Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/228

 COMPENSATION

186

COMPETENCY

live; and the poor can procure it in no other way than by work and wages. ' '

Authoritative Cathohc teaching does not go be- yond the ethical minimum, nor declare what is com- pletely just compensation. It admits that full and exact justice will frequently award the worker more than the minimum equivalent of decent living, but it has made no attempt to define precisely this larger justice with regard to any class of wage-earners. And wisely so; for, owing to the many distinct factors of distribution involved, the matter is exceedingly com- plicated and difficult. Chief among these factors are, from the side of the employer, energy expended, risk undergone, and interest on his capital; from the side of the labourer, needs, productivity, efforts, sacrifices, and skill; and from the side of the consumer, fair prices. In any completely just system of compensa- tion and distribution all these elements would be given weight; but in what proportion? Should the man who produces more than his fellow-worker always re- ceive a larger reward, regardless of the effort that he has made? Should skill be more highly compensated than work that is degrading and disagreeable? Even if all men were agreed as to the different factors of dis- tribution and their relative importance, from the side of capital and labour, there would remain the problem of justice to the consumer. For example, ought a part of the benefits arising from improvements in the productive processes to go to him? or should they all be appropriated by the agents of production? Pope Leo XIII showed his practical wisdom when, instead of dealing in detail with this question, he insisted strongly on the practice of arbitration. When wage- disputes are submitted to fair arbitration, all the cri- teria and factors of distribution above enumerated are usually taken into account, and accorded weight in conformity with practical justice. This is not, indeed, the same as ideal justice, but in most cases it will ap- proximate that goal as closely as is feasible in a world that is not absolutely perfect.

Levasseur, Les classes ouvricres en France avant 17S9 (Paris. 1900): Capart, La propriele individuelle et le coUectivisme (Namur, 1898); Brants, Les theories economiques aux xiiie et xiV siedes (Paris, 1S95); Garnier, De Videe du juste prix (Paris, 1900); Ashley, English Economic History (London, 1893); Palgrave, Dictionary of Political Economy (New York, 1891), s. V. Government Regulation oj Industry: Leo XIII, Encyclical, Return Novarum; Vermeersch, Quwsiiones de Justitid (Bruges, 1901); Pottier, De Jure et Justitid (Li^ge, 1900): Meyer et al.. Die soziale Frage, reprinted from the Ktimmen aus Maria-Laach; Kyan, A Living Wage (New York, 1906).

John A. Ryan.

Compensation, Occult. — An extra-legal manner of recovering from loss or damage; the taking, by stealth and on one's private authority, of the value or e<iuivalent of one's goods from a person who refuses to meet the demands of justice.

Considered strictly from the standpoint of commu- tative justice, although this proceeding may have on the surface all the appearance of theft, it is in reality the farthest removed from such. As defined, it im- plies a debtor who is able, but unwilling, to restore what he holds unjustly and a creditor who has an op- portunity to recover possession of what is his own cer- tain due. Since the effect as well as the purpose is solely to make a wrong cease, the transfer brovight about by this method of self-protection is manifestly in keeping with equity and right. Thus occult cnni]icn- sation is based on the right of self-defence. It is clear that such dcaling-out of justice to oneself without the sanction nf public authority may become a cotirse gravely prejudicial to public and social order and open to all manner of abuses and dangers. But the evil is no less real and iiernicious, if, while avoiding this ex- treme, one runs to the opposite, and denies prin- ciples which safeguard natural rights of the individual and protect the weak against the constant danger of oppression from the strong. Catholic niorali.sts steer

clear of these two extremes and teach that it is licit, under certain conditions and with certain precautions, to have recourse to occult compensation.

In Doctor Bouquillon's scholarly article in the "Catholic University Bulletin" (1S96),II, 50-61, it is proved not only that the doctrine is sound and reason- able, but that " it has been accepted by philosophers and jurists, as far, even, as the terminology in which it has been formulated by our theologians; that it has always been substantially the same since the days of St. Irenipus and Clement of Alexandria, though in the course of time it has gained in clearness, and that when writings capable of pernicious influence have appeared they have been carefully weeded out. "

The requisite conditions may be reduced to three. First, the right of the creditor must be certain. Then, respect for law and order demands that the authority of the law should be invoked whenever it is possible and recourse to established justice does not involve difficulties and losses out of all proportion with the gain to be derived. When laws operating through the regular channels fail to protect and are helpless to re- move the evil of injustice, respect for them should not prevent one from taking one's own by extraordinary means. Finally, provision should be made against the event of a later settlement by the debtor or his lawful heirs, which would necessitate restitution; and every reasonable effort should be made to avoid scandal or other evils of accusations, distrust, etc., to which cause may be given through ignorance of the moral value of such methods. When the danger to the community is thus minimized as far as it is humanly possible, legal justice honoured as far as it is entitled to honour, and the necessity of justice and right urgent, it is lawful in conscience, according to our accredited moralists, to avail oneself of the theory of occult compensation. It remains, however, that such cases are rare, that it is still more rarely within the compe- tence of the ordinary individual to decide his own case without the advice of a prudent and disinterested counsellor, and that occult compensation should never be advised save in exceptional circumstances, on ac- count of its potency for havoc in the hands of the ignorant or unscrupulous. But disregard for any or all of these precautions, while offending against legal, does not violate commutative justice, nor entail the duty of restitution, if the essential right is present.

LiGuoRi, Theol. Mor. (Paris, 1845). Lib. IV, 521; De Lugo, Disputat. dejust. et jure (Paris, 1868). 16; ScA^^m, Theol. Mor. Univers., de RestUut. (Paris, 1867); Ballerini, Opus Theol. Mor., De just, et jure (Prato, 1890); Lehmkchl, Theol. Mor. Spec, De virlut. mor. (Freiburg, 1896); Noldin. Summa Theol. Mor., De sept. Decal. Prcec. (Innsbruck, 1906); Genicot, Theol. Mar. In.itilul., De just, et jure (Louvain, 1905); Sabetti-Bar- rett, Theol. Mor., Dejust. et jure (New York. 1906); Konixgs, Theol. Mor., De jure et just. (New York, 1877).

John H. Stapleton.

Competency, Privilege of (Lat. Privilegium Com- pclcntuc). — (1). The competency of a cleric means his right to projier sustenance. When a parochial church has been incorporated with a collegiate institution or monastery and a vicar has been appointed to the cure of souls in the parish, the possessors of the benefice are obliged to give him the needful salary. Nor can the right to this competency be done away with by agree- ment. If a private contract be made by which a less sum is to be accepted, it will not bind the successor of the contracting vicar. Even if the contract be ap- proved by public authority, it is not binding unless an amoiuit sufficient for the proper support of the pastor be stipulated. The right to competency also has place when several simple benefices are imited with a parish chiu-ch. If the endowment is not sufficient for the necessary number of pastors, then recourse is to be had to firstfruits, tithes, and collections among the parishioners (Cotmcil of Trent, Sess. XXIV, c. xiii, de Ref.). It is the duty of the bi.shop to see that those who have the care of souls be provided with