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Title: Community Civics and Rural Life

Author: Arthur W. Dunn

Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5088]
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RURAL EDUCATION SERIES

EDITED BY HAROLD W. FOGHT

PRESIDENT SOUTH DAKOTA TEACHERS COLLEGE

COMMUNITY CIVICS AND RURAL LIFE

BY ARTHUR W. DUNN

SPECIALIST IN CIVIC EDUCATION, UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION;
AUTHOR OF "THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN"





INTRODUCTORY NOTE


This book, like the author's earlier one, The Community and the
Citizen, is a "community civics" text. Two purposes led to the
preparation of this second volume. The first was to produce a text
that would meet the needs of pupils and teachers who live outside
of the environment of the large city. Training for citizenship in
a democracy is a fundamentally identical process in all
communities, whether urban or rural. But, if it really functions
in the life of the citizen, this process must consist largely in
deriving educational values from the actual civic situations in
which he normally finds himself. Moreover, instruction that
relates to matters that lie beyond immediate experience must
nevertheless be interpreted in terms of that experience if it is
really to have meaning. At least half of the young citizens of
America live in an environment that is essentially rural. Hence
their need for civics instruction that takes its point of
departure in, and refers back to, a body of experience that
differs in many ways from that of the urban citizen.

This does not imply that urban conditions should be ignored in the
civic education of the rural citizen. On the contrary, one of the
things that every citizen should be led to appreciate is the
interdependence of country and city in a unified national life. In
the present volume emphasis is given to this interdependence. For
this reason, and because of the fundamental principles which have
controlled the development of the text, it is believed that the
book may perform a distinct service even in city schools.

The second purpose in undertaking the present book has been to
make as obvious as possible the elements which, in the author's
judgment, characterize "community civics" and give it vitality.
The Community and the Citizen was a pioneer among texts that have
sought to vitalize the study of government and citizenship. The
term "community civics" became current only at a later time to
designate the "new civics" which that book represented. It seems
to the author, however, that many teachers and others have seized
upon some of the more incidental, even though important, features
of the "new civics" without apparently recognizing its really
vital characteristics.

For example, the "new civics" performed a real service in giving
emphasis to the study of the "local community," which was being
sadly neglected ten or fifteen years ago. It was this emphasis,
doubtless, that gave rise to the name "community civics." But
"local study," even though labelled "community civics," may be,
and often is, entirely lacking in vitalizing features. On the
other hand, the vitalizing methods that should characterize
community civics may be applied to the study of our "national
community," and even of the embryonic "world community,"--and
should be so applied in any "community civics" that is worthy of a
place in our schools in this critical period of national and world
history. The real significance of the term "community civics" is
to be found in its application to an interpretation of the
COMMUNITY-CHARACTER of national and international life equally
with that of town or neighborhood.

Another service that community civics performed was in introducing
certain elements of social or "sociological" study into grades as
low as the grammar school. This has sometimes led to the
description of community civics as "elementary sociology." The
Community and the Citizen was perhaps the first "civics" textbook
to include such "sociological" material. So far as that book is
concerned, at least, the "sociological" material was included
PRIMARILY to afford a viewpoint from which the better to interpret
GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENSHIP. This point seems often to be missed,
with the result that in some schools we find a more or less
vitalized "social study" labelled "community civics," FOLLOWED BY
a formal study of government that shows no obvious, organic
relation to the earlier study. Whatever else "community civics"
may accomplish, one of its foremost aims should be TO MAKE
GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING THAT OF THE NATION, MEAN SOMETHING TO THE
YOUNG CITIZEN. In the present book the author has endeavored to
keep this aim prominent in the mind of the teacher. It is hoped
that the organic relation of the last few chapters, which deal
explicitly with governmental mechanism and operation, to the
earlier chapters will be obvious.

The underlying, vitalizing features of community civics may be
summed up as:

1. THE DEMONSTRATION TO THE YOUNG CITIZEN, BY REFERENCE TO HIS OWN
OBSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE, OF THE MEANING OF HIS COMMUNITY LIFE
(LOCAL AND NATIONAL), AND OF GOVERNMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THAT
LIFE;

2. THE CULTIVATION OF CERTAIN HABITS, IDEALS, AND ATTITUDES
ESSENTIAL TO EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THAT LIFE THROUGH
GOVERNMENT AND OTHERWISE.

The aim of the following text is to fix in the pupil's
consciousness a few essential ideas, which will help to determine
his ideals and attitudes, by a judicious USE of facts, which will
thereby be more readily remembered and understood. "The most
important element of success in community life ... is TEAM WORK;
and team work depends, first of all, UPON A COMMON PURPOSE". The
controlling ideas throughout the following chapters are:

1. The common purposes in our community life;

2. Our interdependence in attaining these common purposes;

3. The consequent necessity for cooperation (team work);

4. Government as a means of securing teamwork for the common good.
These ideas are set up in the first few chapters and exemplified
in the remaining chapters. They are easily grasped by young
citizens when DEMONSTRATED by reference to their own observation
and experience, which the text and the accompanying topics seek as
far as possible to compel. The last few chapters contain an
analysis of our governmental mechanism which seeks to answer the
question, How far does our government provide the organization,
the leadership, and the control over leadership necessary to
secure the teamwork which the preceding chapters have shown to be
essential?

The present volume is larger than The Community and the Citizen.
The author believes that this is an advantage, especially for
pupils in communities where supplementary materials are not so
easily available. The increased length is due chiefly to the
liberal incorporation of concrete illustrative and explanatory
matter. Young students need larger textbooks, provided the
additional matter clothes the skeleton with living flesh.

Whether based on this textbook or some other, however, community
civics cannot be successfully taught if it is made primarily a
textbook study. The word "demonstration" has been used advisedly
in the paragraphs above as applied to the ideas to be taught. The
text sets up ideas, interprets and exemplifies them; but
"demonstration" can be made only as the pupils draw upon their own
observation and experience. Hence, numerous SUGGESTIVE topics are
interspersed throughout to divert attention from the text and to
direct it to the actualities of the pupils' experience. Even the
topics should not be followed literally in every case, but should
be diversified to meet the needs and opportunities of the
occasion. But to "omit" such studies as suggested by the topics is
to negate the value of community civics.

The successful teacher will seek to extend the pupil's opportunity
to participate in group activities both within the school and in
the community outside, and will make the fullest possible use of
such activities both as a means of demonstrating the operation of
the fundamental principles of civic life, and as a means of
cultivating "habits, ideals, and attitudes." "Training for
citizenship through service" is an essential factor in community
civics.

"Community civics" has now been quite definitely assigned to the
junior high school grades (see Report of Committee on Social
Studies, Bulletin, 1916, No. 28, U.S. Bureau of Education). While
the tendency is toward continuous civics instruction in all of
these grades, practice still varies greatly. The present text has
been written in recognition of this variation and is, in the
author's judgment, adapt able to any of the grades in question. If
community civics is placed below the ninth grade, however, the
author would suggest its distribution over both seventh and eighth
grades. An outline suggesting a vital coordination between the
civics and the history of these grades, and of particular service
in the seventh grade, is given in United States Bureau of
Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 50, Part 3 (a report on Civic
Education for the Schools of Memphis, Tenn.).

It may be added that community civics in the junior high school
grades will be vastly more effective if it is preceded in the six
elementary grades by some such course as that outlined in
Citizenship in School and Out (Dunn and Harris, published by D.C.
Heath & Company). See also Lessons in Civics for the Six
Elementary Grades of City Schools, by Hannah Margaret Harris
(Bulletin, 1920, No. 18, U.S. Bureau of Education).

A list of "Readings" is appended to each of the following
chapters. While it is not expected that pupils in the grades for
which the book is intended will do a great deal of reading outside
of the text, an abundance of illustrative material is desirable
and much more easily available, even for rural schools, than is
often appreciated. Let the pupils USE THEIR GOVERNMENT, in this
connection, as freely as possible. A very large part of the
references given are to government publications, many of which can
be obtained free of cost directly from the departments issuing
them, and all of which can be had for a nominal cost from the
Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. Useful publications of the state government and
of state institutions can usually be had for the asking. In
ordering from the Superintendent of Documents the money must be
sent in advance (stamps are not accepted). Lists of publications
with the prices may be obtained from the Superintendent of
Documents, or from the several Departments of the Government.

Frequent reference is made to Lessons in Community and National
Life. These are issued in three pamphlets (Series A, B, and C) by
the United States Bureau of Education, at 15 cents per pamphlet.
They contain a large amount of illustrative material. A very few
books are referred to in certain chapters because of their
especial value when obtainable. Among these are two collections of
patriotic selections valuable because of their emphasis upon
national ideals--Long's American Patriotic Prose (D.C. Heath &
Company), and Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals (Houghton
Mifflin Company). Other similar collections will be found useful.

The illustrations of the book, with comparatively few exceptions,
are from photographs furnished by various departments of the
United States Government.

ARTHUR W. DUNN.





EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION


Rural schools, and schools whose pupils have largely a background
of rural experience, have not done as much as they should towards
training for citizenship. This is largely because the text books
have failed to interpret citizenship and government in terms of
the actual experience of such pupils, or to stimulate teamwork and
leadership in communities with a distinctly rural background. More
over, in city and rural schools alike, there has been failure to
emphasize the interdependence of rural and urban communities in a
single national enterprise. Community Civics and Rural Life is
planned to meet these deficiencies.

There has been too much TALKING ABOUT citizenship in school, and
too little LIVING it from day to day. Training for citizenship
necessitates its daily practice in school and out. In the hands of
an able teacher, Community Civics and Rural Life should point the
way to real community living, both now and in the future. It
should teach the pupils what their real civic responsibilities are
as well as their civic opportunities--and assist them to embrace
them when they come. Children so trained will learn to respect,
now and later, the rights of their neighbors, and will become as
fair in their dealings with the government as with their
fellowmen. They will furnish their communities with the right kind
of leaders, unselfish and public spirited. When the time calls,
they will be ready to accept and shed a new dignity upon the old
positions of school trustee, highway engineer, sanitary inspector,
township supervisor, county commissioner, or the more conspicuous
offices of state and national government. Or as plain citizens
they will lend these officials their active support for community
and national betterment.

HAROLD W. FOGHT.





CONTENTS


I.     Our Common Purposes in Community Life
II.    How We Depend Upon One Another in Community Life
III.   The Need for Cooperation in Community Life
IV.    Why We Have Government
V.     What is Citizenship?
VI.    What is Our Community?
VII.   Our National Community
VIII.  A World Community
IX.    The Home
X.     Why Government Helps in Home Making
XI.    Earning a Living
XII.   Government as a Means of Cooperation in Agriculture
XIII.  Thrift
XIV.   The Relation Between the People and the Land
XV.    Conserving Our Natural Resources
XVI.   Protection of Property and Property Rights
XVII.  Roads and Transportation
XVIII. Communication
XIX.   Education
XX.    The Community's Health
XXI.   Social, Aesthetic, and Spiritual Wants
XXII.  Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Members of the Community
XXIII. Teamwork in Taxation
XXIV.  How We Govern Ourselves
XXV.   Our Local Governments
XXVI.  Our State Governments
XXVII. Our National Government
Appendix--The Constitution of the United States





COMMUNITY CIVICS





CHAPTER I

OUR COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE

TEAM WORK AND COMMON PURPOSES


The most important element of success in community life, as in a
ball game, a family, or a school, is TEAM WORK; and team work
depends, first of all, upon a COMMON PURPOSE. Our nation gave an
example of team work during the recent war such as is seldom seen;
and this was be cause every member of the nation was keenly intent
on WINNING. We may see the same thing in our school when Christmas
entertainment is being planned, when an athletic tournament is
approaching, or when some other school activity is under way in
which all are deeply interested. It is often illustrated in our
town, or rural neighborhood when some important enterprise is on
foot, such as the building of a new railroad into town, a Red
Cross "drive" and a county fair, or the construction of a much
needed new schoolhouse.

RECOGNITION OF COMMON PURPOSES

All communities have common purposes, although they are not always
as clearly defined as when our nation was at war, or as in the
other cases mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Sometimes the
people of a community, or a large portion of them, seem to be
wholly unconscious that a common purpose exists. This may be true
even in a family or in a school. And when this happens, the effect
is the same as if there WERE no common purpose. No club or
athletic team can be successful unless its members have a common
purpose AND UNDERSTAND IT. Insofar as our communities are
imperfect--and none of them, is perfect--it is largely because
their members fail to recognize or understand their common
purposes.

People in communities have common purposes because they have the
same wants. This may not at first seem to be true.

COMMON PURPOSES DUE TO COMMON WANTS

If we visit a large city, we see throngs of people hurrying hither
and thither, jostling one another, apparently in the greatest
confusion. We wonder where they are all going, what they are
doing, what they are seeking. In rural communities or in small
towns there is less apparent confusion than in the bustling life
of the city. Yet even here it is not always easy to see common
purposes and common interests. Whether in large or small
communities, we are more likely to be impressed by the VARIETY of
men's wants and even by the CONFLICT of their purposes.

But no matter how numerous and conflicting our wants may seem,
they may all be grouped in a very few important kinds, which are
common to all of us alike. It will be worthwhile to test the truth
of this, because it will help us to see our community life in some
kind of order, and will throw a flood of light upon the common
purposes that control it.

PHYSICAL WANTS: LIFE AND HEALTH

For example, we all want food, drink, and sleep, clothing to
protect our bodies, and houses to shelter us. But all these things
supply our PHYSICAL wants; that is, they re late to LIFE AND
HEALTH. Many of the things that we do every day are important
because of their relation to our physical well-being. One reason
why we enjoy out door sports is that they make our blood tingle
and give a sense of physical pleasure. Unless our physical wants
are provided for, the other wants of life cannot well be
satisfied. Good health is a priceless possession.

Mention some things you have done today for your physical welfare.

THE WANT FOR ASSOCIATION WITH OTHERS

Another reason why sports and games give pleasure is be cause of
the association they afford with other people. ASSOCIATION WITH
OTHERS is a second great want which explains many of the things we
do. Whatever may be our other reasons for going to school, it
affords us the opportunity to meet and work and play with other
boys and girls to our pleasure and profit. One of the objections
often raised against life in the country is the lack of
opportunity for association with other people. But life in the
country is not so isolated as it once was; and one may be very
much alone in a city crowd, where nearly all are strangers to one
another, and where there is very little real association among
individuals. City families often live in the same apartment house
without knowing one another.

What are some things you do especially for the sake of
companionship?

THE WANT FOR KNOWLEDGE

While going to school enables us to associate with others, the
principal reason for going is to gain KNOWLEDGE. Whether we always
like our studies or not, we certainly want knowledge, and seek it
in many ways. We read the newspaper or magazine that comes to the
home. We ask questions of parents and others who have had more
experience than we. We may travel to see new sights. We examine
with curiosity a new machine for the farm. The discoveries and
inventions that mark man's progress in civilization are the result
of his unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

Mention some of the different ways in which you seek knowledge.

Mention some geographic and scientific discoveries that have been
made through man's search for knowledge.

What is science? Name some sciences.

THE WANT FOR BEAUTY

Besides health and knowledge and association with other people, we
want surroundings that are pleasant and beautiful. The want for
BEAUTY is sometimes more neglected than other wants, but it is
important, and we all have it and seek to satisfy it in some way
or other. It may be at one time by a walk in the woods or fields,
or at other times by cultivating flowers, by keeping our room
tidy, by looking at pictures, or by exercising good taste in
clothing. We also enjoy beauty in sound, as the song of birds or
music in the home or school.

In what ways do you provide for this want?

THE RELIGIOUS WANT

Very likely we go to church on Sunday. It affords opportunity to
enjoy association with others, to add to our knowledge, and to
hear beautiful music. But the church service is one of the chief
means by which people satisfy another of the great wants of life
--the RELIGIOUS want. Individuals differ in their religious ideas
and in the depth of their religious feelings, but in every
community there are certain things that men do because of it.

What are some of the great religions of the world?

Is religion a strong influence in your community?

Can you mention any great historical events that were due to
religious causes?

THE WANT FOR WEALTH

Perhaps after school, or on Saturdays, or in vacation time, we
work at tasks to earn money, or at least help in occupations that
contribute to the "living" of the family. Doubtless we have
thought more or less about what we are going to do for a living
after we leave school. We all have a desire to own things, to have
property, to accumulate WEALTH. This also is one of the great
wants of life. We have perhaps already experienced the
satisfaction of raising our own first crop of corn or potatoes, of
acquiring our first livestock, of putting away or selling our
first supply of canned fruits or vegetables, of buying a set of
tools, a bicycle, or some books, of starting a bank account. But
after all the chief reason why we want wealth, or to "make money,"
is because of what we can do with it. It enables us to satisfy our
wants. Earning a living simply means earning the things that
satisfy our wants in life.

Make a blackboard list of the occupations by which the parents and
other members of the families of the pupils in the class make a
living.

Make a blackboard list of things done by members of the class to
earn money.

What is your choice of occupation by which to make a living in the
future? Why? Make a blackboard list for the whole class.

