WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT THE SON OF MAN IS? (MATH. XVI.-13.)--PUBLIC
OPINION AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
_What is Public Opinion--Its Power--How is it Formed--Public Opinion
and the Catholic Church--Our Duties to Public Opinion._
Numerous and strong are the influences at play in human life. Acting
and reacting on the free will of man they are ever at work moulding his
character and shaping his destiny. Like the waves of an incoming tide
they are beating the shores of our heart; their triumph is to carry
away our liberty on their receding waters.
Surrounding influences for good or for evil are indeed, to a great
extent, the determining factors of our moral life. Day by day they
write our history and with it the history of the world; for, the life
of every man is but a line on the great page of his nation's history
and the history of a nation, but a chapter in that of humanity.
Of all the influences underlying human activities in the moral, social,
economic, and political world, one of the most universal and most
effective is beyond doubt, nowadays, _Public Opinion_. We may well
name it the "_current_" of Public Opinion. In every sphere of life one
can indeed feel the constant pressure of its tremendous power. Like
the waters of a mill-race constantly and irresistibly the stream of
Public Opinion sweeps on. It is very difficult to determine exactly
where lies its strength; it is nowhere and everywhere. Unconscious of
its swollen powers it spends its energies for the welfare of the
community, or, unfortunately too often, loses itself in an angry
torrent of destruction.
You thwart its onward march: it will bury your barrier under its
laughing waters or . . . sweep it away. You ride with it: it will
gladly carry you. You check it: its troubled waves will rise angry
around you and engulf you.
Such is the "_current_" of Public Opinion. To direct this great power,
to harness its tremendous forces, to convert them into light, heat, and
energy and set the wheels of moral, social, and political life running
with greater smoothness, rapidity, and strength, should be the noble
effort and the great task of every serious-minded man.
By no idle whim or sheer literary piquancy have we coupled _Public
Opinion and the Catholic Church_. The inevitable relations that exist
between Public Opinion and the various predominating factors of a
nation should necessarily interest every true Canadian. Among these
factors the Catholic Church stands pre-eminent. Her beneficial
influences and her ready solutions to the various social and moral
problems that confront the world, cannot, even to the most prejudiced,
be passed unnoticed. So no matter what our spiritual allegiance may
be, the relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church should be of
the greatest interest to any one who has at heart the common welfare.
In Western Canada particularly, where Public Opinion has such a sway,
this subject, we presume, must be of service both to those of the
Catholic Faith and to those of a different persuasion.
* * * * * *
_What is Public Opinion--Its Power--How is it Formed?_
1. _What is Public Opinion_?
Ideas rule the world, but various are the effects ideas have on the
minds of men. On some minds they exercise only a passing influence;
they are then what we call "_Impressions_"; variable as lights and
shadows over a summer lake they come and go. Impressions are indeed
only on the surface of the mind, like foot-prints on the sand washed
away by the next tide.
When ideas take a stronger footing in our intelligence and are accepted
with a certain confidence, on their face-value or on the authority of
some leader, they become "_Opinions_." Loosely entertained and readily
exchanged, opinions are the ordinary mental pabulum of the masses.
Few minds see their ideas crystallized into "_Convictions_."
Convictions are permanent, unchangeable ideas: based on facts and
supported by satisfactory evidence, they rest on the bed-rock of truth.
Few minds indeed, particularly on the larger and fundamental issues,
can claim the right to convictions. For, convictions demand a breadth
of vision and grasp of detail which are given but to few souls. These
minds, few in number, are the minds of leaders. Their noble duty and
great responsibility is to _Awaken_, _Stimulate_, and _Organize_ the
thinking of the people. Their thoughts, their ideas, are on the
unchartered sea of truth as the tossing buoy or lighted beacon from
which the unthinking masses take their course. Rather than go to the
pains of thinking for themselves the crowds leave this task to a few
and content themselves with ready-made opinions, as these float by with
the tide of the hour. Few make up their minds; they are made up for
them.
The common opinion which reflects the mind of the great majority,
embodies the prevailing idea, the universal sentiment, and directs the
common action is called. . . _Public Opinion_.
