The Press--the Novel--the Periodical Literature--the Cinema--the Stage--the Public School--the Academy and University Halls--the Legislative Assemblies . . . are without doubt the high voltage-wires that receive, carry and distribute the current of Public Opinion. Or rather, like the wireless stations they gather those invisible and imponderable waves of thought and feeling that are ever flashing through the intellectual and moral atmosphere of nations, and translate their message to the masses. Between these powers and Public Opinion there is a continuous action and reaction. They are at the same time the _moulders_ and _mirrors_ of Public Opinion. They are its _masters_, but with the condition of being first its _servants_. Of all these creative forces none is greater and more universal than the _Press_. If Public Opinion is the king and master of the modern world, the Press is assuredly his faithful and most active Prime Minister. This chief executive has extended the kingdom of his master to the very confines of the civilized world. Nothing has contributed more to the rule of Public Opinion than the Press. With it ideas and opinions run through the public mind as rapidly as the dispatches that carry them. "Mental touch is no longer bound up with physical proximity. With the telegraph to collect and transmit the expressions and signs of the ruling mood, and the fast mail to hurry to the eager clutch of waiting thousands the still damp sheets of the morning daily, remote people are brought as it were into one another's presence." (Ross-Social Psychology.) The ordinary man now sees the world through his newspaper. He absorbs facts and principles with the shades and variations the daily paper gives them. Reports of events and announcements of policies are colored to suit the aims and opinions of the editors and proprietors. Windy platitudes--at least for those who know facts and have studied principles--become gospel truth for the unthinking mass. Public Opinion is thus conscripted by an "irresponsible power." This irresponsibility of the Press is without doubt the greatest menace of the day. For, the opinions,--we mean to say--the propelling forces of the silent millions are at its mercy. . . . And these silent millions make and unmake the world.