THESE WANTS GIVE PURPOSE TO COMMUNITY LIFE

The six kinds of wants that we have indicated clearly account for
many of the things that we do. In fact, ALL of our wants are of
one or another of these kinds and EVERYTHING we do is important
because of its relation to them. We may not be ready, yet, to
accept this statement. We may think of wants that seem at first
not to fall under any of these six kinds. It will do no harm to
add other kinds to the list if we think it necessary. But, at all
events, the six kinds of wants mentioned are common to all of us.
We live in communities in order to provide for them, and a
community is good to live in proportion as it provides for all of
them adequately. It is these wants that give COMMON PURPOSE to our
community life.

Make as complete a list as possible of the things you did
yesterday (outside of school as well as in school). Then extend
the list to include the more important things done during the
entire week.

Write the six wants across the top of a page of your notebook or a
sheet of paper:

Health
Knowledge
Association
Beauty
Religion
Wealth

Arrange the activities in your list in the six columns according
to the wants which they satisfy. If any activity clearly satisfies
more than one of the wants, write it down in EACH of the proper
columns.

Which column is the longest? which comes next? which is the
shortest?

Is your longest column also the longest in the lists made by other
members of your class? Compare your other columns with those of
your classmates. Which wants seem to keep you busiest?

Which do you think is most important? Why? Discuss this question
in class. Do you all agree in regard to this point?

If any of the activities in your list are for the purpose of
earning money, tell for what you expect to spend the money. Show
how the things you expect to buy with your money will help to
satisfy your other five wants.

For which of these six wants do you spend the most time in
providing? your father? your mother? If there is a difference in
the three answers, why is it?

Do you have difficulty in classifying any of the things you do, or
that you see others do, under any of the six heads? Make note of
these things and, as your study proceeds, see if the difficulty of
classification is removed.

Suppose a boy is a BULLY: what wants does he satisfy by his
bullying conduct? Suppose a boy or a girl is ambitious to become a
LEADER, either among present companions or later in social life,
business, or politics: under which head or heads would you place
this ambition?

A boy wants to enlist in the army, or a girl as an army nurse: do
these wants come under any of the six heads?

Would you, after your discussion of these topics, add any other
group or kind of wants to the six mentioned? If so, what would you
call it?

Every one wants HAPPINESS. Why is it not necessary to make a
special group under this head?

Make a list of things done in your home to provide for each of the
six wants.

What is done in your school to provide for the want for health?
for beauty? for association with others? for the religious want?
Has your school work any relation to your desire to make a living?
Is it the business of the school to provide for all these things
as well as for the want for knowledge?

Make a list of a few things done in your community outside of the
home and school to provide for each of the six wants.

Think of something in which your entire community is deeply
interested, such as the improvement of the roads, or the building
of a new high school, or a county fair, and explain what wants it
provides for.

What wants do the following things provide for: rural mail
delivery; weather reports; a corn club (or a similar club); a
school garden; a library; the telephone; a hospital; a parent-
teacher association?

THE PURPOSE OF DEMOCRACY

We may often hear our common purposes as communities or as a
nation stated in different terms than those suggested in the
paragraphs above. For example, Franklin K. Lane, the Secretary of
the Interior during the war, said, "Our national purpose is to
transmute days of dreary work into happier lives--for ourselves
first and for all others in their time." Again, President Wilson
said that our purpose in entering the world war was to help "make
the world safe for democracy." Although these two statements read
differently, they mean very much the same thing; and they both
refer in general terms to the things this chapter discusses in
more familiar and express terms. For "happier lives" can only
result from a more complete satisfaction of our common wants. Our
own happiness comes from the satisfaction of our own wants AND
FROM HELPING TO SATISFY THE WANTS OF OTHERS. And "democracy"
means, in part, that the COMMON WANTS OF ALL shall be properly
provided for.

In the Declaration of Independence we read:

 WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED
EQUAL THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN
UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE
PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

OUR UNALIENABLE RIGHTS

The statement that "all men are created equal" has troubled many
people when they have thought of the obvious inequalities that
exist in natural ability and opportunity. But whatever
inequalities may exist, people are absolutely equal in their RIGHT
to satisfy the wants described in this chapter. These are the
"unalienable rights" which the Declaration of Independence sums up
in the phrase "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That
community is best to live in that most nearly provides equal
opportunity for all its citizens to enjoy these rights. From the
Declaration of Independence to the present day, our great national
purpose has been to increase this opportunity, even though at
times we have apparently not been conscious of it, and even though
we have fallen short of its fulfillment. One of the chief objects
of our study is to find out how our communities are seeking to
accomplish this purpose.

"The Declaration of Independence did not mention the questions of
our day. It is of no consequence to us unless we can translate its
general terms into examples of the present day and substitute them
in some vital way for the examples it itself gives, so concrete,
so intimately involved in the circumstances of the day in which it
was conceived and written. It is an eminently practical document,
meant for the use of practical men ... Unless we can translate it
into the questions of our own day, we are not worthy of it, we are
not sons of the sires who acted in response to its challenge."--
Woodrow Wilson, in The New Freedom, pp. 48, 49.

A and B are two boys of the same age. One was born in a rich
family, and one in a very poor family. So far as this accident of
birth is concerned, have they equal OPPORTUNITY to satisfy the
wants of life? Have they an equal RIGHT to health? to an
education? to pleasant surroundings? to earn a good living?

Suppose A is a Native American boy, and B a foreign-born boy who
speaks a foreign language: does this make any difference in their
RIGHT to life and health, an education, etc.? Does it make any
difference in their OPPORTUNITY to satisfy their wants in these
directions?

Can you think of persons in your community who have less
OPPORTUNITY to satisfy their wants than you have? Can you think of
any persons who have less RIGHT to satisfy their wants than you
have?

The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States
comprise what is known as a "bill of rights." Study together in
class this bill of rights (see Appendix) to see how many of the
wants described in this chapter are there, provided for directly
and indirectly.

Has your state constitution a bill of rights? If so, read it
together in class for the same purpose as suggested in the last
question.

READINGS

Preamble of the Constitution of the United States (see Appendix).

The Declaration of Independence.

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, Chapters, i, iv.
(Heath).

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living (Henry Holt & Co.),
Chapter xxxix, ("Democracy as Equality").

Van Dyke, Henry, "Equality of Opportunity," in Long's American
Patriotic Prose, pp. 311, 312 (Heath).

See the note on reference materials in the Introduction to this
book.

It should become a HABIT of both teacher and pupils to be on the
constant lookout for news items and discussions in available
newspapers and periodicals illustrative of the points made in each
chapter or lesson. Individual scrapbooks may be made, but more
important than this is the assembling of such material as a class
enterprise, its classification under proper heads, and its
preservation in scrapbooks or in files as working material for
succeeding classes. There will always be enough for each class to
do, while each class at the same time contributes to the success
of the work of later classes. The idea of SERVICE should dominate
such work.





CHAPTER II

HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER IN COMMUNITY LIFE

INTERDEPENDENCE AN IMPORTANT FACT


Nothing could be freer than air. But even as we sit in our
schoolroom, whether or not we get all the pure air we need,
depends upon how the schoolhouse was built for ventilation, the
number of people who occupy the room, the care that is taken by
others to keep the room free from dust, the health and cleanliness
of those who sit in the room with us. If this dependence upon
others is true in the case of the very air we breathe, how much
more true it must be of other necessities of life that are not so
abundant.

This dependence of people upon one another for the satisfaction of
their wants is one of the most important facts about community
life. It is not merely that A and B have the SAME wants, but that
A is dependent upon B, and B upon A, for the satisfaction of their
wants, that makes their wants COMMON.

Mention the people, both inside and outside of your home, who had
a share in providing for you the food you had for breakfast or
dinner.

Mention all the workers that occur to you who have been employed
in producing the clothing you wear; the book you are reading; the
materials of which your house is built.

Show how the people who produce these things are dependent upon
your wants for their livelihood.

Show that you are dependent upon other people for your education;
for recreation. Are other people dependent upon your education for
their welfare? Are others dependent on you for their recreation?

INDEPENDENCE OF THE PIONEER

The farmer's life is often spoken of as an independent life. His
independence was certainly much more complete in pioneer days than
it is now. In regard to the early days of Indiana, it has been
said:

Give the pioneer farmer an axe and an auger, or in place of the
last a burning iron, and he could make almost any machine that he
was wont to work with. With his sharp axe he could not only cut
the logs for his cabin and notch them down, but he could make a
close-fitting door and supply it with wooden hinges and a neat
latch. From the roots of an oak or ash he could fashion his hames
and sled runners; he could make an axle-tree for his wagon, a
rake, a flax brake, a barrow, a scythe-snath, a grain cradle a
pitchfork, a loom, a reel, a washboard, a stool, a chair, a table,
a bedstead, a dresser, and a cradle in which to rock the baby. If
he was more than ordinarily clever, he repaired his own cooperage,
and adding a drawing knife to his kit of tools, he even went so
far as to make his own casks, tubs, and buckets. He made and
mended his own shoes. [Footnote: Quoted in Pioneer Indianapolis,
by Ida Stearns Stickney, p. 11 (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis).]

We also read that in early New England:

Every farmhouse was a manufactory, not of one kind of goods, but
of many. All day long in the chamber or attic the sound of the
spinning-wheel and loom could be heard. Carpets, shawls,
bedspreads, tablecovers, towels, and cloth for garments were made
from materials made on the farm. The kitchen of the house was a
baker's shop, a confectioner's establishment, and a chemist's
laboratory. Every kind of food for immediate use was prepared
there daily; and on special occasions sausages, head cheese,
pickles, apple butter, and preserves were made. It was also the
place where soap, candles, and vinegar were manufactured.
Agricultural implements were then few and simple, and farmers made
as many of them as they could. Every farmhouse was a creamery and
cheese factory. As there were no sewing machines, the farmer's
wife and daughters had to ply the hand needle most of the time
when they were not engaged in more laborious pursuits. During the
long evenings they generally knit socks and mittens or made rag
carpets. [Footnote: Nourse, Agricultural Economics, p 64, from
"The Farmer's Changed Conditions," by Rodney Welsh, in the Forum,
x, 689-92 (Feb., 1891).]

THE PRICE OF INDEPENDENCE

But even under such conditions as those described, the farmer and
his family were not wholly independent. Even Robinson Crusoe on
his lonely island was dependent upon the tools and equipment that
he saved from shipwrecks, and that were the product of other men's
labor. So, also, the pioneer farmer had to maintain some kind of
relation, however infrequent and slight, with the outside world.
Moreover, he had to pay for his comparative independence by many
privations. He had all the wants described in the preceding
chapter, but he had to provide for them in the simplest way
possible, and often they were hardly provided for at all.

THE GROWTH OF INTERDEPENDENCE

As soon as a number of people come to live together, even in a
pioneer community, it is likely that some members will have a
knack for doing certain things of use to the community better than
others can do them. Thus one man may be especially skillful in
making axe handles. In time, the entire community comes to depend
upon him for its axe handles. In addition, he probably makes other
tools and does repair work of all kinds. This requires so much of
his time that he does little or no farming, and depends upon
others for his food supply. So in a course of time the community
has its blacksmiths, carpenters, shoe-makers, teachers,
storekeepers and doctors upon whom it depends for their special
kinds of service, while each of them depends upon others to supply
the wants that he has neither the time nor the skill to supply for
himself. Thus interdependence develops in the simplest
communities.

THE DEPENDENCE ON OTHERS OF THE MODERN FARMER

The farmer still does many things on the farm that in the city
would be done by special workers, such as repairing houses, barns,
and tools. But he has become vastly more dependent upon others
than formerly. This is due partly to improved farming methods,
requiring the use of complicated machines and greater technical
knowledge; and partly to improved means of transportation and
communication which bring him in close touch with trade centers.
If a farmer needs a new axe handle, he can get a better one with
less expenditure of time and effort by going to town in his
automobile than if he made it himself. His farm machinery is too
complicated for him to repair except in small matters, and even
then he must go or send to town for the necessary parts, which may
be sent to him by parcel post. Not only does he get better tools
and services generally through this reliance upon others who are
specialists in their lines, but also on account of it has more
time to give to the actual business of farming, for which others
depend upon him, and leisure for thoughtful study of his problems,
for social life, and for recreation.

THE VALUE OF SELF-RELIANCE

It must be acknowledged that reliance upon others may be carried
so far as to result in loss or disadvantage. "Self-reliance" is
one of the most admirable traits of character. The pioneer farmer
possessed it from necessity to a remarkable extent. A habit of
depending upon others may quickly cause a person to lose the
"knack" of doing things for himself, to become less "handy about
the place," and less "thrifty" about keeping things in repair or
installing small improvements--the casting of a cement trough,
mending the harness or the fence or painting the barn.

WHO MAKES OUR SHOES

The interdependence of people in community life to-day may be
illustrated by starting with some of our own needs, as was
suggested in the topics on page 12. For example, if we need a pair
of shoes, we must have money, which we will suppose that we earn
by farming. In order to farm successfully we must have machinery.
This we also buy in town; but it is manufactured for us in distant
city factories from metals procured from mines and from wood from
the forest. The shoes bought at the store were also made in a
factory employing hundreds of men and women, perhaps in
Massachusetts. They were made from leather from the hides of
cattle raised in the far west, or perhaps even in the Argentine
Republic. The leather is tanned by another industry, and tanning
requires the use of an acid from the bark of certain trees from
the forest. The making of the shoes also requires machinery which
is made by still other machines, the necessary metals coming from
mines. To smelt the metals and to run the factories there must be
fuel from other mines. Meanwhile the workers in all these
industries must be fed and clothed and housed. This means the work
of farmers, food packers, millers and bakers, lumbermen,
carpenters, cotton and woolen mills, clothing factories, and many
others. At every stage transportation enters in,--by team and
automobile truck, by railway, by water. These are only a part of
the activities necessary in order that we may have a pair of
shoes. It would seem that practically every kind of worker and
industry in the world had something to do with it. People in
communities today are indeed very interdependent.

The following item appeared in a newspaper:

HELD BACK BY NEIGHBORS

Farmer Is Limited by Conditions in Community

The average farmer is limited in the changes he can make in his
farm business by the farm practices of the community in which he
is living.

There are farmers in every community who would like to change
their systems of agriculture but are restrained from doing so by
the fact that their neighbors will not change. Many farmers have
tried to change from one type of farming to another better suited
to the region, but failed because the cost of running such an
entirely independent business was too great.

A man owning an orchard in a locality where there are no other
orchards has trouble getting rid of his crop. Even when the farmer
is so fortunate as to get buyers, he generally receives a lower
price for the same grade of fruit than would be received in a
general apple-growing region.

If a man wants to buy several purebred Holstein cows, he generally
goes to a locality where a large number of farmers keep that kind
of stock. Often there is a man in his own community who has for
sale Holsteins that are just as highly bred as those in other
districts, but he either has no market for them or must sell them
at a greatly reduced price.

The farmer ought not to think on account of these facts that he
should not change his system of farming just because his neighbors
do not do likewise.

Probably the best way for a farmer to start such a movement is to
arouse the interest of his neighbors in his farming operations. As
soon as this has been accomplished he can gradually bring about
the change that he advocates. Farmers in a community profit from
the experiences of other individuals.

WHAT GIVES VALUE TO LAND

The value of a man's property is dependent not upon his efforts
alone, but upon what his neighbors do. The land occupied by a
pioneer increases in value as other people settle in the
neighborhood, and BECAUSE they settle there. Men often buy land
and then simply wait for it to increase in value because of
improvements in the neighborhood. The property that we own may
increase or decrease in value according to the care that neighbors
take of their property. Even if we take good care of our property,
it will be less valuable if the neighbors let their fences and
buildings run down and the weeds grow than it will be if they keep
their fences and buildings in good repair and their weeds cut.

INTERDEPENDENCE IN HEALTH

Malaria is carried by mosquitoes, and we know that mosquitoes
breed in standing water, as in swamps and in old barrels or tin
cans that hold rainwater until it becomes stagnant. Now we may
endeavor to get rid of mosquitoes, and thus of malaria, by
removing all open receptacles of water about our premises and by
draining the marshes on our land; but unless our neighbors do the
same, we are not much better off than we were before.

Give other illustrations to show the dependence of people upon one
another in your community.

Compare the farmer of to-day in your neighborhood with the pioneer
of Indiana described on page 14 with respect to his equipment,
skill in making things and kinds of implements used.

Compare the average farmer's home in your neighborhood to-day with
that of the New England farmer described on page 14 with respect
to household activities.

Are farmers in your neighborhood to-day more or less dependent
upon others to supply their wants than they were when your parents
were children? Why is it? Get all the information you can from
your parents on this point.

Which is more dependent upon others for its daily wants: a family
that lives on a farm in your neighborhood or one that lives in
town? Give examples to prove your answer.

Do you know cases in your own community where land has increased
in value while lying idle? What are the reasons?

Do you know of cases in your community where property has
depreciated in value because of neighborhood influences such as
suggested on page 18?

