The Washington herald., 1921-06-09
DECLARES MOB VIOLENCE
MENACEs OUR CIVILIZATION.

DECLARES MOB VIOLENCE
MENACEs OUR CIVILIZATION.
''The most menacing influence in
our present-day civilization" said
John H. Maynard. OF Chicago. At the
Washington. us the power exerted
by crowds. The increasing number
of mob outbreaks 10 merely
symptom of the crowd Influence
which Is being exerted In every d.
lrection Of our life. pressing out all
of the fne flower of individuality.
and making II the unpardonable sin
for anyone to act differently or
think at variance with the opinions
held by the masses.
Some one has said" continued Mr..
Maynard. I'VE have all become ban
ner-toters.' 1t may be that many Of
US think similarly. but we never
think identically, and 1t is these
small differences. this bit of unique
ness in our makeup that we ought
to cultivate but which a crowd will
not permit. 1T demands that we all
become, as the phrase goes, hun
dred per centers.'
DECLARES A MOB
IS COwARDLY BODY.
The mob. which is but another
way of saying the crowd. is essen
TALLY a cowardly body. 1t derives
its strength by mere quantity. by
mere numbers. The individual
lacking in strength, reinforces IL
by joining with the mob. He be-
trays his lack of individual force by
merging himself with the mob.
your typical crowd audience will
not stand for any of its speakers in
dulging in any thought. Phrases
that mean nothing. of pathos and
commonplaceness, are hurled at rhs
audience, whose applause signifies
nothing, except that a herd which
has relinquished all thinking is
there.
REAL INTENTION Is TO
GIVE VENT TO MEANNEss.
The mob will cIothe its nefarious
intentions and deeds with an aura
of golden verbiage. Those who Join
mobs never admit their real inten-
ton. which is to give vent to the
meanness that Is in them, that per-
haps lears in all of us, but which
some OF us have learned to know
and consequently to hold in check.
Instead. they speak of preserving
honor, OF performing justice. and the
like. Like the devil. they quote
Scripture to suit their purpose.
DE Tocqueville, author of democ-
racy in America, whose book Is on
the whole very appreciative of
American institutions" declared Mr..
Maynard. pointed out the refusal
on our part to permit any criticism
of our institutions. If you incline to
doubt, said the French author. that
perhaps something was susceptible
to Improvement or even to criticize
the climate and soil. they will look
upon you as though they had con-
Cured in the making of the cli-
matte conditions.
SAYS SOME DRY LEADERS
ESCAPED RUIN BY RUM.
Consider the perfect example of
the crowd mantle fanatic who
heads, for example, a prohibition
society. Very often he indicates his
quality by his record. A great many
of these rabid dry leaders barely
escaped ruin by rum themselves.
The man who is all upset and thun-
ders against some passing fad in
women's clothes betrays his own un-
balanced sensitiveness to such
things"
But will not the untrammeled
right of the individual to work out
his own life, to express his own self
hood. lead to an anti-social condi-
tion?' Mr.. Maynard was asked.
BY no means" was the answer.
THE most individuaiistic man is
the most social, for he recognizes
that the value of individuality and
so will not trespass on his neigh
bor's personality. The glory of
nation is not the gold in its ex-
chequers. but the number II pos
sesses of these men and women,
who appraise life constantly afresh,
daringly and truthfully with their
own eyes"
d. s.