2. _Power of Public Opinion_.
You readily see, by its very nature, the tremendous power of Public
Opinion. It is the "reason why," the basis of appreciation, the norm
of conduct of the great mass of the people. As we stated before,
Public Opinion is like the stream that drains to its profit the
loitering energies of the individual mind, and makes them tributaries
that swell its volume and compress its course. Who can analyze the
powers of this "_Organized Thinking_" of the people in a democracy?
Who can measure the force of these sweeping currents, of these tidal
waves of Public Opinion?
In fact, Public Opinion may be considered in our modern societies as
the greatest driving power. For, Public Opinion is the vision of the
unthinking multitude, and vision is the first and foremost of
constructive or destructive forces. It lights the way and invites
action accordingly. Marvellous indeed is the sweep of the tide of
Public Opinion in various realms of human activities. Its ebb and
flow--although frequently beyond analysis, are felt on every shore.
In the world of finance,--and this is the lowest in the scale of real
values,--is not that fragile but mighty factor we call credit based on
Public Opinion? For, credit is but the general opinion of the
community on the possibilities of the industry or undertaking in which
its capital is involved, and on the honesty and ability of the
management.
What has weakened the moral fibre of our modern society so much that at
times one wonders if we are living in the Christian era? If the home
is now so often desecrated by theories of free love and trial
marriages, if the cradles are empty, if the very sense of shame is a
thing of the past, if the most elementary principles of morality are
questioned, is it not because the public conscience is being warped,
chloroformed, deadened by a frenzied propaganda of a corrupted Public
Opinion?
Has not the politician and the legislator the ear to the wind, the eye
on the running tides and cross currents of thought, to know and sound
Public Opinion? Like the skilful and watchful pilot, he counts with
the set of the tide and catches it at its crest. He knows the exact
height of the rising tide that will float him and his cargo over the
bar . . . of a coming election--. This tide of public feeling has
carried some to the high seas of success but left many stranded on the
desert shores. Many public men indeed have set out on its angry waters
to brave its fury . . . and have never returned. "In our times of
Democracy when the "competitive" principle has replaced the
"hereditary," not the kings, princes and nobles, but bankers,
merchants, railroad magnates, capitalists, politicians, editors,
educators, writers and artists occupy the high seats, hold the baton
and beat the time for the great social orchestra." (Ross-Social
Psychology.) "Power and influence," said Morley, "no longer reside in
the Crown but in the strong, subtle forces called Public Opinion: and
that Public Opinion is apt to involve fatal contentment with simple
answers to complex questions."
In the great international life of nations Public Opinion also holds
the reins. This power manifests itself particularly at the great
turning points of History, such as we are now witnessing. There is
always then resistance between conflicting forces; and resistance, we
know, strengthens the current. What power was at work for the last
fifty years and marshalled, on that fatal August day of 1914, the
formidable army that swept over Belgium, France and Russia? Public
Opinion created by the military caste in Germany! What secret and
growing force made of the Allies' contemptible army of yesterday the
crushing victorious army of to-day?--The invincible power of Public
Opinion!--It leaped from the very depths of the wounded heart and
outraged conscience of nations, and created in a few months that
unconquerable army of inexhaustible reserves upon which the Allies
relied until their final triumph. It fired the morale of our armies
and smashed the way to victory. For those who could not go to the
battle-field, it kept the homefires burning and fringed with the silver
lining of radiant hope the dark clouds that hung over our horizon for
four long, dragging, weary years.
3. _How Public Opinion is Formed_.
You may ask how are the thoughts of the multitude so marshalled as to
make the unit of Public Opinion. As we already remarked, the thinking
power of the ordinary man does not go _far_, _wide_, nor _deep_. His
facility of absorbing ideas is far greater than his power of valuating
them. He generally accepts as real value any thing that bears the
stamp of current opinion. His belief in the value and weight of number
is without recall; his absolute trust in what Bryce calls "the fatalism
of multitude" is beyond appeal. He lives and thrives on the
_surrounding mental atmosphere_.
