In this matter of patriotism it is the solemn duty of every man to think clearly what, if any, are its moral limitations, and what duties and responsibilities it involves. It is his duty to try to discover when and where and how other moral obligations limit those that he owes to his country, and how far his country is limited in its moral freedom of action by the duties that it owes to other portions of mankind. Future wars, future calamities, future miseries incalculable, or, on the other hand, future prosperity, future intellectual and spiritual advance, may depend upon solving these questions aright; and by the solution of these questions I mean their solution by the balance of the opinions of all individual men.
The same thing applies in other relations of life of a public or semi-public nature. We hear much of the rights of property and of labor. Is the owner of property justified in managing it to augment his own profits, regardless of the general welfare; and is the laborer justified in curtailing production if it be to the detriment of the community at large; and if not, what are the proper limitations? Again, it is not my object here to express or imply answers to such questions, but to point out that they require answers; because the tranquility and welfare of our country depends upon their being answered aright, and no man, whatever his position in life, can wholly free himself from the responsibility for the opinions he holds about them. As a people we are highly sensitive to public opinion, and that is made up of personal opinions held by each and all of us. We cannot, like the subjects of a despot, say that it is for the ruler, and not for us, to inquire and decide.
Need Clear Personal Thought
Most people, and perhaps in a peculiar degree the American people, tend in the busy life of the world to save themselves from strenuous thought by taking refuge in the opinions of their associates, of the men in like occupations, of the party or group to which they belong. This saves some of them, indeed, from eccentricity, and from irrational extremes; but it does not absolve men from responsibility for the correctness of their opinions, or save the nation from the consequences of their errors. The fact that others make the same mistake is no excuse. Yet people who go with the prevailing current of opinion seldom feel any responsibility, still less contrition, when that current leads to wrongdoing or disaster. Corporate or co-operative selfishness is today a greater danger than personal selfishness, because it is more insidious, and wears the garb of something more noble than a mere personal aim. Although men are by nature gregarious creatures, they should not,--like sheep,--move under the simple impulse of the mass. Man has the ability to think for himself, to weigh reasons, to forecast in some degree the future, and to reflect upon the consequences of his acts. In times like these it is of vital import that his responsibility for his individual opinions should be relentlessly asserted.
Clamor of a crowd is often mistaken for opinion. The art of producing the semblance of a public opinion by a general shout has progressed greatly within a generation. It is easy to provoke such a shout for a catchword which embodies a principle good in itself, without a perception on the part of the crowd that it has its limit, and that they are in effect being urged beyond that limit. Group psychology has been studied until we are familiar with its principles and its use. Professor Dicey remarked, in criticising the historical method of studying human problems, that when the cause of an abuse has been explained the abuse itself is half condoned. Let us not suppose that because psychology of crowds is a fact its results are therefore right; or that, because organization and machinery furnish a powerful weapon for propagating ideas on the part of those who believe in them, the ideas themselves are therefore correct. The weapon may be used for an unjust or unwise movement as well as for one that is just and wise.
As I have said in this place before, we are told in the Bible that the Holy Spirit will convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement, by which is meant one's own sin, and the righteousness and judgment of God; but we are too prone to think of someone else's sin, of one's own righteousness, and of judgement by popular vote.
What we need now is not more organization or more machinery, but more thought; personal thought, clear, far reaching and profound, as unbiased and illumined, and, not least, as widespread among our people as possible, for in the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world; and where shall we look for this multitude if not among those upon whom has been lavished the best educational opportunities that our country can produce--the graduates of our colleges.