Do you know of cases in your community similar to the one
described on page 17 under the heading "Held Back by Neighbors"?
Explain. (Consult at home.)

UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF INTERDEPENDENCE

We do not always realize how dependent we are upon one another
until something happens to disturb our accustomed relations. We
best realize our dependence upon the telephone when it is out of
order. The recent great war produced conditions that made us
conscious of our interdependence in unexpected ways.

For example, if we had gone into a store to buy underwear in the
early part of the war, we would have found that the price had
greatly increased, and we might have been told, if the salesman
were well informed, that the high price was due to the manufacture
of airplanes! The explanation is that the wire stays used in the
manufacture of airplanes are made of steel wire from which machine
knitting needles are also made. In the early part of the war all
of the available wire of this kind was taken for airplanes, thus
limiting the supply of knitting needles and consequently of knit
goods.

The manufacture of airplanes is also said to have affected the
price of fish! The nets used for catching certain deep-sea fish,
such as cod, must be made of linen, which is invisible in water.
The linen which had been used for this purpose suddenly came into
great demand for the manufacture of airplane wings. Since
airplanes were necessary, linen fishing nets were sacrificed and
the price of deep-sea fish went up. This, of course, created a
demand for other kinds of fish, and the price of the latter also
went up.

CONFLICTS DUE TO INTERDEPENDENCE

When people are so closely dependent upon one another conflicts
are likely to occur. Sometimes they are due to selfish disregard
by some persons of the rights and interests of others; but more
often they are due simply to failure to see what the real results
of a particular act may be and how it may affect other people. It
was not dreamed that the building of airplanes would affect the
price of underwear and fish, and it was only after careful
investigation that the relation between these things was
discovered. A family that is careless in the disposal of refuse
from the household and stables may unconsciously poison the wells
of neighbors half a mile away. Sometimes men oppose public
improvements, such as better roads, or a new schoolhouse, because
they see only the direct costs of the improvements, and fail to
see the more important losses to themselves and to the community
if the improvements are not made.

DANGER OF HASTY JUDGMENTS

One thing we may learn from such facts as these is the danger of
forming hasty judgments about things that happen, or conditions
that exist, or proposals that are made, in our community life.
Even those conditions or events that are apparently most simple
may be related to other conditions and events that are not at
first apparent. Wise judgment and wise action are dependent upon
the most complete knowledge obtainable.

We shall see, as we proceed with our study, how this fact of
interdependence appears in every phase of our community life.

From observation in your own community, give illustrations to show
how people, in attempting to satisfy their own wants, may
interfere with the efforts of others to satisfy theirs. The
following are given as suggestions:

An employer and those whom he employs.

A man who owns a house or farm and the tenant to whom he rents it.

A man who keeps a livery stable adjoining a schoolhouse.

A grocer who displays his goods on the sidewalk (especially food
products).

Men who raise cattle and those who raise sheep on the western
ranges.

A boy who raises chickens and one who has a garden adjoining.

Suppose a schoolmate comes to school with measles or some other
contagious disease. How may this affect your schoolwork? your
association with your friends? How may it even add to your
father's expenses?

Show that your schoolmates are as dependent upon you as you are
upon them.

Is the community in which you live dependent upon you in any way?
Give illustrations.

Taxpayers like to keep the tax rate as low as possible. In their
interest in doing this, is it possible that they might interfere
with your getting a good education in favorable surroundings?
Explain. Who are the taxpayers?

We often hear of "self-made men." What does it mean? Can a man be
entirely "self-made"?

Does a child become more or less dependent upon others as he grows
older? Explain your answer.

Show that as a person becomes more "self-dependent" other people
become more dependent upon him; for example, in the home, and in
school.

Watch the newspapers for items illustrating interdependence, or
conflicts due to it.

READINGS

Lessons in Community and National Life (see note on reference
materials in Introduction)

Series A: Lesson 1, Some fundamental aspects of social organization.
          Lesson 2, The western pioneer.

Series B: Lesson 1, The effect of the war on commerce in nitrate.
          Lesson 2, The varied occupations of a colonial farm.
          Lesson 12, Impersonality of modern life.

Series C: Lesson 1, The war and aeroplanes.
          Lesson 2, Spinning and dyeing in colonial times.
          Lesson 9, Inventions.
          Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life.

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, Chapters i, v.

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, Chapter xxxi
(Problems of country life).

Earle, Alice Morse, Home Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan).

Finley, John H., "Paths of the Pioneers," in Long's American
Patriotic Prose, pp. 1-4.

Pioneer stories from any available source, especially local
history stories.





CHAPTER III

THE NEED FOR COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE

THE NEED FOR TEAMWORK


When people have common purposes and are dependent upon one
another in accomplishing them, there must be COOPERATION, which is
another name for "teamwork." A team of horses that does not pull
together can not haul a heavy load. A baseball team, though
composed of good players, will seldom win games unless its
teamwork is good. A few soldiers may easily disperse a large mob
because they have teamwork, while a mob usually does not. This
principle of "pulling together," "teamwork," or "cooperation," is
of the greatest importance in community life. There can be no real
community life without it.

SIMPLE TYPES OF COOPERATION

In the early days there were "barn raisings," when neighbors came
together to help one of their number to "raise" his barn; and all
the men of a pioneer community contributed their labor in building
the community church or schoolhouse. This was a simple form of
cooperation. It may be seen now at threshing time, when
neighboring farmers combine to thresh the grain of each, the same
group of men and the same threshing machine doing the work for
all. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that:

In a group of 14 farmers situated in a community in one of the
best farming regions in the corn belt, ... it was found that 5 men
out of the 14 failed to get all their corn planted by the last
week in May. They had worked as hard and as steadily at that
operation as had their neighbors, but they were delayed by one
cause or another, such as lack of labor or teams, or were handling
a larger acreage than their equipment would allow them to handle
satisfactorily. In this same community were 3 men who completed
all their planting operations before the 20th of May, and 5 others
who completed their work by the 25th of May. ... If all these men
had considered that corn planting was a national necessity and had
pooled their efforts, all of the corn on all the farms could have
been planted within the most favorable time. [Footnote: The Farm
Labor Problem, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the
Secretary, Circular No. 112, p. 5.]

Give other illustrations of this sort of cooperation from the farm
or community life of your neighborhood.

Give illustrations of such teamwork among boys and girls.

Give illustrations of the failure of enterprises in which you have
been interested because of a lack of teamwork.

Why is it an advantage for the farmers to use one threshing
machine for all the threshing of the neighborhood instead of each
farmer having his own machine?

ORGANIZED COOPERATION AND LEADERSHIP

As communities grow and the people become more dependent upon one
another, and especially when it becomes hard to see how one thing
that happens may affect others, as shown in Chapter II,
cooperation becomes more difficult, but it becomes even more
necessary. It needs to be ORGANIZED, and it needs LEADERSHIP. The
experience of fruit growers in California affords a good
illustration of this. When they acted independently of one
another, they often had difficulty in disposing of their product
to advantage. Sometimes it rotted on the ground. As individuals
they did not have the means of learning where the best markets
were. They had to make their own terms separately with the
railroads for transportation and since they shipped in small
quantities, they paid high freight rates. They had no adequate
means of storing fruit while it was awaiting shipment. They were
dependent upon commission merchants in the cities for such prices
as they could get, which were often practically nothing at all.

These and other difficulties that made fruit growing unprofitable
were overcome by the organization of fruit growers' associations,
in which each grower may become a member by purchasing shares of
stock. The members elect from their number a BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
who in turn appoint a BUSINESS MANAGER who gives his entire
attention to the association's business. The association has
central offices and storage and packing houses.

The manager keeps in close touch with market conditions,--where
the demand for fruit is greatest, the kinds of fruit wanted, the
best prices paid. He contracts for the sale of fruit at fair
prices. Shipping in large quantities, he gets the advantage of low
rates on fast freight trains with refrigerator cars. Uniform
methods of packing fruit are adopted, sometimes the fruit being
packed at the central packing house. Information is distributed as
to the best methods of growing fruit, the best varieties to grow,
and so on. On the other hand, supplies and provisions are bought
in large quantities, securing the best quality at the lowest
prices.

VOLUNTARY COOPERATION IN CITIES

In cities there are almost innumerable organizations by which
groups of people cooperate for one purpose or another. Men in the
same line of business or in the same profession organize to
promote their common interests. There are boards of trade,
chambers of commerce, merchants' and manufacturers' associations.
Lawyers have their bar associations, physicians their medical
associations. There are associations of teachers, and work men in
the various trades have their unions. Besides such business and
professional organizations, there are clubs and associations of
all sorts for men, for women, and even for children, some of them
educational, some social or recreational, some philanthropic, some
religious. Where there are so many people interested in the same
thing, where it is easy for them to meet together, and where
competent leadership is forthcoming, it is quite the usual thing
to organize for united action.

COOPERATION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

In agricultural communities cooperation has developed more slowly.
Farmers have been too isolated from one another to make
organization easy, they have not fully realized its advantages,
and they have lacked leadership. This has been an obstacle to the
fullest development of community life. The most backward
communities are those where there is the least cooperation. In
such communities "the farmer works single-handed, getting no
strength from joint action or combined effort."

But all this is changing. Organizations like the fruit growers'
associations are becoming common and are proving their value. The
map on page 36 shows the distribution of organizations among
farmers in the United States for cooperation in business
enterprises of various kinds, though it shows only about half as
many as actually exist. They include cooperative grain elevators
and warehouses, creameries and cheese factories, cooperative
stores, fruit and grain growers' associations, livestock
associations, cotton and tobacco associations, and many others.

Study the map on page 36 and indicate the region or regions where
you think cooperative grain elevators and warehouses would be most
numerous; livestock associations; dairies and creameries; fruit
growers' associations; cotton growers' associations; tobacco
growers' associations.

Are there any organizations of farmers in your community similar
to those in the list in the last paragraph above? Make a list of
them. What are their purposes? What are their advantages? What
obstacles have they encountered? Are all the farmers in the
community members? If not, why? Describe their plans of
organization--membership, officers, management, etc. (Discuss
these questions at home and report results.)

Is there any organization of businessmen, or of workmen, in your
town or neighboring town? If so, ascertain what advantages it
seeks.

Show how an ordinary store, or a bank, or a grain elevator, is a
means by which people cooperate.

Are there any boys' or girls' clubs in your community? Show how
such clubs require and secure cooperation. How is leadership
provided?

If there is a parents' association connected with your school,
show how it brings about cooperation among its members in the
interest of the school.

Make a list of all the organizations you can think of in your
community (such as clubs, societies, associations). Opposite the
name of each write the chief purposes for which it exists.

Write the six great wants across the top of a page, as suggested
in the fifth topic on page 6, and arrange the list of
organizations suggested in the last question above in the proper
columns according to the wants they provide for.

Discuss the importance of leadership in school activities. What
are the qualities that make a good leader?

Who are some of the leaders in your community, both men and women?

THE FARM BUREAU

At the close of 1916 there were nearly three hundred "farm
bureaus" in the northern and western states with a membership of
nearly 100,000. A farm bureau is an organization to secure
cooperation throughout an entire county for the promotion of
agricultural interests. The members elect an executive committee
to manage the affairs of the bureau. In each of the small
communities of which the county is made up, there is a "community
committee." The chairmen of the several community committees
constitute a county agricultural council. The chairmen and members
of the various committees are chosen because of their interest in
special lines of work and their fitness to direct such work.
Various other organizations in the county, such as the fair
association, breeders' associations, the Grange, the schools, and
others, are represented in the committees of the bureau, the
purpose being to secure teamwork among them, as well as among the
different communities of the county and among the individual
farmers. The bureau also cooperates with the state and national
governments in employing a COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AGENT, who is the
bureau's adviser, or leader. In short, the farm bureau represents
the county working together in an organized way and under
leadership for the improvement of community life.

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for the year
1915, the story is told of Christian County, Kentucky. [Footnote:
"How the Whole County Demonstrated," 1915 Year Book, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, pp. 225-248.]

A CASE OF COUNTY COOPERATION

This county is almost wholly agricultural, but the county seat is
a small city of 10,000. There had formerly been more or less
jealousy between the city and county, as too frequently happens.
But a businessmen's association was organized in the city, which
interested itself in bettering the agricultural conditions of the
county, because the business of the city was very dependent upon
the neighboring agriculture. A "crop improvement association" was
formed, including farmers in its membership. A county agricultural
agent was employed, and local community clubs were organized in
different parts of the county, which held meetings attended by the
farmers and their families, and by businessmen from the city. A
good roads association was organized, and a "good roads day" was
held on which businessmen turned out with the farmers, stores of
the city were closed, and on one of the principal roads at least
90 per cent of the workmen were city men. Stone was contributed by
contractors, concrete firms furnished men gratis to repair
bridges, one company supplied outfits for trimming trees, and a
large amount of work was done by the county and town working side
by side ... Such results could only be accomplished through unity
of purpose and cooperation of all the people.

Among other things accomplished in this county, a fair association
has been formed; medical instruction has been introduced into the
schools; a public library and hospital have been built; the school
system of the county has cooperated in all educational work; both
town and county merchants have offered prizes to members of the
boys' clubs; also for cooking in the schools, and have put women's
restrooms in the stores for the use of the public.

There is now an active girls' canning club in every community in
the county, attended by the girls and also by their mothers. There
are 12 social clubs which meet regularly; 15 parent-teachers' and
mothers' clubs; and there is not a school in the county which does
not have some form of community meeting. The schoolhouses are
generally used for the meetings of the community clubs. In some
instances farmers have given sufficient ground for amusement
purposes at the schoolhouses. Here may be found the ball diamond,
tennis court, and basketball courts.

It is said of this county that it "stands as a demonstration of
the effect of education and organization under the proper
leadership. THE TOWN AND THE COUNTY ARE ONE. The result is better
agriculture, better business, and better living." Write a brief
theme on one of the following topics:

(a) The importance of the telephone as a means of cooperation in
my community.

(b) Instances in my community where bad roads have caused a lack
of cooperation.

(c) Instances in my community where improvement of roads has led
to better cooperation.

In what ways do you think there is need for better cooperation in
your community? Discuss this with your parents, and report in
class the result of your talk with them.

Is there any organized cooperation in your community or county as
a whole for the general improvement of the community or county?

Investigate the organization and work of a farm bureau. (If there
is none in your county, write to your State Agricultural College
or to the States Relations Service, Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C., for information. See references at the end of
this chapter.)

PUBLIC LIBRARY AS AN EXAMPLE

Cooperation is as necessary for the fullest satisfaction of our
other wants as it is in the business of making a living. In one
pioneer community there were few "books and papers and they were
handed about from house to house." There may be comparatively few
people in a community who can afford to buy a hundred books each
year; but there may easily be a hundred persons who could buy one
book each, and by some arrangement exchange with one another, so
that each could in the course of a year have the use of a hundred
books. Neighborhood clubs are often organized to subscribe for
magazines on this plan. A public library provides an arrangement
by which a great variety of good reading matter can be enjoyed by
the entire community at trifling cost to each member. In fact, we
may be able to draw books from such a library without any cost to
ourselves; but the books which we thus enjoy do cost the community
a large sum of money, and our free enjoyment of them is one of the
advantages of community cooperation. Our part in the cooperation
is in using the books carefully and in returning them promptly, so
that as many people as possible may have the use of them.

NATION-WIDE COOPERATION

The necessity for cooperation is by no means limited to our
neighborhood or county or city. People with common purposes
organize for cooperation on a state-wide or nation-wide scale.
Following is a list of national organizations in the interest of
agriculture. As our study proceeds, we shall have abundant
illustration of the value of cooperation and of the disadvantages
that follow from its absence.

FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS

American Cooperative Association (Cooperative League of America).

American Dairy Farmers' Association.

American Federation of Organized Farmers.

American National Live Stock Association.

American Pomological Society.

American Poultry Association.

American Society of Equity.

Corn Belt Meat Producers' Association,

Dairy Cattle Congress.

Farm Women's National Congress.

Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Union of America (The
Farmers' Union).

Farmers' Equity Union.

Farmers' National Congress.

Farmers' Society of Equity.

Federation of Jewish Farmers of America.

Gleaners, The Ancient Order of.

Grange, National (Patrons of Husbandry).

National Agricultural Organization Society.

National Board of Farm Organizations.

National Council of Farmers' Cooperative Associations.

National Dairy Council.

National Dairy Union.

National Farmers' Associations.

National Farmers' Cooperative Grain and Live Stock Associations.

National Nut Growers' Association.

National Society of Record Associations.

National Swine Growers' Association.

National Wool Growers' Association.

National Women's Farm and Garden Association.

Southern Rice Growers' Association.

COOPERATION A MATTER OF HABIT

Cooperation is largely a matter of habit. Habits can be formed
only by practice; and opportunity to practice cooperation is
abundant if we are only on the lookout for it. We shall find that
it not only secures better results in whatever we are doing, but
that it also adds greatly to the enjoyment of life. Let us not
forget that cooperation merely means "team work," working together
for the common good.

"They who cannot or will not work together are always in a weak
position when brought into competition with those who can and do."
[Footnote: Carver, The Organization of a Rural Community, p. 5.]

If there is a public library in your community, what benefits do
you get from it? About how many books do you draw from it in the
course of a year? What would these books cost you if you bought
them? What do they cost you when you draw them from the library?

Usually a fine is imposed for keeping a book from the library
beyond a specified time. Show why this is proper.

Do you have the use of a "traveling library" in your school or
community? If so, where do the books come from? Show how it
secures cooperation.

Give examples of cooperation in your home, and show what is gained
by it.

In what ways do you think that cooperation could be improved in
your home? Work out a plan for it.

Give examples of cooperation in your school.

Suggest plans for more and better cooperation in your school.

In what ways have you cooperated with others during the last month
for the good of the community in which you live?

Make a list in your notebook of ways in which you think you could
cooperate with others to promote the welfare of your community,
and add to the list from time to time as new opportunities for
such cooperation occur to you.

Are any of the national organizations in the list on page 35
represented in your community? What are their purposes? (Consult
parents and friends.)

READINGS

Lessons in Community and National Life

Series A: Lesson  1, Some fundamental aspects of social organization.
          Lesson  3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society.
          Lesson  7, Organization.
          Lesson  8, The rise of machine industry.

Series B: Lesson  4, Feeding a city.
          Lesson 25, Concentration of production in the meat packing
                     industry.
          Lesson 26, Concentration in the marketing of citrus fruits

The publications of the United States Department of Agriculture
have a wide range of material relating to practical cooperation.
The following selected titles are illustrative.

The threshing ring in the corn belt, Year Book 1918, 247-268.

Boys' Pig Club Work, Year Book 1915, 173-188.

Poultry Club Work in the South, Year Book 1915, 193-200.

How the whole county demonstrated, Year Book 1915, 225-248.

Organization of rural interests, Year Book 1913, 239-258.

Organization of a rural community, Year Book 1914, 89-138.

Cooperative purchasing and marketing organizations, Department of
Agriculture Bulletin No. 547.

Cooperative grain companies, Department of Agriculture Bulletin
No. 371.

Cooperative stores, Department of Agriculture Bulletin. No. 394.

County Organization, States Relations Service Document 65.

Farm Bureau Organization, States Relations Service Document 54.

See note on reference material in Introduction with regard to
method of applying for this material. The assistance of the local
county agent, the state agricultural college, or of the
congressman, may be enlisted if necessary.

Cooperative enterprise in North Carolina, North Carolina Club Year
Book, 1915-1916, pp. 47-49, University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, N. C.

Publications of the State Agricultural College and Experiment
Station of your own state, relating to cooperation.

Tufts, James H, The Real Business of Living, chaps ii, iii, viii,
xv, xvi.





CHAPTER IV

WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT

GOVERNMENT A MEANS TO SECURE COOPERATION


We are now in a better position to understand why we have
government. It is a means by which to secure cooperation, or team
work.

IN EDUCATION

When a schoolhouse is built to-day, it is not done by combined
manual labor, as in the pioneer community. As in all building,
there is cooperation of a highly organized kind in the production
and assembling of the materials and in the construction of the
building by workmen of different kinds. But more than this, since
the schoolhouse is a PUBLIC BUILDING, the community cooperates in
paying for it. This is done by means of TAXES. The people pay
taxes not only for the building, but also to meet the cost of
operating the school, paying the teachers, buying equipment, and
heating the building.

The community must know how much money is needed for the school,
the taxes must be fairly apportioned and collected, and the school
must be properly managed to perform the community's work of
education. In small communities the people may meet together to
vote the taxes and to decide on other matters relating to
education, as in New England towns. But there must be leadership,
and there must be an organization to perform the work which the
community wants done. Every community therefore has its board of
education, or school committee, a superintendent, and other
officials. Such organization corresponds to the board of directors
and business manager of the fruit growers' association, only it
represents the entire community and attends to the community's
business of education. It is part of the community's governing
machinery.

Ascertain from your father how much school tax he pays each year.
Who determines the amount of this tax? To whom does he pay it?

Could you employ a teacher at home for the amount your father pays
as school tax? If you had a teacher at home, could you get as good
an education as you can now get at school? Explain your answer.

In what ways do you cooperate with the community to make the
school a success?

If there is a public library in your community, is it supported by
taxation? Who manages the public library for the community?

IN FIRE PROTECTION

When a building takes fire in the country the neighbors gather as
quickly as possible to fight the flames by such means as may be at
hand, but seldom very effectively. In a small city or town, there
may be a volunteer fire company composed of men who, when a fire
breaks out, leave their usual occupations to save the property. In
large cities, fully equipped and costly fire departments are
maintained, with paid firemen who are always on duty. The police
usually keep the crowd away from the burning building, not only
for their own safety, but because they would hinder rather than
help the trained and organized firemen. In each case there is
cooperation for fire protection; the greater the common danger,
the more perfect the organization and the more complete the
control by government.

IN ROAD BUILDING

It was once the usual practice, as it still is in some localities,
for each farmer to give a certain number of days each year to work
on the roads. Now, in the most progressive communities, the roads
are better and more uniformly built and kept in better repair
because they are placed by the community in charge of skilled
roadmakers paid for by taxation. But whether the farmer
contributes money or labor, or both, cooperation is planned and
directed by the government. (See Chapter XVII.)

IN HEALTH PROTECTION

In Benjamin Franklin's time, each householder in Philadelphia
swept the pavement in front of his home if he wanted it kept
clean. Franklin, who was a splendid example of good citizenship in
that he was always looking for opportunities to improve his
community, tells what happened:

One day I found a poor industrious man, who was willing to
undertake keeping the pavement clean by sweeping it twice a week,
carrying off the dirt from before all the neighbors' doors, for
the sum of sixpence per month to be paid by each house. I then
wrote and printed a paper setting forth the advantages to the
neighborhood that might be obtained by this small expense. ... I
sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went
around to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these
sixpences; it was unanimously signed, and for a time well
executed. This raised a general desire to have all the streets
paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a tax for
that purpose.

This was community cooperation under simple conditions. A hundred
years later, the one and a half million people living in
Philadelphia were just as truly cooperating to keep their city
clean by means of more than 1200 miles of sewers for which they
had paid nearly 35 millions of dollars, and by means of a
department of highways and street-cleaning which employed a
contractor to clean the streets and to remove all ashes and
garbage at an annual cost of more than a million and a half
dollars. This is all under the direction of the city government.

IN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS

What is true of our local boards of education, road supervisors,
fire and street-cleaning departments, and other departments of our
local governments, is also true of state and national governments.
We shall not stop for illustrations of this now, because they will
be numerous in later chapters. (See, for example, Chapter XII.)

Is there a government in your home? If so, prove whether or not it
is a means by which the members of the family cooperate.

Describe the government of your school and show how it secures
cooperation.

If you can get a copy of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, find
in it further instances in which he improved the cooperation of
his community, as for fire protection and street lighting.

Show how street lights in town represent community cooperation.
For what purpose is this form of cooperation?

Give additional illustrations to prove that government in your
community is a means of cooperation.

In what ways can you cooperate with the school board or trustees
of your community, and thus with the community itself, for better
schools?

GOVERNMENT TO HELP AND NOT TO REPRESS

A number of boys whose lives were spent mostly in the city streets
were once asked what the word "government" suggested to them. Some
of them at once answered, "The policeman!" And when they were
asked "Why?" they replied, "He arrests people," "He makes us keep
off the grass in the parks," "He drives us off when we play ball
in vacant lots." These answers represent a common idea about
government, that it is something over us to restrict our freedom.
Government does restrict the freedom of individuals at times; but
one of the best illustrations of its real purpose is the traffic
policeman in cities. He stands at the crossing of busy streets,
regulating the movement of people and vehicles in such a way as to
insure the safety of all and to keep the intersecting streams of
traffic moving smoothly and with as little interruption as
possible. Now and then he leaves his post to help a child or an
aged person or a cripple across the street; or answers the
inquiries of a stranger. If now and then he arrests a driver, it
is because the latter disregards the rights or welfare of others.

LAWS AS SIGNALS OF COOPERATION

In small or thinly settled communities there may be no traffic
policeman; but there may be signs at the intersection of highways
to guide travelers, or warnings such as "Dangerous Curve!" or
"School: Drive Slowly!" Such signs are usually posted by state or
local authorities in accordance with LAW. And even where there are
no signs, the laws themselves are supposed to regulate traffic.
Some one has compared the laws in our country to the signals given
to a football team by the quarterback. These signals are agreed
upon in advance by the team, and tell each player not only what he
himself, but also what every other player, is to do, and thus team
work is secured. And so our laws are said to be "signals of
cooperation," just as much as the sign "Drive Slowly," or as when
the traffic policeman holds up his hand or blows his whistle.

LAWS AS RULES OF THE GAME

Laws, however, are more than "signals" of cooperation; they are
also RULES by which cooperation is secured--"rules of the game."
Wherever people are dependent upon one another and work together
there must be rules of conduct. One kind of rules consists of what
we call "etiquette" or "good manners." We have doubtless all
observed how much better an athletic contest moves along, or even
the ordinary sports of the playground, where good manners prevail.
"Good manners" include more than the "party manners" that we put
on and take off on special occasions, like "party clothes." They
consist of the accepted rules of behavior toward those with whom
we associate. In the home, in school, in business, in public
places, there are "good manners" that are recognized by custom and
that make the wheels move smoothly and without jar. We do not need
a law or a policeman to require a man to give way to a woman, or
even to another man, in passing through a doorway; good manners
provide for this. Even on the public street much confusion is
avoided by an observance of good manners, or CUSTOM. Thoughtful
people instinctively turn to the right in passing others (in
England and Canada the custom is to turn to the left) without
thinking whether there is a law on the subject or not.

LAW GIVES FREEDOM

Now most of our laws that regulate the conduct of individuals are
simply rules that experience has proved to be of the greatest
advantage to the greatest number, and that are necessary because
SOME people have not "good manners." Most people observe them, not
because they are laws, but because they are reasonable and helpful
in avoiding friction and in securing cooperation. If they are good
laws, it is only the "ill-mannered" who are really conscious of
their existence. Just laws restrict the freedom only of the "ill-
mannered," while they GIVE freedom to those who have "good
manners."

What street or highway signs are there in your community? Who
placed them? Are they faithfully observed? If not, why?

What signals are there in your school? Discuss their usefulness.

What are some of the "rules" of your school? Are they good rules?
Why? Are they an advantage or a disadvantage to yourself? If they
did not exist, would your own conduct be different? Why?

What are some of the rules of good manners that are supposed to
control conduct in your school? in your home? in the street?
Discuss their reasonableness. Do they enlarge or restrict freedom?

Do the rules of football, or other games, increase or decrease the
freedom of play?

What are some of the laws that control conduct in your community?
Would most people observe the laws you mention even if they were
not written laws, and if there were no penalty for failing to
observe them? Why?

THE ORIGIN OF LAW

The following story illustrates the difference between law and
custom, or "manners," and how the former may develop out of the
latter. [Footnote: "Rudimentary Society among Boys," by John
Johnson, in Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and
Political Science, vol. ii (1884). The story as here given is
reproduced from Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C,
p. 145, U. S. Bureau of Education (Lesson C-18, "Cooperation
through Law," by Arthur W. Dunn). ] There was once a boys' school
located in an 800-acre tract of land, in the fields and woods of
which the boys, when free from their studies, gathered nuts,
trapped small animals, and otherwise lived much like primitive
hunters.

Just after midnight some morning early in October, when the first
frosts of the season loosened the grasp of the nuts upon the
limbs, parties of two or three boys might be seen rushing at full
speed over the wet fields. When the swiftest party reached a
walnut tree, one of the number climbed up rapidly, shook off half
a bushel of nuts and scrambled down again. Then off the boys went
to the next tree, where the process was repeated unless the tree
was occupied by other boys doing likewise. Nut hunters coming to
the tree after the first party had been there, and wishing to
shake the tree some more, were required by custom to pile up all
the nuts that lay under the tree. Until this was done, the
unwritten law did not permit their shaking any more nuts on the
ground.

So far this was a CUSTOM accepted by the boys because of its
reasonableness. But after a while, some members of this boy
community thought to get ahead of the other members. One night
before frost came they secretly went to the woods and took
possession of most of the nut trees by shaking them according to
custom. When this was discovered, some of the leaders of the
community CALLED A MEETING of all the boys. After discussing the
matter thoroughly, they provided against a repetition of the trick
by MAKING A RULE (passing a law) that thereafter the harvesting of
nuts should not begin before A FIXED DATE in October.

These boys acted very much as men have often acted under simple
conditions of community life. The New England "town meeting," for
example, is precisely the same thing as the boys' meeting.

THE SECOND ELEMENT IN DEMOCRACY: CONTROL BY THE PEOPLE

We shall study the organization and methods of lawmaking in later
chapters. At present we are merely noting WHY we have laws, and
the fact that they are supposed to be made, directly or
indirectly, by the people themselves. And right here we see the
second thing necessary to make a DEMOCRACY. On page 9 we saw that
in a democracy all people have certain equal and "unalienable"
rights, and that that community is most democratic that affords
its members most nearly equal opportunity to enjoy these rights.
Now we see further that in a democracy the people make their own
laws. Moreover, the laws of a democracy control, not only the
conduct of the people, but also the government itself. The
government of a democracy may do only those things, and use only
those methods, for which the people give the authority. It is only
when government exercises power without control by the people that
it becomes autocratic.

TWO HISTORIC DOCUMENTS

The purpose of our government is clearly stated in two historic
documents. One of these is the Declaration of Independence, which
has already been quoted in Chapter I. The same quotation is given
here with an additional sentence in italics:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. That, TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, GOVERNMENTS
ARE INSTITUTED AMONG MEN, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE
CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED...

The second great document is the Constitution of the United
States, the preamble to which reads:

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America.

DEMOCRACY A GOAL STILL TO BE REACHED

It is not to be supposed that our government and our laws are
perfect. They cannot be perfect as long as they are made and
operated by imperfect people. It is possible, for example, that
the boys of the city had a just complaint against the government
for not permitting them to play ball in vacant lots, UNLESS THE
COMMUNITY AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDED THEM WITH ANOTHER SUITABLE
PLACE FOR THE GAME--for every community should protect the right
of its boys and girls to play. We are far from having attained
complete democracy. It is a goal toward which men are struggling,
and have been struggling for centuries--since long before our
Revolutionary War, and in other countries as well as in our own.
The great world war which began in 1914, and which the United
States entered in 1917, was a war to establish more firmly in the
world the principles of democratic government. Whether these
principles shall be carried out in practice, and whether our
governments--local, state, and national--shall fulfill the
purposes so clearly stated in the preamble to the Constitution,
depends upon the extent to which each citizen understands these
purposes, and cooperates with his fellow-citizens and with his
governments in support of them.

THE "RIGHT IDEA OF IT"

It is said that in one of the training camps during the war an
officer addressed a squad of new recruits as follows:

Boys, I want you to get the right idea of the salute. I do not
want you to think that you are being compelled to salute me as an
individual. No! When you salute me, you are simply rendering
respect to the power I represent; AND THE POWER I REPRESENT IS
YOU. Now let me explain. You elect the President of the United
States, and the President of the United States grants me a
commission to represent his authority in this army. His only
authority is the authority that you vest in him when you elect him
President. Now, when you salute an officer, you salute not the
man, but the representative of your own authority. The salute is
going to be rigidly enforced in this army, and I want you boys to
get the right idea of it. I want you to know what you salute and
why.

It is very important that we should "get the right idea" of what
our government is. It is very much the idea that the officer gave
his soldiers about the salute. It is the idea contained in this
chapter: that government is our own organization for team work in
community life. All through this book we shall be engaged in
discovering how far this is true.

Do you know of instances in which the national government has
helped to secure cooperation among the farmers of your locality?

Discuss the parcel post as a means of cooperation.

During the war with Germany the United States government assumed
control of all the railroads of the country. Show how this was to
secure better cooperation.

Is the government of your school democratic? Explain your answer.
Do you think it should be made more democratic? Why?

Compare the purposes stated in the preamble to the Constitution
with the common purposes stated on page 6 of Chapter I.

Show how the pupil who does as he pleases in school may interfere
with the rights and liberties of other pupils. Is it right that
his liberty should then be restricted? Why? Is liberty the right
to do as one pleases? If not, what is it?

Read together in class the preamble to the Constitution and
carefully discuss the meaning of each phrase.

READINGS

Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series B: Lesson 17, The development of a system of laws.

Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law.
          Lesson 18, Cooperation through law.

In Long's American Patriotic Prose:

Lincoln, "Mob Law," pp. 173-177.

Lincoln, "Back to the Declaration," pp. 170-181.

McKinley, "Liberty is Responsibility, Not License," pp. 254-255.

The Declaration of Independence, pp. 67-71.

Beard, Chas. A., American Citizenship, chap, i ("The Nature of
Modern Government").

Franklin, Benjamin, Autobiography.





CHAPTER V

WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP?