How is this atmosphere created? By the continued, persevering
repetition of the same ideas; by the vesting of these same ideas in the
attractive garb of self-interest, passion, fancy and vogue. On this
process, we all know by experience, is based the ever youthful power of
_Advertisement_ . . . and of _Fashion_.
Advertisement! Modern business is built to a great extent on the
mysterious allurement, the attractive invitation and innocent
camouflage of the advertisement that you find sparkling everywhere, on
the flashy poster, in the show-window, in the magazine, in the daily
paper. Without willingness to admit our weakness, we fall victims to
this wizard that we despised yesterday and court to-day, and line up at
the counter . . . for a _Special Sale_, an _Astonishing Bargain_. "We
are so thoroughly accustomed to the exploits of the advertiser that we
take them as a matter of course, rarely pausing to appreciate the art,
or at least, the artfulness with which we have been lured into the
acceptance of his ideas."
_Fashion_! Who can analyze this power so great, so universal? Who can
explain the psychology of this fact? Every spring and fall of the year
Dame Fashion has an opening-ball--Paris plays the tune, New York wields
the baton, the ladies of the world . . . keep time . . . and the
gentlemen pay the piper.
We mention these facts of every day life to illustrate the permeating
and driving force of an idea, when constantly kept before the mind.
And what advertisement and fashion are in the commercial and social
life, _Propaganda_ and _Publicity_ are in the world of thought. The
policy of propaganda is to enlist the active co-operation of every
vehicle of thought for the furtherance of an idea and to keep that idea
ever before the public. One readily sees the tremendous
responsibilities, and understands the flagrant abuses of those called
to create and direct Public Opinion. "The supremacy of ideas," it was
stated, "gives the greatest places of opportunity to those who awaken,
stimulate and organize the thinking of the people and especially the
thinking of a people in a democracy. The teacher's desk, the
preacher's pulpit, the orator's platform, the writer and editor's
sanctum--these are the places of true leadership, the thrones of real
power."
This analysis of Public Opinion, of its power, of its formation will
now make us better understand its relations with the Catholic Church.
_Public Opinion and the Catholic Church_.
Nowadays the relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church is,
generally speaking, one of suspicion, frequently of silent contempt and
very often of open hostility. This statement of fact may appear to
many too sweeping; its broadness may trouble the peaceful faith of
others. Yet, history and every day experience prove the truth of our
assertion. We go further and claim that for the Church this condition
will, and must exist. The Church, like Christ, her Founder and Master,
is to be a "_Sign of Contradiction_." Her very name "Catholic" is a
perennial witness to her sublime and admirable Catholicity, and thereby
an abiding proof of her Divinity. A Church that modifies her tenets
and adjusts her moral standards to accommodate herself to the
conveniences and fancies of the world is not, and cannot be the Church
of Christ. Now, as in the times of the Apostles, the Church "_Is a
Sect that is everywhere spoken against_"--"_If ye were of the world_?"
said the Saviour, "_the world would love his own; but ye are not of
this world, therefore the world hateth you_." Yes, suspicion, contempt
and hostility are the hall-marks of historic Christianity, for they are
the realization of Christ's promises to His Church, the fulfilment of
His prophesies. This fact for a Christian who has eyes to see, and
ears to hear, is particularly noticeable when periodically a tidal wave
of bigotry or open persecution strikes the Catholic Church, lashes
itself into fury, washes the Rock of Peter with ugly foam . . . and
dies away, ashamed of its own powerlessness and unfairness.
Viewing this relation of Public Opinion to the Catholic Church--not as
an evidence of that spiritual conflict, often unconscious but ever
real--but as a fact, a historic reality, some may ask the proof of our
rather bold statement. Even those who are not of our Faith, and yet
always wish to be fair and broad in their dealings with the Catholic
Church, may question it.
The proof is very simple to give. Public Opinion is against the
Catholic Church, because the powers that create and maintain Public
Opinion are against the Catholic Church. Facts here speak for
themselves.
