Changes

(4) restriction of the power of capital, and the removal of evils arising from usury and over-speculation.

(4) restriction of the power of capital, and the removal of evils arising from usury and over-speculation.

At the conferences of German Roman Catholic societies at Breslau, in 1872; Aachen, 1873; Mainz, 1874; Schlesien, 1877, and especially at Dusseldorf in 1883 and Trier in 1887, the social question was very prominent. Gradually two wings have developed: one tending to individualistic methods of reform and "self-help," etc.; the other calling for State action and much of the socialist program. At Trier and Dusseldorf especially the latter wing showed itself in the majority. The rapid growth of the Social Democratic Party in Germany has, however, made it very difficult for the Catholic Socialists to maintain their hold on the working man. Nevertheless in 1882 they had no representatives in the Reichstag, and in 1891 they counted 820 unions with 75,000 members.  

At the conferences of German Roman Catholic societies at Breslau, in 1872; Aachen, 1873; Mainz, 1874; Schlesien, 1877, and especially at Düsseldorf in 1883 and Trier in 1887, the social question was very prominent. Gradually two wings have developed: one tending to individualistic methods of reform and "self-help," etc.; the other calling for State action and much of the socialist program. At Trier and Düsseldorf especially the latter wing showed itself in the majority. The rapid growth of the Social Democratic Party in Germany has, however, made it very difficult for the Catholic Socialists to maintain their hold on the working man. Nevertheless, in 1882 they had no representatives in the Reichstag, and in 1891 they counted 820 unions with 75,000 members.  

In fact, the main strength of Catholic Socialism lies in this widely spread system of organization. In places the number of associations of operatives under Church auspices surpasses the aggregate amount of all other similar associations taken together. There are Catholic associations of masters and apprentices, of factory laborers, miners, and vintners; there are "Patriotic Bavarian" and Westphalian unions of peasant proprietors, and a number of other societies of men and women in every direction, exercising a powerful influence under strict clerical supervision, the result of which is that in purely Catholic regions for any efforts of social reform to be successful, it is essential in the first instance to secure the Catholic ecclesiastics as auxiliaries in any such undertaking.  

In fact, the main strength of Catholic Socialism lies in this widely spread system of organization. In places the number of associations of operatives under Church auspices surpasses the aggregate amount of all other similar associations taken together. There are Catholic associations of masters and apprentices, of factory laborers, miners, and vintners; there are "Patriotic Bavarian" and Westphalian unions of peasant proprietors, and a number of other societies of men and women in every direction, exercising a powerful influence under strict clerical supervision, the result of which is that in purely Catholic regions for any efforts of social reform to be successful, it is essential in the first instance to secure the Catholic ecclesiastics as auxiliaries in any such undertaking.