Transcriber’s Note:

Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are linked for ease of reference.

All illustrations, charts, tables and graphs are accompanied by a separate explanatory page, either preceding or following. Neither are included in the pagination. They have been moved to the nearest logical paragraph break, and demarcated by horizontal rules, which do not appear in the text. A chart, “The Commission Plan”, facing p. [195], is missing from the list of Maps, Charts, and Diagrams.

Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s [note] at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation.

Any corrections are indicated using an underline highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the original text in a small popup.

Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the note at the end of the text.

SOCIAL CIVICS

Books by William Bennett Munro

The Government of the United States

The Government of American Cities

The Government of European Cities

Principles and Methods of Municipal Administration

JUSTICE

By Edward Simmons

This frontispiece is a reproduction of a famous mural decoration in the New York Criminal Court House.

The background is the doorway of the criminal court room. Justice stands before the entrance holding in one hand the conventional scales as a token of impartiality, and in the other hand a globe to symbolize the world. Over her left shoulder is draped the national flag. Condemnation and Acquittal are typified by the two children, one of whom holds a sword, the other the dove of peace.

It has been usual to prefigure the Goddess of Justice with her eyes bandaged, in token of her immunity from outside influence. Mr. Simmons, however, has here portrayed Justice with her eyes uncovered, because he believed that “Justice should have her eyes wide open—particularly in New York City”.

The artist’s wife and two children were the models for this painting.

JUSTICE. By Edward Simmons
Copyright by Edward Simmons. From a Copley Print,
copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston.
Reproduced by permission.

SOCIAL CIVICS

BY

WILLIAM BENNETT MUNRO

PROFESSOR OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY

AND

CHARLES EUGENE OZANNE

TEACHER OF CIVICS

IN THE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, CLEVELAND, OHIO

NEW YORK

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1922

All rights reserved

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Copyright, 1922

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1922

PREFACE

Many excellent textbooks are already available for the teaching of civics. Why should another be added to the number? Wherein does this book differ from the rest? What are its outstanding features?

The Plan. This book covers a wider range than most texts. It includes not only a survey of governmental framework and functions, but many topics which are ordinarily spoken of as questions in economics, sociology, and international relations. The propriety of including such topics scarcely requires a defensive argument nowadays, for the old lines of demarcation in the social sciences are rapidly breaking down. The problems of our complex modern civilization pay no heed to technical boundaries. They are the joint product of political, social, and economic forces. No one can get a grasp of them if he lets his mind run on a single track. A well-organized course in civics, or in the problems of democracy, should acquaint the student with the great institutions, relations, and principles which dominate the life of the community. To accomplish this end it should carry him as far afield as need be.

The Method. Nevertheless, the main theme of this book is American government. No matter what the topic under discussion, the authors have tried to link it up with the drift and purposes of governmental action and policy. This intimate and continuous connection between public problems and public policy is the central concept of the book; it is the thread which holds the various chapters together. There are many winding roads in the broad domain of the social sciences, but sooner or later they all lead through the realm of government.

The authors have not tried to discuss every possible phase of their subject. Questions of outstanding importance have been given the right of way; minor matters have been relegated to the footnotes or omitted altogether. Those who desire enlightenment upon the odds and ends of government or economics can get it from an encyclopedia. The primary aim has been to get the facts hitched up to principles, and to set the principles in their right perspective. For this reason considerable space has been given to problems which, although international in their scope, are of profound importance to the people of the United States.

The Arrangement. No two textbook writers seem able to agree as to the proper order in which material should be arranged. But the sequence of the chapters is not, after all, a matter of much importance. No one feels under any obligation to finish the Book of Deuteronomy before beginning to read the Acts of the Apostles. The teacher who prefers to start with the civic activities rather than with the organization of government should have no hesitation in doing so. In this book, at any rate, each of the larger divisions of the subject is treated independently, and does not depend upon the others. Some schools devote a half year to civics, and a half year to economics. Material adapted to such an arrangement can be obtained by a slight transposition of the chapters.[^[1]]

The Supplementary Material. More than a hundred pages are devoted to lists of general references, group problems, short studies, questions, and topics for debate. It is not anticipated, of course, that any teacher can find time to use them all; but the endeavor has been made to afford ample variety for selection. Among the general references are included not only a few of the most authoritative and most recent publications, but also some elementary books which can ordinarily be found in the smaller school and public libraries. The group problems are intended to be of special service to those teachers who use the “project method” of instruction; but in any event the practice of setting groups of pupils to work upon problems of a comprehensive character is a good one for every teacher to pursue at times. Some of these group problems are “projects” in the strict sense of the term; others are merely research topics of an elementary sort. Some involve field work; some do not. The questions are not designed to be tests of memory, but to provide a basis for socialized recitations, to provoke discussion, and to encourage among the pupils the habit of forming their own opinions. The numerous and varied topics for debate have been inserted with the idea of lending encouragement to one of the most effective methods of promoting interest in public problems.

The Point of View. In dealing with controverted questions, of which there are a great many in the field of civics, the authors have tried to hold the scales justly, and to give both sides a fair hearing. It may be that they have not in all cases succeeded; if so, they can only plead the unconscious partisanship to which all human flesh is heir. In any event these chapters have been written with a sincere desire to promote a more intelligent citizenship, with an abiding faith in the merits of American government, and with the conviction that the people of the United States will prove abundantly capable of solving their manifold problems by the traditional process of reconciling liberty with law.

The Illustrations. Apart from a number of diagrams, the illustrative material has been drawn from the masterpieces of American mural art. They symbolize what is best in our civilization; they may serve to give pupils a passing acquaintance with a few creative works of enduring value; and they have some artistic merit, which most textbook illustrations have not. For the selection of these illustrations and for the explanatory legends which accompany them, I am indebted to my wife.

A Word of Acknowledgment. To Mr. Ozanne this book owes a large part of whatever value it may possess. He has had a great deal to do with the arrangement of materials and the methods of presentation. Every page has had his repeated scrutiny. It is to me a great pleasure to have had, in this work, the close co-operation of one who possesses not only a mastery of the subject but a rare proficiency in classroom methods.

WILLIAM BENNETT MUNRO.

Harvard University,

February 22, 1922.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF MAPS, CHARTS, AND DIAGRAMS

SOCIAL CIVICS

CHAPTER I
HUMAN SOCIETY

The purpose of this chapter is to explain why human beings have come together into a society, to point out some of the chief influences which affect their action in organized groups, and to show that government is the greatest of the agencies through which human co-operative action is maintained today.

The supremacy of man.

Man’s Place on the Earth.—The present organization of society finds its explanation in the nature of man. Man is by nature a social being; he possesses intelligence and the capacity to organize. Among living creatures man is by no means the first in physical power—he is neither so strong as the lion nor so fleet as the reindeer. But he dominates the earth because he more than makes up, by his mental and moral superiority, for whatever may be lacking in physical prowess. We do not know when mankind first began to assert its mastery over all other forms of life on the earth, but it was a very long time ago. Man’s superior intelligence gave him a start, and his capacity for organization enabled him to clinch the victory. Today he is supreme on land, at sea, and in the air.

Evolution.

The Principle of Development.—Human society did not come into existence all at once; it has grown to its present form through the slow process of time. Everywhere we see the principle of development at work—among individuals and among institutions. Everything is still in a continual process of change and this has unquestionably been the case for many thousands of years. Or to put it in another way, new forms of life and institutions are continually being evolved from older forms.

Darwin and his work.

To understand this principle of continual change and development it is necessary to know something about the doctrine of evolution. This doctrine is commonly associated with the name of Charles Darwin, for although many others had hinted at the idea, he was the first to set it forth accompanied by scientific evidence.[^[2]] Darwin’s theory has been much misunderstood; in the illiterate mind it is often summed up by saying that “Man is descended from the monkey”. But Darwin did not say anything of the kind, neither did he ever deny the existence of God as the controlling factor in the life of the universe. Darwin’s theory of evolution asserted that all forms of life now on earth have sprung from a few simple, primitive types, and that human life is an evolution from one of these earlier forms. Human institutions, likewise, did not arise instantaneously but developed from simple and primitive beginnings into their complex structure of today.

Soundness of Darwin’s theory.

The evidence upon which the doctrine of evolution rests is too extensive and too technical to be even summarized here but it is regarded as trustworthy by most scientists.[^[3]] For fifty years it has been studied, discussed, and tested by scholars with the result that educated men are now disposed to accept the doctrine so far as its main principles are concerned although they differ about various details.