The Press--the Novel--the Periodical Literature--the Cinema--the
Stage--the Public School--the Academy and University Halls--the
Legislative Assemblies . . . are without doubt the high voltage-wires
that receive, carry and distribute the current of Public Opinion. Or
rather, like the wireless stations they gather those invisible and
imponderable waves of thought and feeling that are ever flashing
through the intellectual and moral atmosphere of nations, and translate
their message to the masses. Between these powers and Public Opinion
there is a continuous action and reaction. They are at the same time
the _moulders_ and _mirrors_ of Public Opinion. They are its
_masters_, but with the condition of being first its _servants_.
Of all these creative forces none is greater and more universal than
the _Press_. If Public Opinion is the king and master of the modern
world, the Press is assuredly his faithful and most active Prime
Minister. This chief executive has extended the kingdom of his master
to the very confines of the civilized world. Nothing has contributed
more to the rule of Public Opinion than the Press. With it ideas and
opinions run through the public mind as rapidly as the dispatches that
carry them. "Mental touch is no longer bound up with physical
proximity. With the telegraph to collect and transmit the expressions
and signs of the ruling mood, and the fast mail to hurry to the eager
clutch of waiting thousands the still damp sheets of the morning daily,
remote people are brought as it were into one another's presence."
(Ross-Social Psychology.)
The ordinary man now sees the world through his newspaper. He absorbs
facts and principles with the shades and variations the daily paper
gives them. Reports of events and announcements of policies are
colored to suit the aims and opinions of the editors and proprietors.
Windy platitudes--at least for those who know facts and have studied
principles--become gospel truth for the unthinking mass. Public
Opinion is thus conscripted by an "irresponsible power." This
irresponsibility of the Press is without doubt the greatest menace of
the day. For, the opinions,--we mean to say--the propelling forces of
the silent millions are at its mercy. . . . And these silent millions
make and unmake the world.
This great power of the Press is inimical to the Catholic Church. By
press, you will readily understand, we do not mean any particular
paper, or a certain group of papers, but rather that formidable
ensemble of tremendous financial backing, of world-wide
information-services, of chains of papers that encircle the globe, of
these various agencies that tap the telegraphic wires of every country
and keep the cables hot. The Hearst papers alone reach simultaneously
four or five million readers daily. From New York to San Francisco one
man is leading the minds of these millions "to conclusions that he
wants them to arrive at"--What Hearst is for the United States, Lord
Northcliffe is for England.
This great press is against the Catholic Church. The total suppression
of truths and of facts; the conspiracy of silence--often more dangerous
than an open attack; the coloring of news with shades of thought suited
to a definite purpose; the partial admission of truth and the maimed
relation of facts; the bold assertion of deliberate falsehoods; the
deceptive headlines--and the people live on headlines; the insinuating
title which is often in flagrant contradiction to the dispatch it
underlines:--these are a few of its various strategies of attack. "The
Pope and the War," "Quebec and the War," "The Guelph Novitiate
Incident," are recent instances of what we refer to.
Some may object that the Catholics are of a rather susceptible nature
and always expect "privileges"--No, we only want the privileges of
truth, we mean fair play, equality, and justice.
What we say of the Press can also be said of periodical literature and
modern fiction. "The very nature of periodical literature," says
Cardinal Newman, "broken into small wholes and demanded punctually to
an hour involves the habit of extempore philosophy . . . and that
philosophy, we know is not Christian philosophy. The writers can give
no better guarantee for the philosophical truth of their principles
than their popularity at the moment and their happy conformity in
ethical character to the age which admires them."
Any one who has kept in touch with the stream of modern fiction is well
aware to what extent its waters are polluted and have contaminated the
mind and heart of our present generation. When the world has been
slaking its literary thirst at sources such as H. G. Wells, Galsworthy,
Ibanez--only to mention a few--should we be astonished that public
opinion is drifting to paganism? If theories of "Free Love" and
Divorce are rampant in our society, the responsibility to a great
extent lies with our modern novel. The novels that are written and
read, indicate the mind and morals of a people.
What could we not write of the _Moving-Picture_ and the _Stage_?
