B.C. LUMBER WORKER’ 2nd Issue, Dec “OUR FIRST STEP NOW IS TO RESOLVE NOT TO BE FOOLS" Unprecedented feature of the recent Congress. of the National Safety Council, Chicago, was the direct interest taken in the proceedings by prominent church leaders. An outstanding address delivered before the Labour Confer- ence sessions, was that of the Very Reverend Msgr. George G. Higgins, Director, Social Action Department, National Catholic Welfare Conference. Because of his forthright views on the subject of accident pre- vention, a portion of his speech is reprinted below. A Church Prelate Speaks _ “Most certainly our national accident toll is a serious moral problem. The blood of 90,000 men, women and children killed in ac- cidents each year in this country may not have been spilled delib- erately, but it seems to me that the difference between malice and carelessness is only one of de- gree. Certainly the determination of man’s life or death, except by orderly legal decision, rests with the Infinite and Supreme Being who created man in His own image and likeness. Let us look at man objectively. Of all living organisms, he alone has been endowed with the ability to reason, to reach a decision, and finally to carry out that decision. God Himself has given to man a few simple rules that point the way and manner in which he should conduct himself. In this instance we have a mandate that was set down several thousand centuries ago: “Thou Shalt Not Kill” “Thou shalt not kill!” It is not my intention to engage here in an abstract theological discussion. I prefer rather to ad- dress myself to a practical prob- lem existing in a practical and real society composed of real peo- ple. : Our immediate problem is that 90,000 men, women and children, who are alive today will possibly be dead when your safety congress meets again a year from now. The Commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is, of course, a mandate or law that is accepted by all peo- ples, even the most primitive. Upon it we have built countless legal enactments that promise retribution to the offender. It is, however, negative in that it en- joins man not to take the life of another except in certain limited instances. But’ negative action is not the only duty of man. His duty goes far beyond negation and_lies mainly in the field of positive action. I find it significant in this con- nection that the first question asked by man of his Creator as set forth in our earliest recorded history, dealt directly with the subject matter of this meeting. I refer to that familiar query: “Am | My Brother's Keeper?” | Down through the ages all de- cent men have answered that question with an emphatic “ye In their answer lies the gist of the positive action that is called for if we are to reduce this ap- palling tide of ‘accidental’ blood- letting. The answer does not con- cern itself with statistics, the doubtful science we too often use to record our pride or our indif- ference. What the answer does do is, bring men into their proper relationships. No matter what we do we can- not get away from that relation- ship. Those who seek to deny or to disprove that man is a social being are so few that the rest, of us consider them news items when they appear. For man is in- tended by Nature and Nature’s God to live in society whether that society be highly organized or extremely primitive. That is an inescapable fact. “We Need One Another” This flocking together of hu- man beings is not a blind and aimless tendency. It is a practical proposition that stems from man’s individual capabilities. No two men are exactly alike; no two of them will think precisely alike or perform the same act in precisely the same way. Each of them has ideas and abilities that are peculiarly his own. It is the free merging to- gether of individual ideas and abilities in a given society that results in a majority decision pre- dicated on the general welfare or common good. We need one an- other. There are men, of course, who deny or choose to ignore the right of the individual to exer- cise his natural faculties or ac- ‘AXEDENTS’ dortt just happen to the OTHER GUY / tion. Such men operate out of fear or defiance of the individual’s rights and capabilities. Always underlying dictatorship is crass materialism. Concepts of right and wrong, moral and spiritual values, are rigidly excluded from the formula. Here in America we have forthrightly rejected exclu- sive materialism as a way of life, I have engaged in this ap- parently philosophic digression to emphasize my thesis that as a people, we have the sort of social structure that will serve as a launching platform for a militant program in the field of accident prevention. We need devise no new formula. As an- cient a wise man as King Solo- mon put the method in a few words when he wrote: “A brother helped by a bro- ther is like a strong city; and judgments are like the bars of cities.” (Proverbs 18:19) That was Solomon’s terse way of pointing out to us that solution of our problem lies in organization. The Church Approves If I took the time, I probably could compile a long list of simi- lar pronouncements by religious and moral leaders down through the ages. I will, however, point out to you that the expressed views of more current and mod- ern religious leaders are in agree- ment with Solomon. Within my own Church a number of popes have stressed the importance of organization. Within compara- tively recent years Leo XIII, Pius XI and our present pontiff, Pius XII, have repeatedly stress- ed organization in their addresses and their writings. : The case they make out is that in human society, right reason will flow only from right order, and that right order in turn can stem only from intelligent orga- nization. In other words, an un- organized society will produce only disorder. ‘There can be no deliberation in a mob. That is why Leo XIII, Pius XI and our present pontiff, Pius XII, have urged repeatedly that men must organize themselves into orderly groups, always with the common good as an objective, to’ solve their problems in every field of human activity. Movement Commended I repeat my commendation of the National Safety Council for again reminding the men and women of America that they have a moral and social responsibility to prevent accidents. I also want to commend the Council for its wise action last October in revising its organiza- tional structure to bring labor organizations and organizations of women into its structure. The workers and the housewives of this country probably have a larger stake in accident preven- tion than any of our many so- called population groups. They have the added qualification that they can carry the decisions and suggestions down to what pol cal sloganmakers call the grass roots. All of us know that the safety movement will never at- tain its objective of accident pre- vention until it is operating in the home, in the workplace, in the schools, on the highways and in the community generally. I have up to this point refrain- ed from commenting on specific aspects of safety which are as diversified as our complex range of human activity. Inasmuch, however, as this meeting is spon- sored by the Labor Conference of the Safety Council, I feel call- ed upon to comment on occupa- tional safety. There are many things I could say in that con- nection, but those things have already been better said by a spokesman for the Catholic Church. A Moral Obligation On April 3, 1955, just eighteen months ago, there assembled in Rome the first World Congress on the Prevention of Industrial Accidents. Like nearly all other visitors to Rome, the delegates wanted to see and, if possible, hear Pope Pius XII. They were tremendously impressed when the pope addressed them on the spe- cific purpose of their congress. Pope Pius on that occasion said (in part): “Without losing sight of the part played by technical factors in the prevention of industrial accidents, factors which differ according to the various indus- tries, it was proper to emphasize See Next Page GIT70 KWOWGETIER ... For Peace of The greatest gift that a man, car on injuries due to automobile acci University Medical School research accidents show that door openings chest injuries were cut in half by and safety belts were 60% effective If all cars, new and old, had | half-million persons would escape now being killed would escape with Moore, director of the Cornell sttly Ford Motor Co.—the first to‘, safety features of its new ears—sthir too. Ford-says that 43% of its 1 safety padding. And, Ford adds, c from 14% to 31% of its sales ‘Her safety equipment. ) COOK T ce me US AMY SHOUED I Tete Ht 17 GUY THRO TWO ee The CeeaRe WEED THE SAFETY SIGHS — 17S EVERYEOLYS BUSIMESS TO / y THEY ARE YOUR SIGNS OF bl -/| CORRECT UNSAFE WORK PRACTICES! YR