858 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
idea. This school soon went from attacking the representatives of the church to denouncing the principles of the church. To them freedom of worship and political liberty were only the outer garb of free thought. Absolute independence of mind was their one idea. The emancipation of the individual alone was worthy of the struggles and sufferings of the human race. Revolutions and butcheries found justification at their hands if one social authority or custom were destroyed, and to curb in the least the fantasies of the mind was the unpardonable sin. For them civilization had no meas- ure except the independence of individual opinions. They were concerned, not with freedom of conscience, but with freedom of thought, a purely intellectual freedom which would abolish all authority superior to the mind of man. They confounded truth with the mind that conceived it. Reason was made supreme in all things. Good and bad, the true and the false, became only matters of opinion. This school brought into question God, the soul, moral responsibility, the distinction of good and bad, national traditions, social sanctions, public powers, laws, customs, the family, creeds, codes, and institutions all the work of centuries. They proclaimed that the true function of intelligence is to compare systems and analyze ideas.
Not in the material realm the Revolution worked its greatest ruin, out in the realm of ideas. The intellectual anarchy it brought with it is more to be regretted than the political chaos it caused.
As when a flood recedes there appear new forms of land, so out of this torrent of intellectual and political anarchy came two new forms : democracy, with its accom- paniment of universal suffrage, and the republic. The permanency of these institu- tions is not yet assured. It is doubtful whether wisdom resides with the majority. To say that it does is to say that one vote is as intelligently made up as another. This, however, can hardly be believed when men are so unequal. Why should we talk of conscience and responsibility when all we need in deciding great questions is to count up the votes ? Nothing is more changeable than the popular will. Ideas and beliefs are judged, not by their intrinsic merit, but by the number of those who hold them. Such a regime subordinates knowledge to ignorance, mind to matter, and intellect to instinct, and can only destroy in the people all notions of order and justice, and render impossible any union of social elements.
Universal suffrage implies popular education. Emblems and national songs are among the most powerful means of popular education. They give in a sign or a sen- tence the inspiring thoughts of the people and constantly call out their feelings of patriotism. For a republic no words are more thrilling than " liberty, equality, and fraternity." For some people national holidays are a means of cultivating a national unity. But for France to commemorate great days is to dwell on days of violence and bloodshed, is to celebrate fury and cruelty. If the above were the whole of our his- tory, we should be a people without faith, without hope, and without guides. (To be continued.) M. FAVI&RE, "L* Anarchic intellectuelle," in Reforme sociale, January 16, 1901. T. J. R.
State Boards of Control. An increasing population and the growth of humani- tarian sentiment have resulted in a rapid increase in the number of state institutions for the care of the unfortunate and the reform of the unsocial members of the com- munity. In order to correct loose and irresponsible methods in the administration of these charitable and correctional institutions there has been a noticeable increase in the number of central responsible boards in the states. These boards may be grouped into two classes : the first have the powers of supervision, inspection, and recom- mendation, but leave the business management of each institution to a local board of trustees ; the second exercise a positive control over the state institutions, and assume full responsibility for their management, and also exercise a control over the localities in certain phases of their charitable and reformatory work.
Among the state boards of charity and reform which have combated the tendency toward centralization, the state board of Illinois has been especially conspicuous. A perusal of the reports of this board will discover many complaints common to the class first named above : complaints of the need of a larger authority for the state board, particularly in the treatment of the insane by the county authorities ; com- plaints of political influence in appointments ; of lobbying and wastefulness in secur- ing appropriations ; of careless and unsystematic methods of the local boards of
