MAJORITIES NOT ALWAYS RIGHT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 9 January 1929, Page 5

MAJORITIES NOT ALWAYS RIGHT

“Neither the people as a whole nor the- majority can be said to be always right,” said Bishop Temple in a discourse reported by the Manchester “Guardian.”

“We cannot define .democracy in these ways if we are to make it workable or wholesome-. The root idea- is simply a respect- for human personality, and the reason why the majority should govern is not because it is certain to be right—with regard to new questions it is certain to bo wrong—but because there is no other method of showing respect to the personality of each individual except bv letting it count for one. '“lt follows that the most scrupulous respect must he paid to minorities and they should he protected in the utterance and defence of their opinions. It seems we can test the wholesomcncss of a democracy at any time by finding how far it respects the opinion of those who from time to time differ from the prevalent opinion of their own group. “Democracy deals with vasi numbers, and from convenience it is hound (o have mass meetings, demonstrations. and so on which are likely to stimulate the herd instinct. How far is there encouragement of those who try to express the unpopular opinion? ’