen of the same class or trade were forbidden, under severe penalties, to as- semble together, organize, elect officers, or adopt resolutions regarding " their pretended common interests." Confirmed in a slightly modified form by the Napoleonic Penal Code of 1810, this principle was handed down to the nineteenth century as one of the legacies of the French Revolution. Liberty, as interpreted by the heirs of the Revolution, was irreconcilable with guildism or any other form of trade organization."^^ 392 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Thus compulsory industrial individualism, — compulsory in- dustrial anarchy one might say, — was the position from which the pendulum had to swing. And it has swung far. Though they could hardly have foreseen clearly the turn events would take, the Catholics who advocated a return to guildism, in the heyday of economic individualism, were an- ticipating and in a measure promoting one of the most pro- found social metamorphoses of modern times, namely, the re- placement of anarchic individualism by unionism or organiza- tion in industry. As early as 1834, Villeneuve-Bargemont, one of the precursors of the Social Catholic movement, out- lined a plan for the formation of workingmen's unions in each trade, as a substitute for the guilds which the Revolution had destroyed."-" Guildism is one of the oldest and most char- acteristic elements in the Social Catholic program. The specific reforms which have been advocated by the So- cial Catholic leaders as steps toward a new guild regime may be recapitulated under four heads, (i) Trade-unionism. In the early years of the Third Republic, before trade-unionism had been legalized, the Social Catholics were among the most outspoken champions of the right of organization. After helping to secure the enactment of the historic law of 1884, by which incomplete legal sanction was given to trade unions, they demanded still further legal rights for the unions.*^'". (2) Mixed Unions and Joint Councils. The trade union, in the Social Catholic scheme of things, was to become not an instrument of class-warfare, but an agent of class-reconcilia- tion. During the 'eighties, many Social Catholics favored mixed unions, /. e., trade unions including employers and salar- ied employees as well as workingmen. As it became manifest that such unions were impracticable, the Social Catholics ad- vocated the establishment of joint councils or boards to serve as bridges between the trade union and the employer or the em- ployers' union.' ""^ (3) Guilds. In a Bill presented to the Chamber of Depu- ties in 1906 by Count Albert de Mun, M. Jacques Piou, and other prominent Social Catholic members of the Popular Lib- CONCLUSION 393 eral Party, a plan was offered for the creation of trade organ- izations on a more elaborate scale.'^^''^ In each commune, the mayor and two municipal councillors were to draw up a list of trades, a sort of economic census. Every resident over eighteen years of age and engaged in agriculture, industry, commerce, or the liberal professions, was to have his name in- scribed in the appropriate list according to his occupation. All the inscribed members of each trade or occupational group would then be considered members of an occupational corps (corps professional) or, as we may style it, a guild. The guild would be made co-extensive with a smaller or a larger administrative unit, from the canton to the departement, ac- cording to the number of its members. Inside the guild, volun- tary trade unions of employers or of workingmen were to be freely permitted, even encouraged. It should be observed that the guild was to include not the wage-earners alone, as does the ordinary trade union, but all the classes engaged in the occupation. Independent fanners, tenant-farmers, and farm laborers, for example, would belong to the same agricultural guild, or, rather, to separate sections of the same guild. An industrial guild would include, or- dinarily, three sections: (a) employers or capitalists, (b) salaried officials, technicians, managers, and clerks, (c) wage- earners or proletarians. Each of these three sections would elect separately an equal number of representatives who would constitute a conseil professionnel or guild council. Where trade unions existed within the guild, they were to have the right of electing a share of the representation of their section ; in fact, they were to be given more representatives than strict arithmetical proportion would justify, because belonging to a union was considered a meritorious manifestation of social- mindedness. The functions assigned to the guild councils by the Bill of 1906, are suggestive. Subject to the general prescriptions of national legislation, each guild council was to have charge of vocational training, shop regulations, the conditions and terms of labor, and welfare institutions. The various forms of 394 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT social insurance, — against sickness, accident, unemployment, and old age, — were to be taken over ultimately by the guilds or by insurance societies supported by the guilds. By such decentralization, it was hoped, social insurance would be rendered cheaper and more efficacious, while the danger of bureaucracy would be avoided. Arbitration of collective dis- putes would likewise devolve upon the guild councils. Finally, the councils were to be given a voice in labor legislation. Labor laws enacted by the national government should be drafted in general terms and referred to the interested guild councils for criticism before being promulgated. The general provisions of national laws should be executed by means of specific regu- lations devised by each g^ild council to suit the peculiar con- ditions of its locality and its trade. Such regulations must be approved by a referendum vote of the guild members. The essential ideas back of these provisions are three: that the workingmen are entitled to a voice in the regulation of their trade interests ; that by bringing together workingmen, employers, clerks, technicians, and managers engaged in the same industry or occupation, misunderstandings might be minimized while a sense of solidarity and pride of profession might be revived; and that the national government is too clumsy and bureaucratic an authority to assume with safety the complete control of social insurance, labor legislation, and industrial regulation. (4) Functional Representation. The guild organization just described would provide a basis for what is now called functional representation, that is, the representation of the in- terests which people have by reason of the function or economic occupation in which they are engaged. According to this theory, the farmer should be represented as a farmer, not merely as a Republican living in a certain geographical dis- trict ; the merchant should be able to elect a merchant to repre- sent his interests ; and the miner should have the opportunity of voting for a miner. This has been a favorite idea with French Social Catholics. The existing politico-geographical system of representation would not be destroyed; it was to CONCLUSION 395 be coordinated with the new system of functional representa- tion. Thus, alongside of the existing Senate and Chamber of Deputies a new body might be created, a Guild Congress, elected by the guilds. Or possibly, it was suggested, the Senate might be transformed into a Guild Congress or Professional Senate. Such a Guild Congress might at first be given merely advisory powers ; in course of time, it might share legislative authority with the Chamber of Deputies as the Senate does today. This innovation, it was believed, would bring politics into a closer and more vital relation with the nation's economic life, and would provide the mechanism for really expert criticism of economic legislation.^^'^ Not many years back, such proposals might have seemed visionary in the extreme. Today, they are in accord with powerful tendencies which manifest themselves spontaneously in all highly industrialized countries, under the pressure of post-war conditions. The industrial conferences held in Great Britain and the United States under governmental auspices, for the discussion of labor problems, exhibit the strength of the desire for the kind of expert opinion which the proposed Guild Congress or Guild Senate would provide. When, in response to an imperative popular demand, the French Govern- ment decided to establish the eight-hour day, the minister of labor invited and obtained the assistance of representatives of capital and labor (the French delegates to the International Labor Legislation Committee of the Peace Conference) in drafting an eight-hour-day Bill. The Bill, moreover, was framed in such a manner that it could be adapted to local and special conditions after consultation with the interested or- ganizations of capitalists and workingmen. M. Jean Lerolle, a Social Catholic deputy, observed that the innovation of dele- gating a certain amount of quasi-legislative power to the trade organizations, as was done by the Bill, " might seem rash to certain minds accustomed to the old administrative formulae, but none will applaud it more than we. It is simply the ap- plication of a principle which has long been supported by our friends : the principle of labor legislation by representatives of 396 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT occupational groups (legislation professionnelle du tror- vail)."^"* Similarly, the Social Catholic idea of bringing workingmen and capitalists together by means of joint trade boards or by means of guilds has been realized, to a greater or less degree, by numerous recent experiments. Of their own initiative, a number of employers in Great Britain and the United States have instituted joint boards, on which workingmen and em- ployers are both represented. The " Plumb Plan " for the American railroads embodied the same fundamental principle in more radical form. In England, the Whitley Councils pro- vide another indication of the same tendency. The events of September and October, 1920, in Italy afford an even more in- teresting parallel. After the metal-workers had seized five hundred or more factories, an agreement was reached, at the instance of the Government, for the establishment of joint councils to supervise the books of the metallurgical firms. Whether this agreement will lead to a thoroughgoing system of democratic control, or will be rendered abortive by the ex- tremists on either side, cannot well be predicted, but the proposi- tion itself is significant. In Germany, the idea has been carried further since the democratic revolution of 1918. In the new German Republic, the Catholic party joined with the Majority Socialists and Democrats to form a moderate coalition government, which op- posed both extreme Socialists on one hand and reactionaries on the other hand. As a result, the party had a voice in de- termining the constitution and policies of the new German Re- public. The constitution adopted on July 31, 1919, represents a compromise between Socialist and Social Catholic ideas re- garding economic organization. By article 156, the Common- wealth is empowered to transfer private business enterprises to public ownership. This is essentially a Socialist clause. The same article, however, authorizes the Commonwealth to combine business enterprises and " give to employers and em- ployees a share in the management." Moreover, Article 165 is astonishingly similar to the French Social Catholic Bill of CONCLUSION 397 1906, and to the ideas which have been put forward for many years past by Social Catholics in other countries. By Article 165, " wage-earners and salaried employees are qualified to cooperate on equal terms with the employers in the regulation of wages and working conditions, as well as in the entire economic development of the productive forces." The wage- earners, the article continues, and the salaried employees " are entitled " to form local workers' councils for each establish- ment, the local councils being federated under a district work- ers' council for each " economic area " and a " National Work- ers' Council " for the commonwealth as a whole. The district workers' councils meet with representatives of the employers and of other interested classes in " district economic councils." In the same way, the National Economic Council is formed by the addition of employers to the National Workers' Coun- cil. All " substantial vocational groups " are to be represented in the district and national economic councils " according to their economic and social importance." In this fashion, the familiar Social Catholic idea of bringing the various industrial classes — employers, middle-class employees, and workingmen — together in joint councils is realized. The functions of the councils likewise are in accordance with Social Catholic prin- ciples. To the local and district councils " supervisory and ad- ministrative functions may be delegated." The National Economic Council is a sort of Guild Congress, possessing the right to propose Bills and to consider, before they are intro- duced into the National Assembly, all important drafts of laws relating to social and economic policy. Reading such provi- sions, one is strongly reminded of the Bill presented in 1906 by de Mun and his friends.^^^^ The young English Guild Socialist movement is a particu- larly interesting manifestation of the drift of opinion towards guildism. The principles of Guild Socialism had been ex- pounded, in the period immediately preceding the Great War, by S. G. Hobson, A. J. Penty, A. R. Orage, and a few others. The New Age, although not an official organ, served as a ve- hicle for Guild Socialist ideas. Enthusiastic and able young 398 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT recruits, notably G. D. H. Cole, gave intensity and vigor to the new movement, if, indeed, it could be called a movement. During the war a National Guilds League was organized and the " guild idea " was spread with phenomenal rapidity, for the most part among the younger generation of intellectuals in- terested in the labor movement. To an extraordinary extent, considering its novelty, Guild Socialism attracted and influ- enced trade-union leaders. Without attempting seriously to build up a separate and distinct party, the Guild Socialists suc- ceeded in giving new form to the ideas of the leaders of labor. The Annual Report of the National Guilds League for 1919- 1920 claims that, " so far as the Trade Union movement is concerned . . . the guild is everywhere coming to be more and more consciously accepted as the goal of the workers' efforts and the governing conception of their policy." This seemed to be particularly true of the miners and of the building trades. There are many striking similarities between the English Guild Socialist program and the program which the French Social Catholics have long advocated. Both are based upon the g^ild. Both propose to create a guild congress which will share authority with the democratic " political " parliament. Both repudiate economic individualism. Both oppose State Socialism. There is, however, one essential difference. The Guild Socialist proposes to eliminate the capitalist altogether by establishing national ownership of productive capital and abolishing the wage system, whereas the French Socijil Catholic would make a place for the capitalist within the guild system, at least for the present. The Guild Socialist, therefore, is more of a revolutionist; he is a Socialist as well as a Guilds- man. He has less faith, if any, in the possibility or desirabil- ity of reconciling capitalist and proletarian.^^'" The Guild Socialist movement is mentioned as an additional indication of the strong current of opinion towards principles akin to the principles of the Social Catholic movement. The point which it has been the aim of this section to emphasize is not that the Social Catholic program has been proved right or wrong by recent events, but that it has been demonstrated to CONCLUSION 399 be more vital and more significant than one might have predicted a generation ago. Whether its program is right or wrong, menacing or re- assuring, the Social Catholic movement undoubtedly constitutes an important factor in the post-war situation. Because of its numerical strength, its political influence, and its intellectual vigor, the movement may be regarded as one of the most formidable elements in the coalition recently formed against Bolshevism in France. Conservative in this respect, it is rad- ical in its demands for a thoroughgoing reconstruction of so- ciety and of government on the basis of industrial democracy, as embodied in the guild. Likewise in Italy, in Austria, in Germany, and in other countries where large Catholic popula- tions exist, the Social Catholic movement in general is to be found opposing Bolshevism and promoting social reform. Originating as a reaction against the economic individualism so generally associated, in the nineteenth century, with political liberalism, the Social Catholic movement has become, in the twentieth century, one of the strong forces making for demo- cratic social progress. As opposed to destructive revolution, it strives for constructive reforms. It is a practical effort to realize in both economic and political life the Christian ideals of justice and liberty and the dignity of man. APPENDIX 1 Interim Report on Joint Standing Industrial Councils, submitted by the sub-committee (on Relations between Employers and Employed) of the Reconstruction Committee, March 8, 1917, Parliamentary Papers, 1917-1918, Cd. 8606. Cf. Kellogg and Gleason, British Labor and the War (N. Y., 1919), PP- i8s-i94, 41S-448. 2 M. Jouhalx, secretary of the Confederation Generate du Travail, claimed that there were 400,000 dues-paying members and, in reality, 600,000 adherents, in 191J. Opponents of the C. G. T. regard these figures as exaggerated ; cf. Annec sociale intcrnationale 1913-1914 (Rheims, 1914), pp. 530-31. In his book on The Labor Movement in France (N. Y., 1912), pp. 181, 191-192, Dr. Louis Levine gives the total membership of the C. G. T. as 357,814 in 1910, and leaves the reader to judge the accuracy of M. Pawlowski's claim that approx- imately five-eighths of these members repudiate revolutionary Syn- dicalism, as contrasted with the opposing claim that the Syndicalists have a two-thirds majority in the C. G. T. Admitting the latter claim, we would arrive at something like 266,000 as the maximum estimate of the number of revolutionary Syndicalists. 'Jacques, Les Partis politiques sous la Troisieme Republique (Paris, 1913'), pp. 309, 336, supplemented by information obtained at party headquarters in Paris. * It is impossible to calculate the voting strength of the Popular Liberal Party in the elections of 1919, because, under the new system of proportional representation, the Liberals frequently supported fusion tickets. The Socialist vote, according to official returns, was approx- imately 1,615,000. For the figures cited, the author is indebted to Georges Lachapelle's book, Les Elections legislatives du 6 Xovcmbrc igiQ (Paris, 1020'), and to personal correspondence. ^ The British Trade Boards Act, 1909, concerning certain " sweated " trades, is a case in point. " " ' Social politics ' thus becomes a convenient phrase to indicate, loosely perhaps, the present-day development of political democracy and its utilization for social purposes." — C. Hayes, British Social Politics (Boston, 1913), p. 3. ' A good mental picture of the Industrial Revolution in France may be obtained bv comnarinc J. A. C. de Chantal, De I'industrie fran^aisc (Paris, 1819) : Villerme, Tableau de I'ctat physique ct moral dcs ouvriers . . (Paris, 1840) ; and E. Levasseur, Comparison du travail d la main et le travail d la machine (Paris, 1900). For a narrative and discussion, see Levasseur. Histoire dcs classes ouvrieres et de I'indus- trie en France de 1780 i 1870 (Paris, 1904). * According to Weill. La France sous la monarchic constitutionnelle {1815-1848) (Paris, new ed., 1912'), p. 222, there were 200 steam-en- 400 APPENDIX 401 gines in 1820; 572 in 1830; 3,053 in 1843, According to M. Block, Statistique de la Prance (Paris, 1875), vol. ii, p. 140, there were 2,873 in 184a; 4,019 in 1843; 6,832 in 1850; 18,726 in i860. According to E. Levasseur, Histoire des classes ouvrieres . . . de 1789 d, 1870, vol. ii, p. 171, there were 2,591 in 1840; 3,360 in 1843. I have given approximate round figures in the text, since the exact figures are of no great in- terest in this connection, and in the presence of conflicting statements, any new figures claiming precision would require an extensive exposi- tion by way of support. ^ Levasseur, loc. cit. 1" Levasseur, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 628; Block, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 322- 323. 11 Block, op.j cit., vol. ii, pp. 143, 149. ^^Ibid., p. 181. ^^ Ibid., pp. 200-201. 1* Deposition of MM. Witz Sons and Co., in Enquete sur I'industrie du colon, cited by Ch. Rist, "Duree du travail dans I'industrie fran- gaise de 1820 a 1870," Revue d'economie politique, 1897, vol. xx, p. 373. IS Bulletin de la societe industrielle de Mulhouse, 1828, pp. 326-329, cited by Ch. Rist, op. cit. p. 373. 1* G. Weill, La France sous la monarchie constitutionnelle, pp. 233- 234. 1'' Villerme, Tableau de I'etat physique et morale des ouvriers em- ployes dans les manufactures de colon, de laine et de sfoie (2 vols., Paris, 1840), vol. ii, p. 85, et seq. 18 Bulletin de la Societe industrielle de Mulhouse, vol. XX, p. 222, Report by M. Achille Penot on the modification of the law of March 22, 1841. Cited in Rist, op. cit., p. 376. 1^ Villerme, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 28-32. 20 Villeneuve-Bargemont, LEconomie politique chretienne (Paris, 1834), cited by Villerme, op. cit., p. 32. 21 At Rouen, for example, men were earning from i fr. 25c. to 2 fr. a day. See the comparative table of expenses and wages, Villerme, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 150-151. 22 Villerme, op. cit., p. 119. 23 Ibid., p. 99. ^^Ibid., p. 408. The quotation is from M. Barbet's remarks in the Chamber of Deputies, June 15, 1839. It is only fair to state that some of the larger manufacturers, notably the Industrial Association of Mulhouse, expressed the desire for legislative regulation of child- labor, and the General Council of Commerce, composed of the chief industrial magnates of France, wished the emplosmient of children under eight years of age to be prohibited, and the working day to be limited to twelve hours for children under fifteen years of age. Cf. Villerme, op. cit., pp. 97-100. "^ Ibid., p. 91. ^^ Ibid., p. 116, note 2. Villerme regards this as "a rare excep- tion." 402 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Mouvement physiocratique en France de 1756 it 1770 (2 vols., Paris, 1910) ; also H. Higgs, The Physiocrats (London, 1897) ; G. Schelle, Du Pont de Nemours et I'ecole physiocratique (Paris, 1888) ; Eugene Daire, Physiocrates (Paris, 1846), selected works and biographical notes ; Paul Permezel, Lcs Idccs des physiocrates en matiire de com- merce Internationale (Lyons, 1907) ; August Oncken, Die Maxime Laissea faire et laissez passer, ihr Ursprung, ihr Werden (Bern, 1886) ; Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines economiques, pp. 1-59; L. de Lavergne, Les Economistes fran^ais du dixhuitieinc Steele (Paris, 1870) ; G. Schelle, " Physiocrates," in Leon Say and J. Chailley, Nou- veau Dictionnaire d'economie politique (Paris, 1892), vol. ii, pp. 473-486. 