48 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
government to which it appertains, or is no more than an equita- ble indemnity for the expenses and losses incurred by the victor in a just cause.
The principle of the solidarity of the human race demands that so far as possible all nations should live together in unity, and settle their disputes by arbitration rather than by force. An international court of arbitration is, therefore, eminently desir- able, and there are many reasons why such a court should be closely connected with the apostolic see of Rome, which is the only intrinsically international and cosmopolitan institution on earth, which did in fact perform that very function for several cen- turies, and which is today the supreme court of the world in matters of faith, morals, and worship.
For a thorough understanding of the Catholic position it is necessary to realize clearly that the Catholic church, so far as it is a voluntary factor in social questions, does not stand for the existing order of things. On the contrary, as we have already several times intimated, it agrees with all forms of socialism in protesting against the existing order as unnatural and unjust. In many matters of detail Catholics and socialists can and do agree, as is illustrated by the frequent alliance of the Center and Socialist parties in the German Reichstag, and still more for- cibly by the proceedings of the International Congress for the Protection of Labor, which met at Ziirich, in Switzerland, in August (23-28), 1897. The project received beforehand the papal approbation, and the Swiss Catholic leader Decurtins was its chief promoter, and one of its three presidents. While the socialists had a majority in the congress of Zurich, there was a large Catholic minority, representing the Catholic work- ingmen of Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Italy, and including many priests among its members. The Catholic and socialist delegates found themselves in agree- ment on a number of the questions which were discussed. While the cooperation was more marked in the congress of Zurich, a number of other congresses have taken place, before and since, in which representative Catholics have collaborated with a more