WHAT MEMBERSHIP MEANS


Before we go further, let us get a definite idea of what it means
to be a citizen.

IN THE BODY

We have frequently referred to the fact that we are "members" of
various communities. Our bodies have members, such as arms and
hands. The tongue has been called an unruly member. "It is a
little member and boasteth great things." [Footnote: James iii:
5.]

There are two important facts about members of the body. One is
THAT THEY GET THEIR LIFE FROM THE BODY. If the hand is cut off, it
quickly ceases to be a hand because it is severed from the source
of life. If the body is seriously ill, its members are unable to
perform their proper work.

The second important fact is THAT THE BODY IS DEPENDENT UPON ITS
MEMBERS FOR ITS LIFE. If the hand is cut off, or an eye put out,
the body does not necessarily die, but it is seriously
handicapped. If a member is paralyzed or diseased it may be a
positive hindrance to the body, and the disease may spread to
other members. The body may suffer merely because its members are
poorly trained.

IN THE COMMUNITY

That is what it means to be a member of the body; and membership
in a family, or a school, or a club, or a community, is just the
same. We have already seen, and we shall see more fully as we go
on with our study, how completely we are dependent upon our
communities for food, for the protection of life, for education,
and for all else that makes up our life. The community that does
not provide for its members in these things is like a sick body.
On the other hand, as members of a community we are always
contributing something to its life--either to its advantage or
disadvantage. Of course, each of us is only one of a great many
members in a large community, and we may seem to be very
unimportant. But each performs his part, whether it be great or
small, and whether he does it well or poorly.

CITIZENSHIP MEANS MEMBERSHIP

Now we often speak of members of a community as CITIZENS of that
community. CITIZENSHIP means practically the same thing as
membership in the community. As a good community is one that
provides well for its members, so the good citizen is the member
who does well his part in the life of the community. A bad citizen
is the member who hinders the progress of the community when he
might be helping. A citizen has certain RIGHTS and certain DUTIES.
His rights are what the community owes him; his duties are what he
owes the community.

TRAINED AND UNTRAINED CITIZENS

There are many members of communities who are like the diseased or
paralyzed hand, or like the hand that is untrained. A member of an
athletic team who does not "train" will probably be dropped from
the team--he fails to become an athlete. A member of a community,
or a citizen, who does not "train" still remains a member, but an
inefficient one. He is a handicap to his community and interferes
with community team work. The part that a member plays in
community life may be more important than he realizes. Even in
small things, "the falling short of one may mean disaster to
many." Each member of a community, like each member of a body,
must be not only in a healthy condition but also well trained.

WHO ARE CITIZENS

Let us not make the mistake of thinking that we are not yet
citizens because we are young. The Constitution of the United
States says that "ALL PERSONS born or naturalized in the United
States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" (that is, subject
to its laws) "are citizens of the United States and of the state
wherein they reside." Even persons born in foreign countries and
who have not yet been naturalized [Footnote: "Naturalization" is
the legal process by which persons of foreign birth renounce their
allegiance to the land of their birth and pledge their allegiance
to our government.] enjoy almost all the rights of native-born
Americans, and therefore have much of the responsibility of
citizenship. Until they are naturalized they are still considered
members of the country from which they came, and therefore as
owing certain duties to that country which would be inconsistent
with their duties as members of our nation. Therefore they are
denied certain POLITICAL rights, such as voting and holding
office. [Footnote: In a few states even unnaturalized persons are
allowed to vote after they have declared their intention of
becoming citizens.] These same political rights are denied to
native-born citizens until they have reached maturity. But we must
not confuse this right to vote with citizenship.

Explain how the idea of membership as described in the text
applies to your membership in the family; to membership in a club;
in a church; in a farmers' cooperative organization.

Can you be a member of your class or school without doing it
either good or harm? Explain your answer.

Read Romans xii: 4-8 and James iii: 5-8.

Show how an injury or a benefit to one pupil in the school may be
an injury or a benefit to the entire school. Give illustrations to
prove this.

Show how a failure to save food, to buy savings stamps, or to
perform other services that one is able to perform, weakened our
nation and other nations who were her allies during the war with
Germany.

Make a list of things you have done during the week for the
benefit of your school; for the welfare of your neighborhood,
town, or school district. Do you do as much for your family,
school, or community as they do for you?

Turn to Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States
(see Appendix), and read the entire first section containing the
definition of a citizen. Discuss the meaning of the section.

At what age does the native-born citizen acquire the right to
vote? Why is he not allowed to vote before that time?

What native-born citizens of the United States do not have the
right to vote even after they are of voting age?

READINGS

In Long's American Patriotic Prose:

Doane, "The Men to Make a State," pp. 236-238.

Lane, "Makers of the Flag," pp. 314-316.

Steiner, "On Becoming an American Citizen," pp. 317-320.

Wilson, "To Newly-Made Citizens," pp. 322-326.





CHAPTER VI

WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY?

ELEMENTS THAT MAKE A COMMUNITY


In the preceding chapters we have often spoken of "our community."
As a matter of fact, each of us is a member of a number of
communities. It is time to consider just what they are

Every community, of course, consists of a GROUP OF PEOPLE who
occupy a more or less DEFINITE LOCALITY. Much depends, in
community life, upon the character of both the people and the
locality they occupy. But the essential thing about a community is
that the people who comprise it are WORKING TOGETHER (cooperating)
under an ORGANIZATION (government) for the COMMON GOOD (common
purposes).

LARGE AND SMALL COMMUNITIES

A neighborhood of farmers with their families may constitute a
community. In this case the area occupied may be extensive while
the people are few in number. Or the community may be a city with
a population very large in proportion to area it occupies. There
are villages, towns, and small cities of varying sizes both as to
population and area. Each state in our Union is a community and so
is the nation itself because each is composed of a group of people
(very large in these cases), occupying a definite territory (also
large), and having a government through which the people are
working for common ends. There is a world community, but it is, as
yet, very imperfect. The nations and peoples that comprise it have
been slow to recognize their common purposes and have so far
failed to develop adequate means of cooperation, (See Chapter
VIII.)

Is your class a community? (Apply the definition given above.)
What common interests does it have? Has it any government or laws?
Is your school a community? Apply the same tests as above.

Is your home a community? What are some of its common interests?
Are there laws in your family?

What are some of the things in which your family and your nearest
neighbors have a common interest because of living close together?
Do your family and your neighbors work together to provide for
these interests?

What are some of the things in which all the people of your city
or village (or the one nearest to you) have a common interest, and
which the city, or village, government helps to provide for?

INTERDEPENDENCE OF RURAL AND CITY COMMUNITIES

A community of farmers has interests of its own, largely centering
around farming activities, or the social life of the local
neighborhood. A few miles away is a village or city whose people
also have their own peculiar interests, such as the lighting of
the streets at night, or the building of a new high school, or the
election of a mayor. Yet there are interests common to both the
farming community and the city community. The city is dependent
upon the country for its food supply, and the farmers are
dependent upon the city for their market. Probably some of the
farmers send their children to the city schools. Thus city and
rural communities are bound together into a larger community with
interests common to both.

In the early days of western settlement a community was founded in
Illinois. It was an agricultural community, but in the midst of it
a village grew, which in the course of time became a small city.
One of the first settlers was a young farmer with a mechanical
turn of mind. He began experimenting to improve the methods of
planting grain. The result was the invention of a corn planter,
the manufacture of which became one of the chief industries of the
growing city, employing hundreds of men and sending machines to
all parts of the world. Another young farmer invented a better
plow than those which had been in use, the manufacture of which
became another of the city's industries. In those pioneer days
each family usually made its own brooms, but one young man in this
community earned his way through the local college by making
brooms from corn raised on the college farm. The college cornfield
disappeared in the course of time, but on one part of it there
grew up a broom factory employing a large number of workmen. These
city industries were thus literally "children of the soil," and
the city's prosperity depended upon the agriculture of the
surrounding region. On the other hand, the city provided the
farmers with improved plows and corn planters, furnished them an
immediate market for their products, supplied them with goods
through its shops and stores, and gave education to hundreds of
farmers' children in its schools and college.

NEED FOR RURAL AND CITY TEAMWORK

Sometimes jealousies and antagonisms arise between small
neighboring communities, and especially between rural and city
communities. This interferes with the progress of both
communities, and of the larger community of which each is a part.
It may be proposed to build a township high school. It is natural
that the several communities that comprise the township should
each want it. But the interest of the entire township should be
considered in determining the location of the school, and not
merely the advantage of one local district as against others. It
sometimes happens that the people of a city are exempted from
taxation for county purposes outside of the city, although the
benefits would be almost, if not quite as great, for the city as
for the country. This sort of thing serves to set off city and
country against each other instead of binding them together to
their mutual advantage. The case of Christian County, Kentucky,
described in Chapter III, is an excellent illustration of teamwork
between city and country in the interest of the entire county, and
of the results achieved by it.

SMALL COMMUNITIES UNITE IN LARGE ONES

In this chapter there are three maps of Dane County, Wisconsin,
which show how small communities, both rural and urban, are united
into a large community, the county. Map I shows the school
districts and the townships which comprise the county. The city of
Madison occupies the center, and small towns and villages are
scattered here and there. The country school is the chief center
of interest in each school district. Here and there through the
county are high schools. Each of these is a center of a larger
irregular area, including a number of school districts and parts
of several townships as shown in map 2. Map 3 shows TRADE AREAS.
Trade and education are two of the chief interests that bind
people into communities. But where these interests exist, there
are likely to be other interests; the high school is likely to be
a meeting place for social and recreational purposes.

The area and boundaries of a "farming" or "rural neighborhood"
community are usually rather indefinite and changeable, depending
upon surface features and upon transportation conditions, or the
length of the "day's haul." With improved roads and better means
of transportation, larger areas and more people are included. A
"neighborhood" or "trade area" with automobiles is much larger
than one where horses or ox carts are used exclusively. The
consolidated school with transportation provided for pupils
expands the rural neighborhood community.

COMMON INTERESTS OF THE LARGER COMMUNITY

Each of the small dots on map 3 represents a farm home. If we
select one of these dots and imagine ourselves members of the
family that lives there, we shall see that we are members of a
certain school district, of a certain township, of a community
that has grown up around a trade center and a high school, and of
course of the county as a whole. No matter in what school district
we live, we have an interest in some matters in common with the
people of all other school districts in the county. For example,
there is a state university at Madison, and connected with it is a
training school for teachers. The work done here influences the
teaching in all the schools of the county, and indeed of the whole
state. There is also an agricultural college at the state
university which serves the farmers throughout the entire county
and state. If we look closely at map 3, we shall see how highways
and railroads center at Madison, which is the county seat of Dane
County and the capital of the state of Wisconsin.

Just as the many small communities that make up a county are
dependent upon one another, requiring organized cooperation for
the county welfare, so all the counties of a state, and all the
people who live in all the counties, are interdependent in many
ways. The people of the city of Madison, for example, depend for
their food supply upon the farmers not only of Dane County but of
the entire state. The university at Madison serves not Dane County
alone, but the people of all the counties of the state. The public
schools of the state should be equally good in all counties and
managed by a uniform plan. Roads and other means of transportation
are a matter of concern to the entire state. And so the state is a
community, organized with a government, to secure cooperation
among all the people and all the smaller communities that compose
it. In fact, a large part of the business of the governments of
the local communities, such as city and county and township, is to
administer the laws of the central state government.

In a similar manner, the forty-eight states of the Union, with all
the counties and smaller communities of which they consist,
comprise our great national community, of which we are all
members.

COMMUNITIES IN THE LARGER COMMUNITIES

When we speak of "our community" we are likely to think at once of
the small community immediately around us--our neighborhood,
village, or city. Our citizenship in these local communities is
extremely important, and will demand no small part of our
attention. But it is equally important to be fully alive to our
citizenship in the larger communities. This is true wherever we
live; but there is a sense in which our national community is
peculiarly important to those of us who live in rural communities.
The wants of people in cities are, as a rule, looked after more
completely by their local governments than is the case in rural
communities.

The people of rural communities, and especially farmers
themselves, are directly served by the national government in a
great variety of ways. In the next chapter we shall consider our
nation as a community.

Show how the different classes of your school are bound together
by interests common to the entire school. Compare this union of
classes with the union of states into a nation. What constitutes
the government of your school?

Mention some things in which all the people of your county have a
special interest. Are these things of equal interest to farmers
and townspeople?

Do the farmers and townspeople of your county work well together,
or are there conflicts between them? If there are conflicts, what
are the causes?

Point out some ways in which the prosperity and welfare of the
farmers of your locality depend upon a neighboring city or town.
Also some ways in which, the city or town depend upon the
neighboring farmers.

If there is organized cooperation in your county, similar to that
described on page 32, has it been brought about or encouraged by
government, or solely by voluntary effort on the part of citizens?
If the government had anything to do with it, was it the county
government, state government, or national government?

Has farmland increased or decreased in value in your locality
since your father was a boy? Can you show a relation between this
change in value of farmland and the growth of nearby towns or
cities?

What industries in your town (or a neighboring town) are dependent
upon farming for their raw materials? for the sale of their
product?

What is the cotton gin? the spinning jenny? Show how these
inventions were a benefit to agriculture. How did they promote the
growth of cities?

Make a map of your school district. Do the people of this district
cooperate in matters other than those pertaining to the school?

On a map of your county, show approximately the "trade area"
served by the "trade center" nearest you. For what other purposes
besides trade do the farmers of this trade area come to the trade
center?

On a map of your county, show the area from which pupils come to
the high school nearest you.

On a map of your state, show the principle "railroad centers."
Show how these are the centers of larger trade areas corresponding
to the small trade areas of your county. Show how the farmers and
the residents of these railroad centers have common interests.

READINGS

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, Chapters, i-iii.

Galpin, C. J., "The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community,"
Research Bulletin 34, Agricultural Experiment Station, University
of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

Gillette, John M., Constructive Rural Sociology (Sturgis & Walton
Co., New York), Chapter iv ("Types of Communities").

Small and Vincent, An Introduction to the Study of Society
(American Book Co.), Book II, Chapters i-iv.





CHAPTER VII

OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY

IMPERFECTIONS OF OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY


It is important to get in the habit of thinking of our nation as a
community, just as we think of our school or town or rural
neighborhood as one. This is not always easy to do because of its
huge size and complicated character. It would be wrong, too, to
get the idea that it is a perfect community--none of our
communities is perfect. Conflicts of interest are often more
apparent than community of interest. Teamwork among the different
parts and groups that make up our nation is often very poor.
Although our government is a wonderfully good one, it is still
only an imperfect means of cooperation. Our nation is far from
being a complete democracy, for there are many people in it who do
not have the full enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; and large numbers of our "self-governing" people really
have little or no part in government.

LOYALTY TO IDEALS

It need not give us an unpatriotic feeling to acknowledge the
imperfections of our nation or of our government; for communities
GROW, not only in size, but also in ability to perform their
proper work, just as individuals do. We call a person conceited
who thinks that he is perfect, especially if he boasts of it. But
his conceit is itself an imperfection and a hindrance to growth.
So the patriotic citizen is not one who is unable to see defects
in his community, or who refuses to acknowledge them, but one who
has high CIVIC IDEALS and is loyal to them, who understands in
what respects these ideals have not been reached, and who, as a
member of the community, contributes everything he can to keep it
growing in THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

"The problem of government is, after all, the problem of human
growth. ... The one constant and inconstant quantity with which
man must deal is man--changing, inert, impulsive, limited,
sympathetic, selfish, aspiring man. His institutions, whether
social or political, must come out of his wants and out of his
capacities. Luther Burbank has not yet made grapes to grow on
thorns or figs on thistles. Neither has any system of government
made all men wise..."--FRANKLIN K. LANE.

Is it possible for a community to be 100 percent perfect? Why?

What people in your community take no part in government?

May people who cannot vote have any influence upon government?
Explain.

Has a good citizen a right to criticize his government? What is
the difference between helpful and harmful criticism?

What is an "ideal"? a "civic ideal"?

WELDING OF THE NATION BY WAR

It is easier now than usual to think of our nation as a community,
because the war with Germany served to arouse our "national
spirit," and showed very clearly the importance in our national
life of those elements which characterize all community life--
common purpose, interdependence, and organized, cooperation (see
Chapters I-III). The creation of a National Army did much to bring
this about.

When the benefits which come to the nation through the creation of
the National Army are catalogued, the fact that it has welded the
country into a homogeneous society, [Footnote: "Homogeneous
society"--a society or community all of whose parts and members
have like purposes and interests.] seeking the same national ends
and animated by the same national ideals, will overtop all other
advantages. The organization of the selected Army fuses the
thousand separate elements making up the United States into one
steel-hard mass. Men of the North, South, East, and West meet and
mingle, and on the anvil of war become citizens worthy of the
liberty won by the first American armies. [Footnote: Major
Granville R. Fortesque, in National Geographic Magazine, Dec.,
1917]. How this welding of the parts of the nation together was
brought about by the war is suggested by the words of an old
Confederate soldier who wrote to a friend in the North:

"During the war between the states I was a rebel, and continued
one in heart until this great war. But now I am a devoted follower
of Uncle Sam and endorse him in every respect."