2* Francois Quesnay (1694-1774). His first writing on economic questions was in the form of articles (on " Fermiers " and " Grains ") for the Encychpedie (vol. vi, 1756, vol. vii, 1757). His famous Tableau cconomiquc appeared in 1758. Cf. Aug. Oncken (ed.), Oeuvres economiques et philosophiques de F. Quesnay (Frankfort and Paris, 1888) ; and G. Schelle, Lc doctcur Quesnay (Paris, 1907) ; in addition to general works already cited on the Physiocrats. 29 Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817). A full list of his voluminous writings is given by G. Schelle, Du Pont de Nemours et I'ccolc physiocratique (Paris, 1888), p. 399, et seq.; Schelle's biog- raphy of the economist, it may be remarked, is exceptionally inform- ing. Probably the most interesting of Du Font's treatises, from the point of view of social politics, is that entitled De I'Origine et des progrcs d'une science nouvcUe (London and Paris, 1767). His col- lectiiin of Quesnay's works, published under the title Physiocratie, ou constitution naturelle du gouvernement le plus avantageux au genre humain (Leyde, Paris, 1767-1768), gave the Physiocratie school its familiar name, and contained an introduction by Du Pont recapitu- lating the philosophy of the new school. '"Victor Riquetti, marquis de Mirabeau (1715-1789). He wrote L'Ami des hommes ou traitc de la population (Avignon, 1756), Theorie de I'impoi (1760) , Philosophic rurale (Amsterdam, 1763). Cf. Louis de Lomenie, Les Mirabeau (Paris, 1889-91) ; L. Brocard, Lcs Doctrines economiques ct sociales du marquis de Mirabeau dans "L'Ami des hommes" (Paris, 1902). '1 Mercier de la Riviere, L'Ordre naturel et essentiel des societes politiques (Paris, 1767), is perhaps the best exposition of the Physio- cratie doctrine. ^'G. F. Le Trosne (1728-1780). His views are best stated in De I'Ordre social (2 vols., Paris, 1777). ''Nicholas Baudeau (1730-1792?). See especially his Premiere in- troduction a la philosophic iconomique (Paris. 1771). '*Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, baron de I'Aulne, (1727-1781), ex- pounded his economic theories in the Reflexions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses (written in 1766, published in Dupont's Ehhemrrides du citoyen. 1769-1770V While minister under Louis XVI, he endeavored to realize his theories by suppressing restrictions on internal free trade and by abolishing the craft guilds. Cf. G. APPENDIX 403 Schelle, (Euvres de Turgot et documents le concernant avec biographie et notes, (Paris, 1913-1914) ; Leon Say, Turgot (second ed., Paris, 1891) ; Du Pont de Nemours, Memoires sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Turgot (2 vols., Phila., 1782) ; R. P. Shepherd, Turgot and the Six Edicts (Columbia Univ. Studies, 1903, vol. xviii, No. 2). While there is good reason to include Turgot among Quesnay's followers, Turgot in developing his ideas manifested great independence of mind and differed from the orthodox Physiocrats on several important points. 35 Cited by Ch. Gide and Ch. Rist, Histoire des doctrines economiques, p. 6. ^oMercier de la Riviere, Ordre naturel (new edition, Paris, 1910), P- 338. s' Du Pont, in his preface to Physiocratie, p. Ixxxi. '* This famous phrase is usually attributed to Gournay, a contem- porary of Quesnay; it was repeated by some of Quesnay's followers, though not by the master himself, and came to be regarded as the central maxim of physiocratie doctrine. Cf. Oncken, Die Maxime Laissez faire et laissez passer, ihr Ursprung, ihr Werden (Bern, 1886). 38 Du Pont de Nemours, De I'origine et des progres d'une science nouvelle, reprinted in Daire's edition of the Physiocrates (Paris, 1846), vol. ii, p. 347. ^''Jean Baptiste Say (1767-1832). His Traite d'economie politique ou simple exposition de la maniere dont se forment, se distribuent et se consomment les richesses, appeared in 1803 and was very widely read, going through many subsequent editions. After the publication of this treatise, Say established a large textile factory, and divided his time between the practise and the theory of economic science. Among his other works, special interest attaches to the Cours complet d'economie politique pratique (six vols., Paris, 1828-1829). a work " destined to place before the eyes of statesmen, landed proprietors and capitalists, scientists, agriculturalists, manufacturers, merchants, and in general all citizens, the economy of societies " ; Catechisme d'econ- omie politique (first ed., 181 7, 7th ed., Malines, 1836) ; Lettres a M. Malthus (Paris, 1820) ; Melanges et correspondance d'economie politique (Paris, 1833), a posthumous collection edited by Charles Comte. See also A. Liesse, " Un professeur d'economie politique sous la restauration " (in Journal des economistes, series V. vol. 46, pp. 3-22, 161-174). *i E. Dubois de I'Estaing, " J. B. Say," in Nouveau Dictiomiaire d'economie politique (Paris, 1892), vol. ii, pp. 783-790. *2 Cf. Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines economiques. pp. 120- 138. *3J. B. Say, Traite d'economie politique (seventh edition), p. 13. ** Ibid., p. 3SS, et seq. *^ J. B. Say, Cours complet d'economie politique pratique, vol. iii, pp. 243-244. Liberty, to J. B. Say, implied prohibition of associations of workingmen and of employers, — cf. ibid., p. 269. *' Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a bourgeois by birth as well as by economic viewpoint. His father was a prosperous merchant at 404 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Bayonne; Frederic himself was at first employed in business, but later became a gentleman farmer, then a politician and publicist. Cobden's Anti-Corn-Law campaign in England inspired Bastiat with the aspira- tion of becoming a French Cobden. He organized a Free-Trade Asso- ciation in France and issued a series of pamphlets against protectionism and socialism, the two greatest menaces to economic liberty. His most ambitious economic treatise, Les Harmonies cconomiques, was begun in 1849, and published in 1850. See G. de Molinari's biographical note on Bastiat in Journal des economistes, Feb. 1851, p. 180, et seq., and A. Courtois, " Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Frederic Bastiat," Journal des iconomistes, Feb., 1888, p. 272, ct seq. *~' Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines economiques, p. 384. ^•^ Speech on labor coalitions, in the National Assembly, Nov. 17, 1849, printed with Incompatibilitcs parlemcntaires (Paris, 1851), p. 85, ct seq. The speech is extremely interesting as an evidence of his attitude toward labor. *" Bastiat, Les Harmonies cconomiques (Brussels, 1850), ch. iv, p. 127. 5° Bastiat, op. cit., p. 20. °i Ibid., p. 2. S2 Ibid., p. 20. °' Gide et Rist, op. cit., p. 404. ••-' Bastiat, it may be remarked, received Christian sacraments at his ilcath, but was far from a devout Catholic in life. Journal des econo- viistcs. Fell., 1851, p. 195; Feb., 1888, p. 293. ''^Charles Dunoyer, (1786-1862), De la liberie du travail, on simple cxposi des conditions dans lesquclles les forces humaines s'c.rcrcent ai'cc Ic plus de puissance (Paris, 1845). This was the enlarged and final form of a work which had already appeared in 1825 and 1830. ■'■''' Charles Dunoyer, op. cit., vol. i, p. 448, et seq. ■•' Ibid., vol. i, p. 435, ct seq. '•»Ibid., vol. i, p. 457- 5° Louis Gabriel Ambroise, vicomte de Bonald (1754-1840). Consult Mauduit, Les Conceptions politiques et sociales de Bonald (thesis, Paris, 1913) : Beaumont, Esprit de M. de Botuild, ou Recueil meiho- diquc de scs principalcs pcnsccs (third ed., Paris, 1870). Of Bonald's works {CEuvrcs completes, edited by Abbe Migne, Paris, 1859, 1864"), the following are of chief interest: Thcorie du pouvoir politique et rcligieu.v dans la socictc ciinle demontrcc par le raisonnement et par I'histoirc (1796); Essai analytiquc sur les lois naturelles de Vordre social, ou du Pouvoir. du miiiistre ct du suj'et dans la socictc (1800) ; Legislation primitive considcrce dans les derniers temps par les seulcs lumicres dc la raison. . (1802) ; Observations sur Vouvrage de Mme. la baronnc de Stai-I. ayaiit pour titre, "Considerations sur les princi- paux eveiicments dc la Revolution francaise " (1818) ; Demonstration philosophique du princifc constitutif de la socictc (1830). ^^ Bonald, Ohscn'ations sur Vouvrage de .Mme. la baronne de StacI ayant pour litre " Considerations sur les principaux cvcnements de la Rh'olution fraiicaise," (1818), section vi. {CEuvres, vol. ii, p. 634). ""^ Ibid., sections ix-x, .an Bonald's attitude toward political liberalism. APPENDIX 405 e^FranQois Rene de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), the famous apologist for Christianity and author of Le Genie du christianisme (1802). He was the recipient of distinguished political honors under the Res- toration government, but went over to the Opposition during the reign of Charles X. On his life and writings, consult Jules Lemaitre, Chateaubriand (Pans, 1912), — a primarily personal and hterary biography. 83 These tendencies of his thought are perhaps best expressed in the " Conclusions " which Chateaubriand appended to his Memoires d'outre toinbe (Paris, i860), vol. vi, p. 352, et seq. Cf. also Chateaubriand, CEuvres (Paris, 1859), vol. viii, p. 18, et seq. Chateaubriand valued liberty, as he defined it, but detested Liberalism as it was then under- stood. ^'^ Chateaubriand, Memoires d'outre-tombe, vol. ii, p. 271. 65 Revue europeenne, 1831, no. 4, p. 7. Quoted by Calippe, L' Attitude sociale des catholiques, vol. i, p. 95. 6' Chateaubriand, Memoires d'outre-tombe, vol. vi, p. 359. 8' Ibid., p. 367, et seq. 68 Philippe Joseph Benjamin Buchez (1796-1865). Cf. Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Buches, by A. Ott, which serves as a biographical preface to the posthumous Traite de politique et de science sociale, (Paris, 1866) by Buchez, pp. xi-cxliii. For criticism, see Calippe, op. cit., pp. 137-176 ; £ble, Les Bcoles catholiques d'economie, pp. 23-27 ; Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines economiques, pp. 301, 357, 582. Also, Debidour, Rapports de I'eglise et de I'etat en France (Paris, 1898) , p. 484. fible asserts that Buchez was not a Catholic but " gravi- tated in the sphere of influence of the Church." It is true that in his earlier life Buchez was not a Catholic, but he is usually regarded as having returned to the Catholic faith. Cf. Buchez, Essai d'un traite complet de philosophie, du point de vue du catholicisme et du progres (Paris, 1838-1840). 6' See his scathing denunciation of existing conditions and of the attitude of the economists, in Introduction a la science de I'histoire, ou science du developpement de I'humanite (Paris, 1833), pp. S-42, espe- cially p. 21. '"> Buchez, Introduction a la science de I'histoire, p. 347, et seq. ^1 A cooperative association of gilt-workers was founded in 1834 under his inspiration. Cf. the article by Buchez in the lournal des Sciences morales et politiques, Dec. 17, 1831, and comment by Gide and Rist, op. cit., p. 301. ^2 Dr. Ott's Traite d'economie social (Paris, 1851) gives an interest- ing development of Buchez's ideas. Chevle's Catholicisme et democratic (Paris, 1842), and Le dernier mot du socialisme (Paris, 1848) present a somewhat similar doctrine.. Cf. fiible, op. cit., p. 28, et seq., and Calippe, op. cit., pp. 182-183. " Calippe, op. cit., pp. 185-186. ''^Ibid., p. 184. '5 Buchez, Traite de la politique et de science sociale (Paris, 1866), vol. ii, p. 504. 4o6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT "Mgr. Olympe Philippe Gerbet (1798-1864), bishop of Perpignan. " Gerbet, Introduction a la philosopihie de I'histoire (Paris, 1832) pp. 221-223. ''Gerbet, Mandements ct instructions pastorales (Paris, 1876), vol. i, p. 323. '^ Louis Veuillot (1813-1883), consult Eugene Veuillot, Louis Veuilloi (Paris, 4 vols., 1899), or the more recent study by Eugene Tavernier, Louis Veuillot (Paris, 1913) and the article in the Social Catholic organ, Association catholique, vol. xv, p. 545, et seq. '" Louis Veuillot, Cours d'economie politique a I'usage d'un journal consenatcur, published in L'Univers, Jan. 16, 1842. Reprinted in Calippe, op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 301-304. " Ibid. *2 Jean Baptiste Henri Dominique Lacordaire (i8o2-i86i)i. Cf. CEuvres du R. P. H. D. Lacordaire (Paris, 1873) ; R. P. Chocarne, The Inner Life of the Very Rev. Pere Lacordaire, tr. from French (Dublin, 1867?); MacNabb, Lacordaire (London, 1890); Foisset, Vie du R. P. Lacordaire (Paris, 1870) ; Montalembert, Le Pere Lacordaire (Paris, 1862) ; Fesch, Lacordaire jourualisle 1830-1848 (Paris, 1897) ; comte d'Haussonville, Lacordaire (4th ed., Paris, 191 1) ; H. Villard, Corrc- spondance inedite du P. Lacordaire, preceded by a biographical study (Paris, 1870); Segur, " Le Pere Lacordaire, le liberalisme et I'infail- libilite," in L'.-issociation catholique, vol. i, p. 289. *^ In his own words, " I reached Catholic belief through social belief,' Chocarne, The Inner Life of the Very Reverend Pere Lacordaire, p. 46. ** Lacordaire, Conferences de Xotre-Dame de Paris (Paris, 1844- 51), 526 Conf. *' H. Villard, Correspondance inidite du P^ Lacordaire (Paris, 1870), appendix xvi, pp. 498-500. '" Armand de Melun, (1807-1877). The biographical details are drawn from Baunard, Le vicomte Armand de Melun (Paris. 1880) ; Baguenault de Puchesse, " Le vicomte de Melun" (a series of articles in Le Correspondant, Feb. 10, 1882, p. 43, et seq.; Feb. 25, p. 655, et seq.; March 25, p. 953, et seq.); F. Dreyfus, L' Assistance sous la seconde Republique (Paris, 1907); Calippe, L'.Utitude sociale des cothotiques, vol. ii, pp. 129-152. " Which became the Reznie d'Sconomie chrctienne in i860, and sub- sequently, Le Contemporain. ss In 1847. The association included 150 delegates, representing four- teen nations. Cf. Dreyfus, op. cit., p. 36. '" Cf. biographical sketch in Calippe, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 23-24. ""Goyau, Autour du catholicismc social, 3e serie, pp. 130-131. »i Cf. infra. His speech in the Chamber of Deputies, Dec. 22, 1840, Moniteur univcrsel, 1840, p. 2493, et seq.. is well worth reading in con- trast with the liberal, anti-interventionist doctrines voiced by some of the speakers in the same debate. Thery. in L'OEnvrc dconomique de Villeneuve-Barqemont (Paris, 1911), p. 68, ascribes great importance to Villeneuve-Bargemont's defense of the Bill. ^^ Moniteur universel. 1841, p. 721. APPENDIX 407 83 Charles Forbes Rene de Montalembert (1810-1870). Cf. Calippe, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 17-32, and biography in Catholic Encyclopedia. See Montalembert's speech on the child-labor bill in the Chamber of Peers, March 4, 1840, Moniteur universel, 1840, p. 418 et seq., and 444. ^*Jean Paul Alban vicomte de Villeneuve-Bargemont (1784-1850). Cf. Thery, Un precurseur du catho.Hcisme Social, le vicomte de Ville- neuve-Bargemont (Lille, 1911) ; Calippe, op. cit, vol. ii, pp. 73-82; fible, op. cit., p. 9, et seq.; Gide and Rist, op. cit., p. 233; Jannet, "De I'fitat actuel de la science sociale," in Correspondant, Sept. 25, 1878, p. 1072. There is a short biography by an authoritative Social Catholic scholar, Georges Goyau, in the Catholic Encyclopedia, under the entry, " Villeneuve-Barcement " [Sic]. 05 Thery, L'CEuvre economique de Villeneuve-Bargemont, pp. 50-51. "" Villeneuve-Bargemont, kconomie politique chretienne, ou Re- c'fierches sur la nature et les causes du pauperisnne en France et en Europe, et sur les moyens de le soulager et de le prevenir. (Paris;, 1834). »' Villeneuve-Bargemont, Histoire de I'economie politique, ou Studes historiques, philosophiques et religieuses sur I'economie politique des peuples anciens et modernes (Paris, 1841). OS Villeneuve-Bargemont, Le Livre des aMiges (Paris, 2 vols., 1841). ^5 Villeneuve-Bargemont, Histoire de I'economie politique, etc., ii, P- 423. 100 Villeneuve-Bargemont, Economic politique chretienne, p. 151; Histoire de I'economie politique, vol. i, ch. ix and passim^ i"! Speech in Chamber of Deputies, Dec. 22, 1840, Moniteur universel, 1840, p. 2492, et seq. "2 Ibid. 103 Villeneuve-Bargemont, Economic politique chretienne, p. 468. "* Ibid., p. 469. 10= Ibid., p. 475, et seq. ^"^ Ibid., pp. 110-117. ^"^ Thery, op. cit., p. 167, et seq. los Speech in Chamber of Deputies, Dec. 22, 1840, Moniteur universel, 1840, pp. 2493-2494. 109 Thery, op. cit.. p. 248. 11" Henry Michel, L'Idee de I'etat (Paris, 1895), P- 263. mA Swiss Protestant historian and economist, whose Nouveaux principes d' economic politique (Paris, 1819), and Etudes sur I'economie politique (Paris, 1837-38) expounded a new system of economy, op- posed to the methods, objects, and practical conclusions of what he called economic "orthodoxy," i. e., the classical school of economists. In method, economy should be less abstract, more historical. Its object should not be mere production of wealth, but men's welfare by the general distribution of wealth. Unrestrained production, com- petition, and individualism, he endeavored to prove, were not con- ducive to the welfare of society. Hence, he concluded, the government should regulate and restrain production, favor small holdings and small entrepreneurs, grant to labor the right of coalition, forbid child-labor 4o8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT and limit adult labor, force employers to support their employees in sickness, unemployment and old age, and place obstacles in the way of the marriage of paupers. Sismondi is one of the first modern econo- mists to admit extensive intervention in behalf of the workers; he is also regarded as the precursor of the historical school of political economy. In many respects his doctrine was close to that of Ville- neuve-Bargemont, by whom he was frequently cited. In fact, Sis- mondi was one of the writers whom Villeneuve-Bargemont wished to include in a new group or school of " Christian political economy " as opposed to the orthodox or liberal school. Sismondi, says Thery, was not much read in the middle of the nineteenth century, whereas Ville- neuve-Bargemont enjoyed greater prestige. In more recent times, how- ever, Villeneuve-Bargemont has fallen into obscurity, while Sismondi's reputation has enormously increased. Cf. Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines cconomiqucs, pp. 201-233; Thery, op. cit., pp. 214-228; Afta- lion, L'CEtivre ccoiwmique de Simonde de Sismondi (Paris, 1899) ; G. Isambert, Les Idccs sociatistes en France de l8is a 1848 (Paris, 1905), ch. V. •^^ Gaston Isambert, Les Idies socialistes en France de 1815 a 1S48 (Paris, 1905), p. 254. "^ For a discussion of other friends or disciples of Villeneuve- Bargemont, notably Droz, Ganilh, Saint-Chamans, and Morogues, the reader is referred to Thery, op. cit., pp. 209-213. '1* Count Charles de Coux (1787-1865). Cf. Calippe, op. cit., vol. ii, PP- 5'>-7- ; £ble, Les Scales catlioliques d'cconoinic. p. 9, ct scq.; Thery, op. cit.. Pp. 201-209. 1''' Gide and Rist, Histoire dcs< doctrines cconomiques, p. 556. >'" Tilery, op. cit., p. 201. 1" y?i-ji(t' europcenne, vol. i, no. 9, pp. 380-382 (1832). ''* Charles de Coux, " De I'etat moral de I'Europe," in L'Avenir, April 21, 1831 ; cf. his Essais d'cconomic politique (Paris, 1832), p. 4. '^^ Charles de Coux, " Des Associations patriotiques," in L'.-h'enir, March 21, 1831. 120 Thery, op. cit., p. 201. '2' Charles de Coux, Essais d'cconomic politique, p. 44. '2- Ibid., passim. i23Antoine Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853). On his biography, con- sult C. .-X. Ozanam, I'ie dc Frederic Ozanam (Paris, 1879); O'Meara, Frederic Ozanam, his life and works (2nd ed., London, 1878) ; Huit, La Vie et les a^uvres de F Oaanam (Lyons, 1888) ; H. Joly, Ozanam et ses c out inuat curs (Paris, 1913) ; Baudrillart, Frederic Ozanam (Paris, 1912) ; and an article by V. de Clercq in L'Association catholiquc, Feb., March, June, 1902. Ozanam's complete works were published in 11 volumes, :it Paris, 1855-65. i--* Frederic Ozanam, Retlc.rions sur la doctrine de Saint-Simon (1831). The ReHcxioiis were little more than a pamphlet against Saint- Simon's attempt to substitute a new religion, the " New Christianity," for the historic Church. In another work, Les Origines du socialisme (CEuvres eompliles de A. F. Ozanam, Paris, 1862-1873, vol. vii, pp. APPENDIX 409 196-245), Ozanam recognizes the "generosity" of socialist "illusions," and asserts that, " like all the doctrines which have troubled the peace of the world, socialism is a power only because it contains many truths, mixed with many errors." All that which is true in socialism, Ozanam continued, was contained in Christianity, but without the admixture of errors and illusions. 125 Saint-Simon, Le nouveau christianisme (pub. 1825), in CBiwres de Saint-Simon (Paris, 1841), p. 138, et seq. Saint-Simon put these words in the mouth of Luther, as what Luther should have said. 120 He says this very clearly in his speech before the Conference of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul at Florence, Jan. 30, 1853, CEuvres completes, vol. viii, p. 38, et seq. 1" These principles were stated in Ozanam's notes for a course of lectures delivered in 1840. The notes are published under the caption of "Notes d'ltn cours de droit commercial" in Ozanam's CEuzres completes (Paris, 1862-1873), vol. viii, especially pp. 537-545. Ozanam, it should be explained, studied and, for a time, taught law, before he devoted himself to literary history and philosophy. 128 Ozanam, CEuvres completes, vol. vii, pp. 263-265, — an extract from the £re nouvelle, of Oct. 1848. 129 Notes d'un cours de droit commercial, op. cit., p. 544. 1^° C/. Vansteenberghe's assertion {Revue de Lille, 1901, n. s. vol. 5, p. 603) that the new school of Christian sociology " finds its basis in the ancient doctrine of Saint Thomas, of the Fathers of the fourth century, of the Franciscans of the thirteenth, the doctrine which does not grow old, because it is the truth; and Leo XIIL who is its chief, in teaching it has done no more than rehabilitate the august and ancient Christian sociology." Leo XIII's historic encyclical " On the Condition of the Working Qasses," which may be regarded as the charter of the Social Catholic movement, laid great emphasis on the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. 