The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-01-02

crowd Impulse instead Of by balanced
individual Intellectual judgments7
Man has never decided whether TO
be a gregarious animal or not" whether
to be individualist or socialist. Modern
facilities of communication have or
ganized new ''crowds' by making II
easy for people to get together with
out actual physical asssmblage. There
are crowds within crowds. Is parties
In the nation, scots in the church. Or
ganized crowds are social classes, OF
which labor has 4 keener crowd con-
sciousness than society" has; the pro-
fessions-'two rat catchers. otherwise
strangers, might feel themselves linked
by a bond which would stand some
slight strain II the occasion arose 10
put It TO the test: religious bodies.
clubs, schools and colleges. regiments
Of soldiers. A social or political move
ment" shows q new crowd in the
process Of formation. 1.-THE purpose Of
Journalism IL crowd formation and
crowd direction"
Is a jury a crowd? OF course we
must go back TO the definition. OF this
the essential requirement Is apparently
quantitative: a crowd must be too big
to permit Of conversation. the inter-
change OF individual opinion. But the
collective impulse manifests itself In
small asgregations not less than In
the mob. A jury. In n view. ought
to arrive at It's conclusion after q de-
liberate evocation Of judgment from
each Of Its dozen members: the verdict
ought to be based on something far
remote from emotional impulse. In
another view the crowd quality Is de-
sirable because It develops naturally
the common sense OF justice. The size
Of Juries vas probably fixed upon.
though without purpose 30 expressed,
as the best accommodation between
the two necessities. When an unyleld-
ing individualist gets into the jury box
we get n disagreement. The subject
Is delightfully."- elastic. for it can pre-
sent a single person as a crowd; for
example. In the person OF a sovereign.
holding In trust innumerable interests,
varying in character and often in direct
conflict. Queen Victoria said of Glad
stone. He talks to me al though
were a public meeting" As the crowd
psychologist sees things she a
Once the faculties Of logic and imag-
nation are let loose upon this en-
chanting subject tho mind leaps, a
urally and inevitably. to consideration
Of the nature of crowds as entities.
A crowd used to be thought Of a. tho
sum. or. what IL the same thing In
another aspect, the average. Of the
individual minds in its composition.
How does the electorate work? No
voter marks his ballot exclusively on
his own judgment of the men and Is
sues involved. Each vote represents
a complex Of influences and external
suggestions. These are themselves in
dividual ~outgivings; are they simply
massed In a physical combination. or
are they merged az in a chemical
compound7 Ia the electorate a crowd,
~ separate living entity. with a be-
ginning. a life and a death of its own?
To the author. true to tho young
tradition" Of his science, 1t Il wholly
different In kind" from the individual
components. as different as a man Is
from the Individual cells Of which his
body Is built up:
The opinion OF Q crowd has ne relation
TO the reasoned opinion OF the majority Q.
It's members. but Is . mere infectious passion
which sweeps through the whole body like
an electric current. and frequently 10 oriGi.
mated ana props gated from . single bNin.
Ths difference in character be.
tween . crowd and the individuals conpcs
ing II Leaps to the eye the moment the
crowd 10 regarded dispa~ssionateiy by .
cool and detached observer. Note. for ex-
ample. the different way In which a very
small Joke will appeal to an individual
and to . crowd. A sentiment which, ad-
dressed to an individuai. would seem the
feebiest plattuds will be received by an
audience with ovnds Of applause.
In illustration OF this phenomenon
Of familiar observation the author
quotes from an address by Mr.. As
Quith in October OF 1914 a passage
which is u%nhappily characteristic. CIV
ing opportunity for a Jab at the Ger
mans. The temptation should have
been resisted: ten thousand examples
could have been found equally illus
trative Of the theory and free Of Of
fence.
the superfciality Of their view:
Livy's "Hec est natura muititudinis,
au. humiliter servit aut superbe domi-
natur"; Tacitus. "Nihil in vulgo modi-
cum-terrere nj paveant. ubi pertimue-
runt impune contemni"; Sir Walter
Raleigh, Tho Multitude. wanting that
virtue which We call honesty in all
men. and that especial eft Of God we
call charity. condemn without hearing,
wound without offence given: and
Sir Thomas Roe, speaking Of the In
dian public in Mosul days. "Ths null
titude. full Of tumor and noyce. with
out head or fOote-oi.ly It raGee, but
bendes itself upon noe direct end"
Crowds al have good impulses IA
we'll as bad ones: the essential point
is that their motive power IL not In.
tellectual but emotional. Intellect
docs not travel fast enough to move
a crowd. Tho in~fectiousness Of crowd
consciousness appears peculiarly in
political meetings and religious re-
vivals.". A man moved TO profession
OF religious faith In the excitement
Of a revival may be permanently
changed by the experience. or his
%ponitence may pass with the cessa-
ton of the excitement. AZ a political
meeting men may cheer wildly for
candidates or platforms that after calm
reflection they may oppose by their
votes. But to tho crowd psychologist
these after events are matters quite
separate from his interest In the coll
lectivs phenomena. the formation and
conduct of tho crowd. Crowd con-
tinuity" is realized In tradition. the