DIVERSE ELEMENTS IN OUR NATION

The fact that our nation contained in its population large numbers
of people from practically every country of Europe caused no
little anxiety when we entered the European war. Our population
embraces a hundred different races and nationalities. Of these,
ten million are negroes and three hundred thirty-six thousand are
Indians. Thirty-three million are of foreign parentage, and of
these, thirteen million are foreign-born. Five million do not
speak English, and there are one thousand five hundred news papers
in the United States printed in foreign languages. Five and one-
half million above the age of ten years, including both foreign
and native, cannot read or write in any language. New York City
has a larger Hebrew population than any other city in the world,
contains more Italians than Rome, and its German population is the
fourth largest among the cities of the world. Pittsburgh has more
Serbs than the capital of Serbia. It is said that there were more
Greeks subject to draft in the American army than there were in
the entire army of Greece. Would all these people be loyal to our
nation, or would they divide it against itself?

LOYALTY OF DIVERSE ELEMENTS

The war, in fact, showed us that there were some among us who had
never really become "members" of our nation and who were dangerous
to our peace and safety. It also showed us the danger that comes
from the presence of so many illiterates, or of those who cannot
use the English language; for such people, even though loyal in
spirit to the United States, cannot understand instructions either
in the army or in industry, and otherwise prevent effective
cooperation. And yet the most striking thing that the war showed
us in regard to this mixed population is that the great mass of
it, regardless of color or place of birth, is really American in
spirit and loyal to our flag and the ideas which it represents.

NATIONAL SAFETY DEPENDS ON HARMONY

Another weakness within our nation that the war emphasized is the
lack of harmony between wage earners and their employers. There
were many sharp conflicts between them. Strikes occurred, or were
threatened, in factories, shipyards, mines, and railroads, that
blocked the wheels of industry at a time when the nation needed to
strain every nerve to provide the materials of war. This lack of
harmony between workmen and employers, which in war threatened our
national safety, has existed for many years and has always been an
obstacle to national progress. But the common purpose of winning
the war caused employers and wage earners, in most cases, to
adjust their differences. In nearly every case, one side or the
other, or both sides, yielded certain points and agreed not to
dispute over others, at least for the period of the war. The
national government did much to bring this about by the creation
of labor adjustment boards to hear complaints from either side and
to settle disputes. If our national community life is to develop
in a wholesome way, complete cooperation between workmen and
employers must be secured and made permanent on the basis of
interests that are common to both.

THE EFFECT OF A COMMON PURPOSE

Such facts as these show how easy it is, in a huge, complex
community like our nation, for conflicts to arise among different
sections and groups of the population; and how difficult it is
always to see the common interests that exist. But they also show
how such conflicts tend to disappear when a situation arises which
forces us to think of the common interests instead of the
differences. All else was forgotten in the common purpose to "win
the war." No sacrifice was too great on the part of any individual
in order that this national purpose might be served. Everywhere
throughout the country, in cities and in remote rural districts,
service flags in the windows testified that the homes of the land
were offering members that the nation and its ideals might live.
Men, women, and even children contributed their work and their
savings and denied themselves customary comforts to help win the
war. THE ENTIRE NATION WAS WORKING TOGETHER FOR A COMMON PURPOSE.

OUR NATIONAL PURPOSE

We have said that this common purpose was to "win the war." But
there were purposes that lie much deeper than this, without which
it would not have been worth while to enter the war at all. As we
saw in Chapter I, our nation is founded on a belief in the right
of every one to life and physical well-being; to be secure in
one's rightful possessions; to freedom of thought--education, free
speech, a free press; to freedom of religion; to happiness in
pleasant surroundings and a wholesome social life; and, above all,
to a voice in the government which exists to protect these rights.
It was to secure a larger freedom to enjoy these rights, "for
ourselves first and for all others in their time," that our nation
was solidly united against the enemy that threatened it from
without. But it was with this same purpose that the War of
Independence was fought, that our Constitution was adopted, that
slavery was abolished, that millions of people from foreign lands
have come to our shores. It is this common purpose that makes the
great mass of foreigners in our country Americans, ready to fight
for America, if necessary even against the land of their birth. It
is this for which the American flag stands at all times, whether
in peace or in war.

What proof can you give of a "national spirit" in your locality
during the war?

What evidence can you give to show that this national spirit is or
is not as strong since the war closed?

What was the "National Army"? the "National Guard"? Which of these
organizations was most likely to develop a "national spirit"? Why?
What good reasons can you give for the action of the government in
consolidating the Regular Army, the National Army, and the
National Guard into a "United States Army"?

What arguments can you give in favor of requiring all instruction
in the public schools to be given in the English language?

What arguments can you give in favor of teaching lessons in
citizenship in foreign-language newspapers?

What foreign nationalities are represented in your locality?

Make a blackboard table showing the nationality of the parents and
grandparents of each member of your class.

Give illustrations to show that "winning the war" was the
controlling purpose in your community during the war.

In what way has the war made YOU think about the right-to-life and
the need for physical well-being? about security in property?
about freedom of thought? about the desirability of an education?
about the right of people to pleasant surroundings? about self-
government?

Show how the Spanish-American war was fought for the same purpose
as that mentioned in the paragraph above.

Write a brief theme on "What the Flag Means to Me."

NATIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE

The attempt to work together in the war made it very apparent how
dependent the nation is upon all its parts, and how dependent each
part is upon all the others. It was often said that "the farmers
would win the war." At other times it was said to be ships, or
fuel, or airplanes, or railroad transportation, or trained
scientists and technical workers. The truth is, of course, that
all these things and many more were absolutely necessary, and that
no one of them would have been of much value without all the
others.

It is true that the winning of the war depended upon the farmers,
because they are the producers of the food and of the raw
materials for textiles without which the nation and every group
and person in it would have been helpless. But the farmer could
not supply food to the nation without machinery for its
production, and without city markets and railroads and ships for
its distribution. Machinery could not be made, nor ships and
locomotives built, without steel. For the manufacture of steel
there must be iron and fuel and tungsten and other materials. And
for all these things there must be inventors and skilled
mechanics, and to produce these there must be schools. And so we
could go on indefinitely to show how the war made us feel our
interdependence. What we need to understand, however, is that THIS
INTERDEPENDENCE IS CHARACTERISTIC OF OUR NATIONAL LIFE AT ALL
TIMES; the war only made us feel it more keenly.

NATION-BUILDING IN WAR TIME

During the war, strange as it may seem, while we were devoting our
national energies to the work of destruction incident to war, we
as a nation made astonishing progress in many ways other than in
the art of war--in what we might call nation-building.

In some ways we made progress in a year or two that under ordinary
circumstances might have required a generation. A striking
illustration of this is in the development of a great fleet of
merchant ships at a rate that would have been impossible before
the war. Beginning with almost nothing when the war began, we had,
in less than two years, a merchant fleet larger than that of any
other nation, and that in spite of the constant destruction of
ships by the enemy. The chairman of the shipping board of the
United States government says that this is because the necessities
of the war made the whole nation see how much it depends upon
ships, and caused not only ship-builders, but also engineers and
manufacturers and businessmen and the Navy department of the
government, and many others, to concentrate upon this problem,
with the result that we discovered methods of shipbuilding, and of
loading and unloading and operating ships when they were built,
that will probably enable us to maintain permanently a merchant
marine, the lack of which we have deplored for many years.

In a similar way we discovered and brought into use valuable
natural resources of whose existence we had largely been ignorant
and for which we had been dependent upon other nations. We made
astonishing progress in scientific knowledge, and especially in
the application of this knowledge to invention and to industrial
enterprises. We developed a new interest in agriculture, and
learned the food values of many products that had formerly been
neglected. We were led to attack seriously the great problem of
suitable housing for workmen, and had an important lesson in the
relation between wholesome home-life and industrial efficiency
(see Chapter X, pp. 112-113). Foundations were laid for the
adjustment of the unfortunate differences that have long existed
between workmen and their employers. The war suggested changes in
our educational methods, some of which will doubtless become
effective, to the great improvement of our public schools,
colleges, and technical schools.

We shall study some of these things more fully in later chapters.
They are mentioned now to illustrate how OUR NATIONAL PROGRESS WAS
STIMULATED WHEN THE WAR FORCED US TO SEE THE RELATION OF ALL THESE
THINGS TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF OUR NATIONAL
PURPOSE. On the other hand, failure to recognize this national
interdependence means slow progress as a national community. When
the war began, our nation was said to be "unprepared." Insofar as
this was true--and it was true in many particulars--it was because
in the times of peace before the war we had not thought enough
about the dependence of our national strength and safety upon all
these factors in our national life WORKING TOGETHER. And so, in
the times of peace AFTER THE WAR, if the purposes for which our
nation fought are to be fulfilled, we must continue to profit by
this lesson which the war has taught us.

Recall your discussion of national interdependence in connection
with your study of Chapter II.

Report on some of the important scientific and commercial
developments resulting from the war; as, for example:

The development of the commercial use of the airplane.

The development of new food supplies.

The production of fertilizer from the nitrogen of the air.

The development of new industries in the United States.

Changes in methods of farming.

What are some changes in education that are likely to result from
the war?

Show how the strike of coal miners in 1919 affected the life of
the nation.

THE "SUPREME TEST" OF THE NATION

The "working together" of all these interdependent parts is the
important thing. "The supreme test of the nation has come," said
President Wilson. "We must all speak, act, and serve together."
[Footnote: Message to the American People, April 15, 1919].

1

It is not an army that we must shape and train for war ... it is a
Nation. To this end our people must draw close in one compact
front against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursues
a private purpose. The Nation needs all men, but it needs each
man, not in the field that will most pleasure him, but in the
endeavor that will best serve the common good. ... The whole
Nation must be a team, in which each man must play the part for
which he is best fitted. [Footnote: Conscription Proclamation, May
18, 1917.]

THE NATION AS A TEAM

We had some suggestion on page 72 of how such national team work
became a fact. "Do your bit!" was the watch-word. It was splendid
to see how personal interests gave way before the desire to serve
the nation. It is a thrilling story how the racial elements in our
population forgot their differences of race and language and
remembered only that they were American; how employers and
employees laid aside their differences; how farmers and
businessmen, manufacturers and mechanics, miners and woodsmen,
inventors and teachers, women in the home and children in the
schools, doctors and nurses, and every other class and group
subordinated their personal interests to the one national purpose
of winning the war in order that "the world might become a decent
place in which to live."

As soon as the United States entered the war, Washington, the
nation's capital, became filled with people from all parts of the
country who wanted to help in some way. Some were called there by
the government; others came to volunteer their services and to
offer ideas that they thought useful. Many came as representatives
of organizations--business and industrial organizations,
scientific associations, civic societies. New committees and
associations were formed, until the number of voluntary citizen
organizations eager to do "war work" became almost too numerous to
remember. They were all an indication of the desire of the people
to do their part in the national enterprise.

CONFUSION WITHOUT ORGANIZATION

But there followed a period of confusion. All these organizations
and the people whom they represented wanted to help, but they did
not always know just what to do nor how to do it. Each
organization had its own ideas which it often magnified above all
others. Different organizations wanted to accomplish the same
purpose, but wanted to do it in different ways. Often they
duplicated one another's efforts. A war could not be won under
such conditions. But out of all this confusion there finally
developed order, and this was because the various organizations of
people realized that if they were to accomplish anything they must
work in cooperation with the national government, whose business
it was, after all, to organize the nation for united action. In
fact, it was for this reason that they came to Washington. Many of
them sought to influence the government to adopt this or that
plan, and sometimes succeeded; but it was the government that
finally decided what plans were to be adopted, and all of the
effort of the numerous organizations and of individuals must be
brought into harmony with these.

NATIONAL TEAM WORK THROUGH GOVERNMENT

The period of the war afforded many striking examples of national
cooperation secured by the government. It may have seemed
sometimes that our government interfered with personal freedom to
an unreasonable extent, as when it limited the amount of coal we
could buy, fixed the prices of many articles, determined the wages
that should be paid for labor, took over the management of the
railroads and of the telegraph and telephone lines, and did many
other things that it never had done in times of peace. We expected
government to exercise powers in war time that it would not be
permitted to exercise in times of peace. But it can be shown that
even during the war, the government, with all its unusual powers,
did not "ride roughshod" over the people, but sought to "make them
partners in an enterprise which after all was their own." The
nation was fighting for its life and for the very principles upon
which it was founded, and it was necessary that cooperation should
be complete and effective. This was what the government sought,
and it exercised its powers by inviting and obtaining national
cooperation to a remarkable extent.

THE SELECTIVE DRAFT AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF TEAM WORK

Our national army was created by a "selective" draft, or
conscription. Conscription had formerly been looked upon with
disfavor as a form of forced military service. A volunteer army
was thought to be more in harmony with a democratic form of
government. But the draft is now seen to be far more democratic
than a volunteer army because it treats all able-bodied men alike,
instead of leaving the fighting to those who are most courageous
and most patriotic, while those who are inclined to shirk may
easily do so. Moreover, the SELECTIVE draft means the selection of
men to serve in the capacity for which they are best fitted. In
Great Britain, under a volunteer system, and in France, under a
system of compulsory military service for all men, thousands of
brave men went to the trenches in the early days of the war who,
because of their training, should have been kept at home to
perform the vast amount of skilled labor and scientific work which
this war demanded. War industry, without which there could be no
fighting, was thus greatly hampered.

By our selective draft, on the other hand, while every man was
expected to do his share, each was selected as far as possible to
do the thing which he could do best and therefore which would best
serve the country. It also sought to prevent those who had
families dependent upon them from going to war until they were
absolutely needed. Thus the selective draft is an example of
government organizing our national manpower for more effective
teamwork and with less hardship than if it had been left to
voluntary action.

TEAM WORK THROUGH THE FOOD ADMINISTRATION

The United States Food Administration was created by the President
to carry out the provisions of a law passed by Congress", to
provide further for the national security and defense by
encouraging the production, conserving the supply, and controlling
the distribution of food products and fuel." The President placed
at its head a man in whom the people of the country had great
confidence, because of his experience and success in organizing
and managing the Belgian relief work, Mr. Herbert Hoover. He
gathered around him men familiar with the problems relating to the
food supply of the nation, and then proceeded to enlighten the
country in regard to the nature of these problems and to seek for
the cooperation of the people in solving them.

As soon as he was appointed, the food administrator issued a
statement containing the following facts:

Whereas we exported before the war but 80,000,000 bushels of wheat
per annum, this year we must find for all our allies 225,000,000
bushels, and this in the face of a short crop. ... France and
Italy formerly produced their own sugar, while England and Ireland
imported largely from Germany. Owing to the inability of the
first-named to produce more than one third of their needs, and the
necessity for the others to import from other markets, they must
all come to the West Indies for their very large supplies, and
therefore deplete our resources.

If we can reduce our consumption of wheat flour by 1 pound, our
meat by 7 ounces, our sugar by 7 ounces, our fat by 7 ounces PER
PERSON PER WEEK, these quantities, multiplied by 100,000,000 (the
population of the United States) will immeasurably aid and
encourage our allies, help our own growing armies, and so
effectively serve the great and noble cause of humanity in which
our nation has embarked.

DEMOCRACY A PARTNERSHIP

This illustrates how the Food Administration sought cooperation.
It "made partners" of the people, explained to them the situation,
and asked them to help as individuals. It showed the nation what
it must do if it were to be successful in its undertaking. It is
true that the President had large powers to enforce observance of
the rules outlined by the Food Administration, but it was only in
the exceptional case of the individual consumer and producer who
refused to cooperate for the common good that it became necessary
to use the power. The method of democracy is to point out clearly
how the desired result may be obtained and to depend upon the
people to govern themselves accordingly.

After a year of the war a member of the Food Administration is
quoted as saying, [Footnote: In an article on "Your Wheatless
Days," by W. A. Wolff, in Collier's Weekly, Aug. 17, 1918.]
"There's never been anything like it in history. ... We asked the
American people to do voluntarily more than any other people has
ever been asked to do under compulsion. And the American people
made good!"

What was true in the unusual time of war is true to even a greater
extent in the ordinary time of peace. We have little to fear from
our national government as long as we and those to whom we entrust
its management, always keep in mind its real purpose, which is to
show us how to work together effectively as a nation and to help
us do it.

EVERY MAN COUNTS

All through this study we are going to observe how in the ordinary
affairs of life our national government serves us in this respect.
One thing that we need especially to learn is that we have a great
national purpose ALL THE TIME, in peace as well as in war. In
fact, PEACE IS A PART OF THAT PURPOSE. We went to war because
without it there could be no assurance of a lasting peace. While
we fought to defend our national purpose and our national ideals
against a powerful foe from without, this purpose and these ideals
cannot be fully achieved by the war alone. They can be finally
achieved only by ourselves as we develop, day by day, our national
community life. To do this we must always keep in mind our great
national purpose, we must realize our dependence upon one another
in achieving this purpose, and we must make our national team work
as perfect as it can be made. Above all, we must realize that, in
peace as in war, EVERY MAN COUNTS in our national community life.
As President Wilson said:

"THE NATION NEEDS ALL MEN, BUT IT NEEDS EACH MAN. ..." "THE WHOLE
NATION MUST BE A TEAM, IN WHICH EACH MAN SHALL PLAY THE PART FOR
WHICH HE IS BEST FITTED."

