American Association for Public Opinion Research

What Holds Nations Together

Author(s): Henry Haskell
Source: The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 1, Special Supplement: Public Opinion in a
Democracy (Jan., 1938), pp. 88-94
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Association for Public
Opinion Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2744794
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theeconomicpart,will not be un- lines,thatwe meanthespiritual

side
attainable.
of democracy.
On theeconomicside,democracy There are ways of seekingthe
demandsthatsocietybe so ordered good life,otherthanthedemocratic
has a way. We shall not be disgracedif
thatthe spiritualaffirmation
chance to come true. I know, at we chooseone of theseotherways.
firsthand,partsof New YorkCity, But we shallbe disgraced
ifwe preminingcoun- tendto choosethe democratic
partsof theKentucky
way,
try,partsof the Georgiaand Mis- withoutreallydoingso.
Beforewe can be unitedwe must
sissippifarmcountry,whereit is
today,to talk know whata bold idea democracy
merelyaggravating,
abouta man's"right"to look after is, and knowthatwe stillwantit.
himselfand his familyin decency. That want-that act of will-is a
I believeAmericais
It will not be easy to make that moral effort.
"right"cometrue.My pointis that capable of the effort-butonly if
it will not even be possible,unless we remain steadilyconsciousof
effort
it
and exciting
we make sure,beforetryingto re- whata difficult
formour economyon democratic is.
WHAT

HOLDS

NATIONS

TOGETHER

HENRY HASKELL, Editor,Kansas CityStar

I proposeto approachmy sub- Romanruinsin thesouthof France
ject by way of a Europeanjourney and got a thrillin drivingoverthe
made last spring.The journeyled Pont du Gard-the superbbridge
throughsouthernFranceto Rome, and aqueduct the Romans built
Rome
thenbackto Londonforthecorona- 2,000 yearsago. Revisiting
tion. On this pilgrimageI made forthe firsttimesincethe MussoI was immensely
I discov- lini excavations,
two excitingdiscoveries.
ered that the Roman Empirefell impressedby the massiveremains
Eng- now so magnificently
displayed.So
and thatthethousand-year-old
is a going concern. theage-oldproblem
cametomewith
lish monarchy
new vividness:how did it happen
hatredand envy.
I be- that all of this enormousenergy,
Both of thesephenomena,
lieve,had attractedsome attention engineeringskill, and administraand commentbeforeI discovered tive abilitythat made the Roman
them. PerhapsI can explain my Empire,shouldhave fadedout?
I was still reflecting
upon these
quaintlyexcitedframeof mind by
of the journey. problemswhen I foundmyselfin
the circumstances
ofWestminster
Abbey,
For the firsttimeI saw the great thetriforium

88

thathas come roofof a greatbuildingbegan to

a ceremonial
watching
down with little change for ten leak nobodyknew how to fix it.
centuries.The anthem,Zadok the When the buildingbeganto go to
of piecesit could not be repaired.So
Priest,was sungat thecoronation
Alfredthe Great.On thisspotthe civilizationcollapsedin the night
Conquerorwas crowned.For the of theDark Ages.
momentwe were livingin the reBut it was the disintegration
motepast.Yet we were constantlywithinthat admittedthese waves
remindedthat this ancientrealm, of ignorance.What we are confoundedon conquest,has developed cernedwith today is a glance at
bindingforces.The pres- thosefactorsin the generaldeteriintangible
ence of glittering
Indian potentatesorationthattendedto destroythe
brought originalunityof theRomanpeople.
in thecoronation
procession
to mindthefactthattheBritishRaj
So faras I can judge,therewere
directsthe destinyof the 365,000,- three such principalfactors.The
ooo people of India with a little firsthad to do witheducation,the
white secondwith extremecentralization
bandoffewerthana thousand
and the third,and
and a thinredlineof of government,
civilservants
with the growing
fewerthan 6o,oooBritishsoldiers. most important,
The fallofRome,thepermanence divisionbetweenrichand poor.
Therewas a culturedupperclass.
of England-here,it seemsto me,
aretwophenomena
thatmightcarry But the mass of the people were
at least,forthe Amer- hardlytouchedby education.The
suggestions,
ican Republic,if one could really richlivedin a worldoftheirownto
whichtheplebshad littleaccess.It
get at the causes.
What unifyingforcesweakened was to what WilliamAllen White
underworld"
or were brokenin Rome to cause hascalledthe"moronic
the Empire'scollapse?What forces thatthe leadershad to appeal for
The lackofa commonbasis
ag- support.
thatextraordinary
hold together
gregationof peoplesknownas the of thoughtand ideas becamea disin the Roman
Have these organizinginfluence
BritishCommonwealth?
historic
forcesanyrelationto Amer- world.
ican democracy
The empirebroughtthe miracle
today?
A pupilof Lanciani'stoldme in of the Romanpeace to Europefor
Rome last springthat the great two centuries.But its highlycenused to say in tralizedand pervasiveadministraItalian archeologist
thatRomewas destroyedtiongraduallybluntedthe senseof
hislectures
Wealthwas based,
In succes- socialobligation.
by "wavesof ignorance."
buton the
killed noton economicservice,
sive invasionsthe barbarians
on
the engineersand othermen who plunderof conqueredterritories,
Manyof
knew how to do things.When a slavesand on speculation.

89

assentto
the leaders,demoralizedby luxury, speaksof the "disciplined
becamecynicaland lethargic.Life the decisions of the majority."
"by
wentstaleon them.Romansociety, Classes,he believesaresundered
interests,
not by
as Rostovtzeff
says,lostits nerve.It fairlyreconcilable
already was disintegrating
before memoriesor passions."
thetragiccollapseof thethirdcenG. J.Renier,says
A Dutch critic,
tury.
that English democracytakes for
Bothof thesefactors
of imperfectgranted a sense of decency in
educationand of upper-class
demor- the governingand the governed.
in
alizationare closelyalliedwiththe "It impliestrustand moderation
reallyfatallack of unityin Rome, manydirections,"
and a tradition
of
bothin republicand empire,arising freecriticism.
fromthe growingdivisionbetween Of course,it is quite possibleto
richand poor.
sea
describeEnglandas a reformed
The century
ofcivilstrife
thatde- robberprotecting
his booty,as an
stroyedthe RomanRepublicwas a Americanwriterhas done. Or to
conflict
betweenthe haves and the agreewiththeFrenchviewthatby
have-notsfor a betterdistributiona curiouscoincidencethe interests
of property.The disorderfinally of the BritishEmpireand of huwas endedbythedictatorship
ofthe manity and civilization always
empire.But while Gibbon thinks marchhand-in-hand.
Or to takethe
theracereacheditshighestpointof continentalpositionmore brutally
well-being
and happinessunderthe expressedby that embittered
GerAntoninesthe real pictureemerges man, ProfessorWilhelmDibelius,
in thecrisisthatfollowed:theurban that hypocrisy
is the outstanding
and ruralproletariat
grewand did Britishtrait.
of the
not sharein the prosperity
and by and large,I
Nevertheless,
rich. Then when the emergencybelievewe mustadmitas unifying
cameand theempireneededdefend- forcesin the Britishdemocracy
an
ing,therich,Rostovtzeff
ofmoderasays,could unusualsenseofdecency,
not be arousedfromtheirindiffer-tion,of justice,of tolerance,
of conence and the poorwerefilledwith fidence,and of readinessto arrive
hatredand envy.
at practical compromises.IncidenTurningfromRometo England, tally,we findthesequalitiesin the
I inviteyour attentionto certain greatdays of the RomanRepublic,
commentby two keen and persisting
significant
in theempire.Their
Continental
observers.
AndreMau- disappearance
was coincidentwith
rois, with detachedGallic clarity, its disintegration.
remarksthatthe key to ten centuries
If thisdiagnosisis approximately
of comparatively
happylife"lies in correct,
we haveto inquirethenhow
the power of compromise."He we can maintaina commonmoral

9o

in our
and intellectual
background
society;how we can keep it from
stratifying
andfallingapart;howwe
can strengthen
thegeneralsenseof
decency,
oftolerance,
ofmutualconof
fidence,and the give-and-take