131 The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, founded by Ozanam at Paris, 1833, now has branches in almost every Catholic parish, the world over. It took the name from Saint Vincent de Paul (1580-1660), a French priest distinguished by his work for the poorer classes. Consult Catholic Encyclopedia under entry, " Saint Vincent de Paul, Society of." 132 The Franciscan order (Order of Friars Minor) was founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century. It is at present one of the largest orders, and together with its auxiliary " third order " of lay brothers, exercises a very powerful influence in the direction of social action. Cf. Georges Fonsegrive's interesting article in the Qnln- saine, igoo, vol. xxxiv, pp. 523-542, on "Le Tiers-Ordre franciscain: son influence reli?ieuse et sociale." The Franciscans were the most interesting, from this point of view, but several other orders of men- dicant friars, notably the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Car- mellites, arose in the Middle Ages. 1S5 Joseph de Maistre (17S4-1821) was a Savoyard, of French ances- try (on his father's side). His most famous apologetic work, Du Pape 4IO THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT (Lyons, 1819), was devoted to the defense of the doctrine of papal infallibility and proof of the necessity of papal sovereignty. In L'£glise gallicanc dans scs rapports avcc les souverains pontifes (Paris, 1821), he energetically combated " Gallicanism," i.e., the attempt in France to diminish papal control and to increase the national autonomy of the French Church. His writings exerted a very powerful influence upon French Catholic thought, especially upon the ideas of the ultra- montane group. Consult F. Paulhan, Joseph de Maistre ct sa philoso- phie. (Paris, 1893) ; E. Grasset, Joseph de Maistre (1901) ; G. Cogor- dan, Joseph dc Maistre (Paris, 1894) ; de Margerie, Le Comte Joseph de Maistre (Paris, 1882) ; John Morley, Critical Miscellanies (London, 1892), vol. ii, pp. 255-338; L. Moreau, Joseph de Maistre (Paris, 1879). "*Cf. CEuires completes de Joseph de Maistre (Lyons, 1891), vol. i, pp. 197-202, 8, et seq. 1" Joseph de Maistre, Considerations sur la France, in his (Euzrcs completes, vol. i, p. 55. isa ]t,{j^ p. 123, ,-( seq. >" Calippe, op. cit., vol. i, p. 60. '^^ Cf. Laniartine, Histoire de la rcstauration (8 vols., Paris, 1851- 1852) ; Bourgain, L'Sglise de France ct I'ctat au 19' sidcle, 1802-igoo (2 vols., Paris, 1901) ; Lavisse, Histoire gincrale. vol. x. ch. iii. >3»Art. 6 of the Charter of June 8, 1814. Cf. L. Duguit and H. Monnicr, Les Constitutions et les principales lois politiqties de la France dcptiis 17SQ (third ed., Paris, 1915), p. 185. 1*0 Debidour, Rapports de I'eglise et de I'etat en France de 1789 h tSyn (Paris, 1898), p. 340. Law of May 8, 1816. '*' Laws of March 17 and 25, 1822. Debidour, op. cit., p. 369, et seq. 1*- Law of April 20, 1825. Debidour, op. cit., p. 379, ct seq. '*' Debidour, op. cit., 2nd part, ch. i and ii, passim. '^'Mgr. Frayssinous is perhaps best known as an exponent, in Les Vrais Principes de I'eglise gallicanc (1818, third ed., 1826, Paris), of the theory of the liberties of the Galilean Church. He was made grand master nf education by Louis XVIII, and insisted upon the teach- ing of "religious and monarchical sentiments" in the schools. The combination of Gallicanism and ultramonarchism, as shown in Frays- sinous, is typical. Cf. Debidour, np. cit., p. 371, ct seq. '•" De Bonald, mentioned in the preceding section as an opponent of economic liberalism, was one of the foremost advocates of political absolutism and of religious intolerance. Cf. his Th^oric du pouvoir politique et rcligieu.r dans la sncicte civile, dcmontrie par Ic raisonne- mcnt ct par Fhistoirc (1796); Essai analytique sur les lois ncnturelles de I'ordre social, ou du Pouvoir, du ministre et du suiet dans la soei^te (Paris, 1800) ; Obserrations sur Fouvrage de Mme. la baronne de Stael avant pour titrc "Considerations sur les pritvcipau.t evfncments de la Revolution francaise " (Paris, 1818) ; Demon.^tration philosophique du principe constitutif de la societe. suivie de Hfedilations poUtiques tiries de I'evangile (Paris, 1830) : and Mauduit, Les Conceptions politiqucs et sociales de Bonald (thesis, Paris, 1913). »*» Cited by Calippe, L' Attitude sociale, vol. i, p. 92. For the sake of APPENDIX 41 1 bringing out more clearly the drift away from old-fashioned monarch- ism, I have given a too simple sketch of Chateaubriand's political philosophy. In the face of discouragements, Chateaubriand remained a monarchist, — with misgivings. Thus, in 1830, he said, "perhaps the representative republic is the future state of the world, but its time has not come." {(Euvres de Chateaubriand, vol. viii, p. 475.) In 1836 he promised that the remainder of his life would belong to his young king. (MSmoires d'outre-tombe, vol. vi, p. 345). But, with all his loyalty, he could not refrain from writing, in 1841, that "The old European order expires " . . . " the kings still hold the cards, but they hold them for the nations." ..." Since the banner of the French kings exists no more, all modern society is deserting monarchy. To hasten the degradation of royal power, God has delivered the sceptres in various countries into the hands of sickly kings and little girls. . . ." (Memoires d'outre- tombe, vol. vi, p. 356, et seq.) 1*7 Eugene Veuillot, Louis Veuillot (Paris, 1899); Tavernier, Louis Veuillot (Paris, 1913). The quotation is from Calippe, L'Attitude sociale des catholiques, vol. iii, pp. 38-43. 1*^ This quotation is from the Univers, Veuillot's organ, Dec. 26, 1852, and is cited by A. Leroy-Beaulieu, Les Catholiques liberaux (Paris, 1885), p. 163. 1** Pierre Marcel, Essai politique sur de Tocqueville (Paris, 1910), ch. ii-iii, especially p. 64. 15" Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (tr. by Henry Reeve, N. Y., i8g8) , vol. i, pp. 384, 393. 151 Letter of Jan. 30, 1829, cited in Leroy-Beaulieu, Les CdthoHques liberaux, p. 82. 152 Lacordaire, however, seems to have maintained certain mental reservations regarding Lamennais' philosophy. Cf. Chocarne, Inner Life of the Very Rev. Pere Lacordaire (tr. from the French, Dublin, 1867) , p. 93, et seq. '^^^Cf. Blaize, Essai biographique sur M. F. de Lamennais (Paris, 1858) ; E. Spuller, Lamennais (Paris, 1892) ; Boutard, Lamennais, sa vie et ses doctrines (Paris, 1905-8) ; Marechal, Lamennais et Lamar- tine (Paris, 1907) ; Leroy-Beaulieu, Les Catholiques liberaux, p. 81, et seq.; Gibson, Abbe de Lamennais and the Liberal Catholic Move- ment in France (London, i8g6) ; A. Roussel, Lamennais d'apres des documents inedits (3d. ed., Rennes, 1893) ; A. Feugere, Lamennais avant I' essai sur I'indifference (Paris, igo6). 15* As minister of the interior, Aug. 11, 1830; as minister of public instruction, Oct. 11, 18321 1" Debidour, Histoire des rapports de I'eglise et de I'etat en France de 1789 i J870 (Paris, i8g8), part ii, ch. iii; Bourgain, L'&glise de France et I'etat au XIX' siecle; G. Weill, La France sous la monarchic constitutionnelle (Paris, 1912) ; J. MacCaffrey, History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century (St. Louis, igio), vol. i, p, 59, et seq.; consult especially the memorandum presented to the pope by the editors of L'Avenir, reprinted in Fesch, Lacordaire journaliste, p. 308, et seq., for a contemporary description of the government's policy. 412 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 158 xhe editors were Lamennais, Gerbet, Rohrbacher, Lacordaire, de Coux, Bartels, Montalembert, Daguerre, Ault-Dumenil. Cf. Fesch, op. cit., p. 334. 1°' G. Weill, La France sous la monarchic constitutionnelle, p. 147. 158 Leroy-Beaulieu : Les Catholiques liberaux, p. g6. It should not be implied, however, that the editors were unanimously convinced that a democratic republic was the best possible form of government. Lamennais, for one, would have preferred a republic to the July Mon- archy. .\t the time of the July Revolution he wrote to a friend, — " They are going to place the crown on the head of the duke of Orleans. The majority would prefer a republic, a republic frankly declared, and I am among that number." The Orleanist monarchy, he believed, was only a compromise, the republican idea was bound to triumph and non-republican institutions would inevitably be over- turned, perhaps by dangerous violence. Cf. Spuller, Lamennais, p. 172. Lacordaire, on the other hand, was a constitutional monarchist by predilection, and became a hesitant republican by necessity. In a let- ter to Montalembert, Oct. 9, 1839, he said, " We will not put our hope in the rei-stablishment of •the ancient monarchy; no more must we put hope in the reestablishmcnt of the old aristocracy. We can expect noth- ing except from new elements hidden in the palpitating bosom of modern peoples. . . Democracy, born of the old society and thereby corrupted in its cradle, has already committed great faults and great crimes, but this new French people has been a product, not a cause ; it has not yet possessed power long enough to be condemned forever. Moreover, it is the only strong element today. It is a vigorous child of an aged race ; instead of wishing to curb it under the corrupted ferule of its fathers, Religion must elevate and enlighten it." Cf. Fesch, Lacor- daire jnurnaliste, pp. 60-61. L'Avenir did not openly condemn mon- archy in principle, cf. Spuller, Latneniiais, p. 178. ^'^Cf. Articles de VAvenir (7 vols., Louvain, 1830-1832). 1*" Debidour, op. cit.. p. 422; Spuller, Lamennais, pp. 180-181. i«i Spuller, op. cit., pp. 183-4. ^^^Cf. Lamennais. Affaires dc Rome (Paris, 1836) for Lamennais' own story of the episode; cf. also Leroy-Beaulieu, Catholicities liberaux, p. loi, et seq.; Spuller, op. cit., ch. vi. The memorandum presented to the pope by the editors of L'Avenir is reprinted in Lamennais. op. cit., pp. 37-8o- 1^' Bullarium Romanum xix. pp. 126-132. Cf. F. Neilsen, History of the Papacy in the Nineteenth Century (translation, London, 1906), vol. ii, pp. 67 et seq.: the text of the encyclical is given in French and in Latin in Lamennais, Affaires de Rome, p. 318, et seq. 1"* Cardinal Pacca wrote Lamennais a personal letter informing him that the pope had been pained to see him discuss questions with which only the highest ecclesiastical authorities were capable of dealing, and that L'.Ai'enir's advocacy of liberty of the press as positively desirable had astonished the Holy See. Cf. Spuller, op. cit., 209; Neilsen. op. cit., vol. ii, p. 70; Lamennais, Affaires de Rome, pp. 32, 131, et seq. 1*5 Lamennais, Affaires de Rome, p. 137. APPENDIX 413 ^"8 C/. Lamennais, Paroles d'un croyant (Paris, 1834), passim; idem, Affaires de Rome, p. 270, et seq.; SpuUer, Lamennais, passim. 1"^ Montalembert, whose mother was Irish, knew and admired O'Connell, the famous Irish leader, and possibly had O'Connell's ex- ample in mind. Cf. Weill, La France sous la monarchie constitution- nelle, p. 155 ; and, by the same author, Histoire du catholicisme liberal en France (Paris, 1909), p. 69, et seq.; J. T. Foisset, Le Comte de Montalembert (Paris, 1877). 1^8 Leroy-Beaulieu, Les Catholiques liberaux, pp. iii, 118, 121-124. 1^^ Ibid., p. 142, et seq. 170 Weill, Histoire du catholicisme liberal en France, pp. 98-99. ^'"- Ibid., p. 96. For further details regarding Maret, see G. Bazin, Vie de Mgr. Maret (2 vols., Paris, 1891). i'2 Fesch, Lacordaire journaliste, p. 62, et seq. 1^3 Charles de Coux, although barely mentioned in this sketch, was an extremely interesting figure. He had been the acknowledged econo- mist of L'Avenir. His theory that universal suffrage would help to ameliorate the condition of the workingman is an indication of his attitude toward democracy. Cf. Calippe, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 59-72, and also supra, pp. 24-25. ^''^ Ibid., p. 64, et seq., 87. Other signatories of the prospectus were Charles Sainte-Foy, Lorain, de Labaume, J. P. Tessier, and Gouraud. '^''^ The success of the journal was immediate and its influence con- siderable. The circulation reached 20,000 in June, 1848. After the June Days, Lacordaire's lack of faith in the republic became so dis- cordant with the democratic convictions of the other editors, of Maret particularly, that he resigned the office of editor-in-chief in Maret's favor, September 2, 1848. Lacordaire's own explanation of his retire- ment, as given in Fesch, Lacordaire journaliste, p. 91, et seq., shows clearly that while he accepted the republic he was not a convinced re- publican. As he himself said, he was not a republican of yesterday, but a republican of tomorrow ; hope rather than principle was the basis of his republicanism, and hope was destroyed by the tragic events of June. Cf. Chocarne, Inner Life of - . . Lacordaire, ch. xvii ; Fesch, Lacordaire journaliste, p. 59, et seq. '^''^ Le Correspondant, vol. xxi, p. 412. In a letter to M. Foisset, Feb. 22, 1848, Ozanam explained the phrase. " When I say ' let us go over to the side of the barbarians,' I do not mean go over to the side of the radicals. . . ." What he did mean, was to go over, " from the camp of the kings, of the statesmen of 1815, to the people." "And in saying ' let us go over to the barbarians,' " he continued, " I demand . . . that we concern ourselves with the people, who have too many needs and not enough rights, who rightly demand a more complete participation in public affairs as well as guarantees of work and against poverty,— the people, who have false leaders, but only because they cannot find good leaders. . . ." Lettres de Frederic Ozanam (Paris, 1873), vol. ii, p. 217, et seq. !"■ Letter to M. Prosper Dugas, March 11, 1849, i" Lettres de Fred- eric Ozanam, vol. ii, 251. 414 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT "^ MacCaffrey, op. cit., p. 235 ; Debidour, op. cit., pp. 485-487. In strict accuracy, it should be said that Lacordaire was acclaimed by the crowds outside, rather than by the Assembly itself. Cf. Fesch, Lacor- daire journaliste, p. 76 note, and Chocarne, op. cit., p. 439. 1'° Lamartine's part in the great events of 1848 is described in much detail in his own Histoire de la Revolution de 1848 (Leipsig, 1849;. Cf. also, P. Quentin-Bauchart, Lamartine, homme politique (thesis, Paris, 1903) ; H. Remsen Whitehouse, The Life of Lamartine (2 vols., Boston, and New York, 1918) ; fimile OUivier, Lamartine (Paris, 1874) ; L. de Ronchaud, La Politique de Lamartine (2 vols., 1878) ; L. Barthou, Lamartine. orateur (Paris, 1916) ; there are numerous other biog- raphies. As regards social questions, Lamartine was opposed to laissec-faire, on one hand, and to socialism, on the other. He stood for the workingman's "right to work, or to state assistance in case of demonstrated necessity." Cf. his Discours sur te droit au trazail (Paris, 1848) ; H. Michel, L'Idee de I'etat (Paris, 1895), p. 330, et seq.; and Eva Sachs, Lcs Idccs socialcs de Lamartine (thesis, Paris, 1915)- 180 Dreyfus, L'Assistance sous la seconde republique (Paris, 1907), pp. 211-212. 181 Debidour, op. cit., pp. 483-4, gives this and additional evidence of the generality of Catholic approval. Cf. Henri Cabane, Histoire du clcrge de France pendant la Revolution de 1848 (Paris, 1908). "^-Cf. Chocarne, op. cit., pp. 436-437. The pope himself wrote to Montalembert, expressing deep gratification that during the Revolution no injury had been oiTered to the Church. isapesch, op. cit., pp. 64-67. "♦ Louis Blanc, Histoire de la Revolution de 1848 (2 vols., Paris, 1870), ch. xi, xix-xxii; J. A. R. Marriott, The French Revolution of 1848 in its Economic Aspect (Oxford, 1913), vol. i, p. Ixix, et seq.; fimile Thomas, Histoire des ateliers nationaux (Paris, 1848, — repub- lished as vol. ii of Marriott, op. cit.) ; Pierre de La Gorce, Histoire de la seconde republique frangaise (7th ed., Paris, 1914), vol. i, pp. 277- 328. 1*5 La Gorce, Histoire de la seconde republique, vol. i, pp. 377-38i, 389; and Monitcur universel, 1848, p. 1503. This event occurred on June 25, after the fighting had begun. Ozanara, one of the precursors of Social Catholicism mentioned in ch. i, wished to accompany the archbishop, but the latter refused to grant the request. Mgr. Affre induced the workingmen to discuss a truce, and the drums were beat to command silence, but the drum-call was misinterpreted and fighting was resumed. The unsuccessful mediator, mortally wounded, fell into the arms of a workingman and was taken to a nearby rectory. Louis Blanc (Histoire de la revolution de 1848 vol. ii, p. 179) cites an af- fidavit by one of Mgr. AfFre's companions stating that, so far as could be judged in the confusion, the archbishop was not shot by the de- fenders of the barricades. ISO "pjig losses on both sides were estimated at 16,000 by Lord Nor- manby, then British ambassador to France (Marriott, op. cit., vol. i, p. xcii). The prefect of police, however, placed the figure much lower, APPENDIX 41 S probably too low; there had been 1,035 killed and 2,000 wounded, he said. La Gorce, a conservative historian, arrives at 3,000 as the ap- proximate figure. (La Gorce, op. cit., vol. i, p. 393). Gustave Geof- froy, writing in La Revolution de 1848, Bulletin de la societe d'histoire de la revolution de 1848 (1904-1905, pp. 22-29), gives a "moderate" estimate of 12,000 dead and 25,000 arrests. 18' A " state of siege " was maintained until the end of October, and Gep. Cavaignac was virtually dictator. Cf. Lavisse et Rambaud, His- toire generale, vol. xi, p. 20, et seq.; La. Gorce, op. cit., vol. i, p. 405, et seq.; Louis Blanc, Histoire de la revolution de 1848, vol. i, p. 184, et seq.; Marriott, op. cit., vol. i, p. xcii, et seq, Louis Blanc, who is, of course, a prejudiced witness, tells us that after the June Days, " the counter-revolution aiidaciously unfurled its flag " ; Cavaignac's power, he says, was merely nominal, for " the true masters of the situation were MM. Thiers, de Falloux, de Montalembert, Odilon Barrot, Ber- ryer : royalists." Of the Republic, " only the word remained." Though this may be exaggeration, it gives some idea of the bitter pas- sions excited by the June Days, — passions fatal to democratic concord. Cf. also E. Dagnan, " La Reaction conservatrice " in La Revolution de 1848, B'uUetin de la sociSti d'histoire de la revolution de 1848, 1909-10, pp. 213-223, 290-313. 188 Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire generale, vol. xi, pp. 22-23 ; La Gorce, op. cit., vol. i, p. 458, et seq.; MacCaffrey, History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century, vol. i, p. 237; Debidour, Rapports de I'eglise et de I'etat en France, p. 494; A. Leroy-Beaulieu, Les cath- oliques liberaux (Paris, 1885), p. 165; Georges Renard, La Republique de 1848 (Hist, socialiste, vol, ix, Paris, 1907), p. 124, et seq. Mon- talembert supported Louis Napoleon, and gave evidence of abandoning his earlier liberal views. In October, 1849, he wrote, "the kings have miounted their thrones again ; liberty has not regained hers, she has not even regained the throne which she had in our hearts." 189 Debidour, op. cit., part ii, ch. v. ; G. Weill, Histoire du catholic- isme liberal en France, 1828-1908, p. 109, et seq. 18° Cf. two articles by Am. Matagrin, entitled " Le Comite des cultes en 1848," in La Revolution de 1848, Bulletin de la societe d'histoire de la revolution de 1848, 1905-1906, pp. 180-196, 245-256; the author holds that the development of anticlericalism among the French republicar.s was in large measure due to clerical aggression. 181 W. R. Thayer, Dawn of Italian Independence (Boston and New York, 1893), vol. ii, pp. 263, 288-293; L. C. Farini, Lo Stato Romano dall'anno 181 5 al 1850 (Florence, 1853), vol. iii, pp. 1-208; H. Reuchlin, Geschichte Italiens (Leipzig, 1859-1873), vol. iii, pp. 18-52. 182 La Gorce, Histoire de la seconde republique, vol. ii, pp. 151- 248; T. Delord, Histoire du second empire (5th ed., Paris, 1869), vol. I, pp. 141-150; Olliver, L'Empire liberal (Paris, 1895-1912), vol. ii, p. 220; Debidour, op. cit., p. 496, et seq.; E. Bourgeois and E. Cler- mont, Rome et Napoleon III (Paris, 1907) ; Farini, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 360, et seq., vol. iv, libra sesto. 188 Debidour, op. cit., pp. 504-512, 701-718 (text of law). Cf. Leroy- 4l6 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Beaulieu, Les Catholiques liberaux, ch. ix, and G. Weill, Histoire du cathoUcismc liberal en France, p. 102, et seq., regaxding the effect of this law in disrupting the Catholic party. i»* Debidour, op. cit., p. 518. ^"^Ibid., p. 519. Veuillot gave chief credit for the Rome expedi- tion to Louis Napoleon himself, — cf. Leroy-Beaulieu, op. cit. p. 155 note. 108 Leroy-Beaulieu, op. cit., ch. ix; Debidour, op. cit., p. 524, et. seq.; La Gorce, Histoire du second cinl^irc (Paris, 1899-1905). vol. i, livre ii; Weill, op. cit., p. Ill, ct seq.; Delord, Histoire du second empire, vol. ii, ch. v-vi. 1^' Foisset, Tic du R. P. Lacordairc. 1"^ Cf. Montalembert, Des Intcrcts catholiques au XIX' sicclc (Paris, 1852); Lacanuet, Montalembert, passim; Weill, op. cit., p. 161, et seq.; Debidour op. cit., pp. 522, 532, 580, 582, ct seq.; and an article by J. F. Jeanjean on " Montalembert, les catholiques et I'Empire en 1859," in La Rci'ohition de 1848, Bulletin dc la societc histoire de la revolu- tion de 1848, 1913-1914, p. 23, et seq. '^'"> Cf. Leroy-Beaulieu, op. cit., pp. 168, 196, et seq. 200 Original text in Latin in Acta ct decreta concilii Vaticaiti (Frei- burg, 1871) ; in French translation, Debidour. op. cit.. p. 719, ct seq.; in English and Latin, Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (X. Y,. 1878), vol. ii, pp. 213-233. On the effect of the Syllabus, consult Leroy- Beaulieu, op. cit., ch. xi; Debidour, op. cit.. part ii, ch. viii; Weill, op. cit., p. 169, et seq.; Ollivier, L'Empire liberal, vol. vii, p. 201, ct seq. 2"' La Gorce, Histoire du second empire, vol. ii, p. 97, ct seq., vol. iv, p. 190: T. Delord, Histoire du second empire, vol. iii, p. 39S. 2"2 On his earlier career, cf. supra, ch. i, pp. 18-19. 203 Dreyfus, L' Assistance sous la seconde Rcpublique, pp. 96-97. -"* From a speech before the Society of Charitable Economy, March 6, 1848, — cf. Annates dc la charite, quatricme annce, p. 65. It is in- teresting to compare this w\t\\ a letter of June, 1850, in which Melun explained that what he hoped for in the republic was an opportunity to establish social legislation inspired by Christian charity, so that by merely opening the code of laws " one could recognize that Chris- tianity was at the basis of our social legislation, and that the Gospel was our legislative alphabet. That was what attracted me, I admit, in the Republic, which seemed to discard all established principles, all official maxims, and promised to realize in this world, so far as pos- sible, the divine commands. The monarchy, as it was formerly un- derstood, had the advantages and the disadvantages of the theory upon which it rested : it placed itself between God and us, posing as in- termediary between heaven and earth." This doctrine had the ad- vantage of strengthening obedience to authority, but too often it forced the acceptance of evil. But the fiction of divine right monarchy had crumbled, and the people had assumed the right to choose the form of government considered most serviceable to their own interests. They had established a republic, but were already growing weary of it, and there were signs of reversion to monarchy, not monarchy by divine APPENDIX 417 right, Melun sarcastically observed, but monarchy for the protection of property. 205 Correspondant, Feb. 10, 1882, p. 446. 206 Dreyfus, op. cit., p. 98, et seq. 2"^ Correspondant, Feb. 10, 1882, p. 449. 208 Ibid., Feb. 2S, 1882, p. 656. 203 Ihid. 210 Ibid., p. 668. 211/fcid., p. 657; Dreyfus, op. cit., p. 44. 212 Article XIII of the constitution of 1848 is as follows: "The constitution guarantees to the citizens liberty of work and of industry. Society favors and encourages the development of labor by free primary instruction, vocational training, equality in the relationship between employer and workingman, institutions for providence and credit, agricultural institutions, voluntary association, and the estab- lishment by the state, by the departments and by the communes, of public works designed to employ idle arms ; it furnishes aid to aban- doned infants, to the infirm and aged who are destitute of resources, and whose families cannot succor them." — Duguit and Monnier (ed.), Les constitutions de la France, p. 235. 