TEE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY 543 



power of custom and tradition is strong. The religion or politics of 

 most men is a birthright. The keen joy which the partisan of any cause 

 experiences comes partly from being one of a multitude. The average 

 man feels a sense of loss without a political party. There is an element 

 in human nature which craves authority. Obedience is easier than dis- 

 obedience. Many men instinctively crave direction. One function of 

 dogma is to relieve people from the disagreeable necessity of doing their 

 own thinking. The raison d'etre of the political boss lies partly in re- 

 lieving the community from a lot of trouble. The extraordinary longev- 

 ity of the Roman Catholic Church indicates that it ministers to some- 

 thing fundamental in human nature. As James Bryce says : 



Most men are fitter to make part of the multitude than to strive against it. 

 Obedience is to most sweeter than independence; the Roman Catholic Church in- 

 spires in its children a stronger affection than any form of Protestantism, for 

 she takes their souls in charge, and assures them that, with obedience, all will 

 be well.* 



II 



At first blush, the difficulty of solving the problems of the day seems 

 a good argument against popular government. But second thought 

 points to just the reverse conclusion. The frequency with which men 

 vote according to their interests rather than according to reason makes 

 it well to give the mass of men a voice in affairs to protect them from 

 oppression. What state or section would be willing to entrust its inter- 

 ests to the remainder of the country ? Likewise, what reason is there to 

 suppose that the interests of any class will receive as much considera- 

 tion if it is disfranchised as if it has the ballot ? Would the Irish or the 

 Scandinavian elements in our population receive as much political rec- 

 ognition if they did not have votes? Now that women vote in a number 

 of states, there is some chance that an amendment to the federal consti- 

 tution granting the ballot to women will be submitted to the legisla- 

 tures of the several states. The disfranchisement of the negro in certain 

 states has been followed by a movement to segregate the school funds. 

 But altogether aside from this, the judgment of the untutored mind is 

 often worth taking into account in solving social problems. When one 

 considers the sophistry with which many men of reputed intelligence 

 habitually deceive themselves and others upon the tariff, one feels en- 

 couraged to appeal to the good sense of the common man. The results 

 frequently justify the appeal. What class is so well qualified by ex- 

 perience to know the evils of ill-ventilated workshops, dangerous ma- 

 chinery and unsanitary tenements as the working class? The associa- 

 tions of the professional man, the merchant or the large manufacturer 

 tend to produce a class spirit that precludes any great familiarity with 

 the common lot. The initiative for much of the legislation that has 

 4 Op. cit., Vol. II., p. 355. 





