General dependence upon a State dole is indeed a hateful thing. But once a proletariat has been created—a people without economic status based upon property —a State dole in times of unemployment may be the only way of giving men that minimum of bargaining power without which they become the victim of force and injustice in every wage-contract.
The Pope of the day was using phrases like these about the wage-contract fortyfive years ago. America is catching up. Making all allowance for the many currents of opinion that must go to make up a score of million votes the election can fairly be claimed as a victory for moral principle on this and other issues against the immorality of laisser faire.
And it is only just to Fr. Coughlin in the hour of his humiliation to credit him with a substantial share in this victory. He lost his head when it came to a choice of candidates, and was doubtless mistaken in some economic technicalities, but he had made the nation think of specific economic questions in terms of morality as no teacher had done since the anti-slavery campaign. The dignity of his " fade-out " is complementary to the sincerity of his broadcasting.