X. On Guards, Merchants, and Artisans

What are the obligations of guards, merchants, and artisans? - Guards are those who are set over the custody of woods, fields, etc., by the Prince or by a private master. Merchants are all those who exercise commerce by buying and selling goods. Artisans, moreover, are all those who give their labor to some mechanical art for a received stipend. Guards, besides the sin which they commit against religion by guarding negligently, if they have taken an oath, also sin against commutative justice toward those damaged, and in defect of the damagers are held for damages culpably not impeded. Probably, however, they are held only by reason of the damage, not by reason of the fine. L. 237; H. A. 73; Lugo d. 37, n. 99 ff. Merchants are unjust by buying and selling goods at an unjust price, by not manifesting hidden defects of things, by mixing new and old things together and selling both at the same price, by not observing the conditions of contracts, etc.; in which cases they are held to restitution, according to the things said under the seventh precept of the Decalogue. Artisans are unjust by hiring out their labors at an unjust price, by not manifesting defects of works, by wasting time through culpable negligence, by not observing the conditions of contracts, by turning other workers away from labor, with damage to the association and to masters, by turning other workers away from labor and taking away from them the freedom of working, by turning other workers away from labor with force and violence applied against them and against masters, by turning other workers away from labor when they are content with a smaller stipend. "This kind of cessation (from labor) harms not only the employers and the workers themselves, but it hurts commerce and the interests of the republic; and since it is not far from violence and disturbances, it very often brings public tranquility into danger." Leo XIII, Encyclical de Condit. opific. In these cases they themselves also are held to restitution according to the things said under the seventh precept of the Decalogue. E. M.

Manual labor is useful for removing idleness, for subduing the body, for seeking sustenance. It is under precept when by it someone must come to the aid of the neighbor's necessity or his own. S. Th. Quodl. 7, a. 17.