Alcala 1958

The Wh ite Hou se in Wa shin gton had as its tena nt in 1902 the younge stman to hol d the hig hes tof fic e in the Un itedStates. He had been in of fic eless than a yea r and had com e into of fic e bec ause Pre sid ent Mc- Ki nle y had met deat h at the hand of an ass ass in.He had bee n ele cte dvic e-p res ident bec ause part y leaders sou ght to bur y him in that off ice . Theodo reRoo sevelt had stil l to pro ve his power as a leader . Roosev elt fac ed a try ing problem. A coa l stri ke was thr eat eni ng to disru pt the econom y of the na tion. He named a commis sion,the firs t of its kind in the hist ory of the nat ion , to sett le the coal strik e. Th e leadin gmemb er of the commis sion would be the Cat hol ic Bis hop of Peo ria , John Lan cast erSp ald ing . Th e new s wir es car ried the then astound ­ ing ann oun cement to all corner s of the na tion. Som e editors dipped the ir pen s in vit rio l and wrote the ir comments. A few edi tor spra ised the Pre sid ent 'scou rag e, but on ly a very few rec ogn ized the sig nific an ce of the trust giv en and the tribute paid the app oin teeby the appoin ter. The stri ke wa s qu ick ly settl ed by the lea di ng arb itra tor . 11 The lon g list of suc ces sful arb itra tion sman­ ag ed sin ce then by Am eri can Cat holi c pri ests had its inc eption in the suc ces sfu l arb itra tion sof the coa l stri ke of 19 02 by Bis hop Spald ing . Du e to illness brough t on by inc re asing par aly sis, the Bish op of Pe ori ares ign edhi s dio ces andut ies in late 19 08 and was name d Tit ula rArchbi shopof Sc yth opoli s in par ti- bus in jid el ium in 19 09 . He died in 19 16 . St . Pi us X sai d of him in 19 09 :"F ew bis hops hav e had so gre at an inf lue nc eon the lif e of the people, eve n outsid e of re­ lig ion and out side of the Cat holi c den omi­ na tio n, as has Bis hop Sp ald ing ." 12 " C /. Ou tloo k,loc. cit . 12 C /.Curti, op. cit., p. 348. gto t t e e e t f . l y in. ident i . re . elt i l tening y ti . i ion, i , l e. g i i lic i , l ing. i d- ce ent m s ti . n i l nts. w i t's 0 e, only a VNY few re o«nized the ignificance of th tru appoi te t r. i ly u i g i tor. 11 I f l it ation n- ican atholic prie ls C l it ation of the coal trike of 1902 by palding. D t on i rea ing paraly i , the Bi hop of Peoria r igned hi dioce an dutie in late 1908 and wa named Titular Archbi hop of ythopoli in parti- /i elium . died in 1916. . : bi hop have had so ce e - lic i- nation, as ha Bi hop palding.' 1 11 f. tl k, L e . 12 p. cit., p. 348. i

wer e soo n att empti ngto sub ver t the lab or mo vem entto their en ds . Bis hop Sp alding, ever sympat het ic to the cau se of me n wh o work ed, rec ogn ize d the fal se vo ice s att empti ngto mis lead hi s fri end s. Wh ere as ma ny peo ple cho se to ign ore the thre at of Ma rxis m,Bis hop Spa ld­ ing sou gh t to dis cre ditit. 9 Th e Bi sho p use d sou nd eco nomic fac ts to refute head on the Mar xist con tent ion that lab or cre ate d all val ue. He held that ab ilit y wa s the sou rce of valu e and wor th. "Imag inea lump of cla y. Pu t it in the han ds of the un ski lled work er with out ab ilit y —it ma y ha ve its sha pe cha nge d but will its val ue be inc rea sed ?Tru st the same cla y to a ma ste rpott er and it bec omes a bea uti fulut en sil ." 10 Th e Bis hop rea soned that all hon est per­ son s wer e un ited by their work and that act ual improvem entin human rela tion ships came from unde rst andin g the nee d for re­ lig iou s and mor al con duct. He held that opp res sion of the less fort una te and hat red of the succe ssf ul we re cau sed by lack of religi ou sfai th and lack of mor al deve lop­ men t rath er than by eco nomic con dit ion s. He was pro bab ly the firs t Americ an cri tic of Ma rxis m to po int ou t that its doc trin e sti fle d indi vid ua lit y,liberty and free dom. The me chan ica l arra nge me nt of soc iety pro­ pos ed by Mar x cou ld on lywea ken hum ani ty and lead to a drab and ing lori ous futu re, a fut ure dev oid of leader s and ruled by demagog ues .Th e gu ile in the ma ter iali sm adv oca ted by Marx wa s pla in to this gre at man . He off er ed the gre at mor al power of the Chu rch as a rem edy. 9 Jo hn Lanc aster Spa ldi ng, Soci alism and Labor (Ch ica go: McC lurg , 19 02 ). 10 Undo cumente dbut attri bute d to Bishop Spal d­ ing : found in a short tract, withou t date or publi sher' s name , in the Columbia Unive rsity Library. pting t t e t . l i , hetic , ized s pting s. as l i , l - ng sou t dit 9 p ic t i io d . ili y . agine . il e ili y - d reased? r es a tiful iJ."IO - sons were united by their work and t actual improvement in human relation hip rstanding - ligious and moral conduct. He held that i tun te ful f religious faith and lack of moral develop- t er ic ition . ly i an i i doctrine i i uality, . anical arrangement of ociely pro• l l ity iou re, i ue . il iali ted . e l t as edy. J ldinl!:, i go: l , ). IO cu ented t - ; 's , i

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