The programme of " Christian Social Order " affirms:
CHRISTIANINN: That the greatest need of the world to-day is a return to the spirit, the teachings, and the principles of Christianity. This applies as much to our own country as to any. Therefore it is the duty, HS it should be the privilege, of every Christian to apply Christian principles to his own problems, and to work insistently for their general application to the problems of the community and of the nation.
NATURAL RIGHTS: That for thc sake of his physical good but essentially of his spiritual welfare, every man has the natural right to sufficient to enable him to lead a decent Christian life. That is, enough to provide loud, clothing, shelter, and recreation, as well as a reasonable and prudent provision against sickness, accident, unemployment, and old age. In the case of a married man this provision must also apply to his family.
WORK: That work, whether mental or manual, ought to be the fertile expression of a man's creative spirit, and a development of his personality. It should be regarded not only as the social duty of every man who is not incapacitated but as his willing contribution to the common well-being. The State should aim at a Social Order in which every man will be provided with the opportunity of fulfilling this duty.
INDUSTRY: That industry is the concern mainly of three sections of the COMmunity—the employer, the employee, and the consumer. Therefore industry should function on a basis of co-operation between these three such as will secure the best results for all and will prevent any one section of the community from profiting unduly or profiting at the expense of or to the harm of another.
GUILDS: That to this end each industry should form its own National Guild, instituting where necessary regional federations which in their turn would represent local groups. These National Guilds should regulate the industry with a view to the common good, thus protecting the interests of all while penalising none; avoiding the evils of both overand under-production; defining hours and conditions of work ; ensuring that wages, prices, and profits conform to the requirements of justice. Every Guild would thus be representative of the three sections—Consumer, Employee, and Employer—which go to make up the bulk of the community. Their enactments should be accorded appropriate legal status.
PRIVATE PROPERTY: That every man has a natural right to some private property. But the accumulation of great wealth, as well as the means of producing it, in few hands, is contrary to the interests of the community since it precludes the equitable distribution of wealth which justice and the common good require: for oraldistribution is invariably accompanied by unemployment, poverty, and hardship amongst large numbers of people.
DISTRIBUTION OF' WEALTH: That economic legislation should therefore aim at the wider distribution of property, and every effort should be made to raise the ostwatnuesrshoifp.the working man, particularly by providing him with opportunities of (8) UNFAIR COMPETITION: That the present unjust conditions—whereby on the one hand the small private trader is in process of being crushed out of existence by unnatural monopoly and " Big Business," and, on the other hand, exploited labour is pitted against labour which enjoys proper pay, conditions of work, and hours— should be the. subject of drastic reforms aiming at economic and social justice in commerce, trade, and industry generally.
AGRICULTURAL POLICY: That agricultural policy should restore the social and economic balance between town and country, and, by placing agriculture on a basis that will yield a fair profit to the farmer, should enable men to go back to the land, encourage the revival of family farming, and remove much of the country's present dangerous dependance on overseas sources for essential foods.
(10) MONEY AND CREDIT: Thai money being merely a means to an end and not an end in itself, should be the servant of the community. Therefore the creation and issue of money and the issue of credit must be controlled by the State for the common good.
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(I1) THE FAMILY: That the family is the natural primary unit of society. The preservation of the family and of family life should therefore be the primary concern of the State. The husband is the natural head and responsible provider for and protector of the family. The natural place for the wife is the home. Hence industrial employment should normally be given to the man in preference to the woman. There must be insistence on the principle of the Family Wage, Equal Pay for Equal Work; protection of women and children against exploitation; the speedy and total abolition of slums, and the encouragement, of larger families by the provision on reasonable terms of adequate housing; and the application of the principle laid down in Clause 2 (Natural Rights).
(12) THE STATE: That the State exists for the common good, which it serves by preserving order and protecting its citizens from danger from within or without. It maintains liberty by encouraging initiative within the limits required by the common weal and the natural rights of men.
(13) STATE INTERVENTION: That the State alone has the power, and therefore has the duty, of initiating the many much-needed reforms in the social and economic life of the nation; but such intervention on the part of the State should be in the nature of providing opportunity; it should be supplementary to private initiative and not destructive of individual liberty.
(14) THE CHURCH: The Church exists for the salvation of souls, working through the consciences of men. It has no direct concern with economic activity but is concerned indirectly because unjust economic conditions affect the spiritual welfare of men. The Church therefore teaches and urges the acceptance of moral principles and a Christian spirit in all the affairs of men, and claims the co-operation of all in this task. Especially does the Church expect the co-operation of the State in preserving public morality and religious freedom.
(15) A CHRISTIAN ORDER: A Christian Social Order, whatever its political form, is characterised by respect for the moral law and the dignity of human personality; by its defence of the sanctity of family life, by the acceptance of Christian principles and virtues in every sphere of activity, and by universal reverence for God and religion. It follows, therefore:—
(16) THE CHRISTIAN STATE: That the Christian State has not merely the right but the duty of safeguarding its institutions against subversive elements. Hence, in the Christian State, education, the press, the radio, the cinema, the stage, and all cultural or political movements, must conform to Christian standards.
(17) THE CHRISTIAN NATION: A Christian nation acknowledges the Universal Fatherhood of God and its obligations to the teaching of His Only Son our Divine Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ. The full acceptance of this protestation of faith, with a complete readiness to adhere to all its implications, is the first essential of a Christian Social Order. On this there can be no compromise. Without it, no social order will be fully Christian, and thc measure of its ultimate and inevitable collapse will be in proportion to its failure to accept and apply this teaching,