It is astonishing how little we know, after all, about the beginnings of things. We do not know when or how life began upon the earth. We do not know the exact origin of man. But we do know that all forms of life and institutions have grown; they were not created in the shape we now have them. All the general laws of life which apply to plants and animals apply also to man. Alike they are born, they are nourished, they mature, and they produce descendants like themselves.

The principle of “natural selection” and the struggle for existence.

The method of evolution, according to Darwin’s theory is based upon the principle of natural selection. It is a well-known law of nature that “like begets like”, in other words that offspring resemble the parent-stock although there may be some individual differences. If it were not so, a definite species would never be perpetuated. All forms of life, moreover, reproduce themselves more or less abundantly. It is said that the progeny of a single starfish exceeds half a million per year. Even the elephants, which are the slowest breeding of all animals, produce a sufficiently numerous offspring to over-run the whole of Africa if every young elephant grew to maturity.

But nowhere does the entire progeny of any organisms, whether plants, animals, or human beings, survive to full growth. If every acorn became an oak tree, there would in time be no room for anything else on the surface of the earth. If every tadpole grew to be a frog, there would be no room for anything else in the waters of the earth. All life, however, is a struggle for existence, a relentless competition for air, sunshine, moisture, and soil on the part of plants, and for food and shelter on the part of animals. The further down we go in the scale of life the more bitter this struggle for existence becomes; small animals eat up the plants; large animals feed on the smaller ones. Higher in the scale, the struggle is not so keen, and among mankind it is the least strenuous of all.

In this struggle for existence, what plants and animals survive? The answer is that those which are best fitted to their environment continue to exist and to reproduce themselves, while those which are more poorly adapted to their environment fall out of the race and disappear. |The survival of the fittest.| In other words natural selection or the survival of the fittest was thought by Darwin to be the principle which determines the course of evolution. The unfit perish and the fit survive, everything depending upon the relative success of the organism in adapting itself to the conditions under which it is endeavoring to live. The clumsy mastodon became extinct; his bones are now relics in museums; but the horse, being fleet of foot, managed to survive. The fit organisms,—plants or animals or human beings,—have survived and have perpetuated the species. They gave to their offspring the traits or qualities which enabled themselves to survive. In that way each generation of organisms became a little better fitted to its environment than the generation which went before. This is a slow process for human beings, of course, for it takes twenty years or more to produce a new generation of men, whereas new generations of birds, reptiles, and lower animals appear every few months. The principle of natural selection, moreover, does not fully account for the form which evolution has taken. Other factors have also been at work, but scientists are not yet agreed as to their nature or importance.[^[4]]

Natural selection as applied to the human race.

Now how does the human race figure in all this? Mankind has also been at all times under the necessity of adapting itself to its environment, and in the early stages of human history those who did not successfully adapt themselves went to an early grave. During century after century natural selection and the other factors strengthened the race. As the race grew stronger in intelligence, man undertook to subdue his environment rather than to be subdued by it, and in considerable measure he succeeded. He discovered the art of kindling a fire and made this element his servant in conquering the cold. He domesticated wild animals, made them provide him with milk and meat, and compelled them to carry his burdens. Step by step he mastered the natural conditions which surrounded him. This he did by his ability to work with his fellow-men. Through this power of co-operation he created group organizations—society, the state, and government.

Today the strong assist the weak.

The struggle for existence among men is not now, therefore, as it was in primitive days, a life-and-death competition for food and shelter. Individuals have come to recognize each other’s rights and to seek even their own advantage by co-operation rather than by strife. The association of individuals in the family and the community serves to preserve the weak whom a keen struggle for existence would eliminate. Our whole system of poor-relief, hospitals, and care for the defective is based upon the idea of giving a fair chance to those who otherwise would be crowded out of the struggle for existence altogether. The competition today is not so much between individuals as among groups, small or large, including competition between whole nations of men.

The relative influence of inheritance and environment.

The Factors in Social Progress.—Two factors have greatly influenced the course of social evolution or social progress. These factors are inheritance and environment. By inheritance we mean the qualities, physical and mental, which each generation inherits from the generation preceding. By environment we mean the general surroundings, physical and social, in which the people live. Mankind influences these surroundings to a considerable extent and moulds them to his own needs, but in turn is also influenced by them. Everything that is characteristic of man is the result of these two forces, inheritance and environment. In some things the first is more important, in others the second. For example, under normal conditions the height of a man or woman is determined almost altogether by inheritance, for no one by taking thought can add a cubit to his stature. Intelligence, likewise, is to a large degree an inherited quality. But morals, manners, education, and personal habits are determined much more largely by environment than by inheritance.

Which is the more potent influence?

The respective influences of inheritance and environment cannot, however, be in all cases clearly separated. Both often work to produce the same result, as when a person who inherits a strong body and a sound mind is fortunate enough to be placed in an environment where both body and mind are developed by out-of-door life and a good education. Sometimes they work in opposite directions, as when a child starts life with a strong physique and good natural intelligence, but grows up in a crowded tenement amid sordid conditions which weaken the one and fail to afford scope for the other. We cannot say, therefore, that one factor is always stronger or weaker than the other. The social progress of the race is promoted by improving both influences. Environment especially can be improved by human effort. Man’s control of his inheritance is not nearly so complete, but everything that conduces to the betterment of health or education and promotes a higher morality is a step towards improving its influence.

The two forms of inheritance.

Physical and Social Inheritance.—The influence of inheritance is exerted from two quarters which may be distinguished by calling them physical and social. |(a) Physical.| By the former we mean the influence exerted upon human beings by the bodily and mental traits which are handed down to them by their own parents. Not all the characteristics of parents are transmitted to their children but mainly those which the parents themselves have inherited. Traits or qualities which have been acquired by the parents during their own lives do not ordinarily descend to their children.[^[5]] Parents who are born feeble-minded will in all probability have feeble-minded children; but parents who acquire through education a high degree of learning and culture cannot transmit any of this to their children by inheritance. There is no royal road to learning. Some of us are born with better or worse possibilities than others, but we are all born illiterate.

(b) Social.

The other form of inherited influence is called our social heritage because it represents the whole accumulation of knowledge, habits, and expedients which have come down to us by the social process of teaching and learning. Each generation of mankind is enormously dependent upon its social inheritance; without it everything that we now call civilization would collapse in a very short time. Each generation takes over all the knowledge possessed by the one which went before; each generation adds something to this stock of knowledge, habits, and expedients for the benefit of the generation which comes after it. Each generation, if it is to live happily, must adapt this social inheritance to its own particular needs.

The two kinds of environment:

Physical and Social Environment.—The other great influence is that of environment. By physical environment we mean the conditions of nature and society in which man lives, moves, and has his being. Physical environment includes the geographic, climatic, and other natural conditions which surround the people. |(a) Physical.| These conditions have an important influence upon the trend of human development and they are not, for the most part, under man’s control. Man must adapt himself and his ways of life to them. In cold climates he must wear warm clothing, provide artificial heat in houses, and consume warmth-giving food. Groups of men must everywhere mould their occupations to the character of the soil, the natural resources, and the other conditions of the physical environment in which they live. It is because of differences in physical environment that the Southern states developed cotton-culture on a large scale and employed slave labor, while the Northern states gave their attention to farming and industry with free labor.

Physical environment, moreover, determines in some measure the relations of the various races with their neighbors. Men will be influenced by neighboring groups of men in so far as physical features make intercourse easy or difficult. A race of men who live on a distant island, or in any other shut-off region, will not be so easily influenced by neighboring races as if they dwelt in the midst of a fertile plain. To some extent, as has been said, man is able to overcome the difficulties which physical environment sets in the face of progress. If there is inadequate rainfall, he may devise a system of irrigation and carry on certain forms of agriculture as successfully as though rainfall were abundant. By means of railroads, steamships, and electric or radio communication he can be in constant contact with other men who are separated from him by physical obstructions. But however much the conditions of nature may be controlled, they still exert a great influence upon human progress.

(b) Social.

The social environment is quite a different thing. By it we mean the conditions altogether apart from geographic or natural features, which influence the daily life of mankind. We include within social environment such things as family life, the schools, the churches, the organization and methods of industry, the form of government—everything that society develops in the way of institutions. Many of these, as has been pointed out, are natural growths, but the mind of man has also had a large part in shaping their course.

How customs and laws create a social environment.

Most of the things we do, whether as a body of people or as individuals, are merely the result of custom or general habit. Why do men have their hair cut short while women let their hair grow long? Why do people wear black when they are in mourning? In some countries they wear white. The answer is merely that every nation, through long-continued habit, develops its own ways of doing things and keeps on doing things in that way regardless of any present reason. Orientals, when they eat their meals, squat on the floor; Europeans and Americans seat themselves at the table. Aryans shake hands when they meet; the Esquimos hold their hands high above their heads as a token of greeting. The gentleman of today, when he greets a lady on the street, raises his hat. This is not a particularly graceful custom, nor is it in rainy weather an altogether hygienic one; but it has been in vogue among the people of western Europe for many centuries. It goes back to the days of chivalry when the armored knight raised his visor to show his countenance and disclose his identity.

Primitive races are governed largely by customs, and not until a race has shown itself amenable to the influence of custom is it prepared to be governed by laws. Laws differ from customs in that they have a definite sanction, in other words are enforced by some official authority. The institutions and practices which make up the social environment may be the outcome of long-standing custom, like the system of trial by jury, for example; or they may be brought into existence by law, as, for instance, the admission of women to suffrage or the establishment of national prohibition. The avowed purpose of all human institutions is to promote the greatest good of the greatest number, in other words to provide the best social environment.

Some Important Social Forces.—The basis of custom is habit. Customs, in other words, are habits which extend |Two important social forces: habit and imitation.| to the whole community and receive its approval. We do not always realize how great a part habit plays in our daily lives.[^[6]] Without it the day’s work could not be done. By habit we walk, eat, dress ourselves, and perform many other common acts. Just think how long it would take a novice to put the various parts of a watch together; but the watchmaker, being habituated to the task, can do it in an hour. The foundation of habit is imitation. One man does a thing successfully; others follow his lead; a habit develops and a general practice or custom may be the ultimate outcome. The influence of custom is usually conservative, for when a custom is once firmly established it does not easily give way. Take the custom of smoking tobacco, for example. Europeans found it in vogue among the Indians when they first came to America; they adopted it and have kept it up for more than four hundred years. Sometimes, however, the habit or custom is only of short duration, in which case we commonly call it a fashion. Fashions come and go. A century ago men used snuff and women powdered their hair; but these things have wholly passed out of fashion today.

The Course of Social Progress.—Having considered the various social factors and forces (development, inheritance, environment, custom, and so on) we are now in a position to ask and to answer the following question: In accordance with what principle has human society developed?

There was a time when even educated people imagined that such organizations as the state were planned in advance, that individuals merely came together in prehistoric days and agreed after calm deliberation to establish a civil government. That, of course, was an absurd idea. Today we realize that one step in social organization led gradually to another, that institutions were not created but evolved, that various social factors and forces exerted an influence upon their development, and that the strongest institutions survived while the weaker disappeared.

Institutions that have succumbed in the struggle for existence.

In the course of human history associations of every type have come into existence; many still continue to flourish while others merely abode their little hour and went their way. The organizations which we have today, including the family, the school, the church, the community, the state, are among those that have survived. Those that succumbed during the long journey down the ages would make a formidable list. Who ever hears nowadays of the totem-kin, the clan, or the gens? Where do we now find tribunes, praetors, augurs, and triumvirates? Absolute monarchy, as a form of government, once held sway over most of the world. But democratic government entered into competition with it, and as there was not room enough for both, one crowded the other off the stage. The great mediaeval institution of feudalism dominated the rural life of Europe for more than five hundred years, but the last relics of feudal tenure have practically all been swept away. The trade guilds of the olden days, the orders of nobility, the crowns and coronets, the soothsayers and the alchemists—all of them have disappeared or are rapidly disappearing. The beaches of history are strewn with the wrecks of social and political institutions. Some others, like the hereditary peerages of a few European countries, are barely able to keep afloat. The institutions which survive and flourish are the ones that have been found best fitted to survive.

Importance of the family.

The Fundamental Social Group.—In human society the foundation-group is the family. Human beings are social by nature; the motive which draws people together is so universal that we call it a natural instinct. Individuals do not live in isolation. Nobody leads the hermit type of life if he can avoid it. Robinson Crusoe was not on his little island because he wanted to be there. Even among the least civilized races of men, among savage tribes, there is a grouping of men, women, and children on the basis of blood relationship. The family, as a unit, is older than either the state or the community. It is the foundation upon which other groups and organizations have been built, hence it is rightly called the “social microcosm” or basis of society.

The function of the family.

The primary function of the family is to keep the human race in existence. Its first duty is the rearing of children so that a new generation may take the place of the old. Other duties that belong to the family may be handed over to the school (the duty of secular education) or to the church (the duty of religious instruction); but the primary function of the family, that of perpetuating the race, is one which cannot be transferred.

The whole stream of human life flows through the family organization. The same virtues which make for harmony in the household,—obedience, co-operation, loyalty, and service,—are the ones which mark good citizenship; therefore the home is the primary school of all the civic virtues. For this reason the collapse of the home and of home life would be nothing short of a human catastrophe.

THE FAMILY. By Charles Sprague Pearce
From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston. Reproduced by permission.

THE FAMILY

By Charles Sprague Pearce

From the mural painting in the entrance pavilion of the North Hall, Library of Congress.

This is the ancient family. The father has just returned from hunting. The mother holds up the baby to welcome him and his little daughter throws her arms about him. On the benches of stone at either side of the group sit the grandmother and grandfather, the latter with the air of a patriarch. By his side lies a scroll. Three generations are placed together in the idyllic environment of which the poets have so often written.

The clan.

Other Social Groups.—Out of the family grew the clan, or group of families united by ties of kinships. In early days the clan was a wandering group, like the gipsy bands of today; but ultimately each clan settled upon the land and became a community. In these communities men became trained in manual labor; they developed customs and the rudiments of a village government.

Then came the next stage—several village communities joined together for defence against their mutual enemies. A loose confederation at first, this group of communities in time became a state, usually with a chieftain or a monarch at its head. In other cases a single village community grew in size to such an extent that it became a city state, like Athens or Sparta. The most notable example of this development is afforded by ancient Rome, where a small community grew into a World Empire. The family, the clan, the community, the confederation of communities, the state, and, ultimately, the nation—that is the general course of political evolution, although this line of development was not in all cases exactly followed.

But the evolution was not confined to political institutions alone. Social and economic groups and institutions developed also. A variety of needs called forth one institution after another, the church, the school, the club, the industrial organization. Each has its own function in organized society.

Government is the guiding hand.

The Rôle of Government.—The dominating factor in the social and economic life of today, however, is the political community (nation, state, and municipality), acting through the agency which we call government. Government is the great co-ordinating factor. Day by day we are looking more and more to government for leadership, for regulation, and for supervision in all our greater social and economic activities. In the field of social and economic effort, all roads lead through government—it is the clearing house of our greater problems. Whether the problem be one of banking, commerce, poor-relief, labor, or defence we must reckon with the hand of government as one of the strongest among constructive and harmonizing factors. Government is the focal point in all civic relations. It provides a thread which winds its way along every main line of civic activity. That has been particularly noticeable in European countries; but it is now true of America as well. The greatest of our socializing agencies is government.

America’s emphasis on individualism.

Individual Liberty and Social Control.—In the United States strong emphasis has always been laid upon individual freedom, and rightly so, because the encouragement of individual initiative is essential to progress in a new country. The exploitation of vast natural resources required that men should be given encouragement to pioneer, and should not be held down by too much governmental interference. “That government is best which interferes the least” was the common notion. Stress was laid upon the prosperity of the individual rather than upon the welfare of the whole people. This doctrine of extreme individualism undoubtedly served a useful purpose in the days when the country’s biggest problem was to increase production and gain for itself a place among the strong nations of the world.

The influence of the frontier.

To a considerable extent this emphasis upon individualism was due to the influence of the frontier. From the first settlement of the country down to about 1880 the American people were engaged in the task of marching steadily westward, conquering the wilderness as they went. This mastering of a great domain demanded qualities of enterprise, initiative, and individual courage. It developed men’s confidence in their own power and made them reliant upon their own efforts. In old countries the natural tendency is for the individual to look to the public authorities for leadership, guidance, and supervision; on the great American frontier the pioneers had to hew their own way. They preceded the state and the community. This emphasis upon individual initiative remained as the frontier rolled west and profoundly affected the whole social temper of the country.

The nature and scope of social control.

In time a reaction came. Social control developed. The more thickly populated a country becomes, the more complicated do the relations of individuals grow, and the greater is the need for general restraint. Social control, however, is not merely negative in its purpose. Its object is not simply to restrain individuals in their freedom of action but to encourage them in the thing which the general welfare demands. The government is the chief agency through which social control is exercised, but it is by no means the only one. Religious, fraternal, professional, and benevolent organizations do a good deal in the same general direction. Their function is to promote collective interests as distinguished from the interests of individuals; they protect the collective interests against the avarice or selfishness of individuals. The government exercises social control by means of laws and administrative orders; other organizations exercise it by their own rules or by customs which the members obey.

The limits of social control.

There is always a danger, of course, that social control may proceed too far. It is not the object of government and of social organizations to run all men in the same mould, making them mere automatons without individuality or initiative. Government should aim to give sufficient scope for every individual to use his abilities in the best possible way. Control over the acts and discretion of individuals is justified only where such control promotes, in the long run, the well-being of the greatest number of individuals. The state is not an end in itself. Society is not an end in itself. The individual is the end. Society and the state are merely means to the promotion of the general welfare and the welfare of the individual. Their activities in the way of exercising social control should go no further than this.

General References

C. H. Cooley, Social Organization, pp. 3-22;

H. G. Wells, Outline of History, Vol. I, pp. 3-103;

C. A. Ellwood, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, pp. 7-59;

F. S. Chapin, Social Evolution, pp. 3-101;

Vernon Kellogg, Darwinism Today, pp. 10-57; 129-157;

J. A. Thomson, Darwinism and Human Life, pp. 181-237;

D. S. Jordan and V. L. Kellogg, Evolution and Animal Life, pp. 1-56;

T. N. Carver, Sociology and Social Progress, pp. 174-270;

E. A. Ross, Social Control, pp. 1-105.

Group Problems

1. How far should society control the conduct of individuals? Why social control is exercised. The extent of social control in older countries,—Great Britain, France, and Germany. Its growth in America. Causes of this growth. The point at which it ceases to be justified. Illustrations. Effects of too much emphasis on individualism. Effects of too much social restraint. Relation of social control to socialism. References: E. A. Ross, Social Control, pp. 49-76; H. G. Wells, New Worlds for Old, pp. 1-55; T. N. Carver, Sociology and Social Progress, pp. 788-808; Ibid, Principles of National Economy, pp. 740-749.

2. What is progress? References: F. S. Marvin, Progress and History, pp. 8-10; John Dewey “Progress” in International Journal of Ethics, xxvi, 312-318 (1916); James Bryce, Essays and Addresses in War Time, pp. 84-102 (War and Progress); George Nasmyth, Social Progress and the Darwinian Theory.

Short Studies

1. The past in the present. H. R. Burch and S. H. Patterson, American Social Problems, pp. 33-43.

2. The beginnings of civilization. H. G. Wells, Outline of History, Vol. I, pp. 183-208.

3. Earlier forms of the family. C. A. Ellwood, Sociology and Modern Social Problems, pp. 108-130.

4. The development of the tribe into the community. J. Q. Dealey, The State and Government, pp. 24-45.

5. The American family as an economic unit. Mary K. Simkhovitch, The City Worker’s World, pp. 1-21.

6. The relation of leisure to family life. Florence Kelley, Some Ethical Gains through Legislation, pp. 105-125.

7. The influence of environment. F. S. Chapin, Social Evolution, pp. 121-170.

8. Habit. William James, Psychology, I, pp. 104-127.

9. The influence of frontier conditions upon the development of American society. F. J. Turner, The Frontier in American History, pp. 1-38.

10. Individualism. Herbert Spencer, Social Statics, pp. 100-136; C. W. Eliot, The Conflict between Individualism and Collectivism in a Democracy, pp. 1-42.

Questions

1. How would you define “society”? Is it an organism? What resemblances to an organism does it bear?

2. Explain the following terms: instinct; impulse; natural selection; social inheritance; social environment; habit; custom; fashion; mob mind; institution; social control. Give examples of each.

3. How has physical environment affected the ideas of the American people in relation to (a) national defence; (b) form of government; (c) social control? How has the physical environment of England affected the ideas of the English people on the same matters?

4. What racial characteristics do you find most strongly marked in the (a) Scotch; (b) Irish; (c) Scandinavians; (d) Italians; (e) Jews; (f) Japanese?

5. Name any institutions, other than those given in the text, which have served mankind for a time and been discarded.

6. Can you think of any customs which are universal throughout the world? Any which prevail in the United States but not elsewhere? Any which prevail in some parts of the United States but not in others?

7. Do Americans in general pay too much deference to custom? Is there any ground for the European idea that there is “too much uniformity” in American life?

8. Are crowds likely to be more conservative or more radical than the individuals who compose them? Give your reasons. What is the difference between a mob, a crowd, a meeting, and a deliberative assembly?

9. The family, as an organization, differs not only in size but in nature, from all other social organizations such as the community, the state and the nation. Show how this is.

10. In what ways would society suffer if the family as a social unit were broken down?

11. To what extent has society the right to regulate, as a measure of self-protection, the institution of marriage?

12. Why have we laid emphasis upon individualism in this country? Explain why this stress is being steadily diminished.

13. Should social control be exercised over (a) the methods of agriculture; (b) the marketing of timber; (c) the production and sale of tobacco; (d) the rates charged by electric lighting companies; (e) the price of bread at retail bakeries; (f) the hours of labor for men; (g) the hours of labor for women; (h) the kind of pictures shown in theaters; (i) the diet of the people; (j) the hours at which young people may be on the streets after dark; (k) the religious beliefs of the people? Tell why or why not in each case. Is a greater degree of social control justified over certain classes of the population than over others? Is it justified at certain times and not at others?

14. If society exercises too little control over the individual, what evils result? If it exercises too much control, what are the consequences (a) upon the individual; (b) upon society itself?

Topics for Debate

1. Physical environment has had a more important influence than racial characteristics in determining the establishment and maintenance of democratic institutions in the United States.

2. Thomas Jefferson was right when he said “That government is best which governs least”.

3. Society is under obligation to ensure every industrious man a decent living.

CHAPTER II
THE PEOPLE, RACES, AND RACIAL PROBLEMS OF
THE UNITED STATES

The purpose of this chapter is to explain how the population of the United States has grown, how it is distributed, the varied races of which it is composed, and the racial problems which immigration has created.

How the national population has grown.

We, the People of the United States.—The national constitution begins with the words: “We, the People of the United States”. But who are the people? No one cares to carry a lot of figures in his head and most people think that statistics are uninteresting; but there are some figures which everyone ought to know and, moreover, there are some statistics which are far from being dry or tedious. The figures relating to the population of the United States, its growth and distribution, are interesting because they portray something that the world has never seen before and probably will never see again,—a country doubling its population four times in just about a single century. That is what the United States did in the hundred years from 1790 to 1890. In 1790 the entire population was less than four millions. (There are more people in the single city of New York today, and almost as many in Chicago.) The population had doubled in 1813, and had doubled again in 1838, when it passed sixteen million. In 1864, only twenty-four years later, it had doubled once more (32,000,000). It passed the sixty-four million mark in 1891, and in all probability will double for the fifth time about the year 1940. In 1920, when the last national census was taken the population had passed 105,000,000.

Will this increase continue? If so, with what results?

Now if you will take the data at the foot of the page and work the calculation to the year 2000 (allowing for the gradual slackening of the increase) what will the population of the United States be then?[^[7]] It will be around three hundred millions, which is more than the white population of the entire world today. Even so the country would not be nearly so thickly populated as some European countries now are. Today there are in the United States about thirty-five persons to the square mile. But there are 700 to the square mile in England and 658 per square mile in Belgium, which are two of the most thickly-populated of all countries at the present time.[^[8]] Three hundred million people in the United States, if the figure should reach that total at the end of the twentieth century, would be less than one hundred per square mile. There would still be six acres of ground for every man, woman and child in the country. Whether there would be a sufficient food supply to support so large a population is another question and one which is not so easily answered.

THE CENTER OF POPULATION

The way in which the center of population has been steadily moving westward is indicated by this map. It will be noted that in its journey to the west it has held closely to the 39th parallel of latitude. The median point, on the other hand, has remained practically fixed during the last thirty years.

The location of the median point is determined as follows: Take the parallel of latitude which divides the country in such manner that half the population is north of that parallel and half is south of it; similarly, take the meridian of longitude which divides the country in such manner that half the population is east of it and half is west of it; the intersection of this parallel and this meridian is called the median point.

CENTRE OF POPULATION
AT EACH CENSUS: 1790 TO 1920
MEDIAN POINT
1880 TO 1920
☆ CENTER OF POPULATION Δ MEDIAN POINT

Some areas are more densely populated than others.

How the National Population is Distributed.—The people of the United States are very unevenly distributed over the face of the country. Great areas, particularly in the West, have only a few persons to the square mile, while the crowded sections of the largest cities have many hundreds to the acre. Even the rural areas of some states are thickly settled while in others the people are few and far between. Rhode Island is nearly as densely populated as Belgium, having about 566 people to the square mile while many states of the Western mountain region have only seven or eight inhabitants per square mile of territory. The reasons for this uneven distribution are chiefly geographical. The states which have grown most rapidly in population are not necessarily the oldest states but the ones which have the greatest natural advantages in the way of fertile soil, or mineral resources, or harbors and waterways, or favorable climate. People make their homes in those regions where they can best make a living.

Climate affects the density of population.

Favorable climatic conditions exert a strong influence in attracting population. It is an interesting fact, often noted by students of history, that whereas civilization developed earliest in the tropical and semi-tropical zones it has everywhere made its greatest advance in the regions of moderate temperatures and rainfall. Taking the broad strip of country which lies between the thirty-seventh and the forty-fifth parallels of latitude, it will be found that nearly four-fifths of the entire population is concentrated within this mid-latitude area of the United States. And this is the area which, in all probability, will continue to be the most thickly settled.

The center of population in 1920.

The center of population in 1920 was at Whitehall, Owen County, Indiana, a little town of forty-three inhabitants which burst into prominence overnight when the census bureau announced it as the pivot of the nation. By the center of population is meant the point which the greatest number of people could reach with the least amount of travel. This point, at each successive census, has been steadily moving westward following very closely the thirty-ninth parallel of latitude. In 1790 it was at Baltimore, in 1840 in West Virginia, in 1880 in Ohio, and since 1890 it has been moving westward across Indiana.[^[9]] The center of population is a long way from the center of area, the latter being in Northern Kansas not far from the Nebraska border.

The Drift of Population to the Cities.—The distribution of the people has also been influenced by the growth of large cities. In 1790 there were only five communities with populations exceeding 8000, namely New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Charleston. Taken altogether they had only 130,000 inhabitants, that is to say only one person in every thirty lived in these towns. But so rapidly did the various towns and cities spring up all over the country that by the time of the Civil War there were nearly 150 with populations above 8000, and today there are nearly a thousand. Not a single American city had 70,000 population in 1790; today there are more than a hundred such cities.

The chief causes of city growth.

This remarkable drift of population into the towns and cities, which began early in the nineteenth century and has continued ever since, shows no signs of slackening. It is due to many causes, including the great demand for industrial labor in the cities, the attractiveness of city life to the young men and women of the country districts (see p. [351]), and the tendency of the immigrants to locate in the crowded centers. Wherever industry and commerce thrive, there cities will be built and will grow. Half the population of the United States is now living in towns and cities of over 2500 population. If the drift to the cities continues at its present rate of progress, ninety per cent of the people will be living in the cities and towns by 1980 and only ten per cent in the country districts. That is already the case in England.[^[10]] One Englishman in every seven lives in London. That seems to be a very striking fact until we remember that one American in every ten lives in New York, Chicago, or Philadelphia. New York City has nearly six millions now; in fifty years, at its present rate of growth, it will be an urban giant of fifteen millions or more.

Why most immigrants go to the cities.

Why do the immigrants go to the cities rather than to the country districts? The chief reason is that most immigrants come to the United States to find work, and work is most easily found in the large cities. The great majority of immigrants have learned no trade before they come to America, hence they must seek jobs which require no great amount of skill or training. Another reason is that the immigrants want to be near others who speak their own language. In every large city these foreign colonies or settlements are created—Italian, Polish, Jewish, and so on. The newcomer naturally prefers to live in one of these colonies until he learns the English language, but having become accustomed to the city he rarely leaves it. Among the many millions of immigrants who have come to America during the past fifty years the great majority have gone to the cities, particularly to the large cities. New York City, for example, contains today more than two million people who were not born in this country. Nevertheless, the cities have not been built up by the immigrant alone. Large numbers of native Americans have left the rural districts and have helped to swell the population of the urban centers.

The Ebb and Flow of Immigration.—The United States has been the melting-pot of the nations. No other country has ever welcomed to its shores so many millions of people from all parts of the earth. One hundred years ago there were relatively few foreign-born persons in the country. But waves of immigration soon began to come and the number of incoming aliens, which was less than ten thousand in 1790, rose to more than four hundred thousand in some of the years preceding the Civil War. The immigrants during this period were for the most part from England, Ireland, and Germany. During the Civil War the influx subsided, but when the war was over it quickly began to swell once more and it continued, with various ups and downs, to the outbreak of the World War in 1914.

Where the immigrants have come from.

In some years, during this period since 1865 the number of immigrants has been as low as 200,000; in other years it has run above a million. Nearly every European race has been represented in this influx, although some have come in much larger numbers than others. Down to about 1880 most of the newcomers were from Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, and the other regions of Northern Europe. But since that date the source of immigration has been steadily shifting. During the past forty years a much larger proportion has been coming from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Greece, and some of the smaller countries.[^[11]] This has brought in many millions of people who are not of Celtic or Teutonic stock.

Effects of the war on immigration.

Upon the outbreak of the great European conflict in 1914 the flow of immigration subsided quickly and while the war lasted it practically ceased altogether. This was due in part to the reluctance of European countries to let their people leave, and in part due to the lack of shipping, since all available vessels were engaged in carrying troops, munitions, and supplies. Immediately after the close of hostilities, however, the exodus from Europe recommenced, and in the year 1920 the figures of immigration once more rose into the hundreds of thousands. In spite of the strict regulations imposed by the United States government, enormous numbers of people in Poland, Italy, Hungary, and various other countries began applying for permission to migrate. The American consular offices in Europe were besieged by long lines of people waiting all day for passports to the Promised Land. In the face of this threatened flood Congress felt impelled to place all immigration under strict limitation, as will be explained a few paragraphs later.

During the hundred years from 1820 to 1920 it is estimated that more than thirty million immigrants reached the United States, which is the largest migration in history.[^[12]] It is true that considerable numbers of these immigrants eventually drifted back to their native lands but the larger portion of them remained permanently here.

The various factors which have caused Europeans to leave their own countries.

Causes of Immigration.—The causes of immigration to this country are manifold. First in importance among them is the economic attractiveness of the United States. Cheap land, equal opportunities, the ease with which any industrious man or woman can make a living—these are the magnets which drew millions of people across the Atlantic during the nineteenth century. But there were other causes, namely, the existence in various parts of Europe of conditions which encouraged the people to emigrate. Religious persecution was one of the first things that drove men or women to America. It brought the Pilgrims to Massachusetts in the early days, the Quakers to Pennsylvania, and the English Catholics to Maryland. Political oppression in the middle years of the nineteenth century sent several million Germans to the United States, particularly to the Middle West. Oppression, both religious and political, has been instrumental in driving the Jews across the seas. Overcrowding in both the cities and the rural regions of Europe and the consequent inability of the people to obtain lands of their own, has been responsible for much of the drift to America. The exhaustion of the soil in Ireland, the crop failures and consequent famines there, have led to the migrations of the Irish, although dissatisfaction with political conditions has also been a factor in this case. To a considerable extent, moreover, immigration has been assisted by those aliens who were already settled in this country. Immigrants arrived in this country and by hard work soon became prosperous. Then they sent passage-money to their friends and relatives until whole groups of families were enabled to come to America in this way. The steamship companies, too, have advertised the attractions of America in all parts of Europe; they have kept agents at work in many countries, and have been an important factor in promoting immigration.

The economic factors have been the most important.

Nevertheless the underlying causes of immigration are economic. Immigrants come in greater numbers when prosperity reigns in America than in periods of business depression. This indicates that high wages and plenty of employment are the things which have the greatest influence in bringing them here. The democratic institutions of America have played their part, no doubt, and the relative social equality which exists among the people of the United States has been an attraction to those who are denied such equality in their own homelands. But the equality of economic opportunity, the open career, the chance of making a good living and even a fortune—these, after all, have been and still are the impelling forces.

How the immigrant has affected American life.

The Effects of Immigration.—A large immigration is certain to have far-reaching effects, particularly if the newcomers be of a widely different race. It has assuredly had far-reaching effects in the United States. Take the importation of the negroes as the most conspicuous example. The coming of several hundred thousand persons of African blood, during the years preceding 1808, has resulted in placing a colored population of more than ten millions in the heart of a white man’s country, with all the social, economic, and political problems that this situation implies. It influenced the agricultural system of the Southern states, provided the underlying causes of the Civil War, and has profoundly affected the politics of the United States down to the present day. The problem presented by the immigration of the various European races has been altogether different because these races can be assimilated whereas the negroes can not. Even so, the European immigration has presented its own problems and the coming of these many millions has had profound effects upon every branch of American life.

The making of a composite race.

Social Effects.—The social effects are chiefly in the way of introducing natural traits or qualities which were not in the American people during the early period. Immigration has resulted in making a cosmopolitan population which is not uniform in temperament or tastes, and can be made uniform only by the long-continued process of assimilation. This lack of uniformity is in some ways an advantage, not a defect. It may give us, in the long run, a more vigorous population than could ever be had from the development of a single strain. Whether the new composite race which ultimately emerges from the melting-pot will be superior or inferior to the original stock is something which only the future can tell. One disappointing feature is to be found in the fact that many of these immigrants are inferior to the average native-born American in physique, in mentality, and in moral fibre. It is sometimes asserted that the immigrant population is responsible for more than its due proportion of crime but no satisfactory evidence has yet been brought forward to prove this statement. It is a fact, however, that poverty and illiteracy are more common among the foreign-born than among the native white population. It is quite likely that the new environment will do much to remedy this condition and that the second generation, through the work of the public schools, may measure up to the native-born. These public schools are the most potent of all forces in the work of Americanization. It is upon them that we must depend to make the ultimate social effects of assimilation beneficial to the country.

Immigration in its relation to industry and labor.

Economic Effects.—Immigration has had important economic results. It has kept the labor market well supplied and throughout the last three-quarters of a century has aided the great industrial expansion of the country. American industry and commerce could not have grown to such proportions without the man-power which has been obtained in such enormous quantities from Europe. We have used great numbers of aliens in building the railroads of the country, in mines and steel mills, in workshops and factories. On the other hand the flood of immigration has at times proved too strong. It has on occasions served to produce an over-supply of labor and this, in turn, has caused wages to fall. Labor leaders claim that the steady stream of immigrants has prevented the rise in the American workman’s standard of living which otherwise would have taken place. Organized labor would like to place a protective duty upon immigrants. If the newcomers could be scattered evenly over the whole country instead of being concentrated in the urban areas, this danger of glutting the labor supply would be very small. In any case, as has already been pointed out, the situation tends to adjust itself, because immigration always falls off when business depression causes a slackening in the demand for labor.

Ways in which the immigrant has influenced American politics.

Political Effects.—The exact political effects of immigration are hard to determine. It is to be remembered that most of our immigrants have come from countries where they were given no political opportunities, or almost none. Prior to their arrival in the United States they have had no experience with democratic institutions. Yet we have freely offered them, after five years of residence, the privilege of becoming citizens and voters. The rest of the world has always looked upon this as a very dangerous experiment in democratic government; nevertheless its results have not been at all disastrous. True enough, the newcomers have often been exploited by unscrupulous politicians and they have sometimes allowed themselves to be misled into supporting incompetent or corrupt candidates, especially in the large cities. But the alien immigrant is not wholly or even chiefly responsible for the bad government that we have had from time to time in various parts of the country. Some of the worst political abuses have flourished in states and cities where the proportion of foreign-born citizens is relatively small. Political reformers rail at the iniquities of “foreign-born bosses”, but the fact is that most of our notorious political bosses have been native-born. Notwithstanding the admission of many million aliens to all the rights of American citizenship it can be fairly claimed that American government in its various branches, national, state, and local, is just as honest and efficient as that of any other country.

The gradual stiffening of the regulations.

The Restriction of Immigration.—Until about forty years ago there were practically no restrictions upon the coming of aliens to the United States, but in 1882 laws were passed by Congress to exclude paupers, criminals, and the insane. All laborers of the Mongolian race were also debarred. Three years later, in 1885, it was provided that no immigrant of any race should be admitted to the United States if under contract to perform labor in this country. And from this date to the present the restrictions have gradually been tightened. In 1917 Congress established a literacy test for all immigrants over sixteen years of age, and in 1921 it made further provision that the number of immigrants admitted each year from any European country should not exceed three per cent of the natives of that country already in the United States, as shown by the census figures of 1910. A tax of eight dollars per person is now imposed upon every immigrant.

Should immigration be altogether forbidden?

There are some who believe that it would be wise to prohibit immigration altogether, at any rate until conditions in both Europe and America become more settled. They argue that we already have as many aliens as we can Americanize for some time; that immigration at the present time increases unemployment, and that the quality of immigrants is now considerably below what it used to be. On the other hand it is urged that the industrial growth of the United States requires a larger supply of labor than can be provided without immigration and that by providing proper facilities for selection we can make sure of getting only the right type of immigrant.

Our Racial Problems.—We have several serious racial problems in this country including the problem of the European immigrants in the East (particularly in the cities), the negroes in the South, and the Japanese on the Pacific slope. The large percentage of European immigrants in the Eastern cities has already been mentioned, and the problems which their presence in these cities creates have been alluded to. The European immigrant can be assimilated, but the process takes time because a large part of it must be accomplished through education. If the immigrants could be persuaded to scatter over the country instead of congregating in the cities with their fellow-immigrants, the problem of making real Americans out of them in a short time would be simplified.

Extent of the negro population.

The Negroes.—The problem of the negro is older and more difficult still. They are of a race so far removed from the white population of the United States that there is no hope of their ever being assimilated. They were brought here by the tens of thousands without any adequate appreciation of the problem which their presence would eventually create, and they form an unmeltable mass in the melting-pot of American society. At the outbreak of the Civil War the colored population of the United States, most of whom were then slaves, numbered less than five millions, or about one-tenth of the total population of the entire country. Now they number about ten millions. In other words the negroes have a little more than doubled in sixty years. This is a much slower rate of natural increase than has been made during the same sixty years by the white population. A high death rate, especially in the cities, is mainly responsible for this.

Economic status of the negro.

The chief home of the negro is still, as it has been from the beginning, in the South. Nearly nine-tenths of the colored population of the United States lives below the Mason and Dixon line, particularly in the great agricultural plain which stretches from Virginia southwestward to Texas. In two states, Mississippi and South Carolina, the blacks outnumber the whites; in three others, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, they almost equal them. Most of the Southern negroes live in the rural districts and are engaged in the cultivation of the soil; those who have made their way to the Northern states, more than a million in all, live chiefly in the cities. During the past few years the negroes have been coming northward in greater numbers.

Can the negro problem be solved?

The problem of the negro has many phases, political, social, and economic. The political problem arises from the fact that although the negroes are guaranteed by the constitution the right to vote they are by one means or another debarred from voting in practically all the Southern states. The economic problems have been due, in the main, to the lack of educational facilities for the negro, and particularly to the absence of opportunities for vocational education. This defect is now being remedied to some extent by the spread of vocational schools, of which Tuskegee and Hampton Institute are the best-known examples. The social separation between the white and colored races, especially in the Southern states, is as absolute as ever it was and there is no reason to think that this separation will ever be broken down. When two races in the same community must live their lives entirely apart there is bound to be some mutual suspicion and distrust. In any case the negro problem, in its various phases, must be solved by the white population of the Southern states if it is to be solved at all.

The “gentlemen’s agreement”.