Suffice it to state with Rev. R. A. Knox--then an anglican minister,
and now a catholic priest: "When a nation has lost its hold of first
truths and its love for clear issues, which has had its morality sapped
by sentiment, thinks of Christian marriage in the light of the
problem-play . . . the moral fibre of that nation is gone." For, the
vision of life and the interpretation of its pleasures and sorrows,
that come from the glare of the foot-lights, or the dimness of the
Movie-Screen, are surely not that given by the Catholic Church. Over
the screen of the movies and the proscenium of the stage could we not
very often write what the author of the play "Enjoy Life," Max Hermann
Neisse, said lately to a Berlin sensation-seeking audience that was
underlying with frantic applause the unsavory remarks and filthy
inuendos of the closing act: "Pardon me, I did not write this act.--You
dictated it to me."
In pandering to the morbid curiosity and lustful passions of a
pleasure-mad world, the stage, the moving-picture, the novel, the
illustrated weekly are leading Public Opinion to depths before unknown.
The abyss calls to the abyss. Ways of living always follow ways of
thinking. Should we then be astonished that crime-wave after
crime-wave is sweeping the shores of every country.
Existing conditions in our universities, public academies and schools
are not of a nature to conciliate Public Opinion with the Catholic
Church. We know perfectly well that in our seats of higher-learning
the Church is looked upon as an effete Institution, as something of the
past that has kept a certain air of respectability. Her teachings and
her history are there viewed in the light of the "evolution theory."
Who has not read, a few years ago, that terrible indictment against the
antichristian education of the American Universities, as it appeared in
a celebrated article, under the title: "Blasting at the Rock of Ages?"
In our legislative assemblies, here and abroad, do we not find the
educational problem the burning problem for Church and State? Over the
head of the child swords clash, for the child of to-day is the man of
to-morrow. The stand the Catholic Church takes on the educational
problem--from which She never deviates--has always stirred Public
Opinion against her in political and social circles. We have only to
mention "separate schools" to awaken the memories of a long and bitter
struggle.
The same inimical relations dominate the International Order. Rome and
its world-wide moral influence have been deliberately ostracized in the
recent and unhappy attempt to form a League of Nations.
So the tide of Public Opinion sweeps upon tide. Everywhere its heavy
waves break into a foamy froth on the Rock of Peter. We conclude:
_Public Opinion is against the Catholic Church_.
_Our Duties to Public Opinion_.
The antagonism against the Catholic Church is an overt fact. What are
the causes? _A distorted vision_, born of misrepresentation of facts
and misrepresentation of doctrine and practice; the _blind prejudice_
against which our refutation of facts and explanation of principles are
of little avail: _these are the two main causes to which can be traced
this universal opposition_. And indeed no one will tax us with
exaggeration were we to repeat here what Tertullian wrote in his
"Defence of the Church," a hundred years after St. John's death: "_They
think the Catholics to be the cause of every public calamity, of every
national ill_." Have we not in our own country, organizations that
live and thrive only on enmity to the Church of Rome? They cannot meet
without passing resolutions of condemnation of the Church, of the Pope,
of separate schools, etc. We all know how often Public Opinion, in our
country, has been inflamed by prejudiced appeals to racial and
religious feelings. Racial antagonism itself is only a cover for
anti-Catholic fanaticism.
Let us, by clear and sound thinking, by definite and bold expression
_enlighten Public Opinion_. To-day Public Opinion is shifting as the
winds, swinging like a boat with the ebb and flow of the tide. These
are days of loose thought, wild words, catchy phrases, especially in
social and religious matters. Words and phrases are passed off as
ideas, and fragments of an idea as the whole idea. Let ideas always be
clear-cut, with a sharp, definite relief. Hazy notions are of no
constructive value, and always full of danger, particularly in times of
intellectual ferment, such as we are now going through. They are on
the great sea of Truth as the smoke-screens, behind which lurk the
destroyers of error.
Cardinal Newman concludes one of his letters on "The Position of
Catholics"--which bears on the subject of Catholics making themselves
known: "Protestantism is fierce because it does not know you; ignorance
is its strength; error is its life; therefore bring yourselves before
it, press yourselves upon it, force yourselves into notice against its
will. Oblige men to know you. Politicians and philosophers would be
against you, but not the people, if they knew you."
