lature under the plea that it is necessary in
order to advance the general interests of the party by the election of a
United States senator. This possibility of evading responsibility for
the nonfulfillment of its duty as a local legislative body would
disappear as soon as it is deprived of the part which it now plays in
the choice of United States senators.

CHAPTER XIV

EFFECT OF THE TRANSITION FROM MINORITY TO MAJORITY RULE UPON MORALITY

In tracing the influence which the growth of democracy has had upon
morality, we should be careful to look below the surface of present-day
affairs. The deeper and more enduring social movements and tendencies
are not always obvious to the superficial observer. For this reason much
that has been written in recent years concerning our alleged decline in
public morality is far from convincing. Facts tending to show the
prevalence of fraud and corruption in politics and business are not in
themselves sufficient to warrant any sweeping conclusions as to present
tendencies. Paradoxical as it may seem, an increase in crime and other
surface manifestations of immorality, is no proof of a decline, but may
as a matter of fact be merely a transient effect of substantial and
permanent advance toward higher standards of morality.

Before making any comparison between the morality of two different
periods, we should first find out whether, in passing from the one
period to the other, there has been any change in the accepted ideas of
right and wrong. Now, if such is the case, it is manifestly an important
factor in the problem--one that should not be ignored; and yet this is
just what many writers are doing who imagine that they are proving by
statistics a decline in morality. Their error consists in overlooking
the one fact of paramount importance, viz., that the accepted standard
of morality has itself been raised. We are not judging conduct to-day
according to the ideas of civic duty in vogue a century, or even a
generation ago. We are insisting upon higher standards of conduct both
in politics and in business. Our ideas of right and wrong in their
manifold applications to social life have been profoundly changed, and
in many respects for the better. We are trying to realize a new
conception of justice. Many things which a century ago were sanctioned
by law, or at least not forbidden, are no longer tolerated. Moreover,
enlightened public opinion now condemns many things which have