pers and the radio, all phases of

uniadulteducation,are important
So are literature
fyinginfluences.
H. A. L. Fisher
and art.Professor
suggeststhatthe writingsof Livy
and Virgil helped maintainthe
unityof the RomanEmpire.What
fair compromise.
Fortunately,
ourearlyhistory
was a bindingforceupon the Englishfavorableto the democratic
system. speakingpeoplesis theircommon
Frontierconditions,as Professorliterature!
FredericJ. Turnerpointedout,enThe backgroundof moral ideas
couraged the neighborlyvirtues. and ideals is essentialin holding
Von Bernstorff
told
The greatNorthwest
Ordinanceof societytogether.
thatGer1787 expressed
a generalconviction the ReichstagCommittee
in sayingthat "Religion,morality,man propagandagot nowherein
and knowledgebeing necessary
to America during the World War
in fundagood government
and thehappiness becauseof the disparity
of mankind,schoolsand themeans mentalidealsof thetwonations.
These ideals may be definitely
of educationshall be foreverenin the schools,the press,
cultivated
couraged."
While the skepEducation,in its widestsense I and the churches.
suppose,is at thebottomoftheuni- ticalGibbonwrotethathis account
fyinginfluences.
Free researchis ofthefalloftheRomanEmpirewas
necessaryfor an understanding
of the historyof the triumphof barthecausesof disintegration
and how barismand religion,anotherhisto meetthem.Here lay a conspicu- torian,Polybius,
at theheightofthe
ous failureof the Romans,whose RomanRepublic,saw in religion,
in
lack of imagination,
as H. G. Wells spiteof its superstitions,
a binding
says,was as massiveas theirarchi- force.As expressedin ardentand
tecture.The inventionof money narrowsectariesit may be disinnearlywreckedthembecausethey tegrating;the Ku Klux Klan, for
had not the faintest
notionof how example.But in general,religion
to manageit. The freestudyof so- bringsmen together
in recognition
cial and economicproblemsin the of commonideals.
universities
and in such centersas
The senseof decencyhas become
the BrookingsInstitute
shouldfur- an Americantradition.It is the
nish us the information
neededto productof frontier
qualitiesdevelrecognizeand developthe unifying oped underfreedom.Righteducafactorsin our socialstructure.
tion may help maintain and
Such conferences
as thisat Wil- strengthen
it. Thereare needed,as
liamstown,
theworkof thenewspa- well,certaineconomicstandards.
It

9I

wouldbe a miracleif a properatti- in a positionof leadership-politilabor-to appreciate

tudeshouldemergefromcityslums cal, industrial,
of the principleof
or the share-cropper
regionsof the the importance
and to set an example
compromise
South.
in governmentby practisingit on all suitable
Popularconfidence
may well occasions.
thatMr. Reinerstresses,
on
concern
us becauseofitsinfluence
Finally,we face the problemsof
the
division of societyinto the
D.
Baker
nationalunity.Newton
mostdanas
saying
haves
and have-nots-the
Mr.
Madariaga
has quoted
factorin the
is possibleonly gerously
disintegrating
to him,"Democracy
so long as the mass of the people modernworld,as it was in thedays
retain faith in their leadership." of Rome.In England,eventhestern
Loss ofsuchfaithopenedthewayto and unbendingTories constantly
bygivingway
therevoltin Spain.
havemetthesituation
has had a
Obviously,the leadershipmust beforegreat bitterness
we
if faithin the chanceto develop.Verybriefly,
deserveconfidence
But the maymerelysuggestforAmericathe
is to be retained.
leadership
diffi- need of maintainingminimum
problembecomesincreasingly
cult as the radio makesit possible standardsof living,of keepingopfor cleverpoliticiansto capitalize portunity
open so that,in Victor
emotionand prejudice.
Here,again, Hugo's words,theremaybe a conare stant processionup the stairsin
I imaginedecentlivingstandards
prophylactic.
the mosteffective
golden slippers,even if thereis a
toleranceand readi- constantprocession
Fortunately,
down the stairs
have beenbred in woodenshoes,offostering
nessto compromise
a large
into the Americanstrainthrough and growingmiddleclass whichis
underwhichthecoun- theessential
theconditions
cementofa democracy.
in limittrywas settledand undertheschool- We have made progress
of menacingly
ing of the commonlaw and of ing theaccumulation
Europeans greatfortunes,
democraticinstitutions.
and in using taxaat theway tion to give the under-privileged
oftenexpressamazement
a
in which the resultsof a hard- largersharein thegainsof civilizafoughtelectionare acquiescedin by tion.How farthislevellingprocess
Readinessto acceptthe can go withoutstoppingprogress
Americans.
necessaryunder ma- and loweringthestandardof living
compromises
to holda nationto- is ;2nicequestion.In Romeit went
tends
rule
jority
gether.Ardentlycherishedideol- to thelengthof demoralizing
large
as
the sections
ofthepopulation
withbread
ogies,such thoseunderlying
of Europe,are explo. arxlcircuses,
dictatorships
whileit had a deadensive forces.. With this fact recog- ing effecton the incentiveof the
nized,it is itheplaindutyof tho<se more enterprising
men. Plutarch

92

says that,"the man who firstruined

the Roman people was he who first
gave them treatsand gratuities."
I realize thatthisdiscussionseems
to offeronly feeble ways to control
the powerful centrifugalforces in
the American democracy.Whether
individual effortcan greatly affect
them is far from certain. Yet the
contrastingexperienceof Rome and
England may help to a betterunderstandingof how theseforceshave
arisen in the past and of how they
are being held in check in one importantsectionof the modernworld.
And progress depends on understanding.
Discussion
MR. LucE: There can be manyop-

posing groups and factionsin a democracy but they have a unity in

their common belief in freedomof
discussion.That is the basic unifying influencein a democracy.That
unity we hope is strongerthan the
unity of military and dogmatic
nations.
But I would add one otherunifying influencewhich is peculiarlyimportant at this moment. And that
is that we need to be able to feel
a pride in the achievementsof our
countryand of its people under a
democracy.We have no enemies on
our borders. But we have enemies
everywherein the world who hate
our way of life. Our enemies are
proud. They despise democracyand
sneer at it. The Fascists are proud.
The Communistsare proud.

We havebeenverybusyrecently,
tellingeachotheraboutthesinsand
evils in our society.And we may
be proudof our capacityto correct
of sin.But are theresome
ourselves
otherthingsof which we can be
proud?If so, let us findthem.For
we needto havea prideof achievetodayto pit
mentin a democracy
vanityof
overwhelming
the
against
tyranny.
MR. LINDEMAN:

Will a few mem-

bers of the audiencebrieflymentionwhatyouthinkwe oughtto be

proudof in the Americandemocracy?
MEMBERS:

Religious cooperation

-The freepublicschoolsystemThe factthatwe havesettledall but

one of our internaldisputeswithpluralthrough
out violence-Unity
ity,E PluribusUnum-The rights
of all minorities,including the
oflabor-The factthatour
minority
democracyis based essentiallyon
respectfor the individual,regardless of whatgrouphe belongstoThis is still the freestcountryin
ofselfpursuit
theworld-Intelligent
for self-developinterest-Freedom
of a govment-The achievement
ernmentso good that its people
knowit can be better.
MR. LINDEMAN:

As a student I

am veryproud of our American

I thinkwe have proscholarship.
scholarsin
ducedsomeof thefinest
the last sixtyor seventyyears.At
the momentI thinkof the Amerithere
I doubtwhether
can historian.
is anywherein the world a finer

93

groupor thattherehas beena finer lic land in Americaforthe use of

tradition
thanthewriting
of history the people'sleisure.
On theotherhand,I supposewe
that came about in Americawith
the beginningof the school of have to facethefactthatour greatAdamsand McMasterand Schouler estsourceof shamein America,for
whichwe muststillatone,lies not
and Prescott,
etc.
or
in eitherthisarea of scholarship
I am proud,also, of the Amerithe area of our beautifulland,but
can land. BecauseI am the son of
in whatwe havedoneto eachother.
an immigrant
I havea peculiarsort
We have 4,300,000pupils in our
of pridein the Americanland. A highschools.But do youknowthat
fewyearsago I visitedourNational in Washington,
Mr. Edgar Hoover
Parks.We nowhaveone and seven- has justthatnumber-4,300,000-of
tenthsacresper personof freepub- knowncriminals
in his files?
A SUMMARY
INFLUENCES

STATEMENT
OF UNIFYING
IN A DEMOCRACY

EDUARD C. LINDEMAN, New YorkSchoolof Social Work

The real threatto American democracydoes not come from without, that is, from the totalitarian
states of Europe, but rather from
within, that is, from the forces of
disintegration operating within
American life.
iDemocracycan functionsuccessfully in the political sphere only
when thereexistsan effective
minority. This minoritymust never become sufficiently
powerfulor recalcitrant to defeat the will of the
people.
Democracy cannot persist unless
all the channelsof freedomare kept
open, especiallyfreedomof expression and freedomof research.Democracywill fail if we cannot soon
establish an honest and intelligent
civil service.Public education is an

94

instrument
of democracy.
The basic
spiritualassumptionsupon which
democracy
restsare stillalive and
activeamongthe Americanfolk.
Thesearetheexpected
convictions
of men of good will. But, taken
merelyas expressions
of good will,
Our taskis not
theydo not suffice.
primarily
thatof conserving
or preservingthe democracy
whichnow
exists,butratherto bringourtraditional Americandemocracyup-todate,to makeit compatible
withthe
necessities
of a technological
age.
to the
Those who givelip-service
democraticideal must carrytheir
affirmations
further.
Theymustprepare themselves
to act on behalfof
fundamental
economicjustice.This
requirescourageas well as faith.
The major threatsto American