213 Melun's report, in Moniteur universel, 1840, p. 2197. Cf. also p. 2140. ^''-^ Moniteur universe!, 1849, pp. 2304-2308. 21s Dreyfus, op. cit., p. 131. 21s Ibid.^ pp. 121-127. 21T Correspondant, Feb. 25, 1882, pp. 661-662. 21s £)j I' Intervention de la Societe pour prevenir et soulager la misere (pamphlet, Paris, 1849). This pamphlet is a reprint of two articles which appeared in the Annales de la charite for 1849, pp. 337, et seq., 401, et seq. 210 In 1851 he reported a bill for such organization. The bill pro- vided for the creation of a special council or board under the chairman- ship of the minister of the interior to supervise the execution of the laws on public assistance of the poor. This council was to be com- posed of twenty members, including four delegates of the National Assembly, two of the Council of State, two of the court of appeal, one of the audit department, one of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, and ten members appointed by the president of the Republic. In addition, each departement was to have a committee on assistance of the poor ; the departmental committee in each case would comprise the prefect, the bishop, a Protestant minister in departements where a Protestant church was recognized, a delegate of the court of appeals or of the court of first instance, and from four to six members chosen by the conseil general of the departement. To these committees would be intrusted the task of supervising the various public institutions for poor relief, and the authority to grant recognition [implying the right to own property and receive bequests] to deserving institutions of private charity. The bill was never adopted. Cf. Moniteur universel, 1851, pp. 965-967- 4i8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 220 Melun, De I' Intervention de la Societe pour prevenir et soulager la miscre. In summarizing Melun's ideas I have availed myself freely of the excellent exposition and discussion to be found in Dreyfus, op. cit., p. iii, et seq. 221 Loi relative a l assainissement des logements insalubres, passed by the National Assembly on April 13, 1850, and duly promulgated, cf. Moniteur universel, April 23, 1850, p. 1317- The law gave the municipal council in each commune authority to appoint a committee for the inspection of housing conditions, and to require improvements where necessary. Buildings which could not be rendered healthful, might be condemned by the prefectural council. This bill had been presented by Melun. 222 Loi qui crcc, sous la garantie de I'Etat, une caisse de retraites ou rentes viagercs pour la vieillesse, passed by the National Assembly on June 12, 1850, and duly promulgated, — of. Moniteur universel, June 25, 1850, p. 2163. This was a scheme for voluntary insurance against old age ; neither the state nor the employer was obliged to contribute. The amount of the annuity or pension was based on the amount of the premiums paid by the workingman, plus five per cent interest, taking into account his probability of life according to actuarial tables; in any case, the annuity could not exceed 600 francs. 223 £01 sur les socictcs de secours viutuels, passed by the National Assembly on July 15, 1850, and duly promulgated, — cf. Moniteur uni- verse!, July 20, 1850, p. 2479. Mutual aid societies having not fewer than 100 and not more than 2,000 members might under certain con- ditions be recognized as of public utility and be authorized to receive gifts and legacies not exceeding 1000 francs. Such societies were for- bidden to promise old age pensions to their members, but they were allowed to grant temporary aid in case of sickness, accident, or in- firmity, and to defray funeral expenses. Dues were to be fixed in ac- cordance with actuarial tables prepared or approved by the govern- ment. The societies were to be subject to municipal surveillance. 2-* Loi sur V education et le patronage des jeunes detenus, passed by the National Assembly on Aug. 5, 1850 and duly promulgated, — cf, Moniteur universel, Aug. 13, 1850, p. 2813. Juvenile offenders were to receive moral, religious, and vocational training, and were to be kept apart from adult criminals. Under certain conditions they might be employed in penitentiaries. 22^5 /. e.^ the revolving closets (tours), which were placed at the en- trance to hospices, and in which foundlings might be deposited with- out observation. The foundlings left there were then cared for by charitable institutions. Cf. Melun's report, Moniteur universel, pp. 974, 1080. 228 Loi sur les hospices et hOfitaux, passed by the National As- sembly on Aug. 7, 1851, — cf. Moniteur universel. Aug. 13, 1851, p. 2363. '"Loi relative aux contrats d'apprcntissage, passed by the National Assembly on Feb. 22, 1851, and duly promulgated, — cf. Moniteur APPENDIX 419 uniyersel, March 4, 1851, p. 641. This was an important measure. By article 8, "the master must conduct himself towards the apprentice as a good father." He must not employ the apprentice on work un- related to the trade, or work injurious to health, or work in excess of the boy's strength (art. 8). Apprentices less than fourteen years old might not work over ten hours a day; apprentices under sixteen might not work at night; no work was to be done on Sundays and legal holidays (art. 9). If the apprentice had not yet mastered the " three R's " he must be allowed two hours a day for instruction (art. 10). The master was legally obliged to give his apprentices full train- ing in the trade (art. 12). 228 xhe reference is probably to a bill prepared by the Conseil general de I'agriculture, des manufactures et du commerce, cf. Moniteur uni- versel 1850, pp. 1393, et seq., 1439, et seq., 1454 et seq. 229 From one of the series of biographical articles by G. Baguenault de Puchesse in the Correspondant, Feb. 25, 1882, p. 664. The list is not complete. Among other laws passed by the National Assembly, — and in some of these laws Melun took a very active interest, — might be mentioned the law of Feb. 3, 1851, on the provision of cheap or free public baths {Moniteur universel, Feb. 10, 1851, p. 429) ; the law of March 27, 1851, on repression of frauds in the sale of merchan- dise {Moniteur universel, April 2, 1851, p. 955) ; the law of May 21, 1851, emancipating the workingman from the veritable peonage which indebtedness to his employer sometimes brought about [ibid., May 21, 1851, p. 1427) ; the law of Dec. 10, 1850, facilitating the marriage of paupers by reducing official fees (ibid., Dec. 18, 1850, p. 3609) ; the law of Dec. 19, 1850, on usury (ibid., Dec. 26-27, 1850, p. 3707) ; the law of Jan. 22, 1851, on free legal service (ibid., Jan. 30, 1851, p. 303). 230 Correspondant, Feb. 25, 1882, p. 670. 231 Report by M. Thiers, in the name of the commission on public assistance and provident institutions, Jan. 26, 1850, in Moniteur uni- versel, 1850, p. 304, et seq. Thiers recommended the encouragement of miscellaneous charitable institutions and of mutual aid societies, the improvement of dwellings, etc. 232 Quoted by Dreyfus, op. cit., p. 141, from Melun's Memoires, vol. ii, p. 57, et seq. 233 Correspondant, Feb. 1882, p. 661. 234 Written in October, 1852, when Louis Napoleon was acclaimed with cries of " Vive I'Empereur." Quoted in Correspondant, Feb. 25, 1882, ^p. 671-672. 235 Written in 1855. Ibid., March 25, 1882, pp. 1099-1100. 238 Correspondant, March 25, 1882, p. 1091. 237 E Levasseur, Histoire des classes ouvriires et de I'industrie en France de 1789 h 1870 (2nd ed. Paris 1903-1904), vol. ii, p. 343; fimile Thomas, Histoire des ateliers nationaux (Paris, 1848), pp. 19-21; Louis Blanc, Histoire de la revolution de 1848 (Paris, 1870), vol. i, ch. vii. 238 fimile Thomas, Histoire des ateliers nationaux, p. 27 ; Levasseur, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 382. 420 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 238 Levasseur, op. cit., vol. ii, ch. ii ; Louis Blanc, Histoire de la revolution de 1848, vol. i, pp. 136 et seg.; Fighiera, La Protection legale des travaillcurs en France (Paris, 1913), vol. i, p. 64, et seq. ^^0 Louis Blanc, L' Organisation du travail (Paris, 1839). -■"^ Louis Blanc, in his Appel aux honnctcs gens (Paris, 1849), definitely repudiates the " national workshops," and alleges that fimile Thomas, who was selected as director, was not only a stranger to him, but an indefatigable antagonist of his doctrines; see especially pp. 20-31. Emile Thomas, in his own account of the affair, — Histoire des ateliers nationaux, — shows clearly enough that he was no disciple of Louis Blanc (p. 323) ; his aim was not to apply Louis Blanc's theories, but to realize " the Saint-Simonian idea of semi-military organization of the workers" (p. 35). Cf. Levasseur, op cit., vol. ii, ch. iii ; J. A. R. Marriott, The French Revolution of 1848 in its Economic Aspect vol. i, p. Ixi.x, et seq.; Louis Blanc, Histoire de la rciolution de 1848, vol. i, ch. xi, passim. -'-Levasseur, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 370, 372; Louis Blanc, Histoire de la revolution de 184S, vol. ii, ch. xi.x, p. 222. -*' Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines cconomiques, p. 351. -'■' Gide and Rist, op. cit., pp. 234-308. '-*•' Cf. supra, ch. i, p. 26. 2" Cf. Calippe, L' Attitude sociole des catholiques, vol. i, pp. 8-9, and Xitti, Catholic Socialism, p. 84. 2*^ Pierre Leroux, De I'Humanite (Paris, 1840), and De iSgatite (Paris, iX?8), passim. 2*' For example, see his Organisation du travail (5th ed., Paris, 1848), pp. 6-7. 2'"' Weill, Histoire du niouvcment smcial en France, p. 52, et seq. ^^^ Correspondance de P. J. Proudhon (Paris, 1875), vol. vi, pp. iio-ii. Cf. Weill, op. cit., pp. 38, 53; Gide and Rist, op. cit., p. 339, et seq. Proudhon in his Confessions d'un rcvolutionnairc (new ed., Paris, 1876), says that there is an '"eternal dilemma," — "either no papacy, or no liberty" (p. 261). On the other hand, "Christianity is the best expression of religion, up to the present" {ibid., p. 267). 251 That the modern socialist movement in France is pronouncedly anticlerical, even anti-Christian, is a thesis hardly requiring documenta- tion ; but the reader who desires an explanation of this antagonism should consult the opinions expressed by leading socialists, in reply to a questionnaire or " Enquete sur I'anticlericalisme et le socialisme " in Le Mouvcment sncialiste of 1902; also, the article on "Socialisme et I'Eglise" in La Rc:'ue socialislc. 1903, vol. xxxviii, p. 35, et seq. On the other side of the controversy, vide Victor Cathrein, S. J., Socialism (translated from the German, New York, 1904), p. 204, et seq. 262 Debidour, Histoire des rapports de I'fglise et de I'elat en France de 1789 a 1870. p. 518. Compare Montalembert's declaration with the view of the Ere nouvcUe, that "there is an honest Christian socialism, and the Revolution in proclaiming itself social has yielded to a move- ment which is the very impulse of the evangelic spirit," — Joly, Le Socialisme chn'lien (Paris, 1892), ch. iv. APPENDIX 421 253 Calippe, L'Attitude sociale des catholiques, vol. iii, pp. 51-69. 25*Augustin Cochin, De la Condition des ouvriers frangais (Paris, 1862), p. 29. Cf. also Cochin's pamphlets entitled Lettre sur I'etat du pauperisme en Angleterre (Paris, 1854), and Progres des sciences et de I'industrie au point de vue chretien (Paris, 1863), as well as his La Reforme sociale (Paris, 1865), and £tudes sociales et economiques (Paris, 1880). 255 yijg J Bourgeois, Le Catholicisme et les questions sociales (Paris, 1867), passim. -5^ Cf. Calippe, op. cit., vol. i, p. 191, et seq. 25' Huet, Le Regne social du christianisme (Paris, 1853). 258 Vide Huet, Le Regne social du christianisme, and fible, op. cit., p. 31, et seq. 259 Frederic Le Play (1806-1882) began his career as a mining en- gineer. Between 1829 and 1853 he travelled extensively, making care- ful observations of social conditions. These observations he published in the form of thirty-six monographs on working-class families, under the title Les Ouvriers europeens (1855). In 1864 appeared his second important work. La Reforme sociale en France, — an exposition of his theories, — and in 1877 an enlarged edition of his Ouvriers europeens. He enjoyed great prestige and exercised a certain influence upon the emperor. The Society for Social Economy was founded by him in 1856. After Le Play's death, divergent tendencies, leading to a definite schism, appeared among his followers. One school, organized in the Unions of Social Peace, and publishing the review La Reforme soeiale, held firmly to Le Pla3r's system. The other school, which publishes the review La Science sociale, follows Le Play's scientific method of careful observation, on a somewhat different basis, to be sure, but lays greater stress on the influence of geographic environment and re- gards the family of the American type, rather than of the English or Chinese type, as the desirable unit of social organization. Both schools are conservative and anti-socialist in their tendency. On Le Play see P. Ribot, Expose critique des doctrines sociales de M. Le Play (Paris, 1882) ; Ch. de Ribbe, Le Play 'd'apres sa correspondance (2nd ed., Paris, 1906) ; Auburtin, Frederic Le Play d'apris lui-meme (Paris, 1906) ; H. Higgs, article on Le Play in Harvard Quarterly Journal of Econ- omics, June, 1890; Calippe, op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 71-92, 30S-307; Gide and Rist, op. cit., p. 572, et seq.; Weill, Histoire du mouvement social en France, pp. 23-25, 387-389; £ble, Les Ecoles catholiques etc., ch. ii; L'Association catholique, vol. xiii, pp. 559-579; obituary in La Reforme sociale, vol. iii, pp. 34S-360, 410-412, 430-438, 474-482. 260 Le Play, La Reforme sociale en France (6th ed.), vol. ii, pp. 302- 305, vol. iii, p. 190, et seq. ^^^Idem, Cf. Calippe, op. cit., pp. 88-90; fible, op. cit., p. 112, et seq.; Weill, op. cit., p. 387. 21=2 C/. Calippe, op. cit., vol. iii, pp. 88-S9; Eble, op. cit., p. 109, et seq.: Gide and Rist, op. cit., p. 577 203 Le Play, La Reforme sociale en France, vol. iii, pp. 22-23. 422 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 2«*E. Martin Saint-Leon, Histoire des corporations de metiers, (Paris, 1897), p. 619. -<"5 Le Play, La Reforme sociale en France, vol. iii, p. 21. 266 Weill, op. cit., p. 71. 28' Le Play, La Riforme sociale en France, vol. iii, ch. 50, is espe- cially interesting as embodying his doctrine on " patronage." 268 Weill, op. cit., p. 71. 209 Le Play, La Reforme sociale en France, vol. iv, p. 339. There should be democracy in the communes, aristocracy in the provinces, and monarchy in the national government. -'" F. Le Play, La Reforme sociale en France, introduction; Les Ouiriers curopcens (2nd ed., Tours, 1878), vol. v, p. 528. ='iLe Play, L'Organisation du travail (first ed.. Tours, 1870), fourth ed.. Tours, 1877, p. 201. 2"2 Le Play, La Riforme sociale en France, book i ; L'Organisation du travail, ch. v. -■3 Henri Charles Xavier Perin (1815-1905), a Belgian economist. He began his career as a lawyer at Brussels, but was called to fill the chair of public law in the Catholic University of Louvain, 1844. In 1845 he began to teach political economy, at the same institution. During the Second Empire period he exercised a steadily increasing influence over French Catholic thought, through his University lec- tures, his articles in French periodicals, and his books. Among his writings, the following works may be mentioned : Les £conomistes, les siHialistes ct le christianisme (Paris, 1849) ; Du Progrds materiel et du renoncement chrctien (1850, a collection of articles first pub- lished in Le Correspondant, a French review) ; De la Richesse dans les societes chretiennes (2 vols., Paris, 1861, second edition 1868) ; Les Libertes populaires (Paris, 1871) ; Les Lois de la sociStc chretienne (2 vols., Paris, 1875) ; Le Socialisme chrctien (Paris, 1879) ; Les Doc- trines cconomiques depuis un sihle (Paris, 1880) ; L'Association ouv- rit>re (pamphlet, Lille, 1881) ; Melanges de politique ct d'economie (Paris, 1883); Le Patron, sa fonctinn. ses devoirs, ses responsabilites (Paris, 1886) ; Premiers principcs d'economie politique (Paris, 1895) ; Premiers principes d'economie politique. Seconde edition, revue el comph'tcc. stiivie d'une etude siir le juste salaire d'apres Vencyclique Rerum Novarum (Paris, 1896). 27*Mgr. Fevre, Charles Perin, createur de I'economie politique chre- tienne (Paris, 1903). 2'5 De Clercq, Les Doctrines sociales en France, vol. ii, p. 7. 2" Nitti, Catholic Socialism, p. 263. 277Fevre, Charles PSrin crSateur de I'economie politique chretienne, p. 121. "^ Perin, Les Lois de la societr chretienne, especially livre iv. 2"p^rin was not a partisan of absolute liberty, in the sense of in- dividualism; what he advocated was liberty tempered by voluntary as- sociation and properly used in accordance with moral laws. Cf. Le Socialisme ehrStien, p. 10. APPENDIX 423 280 p^rin^ £g Socialisme chretien,, (Paris, 1879), p. 32; De la Richesse (second ed.) vol. i, p. 141, vol. ii, p. 477, et seq. 281 Nitti, Catholic Socialism, p. 264. 282 Perin, Le Socialisme chretien, p. 16. 283 Perin, Premiers principes (ist ed.) pp. 39-40. 28* Ibid. 285 Perin, Les Sconomistes etc., ch. v; De la Richesse, vol. ii, p. 259, et seq.; Premiers principes, passim. 286 cf. Premiers principes, p. 144, et seq.; De la Richesse, vol. ii, pp. 259-352 ; Les Doctrines economiques, p. 233 ; Le Patron, ch. iii, xi. 287 Metz-Noblat, Les Lois iconomiques, resume du cours d'economie politique fait a la faculte de droit de Nancy en 1865 et 1866 (Paris, 1867), p. xxii, et passim. These laws, he adniits, are not absolutely in- flexible. 288 Metz-Noblat, op. cit., passim, especially ch. xv and xxv ; see also his Analyse des phenomtnes) economiques (Nancy, 1853), vol. i, ch. X. 289 Metz-Noblat, Les Lois economiques, p. xvii. 2^07. Rambaud, Histoire des doctrines economiques, (Paris and Lyons, 1902) , second edition, p. 295. 291 Metz-Noblat, Analyse des phenomenes economiques, vol. i, ch. xxv, Les Lois economiques, ch. vii, xlii. After discussing the relative merits of state action and private charity for the relief of poverty, he con- cludes in favor of the latter. 282 Metz-Noblat, Les Lois economiques, p. 726, et seq. 283 Jhid., ch. xxxiv. 28*Corbiere, L'£conomie sociale au point de vue chretien (Paris, 1863), passim. 285 Ibid., vol. i, pp. 225-230. ^^^Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 273-291, 372-384. ^^'' Ibid., p. 380, et seq. 288 Ibid., vol. i, p. 278, et seq. 299 Weill, Histoire du mouvement social, ch. i-ii. '""Auguste Comte, the great positivist philosopher and sociologist, played an important role in denouncing revolution, in preaching social peace, in emphasizing the moral aspect of the social problem. 301 Journal des Economistes, second series, vol. xv, p. 275. 382 Quoted in Weill, op. cit, p. 4. It must be remembered, however, that in practice Louis Napoleon promoted a number of legislative measures in the interest of the working-classes. Cf. Levasseur, His- toire des classes ouvriires et de I'industrie en France de 1789 d, 1870, vol. ii, livre vi, passim, especially pp. 828-836 ; P. L. Fournier, Le second empire et la legislation ouvriire (Paris, 1911). 303 Jules Simon, La Liberte (Paris, 1857), second edition, vol. i, p. 204. 38* Jules Simon, L'Ouvri^re (Paris, 1861), especially part iv, ch. i. See also his later books, Le Travail (Paris, 1866), and L'Ouvri^r de huit ans (Paris, 1867). 424 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 305 Jules Simon, La Liberie, vol. ii, p. 126. ^o^Ibid., p. 118. i"" Ibid., p. I2S 2°8 t'idc Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Des IdSes Napoleoniennes (Lon- don, 1839) ; Extinction du pauperisme (Paris, 1844). On the social policy of the Second Empire, cf. Weill, Histoire du mouvement social en France, ch. i-vi ; P. L. Fournier, Le second empire et la legislation ouzricre (Paris, 191 1 ) ; Levasseur, Histoire des classes ouvricrcs et de I'industric en France de lySg i 1870, vol. ii, litre vi ; A. Thomas, Lc Second Empire (in the Histoire Socialiste). For suggestions re- garding the political philosophy of the Second Empire, see H. A. L. Fisher's lectures on Bonapartism (Oxford, 1908), or the more sub- stantial works of Pierre de La Gorce, Taxtile Delord, fimile Ollivier, and Jerrold. 'OS) Ollivier, L'Empire liberal (Paris, 1895-1912), vol. v, p. 8, et seq.; vol. vi, p. 154, et seq., and p. 248, et seq.; La Gorce, Histoire du second empire (Paris, 1899-1905), vol. iii, p. 457, et seq.; Debidour, Histoire des rapports de Vrglisc et dc I'etat, part ii, ch. vi-viii. '•" Ollivier, L'Empire liberal, vol. vi, p. 98, et seq., 157, ct seq., 328, ct sci].: La Gorce, Histoire du second empire, vol. iv, p. 414, et seq. '" Ollivier, L'Empire liberal, vol. vi, p. 436, et seq., 574, et seq., vol. vii, p. 514, et seq., vol. ix, p. 58, et seq., 523, et seq.; La Gorce, Histoire du second empire, vol. iv, p. 6, et seq., 308, et seq.; T. Delord, Histoire du second empire (Paris, 1869-1874), vol. iii, ch. i.x-x ; vol. iv, ch. iv ; vol. V, ch. iv. '•- Debidour. Histoire des rapports de I'cglise et de I'etat, p. 582. ^'^ Ibid., p. 573. La Gorce, Histoire du second empire, vol. iv, p. 134, et seq.: T. Delord, Histoire du second empire, vol. iii, p. 216, et seq. "*La Gorce, Histoire du second empire, vol. ii, p. 97, et seq., vol. iv, p. 190; T. Delord, Histoire du second empire, vol. iii, p. 398; cf. Ollivier, L'Empire liberal, vol. xi, p. 557, et seq., vol. xii, p. 341, et seq. The Legitimist pretender consistently represented the traditional mon- archy as the true protector of religion, as will be seen by consulting his letters, conveniently published in £tude politique : M. le comte de Chambord. correspondance de 1841 d l8yi (Geneva, 1871'). '1' Summary of excerpts reprinted in La Monarcliie francaise : Lct- tres et docunjents politiques (1844-1907) (Paris, 1907), pp. 202-207. 310 Lettre sur les ouvricrs, April 20, 1865, reprinted in full in La Monarchic francaise, pp. 84-91. As early as Jan. 12, 1855, the Count of Chambord had written : " As regards labor associations, during recent years they have un- dergone a development which has by no means escaped my attention. By conforming to ideas of order, of morality, of mutual aid, by regu- larizing their existence under the tutelary authority of the laws and by avoiding, along with the abuses of monopoly which in another epoch led to the suppression of the old trades organizations, all that which might make them instruments of disorders and of revolutions, these associations will more and more constitute serious collective interests, APPENDIX 425 which will naturally have the right to be represented and heard in order that they may be sufficiently protected." V. L' Association catholique, 1882, vol. xiv, p. 147. Cf. E. Demolins, " Les Doctrines sociales de M. le comte de Chambord," in La Reforme sociale, 1883, vol. vi, pp. 289-292. 3" Ibid., pp. 86-87. 3^^ Ibid., p. 87. '''^^Ibid., pp. 84-91. ^^°Ibid., pp. 89-90. ^^^Ibid., p. 91. 322 fitienne Martin Saint-Leon, Histoire des corporations de metiers, (Paris, 1897), p. 538, et seq. 323 La Monarchie frangaise, p. 91. ^^* Supra, pp. 27-28. 325 This fact is recognized by writers of the most divergent social views. Cf. Weill, Histoire du mouvement social en France, p. 141, et seq.; G. Hanotaux, Contemporary France (tr. from the French by J. C. Tarver, N. Y., 1912), vol. i, pp. 163-169; E. Zevort, Histoire de la Troisieme Rcpuhlique (Paris, 1899), vol. i, p. 208; Dubreuilh, La Commune, 1871 (vol. xi of the Histoire socialiste edited by Jaures), passim. 