Question — Merkelbach, Pastoral Questions
Question VI: Concerning Merchants and Soldiers
I. Reason for the question. - Because it is difficult in the business either of trade or of military service to preserve justice and to lead a Christian life, the confessor will give special attention and care to merchants and soldiers.
II. Merchants are especially to be questioned:1
1 Cf. St. Alphonsus, Praxis Conf., n. 59; Theol. Moral., l. III, tr. V, n. 801 sq.; Reuter, Neo-Conf., nn. 157-160.
- Whether they have deceived in weight and measure.
- Whether they have sold things beyond the highest price, unless by reason of emergent damage, ceasing profit, or special affection or need of the thing.
- Whether they have abused the necessity or need of the buyer in order unduly to increase the price.
- Whether they have used frauds in trade.
- Whether they have manifested grave and hidden defects of the thing to be sold, or defects about which they were specially questioned.
- Whether they have not substituted for the thing sold another substantially different thing, or have not sold things mixed with another of lesser quality without diminishing the price.
- Whether they have sold defective merchandise soon to be corrupted; or goods in litigation without warning concerning this.
- Whether they have not sold at the lowest price, but while giving a smaller measure.
- Whether they have not established unjust coalitions or monopolies for excessively increasing the price, or exacting more than the highest price, especially in things of necessity.
- Whether they have not used unjust or fictitious means, or false rumors, to increase or diminish artificially the price of things.
These last points especially have place in great businesses.
In all the aforesaid cases they are bound to restitution, if thereby they have unduly become richer, or if they have voluntarily inflicted unjust damage. Concerning this it will also be said below, c. 2, section B, q. 4.
III. Soldiers are especially to be questioned:
- Concerning blasphemies and undue oaths.
- Concerning omissions in fulfilling the precepts of the Church, especially concerning Sunday Mass neglected, if they were not impeded by reason of military service.
- Concerning quarrels and duels; if these are entered by agreement, excommunication is incurred.
- Concerning lust, and indeed not only concerning pollution, but also and especially concerning fornication, or even concerning stuprum, and sometimes, especially among cavalrymen, concerning sodomy.
- Concerning immodest, depraved amusements or readings.
- Concerning thefts and injustices.
- Concerning damages unjustly inflicted.
This especially holds for time of war. On which occasion it can be asked: whether they have not harmed the innocent, have not seized the goods of private persons or inflicted damage upon them, have not occupied goods without necessity of sustenance or legitimate requisition of the leader, have not destroyed things belonging to another without necessity, etc. For those things which they would unjustly seize or destroy, they would be bound to restitution.