Evening star., 1934-09-23

Third force cannot compel the
agreement of the unconvinced. 1t is
possible through terrorism TO compel
men to seem to respect ideas they do
not believe, but not even terrorism
can compel them to believe that the
ideas are respectable. And, as the
cycle of dictatorship runs on in
Europe, we shall see a growing army
of conforming but unconvinCed men
face Imprisonment and death for their
ideas
Fourth. force does not in the long
run. destroy the morale of the op-
position. Force from the outside
tends rather to drive men into a COM
mon center of devotion. 1t is not
the diSruptive factor it is assumed to
b. 1t makes for cohesion in the
camp of the enemy.
Violence UnsuStained.
The social record of mankind sup
ports neither the reaCtionary in his
belief that the violence of revolt in
surcs peace nor the radical in his
belief that the violence of revolt in
sureS progress.
Before the current vogue of strong
governments set in we in the United
States were asking ourselves certain
questions as the news of successive
days brought us stories of lynchlngS,
Of the iron handed action of indus
trial police of strikes and lookouts,
Of legislative directions to teachers Of
science, and the like.
I
relations be met with fagot and rope?
In the veXed field of industrial re-
lationS can the militia be made a
substitute for management or the
sWashbuckling of private police take
the place Of StateSmanllke industrial
leadership?
Is 1t worthy Of a mature people to
leave the determination Of industrial
policy to an ordeal of battle between
competing armies of employers and
employees?
Can a people save its culture from
becoming but the rotting corpse of
dead outlooks if it makes the voice of
science echo the vote of the majority?
Skeptical of Force.
The initiating source of all these
questions was a growing skepticism in
the minds Of intelligent Americans of
force as an instrument OF social con-
troll. We were apparently making
some headWay against the cult Of
compulsion.
Among Western peoples who had so
largely lost confidence in their own
capacity to manage their own affairs
we seemed set TO retain and renew
the essentially pacific philosophy Of
science and self-government to which
America in her saner moments has
always adhered. But as the depression
dcepened our difficulties, signs cropped
cut in the temper and talk Of the
people to indicate possible backslid-
ing from this philosophy. Could We
not find ways to short circuit the lum-
bering processes of our democracy and
get in the United States some of the
decisivenesS and drive that dictators
seem to possess and to generate? 1t
was not that anybody wanted a die
tatOr, but that everybody wanted re-
lief from the increasingly difficult
social and economic situation. 1t was
this mood that made so easy the lodg-
ing of extensive and extraordinary
powers in the hands of the President
at the outset of the Roosevelt regime
The greater the complexities of an
age, the broader should be the base
of judgment upon which its policies
are built. The complexities of our
age are limitleSs. The capacities OF
its leaders are limited Less than at
any time in human history, therefore,
can We afford to put all our eggs in
one basket Less than at any time in
human history can We afford to bully
into silence the voice of corrective
criticism, intimidate minority opinion
and give unquestioned right-of
to the green dogmatismS of politics
and economics that sprout so lavishly
from the improvisingS of driven
statesmen. And yet today this is hap
pening the world around. wherever
the minds of men have been hypno-
tized by the glamorous promise and
grim discipline of dictatorship. The
very intrlcacy of modern problems.
which has been made one of the major
arguments against democracy, is, in
the deepest sense. the supreme argu-
nent fOr democracy.
Democracy BrOadens Base.
The cardinal strength of democracy
IS that it broadens the base of judg-
ment upon which policy is built All
of US. with varying degrees of effect,
can chip in on the discussion that
determines policy. The cardinal
weakness of dictatorship is that it
narrows the base of Judgment upon
which policy is built. Policy is de-
tcrmined solely by the dictator and
his particular brand of expert adviser.
1t is one of the major delusionS OF
this disintegrate time that the need
of the hour is strong government
1t is not strong government that we
need so much as wise government.
Wise governments draw men into
authentic loyalty to their purposes.
Strong governments drive men into
an artificial lipservice to their slogans.
Dictatorship offers us the quickest
path to strong government. Democ-
racy offers us the surest path to wise
government. Dictatorship is founded
on fear and faith. Democracy rests
upon leadership and popular under
standing. Democracy is admittedly
impotent in an hour of crisis if leader
ship is derelict and popular under
standing darkened, but its basic con-
cept is sounder than the concept of
dictatorship
If this is true. as I think it is. the
problem confronting us is not the re-
nunciation of democracy, but its re-
vision in order that it may function
more effectively in these diSheveled
hours of transition. l content myself
with four suggestions respecting this
necessary revision: