Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/298

 284 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

and the celebrants of the Black Mass in Paris afford further examples of the use of a ritual of eroticism, coupled with a practice of the most abandoned and obscene behavior, to promote the eternal welfare of the soul. A fitting conclusion to this series of instances cited in proof of the thesis that fanaticism may become a source of crime is afforded by the account of the notorious "Skopzi." A belief in the practice of castration as a necessary means of saving the soul is a cardinal tenet of their faith. The diabolical cunning and ingenuity displayed by them in accomplishing, with or without the victim's consent, this maiming operation upon young and old alike make them at once the most dangerous and the most despicable of criminals. — Aug. LOEWE.NSTEIN, "Der Fanatismus als Quelle der Verbrechen," m Archiv f. Kriminal- Anthropologie u. Kri7tiinalistik^ Band I, Heft 3.

The Present Organization of the English Factory Inspection.^ Reference may be made to four principal points in which the organization of English factory inspection appears worthy of imitation: (i) Strict uniformity, combined with the principle of legalization of state officials ; hence the greatest centralization of admin- istration and decentralization of the work of inspection. (2) The far-reaching authority of inspectors ; their independence of other authorities, and the consequent increased possibility of independent, powerful interference. (3) The range of require- ments as respects qualification which admits the selection of forces from the most diverse classes of society and the most diverse vocations. (4) The appointment of trade physicians and their centralization. The number of officials, which is out of all proportion to the rapid increase of their obligations, is insufficient in England as elsewhere. Besides the trade physicians should be considered the sanitary inspection by men and women, which, however, is thorough only in a few places. The recent improvement in trade statistics shows more clearly than ever the lack of proportion between the number of officials and the great and increasing duties of the most diverse nature. Now as formerly, this lack of proportion between the work to be done and the workers is the most serious obstacle in the realization of the protection of workmen. This applies especially to non-factory laborers. It is just from these non-factory laborers, especially domestics, for whose legal protection thus far only weak attempts have been made in England, that the largest number of those three hundred thousand London families and the inhabitants of the slums of other great cities, which live on eighteen shillings a week, are recruited. The problem of poverty is most closely con- nected with the existence of this unorganized and uncared-for labor. The fight against the sweating system by means of protective ordinances adapted to its diverse elements on the basis of thorough investigation, and by trade inspection which in its organization and numerical strength shall correspond to some extent to its immense task, will probably be one of the most important factors in the struggle against the impoverization of the great mass of people whose life is in strange contrast to our civilization. — Helene Simon, "Entwicklung und gegenwiirtige Organisation der englischen Fabrikinspektion," in Jahrbuch, Schmollir, 23. Jahrgang, Heft 2.

Democracy. — There are three distinct charges against it:

1. Democracy perverts the understanding by its aprioristic tendencies. It induces a sort of paralysis of the brain which neither permits men to see nor to com- prehend facts as they present themselves in life. Men positively grow stupid. For the democrat all the terms of politics and philosophy change their meaning. Every- thing must converge toward the satisfaction of the masses. The only wrong is to allow oneself to be right against the people. They speak to us of justice, of equality, of liberty; their mouths are full of grandiloquent words, but these words are deformed by secret intentions and receive tacit meanings which are not found in the dictiona- ries. ■' Solidarity," e. g., is simply a matter of extracting influence for the poor against the rich.

2. Democracy flatters itself to be a government of opinion, a principle altogether false. Even this principle it is neither able nor knows how to enforce. A govern- ment of opinion would be only a government of weathervanes. We do consult opinion in a certain way, but nothing is more contrary to common sense than that political direction is turned over to it. Opinion is only one factor in the political