328 The events of the Commune are among the most controversial in French history, and consequently historians of the Commune differ radically not only in their general interpretation of the revolution but even in their statement of the facts, Cf. Hanotaux, Contemporary France, vol. i, ch. iii ; Lissagaray, Histoire de la Commune (the second edition was not permitted to be published in French but was trans- lated by E. M. Aveling as, History of the Commune of 1871 (London, 1886) ; L. Fiaux, Histoire de la guerre civile de 1871 (Paris, 1879) ; Maxime du Camp, Les Convulsions de Paris (4 vols., Paris, 1881) ; A. Bertrand, Les Origines de la Troisieme Repuhlique (Paris, 1911), pp. SO-130I B- Becker, Geschichte und Theorie der Pariser revolution- dren Kommune des Jahres 1871 (Leipzig, 1879) ; E. Lepelletier, Histoire de la Comnmne de 187 1 (2 vols., Paris, 1911-1912) ; Jules Qaretie's quaintly illustrated Histoire de la Revolution de 1870-187 1 (Paris, 1872) ; Dubreuilh, La Commune, 1871 (in the Jaures series, Paris, 1908) . Perhaps the most interesting source-material is found in the Enquete parlementaire sur I'insurrection du 18 mars (Versailles, 1872) ; Count Albert de Mun's testimony appears on pp. 275-277. In particular, opinions differ as to the number of persons killed and executed. Hanotaux asserts that "Paris lost 80,000 citizens" (op. cit., p. 228) ; Seignobos, in Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire Generale (Paris, igoi), vol. xiii, p. 7, mentions 17,000 killed; Lissagaray, p. 393. declares that 20,000 is no exaggeration ; Lt. Col. Rousset, in 1871, La Com'mune a Paris et en province (Paris, 1912), p. 249, gives the losses of the Versailles army as 7,514 and, as regards the losses of the insurgents, mentions estimates running as high as 30,000 or 40,000 but considers these exaggerated. The conflict of opinions on this one point shows 426 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT how much uncertainty obscures the true history of the insurrection. ^'" Bertrand, Origines de la Troisieme Republique, pp. 1 18-127. 328 Jules Favre, Discours parlementaires (Paris, 1881), vol. iv, p. 85, et seq. 32» E. Levasseur, Questions ouvridres et industrielles en France sous la Troisieme Republique (Paris, 1907), p. 472. 330 Weill, Histoire du mouvcment social en France, p. 172; E. Martin- Saint-Leon, Histoire des corporations dc metiers, p. 538, et seq. By article 414 of the penal code, as it existed before 1864, any coalition, whether on the part of employers for the purpose of lowering wages, or on the part of the laborers with a view of stopping work in a factory, was ipso facto a misdemeanor; the leaders were subject to a penalty of from two to five years' imprisonment, and their accom- plices to imprisonment from six days to three months and a fine of from sixteen to 3,000 francs. In 1864 the article was amended, so that mere membership in such coalitions was not penalized, except in case of violence, assault, menaces, or fraudulent manoeuvres. 33' These words are taken from the speech of M. Aclocque, in the National Assembly, meeting of May 15, 1872. Journal ofHcicl, May 16, 1872, p. 3277. 332 Rapport fait au nom de la commission d'enquete sur les conditions du travail en France, par M. Ducarre, Aug. 2, 1875, in Journal oMciel, November 15-22, 1875, PP- 9339, 9369, 9396, 9425, 9465, 9483, 9SI9. 956i. The quotation is from p. 9483. Another report on the conditions of the laboring classes was made at about the same time by Count de Mclun, a brother of the philanthropist of the same name mentioned on an earlier page ; this report is found in the Journal officiel, August M, 187s, pp. 6788-6792. Neither report was discussed by the National .Vsscmbly; both concluded that little or nothing should be done to remedy the existing evils. There is an interesting analysis of the two reports, and a protest against their spirit, in the Social Catholic organ, L'Association catholique, 1876, vol. i, pp. 57-78. 333 Kid?, Le Play's review, La Rcforme sociale (from 1881) during this period, or the Association catholique (from 1876), or the Revue Catholique des institutions et du droit (from 1873), or Charles Perin Le Socialisme chrHicn (Paris, 1879). 33 et seq.; cf. Association catholique, 1881, vol. xi, p. 543, et seq. *ii Chambre des deputes, 1881, DSbats, pp. 66y-66i,. *i2it is not to be inferred that all Republicans opposed the Bill. The Bill had been presented by Republicans of socialist tendency and 432 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT was ardently defended by them. Vide, the speech by Martin Nadaud, ibid., p. 599, et seq. But Nadaud represented a minority opinion. "3 Ibid., pp. 595-599- *^'^Ibid., p. 6ii. *^^ Chambre des dcpuli's. i88l, Debats. p. 677, ct seq. *^^Cf. infra, p. 110. The texts will be found in Senat, 1881, Docu- ments, p. 733, ct seq., and Chambre des deputes, 1881, Debats, p. 676. ^''^''I'idc. Senat, 1881, Documents, p. y^z, ct seq. The Bill was not passed by the Senate. *''" Cluimbre des deputes, 18S1, Debats. p. 6y7, et seq. ^1° Cf. supra, pp. 70-74. ^20 Breda, " La Question ouvriere et le gouvernment chretien," in L'.lssociation cathotique, 1882, vol xi\-, p. 133, et seq. *-^Ibid. *-- The passage is quoted from a letter written by Chambord in 1847. Ibid. <" Ibid. *-* .ll'pcl aux homines de bonne volontc, issued by the committee for the creation nf Catholic WorkinRmen's Clubs, in December, 1871, and reproduced in A. de Mun, Ma Vocation socialc, pp. 7-:-75. *-' .\. de Mun, Ma J^ocation sociale, p. no; Piscours, vol. i, pp. ^i-,U. ■•-" .\. de Mun, Ma Vocation socialc, p. 194. *-' .\. dc Mun, Discours, vol. i, p. 181. '-'" Count lie Mun's speech at the General Assembly of the Associa- tion of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs, 1878, published in L'Association catholiquc. vol. V, pp. 925-11,^; see especially p. 930. ■•-".A. dc Mun, speech at Chartres, Sept. 8, 1878; cf. L'Association catholiquc, vol. vi, pp. ('124-6^^. *■•"' Ibid. *^^ Ibid., Cf. L'.lssociation catholiquc, vol. \ i, pp. s87-=;o^. "2 Ibid. ^33 Speech at the General .Assembly of the .Association of C. W. C, May 4. 1870, published in L'.lssociation catholiquc. vol. vii, pp. 004- loog. "< Ibid. «5 fhid. ^^^ De Mun conceived that the aristocracy, as a disinterested third party, should be the " negotiators of peace " between capitalists and workingmen, "the artisans of social reconciliation." Cf. .A. de Mun, Discours, vol. i, p. 37S. ■"^ A. de Mun, Discours, vol. i, p. 378. «8 Ibid. *^^ A. de Afun, o/>. cit., vol. i, p. 403. **" A bill to legalize syndicafs ("unions of workingmen or employers in the same branch of industryt had been adopted by the Chamber of Deputies in June, 1881, amended by the Senate, and returned to the Chamber. The second debate in the Chamber, beginning June 12, 1883, is the one referred to. Cf. Journal oMciel, 1880, p. 11677; Chambre APPENDIX 433 des deputes, 1881, Documents, p. 361 ; Chatn{jre des deputes, 1S81, Dibats, pp. S16, 910, 917, 956, 972, 996, 1160, 1170; Senat, 1882, Dibats, pp. 688, 706, 748, et seq.; 775 et seq., 790 et seq., 801 et seq., 847, 980, et seq.; Chambre des deputes, 1882, Documents, p. 2626; Chambre des deputes, 1S83, Debats, pp. 513, 1276, et seq., 1312, et seq., 1330, et seq., 1346, et seq. *^ijune 12, Chambr£ des deputes, 1883, Debats, p. 1277, et seq. See also his second speech, June 19, idem, p. 1356, et seq. ^*- Chambre des deputes, 1883, Dibats, p. 1283, et seq. **^ Chambre des diputes, 1884, Dibats, p. 33. **^lbid., p. 190, et seq. **= Chambre des deputis, 1884, Debats, p. 2076. **8 Ibid., p. 1388, et seq. *^' Article by Girandmaison in Etudes, vol. 141, p. 42; Saint-Pierre, Le Comte Albert de Mun, pp. 47-50. The death of the Legitimist pre- tender in 1883 had left de Mun politically stranded, so to speak; more- over, the Catholic successes in the election of 1885 had encouraged him to hope that by emulating the Belgian Catholic party and the German Center party, the French clericals might stem the tide of republican anticlericalism. «s 3y repealing the divorce law. **^ By revision of the articles in the Civil Code which tended to the division and, consequently, the destruction of family properties. *^° Saint-Pierre, loc. cit. This program represents de Mun's idea of the social legislation which Catholics could be induced to advocate, at that time. It does not represent the maximum development of his own proposals. In fact, the Bills presented by him in 1886-1889 contain definitive proposals of a much more radical nature. Cf. infra, p. iii. ^=1 Grandmaison, loc. cit., Saint-Pierre, loc. cit. *52 Law of Sept. 9, 1848, Cf. R. Fighiera, La Protection legale des travailleurs en France, pp. 73-87; P. Pic, La Protection ligale des traz'ailleurs (Paris, 1909), pp. 77-79- *53 Chambre des diputes, 1886, Documents, p. 1073, et seq. *5i Chambre des deputes, 1S86, Documents, p. 1738. *55 Chambre des deputes, 1886, Documents, p. 891, et seq. *56 Bills presented June 16, 1887, and Dec. 7, 1889. Chambre des diputes. 1887, Documents, p. 903, et seq., and 1889, Documents, p. 273, et seq. *57 Bill presented on Dec. 7, 1889. Chambre des deputes, 1889, Ses- sion extraordinaire. Documents, p. 270, et seq. ••ss Chambre des deputis, 1889, Documents, p. 268, et seq. *59 Chambre des deputes, 1889, Session extraordinaire. Documents, p. 272. *«" Chambre des diputes, 1889, Debats, p. 241, et seq. *6i Chambre des deputis, 1891, Dibats, pp. 129, 185, 208, 214, 215, 235. *"- Reply to an official questionnaire regarding the Val-des-Bois works, 'Me U Association tatholique, vol. v, p. 682, et seq. *^^L' Association catholique, vol. xvii, p. 536, et seq. *8*A. de Mun, Ma Vocation sociale, p. 245. 434 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT *'^^ Manuel d'une corporation chretienne (Tours, 1876). *"" Catcchisme du patron: elabori avec le concours d'un grand nombre de thiologiens; edite par L. Harmel (Paris, i88g). *•" The following description of the Val-des-Bois Guild and discus- sion of its principles is based on the works of Harmel already cited, and also " La Democratic dans I'usine," in La Democratie chretienne, 1903; Le Val-des-bois: situation actuelle, juin, 189s, (Rheims, 1895); Fortnightly Review, Jan. 1896; Calippe, L' Attitude sociale, vol. iii, pp. 133-143; Nitti, Catholic Socialism, pp. 291-299; " L'usine du Val-des- Bois ; Enquete . . . exposition du ministere de I'lnterieure," a reply to a questionnaire, in L'Association catholique, vol. v, p. 682, et seq.; Revue de I'Action Populaire, Jan. 10, 1914, pp. 14-22, Feb. ID, pp. 121- 130, March 20, pp. 210-217, April 10, pp. 263-270, a series of articles entitled " La Famille ouvriere du Val-des-Bois," by J. Dassonville. *^^ A. de Mun, Ma Vocation sociale, p. 245. *'^^ Manuel d'une corporation chretienne (Tours, 1876). Cf. L'Asso- ciation catholique, vol. iv, p. 455. *'" From Harmel's report at the Bordeaux congress, — Association catholique, vol. ii, p. 456. In the Manual, he gave a shorter definition of the guild as " a religious and economic society formed freely by the heads of industrial families (employers and workingmen of the same industrial group or of analogous professions) all the members of which are grouped in various pious associations." Manuel d'une corporation chri'iicune, p. 193. ■•■1 L'Association catholique, vol. iv, p. 372, et seq. *'- A. dc Miin, Ma Vocation sociale, p. 246. *" Reproduced as " Annexe XIII," pp. 308-309, in de Mun, op. cit. For evidence that this was not a purely platonic resolution, vide Annee sociale inlcinationale, 1913-1914, p. 39, et seq. *'* Cf. supra, p. 104. *'' The monthly review, L'Association catholique, which served as an organ for the group of Social Catholic leaders interested in the Asso- ciation, teemed with such articles. "" This is not to say that von Ketteler was the first, but, rather, that he was the first great figure in the German Social Catholic move- ment. Before him, Adolph Kolping (1813-1865), a priest of working- class origin, had been very active in founding Journeymen's Unions (GeselleiiTcreinc), somewhat similar to de Mun's Workingmen's Clubs. At the time of Kolping's death, in 1865, there were about 400 of these unions. Cf. L'. Association catholique, vol. i, pp. 402-406. "^ On von Ketteler's life and social ideas, consult Pfiilf, Bischof von Ketteler (3 vols., Mainz, 1899) ; E. de Girard, Ketteler et la question ouvriere (Berne, i8g6) ; Goyau, Ketteler (Paris, 1907) ; J. Lionnet, Un Sveque social, Ketteler (Paris, 1903) ; A. Kannengieser, Ketteler et I' organisation sociale en Allemagne (Paris, 1894) ; John J. Laux (Geo. Metlake, pseud.). Christian Social Reform: program outlined by its pioneer. l]'illiam Emtnanuel, baron von Ketteler, bishop of Mains (Philadelphia, 1912) ; Rev. C. D. Plater, Catholic Social Work in Germany (Herder, 1909). APPENDIX 435 *^8 Max Turmann, Le Developpement d-u catholicisme social, p. 4. *'» This is von Ketteler's interpretation of the Thomist doctrine. The sermons were published under the title, Die grossen socialen Fragen der Cegenwart (Mainz, 1849) ; the remarks here quoted are found on pp. 12, 17, 25-26, of the pamphlet. *8" Despite the burden of his duties as bishop of Mainz (1850). 481 £)ig Arbeiterfrage und das Ckristentkum. *^^Ibid., (third ed., Mainz, 1864), pp. 28-29. 483 Ibid., pp. 21-23, and appendix ii, p. 171, et seq. 484 Ibid., pp. 15-20. 485 Cf_ w. j£. Dawson, German Socialism and Ferdinand Lassalle (London, 1899), p. 136, et seq. Four lectures by Schulze-Delitzsch, bound together under the title Die Arbeit (Leipzig, 1863), afford an interesting expression of the spirit in which his plan was conceived. 486 ^f^ E von Ketteler, Die Arbeiterfrage und das Christenthum, p. 32, et seq. 487 W. H. Dawson, German Socialism and Ferdinand Lassalle (Lon- don, 1899), p. 205; Ed. Bernstein (ed.), Ferdinand Lassalle s Reden und Schrifteii (Berlin, 1892), vol. i, p. 131, et seq., and vol. iii, pp. 1-261, especially pp. 221-238, in which Lassalle attacks Schulze-Delitzsch. 488 W. E. von Ketteler, op. cit., pp. 62-87. 489 Ibid., p. 138, et seq. 49" G. Goyau, L'Allemagne religieuse: le catholicisme (Paris, I909)> vol. iii, p. 13s, et seq. 491 ■yv E yojj Ketteler, Die Arbeiterbewegung und ihr Streben im Verhdltniss zu Religion und Sittlichkeit, a speech delivered on July 25, 1869, (second ed., Mainz, 1869). 492 G. Goyau, Ketteler, pp. 226-237 ; Kannengieser, Ketteler, pp. 66-67. 493 W. E. von Ketteler, Die Katholiken im Deutschen Reiche; Entwurf zu einem politischen Programs, (Mainz, 1873). 494 /6id.^ pp. 79-80. 495 Ibid., p. 80, et seq. 496 Ibid., pp. 8, 86, et seq. 497 Franz Christoph Ignaz Moufang (1817-1890). See his biography in Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, liii, 486-8. 498 Moufang proposed that the state should institute a commission of magistrates and workingmen to fix a just wage for each category of labor, and to enforce its decisions. Cf. Nitti, Catholic Socialism, p. 142. 499 Christlich-Sociale Blatter, March, 1871. 599 Franz Hitze (1851— ). Vide Deutsches Zeitgenossentexikon (Leipzig, 1905), p. 615. ^"''■Die Sociale Frage und die Bestrebungen zu xhrer Losung (Pader- born, 1877) ; Kapital und Arbeit und die Reorganisation der Gesellschaft (Paderborn, 1880) ; Die Quintessenz der Socialen Frage (pamphlet, Paderborn, written in 1880) ; Schutz dem Handwerke (Paderborn, 1883) ; PAichten und Aufgaben der Arbeitgeber in der Arbeiterfrage (Cologne, 1888) ; Schutz dem Arbeiter (Cologne, 1890) ; Die Arbeiter- frage und die Bestrebungen zu ihrer Losung (Berlin, 1899) ; Zur Wiirdigung der deutschen Arbeiter-Soeialpolitik (Miinchen-GIadbach, 436 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 1913) ; besides many articles in Arbeiterwohl, L'Association cathoUque, Christlich-SociaU Blatter, and other Social Catholic periodical pub- lications, and " Die Arbeiter-Sozialpolitik," in Deutschland unter Kaiser IVilhelm II (.Berlin, 1914). ^'J- Franz Hitze, Capital ct travail et la reorganisation de la societe (an enlarged edition of Die Sociale Frage, in French, Louvain, 1898), ch. ii, and p. 37. i^oa Ibid., p. ix. ii04 /fcj'd.^ ch. i, V, vi, vii. ^"^ Ibid., p. 409. soo Ibid., ch. x-xv. •^o' Ibid. ^o^Ibid., p. 417. s"" Cf. Hitze's three bills of March 5, 1887, to amend the Gewerbeord- nung or factory code, in Stcnographische Berichte Uber die Verhand- lungcn des Reichstaycs, I 'II Legislaturperiode, I Session 1887, Drifter Band, Erster Anlagcband, Nr. ^l, pp. 281-282, A>. 22, pp. 282-284, Xr. 23, pp. 284-285, and his speeches on these bills, March 16, June 8, June 14, 1887, in Stenographische Berichte, VII Legislaturperiode, I Session iS^y, Erster Band, pp. 127-130, 780-783, 964, 966. Also, a bill presented on Nov. 25, 1887, by Hitze and other deputies, in Stenographische Berichte^ VII Legislaturperiode, II Session 1887- 1888, Driller Band, Erster Anlagcband, Aktenstiick Nr. 21, pp. 148-150, and discussion, in Erster Band, pp. 477, 1182, 1184, 1192, 1193. Also, a bill by Liebcr and Hitze, in op., cit., Dritler Band, Erster Anlageband, Nr. 51, pp. 295-296, with discussion, Erster Band, pp. 90S, 1245, 1253, 1356. Also, Hitze's emphatic speech of May 20, 1890, favoring the legal enforcement of Sunday, the progressive diminution of the working- day, restriction of woman-labor, and the legal organization of labor, Stenographische Berichte, VIII Legislaturperiode, I Session 1890-1891, Erster Band, pp. 179-185. In the last-mentioned speech he proposed the legal institution of a form of labor organization resembling the " shop committee " so much discussed at present. "■i" On Nov. 20, 1884, to cite one instance, Freiherr von Hertling with several of his colleagues and a large number of supporters or seconders, introduced a resolution to the following effect : — "Be it resolved by the Reichstag : that the federated governments be re- quested to lay before the Reichstag, if possible in this session, a bill relative to the further development of the legislation for the protection of the laborer, in which (i) work on Sundays and holidays shall be forbidden, subject to special exceptions to be precisely defined, (2) child-labor and woman-labor in factories shall be restricted, (3) the maximum working-day for adult male workers shall be regulated." Stenographische Berichte, VI Legislaturperiode, I Session 1884-1885, Fiinfter Band, p. 80. ^^^F. Salomon, Die dcutschen Parteiprogramme (Leipzig, 1912, second ed.), vol. ii, pp. 23, 38-45. Cf. also Wenzel, Arbeiterschutz und Centrum. ^12 Alphonse Thun, in Die Industrie am Niederrhein und ihre Ar- APPENDIX 437 belter, Erster Theil: die linksrheitdsche Textilindustrie (Leipzig, 1879), pp. 197-198, gives interesting testimony to this effect : " with the Kultur- kampf, a new principle appeared in the formation of parties : the weav- ers of Rhenish Prussia had to take a position on a question toward which they had hitherto been neutral. The social conflict between manufacturers and laborers subsisted; to it was joined a new conflict, between clericals and liberals. The liberal party appeared as the organization of manufacturers and anticlericals, the Center party as the organization of workingmen and clergy. More than ever the clergy, hostile to the liberal manufacturers, Were thrown back upon the people. The weavers are the adepts of ultramontanism less because it is a religious party than because it has become a social party." For this illuminating quotation I am indebted to the excellent chap- ter on the social movement among German Catholics, in G. Goyau, L'Allemagne religieuse: le catholicisme, vol. iii (Paris, 1909), chapter ii, pp. 85-169. 513 V. Brants, " La Reglementation du travail industriel en Austriche," in La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. vii, 1889, pp. 165-175 ; cf. L' Asso- ciation catholique, vol. xv, p. 468, vol. xvi, pp. 233-234, vol. xviii, pp. 662-669. ^1* His program is set forth in an article entitled, " La Reforme sociale et le programme antisemitique," in L'Assodation catholique, vol. xxxii, pp. 164-173, 199-207 ; cf. de Breda, "Le Prince de Lichtenstein et la question sociale," in L' Association catholique, vol. vi, pp. 238-250, 402-416, and La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. vii, p. 226. 515 See Vogelsang's articles in Monatsschrlft fiir christliche Social- Reform: on interest and usury. May, 1884, pp. 233-258; June, pp. 321- 342; July, pp. 345-350; Aug., pp. 419-432; Sept., pp. 457-480; on sick- ness-insurance for workingmen, Nov., 1884, pp. 602-612, Dec, 656-661 ; on the organization of industry, April-May, 1886, pp. 188-196; on state-action, in reply to Michael Fltirscheim, Aug., 1887, pp. 405-411; on the basis of social reform, vol. xi, pp. 617-623 ; etc. He contributed to the French Social Catholic revliew, L'Assodation catholique (q. v. for May, 1888). 5i« Dr. Rudolph Meyer, Politische Griinde und die Corruption in Deutschland (Leipzig, 1877). 51^ He was subsequently compelled to make a second migration, this time because of an attack on the Austrian premier. Leaving Vienna, he went to Paris, where he made the acquaintance of the French Social Catholic leaders and became a contributor to their review, L'Assodation catholique. 518 Dr. Rudolph Meyer. Der Emancipationskampf 'des vierten Standes (second ed., Berlin, 1882) ; Ursachen der Amerikanischen Con- current (Berlin, 1883) ; Heimst'dtten und andere Wirthschaftsgesetse der V ereinigten Stdten von A-merika, von Canada, Russland, China, Indien, Rumdnien, Serbien, und England (Berlin, 1883). Cf. "Le Socialisme d'etat en Autriche," in L'Assodation catholique, vol. xvi, pp. 209-222; La Tour du Pin, "fitude de legislation sociale," in same review, vol. xvi, pp. 464-485. 438 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT ^'■^ L'Associotion catholique, vol. xiii, pp. 383-386, 783-786, vol. xv, pp. 419-436, 461-467 ; Prince A. von Lichtenstein, " La Reforme sociale et le programme antisemitique," in same review, vol. xxxii, pp. 164-173, 199-207; V. Brants, "La Reglementation du travail industriel en Autriche," in La Reforme sociale, 1889, 2nd series, vol. vii, pp. 165-175; Dr. Kaempfe, " Le Mouvement antisemitique en Autriche," in La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. vi, pp. 567-577- s-^The clergy also bore an important part in the movement; witness the work of Father Weiss, Father Kolb, Mgr. Schleicher, Father Eichorn, and others. 'i^'^ Stauracz, Dr. Lueger's Leben uiid IVirken (Klagenfurt) ; idem.. Dr. Karl Lucgcr. Zehn Jahre Biirgermeistcr (Vienna, 1907) ; cf. Le Mouvement social, April, 1910, p. 339, et seq.; Dr. Kaempfe, "Les Resultats du socialisme chretien en Autriche," La Reforme sociale, 1891, 3d. series, vol. i, p. 471. 5=2 Gaspard Mermillod (1824-1892), ordained bishop, in 1864, and appointed cardinal in 1890. Cf. Jeantet, Le Cardinal Mermillod. ■"-'Quoted by Nitti, Catholic Socialism, pp. 237-238. '-* Ibid., p. 241, ct seq. '■-'■Ibid. '•''' For this initiative he was praised by Leo XIII, — cf. Ciiilld Catt- olica, .March i, 1890, and T 'Scrclacs. Le Pape Leon XIII (2 vols., Paris and Lille, 1894), ii, pp. 56-58. The proposition was taken up by the Swiss Government, but W'ilhelm II intervened and brought the con- ference to Berlin, — cf. La Reforme sociale, 1890, 2nd series, vol. ix, pp. 89-98, 145-154. ''-' Gaspard Decurtins, Les Catholiques et la question sociale (Fri- bourg, 1890). ^^^Cf. L'.