St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-02-15
ABOUT PUBLIC OPINION.

ABOUT PUBLIC OPINION.
q Usually Fellows Leaders Who Triumph
In the Battle OF Reason.
It is sometimes necessary to have
regard to public opinion, and to rule
ones conduct by the whims, prejudices
or superstition Of the majority, but it is
neither necessary nor right to always
accept what passes for public opinion
- being an infallible guide. 1t should
be questioned at times both as to its au-
thority and its reason, and resisted OF
changed on occasion. Public opinion
sent consensus of the opinions of all
the people learned and unlearned, Writ
uous and vicious. II it didit would be
compromise between extremes, some.
thing inferior to the hest opinion.
Whereas it is in fact in nearly all cases
the opinion Of the wisest leaders. The
reason for this il that public opinion is
generally guided or controlled by the
strongest Of men, though they may not
always he the best. For one who thinks
or reasons out things for himself
there are tens Of thousands
who accept rcady-made Judgments
and adopt them rs their own,
thus forming public opinion upon the
judgment Of their leaders. It is for
this reason that public opinion may
generally, in the absence Of doubt, be
accepted as correct or better than the
individual Judgment OF inferior men.
1t is for this samc reason that it should
be questioned and resisted by thinking
and conscientious people when they be-
lieve it to be wrong, for in that way it
may be changed and made right. Con-
sidering public opinion in this light as
the opinion Of leaders Of thought
adopted and followed by the masses. it
is cObviOus that on some subjects
notably literature, the drama, and tho
fine arts-it must be to some extent
Gckle and changeable, following first
one set of leaders and then another, but
in general way directed Alright. This
quality of public opinion, being misin-
terpreted, has led some writers TO treat
it with ilcss respect than it deserves.
William Hazlitt rails at the public in
one. of his essays, as he says himself,
lin good set terms" He says the pub
lie lis SO in awe Of itsown opinion thatit
never dares to form any, but catches up
the first idle rumOr, lest it should be be-
hind-hand In its Judgment, and echoes
IL till it is deafeneA with
the sound Of its own voice. The
idea of what the public will think
prevents the public from ever thinking
at all. and acts IS . spell on the exer-
cise Of private Judgment. 50 that in
short the public ear is at the mercy Of
the first impudent pretender who
chooses to fill it with noisy assertions
Of false surmises Of secret whispers"
1t is true that the public does not think,
but it is mistake to assume that the
leaders of public opinion are necessarily
''impudent pretendcrs" The contrary
is in fact the case. There are enough
Of independent thinkers to assist the pre-
tenders who occasionally get the public
ear. and it is these who really guide the
public. Hazlits continues: so far,
then, is public opinion from resting ON .
broad and solid basis Is the aggregate
of thought and feeling in community,
that il is slight and shallow and varia-
BILE to the last degree-the bubble of tho
moment, SO that we may safely say tho
public is the dupe of public opinion, not
its parent The publicis pusilianimous
and cowardly, because it Is weak. II
knows itself to be . great Ounce, and
that it has NO opinions but upon sugges-
tion. Yet it is unwilling to appear in
strings, and would have il
thought that its decisions are - wise -
they are weighty." The mistake of this
whole thought lies in its failure to
appreciate the fact that rs the public
has mo opinion but upon suggestion"
it must get suggestion and opinions
from thinkers who are constantly con.
tending with each other for supremacy
in the control of public thought Ne
guide can lead the public very far wrong.
for there are other guides present to
correct his errors. Public opinion fol-
lows the leaders who triumph in . bat
tie Of reason 1t is tickle and cratic
only as to indeterminate or undermined
questions of taste and Judgment, and
while the debate is going on. 1t is not
and can not be . fixed and unalterablo
decree as to questions that have beea in !
dispute since man entered the world. II
is obvious from this view of public opin-
ion that thinking people should not re-
ject it in . spirit of Hszlitt nor should
they accept it without question. but
should take part in correcting it when
ever they conceive it to be wrong
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