The Japanese on the Pacific Slope.—Some years ago the influx of Japanese into the states of the Pacific slope gave rise to the fear that the Far West would soon have a great racial problem on its hands if this immigration were allowed to go on unchecked. One of these states, California, enacted laws designed to prevent the owning or leasing of land by Japanese and pressure was brought upon Congress with a view to having the Japanese shut out of the country altogether. In the end, through diplomatic negotiations, a “gentlemen’s agreement” was concluded between the American and Japanese governments by which the latter promised to grant no more passports enabling its citizens to emigrate to the United States, except in the case of merchants, students and others whose residence in this country would be temporary. The Japanese government has lived up to the letter of this agreement, but this has not prevented a good many Japanese coming into the United States under one subterfuge or another. The Western states are determined that their territory shall remain a “white man’s country”; on the other hand the Japanese government is not willing to agree by formal treaty to the exclusion of its own people from any other country. As a great and powerful nation, civilized and progressive, Japan feels that such a treaty would be a humiliation. So there the matter rests at present. Japanese are not forbidden to enter the United States; we are merely depending upon the informal promise of the Japanese government to keep them from coming here.

THE MELTING POT

By Vesper L. George

From a mural painting in the McClain High School, Greenfield, Ohio.

From the giant steamship at the left comes a procession which includes men, women, and children of many races. Each immigrant, whether Greek or Russian, Jew or Gentile, brings some gift of art or skill to lay at the feet of America, his new motherland. The Melting Pot is not a huge cauldron into which all individuality is to be poured so that it may become a homogeneous and commonplace mass, but a crucible in which the gold of character and personality is to be discovered and refined for the enrichment of all.

To the right are the sons and daughters of these immigrants. They have become successful in the trades and professions; they and their children have gained education; they are contributing their share to the wealth, government, defence, and prosperity of the nation. The picture embodies a spirit of true Americanism.

THE MELTING POT. By Vesper L. George
Copyright by Vesper L. George. From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston. Reproduced by permission.
On the Pillar to the left the words Equality and Liberty indicate what the immigrants seek in America. On the Pillar to the right the words Opportunity and Prosperity indicate what they find. On the pedestal are graven the stirring words which Paul addressed to the men of Athens nearly nineteen hundred years ago.

Americanization.—Among the European immigrants now in the United States there are many thousands who cannot speak the English language, who have never become citizens, know nothing about the way in which American government is carried on, and have no comprehension of American political or social ideals. This situation was not fully appreciated until the outbreak of the World War. During the past few years an earnest attempt has been made both by the public educational authorities and by private organizations to Americanize these people by helping them to learn the language, to obtain a knowledge of American history, to become naturalized, and to acquire a proper conception of what American democracy implies. This does not mean, of course, that we desire all people, of whatever race, to possess the same temperamental traits, or hold the same opinions, or have the same point of view. Diversity in individual qualities, physical, mental, and moral, is not undesirable provided the differences are not so great as to prevent the various elements from adequately understanding one another. By Americanization we do not mean, therefore, that every newcomer to this country should submerge his individuality in the general mass, discard his own inherited traits, and put on a veneer of Americanism. Rather it implies that those who are the children of the soil, the native-born, should exemplify the Golden Rule towards the stranger who comes within our gates and should endeavor to show him, by actions as well as words, the meaning of good citizenship in a democracy.

General References

T. N. Carver, Principles of National Economy, pp. 123-140;

J. R. Commons, Races and Immigrants in America, pp. 1-38; 63-106;

J. W. Jenks and W. Jett Lauck, The Immigration Problem, pp. 1-39; 40-66;

Mary Antin, The Promised Land, pp. 180-240;

Edward A. Steiner, On the Trail of the Immigrant, pp. 292-333;

Peter Roberts, The New Immigration, pp. 124-172; 173-199;

E. A. Ross, The Old World in the New, pp. 228-281, and passim;

Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, pp. 1-62;

L. H. Gulick, The American-Japanese Problem, pp. 3-27; 118-183.

Group Problems

1. Should immigration be further restricted? The history of immigration. What the immigrants have done for the United States. Economic, social, and political disadvantages of immigration. The present restrictions. Figures showing the probable influx of immigrants under the percentage system during the next ten years. What further restrictions would improve the quality of immigration? How might these restrictions be enforced? Could the selection be made at the port of sailing? Conclusions. References: P. F. Hall, Immigration, pp. 121-138; J. W. Jenks and W. J. Lauck, The Immigration Problem, pp. 135-197; E. A. Ross, The Old World in the New, pp. 282-304; Peter Roberts, The New Immigration, pp. 341-359; Debaters’ Handbook Series, Immigration, pp. 69-81; 148-163 (arguments on both sides); F. J. Warne, The Tide of Immigration, pp. 313-361.

2. The foreign-born population of your own community. Take some such book as F. A. Bushee’s Ethnic Factors in the Population of Boston, or H. B. Woolston’s Study of the Population of Manhattanville, or Robert A. Woods’ Americans in Process, and note the plan followed in studying the characteristics of foreign-born groups. Some excellent suggestions can be had from Carol Aronovici’s booklet Knowing One’s Own Community. Apply this plan to a survey of your own town or city. Some data can be had from the national and state census reports in the case of larger cities; in smaller communities the material must be gathered by field work.

3. An effective program of Americanization. References: F. S. Bogardus, Americanization, pp. 186-225; Peter Roberts, The Problem of Americanization, especially pp. 45-108.

Short Studies

1. The economic effects of immigration. E. A. Ross, The Old World in the New, pp. 195-227.

2. The immigrant in American politics. M. K. Simkhovitch, The City Worker’s World, pp. 181-209; P. F. Hall, Immigration, pp. 183-198; R. A. Woods, Americans in Process, pp. 147-189.

3. The German immigrant. A. B. Faust, The German Element in the United States, pp. 357-390.

4. The Italian immigrant. R. F. Foerster, The Italian Immigration of Our Times, pp. 374-411.

5. The Slavic immigrant. E. G. Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, pp. 349-377.

6. Our treatment of the immigrant. Jacob A. Riis, The Making of an American, pp. 58-100; E. A. Steiner, From Alien to Citizen, pp. 53-71; 122-168.

7. Immigrant life in the large cities. R. A. Woods, The City Wilderness, pp. 33-57; Ibid., Americans in Process, pp. 104-146.

8. The economic problems of the negro. Booker T. Washington, The Future of the Negro, pp. 42-66; Carl Kelsey, The Negro Farmer, pp. 22-28, and passim.

9. The problem of the Japanese on the Pacific coast. L. H. Gulick, The American-Japanese Problem, pp. 3-27; H. A. Millis, The Japanese Problem in the United States, pp. 152-196.

10. As others see us. Hugo Muensterberg, The Americans, pp. 229-254.

Questions

1. What has been the relative rate of increase of population in your own state during the last two decades? Has the rate been more or less rapid than that of the nation as a whole? To what features is the difference due? What racial elements are strong in the population of your state and in what industries are each of these elements chiefly engaged?

2. What have been the impelling causes of immigration from (a) Germany; (b) Ireland; (c) Italy; (d) Russia?

3. Give four reasons why most immigrants settle in the cities.

4. Explain the principal effects of immigration upon (a) the growth of industry; (b) the scale of wages; (c) municipal politics; (d) the public school system (including evening schools, etc.).

5. Which races are the most difficult to assimilate and why?

6. Make some definite suggestions as to how the conditions of the negro race can be made more tolerable in this country.

7. Should Japanese as well as Chinese be excluded by law from immigrating to the United States? Give your reasons.

8. What mistakes are we most likely to make in our zeal for the Americanization of non-English speaking immigrants?

Topics for Debate

1. The period of residence required for the naturalization of aliens should be extended to more than five years.

2. Aliens ought to be debarred from employment on national, state, and municipal work.

3. The national government should take jurisdiction over and prevent all racial discrimination by the state.

CHAPTER III
ECONOMIC FACTORS AND ORGANIZATION

The purpose of this chapter is to show how wealth is created and how it is distributed among the people.

Primitive needs and modern needs.

The Economic Needs of Man.—The most elementary needs of human beings are for food, clothing, and shelter. Until these are satisfied no higher needs can develop. In the lowest stages of barbarism men are content with the satisfaction of these elementary needs alone; but as they obtain a greater mastery over nature and are able to supply these wants more easily, other and higher wants arise within them. As men and women become more intelligent and more refined, they grow discontented with the primitive and coarser kinds of food; they seek more presentable clothing than the skins of wild animals; they replace their rude huts with substantial houses of wood. Step by step, as the human race has advanced in civilization, its needs have become more numerous and more varied. Purely material requirements being satisfied, other and higher demands arise. The spiritual and social aspirations make their appearance. As mankind passes each stage in civilization it finds, through the growing control over nature, that purely material wants can be satisfied with less and less exertion. Men gain their daily bread today with infinitely less effort than in primitive times. The chief reason is that they have learned to act collectively in mastering the forces of nature; in other words they have achieved a high degree of economic organization.