Read and discuss President Wilson's "Message to the American
People," of April 15, 1917.

What organizations existed in your community to secure teamwork
for war purposes?

Show how boys' and girls' clubs, or the School Garden Army, made
cooperation possible on a national scale. Is this true in peace
times as well as in war time?

Is there greater or less need of national teamwork today than
during the war? Explain your answer.

What evidences are there that the teamwork of our nation has not
been as good since the war as during the war? Why is this?

Show how universal military training might increase the national
spirit What arguments can you give against it?

Should or should not the food administration of wartime be
continued in peace time? Why?

What does it mean to you to be an American?

READINGS

In Long's American Patriotic Prose:

Van Dyke, "The Blending of Races," p. 4.

De Crevecoeur, "The American," p. 38.

Webster, "Imaginary Speech of John Adams," p. 77.

Brooks, "The Fourth of July in Westminster Abbey," p. 89.

Van Dyke, "The Americanism of Washington," pp. 135-137.

Jay, "Unity as a Protection against Foreign Force and Influence,"
p. 139.

Webster, "Liberty and Union Inseparable," p. 158.

Lincoln, "Gettysburg Speech," p. 181.

Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address," p. 183.

Whitman, "Two Brothers, One North, One South," p. 201.

Wilson, "Spirit of America," p. 266.

Roosevelt, "True Americanism," p. 270.

Wilson, "Conscription Proclamation," p. 283.

Hughes, "What the Flag Means," p. 288.

Eliot, "Five American Contributions to Civilization," p. 310.

Lane, "Makers of the Flag," p. 314.

McCall, "America the Melting Pot," p. 320.

Wilson, "To Newly-Made Citizens," p. 322.

Gibbons, "The Republic Will Endure," p. 340.

Eliot, "What Americans Believe In," p. 361.

Abbott, "Patriotism," p. 362.

In Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals:

Wilson, "Conscription Proclamation," p. 175.

Wilson, "Americanism and the Foreign-Born," p. 178.

Alderman, "Can Democracy be Organized?" p. 158.





CHAPTER VIII

A WORLD COMMUNITY


Is there a world community? A world torn by war, as our world was
from 1914 to 1918, may not seem to give much evidence of it, and
many would at once answer "No" to our question. And yet such
phrases as the "brotherhood of man" and the "cause of humanity"
are familiar to us all. We may briefly discuss the question in
this study, because if there is such a community, we are all
members of it, and our membership in it affects our lives as
individuals and as a nation.

WHAT THE WAR DISCLOSED WITH REGARD TO A WORLD COMMUNITY

The world community is certainly very imperfectly developed, but
while the war emphasized its imperfections, it also furnished
evidence if its reality. Its existence depends upon the presence
of recognized common purposes and of organized teamwork in
accomplishing these purposes, as in the case of any community. The
war disclosed conflicting interests among the nations; but it
united for a common purpose a larger part of the world's
population than had ever before acted together in a common cause.
It disclosed an interdependence among the nations and the peoples
of the world that we had not thought of. And while it disclosed
the weakness of the world's organization for teamwork, it aroused
us to the possibilities of such organization, made us long for it,
and brought us, as many believe, a step nearer to its
accomplishment.

AMERICA'S DETACHMENT FROM THE WORLD

Separated by wide oceans, from the rest of the world, our nation
grew and prospered with a sense of security from the conflicts
that from time to time disturbed the Old World. We early adopted a
policy of avoiding entanglements that might draw us into these
conflicts. In his Farewell Address, Washington said:

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is,
in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little
political connection as possible. ... Why, by interweaving our
destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and
posterity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest,
humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of
permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

A few years later, President Monroe issued his famous statement,
known as the Monroe Doctrine, which, recognizing the principle
that Washington had stated, also denied the right of European
powers to interfere with the free growth of the republican nations
of North and South America. The United States has steadfastly held
to this doctrine from that day to this.

NATIONS HAVE BECOME CLOSE NEIGHBORS

But great changes have come to the world since the time of
Washington. The use of steam in navigation, the submarine cable
and wireless telegraphy have brought all the world into closer
relations than existed between New England and the Southern States
in the early days of our national life. Our government at
Washington may send messages to European capitals and receive a
reply within ten minutes. The Atlantic has been crossed by
airplane. The nations of the world have become very close
neighbors. The murder of a prince in a little city of central
Europe drew from millions of homes in America their sons to fight
on the soil of Europe. We entered the war because our interests
were so closely bound up with those of the world that we could not
keep out; because "what affects mankind is inevitably our affair,
as well as the affair of the nations of Europe and Asia."

The war did not create this interdependence; it only emphasized
it. But now that we are aware of it, it will probably influence
our lives to a much greater extent than before the war.

WHAT THE WORLD WAS FIGHTING FOR

The nations that were associated against Germany, occupy, with
their dependencies, two-thirds of the earth's surface and include
more than four-fifths of its population. The governments of these
nations declared that they were fighting primarily, not for
selfish interests such as "ports and provinces and trade," but
"for the common interests of the whole family of civilized
nations--for nothing less than the cause of mankind." [Footnote:
Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.] Even if
some of the governments were influenced to a greater or lesser
extent by selfish motives, they still recognized a common interest
of the peoples of the world, a "cause of mankind," and based their
appeals upon it. The prime minister of England said, "We must not
allow any sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping
desire, to overcome the fundamental principles of righteousness."
Faraway Siam declared that she entered the war "to uphold the
sanctity of international rights against nations showing a
contempt for humanity." And little Guatemala proclaimed that she
had "from the first adhered to and supported the attitude of the
United States in defense of the rights of nations, of liberty of
the seas, and of international justice." Our President said that
"what we demand in this war is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It
is that the world be made fit and safe to live in for every peace-
loving nation. ... All the peoples of the world are in effect
partners in this interest."

The avowed purpose for which the United States entered the war,
and for which "all the peoples of the world are in effect
partners," is the same as that for which the American
Revolutionary War was fought, which was proclaimed in our
Declaration of Independence, and for which America has always
stood--the equal right of all men to "life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness," and to self-government. Nearly the whole
world was united against a few autocratic governments that denied
these rights.

AMERICA HAS FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS

At the time of the American Revolution the colonists had no desire
to fight the English PEOPLE, but revolted against the autocratic
English GOVERNMENT of that time, which refused to recognize the
rights of the people. The English people had many times fought for
these rights, and many of them sympathized with the American
colonists, The winning of American independence was a victory for
free government in England as well as in America, and the
government of England today is as democratic as our own. This
understanding about the American Revolution throws light upon what
the President of the United States meant when he said that we
fought Germany for "the ultimate peace of the world and for the
liberation of its peoples, THE GERMAN PEOPLES INCLUDED." Another
writer said, "We are not fighting to put the Germans out but to
get them in."

THE GROWTH OF HUMAN SYMPATHY

It has taken a long time for the peoples of the world to develop a
sense of their common wants and purposes. Differences in language,
in race and color, in religious beliefs and observances, in forms
of government, even in such matters as dress and other habits and
customs, have tended to obscure the common feelings of all. This
lack of sympathetic understanding is suggested by Shylock, in
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice:

Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with
the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same
means, warmed and cooled by the same Winter and Summer, as a
Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us,
do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong
us, shall we not revenge? if we are like you in the rest, we will
resemble you in that.

Increased opportunity for travel, better means of communication,
and more widespread education have greatly increased the
understanding among peoples and nations, and have disclosed to
view common purposes and ideals in spite of differences. The fact
that large numbers of people from every part of the globe have
come to the United States to live together as one nation has
contributed to the same result.

Give illustrations from your own experience and reading to show
that differences in dress, language, race, and customs make
sympathetic understanding difficult.

What is meant by "America, the melting-pot"?

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As the peoples of the world have become better acquainted,
individuals and groups have tended to associate themselves
together, regardless of national boundaries, for the promotion of
common interests.

One example of this is the common movement of organized labor
which has overstepped national boundaries.

There is an International Institute of Agriculture, with
headquarters at Rome, and representing 56 countries, the purpose
of which is to promote better economic and social conditions among
agricultural populations of the world. Some of its publications
are published in five languages.

Literature and art bind all the world together, and science knows
no national boundary lines. Christianity is one of the greatest
influences for a "brotherhood of man." Differences in religious
belief have presented most difficult barriers to overcome, but
there has been a steadily increasing tolerance of one religious
faith toward others.

These are only a few of hundreds of illustrations that might be
given.

SERVICE OF THE RED CROSS

We have all become familiar, during the war, with the work of the
Red Cross. No other organization has done more to extend the
feeling of common brotherhood in the world and the spirit of world
service. During the war a Junior Department of the Red Cross was
organized, enrolling in its membership about twelve million
American boys and girls and organizing them for practical service
to war-stricken Europe and Asia. Since the war, the Junior Red
Cross, whose headquarters are at Washington, D. C., has undertaken
to use its organization to promote correspondence among boys and
girls of different lands, and an exchange of handiwork, pictures,
and other things illustrative of their interests. The American
School Citizenship League (405 Marlboro Street, Boston) is
encouraging the same idea, and there is a Bureau of French-
American Education Correspondence for a similar purpose, with
headquarters at the George Peabody College for Teachers,
Nashville, Tenn.

THE MOVEMENT FOR WORLD PEACE

Numerous INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONGRESSES have been held, the first
one as early as 1843, and in the United States and other countries
organizations exist for the promotion of friendly relations among
the nations, and especially for the substitution of arbitration
for war as a means of settling international disputes.

Among such organizations in the United States are the League to
Enforce Peace, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the
American Peace and Arbitration League, the American Peace Society,
the World Peace Federation, the Church Peace Union.

What may be gained by correspondence between the young people of
different lands?

Report on the following (see references):

The work of the Pan-American Union.

The work of the Red Cross in war and peace.

PAN-AMERICAN UNION

One of the most successful experiments in international
cooperation is that of the North and South American republics. The
first Pan-American Conference, attended by delegates from the
twenty-one American republics, was held in Washington, D.C., in
1889. As a result of this Conference the Pan-American Union was
established, with permanent headquarters in Washington. Its
purpose is "the development of commerce, friendly intercourse, and
good understanding among these countries."

INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT

To secure anything like effective teamwork among the nations for
the common interest and to substitute arbitration for war as a
means of settling differences, there must be some kind of
international organization, and rules to which the governments of
the nations will agree. Civilized nations have always had their
official means of dealing with one another through their
governments, such as the diplomatic and consular services.
Alliances have, from time immemorial, been made between nations,
treaties have been solemnly agreed to, and a body of international
law has gradually grown up. But treaties and international law
have frequently been violated, and no international government has
existed with sufficient authority or power to force nations to
observe the law or to keep their agreements. As a result of two
peace conferences held at The Hague in Holland, in 1899 and 1907,
an international Court of Arbitration was established at The Hague
(The Hague Tribunal), before which disputes might be brought by
nations if they desired to do so. But there was no way by which a
nation could be compelled to appeal to the court.

NATIONALITY AND SOVEREIGNTY

Nations have a strong sense of their NATIONALITY, and are
extremely jealous of their SOVEREIGNTY, which is the supreme power
claimed by every nation to form its own government and to manage
its own affairs without interference by other nations. It is this
that has prevented the development of anything like a real
international government that could control the conduct of
national governments, or that could require a nation to submit its
grievances to any judge other than itself. This has perhaps been
the chief weakness of the world community.

A LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Many people have long believed that the self-governing nations of
the world must sooner or later unite, in the interest of world
peace, in some kind of federation or league, with a central
organization to which all would agree to submit their differences.
The war made it seem even more necessary. Accordingly, the Peace
Conference at Versailles at the close of the war included in the
treaty of peace a Covenant (or constitution) for a League of
Nations. The treaty, including the Covenant, has been ratified
(March, 1920) by four of the five great nations associated against
Germany (France, England, Italy, and Japan; the United States
being the exception), besides several other nations. While the
President of the United States strongly advocated the treaty with
the Covenant, the Senate did not approve of its ratification.
Those in our country who opposed the Covenant did so for a variety
of reasons, but chief among them were: first, the fear that the
Covenant would cause us to depart from the principles laid down by
Washington and Monroe; and, second, the fear that the powers
conferred upon the international government would deprive our
national government of some of its sovereign powers. The friends
of the Covenant denied that either of these things would be true.

Whether or not the United States should enter the League
[Footnote: The Council of the new League of Nations held its first
meeting January 16, 1920, the United States, of course, not being
represented.] we shall have to leave for the statesmen to decide;
and whether or not the League will accomplish the desired ends,
time alone can prove. But two or three things may safely be said
with regard to any really effective world government.

MIGHT DOES NOT MAKE RIGHT

When people live together in communities, each person has to
sacrifice something of his personal freedom in order that all may
enjoy the largest possible liberty. The same is true of families
in a neighborhood, of communities in a state, of the states in our
nation. There is no reason why it should not be true of nations
which are neighbors to one another. No nation has any more right
to do as it pleases than a person or a family has, IF WHAT IT
PLEASES TO DO IS UNJUST TO ITS NEIGHBORS. The only thing, however,
that a nation can properly be asked to give up IS BEING UNJUST TO
ITS NEIGHBORS. We saw in Chapter IV that government and law
increase rather than decrease the individual citizen's freedom,
and that it is only the "ill-mannered" who feel the restrictions
of a wise government. So, when we finally get a world government
that is good, it will be one that will increase the freedom of all
"good-mannered" nations, restricting only those that are "ill-
mannered."

WHAT "AMERICA FIRST" MEANS

Moreover, when we finally get a league of nations that will really
secure friendly cooperation among the nations for their common
interests, it will be brought about, not by sacrificing
nationality and national patriotism, but by STRENGTHENING them.

What is required is not less loyalty to one's nationality, but
more sympathetic understanding of nationalities and national
ideals different from one's own, combined with a recognition of
the fundamental interests ... which unite them to each other.
[Footnote: "Thoughts on Nationalism and Internationalism," in
History Teachers' Magazine, June 1918, p. 334.]

The only way to be sure of a perfect neighborhood is first to see
to it that the homes of the neighborhood are strong and whole
some. No person can really be loyal to his neighborhood who is not
first of all loyal to his home. Thoroughly efficient townships and
counties and cities are essential to a thoroughly efficient state;
and no citizen is loyal to his state who is not loyal to his
township, county, and city. The strength of our nation depends
upon the strength of the states that compose it, and real national
patriotism cannot well exist in the heart of a citizen who is
disloyal to his state. The first essential step toward an
effective WORLD government is to see that our national government
is efficient and at the same time JUST. The first and best service
that a citizen can perform for the world community is to be loyal
to AMERICAN IDEALS, which are becoming the ideals of an ever-
increasing part of the world's population.

THE NEW TYPE OF PATRIOT NO LONGER CRIES, "MY COUNTRY AGAINST THE
WORLD," BUT "MY COUNTRY FOR THE WORLD." [Footnote: Stuart P.
Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.]

Topics for investigation:

The Hague Tribunal. Disputes that have been settled by it. Why the
dispute that led to the recent war was not settled by it.

The meaning of "nationality." Of "sovereignty."

Has a government any more right to be dishonest than an
individual?

Both sides of the argument over the ratification by the United
States of the treaty of peace with the Covenant for the League of
Nations (see references).

The truth of the statement that "the only way to be sure of a
perfect neighborhood is first to see to it that the homes of the
neighborhood are strong and wholesome."

The meaning of the statement in the quotation at the end of the
text above.

READINGS

In Long's AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Washington, "Farewell Address," pp. 105-124.

Washington, "Proclamation of Neutrality," pp. 143-146.

"The Monroe Doctrine," pp. 148-149.

John Quincy Adams, "The Mission of America," pp. 149-150.

George F. Hoar, "A Warning Against the Spirit of Empire," pp. 244-
247.

Woodrow Wilson, "Spirit of America," pp. 266-268.

Franklin K. Lane, "Why We Are Fighting Germany," pp. 282-283.

Carl Schurz, "The Rule of Honor for the Republic," pp. 342-343.

Woodrow Wilson, "War Message of April 2, 1917," pp. 351-361.

In Foerster and Pierson's AMERICAN IDEALS:

Washington, "Counsel on Alliances" (Farewell Address), pp. 185-
189.

"The Monroe Doctrine," pp. 190-193.

Henry Clay, "The Emancipation of South America," pp. 194-199.

Robert E. Lansing, "Pan-Americanism," pp. 200-296.

A. Lawrence Lowell, "A League to Enforce Peace," pp. 207-223.

George G. Wilson, "The Monroe Doctrine and the League to Enforce
Peace," pp. 224-232.

Woodrow Wilson, "The Conditions of Peace," pp. 233-241.