-issociation catholique. May, 1890, pp. 615, 617; Revue d'cconomic politique, May-June, 1890, pp. 315, 316; La Reforme sociale. i!^Q0, 2nd series, vol. ix, pp. 572-579; Le Temps. ,\pril 11, 1890; L'Economiste fran(ais, April 26, 1890. '•-" Huet was French by nationality, but is usually classed as a Bel- gian because he was a professor in the Belgian university of Ghent. Gide and Rist, Hisloire dcs doctri)ics economigues. p. 581. Cf. Nitti. Catholic Sociatism\, p. 301, et seq.; fible, Les Ecoles catholiques d'economie, p. 31, et seq.; Laveleye, Le Socialisme conternporain, pp. 236-239. 530 M Gide, in Gide and Rist, Histoire des doctrines cconomiques, p. 582. 531 Francois Huet, Le Rcgne social du christianismc (Paris, 1853). Huet, says M. Gide, was the first to use the term socialisme chretien. 632 " The Gospel does not recognize its social expression ^n the mid- dle ages, that terrible dictatorship corresponding to the barbarity of the period, the iron age of the church, the long '93 of religion. Born in pains, in the midst of a regime of blood, the true Christian society of which the communes were the cradle did not take possession of the stage of the world until 1789." — Francois Huet, Le Rcgne social du christianismc, p. 4. APPENDIX 439 =33 Huet, op. cit., passim. 53* Charles Perin, Le Socialisme chretien, p. 48. 535 Perin's theories have been discussed more fully on another page, cf. supra, pp. 62-65. 538Bechaux, La Politique sociale en Belgique (Paris, 1887); Nitti, Catholic Socialism, p. 304; V. Brants, " Les nouvelles lois sociales en Belgique," in La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. v, pp. 198-203 ; cf. also the excellent summary of Belgian social legislation to l8go in the same review, 1890, 2nd series, vol. x, pp. 385-403, 439-452. =37 Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892). Among many biographical studies, the following throw most light on his social work: J. Lemire, Le Cardinal Manning et son action sociale (Paris, 1893), a very in- teresting study by a French Christian Democrat; F. de Pressense, Le Cardinal Manning (Paris, 1896) ; I. A. Taylor, The Cardinal Demo- crat, Henry Edward Manning (London, igc^). W. H. Kent, author of the article on " Manning, Henry Edward " in the Catholic Ency- clopedia, has under preparation a definitive biography. 538 The lecture was published in pamphlet form, as The Rights and Dignity of Labor (London, 1887). 539 See especially his article in the Dublin Review, 1891, vol. 109, pp. 153-167. =*" Sidney Buxton, " Cardinal Manning, a Reminiscence,'' Fortnightly, 1896, vol. 65, pp. 576-594; La Reforme sociale, 1889, vol. viii, pp. 603- 6og. ^^^ Dublin Review, 1891, vol. 109, pp. 153-167; La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. x, p. 536; Nitti, Catholic Socialism, p. 319; Spuller, L'Evolution politique et social de I'cglisc, p. 97. 5*2 Spuller, op. cit., p. 98. =*3 Mgr. E. G. Bagshawe, Mercy and Justice to the Poor, the True Political Economy (London, 1885) ; Pere de Pascal, " Monseigneur Bagshawe, eveque de Nottingham," in L'Association catholique, vol. xxv, p. 109, et scq.; also, L'Assocation catholique, vol. xviii, pp. 61-71, and vol. xvii, p. 442. =** Cf. Nitti, Catholic Socialism, pp. 348-357 ; J. Cazajeux, " La Ques- tion sociale en Espagne," La Reforme sociale, i8gi, 3d series, vol. i, pp. 85-90; Turmann, Le Developpement du catholicisme social, passim. =*= The French Social Catholic review, L'Association catholique, had an article on "Les Chevaliers du travail" before the decision, in vol. xxii, p. 703, et seq.; it printed Cardinal Gibbons' memorandum, in vol. xxiii, p. 488, et seq., and Cardinal Manning's letter, vol. xxiii, p. 505, et seq., and published another article on " Les Chevaliers du travail et le Saint-Siege," in vol. xxvi, p. 729, et seq. Cf. also an anticlerical's comment in Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'eglise, p. 97. 5*8 Cf. supra, p. 81. '^" For example, in L'Association catholique, vol. xiv, pp. 253-273. 5*8 L'Association catholique, vol. xiii, p. 301, et seq. ^^^ L'Association catholique, vol. xii, pp. 621-646, 744-766; vol. xiii, pp. 52-68; vol. xvi, pp. 209-222, 322-338, 565-585; vol. xvii, pp. 334- 348, 467-481. 44° THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 550 Cf. infra, pp. IS3-IS4- 551 A. de Mun, Ma Vocation sociale, p. Il8. 5''- Cf. L' Association catholique, vol. xi, pp. 247, 266-270. ^^3 Calippe, L'Attitude sociale des catholiques, vol. iii, pp. 251- 252, 312-316; Scmaine sociale de Rouen, 1910, p. 69, et seq. 554 Cf, infra, pp. 157-165. 550 Cf. supra, pp. 58-65. 55; Eble, Les kcolcs catholiques d'economie, ch. iii; F. Le Play, " L'Ecole de la paix sociale, son developpement et son avenir," in La Reforine sociale, 1882, vol. iii, pp. 145-150; Delaire, "Les Doctrines sociales de Le Play et de son ecole," in same review, vol. viii, pp. 496- 501. 558 Claudio Jannet, " L'Intervention de I'etat dans le regime du travail," in Rez"ue cath. dcs inst., Jan., 1885; H. Dubreuil, "La Liberie du travail au congrcs des jurisconsultes," La Reforine sociale, 1885, vol. ix, pp. 181-183 ; Jannet, " Los S\ ndicats professionels et la loi du 21 mars 1884," in same review, vol. x, pp. 289-319. 550 L'Association catholique, vol. i, pp. 9-41. 5«" Ibid., vol. xiv, p. 257. '01 Ibid., vol. xiii, p. 559, et scq. 502 Weill, Histoire du mouvcment social en France, p. 184. ■'"•= A. de Mun, Ma I'ocation sociale, p. 123; Grandmaison, " Le Comte Albert du Mun," in f-Judcs, vol. 141, p. i^. 51* \'ol. xi, p. J47, et scq., vol. xv, p. 294, ct seq., cf, vol. vii, appendix, pp. 1-52. 505 //„■(/. 500 c/. "Rapport ct avis Xo. VII" and "Rapport et avis No. VIII" printed in cxicnso in L'Association catholique, vol. xi, pp. 387-412, 54^!-574, and vol. xiii, pp. 5H-555. "Avis No. VII" was adopted by the general committee of the .Association of Catholic Workingmen's Clubs on Feb. 23, 1881 ; " Avis No. VIII " on March I, 1882. 507 L'Association catholique, vol. xiii, " D'ou nous venons," p. 122, et scq., "Oil nous en sommes," p. 244, et seq., " Ou nous allons," p. 347, et scq. 508 L'Association catholique, vol. xiv, pp. 253-273, Sept., 1882. 569 Jbid. 5'" L'Association catholique, vol. xvii. p. i, et seq., Jan., 1884. ■•'^ La Reforine sociale, 2nd series, vol. ix, p. 592; L'.-issociation cath- olique. Nov. 15, i88g, p. 501. ■•'- De Scgur-Lamoignon in L'Association catholique, Nov., 1889, p. 591- '•'''^Cf. La Science sociale (1886 — ); La Reforine sociale, vol. xi (1886), pp. 1-2; vol. X, p. 418; Journal des eeonomi.'ites, 1886, 4th series, vol. xxxiii, pp. 236-237; fible, Les Scales catholiques d'economie. pp. 181, 234. 5'* Alfred Renouard, in La Rdforme sociale, vol. xii, pp. 236-239. 5'5 H. de Moly, " La Reglementation du travail en France et les catholiques,' in La Reforme sociale. May 16, 1890, 2nd series, vol, ix, pp. 585-606. APPENDIX 441 ^''^ Supra, p. 110. '^^ Charles Perin, " Ni liberaux, ni socialistes," in Revue catholique des institutions et du droit, 2nd series, vol. v, pp. 463-470; cf. La Re- forme sociale, 2nd series, vol. x, p. 675. 5^8 Raoul du Sart in La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. iv, p. 507. ^^' La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. ii, pp. 326-327, 584-592. ^^^ Ibid., 2nd series, vol. iv, pp. 507-513. 581 Ihid. 682 J. Cazajeux, " Le Socialisme chretien aux congres de Liege et d'Angers," in La Reforme sociale, Nov. i, 1890, 2nd series, vol. x, pp. S33-S47- 683 i},i(i., and Revue catholique des institutions et du droit, 2nd series, vol. v, pp. 530-543- 68* La Reforme sociale, 2nd series, vol. ix, pp. 585-606, vol. x, p. 545, and Revue cath. des inst., 2nd series, vol. v, pp. 415-427. 5^5 Revue cath. des inst. et du droit, 2nd ser., vol. v, pp. 385-414; cf. Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'eglise, pp. 149-150; Revue d'economie politique, 1891, vol. v, p. 87. 686 £ble, Les Scales cath. d'economie, p. igo. 687 H. de Lestelly, " Proces-verbal general du congres tenu a Angers par les juriscbnsultes catholiques," Revue cath. des inst., 2nd series, vol. v, pp. 385-414; Mgr. Freppel, "La Question ouvriere et le social- isme chretien," ibid., pp. 415-427 ; G. Thery, " Rapport sur le socialisme d'etat," ibid., pp. 428-463 ; A. Onclair, " Rapport sur le socialisme con- temporain," ibid., pp. 481-510; A. Gibon, "Les Accidents du travail," ibid., 2nd series, vol. vi, pp. 126-153. 688 Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'eglise, pp. 153-158. ■ 689 Count Albert de Mun, in L'Association catholique, Jan. 15, i8gi, vol. xxi, pp. 3-33. 68o£ble, op. cit., p. 193. 691 Gioacchino Pecci (1810-1903), son of Count Lodovico Pecci. On his character and life, consult Mgr. Charles de T'Serclaes, Le Pape Leon XIII (Paris, 1892) ; Justin McCarthy, Pope Leo XIII (Lon- don, 1896) ; R. H. Clarke, The Life of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII (Phila., 1903) ; Martin Spahn, Leo XIII (Munich, 1905) ; Boyer d'Agen, La 'Prelature de Leon XIII (Paris, 1900) ; Lecanuet, L'Eglise de France, vol. ii, Pontificai de Leon XIII (Paris, 1910) ; F. Nitti, Catholic Socialism, ch. xii; Rev. J. J. Wynne (ed.). The Great Encyclicals of Leo XIII (N. Y., 1902). 692 Cf. supra, pp: 121-125. ^^^ L'Eglise et la Civilisation, par S. Em. le cardinal Pecci, arch- eveque de Perouse . . . traduit de I'italien par Paul Lapeyre (Paris, 1878) ; quoted by Max Turmann, Le Developpement du catholicisme social 'de puis I'encyclique " Rerum Novarum" (2nd ed., Paris, 1909), p. 23. ^^^ Acta sanctae sedis, (Rome), vol xi, p. 369, et seq. 695 Acta sanctae sedis, vol. xii, p. 97, et seq. 698 Acta sanctae sedis, vol. xi, pp. 369 et seq. English translation, in 442 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT The Pope and the People (London, 1912) pp. 28-40; Nitti, Catholic Socialism, pp. 365-370. °°'' Cf. supra, p. 122. ^'* Cf. supra, pp. 141-145. 580 On the general development of Social Catholicism prior to 1891, see Nitti, Catholic Socialism. """Turmann, Le Dcvcloppement du catholicisme social, p. 10; Leon Gregoire, Le Pape, les Catholiques et la Question sociale (Paris, 1899, 3rd ed.), p. 26, et seq. There is also a pamphlet entitled Union de Fribourg (Paris, 1893), setting forth the work of the Union. ^"^Association catholique. May 15, June 15, 1887; Leon Gregoire, op. cit., p. 48, ct seq.; Justin McCarthy, Pope Leo XIII (2nd ed., N. Y., 1899), pp. 152-156. 60= Turmann, Le Developpemcnt du catholicisme social, p. 184; E. Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'cglise, pp. 163-184. '"^ Turmann, op. cit., p. 185 ; Spuller, loc. cit. In Catholic Social Guild Pamphlets, No. 3, Mgr. Parkinson asserts that 100 employers, 1,400 workmen, and 300 priests participated in the pilgrimage. Spuller states that there were 1,200 workingmen. «"* Turmann, op. cit., pp. 186-188; Spuller, loc. cit. ""Francesco S. Nitti, Studi sul socialisms contemporaneo: II so- cialismo caltolico (Turin, i8go). """.K/ii satictcr sedis, vol. xxiii, p. 641, et seq. Citations are from the Official English Translation, " The Condition of Labor." published in pamphlet form by the International Catholic Truth Society. Ana- tole Leroy-Beaulieu, G. Goyau, G. de Pascal, and Max Turmann will lie found among the most interesting of the Encyclical's numerous commentators. Justin McCarthy, Pope Leo XIII. pp. 169-181, gives a summary of contemporary comments. An English translation may be found in Rev. J. J. Wynne (ed.). The Great Encyclicals of Leo XIII (N. Y., 1902). ""' Dabry, Les Catholiques rcpublicains. p. 165, writes " Le Ifi inai i8gi cclata conuiic uii coup de tonnerre I'Eitcyclique Rerum noz'arum" ; the statement is somewhat surprising in the light of the facts men- tioned by the same author, pp. 158-164. Among the utterances fore- shadowing Rerum Nofarum may be mentioned, besides the documents adverted to in the text, the address " C'est avcc unc particulicrc satis- faction " with which Leo XIII encouraged the Catholic Workingmen's Clubs of France (February 24. 1885, The Pope and the People, pp. 67-70) ; the reply to Cardinal Langenieux's address, October 20. i88g (see Nitti. Catholic Socialism, pp. 401-40?) ; and the letter written in 1890 to William II, on the occasion of the International Congress for Social Legislation (cf. McCarthy, Pope Leo XIII, pp. 157-160). 608 Despite the length of Rerum Novarum, certain of the declara- tions, and still more the omissions, of the Encyclical gave rise to con- troversy. Leo XTII, therefore, and his successors Pius X and Bene- dict XV, found it necessary at frequent intervals to write more pre- cise explanations, new exhortations, and more than one rebuke. Their APPENDIX 443 utterances, compiled from encyclical letters, instructions and allocu- tions, would constitute a lengthy treatise on the social question. «<"> The Condition of Labour, p. 12. f^^o Ibid., pp. 2-3. 811 Ibid., p. 3. ^^'^ Ibid., pp. 3-9, II. 813 The first nine pages are directed against Socialism; the remain- ing thirty-two are devoted to what the pope considered to be the true solutions. 8i*/6irf., pp. 20, 22-23, 25, 39-40, IS, 9. 815 Ibid., pp. 21, 23, 24, 25. 818 Ibid., p. 20. ^" Ibid., pp. 30-37. ^'^^ Ibid., pp. 25-37. 81" Dabry, L^j Catholiques republicains, pp. S0-51 : supra, p. 107. 820 -pournier, Le Cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, 1913), pp. 277, 338. 821 Dabry, op. cit., pp. 54-59. 822 Ibid., pp. 71-72. 823Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'eglise (Paris, 1893), PP- 67-73. 82* Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, pp. ^2, 91-92. 828 Annee politique, 1890, p. 15, et seq. 828 lournal oMciel, July 17, 1889, p. ,3437, et seq. ^^'^ Annee politique, 1889, pp. 197-1^. 828 J. Tournier, Le cardinal Lavigerie et son action politique d'aprcs les documents nouveaux et inedits (Thesis, Paris, 1913) ; Mgr. Bau- nard, Le Cardinal Lavigerie (Paris, i8g6) ; Vicomte de CoUeville, Le Cardinal Lavigerie (4th ©d., Paris, 1912) ; Jules Delacroix, La Declaration du cardinal Lavigerie, le clerge frangais et les partis po- Utiques (Saint-Amand, 1891) ; Du Toast d, I' ency clique (Paris, 1892), published anonymously but written by Goyau and Brunhes. 829 In his Encyclical Immortale Dei, November i, 1885, Leo XIII had written, " no one of the several forms of government is in itself condemned, inasmuch as none of them contains anything contrary to Catholic doctrine and all of them are capable, if wisely and justly managed, to insure the welfare of the state." The pope explicitly stated that political democracy was not only permissible but might be of benefit and of obligation in some cases. — The Pope and the People, p. 92; Acta sanctae sedis, vol. xviii, p. 161, et seq. Again, in Sapientiae Christianae, January 10, 1890, Leo XIII declared that "the Church . . . holds that it is not her province to decide which is the best amongst many diverse forms of government and the civil institutions of Chris- tian States, and among the diflferent systems of government she disap- proves none, provided that religion and the Christian discipline of morals be respected." — The Pope and the People, p. 165 ; Acta sanctae sedis, vol. xxii, p. 385, et seq. 630 Text in Debidour, L'Eglise catholique et I'etat sous la Troisieme Republique, vol. ii, pp. 499-500; comment on its influence, from an 444 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT anticlerical viewpoint, ibid., p. 39, et seq'.; cf. Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, pp. 72-75; and Tournier, Le Cardinal Lavigerie, p. 287, et seq. The latter is the best and most recent account of Cardinal Lavigerie's action. 831 See the comments of a shrewd non-Catholic political observer, Eugene SpuUer, in the article reprinted in his L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'cglise, pp. 1-19. 632 Tournier, Le Cardinal Lavigerie, p. 308. 633 Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, p. 77. «^*Ibid., pp. 77-79- 635 Weill, Mouvement social en France, pp. 395-398; Debidour, op. cit., pp. 16-18; et infra, pp. 365-374- 630 Tournier, op. cit., pp. 340-344. 637 Tournier, op. cit., pp. 374-375; Debidour, op. cit., p. 57; Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'cglise, pp. 100-102. 638 Dabry, op. cit., p. 104 ; Debidour, op. cit., p. 56. 630 Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, pp. 104-109. r,4o De Mun himself was active in forming a Ligue de propagande catholique et sociale in 1892. Cf. Debidour, op. cit., pp. 84, 91, and Dabry, op. cit., p. 109. ^*'^ Dabry, op. cit., p. 129. 6<- Ibid., pp. 129-130. 6*3/ft{d., pp. 130-131. 6** The letter of February 16, 1892, was antedated by a letter to Cardinal Lavigerie, approving the policy enunciated in the Toast of Alfiiers. MacCaffrey, History of the Catholic Church in the Nine- teenth Century, vol. I, p. 265'. 6*° The encyclical Inter Gravissimas. The text is found in .4cta sanctae sedis, vol. xxiv, p. 529, et seq. Cf. MacCaffrey, op. cit., p. 266; Dabry, Les Catholiques ripublicains, p. 174, et seq.; Calippe, L'Attitude sociale, vol. i, pp. 252, et seq.; Spuller, op. cit., pp. 267-276. 6*6 SpuUer, op. cit.. pp. 296-300. 6*' Dabry, op. cit., p. 178. 6*8 Ibid., pp. 179-180. 6*^ Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, pp. 177-178. ^^'^Ibid., p. 179- ^^'^ Annie politique, 1892, pp. 158-159; Debidour, op. cit., pp. 90-91; Tournier, p. 400; Dabry, pp. 109, 177-179; Spuller, op. cit., p. 309. 6»2 Vide supra, p. 83. 653 Albert de Mun, Ma Vocation sociale, pp. 71, 289-290, gives the text of the address, together with a facsimile reproduction of the papal benediction which was received in return. 65* In particular see the commendatory briefs written by Pius IX in 1871, 1874, and 1877, reproduced in de Mun's Ma Vocation sociale, p. 316, et seq. 6'>5 Count Albert de Mun, Ma Vocation sociale, p. 275, note 2. 6''6 Turmann, Le Dlveloppcmcni du catholicismc social, p. 242, et seq. Compare de Mun's Bordeaux speech of January 16, 1892, urging Cath- olics to take a more earnest interest in social reform, and agreeing APPENDIX 445 with socialistic criticisms of existing economic evils, but defending the principles of private property and religion, — in Annee politique, 1892, pp. 28-29. ^^' Calippe, L' Attitude sociale des catholiques, vol. ii, p. 127, note; Turmann, op. cit,, pp. 244-245. 1558 An interesting and frankly partisan account of the early develop- ment of Christian Democracy W\\\ be found in Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, especially chapters vi, vii, viii; a shorter and more schol- arly treatment is that by Professor Weill, in his Histoire du mouve- ment social en France, pp. 395-403; cf. the same author's Histoire du catholicisme liberal en France, pp. 215, 329, et seq. 659 xhe declaration of Gallican liberties in 1682 was an illustration of the Gallican spirit. On the nature and influence of Gallicanism in the nineteenth century consult MacCaffrey, History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century, vol. i, chapters i and viii; and also Georges Weill, Histoire du catholicisme liberal en France, pp. 3-6, 8, 212, et seq. ^^° See the comments of the monarchist leader d'Haussonville and of the reactionary journals Autorite and Soleil on the ralliement, particularly their contention that the pope had no infallible authority in political questions, — in Annce politique, 1892, passim; cf. also Debi- dour, op. cit., p. 93 ; Spuller, L'Evolution politique et sociale de I'eglise, pp. 123-126, 277-296. s«i Leon Jacques, Les Partis politiques, pp. 484-485, 184-185. '^^^ Ibid., pp. 182-185, 485. Note especially that the Action frangaise rejects the idea of legislative limitation of the working-day and at the same time appeals to feelings not much different from those evoked by the socialist conception of the " class-struggle." «<=3 Ibid., p. 183. "«* Debidour, op. cit., p. 107 ; Dabry, op. cit., p. 308. The latter gives the date as 1903, — an obvious misprint. «85 Article in La Verite frangaise, July 23, 1894, cited by Barbier, Rome et I'Action Liberale Populaire, pp. 35-39- «88 Cited by Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, pp. 311-313- 667 My Italics. 888 Cited by Barbier, Rome et I'Action LibSrale Populaire, pp. 220- 223. 669 By ^ay of exception it should be noted that a few monarchists continued to support the Social Catholic movement. Most notable of all the monarchist Social Catholics was La Tour-du-Pin. But the main body of the Social Catholic movement was cut off from mon- archism. 670 Weill, Histoire du mouvement social en France, p. 260. 6" Ibid., p. 257. 672 Chambre des deputes, 1885, Debats, p. 382. ^''^ Annee politique, 1886, pp. 2-3. 674 Lockroy had brought in a bill as early as 1876 for the legalization of trade-unions. lournal oMciel, 1876, pp. 5600-5601. 875 Chambre des deputes, 1885, sess. extr., Debats, p. 19. 446 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT 8" Ch. des dep. 1886, Documents, pp. 1787, 972, and session extraor- dinaire, p. 1057. 677 Weill, op. cit., p. 267; cf. Annee politique, 1887, p. 103. ^''^Annce politique, 1888, pp. 26-27. !"» Chambre des deputes, 1888, Dcbats, p. 1489. 680 Weill, op. cit., pp. 269-270. The Blanquist faction was inclined to support Boulanger; the Guesdists held to class-conscious neutral- ity. »8i Vizetelly, Republican France, pp. 293-342; Annee politique, 1888, passim, 1889, pp. 173-199- 8*2 Chambre des ddputSs, session extraordinaire, 1891, Debats„ pp. 2487-2490. o«3 Throughout his speech, Lafargue was much annoyed by inter- ruptions. He could not understand, he said, why there was so much noise and tumult in the Oiamber of Deputies. With a fine touch of irony, he asked the Chamber's indulgence, on the ground that he had hitherto been accustomed only to public mass-meetings, " where busi- ness proceeds in a calmer manner." ""■• Dcbats, loc. cit. »8= Loc. cit., speech of Henry Fouquier. "^^Loc. cit., speech of M. Dumay. '" Loc. cit., speech of Henri Brisson. "** Ibid., pp. 2491-2492. 080 Eugene Spuller, L'Svolution politique et sociale de I'cglisc, p. xii. "^o Ibid., pp. xii, xxxv, 162. «»i Ibid., p. 139. ''"^Cf. Dictionnaire des parletnentaires, vol. iv, p. 374; G. Vapereau, Dictionnaire uniicrsel des contemporains (Paris, 1893), p. mo; Weill, op. cit., passim; S. P. Orth, Socialism and Democracy in Europe (N. Y., 1913), p. 80, ct seq. ""^ Chambre des deputes, session extraordinaire, i8qi, Debats, p. 2492. It is an interesting fact that on several occasions, earlier in the year, in debates on labor questions, de Mun had rushed to Millerand's support, earning the applause of the Left. Cf. Chambre des defutes, i8qi, Debats. pp. 775, 778, 1081 and Chambre d. d., sess. extr. i8gi, Debats, pp. 2231-2232. 8"* Chambre d. d., sess. extr., 1891, Debats, p. 2492. 095 In the foregoing sketch of the early career of Jaures I have used biographical data from Charles Rappoport's lean Jaures (Paris, 1915;), Margaret Pease, Jean Jaurh (N. Y., 1917), and Weill, op. cit., passion. Cf, also, S. P. Orth, Socialisvi and Democracy in Europe, pp. 80-117. None of these authorities, however, is responsible for my interpreta- tion of Jaures' political attitude ; my own reading in the Debats and in the above-mentioned biographies inclines me to regard Jaures in action as more of the bourgeois Radical and less of the Socialist economic reformer than he is usually considered. 696 With some Catholic orators it was at this period a favorite theme to denounce the Jewish capitalists who dominated high finance. APPENDIX 447 «3^ Count Albert de Mun's speech at Toulouse, in 1893, Vide Annee politique, 1893, p. 155 and Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, p. 275. sss From the Soleil; vide Annee politique, 1893, p. 155. 