"Until the level of legal minimum
wanes is reached the worker stands in
need of the device of Insurance. The
State should make comprehensive pro
vision for insurance against illness, in
validity, unemployment and old age.
So far as possible the Insurance fund
should be raised by a levy on Industry,
as is now done in the case of accident
compensaOon. The industry In which
a man is employed should provide him
with all that is necessary to meet all
the needs of his entire life. Therefore,
any contribution to the insurance fund
from the general revenues of the State
should be only slight and temporary.
For the same reason no contribution
should be exacted from any worker
who Is not getting a higher wage than j
is required to meet the present needs '
of himself and family. Those who are
below that level can make such a con
tribution only at the expense of their
present welfare. Finally, the adminis
tration of the insurance laws should be
such as to interfere as little as possible
with the individual freedom of - Uie
worker and his family.
A New Spirit a Vital ;:ced.
" 'Society,' said Pope Leo XIII, 'can
be healed in no oflier way than by a
return to Christian life and Christian
institutions." The truth of these words
is more widely pereefVed to-day than
when they were written, more than
twenty-seven years ago. Changes in j
our economic and political systems j
will have only partial and feeble effi- t
ciency if they be not reinforced by the 1
Christian view of work and wealth.
