PUBLIC OPINION by WALTER LIPPMANN TO FAYE LIPPMANN ...

suffered that it might not come to pass, resistance to it was implied
in the death of those who sleep in France.
Because of its power to siphon emotion out of distinct ideas, the
symbol is both a mechanism of solidarity, and a mechanism of
exploitation. It enables people to work for a common end, but just
because the few who are strategically placed must choose the concrete
objectives, the symbol is also an instrument by which a few can fatten
on many, deflect criticism, and seduce men into facing agony for
objects they do not understand.
Many aspects of our subjection to symbols are not flattering if we
choose to think of ourselves as realistic, self-sufficient, and
self-governing personalities. Yet it is impossible to conclude that
symbols are altogether instruments of the devil. In the realm of
science and contemplation they are undoubtedly the tempter himself.
But in the world of action they may be beneficent, and are sometimes a
necessity. The necessity is often imagined, the peril manufactured.
But when quick results are imperative, the manipulation of masses
through symbols may be the only quick way of having a critical thing
done. It is often more important to act than to understand. It is
sometimes true that the action would fail if everyone understood it.
There are many affairs which cannot wait for a referendum or endure
publicity, and there are times, during war for example, when a nation,
an army, and even its commanders must trust strategy to a very few
minds; when two conflicting opinions, though one happens to be right,
are more perilous than one opinion which is wrong. The wrong opinion
may have bad results, but the two opinions may entail disaster by
dissolving unity. [Footnote: Captain Peter S. Wright, Assistant
Secretary of the Supreme War Council, _At the Supreme War
Council,_ is well worth careful reading on secrecy and unity of
command, even though in respect to the allied leaders he wages a
passionate polemic.]
Thus Foch and Sir Henry Wilson, who foresaw the impending disaster to
Cough's army, as a consequence of the divided and scattered reserves,
nevertheless kept their opinions well within a small circle, knowing
that even the risk of a smashing defeat was less certainly
destructive, than would have been an excited debate in the newspapers.
For what matters most under the kind of tension which prevailed in
March, 1918, is less the rightness of a particular move than the
unbroken expectation as to the source of command. Had Foch "gone to
the people" he might have won the debate, but long before he could
have won it, the armies which he was to command would have dissolved.
For the spectacle of a row on Olympus is diverting and destructive.
But so also is a conspiracy of silence. Says Captain Wright: "It is in
the High Command and not in the line, that the art of camouflage is