New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-23

and thelr dislike TO humbug hypocrisy and what tney
but has made them wrong In tho eyes of tho Old world
their real moral sonsiuvcness Accustomed 10 re
constant p service rendered to virtue not intenncu
10 be practsed. Europeans naturally assume that
things are IN the United states several shah,s usfhsr
than they are painted and interpret frankness as
eynIcsm. Wcre american politics Judged by the
actual and not the conventional standard OF Lnssno
and the merits OF the people would be less strlhhs
In no country, he declares is public opinion
so powerful as in the United States; in no coun-
try can it be so well studied. The American
press seems to him to serve the expression and
subserve the formation Of public opinion more
fully than does the press OF any part OF the
European continent and not less fully than that
NJ England Among the national characteristics
moulding public opinion he finds good-nature'
kindness humor, hopefulness, an unbounded
faith in the people and in democratic system OF
government, q higher average of knowledge than
in any other country, high moral and religious
average Setting aside the rabble OF a lew great
cities and the negroes of the South, the average
of temperance chastity, truthfuiness and general
problty is higher than in any OF the great nations
If Europe. Religion apart, he thinks the Ameri-
cans an unreverential people, by which he does
not mean that they are irreverent, or have not
great capacity for hero worship lie found
the people really too busy to think much about
politics lie found want of serious ana sus-
tanned thinking, which, he admits, belongs to
the average man everywhere He found them
unsettled, frequently migrating, yet as
socative and sympathetic he found them
chanreful. not tickle, but emotional, and yet con-
servative Public opinion is not governed oy
classes in the European sense. There is no gen.
eral opposition of upper and lower classes iheio
is no one class or set of men whose special
and toan oniDtOn
politicians certainly do not. Public opinion
leads them, Still less is there any governing
class 1.-The Nation is not an aggregate of classes
They exist within it, but they do not make IL
IN. You are not struck by their political sig
niGcance as you would be in any European coun-
try. The people is one people, although 1t occu-
pies n wider territory than any other Natlon'
and is composed OF elements from many quar-
ters'
Professor Bryce doubts the correctness of De
Tocquevilles account of the tyranny OF the ma
ioritv in this country, even at the time it was
written. lie is inclined to suspect thai the rencii
writer. struck by the enormous power OF general
opinion, may have attributed too much oil tne
snbmissiveness which he observed to the active
coercion of tie MAJ ority, and too htte 10 ln0
tendency of the minority to acquiesce, which FRO
American life. In no other country he says
does the beaten minority take defeat so wen.
lie does not find such II tyranny either in Fed
eral or State legislation, or in the action oil pup
lie opinlon and sentiment outside of the sphere
Of law" II social persecution exists IN inc
America of today" he says, it is only in few
dark corners" No one is made to suffer Tor hold
ing aloof from the churches as he auliiUS on'
oliSh vii
To bovcott a man for his politics. or even 70
discolrage his shop in the way not uncommon a, ~
some parts of rural England and Irelahu Noult onoo
ind gnaon in America as me err1s reistjng strikes
have reused strong dsplcasurc 1ahlhE uo ,'horv
all in ALL It IS hard 10 imagine more oonpic' m orcs
rhau individuals or groups enjoy elmer 10 eAp p
or propagate their Views or to ac as thev ss
within the limits Of the law limits WHICH, az wIdsiy
regards the sale OF intoXlcahts' arc uia" "
as IN Western Europe
The principal weakness he finds IN govern
ment by public opinion, as we have IL IN thi'
country, is that there seems to be no machinery
available for its expression. The result is thao
vital decisions have usually hung fire longer
than they would have been likely TO 90 i'll
European countries. There is also long-sui-
fering tolerance toward Incompetence ana ms
conduct which strikes European observers. buC
public opinion, as it need hardly be said, sue
cceds in many respects. Too much Stress ITO
lessor Bryce says, cannotbc laid on the TACT tnaC
- the strong point Of the American system, the
dominant fact of the situation, IS the health
fitness of public opinion, and the control when
il exerts. No serious evils, no ranking sore IN
the body polite, can remain long concealed, and
when disclosed it is half destroyed" lie mas
a great capacity Of hero-worship among the Ameri-
cans. in spite Of the supposed levellng ten
denotes of democracy:
doubt If there be any country where really
brilliant man. confident OF ms own oni,I'y 10 ibs
gift OF popular eloquence would nnt an saes ean
over the minds and emotions of the multitude
No passage of the work is more interesting
than that in which the author discusses the
supposed faults of democracy with view oil
discovering whether they exist TO any marked
extent in the United States; and the faults
which lie believes do in reality exist. Under
the first head he renders verdict OF acqult'ai
on almost every count lie does not find weak
ness and want Of prompttude nor ncKleness
and instability, nor INSTRUMENTATION and contempt
for authority, Characteristic of the American
people lie has even something to say IN favor
Of lynch law under certain circumstances.
Spanking Of the familiar bugDcar of military
deenotism he SAYS: Cacsarsm is the last danger
likely 10 menace America. In no nation Is
civil order more stable. None is more averse
to the military spirit. No political system would
offer a greater resistance TO an attempt to
create standing army or centralize the admin
istration.7 He finds that instead of being jealous
Of greatness, intellectual eminence eXcites more
admiration among the Americans than in Europe.
They have no passion for destroying old insu-
tutions. but are, OH the contrary, tenacious IN
their conservatism, and the danger that they
NAV be miscd BY dcmagOgues does not seem
10 him at all important Passing TO the true
faults of American democracy, the author sums
them up as follows:
What arc the consequences which we may expect 10
fellow from these characteristics Of democracy, ana
these conditions urdcr which Il Is forced u wOrki
Firstly a certain commences OF MIND ara tonc
4 want of dignity and elevation IN and ABOUT inc
conduct public alters, nsenSiblhty 10 the nopier
aspects and finer res pons bilties Of National Ire.
Secondly, certain apathy among the Itxu1ous
classes and lstiliOls minds who find themscNe5 OF