528 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



more evenly balanced the force in the field, the more creditable we con- 

 sider a choice of the right. When we feel personally responsible for the 

 conduct of the individual concerned, we recognize the degree of credit 

 he has earned as a moral claim upon us for payment in coin of some sort. 

 The payment may consist in expressions of approval, in evidences of 

 confidence or of affection, in marks of respect; or it may consist in a 

 large portion of jam at the next distribution, a visit to the circus or a 

 trip to the country. This payment, which parents and teachers do not 

 fail to make if they properly realize their responsibilities, is not made 

 because the child is good, for good actions performed easily and without 

 a struggle are not singled out for reward in this way. It is made be- 

 cause the child needs to he made good, and we roughly proportion the 

 reward to the amount of encouragement needed to keep the child mov- 

 ing along the path of moral development. 



In the larger world beyond the nursery and the school, rewards for 

 creditable behavior are not always distributed in the same unmistak- 

 able way. A good deal of creditable behavior appears to be unre- 

 warded. The reason is not far to seek. Men generally are not occu- 

 pied in educating each other just as parents and teachers educate those 

 under their charge. They have not the same sense of responsibility; 

 and, further, they have not, in many cases, the power to grant rewards. 

 But it is easy to see that, where men are at all sensitive, as civilized hu- 

 man beings surely ought to be, to the moral or immoral character of the 

 actions of their fellows, they are quick to judge of actions as creditable 

 or discreditable, and they have the disposition to mete out to the doer 

 some sort of reward or some sort of penalty. The reward may be no more 

 than a look of admiration or a word of appreciation, and the penalty no 

 more than a slight coldness of manner; but love of approbation is a 

 strong motive to action, and just such rewards and penalties as these 

 may have an enormous influence in determining to right conduct. 

 And where certain men exercise over others a control at all analogous 

 to that exercised by the parent or teacher, we find that they are very apt 

 to reward creditable behavior much as these do. The unusual devotion 

 of this or that employee, the conspicuous bravery of the soldier, are not 

 commonly passed over as matters that deserve no substantial recogni- 

 tion. The good behavior of the convict is accounted as sufficient reason 

 for shortening the term of his imprisonment. Look where we will, we 

 find that there is a general tendency among men to regard the credit- 

 able actions of their fellows as having some sort of a claim to reward, 

 and when we look into the nature of this claim, we find that its force 

 rests upon the fact that we instinctively regard ourselves as in some way 

 responsible for the behavior of others, and, consciously or uncon- 

 sciously, take it upon ourselves to encourage them to act as they should 

 act. 



