Part 43 (1/2)

21. Organization of charity in France. (Henderson, _Introduction to the Study of the Dependent_, etc., chapter ix.)

22. Organization of charity in Holland. (Henderson, _Introduction to the Study of the Dependent_, etc., chapter v.)

23. Organization of charity in Germany. (Henderson, _Introduction to the Study of the Dependent_, etc., chapter i.)

24. The spirit of social work. (Devine, _The Spirit of Social Work_.)

25. Tendencies in social service. (Warner, _American Charities_, chapter xxiii.)

FOR CLa.s.sROOM DISCUSSION

26. To what extent is the number of inmates in inst.i.tutions for the dependent cla.s.ses an accurate guide to the extent of dependency throughout the state or nation?

27. Should all inst.i.tutions for the dependent cla.s.ses be placed under the direct control of the state authorities?

28. Should the state authorities attempt to administer relief to dependents who remain in their homes?

29. Should the giving of alms by individuals be abandoned in favor of the practice of treating dependency entirely through professional or official agencies?

30. What should we do when street beggars ask us for money?

CHAPTER XXV

RURAL LIFE

290. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RURAL LIFE.--Agriculture is our oldest and most basic industry. Almost half of our people are found in the rural districts, most of them subsisting directly upon the products of farm, forest, and range. Directly or indirectly our cities are largely dependent upon the country. The foodstuffs consumed in cities, as well as the vast quant.i.ties of raw materials used by our manufacturing industries, come largely from the rural districts. To some extent even our urban population is recruited from the ranks of the country folk.

Altogether, American rural life is a matter of vital concern to the nation. ”Our civilization rests at bottom,” Theodore Roosevelt once said, ”upon the wholesomeness, the attractiveness, and the completeness, as well as the prosperity, of life in the country.”

291. NATURE OF THE RURLAL PROBLEM.--Contrary to popular belief, the rural problem arises not so much from the actual degeneration of rural society, as from the fact that many rural districts have failed to progress as rapidly as have urban communities. Compared with his predecessor of a century ago, the farmer of to-day is better fed, better clothed and housed, and better able to secure adequate education and recreation. At the same time the relatively greater advances which urban communities have made in economic and social activities render the improvement of rural life highly desirable. The specific problem of rural life is to develop in the country economic and social inst.i.tutions which are especially adapted to the farmer's needs. Not until this is done shall we be able to maintain on our farms a cla.s.s of people who can make the maximum contribution to American life in all of its phases.

292. THE RURAL PROBLEM IS OF RECENT ORIGIN.--The most spectacular development in American economic life has been the introduction and growth of the factory system. Commerce and manufactures were important during even the colonial period, and during the first half century of our national history our dominant economic interest was the fostering of manufacturing, domestic trade, and transportation. With the development of manufacturing came the growth of the cities, and with the growth of the cities added attention was called to immigration, crime, health, and related social problems. Farm life, so familiar and apparently so healthful, was not thought of as const.i.tuting a national problem until late in the nineteenth century.

293. THE CITYWARD DRIFT.--A half century ago more than three fourths of our population was rural; to-day less than half of the people of the United States live in the country. Both urban and rural districts have been steadily increasing in population since the opening of the nineteenth century, but since 1900 the city population has increased three times as fast as has the rural population. One reason for this more rapid growth of the cities is that since the eighties the majority of our immigrants have flocked to the cities rather than to the rural districts. Another reason, however, is that the country people have been drifting to the towns and cities. This cityward drift has an important bearing upon the character of rural life.

294. REASONS FOR THE CITYWARD DRIFT.--A number of factors explain the tendency of rural people to move to the cities. The perfection and wider use of farm machinery have decreased the need for farm laborers, and the excess laborers have gone to the towns and cities. The fact that urban industries offer shorter hours, better pay, and cleaner work than does farming has attracted many young country people. The isolation of farm life and its frequent lack of comforts have impelled many country dwellers to move to the cities. Some country people have gone to the city in order to be near schools and churches, and in order to have access to competent doctors and well-equipped hospitals.

The craving for a more fully developed social life than many rural districts afford, has been an additional cause of the cityward drift.

Unfortunately, the glamour of urban life, with its spectacles and its artificial pleasures, has also been a factor in the movement away from the country.

295. WHEREIN THE CITYWARD DRIFT IS DESIRABLE.--In some respects the cityward drift is a desirable development. When laborers who are no longer needed on the farms move cityward, the cityward drift may have the beneficial effect of removing such laborers to where they can find employment. It should also be remembered that successful rural life requires qualities which may be lacking in many individuals born and raised in the country. In so far as the cityward drift is composed of such individuals, it may be a helpful movement, since individuals unsuited to rural life may find themselves adapted to some type of urban life. When unneeded and unhelpful individuals are removed from the country, the rural population may be more efficient and more prosperous, even though relatively more spa.r.s.e.

296. WHEREIN THE CITYWARD DRIFT IS UNDESIRABLE.--In so far as the cityward drift brings to the city individuals unsuited to urban conditions, the movement away from the country may be undesirable. It is certainly undesirable when the individuals in question are really suited to rural life. The tendency of young people to move to the cities may ultimately deprive the country of its natural leaders.

Certainly the colleges and factories of the cities often drain the country of its most able and ambitious boys and girls. The cityward migration of such persons may strengthen the urban population, but it weakens rural society and r.e.t.a.r.ds the progress of rural inst.i.tutions.

297. STATUS OF THE ”BACK TO THE LAND” MOVEMENT.--Some reformers have sought to offset the cityward drift by an artificial ”back to the land” movement. In so far as it would bring to the country persons really able to contribute to rural life, this movement is a desirable one. In so far as it would bring to the country persons unprepared or unable to adapt themselves to rural conditions, such a movement is injurious. On the basis of the data now available, we are warranted in concluding that the ”back to the land” movement is founded upon sentiment and caprice rather than upon sound principles. It attacks the rural problem at the wrong end. If the natural leaders of the country are repelled by rural life and attracted by urban conditions, the remedy is not to create an artificial movement toward the country, but rather to make rural life so attractive that country boys and girls will prefer it to city life. The chief question before us is this: How can the country be made so attractive that individuals interested in, and suited to, rural life may be encouraged to lend themselves to its fullest development? Let us see what is being done toward answering this question.

298. HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS HELPING TO MAKE RURAL LIFE ATTRACTIVE.--The material prosperity of the American farmer is due, in considerable part, to the activities of the Federal government. For more than a half century the Department of Agriculture has systematically encouraged various phases of agricultural industry. The Department conducts investigations and experiments designed to give farmers helpful information concerning soils, grains, fruits, and live stock. It distributes seeds gratuitously, and attempts to encourage scientific methods among farmers. The Department issues a Year-book, a Monthly Weather Review, a Crop Reporter, and a series of Farmers'

Bulletins. Among the more important subdivisions of the department are the bureau of animal industry, the bureau of soils, the bureau of markets, and the office of farm management. The work of the Department of Agriculture is ably supplemented by the work of the Reclamation Bureau, which, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, is increasing the productivity of waste and arid lands.

299. THE FEDERAL FARM LOAN ACT.--The growing need of credit facilities among farmers resulted in 1916 in the pa.s.sage of the Federal Farm Loan Act. By the terms of this act, the United States is divided into twelve districts, in each of which a Federal land bank is established.