Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/376

 362 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

devices make a shock all but simultaneous in its effects. A vast public shares the same rage, enthusiasm, or horror. Then, as each unit of the mass becomes aware of the sentiment of all the rest, the feeling is generalized and intensified. A rise of emo- tional temperature results, which leads in turn to a fresh reaction.

Much depends on how soon after receiving an impression one learns how others have been affected. In the crowd cheers and hisses fall upon the ear while yet the speaker's words are ringing. The member of a public brought into touch by the daily press cannot learn how others respond to a certain stimulus until hours have elapsed. In the meantime, perhaps, he has reflected and got his bearings. This imperfect simultaneity- is not, however, the only thing that differentiates the public from the crowd. If by the agency of a telephonic news service people were brought into immediate touch, there would still be lacking certain impor- tant conditions of the mob-state. The hurly-burly, the wilting of individuality in the press and heave of the crowd, are certainly escaped when, as in the public, contact is purely spiritual. We have seen that in presence the means of expressing feeling are much more copious and direct than the facilities for express- ing thought. In a dispersed group feeling enjoys no such advan- tage. Both are confined to the same vehicle the printed word and so ideas and opinions run as rapidly through the public as emotions ; perhaps more rapidly, for is it not easier for a writer to be clear than to be forceful ?

One is member of but one crowd at a time, but by taking a number of newspapers one can belong to several publics with, perhaps, different planes of vibration. So far as these various unanimities cross and neutralize one another, the vortical suction of the public will be weaker than that of the crowd.

The amorphous multitude may be stampeded head-long into folly or crime by irresponsible or accidental leaders. The public, on the other hand, can receive suggestions only through the columns of its journal. The publicist is in the position of the chairman of a mass-meeting. No one can be heard without his recognition. Since the publicist is a man of some consequence, with a reputation to make or maintain, the guidance he gives his