Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/259

 SOCIAL CONTROL 245

the social orchestra, the keynotes will be industry, thrift, provi- dence, sobriety, probity, civility, the peaceable demeanor, and the keeping of engagements.

The mandarins and literati have no moral program of their own, but they are sure to exalt reverence for order, precedent, and rank. The Jlite, whatever ideal they champion, will be sure to commend the ordering of one's life according to ideas and principles, rather than according to precedent and tradition. For only by fostering the radical spirit can they hope to lead men into untrodden paths. We may lay it down as a law that the character of social requirement changes with every shifting of social power.

Classes differ in readiness to twist social control to their own advantage. Elders, tlite, or genius have rarely abused their social power. But the church triumphant claims exemptions and privileges for its clergy, makes the word of the priest bind- ing even when he is living in open sin, and grants for money indulgence to commit the most horrid crimes. When the fight- ing caste guides social opinion, it is permissible to mulct the husbandman and the merchant, and to condone the violence and sensuality of the men of the camp. Under the ascendency of the rich and leisured, property becomes more sacred than per- son, moral standards vary with pecuniary status, and it is felt that "God will think twice before he damns a person of quality." In general, the -more distinct, knit together, and self-conscious the influential minority, the more likely is social control to be colored with class selfishness.

If we examine the causes that have lightened the yoke of control in America and fostered a notable growth of individual- ism, we find a striking confirmation of the foregoing principles.

It is not natural for men of a vigorous northern breed to bend the neck. The monopoly of social power, then, by warrior, priest, or capitalist flows from certain conditions, and may be expected to disappear when these conditions disappear. Now, the men who built up society in the New World were in every way encouraged to rely upon themselves. Their only enemies, the Redmen, could be fought individually and did not call into