BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-04-10
SAN JUAN, APRIL 10
Public Opinion.

Public Opinion.
1t would be extremely edifying to
know by what credentials any one is
authorized to give voice to the opinion
of the American public. The public
hears its opinions quoted a good deal
The public learns much about public
taste, public manners, public morals
in most public way. The public
politely listens to every invidious crit
lei of itself and often feels hyper
sensitive about its own wants after
they have been described. Indeed, the
plblic has never wanted friends candid
enough to scold, cajole and pity it.
Never was an offspring more hopeless
IL unweaned than the public, and no
child was ever more untiringly quoted
by It's mother. But who is the nurse
or guardian angel that hovers around
the cradle of the public and makes its
thought audible to itself?
: There is the very serious difficulty,
to begin with, in kn owing just who the
public and especially the American
public lis. Thomas Hobbes made one
Of the earliest attempts at descrip-
ton of the public when he called it
"a moral goi." Lord Beacons-
field said in one of his novels :
".God made man in his own image
but the public is made by ne gspap ? RS,
members of parliament, excise officers
and poor-law guardians " The peo-
pie !" exclaimed Alexander Hamilton.
: Your people is great beast !" Sen
ator Hoar once said that the public is
: a moral being, having character like
person. Now it might be relatively
easy to apprehend the opinion of SO
compact a public as the English public
and quote such an opinion. Public
opinion in or own country, no Eever,
is so manytongued, has reached such
greatne IS in volume and liberty in
scope that it is certainly unique
phenomenon. Not only do more people
have their say in this country than in
any other, but more people have their
say about more things. Brother
Jonathan has been in danger oflosing
his character in the largeness of his
speech.
Who can presume to speak for the
American pubiic-to define its manifest
duty and foretell its destiny, to describe
its ideals and express its feelings? Pc
litica1 elections, for instance, express in
very inadequate way the opinion of
the public It happens often that a
president is cho ,en by a minority of the
popular vote. Indeed, a majority vote
IS the expression of the opinion of only
somewhat more than half of the people.
Elections are usually the result of
combination of issues and are inhuenc-
ed by incidental or local questions or
by appeals that strike the public imagi-
natiol. With the swing of the political
pc ldalum the subsequent election may
be a mere reaction determined by posi-
tive disapproval of the men in Office or
by WEAKNESS with them. What success
ful candidate would be willing to place
his hand on his heart and say that his
election voiced "ex cathedra' the opin-
ion of the American public
The newspaper is a reader medium
for the expression of American public
opinion than political elections. When
Prince Henry was departing for Amer
ica the Emperor said to him Cultivate
the American newspapers. for they
exercise in America tn ; power that my
generals hold here" But the American
newspaper does not pretend to speak
for more than its own constituency,
and the press as whole is divided
over many economic policies. When any
truly moral inssue is at stake the pr .Ss
may be said to be almost unanimous
expression of the opinion of the public.
But rarely are moral issues cut 3ff from
economic Influences
It is not, how-ver, on the whole to
be lamented that the American public
has never yet found any one strong
enough to speak for it. Such a person
would be a most obnoxious and unre
liable individual. A tyrant can speak
for his slaves, as Emerson said Napo-
leon spoke for his subjects On the
other hand, representative of the
people might automatically record and
execute every passing public fancy, as
Tyre responds to every breeze and
gives it back in some artistic form. A
nation could never be in greater dan
gel than when its supposed leader is a
mere reflector of public opinion. The
executive Of this nation is not simply a |
depository Of public opinion; and one Of
the checks that makes conservative gov
eminent possible is the fact that politi-
cal representatives act as indivi-
duals. The voice of the people might |
indeed prove to be the voice of God if 1
any one were wise enon0h to discern