SINS THAT CRY TO HEAVEN 89 



only because he had a wicked intention, but "because he 

 did a detestable thing." 4 



c) Oppression of the Poor, especially of 

 widows and orphans, is a dastardly crime be- 

 cause it violates the natural law and runs counter 

 to a sentiment deeply ingrained in the human 

 heart. This crime is committed in various ways, 

 by dishonestly administering an estate, by fraud 

 in drawing up a man's last will, by unjust ap- 

 propriation of that which belongs to the poor, by 

 the employment of trickery in lawsuits, bribing 

 judges and other officials, etc. 5 



d) To Defraud a Laborer of His Just 

 Wage is a crime against the fundamental right 

 of private property. It is the sin of oppression 

 of the poor in an aggravated form, for it injures 

 those who are compelled to make a living in 

 the sweat of their brow. This sin is perhaps 

 more often committed indirectly than directly, 

 e. g., by carelessly incurring bankruptcy, by re- 

 ducing wages without necessity, by cooperating 

 in the establishment of monopolies or trusts, by 

 adulterating food or raising its price without ne- 



4 Gen. XXXVIII, 7 sqq.; I affluens in tantatn eruperat super- 



Paralip. II, 3. biam, ut manuin egeno et pauperi 



C Is. X, 1-2; Matth. XXIII, 15; Lazaro non porngeret, et stc oblitus 



Mark XII, 40. — Cfr. St. Jerome, sit conditionis suae, ut ne hoc qui- 



In Ezech., V, c. 16: "Dives ille in dem misero daret, quod proiicien- 



evangelio purpuratus (Luc. XVI, dum erat." (Migne, P. L„ XXV, 



19) nihil aliud refertur habuisse 154). 

 critninis nisi quod opibus et divitiis 



