the
individual is very largely the expression of the group in which he
lives. Custom, convention, fashion, public opinion, and other group
influences go far to determine what individual thought and action will
be in any given group. The Tennessee mountaineer has a different
standard of what constitutes true religion from that of the New
England Unitarian. The code of race relationships in Mississippi is
not the same as that in Wisconsin. The standards of the boy's "gang"
determine largely the dress, the ideals, and habits not only of youth
but of the coming man. Even in the life of the individual different
standards exist suitable to the several groups in which he carries on
his habitual activities. The capitalist who corrupts Legislatures with
impunity in business or who prevents child-labor legislation may be a
model Christian gentleman in his home and church life.

It is admitted that in the last analysis the group mind can have its
existence only in the individual minds that compose it. But it is also
true that when we consider the minds of individuals working in groups
with the consciousness of what the reactions of others are, the
results are different from what they are when the individual acts
alone. Moreover, individuals as a class react in much the same way to
stimuli that affect all of the members of the group at a given time.
If the price of milk is raised so that there is suspicion of
profiteering, common resentment appears. If the leadership of a
political party is threatened, the politician, even though he loses
leadership, rarely bolts his group. Instead he finds some excuse for
standing by the party organization. It is not necessary to alter the
minds of all individuals by "conversion" in the conventional manner
either to change public opinion, alter physical conditions, or change
the form of social organization. When these changes are effected in
the minds of the controlling elements of the group, then the entire
public mind and social organization are altered and the social process
goes on stimulated in newer and, it is hoped, better directions.

One or two illustrations should make this point clearer. Several years
ago it was the custom to use common drinking cups on railways. When
first legislation was passed to prevent such use, considerable public
opinion opposed it as foolish. Now, it is difficult to get any one to
touch a common drinking cup even in the home. Before the elimination
of the salo