Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/785

Rh and hurt with, if it is not to become mere impotent rage. It is of no use to blink the fact that in dealing with corporations, opinion and sentiment avail naught till they lead to the boycott or to legal redress. Those who, overlooking this, ignorantly extol the might of public opinion in all cases whatsoever, thereby stand sponsor for the efficacy of the faith-cure in the field of social therapeutics.

Mass influence is used not only on behalf of the social group but also for many of the various sub-groups and minor combinations of men. Wherever esprit du corps appears we have a basis for the control of each by all. It is often to the interest of each member of a voluntary association, aiming at a common benefit to shirk so long as he does not endanger his participation in the joint results. But this disposition to shirk may be overcome by bringing to bear upon each a common sentiment that admonishes him of his short comings. In a church, a trades-union, a regiment, a chorus, a troupe, an athletic club, an exploring party, a teaching corps, a fire company, an editorial staff, a band of conspirators, or a gang of thieves there are some whose exertions, far from being actuated by zeal for the success of the combination, are stimulated rather by a fear of the disapproval, criticism, resentment or derision of their cooperators and by thirst for their praise, admiration, gratitude or confidence. This is one of the chief ways in which the units in the working organs of society are held together and the organ itself vitalized. When, as in the case of a ship's crew, a factory group, a plantation gang, a railroad service, a corps de ballet, the staff of a shop or the force of a mine, there is no critical attitude of all toward the contribution or service of each and the stimulating principle is furnished by captain, employer or superintendent with power of fine or dismissal and bonus or promotion, the control is of a distinctly coarser quality and the association is of a lower order.

It is probable that an increasing volume of positive restraint will be exercised through public opinion, and that, for individuals at least, this type of regulation will gain at the expense of legal control. For this type of coercion is suited to a higher grade of