1 84 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



never seen the man on horseback appear in contented eras among satis- 

 fied people, notwithstanding all there is to be said for the powers of 

 persuasion, the stir of audacity, and the impact of personality. The 

 ponderous body politic can not be moved by word of mouth nor by 

 the breath of eloquence. Merely preaching to it is foolishness. Internal 

 pangs or external irritation are required to arouse activity. Demagogues 

 are symptoms, agitators are weather cocks, and reformers are men who 

 put themselves at the head of processions. When conditions are favor- 

 able for the start the opportunity for leadership arises and the self- 

 seeking struggle with the public-spirited for the direction of the aroused 

 energies. This guidance is of immense importance and no one should 

 shut an eye to the danger of the glory-hunter's sway, nor lessen the 

 credit due the reformer. But to understand the social situation in 

 times of agitation there is need of separating in mind the more or less 

 factitious elements from the fundamental forces at work. From this 

 point of view speeches in legislative halls, on the stump, from the plat- 

 form and the pulpit, the declarations of political parties and the edi- 

 torials in the press, the harangues of public-square orators and the 

 excited utterances of disputing citizens are not in the last analysis the 

 outcome of the personal desire of a man or of a group, nor of a spon- 

 taneous moral tidal wave sweeping the communhVy, nor of a resolute 

 tugging at the ethical boot-straps of the country. Great national move- 

 ments are products of fundamental forces in national life. The prophet 

 who lifts his voice before these forces have begun to work dies in dis- 

 appointment, or, if his message is too unpleasant to his contemporaries, 

 he may achieve martyrdom. And if he has seen truly, succeeding genera- 

 tions may canonize him. The current of a people's thinking is glacial, 

 slow to move; irresistible but largely determined by the contour of its 

 bed. To the study of this formative influence one should address him- 

 self for an understanding of the greater changes that mark the history 

 of public opinion. 



At the close of the eighteenth century this nation began its career 

 under unique conditions. A relatively small number of people possessed 

 a vast territory over part of which they were sparsely living. Natural 

 resources were boundless and wealth to be had for the taking. Acquisi- 

 tion was the watchword of the time. To open up the country was the 

 economic ideal of the period. To this end were turned by common con- 

 sent all the individual and collective energies available. 



Among the most pressing needs of that clay was that of capital for 

 fixed investment in such improvements as better means of transporta- 

 tion. This was difficult to secure because the people were without great 

 accumulations of wealth or the experience and instruments for readily 

 collecting what was in existence. The machinery now in operation for 

 promoting great enterprises and carrying through speculative ventures 