_Create Public Opinion_ by _individual and concerted action_, that is
our next duty. Truth spreads, not like the devastating torrent, but
like the tide. From individual to individual as from pebble to pebble
it slowly creeps in and spreads the silent power of its rising waters.
"No one ever talks freely about anything without contributing
something, let it be ever so little, to the unseen forces which carry
the race on to its final destiny. Even if he does not make a positive
impression he counteracts or modifies some other impression, or sets in
motion some train of ideas in some one else, which helps to change the
face of the world." Godkin "Problems of Modern Democracy." 221-224.
By the continued repetition of truth and the persevering refutation of
falsehood we will help to create around us, in our limited sphere of
action, a sane Public Opinion. But it is above all by the radiance of
our moral life that truth, particularly religious truth, will spread.
Religion, as we know, is of the moral order; its dogmas, precepts and
sacraments reach out into that domain. Paul Bourget, the celebrated
French writer sums up one of his most striking novels in this phrase:
"_At Forty-three_" which he calls the noon hour of life--"_man must
live what he believes or he will eventually believe as he lives_." To
live up to our principles is always the best proof of our belief in
them.
_Concerted action_ will extend the benefits of this individual action
to the creation of Public Opinion in the Community, in Society at
large. As all great powers, Public Opinion is courted; this courtship
is "_Propaganda_." Truth requires propaganda as life needs
transmission. An efficient propaganda takes myriad forms but its
purpose is always the same, i.e., give to others our ideas and through
them organize the public mind. Distribution of literature, lectures,
the press, the novel, the cinema, bureaus of information, active
participation in public life are vital factors of an efficiently
organized propaganda. The recent Northcliffe propaganda, followed by
the Hearst propaganda are typical illustrations of how the public mind
of a Country was swayed from a pro-British to an Anti-English attitude.
_The Direction of Public Opinion_ is the ultimate triumph of
propaganda. This is obtained when our principles pass into the warp
and woof of the social textures which are always in the making on the
great loom of our nation's life. Ideas have their full value when they
are extended to social and political issues. It is only then that they
influence a nation as such. For our lives are knitted with the lives
of others, and their action and reaction upon them form our public
life. "In the formation and guidance of the public opinion which
ultimately determines public action, Catholics bear responsibility and
must take their part." (Cardinal Bourne, at the Catholic Congress of
England, 1920.)
As Catholics we have a contribution to make to the great upbuilding of
our Country. There is in every problem an ethical side, an unchanging
and unchangeable principle, the bedrock on which it rests. This
principle, the Catholic doctrine possesses; we know it, we are sure of
it. Why not then have that aggressiveness of militant Catholics who
take advantage of every opportunity, without being obtrusive? Are we
not too apologetic in our Public life? We would not suggest in the
least to be discourteously aggressive, although at times we are tempted
to do so and seem justified in our retaliation. But there is no reason
why we should apologize for our principles, for the solutions we have
to offer. The sun of Canadian liberty shines also for us and for what
we stand; we have our place under the shade of the "Maple Leaf."
May we add a word for our non-Catholic friends. They also have duties
towards Public Opinion in its relation with the Catholic Church.
_Receptiveness of mind_ is, in our estimation, the first and most
important duty of the non-Catholic. Open-mindedness was named by
Confucius "mental hospitality." It opens the door to truth by allowing
ourselves to be convinced by the strength of argument and the weight of
evidence. This state of receptivity permits the mind to correct its
distorted vision, and to see facts and principles as they really are.
Freedom of mind enables those who possess it to see things in their
true proportions.
_Fair-mindedness_ will overcome prejudice, the great obstacle in
matters of Religion. Prejudice is made of a coarse and impenetrable
fibre, of a close woven texture; it is the product of numerous and
various influences. The ordinary causes of this pre-judgment or mental
torsion are an habitual intellectual outlook resulting from education
and surrounding influences, and a mental laziness which fails to
question its own attitude and to pursue principles to their logical
conclusions, and problems to their solution. This explains how
reluctantly the mind, in religious matters particularly, will accept
views contrary to those with which it has been familiar since early
youth and which time and surroundings have but strengthened. A
straight-forward appeal to _fairmindedness_ is alone able to break down
this barrier.
