The Washington herald., 1916-09-18
"The Psychological" "
BY JOHN ID. BARRY

| Politicians often talk about the psychological
though, till lately, they have seldom used this
rather cumbersome word. 1t is a pity, by the
way, that simpler word is not in use for so
vital force. In political campaign the psyche
| logical is recognized big factor. Once let it
be knowp that side is, as we say, getting
cold feet, the other side realizes that it has a
psychological advantage almost certain to express
itself in big majority. For fear on one side
begets confidence the other side And conf
dence creates the expectation and the atmosphere
of success. In a sense, it is so like success as
virtually to be success. And voters, all poll
ticans aware, love to be successful, to follow
! the band wagon
| Big business is exceedingly ingenious in
plotting the psychological Its resources enable
! 1t to make the psychological work like magic.
! If it dslikes administration it can start a
whisper of fear and through the country fear
will run, paralyzng industry, throwing many thou
sands of out of employment and making
many thousands of families suffer. In smaller
| business, too, the principle operates, often with
Startling effect. AS it becomes noised
abroad that certain firm is weakening that firm
! is in danger. There is nothing mysterious or
diabolical about the situation. 1t is simply due
to that love for the band wagon, love closely
associated with the natural gregarious instinct.
Fo be identified with success, to be- as the French
say, in the movement" is desire so general
and so deep-seated that it must be accepted a
normal expression OF humanity.
Il count life just a test to try the souls
strength on, educe the man." These much quoted
words of Brownng's are essentially recognition
! of the importance in life of the psychological.
Countries big business and small business, exactly
like individuals, have to meet the psychological
and to lose or to gain according to the nature
of the reactions If the great interests Of this
country yield to fear pretend to yield to fear
for their own profit they will do mischief none
| the less psychological because it expresses itself
in material ways. Indeed, the material sue
cess or failure is. the plain is the working
OF the psychological. 1t is only the unthnking
or the blind that deny the psychological as a uni
versal principle. Behind every great achievement,
whether it is in the form of magnificent build
ing OF a magnificent deed, like the emancipa-
ton of the slaves, there is the working of mind,
not of one mind alone, but Of a vast number OF
minds, all expressing the psychological upreach-
ing of humanity.
In individuals one often sees curious and inter
esting and amusing revelations of the psycholosi-
cal. They help to make up the wonder of living.
| Once, at baseball game, when a great husky
player went to the bat, to my amazement he
was greeted with a chorus of "boos" from the
bleacherS. What they booing him for?" l
said to the man beside me. The man smiled
knowingly. He came here few weeks ago with
great record as hitter. They called him the
| fence buster. But when he got here | guess he
lost his nerve. Anyway, in the first game he
struck out every time At last he got so mad
when the umpire called him out that he turned
and said boo OF course he meant to be often
sve, but as he didn't actually make an offensive
| remark the umpire helpless. The crowd took
up the word and since that time, whenever he
goes to the bat they give him a good boong.
| Df course it rattles him all the more" Here was
a typical case | watched that batter with some
| amusement. From the way he struck at the
first ball it was plain that he had no expectation
of hitting it. In few minutes he was called out
with chorus of 'boos" in his ears Ludicrous
as the situation was, it had its pathos, too. In
this very crowd l reflected, there were doubtless
hundreds Of men in exactly the plight of that
| ball player, most of them probably among the
"booers" in the bleachers. They, too, had lost
| confidence in themselves, in those powers that
they possessed their divine inheritance In
this instance, however, had the extreme salts
faction OF seeing that psychological hoodoo
broken The next time at bat, the fence buster
gave the ball a whack that sent it out to the
| fence and dropped in down the slope while he
was speeding to first base In the rapturous
applause l could not hear any booing. The player
| had realized himself. He would have his conf
dcnce now