As for the relations between the public relations counsel and his client, little can be said which would not be merely a repetition of that code of decency by which men and women make moral judgments and live reputable lives. The public relations counsel owes his client conscientious, effective service, of course. He owes to his client all the duties which the professions assume in relation to those they serve. Much more important than any positive duty, however, which the public relations counsel owes to his client is the negative duty--that he must never accept a retainer or assume a position which puts his duty to the groups he represents above his duty to his own standards of integrity--to the larger society within which he lives and works. Europe has given us the most recent important study of public opinion and its social and historical effects. It is interesting because it indicates the sweep of the development of an international realization of what a momentous factor in the world’s life public opinion is becoming. I feel that this paragraph from a recent work of Professor Von Ferdinand Tonnies is of particular significance to all who would feel that the conscious moulding of public opinion is a task embodying high ideals. “The future of public opinion,” says Professor Tonnies, “is the future of civilization. It is certain that the power of public opinion is constantly increasing and will keep on increasing. It is equally certain that it is more and more being influenced, changed, stirred by impulses from below. The danger which this development contains for a progressive ennobling of human society and a progressive heightening of human culture is apparent. The duty of the higher strata of society--the cultivated, the learned, the expert, the intellectual--is therefore clear. They must inject moral and spiritual motives into public opinion. Public opinion must become public conscience.” It is in the creation of a public conscience that the counsel on public relations is destined, I believe, to fulfill his highest usefulness to the society in which he lives. THE END FOOTNOTES [1] Cardozo, “The Nature of the Judicial Process” (page 9). [2] Walter Lippmann, “Public Opinion” (page 248). [3] “Public Opinion” (page 342). Mr. Lippmann goes on to say that “having hired him, the temptation to exploit his strategic position is very great.” As to that aspect of the situation, see later chapters. [4] William Trotter, “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War” (page 36). [5] “Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War,” William Trotter (pages 36–37). [6] Page 45. [7] “Public Opinion” (page 350). [8] _Atlantic Monthly_, March, 1914. [9] _Atlantic Monthly_, June, 1914. [10] Francis E. Leupp, “The Waning Power of the Press,” _Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1910. [11] Rollo Ogden, “Some Aspects of Journalism,” _Atlantic Monthly_, July, 1906. [12] “Publicity at Paris,” _New York Times_, April 2, 1922.