699 Annee politique, 1893, p. 137. The names of the members of the Delegation were as follows: M. Piou, Gen. de Frescheville, Prince d'Arenberg, Baron Hely d'Oissel, M. Sabatier, Count de Caraman, M. Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, M. Caplain, M. Delville, M. Francois Maynard, (editor of the Figaro), Ernest Daudet, D. Guibert, A. Viellard, Vis- count Pierre de Pelleport-Burete, M. Henri Darcy, M. Savoye, and M. Achille Delorme. This group was to all intents and purposes the campaign committee of the Republican Right. '""> Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, p. 273, et seq.; AnnSe po- litique, 1893, p. 266. '"1 Annee politique, 1893, P- 265. 'o- A passage from d'Haussonville's book, Misere et remedes, quoted by M. Paul Deschanel in the Chamber of Deputies, 1896, Debats, p. 1048. ''OS Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, p. 268, et seq. ^9* From a letter defining the policy of the rallies, published in the Figaro, in January, 1893. I quote it from the Annee politique, 1893, pp. 3-8. ''"^ Annee politique, 1893, pp. 184-187; cf. E. Spuller, L'Evolution pol. et soc. de I'eglise, pp. 74-77 ; Vapereau, Dictionnaire universel des contemporains (Paris, 1893), pp. 1406-1408; Georges Picot, Notices historiques (Paris, 1907), vol. ii, pp. I-S3; Georges Michel, "Une Dynastie d'economistes," in Journal des economistes, vol. xxxiv, pp. 170-191. 796 Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, p. 563. '">'' Annuaire du parlement for 1898 and following years. ^o' Chambre des deputes, 1891, session extr., Debats, p. 2487, et seq. 709 For instance, see Ch. d. d., 1891, Debats, p. 2487, et seq. '''^"Ibid., p. 2492. 711 Weill, Hist, du mouvenient social, p. 291. ''^^ Annee politique, 1893, p. 156. '''^^Ibid., pp. 173-178. 71^ Ibid. '15 Labusquiere, La Troisieme Republique, p. 264; Levine, Labor Movement in France, passim). '16 The electoral programs and declarations of the various success- ful candidates for election to the Chamber contained a surprisingly large number of references to the rallies; one must read them to get any adequate conception of their hostility to the new group. They are printed in Chambre des deputes, 1894, Documents, p. 1253, et seq. '1' In the preceding election, when he ran as a monarchist, de Mun had received S,S72 votes and had not been opposed. In 1893 he re- ceived only 4,158 votes as against 4,427 given to his moderate Repub- lican opponent, Le Clec'h. In other words, because de Mun aban- doned monarchism, a thousand voters abandoned him and permitted an anticlerical Republican to win the seat. See Samuel and Bonet- 448 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Maury, Les Parlementaires franfais, p. 303. Dabry, in Les Cath- oliques rcpublicains, p. 280, affirms that " there is no doubt that at least the defeat of M. Mun {sic) was the result of a manoeuvre of the royalists." Debidour, op. cit., pp. 92, 108, makes a similar statement. ^'8 In l88g Piou had obtained, on the second ballot, 7,228 votes against 6,229; but in 1893, when he stood for election as a rallie, he obtained only 6,168 votes, as compared with 6,959 for his Republican op- ponent. It is significant that whereas Piou lost 1,060 votes, his op- ponent gained only 730; hence it seems probable that several hun- dred monarchists who had voted for Piou in 1889 simply abstained from voting in 1893. Cf. Les Parlementaires fran(ais, p. 330, and Debidour, op. cit.. p. 108. "* Cf. Hosotte, Troisicmc Rcpubliquc, Part II, p. 66. '-"These and the foregoing fig[ures can only approximate the truth, since the groups of the Chamber were in such a state of flux that it is impossible to draw hard and fast lines between them. Compare Hosotte, op. cit., Part II, p. 66 and Part I, p. 534, cl seq.; Annee Po- litique, 1893, p. 281 ; Weill, op. cit., p. 293 ; Levine, Labor Movement, p. Ill ; Orth. Socialism and Democracy in Europe, p. 81, gives the num- ber of socialists as 40. Jacques, Les Partis politiques, p. 270, mentions 55 " radicaux socialistes." '21 Levine, op. cit., p. iii; but the Journal des Dcbats, May 20, 1902, quotes a Socialist calculation that the number of Socialist votes in 1893 was 440,000. Obviously the discrepancy arises from the difficulty of distinguishing between Socialists and Socialist-Radicals. '22 Jaures, speech in the Chamfber of Deputies, Nov. 21, 1893, Cham- brc des deputes, sess. £xtr. iSqs, Debats, p. 79, et seq. '-3 Chambre des deputes, 1893, sess. extr.. Debats, p. 79, et seq. '2< Hosotte, Troisi^me Republiquc, p. 537, et seq.; E. Zevort, Histoire dc la Troisiiiiie Republique, vol. iv„ pp. 252-254. '-^ Dictionnaire des parlementaires, vol. i, p. 600; E. .\. Vizetelly, Republican France, 1870-1912 (London, 1912), pp. 404-411; Ann?e politique, 1893, pp. 316-324. ''^'^ Annee politique, 1893, p. 319, et seq. '-' Ibid., p. 326, et seq. '28 These bills modified (i) the press law, (2) the provision of the penal code regarding associations and malefactors, (3) the law on explosives ; the fourth bill appropriated 800,000 f r. for an increase of the police force. Annee politique. 1893, p. 329, ct seq. ''^^ Chambre des deputes. 1804, Debats. p. 388. '30 SpuHer, L'S.vohition politique et sociale de I'cglise (Paris. 1893), especially pp. v, 325-331. "1 Hosotte, Troisitme Republique, p. 543. "2 Ibid., p. 541. "3 Chambre des deputes, iSq.). Dfbats, p. 659, ct seq. "* Annee politique, 1893, p. 262. '35 Ch. des dip. 1894, Debats, p. 856. "« Ibid., p. 865. APPENDIX 449 "THosotte, Troisieme Republique. p. S44; Zevort, Hist, de la Troir sieme Republique, vol. iv, pp. 286-280. "8 Ibid. ''^^Chambre des deputes, 1895, sess. extr. Debats, p. 2267, Nov. 4, 1895. ■'^oAnnee politique, 1895, PP. 177-178, 185-186; idem., 1896, pp. 25-36, 103-112, 139-141, 380; Annual Register, 1895, p. 242, and 1896, pp. 228- 229; Hosotte, op. cit., pp. 559-565- '*i Questions actuelles, vol. xl, p. 341. ''^^Ibid., p. 342. 7*3 Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, p. 563. ''** Annual Register, 1896, p. 237. '^5 Chambre des deputes, 1896, Debats, pp. 925, 933, 948, 1020, 1038, 1052, 1076. ''« Ibid., p. 944. '*' Ibid., p. 965, et seq. 7** Cf., R. C. K. Ensor, Modern Socialism, p. 48, et seq.; Questions actuelles, vol. xxxiv, pp. 98-108; Annee politique, 1896, pp. 208-211; Jean Jaures (ed.), Histoire socialiste, vol. xii, p. 284. 750 Weill, Hist, du mouv. soc, p. 311, quoting Bracke, Leur congris d la salle Wagram (1901). 751 Lg CathoUcisme social (3 vols., Paris, 1892-1899), especially vol. iii, ch. V. Citations are from vol. iii, p. 179, and vol. ii, p. 271. 752 Ygf^ ufi ordre social Chretien (2nd ed.), p. 347. '53 Chambre des deputes, 1894, Debats, pp. 669-670. 75* Vizetelly, Republican France, pp. 348-371 ; Hosotte, Troisieme Republique, pp. 523-532. 755 Weill, op. cit., p. 399. 756 Joseph Reinach, Histoire de I'affaire Dreyfus (7 vols., Paris, igoi-1911) ; Hosotte, Troisieme Republique, p. 582, et seq. 757 On the attitude of the Socialists, read Labusquiere, Troisiime Republique, p. 266, et seq., a Socialist's view, and compare Weill, op. cit., pp. 312-315. The foregoingf account of the Dreyfus affair is based on J. Reinach, op. cit., and Hosotte, Troisieme Republique, p. 582, et seq. 758 Dec. 4, 1897. Ch. des deputes, 1897, Debats, p. 2734. 759 Ch. d. d., 1898, Debats, p. 1225. ''^"Questions actuelles, vol. 40, pp. 340-341, quoting Meline's speech at Remiremont, Oct. 10, 1897. 781 Dabry, Les Catholiques republicains, pp. 84-88, 566, et seq.; com- pare with the statements of M. Dron in the Chambre des deputes, 1898, Debats, p. 1207. ■'^^ Infra, pp. 347-352- ''^^ Supra, p. 169. 764 Supra, p. 188. 765 Infra, pp. 36s-374- 766 Dabry, op. cit, pp. 568-574. 45° THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT '8' Those rallies who had been thoroughly absorbed into the Repub- lican Progressist group are not counted. The 31 are those who still hesitated, unwilling wholly to identify themselves with either the Con- servative Right or the Progressists. 768 xhe Association catholique, the Social Catholic organ, remarked, " The scheme of calling itself Progressist has served as a substitute, with the Moderate Party, for a program of social reforms," first volume for 1898, p. 553, ct seq. ^"^ All nee t>olitique, 1898, p. 213, et seq. ""Official figures given by Annee politique, 1898, p. 217. Needless to say, different authorities give different figures. Hosotte, op. cit., p. 586, gives 55. Journal des Debats, May 20, 1902, gives 43, and esti- mates the number of SociaHst votes at 751,554. '''"^ Annuaire du parlement, 1898, and E>abry, Les Catholiques repub- licains, p. 576. '''" Annuairc du parlement, 1898. '" For example at Gourdon, in the department of Lot, the rallie Abbe Magne on the first ballot received 5700 votes while the Progressist Lachie/e received 5600 and the Radical Cocula 8000. Had the rallie insisted upon his right to fight out the second ballot against the Radical, enough of the Progressists would probably have voted for the Radical to give the latter the victory. Shrewdly, therefore, the rallie with- drew in favor of the Progressist and the Progressist was elected by clerical votes. ''* Dabry, op. cit., p. 578, et seq. '"> Ibid., p. 579. Zevaes it was who in 1901 proposed to suppress the religrious congregations (monastic orders) altogether, — Hosotte, op. cit., p. 635. '''"^Ibid., p. 579. '" Ibid., p. 580. "'^ Annee politique, 1898, pp. 231-245. ''''^ Annee politique, 1898, pp. 335-343. '*" Idem., 1899, pp. 203-218. "' Journal oiKciel, June 23, 1899, pp. 418^4190. '82 The author has purposely avoided encumbering his narrative with a discussion of the interesting debates at the French Socialist congress of December, 1899, at the international Socialist congress of September, 1900, at the French Socialist congress of the same month, at the Wagram Hall Congress of May, 1901, and elsewhere, on the question whether an orthodox Socialist might be permitted to enter a bourgeois cabinet. Interesting brief accounts of the controversy will be found in Weill, op. cit., pp. 3 1 6-343 ; Orth, Socialism and Democracy in Eu- rope, pp. 84-93. For full details, of course, the " Proceedings " of the congresses should be consulted. '83 Labusquiere, Troisidmc Republique (vol. xii of the Histoire social- iste), p. 296. '84 An interesting discussion of Millerand's work as minister is found in A. Lavy, L'CEuvre dc Millerand (Paris, 1902). '85 Lavy, op. cit., pp. 7-16. Decrees of Aug. 10, 1899. APPENDIX 451 ''^^Ihid., pp. 65-77. Decree of Sept. i, ■'^T Ibid., pp. 78-go. Decrees of Sept. 17, 1900, and Jan. 2, 1901. ■J^^ Journal oMciel, 1900, p. 2025; Fighiera, La Protection legale des travaiUeurs, p. 335, et seq.; Lavy, op. cit., pp. 40-57. ''^^ tzambre des deputes, 1900, Documents, pp. 721-740; idem, 1901, Debats. pp. 1242-1754; Anncc politique, igoi, pp. 215-223, 232-233. ^|">CA. d. deputes, igoi, Debats, pp. 1760-1762, 2165-2179; Senat, 1902, Doc, p- 187-189; Annuaire du parlement, 1903-1904, p. 88; Annie pol., 1901, op. 211-213, 306-309. "irfe. d. deputes, igoi, Debats, p. 2652; Senat, 1902, Debats, pp. 658- 664; Journal oHHciel, March 30, 1902, p. 2274; Annie pol, 1901, pp. 91- 94, 325; idem., 1902, pp. 79-80. '^2 Reinach, Histoire de I'affaire Dreyfus, vol. iii, p. 587, vol. iv, pp. 296-310, 330-332, 416, 425-428, 571-580. ^55 See his book. Vers un ordre social chretien, passim. ^'* Reinach, op. cit., vol. v, ch. iv, v. '"^Hosotte, Troisieme Ripublique, p. 616; Wright, Third French Republic, p. 140, et seq.; Reinach, op, cit., vol. iv, p. 615, vol. v, pp. 74, 113, 183-184, 257, 261, 311, 422-426, vol. vi, pp. 30, 32, 59, 61, 64-65. ^'8 Reinach, op. cit., vol. v, pp. 182-184, 251-263, 308, 311, vol. vi, PP- 63-65'; Hosotte, op. cit., p. 616. Hosotte asserts that Deroulede was absolutely innocent of monarchical conspiracy, virhereas Reinach holds the contrary view. '■^'' Hosotte, op. cit., pp. 616-617. "8 Ibid. T39 Text of bill as presented, Ch. d. diputes, 1899, sess. extr.. Docu- ments, pp. 123-125 ; text of law, Journal oMciel, July 2, 1901, pp. 4025- 4027; cf. Waldeck-Rousseau, Associations et congrigations (Paris, 1902). *'"' Text of bill, Chambre des deputis, 1899, sess. extr.. Doc, p. 132 ; report of committee, idem, 1900, Doc, p. 626. ^oi Count Albert de Mun, preface to Jacques Piou, Questions re- ligieuses et sociales (Paris, 1910), p. ix. ^"^ Let it be remarked once and for all that the author has deemed it wiser to give an intelligent equivalent rather than a meaningless literal translation of the names of the group and the party. so^ Leon Jacques, Les Partis politiques sous la Troisieme Ripublique (Paris, 1913), p. 320. ^"^ Annie politique, 1899, passim; Waldeck-Rousseau, Pour la Ri- publique (Paris, 1904), pp. 391-404, 418-426. 8"' Piou, Amedee Reille, and de Mun. See Association catholique, 1905, first part, p. 122, et seq., article by de Montenon. S06 Eugene Flornoy, La Lutte par I'association: L'Action libirale populaire (Paris, 1907), p. 40, et seq. ^"■^ Joseph Zamanski, " La politique sociale," in Association cath- olique. May, 1910, p. 48s, et seq. SOS Annuaire du parlement, i8g8, 1899, 1900, 1901. ^"^ Annuaire du parlement, 1901. They were: Alicot, Ayme, Blanc, Chambrun, CoHe, Dansette, Fould, Galot, Gay, Gourd, Guibert, Loyer, 452 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Motte, Pascal, Rogez, Saint-Quentin, Salignac-Fenelon, and Viellard. ^''^'^ Annuairc du parlemcnt, igoi. They were: F. Bougere, L. Bougere, B. de Castellane, Dansette, Daude, Delpech-Cantaloup, Desjardins, Dupuytrem, Elva, L'Estourbeillon, Galot, Gay, Gayraud, Jacquey, Jaluzot, La Ferronnays, Laroche-Joubert, Lerolle, Pascal, Paulmier, Roy de Loulay, Savary de Beauregard. "1 Flornoy, U Action liberale populairc, p. 37, et seq. Piou's speech is given in extenso in Questions actuelles, vol. 59, p. 323, ct seq. *i- Flornoy, L' Action liberale populairc, pp. 38-39. 8" Ibid., p. 43. s" The membership certificates explained the other parts of the name as follows: " Elle [the party, V Action Liberale Populairc] s'appelle Action parce qu'elle doit etre un centre de vie et d'activite. Elle s'appelle Liberale parce qu'elle veut maintenir ou restaurer dans leur integrite toutes les libertes publiques, sans en refuser le benefice a personne." s'5 A reprint of the constitution (Statuts) may be found in Flornoy, L'.Action liberale populairc, p. 168, ct seq., or in Jacques, Partis poli- tiqucs, p. 501, et seq. 81' .'Xrt. 6, Statuts of the Action Liberale Populairc. *'' The Central Committee was invested with power to pronounce — by a two-thirds vote — the exclusion of one of its own members or — by a simple majority — of any member of the Association, for an in- fraction of honor or a contravention of the constitution, " or for an act contrary to the aim and the spirit of the Association," — Statuts, Art. 6. 8" Statuts, Art. 4. ^^^ Association catholiquc. 1905, first part, p. 122, et seq. '20 Congr^s dc igii. Comptc rendu, p. 57. '21 Jacques, Partis politiques. pp. 306, 309. 822 Statuts, Art. 5. '23 Flornoy, L' Action liberale populairc, p. 53, ct scij. ^''* Ibid., p. 57, ct seq. '25 See de Mun's definition of the bond between the Icunessc Cath- oliquc and the party, in Flornoy, L'.lction liberale populairc, p. 148. '28 Flornoy, op. cil.. pp. 60, 150. '27 Ibid., pp. IDS, 152. ^'« Ibid., p. ISO. '29 For full accounts of the proceedings, see the Compte-rendus pub- lished by the A. L. P., 7, rue Las-Cases, Paris. ^^0 Comt^tc-rendu du congrcs general icnn a Paris . . 1904, pp. 4, 105, ct seq., 127, ct seq. 881 See comment in Flornoy, op. cit.. p. 76, ct seq. Since Flornoy's book was written, the partv bulletin has been made a fortnightlv. '32 At present (1920), MM. Jean Lerolle, Henri Bazire, and Joseph Denais, all members of the Popular Liberal Party, are among the principal members of the editorial stnflf of La Libre Parole, an impor- tant Parisian daily. sssLgvine, Labor Movement in France, passim. APPENDIX 453 834 Supra. 83^ i. e., legally recognized unions. 836 Flornoy, L' Action Uberale populaire, p. 99, et seq. *3^ Ihid., p. ICO, et seq., 107, et seq. ^^^ Ibid., p. los, et seq. An interesting list of the social-economic institutions maintained by the party is given by the same author, p. 201, et s.eq. 839 Leon Jacques, Partis politiques, pp. 343-344. Compare the more sympathetic account of the party's employment bureaus in Flornoy, op. cit., p. 96, et seq. ^^'> Brochure No. no of the Action Populaire; Guide social of the Action Populaire, 1905' and 1906; Flornoy, op. cit., pp. 50-53, 170-177; Repertoire ■des archives legislatives parlementaires et sociales (pub- lished by the P. L. Party, Paris, 1904, 372 pages). 841 The speech may be conveniently consulted in Questions actuelles, vol. lix, p. 323, et seq. 8*2 A literal translation of Piou's phrase, " sur le terrain consti- tutionel" might be misleading. He meant to express not a desire to preserve the constitution against change in the manner of certain American constitutionalists, constitutionally opposed to innovation, but, rather, a determination to refrain from any attempt to overthrow the Republic. " On a basis of acquiescence in the Republic " would per- haps be the best translation. 843 An obvious reference to the Volksverein, that great league of German Catholics, for the purposes of benevolent, social, and religious action, primarily, rather than for political aims. The Volks- verein in 1913 had 776,090 members, including 26,786 women. See Annee sociale intemationale, 4me annee, p. 51. 844 Speech delivered by Jacques Piou at Lille, November 17, igoi, on the occasion of the annual congress of the Catholics of the depart- ments of the Nortii and Pas-de-Calais, — Piou, Questions religieuses et sociales, p. 94, et seq. 845 Ibid. 846 Questions actuelles, vol. Ixii, p. 169, et seq. 847 The foregoing is a fragmentary resume of de Mun's speech in the Salle des agricultevrs de France, March 15, 1902, printed in Questions actuelles, vol. Ixiii, p. 2, et seq. 848 Hosotte, Troisieme Republique, p. 640. 849 Correspondant, vol. 207, p. 600. 8=" The most interesting of these Liberal defeats was that which occurred in the second district of Albi (department of Tarn), where the Socialist, Jaures, defeated the Liberal, Marquis de Solages, by 6494 votes to 6154. Since the latter had received 6,702 votes in 1898, more than two hundred of his former followers must have deserted him. Were these two hundred deserters intransigent Monarchists, or were they bourgeois Republicans who from observation of the Socialists' attitude toward the Waldeck-Rousseau Government had concluded, with the premier, that the " Socialist menace " was, after all, not very menacing, so long as the Socialists could be induced to spend most 454 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT of their energy passing laws against the Catholic Church? Or were they workingmen who had been converted to Socialism? ^^^ I have obtained this figure by count of the names ; a slightly smaller figure is sometimes given, as in Jacques, Partis politiques, p. 437. The discrepancy is explained by the fact that a few members, affiliated with the Liberal Group in 1902, drifted away a year or two later. Compare Annuairc du parlement, 1901, 1902, 1903-4, 1905. 852 Figures from Hosotte, Troisi^me Republique, p. 640 ; compare the same work, Dcuxicme Partie, p. 66 and Jacques Partis politiques, pp. 336, 437. 438. Needless to remark, the figures are so uncertain that even Jacques cannot remain self-consistent; for example, he gives the number of members of the Action Liberale as 75 on p. 437 and as 79 on p. 336. ^53 Corrcspondant, vol. 207, p. 601, issue of May 10, 1902. ^'•'■^ Action liberale populaire. Compte-rcndu du congrcs general tenu a Paris, Ics 75, 16, ly et iS deccinbre J90.;. (Paris, 1905). s^" Ibid., pp. 148-151. "=" Ibid., pp. 121, 126. ^" Ibid., pp. 193, 217, 225. ^^^.'Iction. Hhcialc popuhiirc. Coinptc-rendu du 2' congrcs general, tenu d Paris, les 14, 15, 16 et 17 decembre, J905 (Paris, 1906), pp. 129-130. ''^"Action liberale populaire, Coinptc-roidu du 3' congrcs general, temi a Lyon, les 3j, 23, 2f, 25 novenibrc 1906 (Paris, 1907), pp. 37-38, 55-5(1, 68-69, 80. The question of decentralization was further studied at tlio convention of 1907, cf. Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendii dii 1' congrcs general tenu a Bordeau.r, les 7, S, 9 et 10 novembrd 1907 (Paris, igo8), p. 79. '°'' Action liberale populaire. Compte-rendti du 5» congrcs general, tenu a Paris, les 3, 4, 5, et 6 decembre, 1908 (Paris, 1909), p. 20. ^"''■Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du (5° congrcs general. tenu a Paris, les 2, 3, 4 et 5 decembre 1909 (Paris, 1910), pp. 33-35, 43. 51- *»- Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 7' congrcs general, tenu a Paris, les 8, 9, 10 et II juin 1911 (Paris, 1911), pp. 39, 43-44, 45', 56. ''^ Cf. supra, pp. 72, loi. '"^ Piou, Questions religieuses et socialcs, pp. 63-64, 70. 806 Ibid. ^^<^Ibid.. pp. 75-80. ^^'' Ibid., pp. 157-172. The following quotations are from this same speech, which was delivered at the convention of Social Workers at Pau, October 13, 1903. *"* Cf. supra, p. 218. 8»» Piou, loc. cit. sToplornoy, L' Action liberale populaire, p. 65. 8^1 From a letter written by Jacques Piou to tlie editor of the Croi.r, describing the character of the Popular Liberal Party, publi-Jlied in the APPENDIX 455 Croix of October i8, 1906, and reproduced in Piou, Questions re- ligieuses et sociales, p. 16, et seq. 8'2 Since 1891 the magazine no longer served as the organ of the Clubs, but de Mun continued to write articles for it, and its editors were in close sympathy with the leading spirits in the Clubs. ^'2 Association catholique, 1898, first part, p. 553, et seq. ^''^Association catholique, 1899, first part, pp. 51-S3. 8'5 Association catholique, 1899, first part, p. i. ^'"^Association catholique, 1899, first part, p. i, et seq. 8" Ibid. 8'8 Association catholique, 1905, first part, p. 131, et seq. 8^^ Association catholique, 1910, first part, p. 485', et seq. 880 por a good expression of this view, see article on " Le Role social de I'eglise," by Count Albert de Mun, in Association catholique, 1909, December, p. 13 19, et seq. He asserts that the Church never accepted the role of a " sort of religious gendarmerie but rather was from the beginning the champion of the downtrodden, coming forth from the catacombs, defending the enchained slaves against pitiless masters, the oppressed against the oppressors " ; in the Middle Ages it had enforced Sunday rest, curbed usury and profiteering, safeguarded the dignity of labor, protected women and children from industrial exploitation, limited hours of labor, dispensed charity, and through quasi-religious fraternities cared for the aged and the infirm. The Reformation, the Renaissance, and the resultant Caesaristic state had withered the beneficent influence of Christianity, but even so, de Mun believed that still " the Church alone is independent enough, disinter- ested enough, to love the people sincerely and without ulterior motive." ^81 Proposition de loi sur I'organisation professionnelle, presented by MM. Leonce de Castelnau, Piou, Ollivier, de Mun, and LeroUe. Chamhre des deputes, 1906, Documents, p. 768. 882 Comptes-rendus of the A. L. P. conventions, passim. 