Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1923-04-25

lioHeu slIdId VI 'CldSSeS, uT Oh CdSteS,
and no stratification can take place In
a mass livened by the free stir of it's
particles. This guarding of our in
dividualiSm against stratificatiOn in
sists not only in preserving in the So
cial solution an equal opportunity for
the able and ambitious to rise from
the bottom it also insists that the
sons of the successful shall not by
any mere right of birth or favor con
tinue to occupy their fathers places
3 of power against the rise of new
generation in process of coming up
from the bottom. The pioneers of our
American individualism had the good
sense not to reward Washington and
jefferson and Hamilton with heredi-
tary dukedoms and fixtures In landed
estates, as Great Britain rewarded
Marlborough and Nelson. Otherwise
our American fields of opportunity
would have been clogged with long
generations inheriting their fathers
privileges without their fathers capac-
ity for service.
That our system has avoided the es-
Establishment and domination of class
has a significant proof in the present
administration In Washington. OF the
twelve men comprising the President,
vice president, and cabinet, nine have
earned their own way in life without
economic Inheritance, and eight Of
them started with manual labor.
If we examine the impulses that
carry us forward, none is so potent
for progress as the yearning for in
dividual self-expression, the desire for
creation Of something. Perhaps the
greatest human happiness flows from
personal achievement. Here lies the
great urge Of the constructive instinct
of mankind. But it can only thrive
In society where the individual has
liberty and stimulation to achievement.
Nor does the community progress ex-
cept through its participation In these
multitudes of achievements.
Furthermore, the maintenance Of
productivity and the advancement of
the things Of the spirit depend upon
the ever-renewed supply from the mass
OF those who can rise to leadership.
Our social, economic, and intellectual
progress Is almost solely dependent
upon the creative minds of those in
dividuals with imaginative and admin
istrative intelligence who create or
who carry discoveries to widespread
application. No race possesses more
than small percentage of these
minds in a single generation. But lit
tie thought has ever been given to our
racial dependency upon them. Nor
that our progress Is in so large a
measure due to the fact that with our
increased means Of communication
to spread their influence over so en-.
larged number Of lesser capable
minds as to have increased their pO-
tency million-fold. In truth, the vast,
ly greater productivity Of the world
with actually less physical labor is
due to the wider spread Of their influ-
ence through the discovery Of these
facilities. And they can arise solely
through the selection that comes from
the free-running mills Of competition.
They must be free to rise from the
mass; they must be given the attrac-
ton Of premiums to effort.
Leadership Is quality Of the in
dividual. 1t Is the individual alone
WI f,n tn no 30 In
tellect and in the field Of leadership.
If democracy is to secure its authori-
ties in morals. religion, and statesman
ship, 1t must stimulate leadership from
its own mass. Human leadership can
not be repleniShed by selection like
queen bees, by divine right or bureau
cracles, but by the free rise of ability.
character and intelligence.
Even so, leadership cannot, no mat
ter how brilliant, carry progress far
ahead of the average Of the mass Of
individual units. Progress of the ma
ton is the sum Of progress in Its in
dividuals. Acts and ideas that lead
to progress are born out Of the womb
VI tlle lllulNluudl Inluu, uUl Out VI lue
mind of the crowd. The crowd only
feels: 1t has no mind Of it's own which
can plan. The crowd Is credulous, 1t
destroys, it consumes, it hates, and 1t
dreams-but it never builds. 1t Is one
of the most profound and important of
exact psychological truths that man in
the mass does not think but only feels.
The mob functions only in world Of
emotion. The demagogue feeds on
mob emotions and his leadership is the
leadership of emotion, not the leader
ship of intellect and progress. POpu-
lar desires are no criteria to the real
need; they can be determined only by
deliberative consideration, by educa-
ton, by constructive leadership.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Copyright, 1923, by Doubleday, Page &
Co Published by arrangement with
Western Newspaper Union)
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