How the economic motives promote progress.

The Economic Motives.—Self-preservation is the first law of nature. The primeval instinct in man is to look out for himself, to protect himself from hunger, thirst, and hardship. This, for the moment, is more important to him than the satisfaction of his social and civic needs. Hence the economic motive, the instinct which prompts him to seek the means of getting a living, is extremely strong. This instinct the lower animals possess as well, but it does not carry them beyond the satisfaction of elementary wants. The birds of the air and the beasts of the fields have never enlarged or raised the scale of their needs beyond the simple requirements of food, drink, and shelter. No matter how easily obtainable these become they make no progress to anything higher. But mankind, endowed with superior mental faculties and a spiritual nature, does not rest content with the easy earning of a livelihood. The economic motive prompts men and women to move on, to achieve wealth, to procure luxuries, and to gain such happiness as the possession of worldly goods can bring. This economic motive, deeply implanted in humanity, has been a great incentive to progress in civilization,—probably the greatest of all incentives.

The altruistic motive.

Let it not be assumed, however, that because the economic motive is strong in man he is an altogether selfish creature. There is also an altruistic motive which impels him to help his fellow-men, even at personal sacrifice. Men desire to gain wealth for themselves, but having gained enough and to spare, they frequently devote much of it to the assistance of those who have not been so fortunate. The higher our civilization the more marked does this spirit of altruism or economic unselfishness become.

Economic goods.

The Subject-Matter of Economics.—The study of economics does not concern itself with all the possible wants and aspirations of men. It deals only with the production, distribution, and consumption of those things which satisfy man’s desire for (a) material objects and (b) personal services. In other words economics is a subject which concerns itself with the production, distribution, and consumption of economic goods, a term which includes material possessions known as wealth and also such personal services as have an economic value. Not all things of a material sort are economic goods; air and sunlight, for example, being free to all, require no effort on the part of man to obtain. They are called free goods. We apply the term economic goods only to such things and services as satisfy human wants and are not to be had free. Requiring effort to produce, these economic goods are limited in supply and hence have a value in exchange for other goods. For this reason they are commonly spoken of as wealth. Certain personal services, those of the physician, the lawyer, the foreman, the laborer, also have an economic value in that they are limited in supply, satisfy material wants, and can be exchanged for tangible goods. These services form a part of the economic activities of society, a very important part. So the study of economics includes these personal services as well.

Present and future economic goods.

The Consumption of Wealth.—All economic goods are produced for the purpose of being used. This use is what the economist calls consumption. Some economic goods are in finished form, ready for immediate consumption at any time; others are in the form of raw materials or half-finished products not yet ready to be used. Hence we distinguish between present and future economic goods. Economic organization strives to manage matters so that a sufficient supply of economic goods will reach their finished form in time to fill the demands that arise. This demand on the part of the consumers determines the methods and amount of production. If there is no demand for a particular kind of economic goods, these goods will not be intentionally produced. On the other hand a vigorous demand will encourage production and speed up the process of distribution.

Demand and supply.

So we get back, in the end, to the proposition with which we started, that the purpose of economic activity and organization is to supply human needs. Where the need is felt, the demand arises. When the demand arises, the agencies of supply, namely production and distribution, usually respond. One of the great tasks of economic organization, therefore, is to estimate the probable demand and so influence production and distribution that the supply will neither be excessive nor fall short. If there is an over-supply of any commodity, prices normally will fall. That means that goods may bring less than it costs to produce and to distribute them. One reason for the organization of industry on a large scale under great corporations is that supply can thus be kept closer to demand. At any rate the consumer, by his greater or smaller demand, virtually determines all activities of production and distribution. He is the pivot of the whole economic system.

The factors in demand.

Whether the demand on the part of the consumer will be larger or smaller depends on three factors. The first is the utility of the goods to him. Economic goods do not have the same utility to all men at all times. The utility of ice on a warm summer day may be considerable; in midwinter it is next to nothing. The utility of eye-glasses to short-sighted men is great; to men of normal sight they have no utility at all. Economic goods may, therefore have a greater or smaller utility depending upon the place, the time, and the consumer. Bear in mind, moreover, that each consumer matches the utility of one commodity with the utility of other commodities which he finds available, and his demand follows the direction of the greater utility. A second factor in demand is the price of the goods. When the price goes up, the demand ordinarily will go down, because some customers will decide that the utility of their money is greater than that of the goods at the increased price. Finally, demand depends in part upon the purchasing power or wealth of the consumers. In prosperous times, when people have plenty of income, the utility of goods seems greater than the utility of money; in times of depression and low incomes the reverse is true. The interaction of these three factors determines the demand.

What production means.

Economic Production.—Production is the general term applied to all the processes whereby economic goods are adapted to the satisfaction of human wants. We are often told that no man can either create or destroy a single atom of matter. Strictly speaking, therefore, production does not mean the creation of economic goods but the utilization of materials in such a way that they may satisfy the consumers’ demands. This utilization may involve changing their form, as where iron is made into tools or wool into cloth. The miner who takes coal out of the earth; the farmer who makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before; the mason who hews the stone for the building; the baker who makes flour into bread; the manufacturer who takes leather and turns it into shoes—all are engaged in production. So, also, are such workers as statesmen, judges, lawyers, physicians, and teachers. They may not directly produce commodities but their services are essential to the smooth working of the processes of production. The only workers who do not deserve to be called productive laborers are thieves, swindlers, counterfeiters, and other parasites. They often work harder than would suffice to earn them an honest living; but their labor is not productive. They live on what others produce.

Natural resources, labor, capital, organization, and government.

The Factors in Production.—There are five factors in production; namely, (1) natural resources (including land); (2) labor; (3) capital; (4) organization and management; (5) government. Natural resources, without the application of labor to them, do not go far in satisfying human wants. Men cannot live on soil, climate, rainfall, and minerals. Nor can labor and natural resources, when one is applied to the other, succeed in producing all the economic goods which people in an advanced stage of civilization require. Capital is also essential—capital in the form of machinery, or in the form of money to support labor during the process of production. These three things, natural resources, labor, and capital must be brought together, furthermore, and kept working in unison. This is where organization, the fourth factor in production, comes in. It borrows the capital, buys the raw materials, sets the labor to work, and markets the products. Government is not commonly looked upon as a factor in production, but it ought to be. Without the protection and regulation which government affords we could not carry on production at high efficiency. It is government that assures to labor, capital, and organization their rightful shares in the joint production and thus affords them the incentive to do their best.

Land and its resources.

Nature’s Contributions to Production.—Nature contributes to the production of economic goods such things as land, timber, waterways for transportation, minerals, coal and oil, the motive power of steam,—in a word nature provides all the materials and the environment of production. Hence it is fundamentally the most important of all the factors. If one studies the history of those nations which have become great in various periods in history, it will be found that the basis of their material greatness was in practically every case the bounty of nature. Civilization made its first advance in the fertile valleys of the Euphrates and the Nile. Its progress since the dawn of history has been conditioned by man’s success in discovering and using natural resources.

Among the contributions of nature to production some, such as land, can be brought under private ownership. So long as land was plentiful and population scanty there was no occasion for private property in land. When Caesar first came into contact with the Teutonic tribes he found that land was not held in private ownership. Everyone took what he wanted; when the land seemed to be growing exhausted the whole tribe moved on to some other region. But as these tribes grew in number and unoccupied land became less plentiful, common ownership gave way to private ownership. The Anglo-Saxons had reached this stage before they migrated to England.

Rent.

Land held in private ownership can be bought, sold, and leased. When it is leased, the owner receives for its use a payment known as rent. Rent may be defined as the return which is obtained by the owner of any form of natural resource. This includes not only land but mines, water-powers, trout-streams, and so forth. The return which is received for the use of unimproved land is usually called ground rent, while the return which results from improvements such as buildings upon the land, fences, and drains is called improvement rent. Strictly speaking, this is not rent, but a return upon invested capital. The amount of ground rent paid for any piece of land depends upon its relative fertility, if it is to be used for agriculture, and its location. Location alone determines the ground rent of land in towns and cities.

What is labor?