some days the guest of an Episcopal
clergyman, who, anticipating the visit of a German, had set up a
bottle of excellent beer as a welcome, and we drank together the
larger part of the bottle--but I think that is my only case in late
years. When I had to attend a Students' "Commers," I was always
protected by the thick mug through which no one could discover that
the contents never became less during the evening. I live most
comfortably in a pleasant temperance town which will, I hope, vote
no-license year by year as long as freshmen stroll over the old
Harvard Yard. And although I have become pretty much Americanized, I
have never drunk a cocktail.

The problem of prohibition, thus, does not affect my thirst, but it
greatly interests my scientific conscience; not as a German, but as a
psychologist I feel impelled to add a word to the discussion which is
suddenly reverberating over the whole country. But is it really a
discussion which we hear? Is it not rather a one-sided denunciation of
alcohol, repeated a million times with louder and louder voice, an
outcry ever swelling in its vehemence? On the other side there may be
the protests of the distillers and brewers and wine-growers and
bottle-makers and saloon-keepers, and perhaps some timid declarations
of thirsty societies--but such protests do not count, since they have
all the earmarks of selfishness; they are ruled out, and no one
listens, just as no one would consult the thieves if a new statute
against pickpockets were planned. So far as the really disinterested
public is concerned, the discussion is essentially one-sided. If
serious men like Cardinal Gibbons raise their voices in a warning
against prohibition, they are denounced and overborne, and no one
cares to imitate them.

_The Fundamental Evil of American Public Opinion_

It has been seldom indeed that the fundamental evil of American public
opinion has come out so clearly; namely, that no one dares to be on
the unpopular side; just as in fashion and social life, every one
wants to be "in it." No problem has in America a fair hearing as soon
as one side has become the fashion of mind. Only the cranks come out
with an unbalanced, exaggerated opposition and thus really help the
cause they want to fight against. The well-balanced thinkers keep
quiet and simply look on while the movement rushes forward, waiting
quietly for the reaction which sets in from the inner absurdity of
every social extreme. The