The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-09-26

n develop II.
The two things to be chiefly on our
guard against in politics are dogmas
and Illusions. Though u system Of
politics may be constructed out of
these, yet they do not really help to
the understanding OF the relations Of
political life. Alert criticism and
healthy scepticism are what Is
needed. Mistrust. not faith in shib-
boleths, Is the prime necessity of po-
litical life. The realities in which pol
itics deals are everywhere and at al
times yelled. There is the diplomacy
of home as well as OF foreign politics.
II may be fairly easy to form an opin-
ion about actual problems such AS uni
versal manhood suffrage, national de-
fence, m suffrage, the peace
movement, hut it Is difficult to plumb
to the depths of the problems AMI
adopt "A firm standpoint. The object
of Mr.. C~hristiansen's book is To give
n lead to those who are trying TO COM
tract a habit of Independent thought
in relation to political problems, and 1t
may fairly he said that Mr.. Chris
Hansen offers his philosophy of poll
tics as the result of careful objective
study. untinCed by party color.
His inquiry covers such subjects
as n world view and political convic-
ton. the crowd and the part played
by suggestion in the life of the COM
munity, the mental life Of crowds, this
sovereign crowd, politics as the eN-
preston OF the ethics of crowds, n
contrast Of individual and crowd
a.ht,g g,t.rgtatn 1,litIag tty ,Eaptf.n
and theories of ideal and real poll
tics, state morality and public opinion.
national sentiment and world peace.
home politics, future prospects, social
ethics. individualism and collectivism,
sociality and ~sociahility, civilization
and culture.
Mr.. Christensen begins by pointing
out the difficulties in the way Of COM
ing ut n word view, or common de-
nomfnator. in which. IL not all the phe-
nomena of life. at least those which
have significance for the individual are
merged. In this search Il is almost
impossible TO he unbiased. We are
exposed to all manne of suggestion
from the outside and every man is
more or less affected 10y the tendency
Of his individual temperament. which
inclines him in a given way. Tenn
permanent II is that directs the search
and sees 10 IL that each man attains
to n world view that suits his "
capacity and predictions. II is al
most impossible to form an outlook
on life by merely objective and alb
stract speculation. If there be an alb
solute truth. men can never attain II
because they can never escape their
subjective limitations. So the search
for a world view may be- more aCCu-
rately described as the search for n
modus vivendi which shall hest adjust
the relations of the & I, environ
ment.
The political views based on tenn
permanent can bc referred to two or
three main s~tandpOints, positive and
negative conservatism and progress
slvism. The positive conservative
considers that things as they are are
on the whole good. or AT any rate
cannot be improved 10y alteration. the
negative conservative also does not
want alteration on the ground that
though things are bad as they are no
Improvement is possible. The progress
EAN' hiF' EN'F NV SN''AiN ANl ~
things. but because he believes in inn
provement he determines to Coilab-
crate with the progressive party.
II we now consider the possibility
Of political propaganda we see how
difficult it is to influence by agitation
the members Of a party that is deter
mined by temperament. Chronic gas
tritis will do more thar ten ]agitatOrs.
Also "A mans progressive zeal lhates as
he grows older. Agitation has but
little effect on temperament determined
p~artisans. therefore material benefits
are promised them. Promises OF bet
ter food are made to artisans, railways
TO commercial people ana farmers,'and
protection to business. Political agi-
tation thus becomes more and more
materialiZed Nor need this develop
ment he altogether dcplorcd. II will
make politics more busineSslike. more
brutal perhaps, but 1t Will help to
Danish illusions and ~hypocrialeS. The
temperament determined world views
will not he abolished. but in their Of
forts 10 annihilate each other they
will keep the development of the
world In equilibrium.
III li' 'llhIlfI 'l llAf part lillN tl
by suggestion on the life of the crowd
Mr.. Christianson says that the dcycl-
Z opmcnt OF the world is based on the
interaction between personality and
the crowd. Personality, which i it.
self the product OF the crowd milieu-
that is, is determined 10y cirCum-
stances. time and plaCc-COntributes
from the store of it's Individuality and
provides new ideas, which are again
absorbed more or less quickly ana
thoroughly by the crowd. Thus there
is a steady stream of new thoughts
pouring into the crowd, generally IN
a much cCarscned and slmplitied form
which secures the adaptation of the
ideas 10 the conceptivc capacity of the
crowd. A crowd can be defined as Il
group of people which, in a given
moment, is filled with a common idea
! or desire. A multitude hurrying hithor
and yon is not a crowd, but when
any occurrence draws them together
in one interest the multitude becomes
a crowd. The magic charm which
brings about this transformation is
suggestion. Suggestion focuses the
attention. thought ana will of indirid-
uals and makes possible commo ac-
ton. Suggestion is a universal pho-
nomcnon which is present everywhere
and in all circumstances The art of
advertisement is the art of exercising
suggestion on the public. Strong
characters always eN"rcis" suggestion