705. Why does not the earth always produce enough to provide mankind with the necessaries of life?
         "It is because man ungratefully neglects that excellent nursing-mother! Moreover, he often accuses nature of what is the result of his own unskilfulness or want of forethought. The earth would always produce the necessaries of life, if men could content them-selves therewith. If it does not suffice for all his wants, it is because men employ, in superfluities, what should be devoted to the supply of necessaries. Look at the Arab in the desert; he always finds enough to live upon, because he does not create for himself factitious needs; but when half the products of the earth are wasted in satisfying fanciful desires, ought man to be astonished if he afterwards runs short, and has he any reason to complain if he finds himself un-provided for when a famine occurs? I repeat it; nature is not improvident, but man does not know how to regulate his use of her gifts."

         706. By the term 'fruits of the earth,' should we understand merely the products of the soil?
         "The soil is the original source of all other productions, which are, in reality, only a transformation of the products of the soil; for that reason, by 'fruits of the earth' are to be understood everything enjoyed by man in his corporeal life."

         707. There are always persons who lack the means of existence, even in the midst of abundance. Who is to blame for this?
         "In some cases, the selfishness which too often prevents men from being just to others; in other cases and, most often, themselves. Christ has said, 'Seek, and ye shall find;' but these words do not imply that you have only to cast your eyes on the ground in order to find all that you may desire, but rather that you must seek for what you want, and not indolently, but with ardour and perseverance, and without allowing yourselves to be discouraged by obstacles that are often only a means of putting your constancy, patience, and firmness to the proof."
         If civilisation multiplies our needs, it also multiplies our resources and our means of existence. But it must be admitted that, in this respect. much still remains to be done; for civilisation will only have accomplished its task when it shall no longer be possible for any human being to lack the necessaries of life, unless through his own fault. Unfortunately, too, many persons choose a path for which nature has not fitted them, and in which they necessarily fail of success. There is room in the sunshine for every one; but on condition that each takes his own place, and not that of another. Nature cannot justly be held responsible for the results of defective social organisation, nor for those of personal selfishness and ambition.
         There would, however, be blindness in denying the progress which has already been accomplished in this direction among the nations which are most advanced. Thanks to the efforts of philanthropy and of science for the amelioration of the material condition of mankind, and notwithstanding the constant increase of the population of the globe, the effects of insufficient production are considerably attenuated, so that the most unfavourable years are far less calamitous than formerly. Hygiene, unknown to our forefathers, yet so essential a condition of public and individual health, is the object of constant and enlightened solicitude: asylums are provided for the unfortunate and the suffering: and every new discovery of science is made to contribute its quota to the general weal. Far as we still are from having attained to the perfection of social arrangements, what is already accomplished gives the measure of what may be done with the aid of perseverance, if men are reasonable enough to seek after solid and practical improvements, instead of wasting their energies on utopian projects that put them back instead of helping them forward.

         708. Are there not social positions in which the will is powerless to obtain the means of existence, and in which the privation of the barest necessaries of life is a consequence of the force of circumstances?
         "Yes; but such a position is a trial which, however severe, the party who is subjected to it knew, in the spirit-state that he would have to undergo. His merit will result from his submission to the will of God, if his intelligence does not furnish him with the means of freeing himself from his troubles. If death supervenes, he should meet it without a murmur, remembering that the hour of his deliverance is approaching, and that any yielding to despair at the last moment may cause him to lose the fruit of his previous resignation."

         709. In critical situations men have been reduced to devour their fellow--men, as the only means of saving themselves from starvation. Have they, in so doing, committed a crime' and if so, is their crime lessened by the fact that it has been committed under the excitement of the instinct of self-preservation?
         "I have already answered this question in saying that all the trials of life should be submitted to with courage and abnegation. In the cases you refer to there is both homicide and crime against nature; a double culpability that will receive double punishment."

         710. In worlds in which the corporeal organisation of living beings is of a purer nature than in the earth, do these need food?
         "Yes; but their food is in keeping with their nature. Their aliments would not be substantial enough for your gross stomachs and, on the other hand, those beings could not digest your heavier food."

         711. Have all men a right to the usufruct of the products of the earth?
         "That right is a consequence of the necessity of living. God cannot have imposed a duty without having given the means of discharging it."