883 Piou, Questions religieuses et sociales, p. 245, et seq. 88* Revue des deux monies, June 15, 1897, pp. 801-806. 885 Resolution of the Party Convention of 1904, Action liberale popu- laire, Compte-rendu du congres general tenu a Paris, les 15, 16, 77 et 18 decembre, 1904, p. 225 ; cf. also pp. 2I7-22S'. ^^^ Ibid., pp. 171-193. Numerous examples are cited. 887 Ibid., p. 193- ^^^ Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 3' congres general, tenu a Lyon, les 22, 23, 24, et 25 novembre, 1906, pp. 37-38, 56. 888 A resolution favoring proportional representation with the scrutin de liste was passed by the party convention in 1904, see the Compte- rendu, p. 217. The system of voting by list, with whole departments as constituencies, had been employed in the election of the National Assembly of 1871, it will be remembered, but a system of uninominal voting, with single-member constituencies, i. e., the scrutin d'arrondisse- ment,— had been introduced in 1876 ; after a reversion to the scrutin de liste in 1885, the scrutin d'arrondissement was reintroduced in 1889. 456 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT s^o Chambre des deputes, 1900, Session extraordinaire, Documents, p. 304- s"! See Dansette's Bill, Chambre des deputes, 1903, Documents, p. 837; Massabuau's Bill, Chambre des deputes. 1906, Documents, p. 587, Massabuau's Bill, Chambre des deputes, 1910, x^ legislature. Docu- ments, p. 494. ^"2 Cliambrc des deputes, 1909, Debats, p. 2330. 8"3 Chambre des deputes, 1912, Debats, p. 2192, et seq. ^"^ Anuuaire du parlemcnt, 1909, p. 230. 8"^ Chambre des deputes, 1911, Debats, p. 2198. s"" Chambre des deputes, 1912, Debats, p. 2221. »»' Chambre des deputes, 1914, Debats, pp. 377-3^7- 808 Electoral Reform Act of July 12, 1919. Text in Revue politique et parlcnientaire, August, 1919, p. 205. Cf. Georges Lachapelle, Les Elections legislatives du 16 novembre 1919 (Paris, 1920). ""•'A. L. P., Compte-rendu du 6° congres general, p. 44; dissociation catholique, 1910, part i, pp. 88-89. "'"' Chambre des deputes, 1906, Documents, p. 768, et seq. ""2 A. Esmein, EU'tncnts de droit constitutionntl (Paris, 6th ed., 1914), pp. 25J-260; L. Duguit, Traitc de droit constitutionnel (Paris, 1911), passim; A. L. Lowell, The Governments of France, Italy, and Germany (Cambridge, 1914), pp. 2-118; E. ^I. Salt, Government and Polities of France (Yonkers, 1920). ""■' Leon Duguit and Henry Monnier, Les Constitutions et les princi- palex Ids poUtiques de la France depuis 1789 (Paris, 1898), pp. 1-4, 36-38, (rfH-(«), 7S-80, I_'7-I2'' These details are contained in M. Souriac's report at the conven- tion of 1906, cf. Compte-rendu, pp. 52, 54-55. The resolution voted by the convention was couched in more general terms as follows : " 3. That the institution of a court or supreme tribunal, composed of irremovable magistrates absolutely independent in their selection and in the exer- cise of their functions, should be established as the guardian of the constitution, as protector of the public liberties inscribed therein, and with the right to annul or to declare void any act. whether of the executive or of the legislative power, which infringes upon these liber- ties." ^°^ Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du j" congres general, . . . 1906, p. 56. Resolution adopted by the convention. °°° Journal officiel, 1875, pp. 1521, 1545, 5489. ^'^° Cf. Esmein, op. eil.. pp. 636-854; Duguit, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 416- APPENDIX 457 514; Lowell, op. cit., pp. 26-65; F. A. Ogg, Governments of Europe (N. Y., 1916), pp. 308-311; Sait, op. cit., pp. 31-67. '"Esmein, op. cit., pp. 252-259; Sait, op. cit., passim; Lowell, op. cit., pp. 117-118. 912 Action liberale populaire, Contpte-rendu 'du 3' congres general, . . . 1906, pp. 44-46, 50-52, 56. '13 Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 6° congres general, . . . IQ06, pp. 29-30. 'i*/&irf., pp. lo-ll. '1° Ibid., pp. 29-36. 918 L' Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 6° congres general, . . 190Q, p. II. ^^'' L'Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 4' congres general, . . . 1907, p. 6. 918 M. Charles Brun, quoted at the 1907 convention, op. cit., p. 66. ^"^^L' Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 3° congres general, igo6. p. 56. ^^^ L' Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 4' congres general, . . . 1907, p. 64, et seq. ^^^Ibid., pp. 66-67. 922 Ibid., pp. 67-69, 72-73. 923 Tbid., p. 69. 924 Ibid., pp. 70-72. 925 Ibid., p. 70. 926 Jean Jacques Rousseau, Du Contrat social (ed. by Geo. Beau- lavon. Paris, 1914), p. 271. 927 L' Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 3' congres general, . . . 1906, p. 56. ^^^U Action liberale populaire, Compte-rendu du 7° congres general, . . 1911, pp. 35-39. The same convention also resolved. "That, for the municipal elections of 1912, all the committees (of the party) be invited to include the question of the municipal referendum among those which figure in their programs ; that, furthermore, the executive committee send to all the local groups instructions regarding the appli- cation of the municipal referendum." 929 i;,^ Programme social et politique de I'Action liberale populaire (published by the secretariat of the party, Paris, 1913), p. 4. 939 Speech of Oct. 15, 1905, in Jacques Piou, Questions religieuses et sociales, p. 228. 931 Eugene Flornoy, La Lutte par V association: I'Action liberale populaire (Paris, 1907), pp. 1-3. 932 1,^ Programme social et politique de I'Action liberale populaire, p. 3. and Compte-rendu du 3' congres general . . . 1906, p. 55. 933 Journal oMciel, 1905, p. 7205. 931 Article 4 provided that the associations for public worship should conform " to the general rules of organization of the religion of which they proposed to assure the exercise." In deciding disputes, therefore, under article 8, the council of state would have to decide which asso- ciation really conformed to " the general rules of organization " of the 4S8 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT religion in question. Owing to the opposition of the Catholics, the government refrained from enforcing the provision regarding asso- ciations, and, by a law of Jan. 2, 1907, the clergy was permitted to use the church buildings, without being given legal title. Journal ofUcicl, 1907, pp. 34, 997. °^5 Compte-rendu du 6' congrh general, p. 55. ''' Chambre des deputes, 1901, Debats, pp. 64-65. '^^ Journal officiel, 1901, pp. 4025, 4087, 5240. ''^^ Chambre des deputes, 1903, Debats, pp. 11 17, 1137, 1179, 1199, 1219, 124s, 1306, 1359, 2163. ''5 Piou, Questions religieuses et sociales, pp. 39-40. '*" Speeches by Piou and Grousseau, Jan. 17 and 21, 1910, in Cham- bre des deputes, 1910, Debats, pp. 112-122, 248-254. ^*''- Journal ofHciel, 1882, p. 1697. One day a week, besides Sunday, was allowed, in which religious instruction might be given, outside the school. Priests were not allowed to give religious instruction in the school building even outside of class hours. ^*^ Journal oHieiel, 1886, p. 4997. in 3 Law of July l, 1901, cf. Journal officiel, 1901, p. 4025. ^** Law of July 7, 1904, cf. Journal officiel, 1904, p. 4129. The schools maintained by religious orders were to be suppressed within a maximum of ten years. "*" Le Programme social et politique de V Action liberate populaire, p. 7. "*" Ibid., pp. 4, 32-33; and Action liberate populaire, Compte-rendu du 7' congrds geuiral . . 1911, pp. 17, 24, ct seq., 47, et seq.,, 56. '>" Leon Jacques, Lcs Partis polifiques sous la III' Rcpubliquc (Paris, 191.1), PP- .341-342. °*' Action liberate populaire, Compte-rendu du $' congres general, . . . 1906, p. 118. "^^ Idem, Compte-rendu du 4' congres general . . 1907, p. 114. "»" Speech at Pau, Oct. 13, 1903, in Piou, Questions religieuses et so- ciales, p. 171. "" Speech at Besangon, Nov. 29, 1903, in A. de Atun, Combats d'liier ct d'aujourd'hui, vol. i. p. 467, et seq. "52 Chambre des deputes, 1905, Debats. p. 2681 °'^^Ibid., p. 279. 0" Ibid. '55 Ibid., pp. 277-280. ^^'>Ibid., pp. 281-283. "5' Piou, Questions religieuses et sociales, pp. 48-49. »58/6i7audet, Pourquoi les catholiques ont perdu la bataille. 1100 Another Christian Democratic priest in the Chamber of Deputies. Abbe Gayraud, joined the Popular Liberal Party. Ab1i6s Gayraud and I-^mire may exemplify the two tendencies of the Christian Democrats, the first towards reconciliation with the Social Catholics, the second towards a form of radicalism incompatible with Social Catholicism. ii"! Abbe Emmanuel Barbier, Les Democrates chretiens ct lc mod- crnisme: histoire documentaire (Paris and Nancy, 1908), passim. iio^ Article reproduced in Barbier, Les Democrates chrHiens et lc modernisme, p. 367. et seq. 1103 ^(.(g sanctae sedis. vol. xli, p. 141. ^1"* Article by Bazire, in L'Univcrs, Aug. 29, 1907. 1105 Marc Sanpnier, L'Histnire cf les idfes du Sill on; idcvt. Le plus qrand Sillon: "Cinq annees d'action," in Le Sillon for March 10. T007: Jacques, Les Partis politiques, p. M7 '• Weill, Histoire du catholicisme libSral, p. 241 ; Fesch, Annie sociale, 1907, pp. 183-196. APPENDIX 467 1106 In addition to the works already cited, see Marc Sangnier, Le Sillon, esprit et metho'des; Louis Cousin, Vie et doctrine du Sillon; Barbier, Les Idees du Sillon; idem, Les Erreurs du Sillon; idem, La Decadence du Sillon; Ch. Maurras, Le Dilemme de Marc Sangnier. "»' Quoted by Weill, loc cit. 1108 Works cited above. "»» Ibid. 1112 Weill, op. cit., p. 241. "13 Barbier, Progres du liberalisme catholique, p. 45. m*R. de Marans, "Un nouvel etat d'esprit retrograde," in L'Ame latine, July, 1904, quoted by £ble, op.cit., pp. 233-234. m= Pius X, letter to the French Archbishops and Bishops, August 25, 1910, in Rome, Sept. 3, 1910, pp. 1 16-120, Sept. 10, pp. 129-132. 1116 Marc Sangnier, Discours igio-igis (Paris, 1913), passim. m^ Ihid., p. 403, et seq., 451, et seq. m* Hubert Lagardelle in Le Devenir social, 1898, p. 81. m^ A convention or congress for the study of social questions. Cf. supra, pp. 339-346. 1120 £^ Mouvement socialiste, Sept-Oct, 1912, p. 199, et seq. La- gardelle in concluding his article finds conifort in the reflection that " Socialism, and I speak of syndicalist Socialism, not of democratic Socialism, has nothing to fear from the Social Catholics. It can only profit by their critique of capitalism and by their exaltation of trade- union organization. Social Catholicism is working for syndicalism.'' 1121 i^g Rappel, June 5, 1912. 1122 i^a Revolution Syndicaliste convoyee par les " CathoUques So- ciaux" (Paris, 1913). 1123 Defoyere, op. cit., pp. 92-93. Italics are as in original. ^'^^^Ibid., pp. 99-100, 107. 1125 Fidao-Justiniani, " Les Courants d'idees," Le Mouvement social, Feb., 1912, pp. 113-126; April, 1912, pp. 317-333. 1126 Max Turmann, Le Developpement du catholicisme social depuis I'encycUque " Rerum Novarum" (15 mai 1891); idees directrices et caracteres generaux: deuxieme Sdition revue et augmentce d'une etude sur le mouvement social catholique depuis 1900 (Paris, 1909), p. iii of Preface to First Edition. "27 Joseph Zamanski (joint editor of Le Mouvement social), article on " La Politique sociale," in Le Mouvement social, 1913, vol. 76, p. 336, et seq. 1128 Moniteur universel, Feb. 17, I79i, PP- 194-196, and June 15, 1791, p. 688 ; Office du travail, Les Associations professionnelles ouvrieret (Paris, 1899), vol. i, pp. 6-ig. "29 Cf. supra, pp. 19-24. "30 Cf. supra, pp. 101-105. "31 M. fible, Les Scoles cdtholiques d'economie politique et sociale en France (Paris, 1905), ch. v; Manuel social pratique (Rheims, 1910), pp. 1S0-171 ; Le Mouvement social, vol. 77, PP. 372-377- 1132 Proposition de loi sur I'organisation professionnelle, presentee par MM. Leonce de Castelnau, Piou, Ollivier, le comte Albert de Mun, 468 THE SOCIAL CATHOLIC MOVEMENT Lerolle, Chambre des deputes, 1906, Documents, pp. 76&-771. Cf. fible, loc. cit.; Martin Saint-Leon, Histoire des corporations de metitrt (Paris, 1897), pp. 620-659. X133 "phe idea of professional or functional representation is sug- gested but not formally included in the Bill of 1906. Cf. Max Tur- mann, Le Develofpement du cathoUcisme social (Paris, 1909), pp. 93, 290-292; La Tour du Pin, Vers un ordre social chretien (2nd ed., Paris), tassim; articles by Urbain Guerin and Eugene Duthoit in L'Association catholique, January, 1891, p. 34, et seq., and July, 1900, pp. 4-21. The article by Duthoit is particularly interesting. 1134 Max Turmann, article in Le Correspondant, July 10, 1919, pp. 1-3 1- 1135 jhg Constitution of the German Republic, translated by W. B. Munro and A. N. Holcombe, published by World Peace Foundation, Boston, 1919. 1136 xhe literature of Guild Socialism is rapidly becoming voluminous. I have based my brief discussion of the subject upon The Guildsman (monthly, edited by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole, London) ; articles in The A'l'if Age: G. D. H. Cole, The World of Labour (London, 1920, first published, 1913) ; Self-Governmcnt in Industry (London, 1920, first published, 1917) ; Labour in the Commonwealth (London, 1920) ; Chaos and Order in Industry (London, 1920) ; Social Theory (London, 1920) ; S. G. Hobson, National Guilds (London, 1919) ; Guild Principles in War and Peace (second edition, London, 1919) ; National Guilds and the State (London, 1920) ; A. J. Penty, Restoration of the Guild Sys- tem (London, 1906); Old Worlds for Nciv (London, 1917); M. B. Rickett and C. E. Bechhofer, The Meaning of National Guilds (Lon- don, 1918). INDEX Accidents, workingmen's compen- sation for, io6, 107, 108, 109, 116, 163-164, 204, 240. Action Frangaise, 175, 361-365, 384. Action Liberale Populaire, (Popu- lar Liberal Party), preface, ch. ix, 221, 351-352, 393. Action Populaire, 320-339. Annee Sociale Internationale, 324- 326. Antisemitism, 206-211. Antoine, Abbe, 343, 344. Aquinas, 122, 157, 158, 161. Arbitration and conciliation, 109, 163, 164, 240, 243, 24s, 253. Association Catholique, 155, 251, 253, 256, 319-321, 328. Association Catholique de la Jeu- nesse Frangaise, 347-352. Associations Law, 220, 281-282, 283. Austria, Social Catholic Move- ment in, 129-132. Avenir, 17, 25, 32. Bagshawe, Mgr. E. G., 136. Barbier, Abbe Emmanuel, 303- 305- Bastiat, 12. Baudeau, 10. Bazire, 35 1. 373-374- Bechaux, 355. Belgium, Social Catholic Move- ment' in, 134-135. Bishops' Program, preface. Blanc, Louis, 53-54, 55, 96. Blanc Saint-Bonnet, 56. Bloc, ch. viii, 242, 291. Blondel, 343, 355- Boissard, 344. Bolshevism, 384. 469 Bonald, 14, 29. Bordas-Demoulin, 57, 58. Boulanger affair, 167, 178. Bourgeois, J., 57, 58. Bourgeois, Leon, 202, 205. Brisson, 214. Brunetiere, 348. Brunhes, Jean, 344. Buchez, 16. Cabet, 55. Caillaux, 217. Calippe, 343, 344, 369, 374. Casimir-Perier, 194-195, 197, 199, 200. Chambord, Henri, count of, 70-74, 97-98. Charles X, 29. Chateaubriand, 14-15, 30. Chesnelong, 169, 171, 211. Child-labor, 8-9, 19-20, 22, 91-92, 94, 107, 108, no, III, 116, 125, 126, 259. Christian Democrats, 168, 174-175, 208, 210, 211, 301-302, 365-374, 384. Civil service, 273-274. Clemenceau, 178, 267. Clercq, V. de, 256. Clericalism, 209, 289, 291. Cochin, Augustin, 56-57. Cochin, Henry, 229. Collective bargaining, 243, 259. Combes, 267. Commune, 77-79, 81. Confederation generale du travail, preface, see also Syndicalism. Constitution, amendment of, 270. Consumers League, 316. Cooperation, 253, 378. Corbiere, 66-67. Counter-Revolution, 86-87. 470 INDEX Coux, Charles de, 24-25, 3i> 35. 52. Croi, 19- Croix, 209, 220. Dabry, 168, 174, 302-303, 366, 370, 373- Dansette, 265. Daudet, Leon, 361. Decentralization, 244, 274-278, 358. Decurtins, 132, 133-134, 136. Denis, Theodore, 287-288. Deroulede, 219. Desbuquois, 328, 330-339, 343. Deslandres, 344. Dreyfus affair, 208-211, 214-215, 219. Driant, 297, 300. Drumont, 206-207, 208, 366. Dufaure, 92-93. Dunoycr, 12-13. Dupanloup, 40-41. Du Pont de Nemours, 9, 10. Dupuy, 191, 194, 201, 215. Duthoit, 3J9, ,144. Eight-hour day, 164. Elections, of 1893, 191-192; of 1898, 211-214; of 1902, 240-242; of 1906, 305; of 1910, 306; of 1914, 306, 307 ; of 1919, preface, 263-264, 298, 306, appendix (note 4). Electoral practices, 263-264. Employers, federations of, 234. England, Social Catholic Move- ment in, 135-136. Ere Nouvi-llc. 17, 34-35, 37, 39, 41. Fallon X law, 39-40. Fava, 169. 171. Fesch, 168, 174, 368-369. Fidao-Justiniani, 388. Fonsegrixe, 348, 373. Fourier, 55. Freyssinous, 29. Freppel, 154-156, 168, 347. Fribourg, Union of, 139, 158. Gailhard-Bancel, 246, 250, 256, 310. Gaillard, 229. Gallicanism, 175, appendix (notes 144 and 659). Gambetta, 88, 89. Gamier, 168, 174, 366. Gayraud, 168, 174, 208, 229, 366, 367. Gerbet, 16-17, 52. Germany, Social Catholic Move- ment in, 121-129. Gibbons, 137. Goyau, 348. 369, 374- Grandmaison, 246. Guerin, Urbain, 343. Guesde, 204. Guide social, 323-324. Guild Socialism, 384, 390-399- Guilds, 19, 22, 28, 59-60, 64-65, 70- 73, 75, 96-107, iio-iii, 113-117, 118-120, 127, 144-145, 148, 162, 173, 252, 254, 257-259, 317, 319, 334-335. 339, 368, 384 390-399- Guyot, 189. 335- Harmel, J. J., 113. Harmel, Leon, 1 17-120, 159, 174- 175. 319. 175. 319, 34r348, 366. Haussonville, 188. Health insurance, 109, 116; see also Insurance, social. Hertling, 128-129. Hitze, 126-128, 129, 340. Hubert-Valleroux, 355, 359-360. Huet, 57-58, 134. Hugo, 45- Industrial Revolution, i ; in France, 6-9. Inheritance and inheritance taxes, 134. 218, 240, 357. Insurance, social, 112, 163, 253, 259, 394; see also Health In- surance, Accidents, Pensions. International labor legislation, 23, 106, 112, 204, 253, 311. Italy. 136. Jacques, 235-236. INDEX 471 Jaluzot, 229. Jaures, 183, 184-185, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194. 197-198, 213, 291. Jay, Raoul, 344, 389. Justice-Equality Office, 209, 211. Keller, 81, 82, 91-92, 94-97, 169. Ketteler, 121-125, 138, 146, 147, 148. Knights of Labor, 137. Labor exchange of Paris, 191, 202. Labor legislation, international, 23, 106, 112, 204, 253, 311. Lacordaire, 17-18, 33, 34-36, 41, 52, 318. Laf argue, 179-180, 183, 190. Lagardelle, 386, 388. Laissez-faire, 10, 18, 224; see also Liberalism, economic. Lamartine, 36, 39, 43. Lamennais, 31-33. Lamy, 344, 345, 363. Land, small holdings of, 165. Langenieux, 159. Lapeyre, 207. Laroche-Joubert, 92-93. La Tour du Pin, 80, 81, 82, 141, 147-149, 207, 219, 225, 3i9, 341, and Appendix (note 669). Lavigerie, 167-168. Lemire, 168, 343, 348, 366, 371, 389. Leo XIII, 139, 156, 157-166, 170- 172, 174, 317. 367- Le Play, 58-62, 80, 309, 3i8, 3i9, 3S4; followers of, 150, 3S4-36i- Lerolle, Jean, 256, 351, 395- Leroux, 55. Leroy, Abbe, 321-322. L'Estourbeillon, 288. Le Trosne, 10. Liberal Catholics, 31-33, 52, 225, 227. Liberalism, economic, 11, 13. 18, 56, 57, 64, 74, 102, 142, 159, 224- 225, 316 318, 332-333. 33S, 384- Liberty, religious, 279-285. Lichtenstein, 129, l36. Liege, social work congresses at, 153- Lorin, 320, 341, 389. Louis XVIII, 29. Louis Napoleon, see Napoleon in. Louis Philippe, 32. Lueger, 131-132. Maignen, 82. Maistre, Joseph de, 29. Manning, cardinal, 135-136, 137. Maret, 34-35. Martin Saint-Leon, 60, 344. Marx, 55. Maurras, 361, 363. Maze-Sencier, 236, 256. Meline, 203-204, 209, 214. Melun, Armand de, 18-19, 40, 42- 51, 52. Mercier de la Riviere, 10. Mermillod, 132-133. 138, 139. IS8. Metz-Noblat, 65-66. Meyer, Rudolph, 130, 138. Millerand, 183-184, 190, 192, 198, 199, 205, 216, 217-218, 240, 291, 298, 311- Millevoye, 300. Mirabeau, 9. Modernism, 371-374. Monastic orders, 220, 281-282, 283. Montalembert, Charles de, 20, 33- 34. 39. 40, 41. 4S. 52, 56. Moufang, 125-126, 129. Mouvement Social, 327-329. Mun, Albert de, 80-91, 97-113, 117-118, 120, 136, 146, 149, 150, 155. 163-166, 169, 170, 172-174. 179, 180-181, 184-186, 190, 192, 198-20G, 204, 208, 220, 225, 226, 228, 229, 240, 256, 279, 281, 286, 289^90, 293, 295, 297, 319, 341, 347. 348. 349, 351, 389-390, 392. Mutual aid, 204. Nationalists, 219, 229, 241. Napoleon III, 39-42, 50-51, 67-69. Naudet, 168, 3o2, 366, 368, 371, 373. Nitti, 159, preface. 472 INDEX Ozanam, 25-27, 34, 3s, 41, 52, 31&- 319- Paix Sociale, Unions de, 3SS-3S6. Paris, count of, 70. Passy, Frederic, 189. Passy, Hippolyte, 67. Passy, Louis, 229. Patriotic League, 233. Patriotism, 295-298. Patronage, 61. Pensions, Workingmen's, 107, 108, 109, 163-164, 204, 218, 243, 24s, 248, 287; see also Insurance, social. Perin, 58, 62, 134, 141, 147. 153- Physiocrats, 9-11. Piou, Jacques, 166, 169, 186, 187, 188, 192, 220, 226-227, 237-240, 242, 240-25 1, 260-262, 266, 273, 274, 279-282, 285-286, 289, 292- 296, 301-303, 352, 356, 392. Pius X, 373, 377-381. Popular Liberal Party, preface, ch. ix, 221, 351-352, 393. President, election and powers of, 272-273. Progressists, 210, 212, 216, 220, 225. 228-229, 241. Proudhon, 55. Quesnay, 9. Ralliement, 166-193. Rallies, 187, 188, 189, 190-192, 195. 197-198, 199-200, 201, 202, 203, 209-214. 220-221, 225, 228. Referendum, 244, 278-279. Reforme Sociale, 150, 152, 356. Reille, Amedee, 228. Representation, functional, 72, loi, 128, 173, 245, 268-269, 394-395- Representation, proportional, 243, 264-267. Republican Right, 187, 189, 191, 200, 229. Rerum Novarum, 159-165, 178- 180. Reunions frangaises des revues catholiques sociales, 320. Revolution of 1830, 3i-32. Revolution of 1848, 34-39, 53-55- Revue cathoUque des institutions et du droit, 155. Richard, cardinal, 169, 347. Roquefeuil, 347. Rutten, 343, 344- Saint-Mande Program, 205. Saint-Simon, 26, 54-55- Sangnier, 381-382. Sanitation, 164. Savatier, Henri, 251, 348. Say, J. B., 11-12. Say, Leon, 189, 200. Schneider, Eugene, 229. Seilhac, 329. Semaines Sociales, 320, 339-346- Separation of Church and State, 280-281, 287-288. Sertillanges, 343, 344. Sillon, 375-381. 384- Simon, Jules, 67-68, 92. Sismondi, 24. Six, Abbe, 366. Social Catholic Study L'nion, 320. Socialism and Socialists, 4, 54-56, Cm- 77-79, 127. 157-158, 160, 177- 186, 190, 192-193, 194, 198-200, 205-206, /217, 232. 247-248, 280- 294, 298, 332-333, 335-356, 384- Social Politics, 5. Social Reform School, 354-361, 384- Societe d'ficonomie Sociale, 355- 356. Souriac, 271, 349, 351. Spain, Social Catholic Movement in, 136. Speculation, laws against, 253, 255, 259- Spuller, 182, 195-107. Sunday holiday, 107, 108, no, 125, 126, 165, 243, 253, 259. Supreme Court, 244, 245, 264, 271- 272. INDEX 473 Switzerland, Social Catholic Movement in, 132-134. Syllabus of Errors, 42. Syndicalism, preface, 4, 334, 36s, 384, 387, 388, Appendix (note 2). Thiers, 45, 46, 49-50, 81. Tocqueville, 31. Trade boards, 218, 240. Trade-unionism, 3, 59, 'jz, 78, 9SH 105, 162-163, 200, 243, 244, 249, 250, 252, 254, 257-258, 309, 334- 335, 360, 367, 368, 369, 374, 391- 392. Turgot, 10, 79, 105. Turmann, 343, 366, 369, 374, 388. Unemployment, 164. Union de la France Chretienne, 169, 170, 171. Unions de Paix Sociale, 355-356. Union of Reviews, 253, 255. Union des Travailleurs Libres, 234- Veuillot, Louis, 17, 30, 34, 36, 40. Villeneuve-Bargemont, 8, 19-24, 52, 318, 392. Villerme, 7. Vogelsang, 130. Volksverein, 321. Voting, compulsory, 263. Wages, 7, 8, 11, 12, 22-23, 26, 28, 75, no, 126, 135, 163, 245, 253, 259, 369. Waldeck-Rousseau, 216-220, 227. Welfare Societies, Union of, 80. Whitley Plan, preface. Women, employment of, 7, 8, 59, 92, 94, 107, 108, no, I2S, 126, 165, 253, 259- Working day, length of, 8, 19-20, 23, 91-92, 94, 96, 108, no, ni, n2, I2S, 135, 151, 164, 218, 244, 253, 259, 395. Workingmen's Clubs, 82-87, 118, 141, 155, 172, 319, 329, 347, 349. Young Men's Catholic Associa- tion, 2n, 347-352. Young Republic, League of the, 381-382. Zamanski, 256, 328, 343, 350-351, 371, 388-38t».