Duties are in proportion to the responsibilities they entail. Public
Opinion, as we have seen, is a tremendous power but it is the power of
a high explosive which misdirected and ill-used will spread disaster.
Leadership is the spark that ignites the charge, is responsible for its
driving force. In the days of real intellectual leadership the mastery
of ideas prevailed and Public Opinion was considered as the triumph of
an idea. But in our days of so called democratic equality the centre
of gravity of this power has shifted from the leader to the multitude.
De Tocqueville in his book "Democracy in America" [1] has a remarkable
page, illustrating this point. "The nearer the people," he writes,
"are drawn to a common level of an equal and similar condition the less
prone each man becomes to place implicit faith in a certain man or
certain classes of men. But his readiness to believe the multitude
increases and opinion is more than ever the mistress of the world. Not
only is common opinion the only guide which private judgment retains
among democratic people, but amongst such a people it possesses a power
infinitely beyond what it has elsewhere. At periods of equality men
have no faith in one another by reason of their common resemblance; but
this very resemblance gives them almost unbounded confidence in the
judgment of the public; for it would not seem probable, as they are all
endowed with equal means of judging, but that the greater truth should
go with the greater number. The public has therefore among a
democratic people a singular power which aristocratic nations cannot
conceive of; for it does not persuade to certain opinions, but it
impresses them and infuses them in the intellect by a sort of enormous
pressure of the minds of all upon the reason of each."
To this prestige of vast numbers Bryce has given a name. "Out of the
mingled feelings that the multitude will prevail and that the
multitude, because it will prevail, must be right, there grows a
self-distrust, a despondency, a disposition to fall into line, to
acquiesce in the dominant opinion, to submit thought as well as action
to the encompassing powers of numbers."
"This tendency to acquiescence and submission, this sense of
insignificance of individual effort, this belief that the affairs of
men are swayed by large forces whose movements may be studied but
cannot be turned, I have ventured to call it "_The Fatalism of the
Multitude_." It is often confounded with the tyranny of the majority,
but is at the bottom different though, of course, its existence makes
tyranny by the majority easier and more complete. . . . In the
fatalism of the multitude there is neither _legal_ nor _moral_
compulsion; there is merely a loss of _resisting power_, a diminished
sense of personal responsibility of the duty to battle for one's own
opinion, such as has been bred in some people, by the belief of an over
mastering fate." [2]
One can readily grasp the dangers of Public Opinion at the mercy of
blatant agitators and unscrupulous leaders. They have no idea to
promote, but only a feeling to exploit. They flatter Public Opinion to
gain it. They appear to consult it when in reality they are creating
and directing it. They catch the restless and undirecting currents of
popular feeling when they are seeking an outlet and swing them slowly
at first but with a growing impetus in the channels of their own
interest or of the party they represent. The people are deluded into
thinking that they are their own leaders and masters. The feeling of
unrest that now prevails is due to this abuse of Public Opinion. Like
children the leaders of nations have been playing with this wire of
high voltage. Should we be surprised to see the world suffer deadly
shocks from whence it should receive light and power?
We are now at one of the most momentous periods of history. Never
have clear thinking, earnest expression and concerted action been more
needed than now. The world is ringing with wild words and dying from
loose thinking. "The persistent statement of principles and the union
of all true conservative forces are absolutely necessary, if we wish to
bring the nation safe through this agonizing period and make the world
safe for democracy," as President Wilson said.
Therefore we claim that it is for the greatest benefit of the community
at large to have Public Opinion enlightened as to the value of the
Church as a reconstructive factor.
"_Great have been the Problems of War_!" But, with Clemenceau, we also
are realizing--and some countries, with bitter deception and depressing
sorrow, "_That greater still are the Problems of Peace_."
[1] Vol. II., Chap. II.
[2] Bryce--"The American Commonwealth," Vol. II., Chap. 84.