Woodrow Wilson, "War for Democracy and Peace," pp. 242-256.

Various books and pamphlets have been written relating to the
League of Nations and world relations following the war. Among
these are:

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, edited by Henry E. Jackson (published by
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 70 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Paper, 50 cents; cloth,
$1). "A document prepared to stimulate community discussion and
promote organized public opinion." This book contains, at the end,
a list of titles of books and pamphlets on the subject.

The Lodge-Lowell DEBATE ON THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
(World Peace Foundation, Boston). President Lowell, of Harvard
University, argued for, and Senator Lodge against, the Covenant as
contained in the treaty of peace.

Taft, William Howard, WHY A LEAGUE OF NATIONS IS NECESSARY (League
to Enforce Peace, New York).

Sherman, Stuart P., AMERICAN AND ALLIED IDEALS (World Peace
Foundation, Boston).

The complete official record of the United States Senate debate on
the treaty of peace is to be found in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, a
file of which SHOULD be in your public library.

THE JUNIOR RED CROSS NEWS, American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.

For the work of the Pan American Union and the Red Cross, consult
your public library; and write to the Pan American Union and the
American Red Cross, both in Washington, D.C., for descriptive
publications.

For the Hague Conferences and the Hague Tribunal, consult any good
modern encyclopedia, and your public library. Write for materials
to the American School Citizenship League, 405 Marlboro St.,
Boston, and the World Peace Foundation, Boston.





CHAPTER IX

THE HOME

"NO NATION CAN BE DESTROYED WHILE IT POSSESSES A GOOD HOME LIFE."


The home is the smallest, the simplest, and the most familiar
community of which we are members. In many respects it is also the
most important. The quotation with which this chapter opens
suggests this. It will appear at many points in our study.

What do you think that the quotation at the head of the chapter
means? In what respects do you think it true?

Some cities take pride in the fact that they are "cities of
homes." What does this mean? Why is it a cause for pride?

Is your community (neighborhood or town) a community of homes?
What is a "home"? When a person is "homesick" for what is he
"sick"?

May a good home exist in a poor dwelling? A poor home in a fine
dwelling?

Is a hotel a home? May a family living in a hotel have a home
there?

Is an orphan asylum a home? Would you exchange life in your own
home for life in an orphan asylum? Why? There are children who
think an orphan asylum is a fine place to live; why is this?

The home is important (1) because of what it does for its own
members, and (2) because of what it does for the larger community
of which it is a part. We shall consider first what it does for
its own members.

THE PIONEER FAMILY

Under the conditions of pioneer life the wants of the members of
the family were provided for almost entirely by their own united
efforts. They built their own dwelling from materials which they
themselves procured from the forest. They made their living from
the land which they occupied, with tools which were largely
homemade. They provided their own defense against attack from
without and against sickness within. Such education as the
children obtained was of the most practical kind, and was obtained
by actual experience in their daily work supplemented by such
instruction as parents and older brothers and sisters could give.
There was little social life except within the family circle.

EFFECT OF COMMUNITY GROWTH

When other homes were built in the neighborhood a larger community
life began. The neighboring homes came to depend upon one another
and to cooperate in many ways. The store at the crossroads
provided for many wants that each home had formerly provided for
itself. The doctor who came to live in the community relieved the
home of much anxiety in case of sickness. The education of the
children was in part, at least, turned over to the community
school. And so, as a community grows, the home shifts much of the
responsibility for providing for the wants of its members upon
community agencies.

DEPENDENCE OF THE CITY HOME

This shifting of responsibility for the welfare of citizens from
the home to the larger community is carried furthest in cities.
Almost everything wanted in the home may be bought in the city
shops, and work that is done in the home for the family, such as
repair work, dressmaking, laundry work, and cooking, is likely to
be done by people brought in from outside. Water is piped in from
a public water supply and sewage is piped out through public
sewers. Gas and electricity for lighting and heating are furnished
by city plants. Since many city homes have not a spot of ground
for a garden or for outdoor play, they depend upon public parks
and playgrounds provided by the city. These are among the many so-
called advantages of city life.

THE OBLIGATION OF THE HOME

When so much is done for the citizen by the larger community
agencies, there is danger that the family may forget its own
responsibility for the welfare of its members in connection with
every want of life. For no matter how good the community's
arrangements for health protection may be, the health of every
citizen depends more upon the home than upon any other agency (see
Chapter XX). No matter how good the schools, the home always has
great responsibility for the education of the children, both
within the home itself and through cooperation with the schools
(Chapter XIX). No matter how many social organizations and places
of amusement the community may afford, the social and recreational
life of the home is the most important of all and the most far-
reaching in its influence (Chapter XXI). No matter how excellent
the form of government in a community may be, its results will be
very imperfect unless the government in each home is good.

IMPORTANCE OF THE HOME IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

The home has especial importance in the rural community of to-day.
The rural home is no longer so isolated and self-dependent as the
pioneer home, but the life of the rural citizen is much more
dependent upon efforts within the home itself than the life of the
city resident. The business of farming by which the family living
is secured is carried on at home, and, as a rule, all the members
of the family have some part in it. It is a cooperative family
enterprise to a much greater extent than any other modern
business.

In cities, in the great majority of cases, the work by which the
family living is earned is done away from home, and very often no
member of the family except the father has any direct part in it.
There are numerous cases, however, where the mother and even the
children go out to work, and in such cases the home life may be
seriously interfered with.

It would be hard to find a rural home in the United States to-day
that is not near enough to a schoolhouse to enable the children to
attend it, at least for an elementary education. Unfortunately,
high schools are not yet easily accessible in all rural
communities (see Chapter XIX). But whether the education afforded
by the rural school is of the best or not, the boy or girl on the
farm gets in addition a kind of education through the varied
occupations of the farm life that the city boy or girl does not
get, and for which the city schools have tried in vain to find an
adequate substitute. It is remarkable how many of the successful
men and women of our country were raised on farms; and they almost
always bear witness to the value of the training received there.

So in matters of health, of social life and recreation, of
pleasant and beautiful surroundings, the rural home must depend
very largely upon itself. The strength and happiness of the
community, of our nation itself, depend largely upon the extent to
which the homes perform their proper work in providing for the
wants of their members.

Review what was said in Chapter II regarding the independence of
the pioneer family.

Review also what was said in Chapter I regarding the growing
dependence of the family upon the community.

Gather stories regarding pioneer home life (a) in your own
locality, (b) in the settlement of the West; (c) in colonial
times. Illustrate from these stories how the home provided for the
wants of its members.

Show in detail how the various members of a farmer's family take
part in the business of farming. Compare with a family in town
whose living is provided for by some other business.

Make a list of the different people who come to the home of a
family in town to provide for its wants (such as the grocer's boy,
the milkman, the postman, etc.). Compare with a farmer's home with
respect to this service from outside.

LABOR SAVING IN THE HOME

We have read in an earlier chapter that "our national purpose is
to transmute days of dreary work into happier lives--for ourselves
first and for all others in their time." This purpose cannot be
fully achieved if it is not first of all achieved in the home. One
of the objections often raised to life on the farm is that it is a
life of drudgery, of few conveniences and comforts, of long hours,
hard work, and little recreation. Happily this is not so true as
it once was. Labor-saving machinery, better methods of
transportation and communication, better schools, have done much
to improve conditions of rural home life. But occasionally there
still come statements like the following from some of the women in
farm homes:

In many homes life on the farm is a somewhat one-sided affair.
Many times the spare money above living expenses is expended on
costly machinery and farm implements to make the farmer's work
lighter; on more land where there is already a sufficiency; on
expensive horses and cattle and new out-buildings; while little or
nothing is done for home improvement and no provision made for the
comfort and convenience of the women of the family.

If a silo will help to reduce the man's labor, a vacuum cleaner
will do likewise for his wife. If the stock at the barn needs a
good water system to help it grow, the stock in the house needs it
too, and needs it warm for baths.

You see many a farm where there is a cement floor in the barn,
while the cellar in the house is awful. A sheep dip, but no
bathtub; a fine buggy and a poor baby carriage. On many farms a
hundred dollars in cash are not spent in the home in a year.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE HOME

These are not meant as complaints about the purchase of labor-
saving farm machinery. Such complaints would be short-sighted, for
it is only by improved methods of farming that the means and the
leisure can be found to enrich the home life in every way. But the
advantages gained by improvements that increase the farmer's
returns are largely lost if they do not at the same time bring
"happier lives" to the family as a whole. The farm home is not
only the place where the family living is EARNED; it is also the
place where the family life is LIVED. Democracy aims at EQUAL
opportunity to enjoy "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness"; "days of dreary work" must be transmuted into "happier
lives" for the women and children as well as for the men. Unless
this is done in the home there is little chance of its being done
at all.

A story is told of a housekeeper in a farm-home in the West who
saw in the sacred rite of old-school housekeepers something more
than scrubbing and polishing ... When her housecleaning was over
she knew just what linen she would need during the coming year,
just how much fruits and vegetables she would need to can or
preserve or dry, just what clothing must be replaced or repaired,
and what dishes would be needed to keep her set complete. She not
only made changes to improve the appearance of her house, but
planned and made the changes in her workshop which would save
steps and make her work as easy as possible. When her mind got to
work, housekeeping became a game, the object being to eliminate
all unnecessary labor. Her benches and tables and sinks were
raised to the proper height and she became ashamed of the back-
breaking energy she had wasted bending over them. A high stool,
made by removing the back and arms from the baby's outgrown high
chair, made dishwashing and ironing much easier. She has been
housekeeping intelligently a dozen years, yet each house-cleaning
or stock-taking period she installs some new labor saver.

She not only makes her head save her heels, but she takes another
kind of inventory which is as well worth while. It is the
inventory which we all need to take of ourselves to be sure that
we are making the best of our opportunities instead of drifting
along day by day in a rut. She searches out the hidden places in
her soul to see if she is just as patient, as thoughtful, as
cheerful as she might be ... [Footnote: RECLAMATION RECORD, Feb.,
1918, p.55, "Project Women and Their Materials," by Mrs. Louella
Littlepage.]

COMMUNITY COOPERATION AND THE HOME

In some rural communities the home has been relieved of much of
the household drudgery by the development of cooperative
creameries, cooperative laundries, and other community
institutions to do work that was formerly done entirely in the
home. In such cooperative enterprises, citizens of the community
buy shares of stock as in the case of the fruit growers'
association. In one community in Michigan "a vote was taken, the
women voting as well as the men, to determine the sentiment of the
community on the establishment of such a laundry, and the vote was
so overwhelmingly in favor of the proposition that the Farmers'
Club promptly called a meeting to promote the enterprise." An
addition was built to the cooperative creamery, which the
community already possessed, so that the same steam plant could be
used for both. The farmers brought their laundry when they brought
their cream, and carried it back on the next trip. "The laundry
has been successful in relieving the hard life of a farmer's wife,
and in addition has been not only self-sustaining but a profitable
institution." One of the women of the community says,

It has lightened the work in the home to such an extent that one
can manage the work without keeping help, which is very scarce and
high priced, when it would be impossible to do so if the washing
was included with our other duties.

And another writes,

This change gives me two days of recreation that I can call my own
every week and also gives me more time in which to accomplish the
household duties. [Footnote: "A Successful Rural Cooperative
Laundry," in the Year Book, Department of Agriculture, 1915, pp.
189-194.]

GOVERNMENT SERVES THE HOME

A great deal of help is now being given to the home by the
government, and this is especially true in the case of the rural
home. The public schools, both in city and country, now consider
home making and "home economics" as worthy of a place in the
course of study as geography and mathematics (see Chapter XIX).
State agricultural colleges are beginning to give as much
attention to these subjects as they do to soils and fertilizers
and stock-breeding. Moreover, the colleges conduct "extension
courses," sending teachers trained in the art of home making to
give instruction to women and girls in every part of the state.
They assist in organizing clubs of girls and women to study
various aspects of home making and housekeeping, and give
demonstrations of the most successful methods of cooking, of
canning, and of other activities connected with home life on the
farm, as well as of labor-saving devices in the household. The
state agricultural colleges have the cooperation of the Department
of Agriculture of the national government in all this work.

WHAT ONE GIRL ACCOMPLISHED

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for 1916 there
is an account of results derived from home demonstration work in
the Southern States. The following story of what Ruth Anderson
accomplished is a good illustration of the possibilities of this
work.

Ruth Anderson, of Etowah County, Alabama, in her second year of
club work, had an excellent plot of one tenth of an acre of beans
and tomatoes. She is the second girl in a family of eleven, and
takes a great interest in her club work. The family home was
small, dark, and crowded, and somewhat unattractive. One day a
carpenter friend of her father saw her one tenth of an acre and
said he wished he had time to plant a garden. She told him she
would furnish vegetables in exchange for some of his time. ...
After a while a bargain was made by which the carpenter agreed to
begin work on the remodeling of the house if Ruth would furnish
him with fresh and canned vegetables for the season.

The other members of the family were soon interested in this
undertaking and worked willingly to contribute their share to its
success. When the house was partly finished Ruth won a canning-
club prize given by a hardware merchant in Gadsden, the county
seat. Silverware was offered her, but, intent upon completing the
new house she asked the merchant how much a front door of glass
would cost, and learned that she could get the door, side lights,
and windows for the price of the silverware. In this way Ruth
brought light and joy to her family with her windows and door. To-
day they live in a pretty bungalow that she helped to build with
her gardening and canning work. At the age of 14, in the second
year of her work, Ruth put up 700 cans of tomatoes and 750 cans of
beans. [Footnote: "Effect of Home Demonstration Work in the
South," in 1916 Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, p.
254.]

Ruth's home before and after she began her work is shown in the
accompanying illustrations.

NATIONAL AID TO THE HOME

The national government helps in home making in other ways than
those suggested above, and through other departments than that of
agriculture. In the Department of the Interior the General Land
Office, the Bureau of Education, the Reclamation Service, the
Office of Indian Affairs are all doing work to improve the homes
of the land. So, also, is the Public Health Service of the
Treasury Department; the Bureau of Standards in the Department of
Commerce; the Children's Bureau in the Department of Labor. We
shall encounter some of this work as we proceed with our study.

In what ways has household work been relieved of its drudgery
since your mothers were girls?

What labor-saving devices have been introduced in your home?

Make a report on labor-saving inventions for the household (see
references at end of chapter).

What are some labor-saving household devices that could be made by
boys and girls (such as fireless cookers, iceless refrigerators,
etc.)? (See references below). Can your school help in such
projects? To what extent could (or do) boys' and girls' clubs
undertake such projects? Is there any leader in your community who
could direct or advise in such projects?

Is the kitchen in your home properly arranged to save steps,
labor, and time in doing kitchen work? Consider plans for
improvement. Consult parents.

Does experience in your community confirm the feeling of the women
quoted on page 104?

Are there any cooperative enterprises in your community that
relieve the housekeeper of household labor, such as cooperative
laundries, creameries, etc.? Are they a business success? Have
they improved conditions of home life?

What is the difference between a "cooperative" laundry and an
ordinary laundry such as may be found in most towns? Does one
relieve the home more than the other?

What other business enterprises are carried on in towns that
relieve the home of work? Why are such business enterprises not
conducted in the same way in rural communities?

Is there any special interest in home improvement in your
community? Who or what has brought it about? What can you do to
encourage such interest?

READINGS

"Lessons in Community and National Life": Series C, Lesson 20,
"The Family and Social Control."

For an extensive list of titles of publications relating to the
home, send to the United States Bureau of Education for its
Bulletin, 1919, No. 46, "Bibliography of Home Economics,"
especially section VIII on "The Family," and section X on "The
House and Household Activities." Among the many titles given in
this are:

Earle, Alice Morse, "Home Life in Colonial Days" (Macmillan).

Gillette, J. M., "The Family and Society" (A. C. McClurg).

Thwing and Butler, "The Family" (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co.).

Gilman, Charlotte P., The Home (Doubleday, Page and Co.).

Talbot and Breckenridge, "The Modern Household" (Whitcomb and
Barrows, Boston).

Addams, Jane, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets
(Macmillan).

Ellwood, Charles A., "Sociology and Modern Social Problems,"
chapters on the family (American Book Co.).

Scott, Rhea, "Home Labor-Saving Devices" (Lippincott).

Foght, H. W., "The Rural Teacher and his Work," Part I, chap. iii.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary, Reports
103, 104, 105, 106:

 "Social and Labor Needs of Farm Women."
 "Domestic Needs of Farm Women."
 "Educational Needs of Farm Women."
 "Economic Needs of Farm Women."

These reports can be obtained only from the Superintendent of
Documents, Government Printing Office, 15 cents each.

"The American Farm Woman as She Sees Herself," U. S. Department of
Agriculture Year Book, 1914, pp. 311-318.

"Selection of Household Equipment," Department of Agriculture Year
Book 1914, pp. 330-362.

Dunn, Arthur W., "The Community and the Citizen," chaps, v, vi.





CHAPTER X

WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING


Our nation requires healthy citizens, intelligent citizens,
prosperous and happy citizens. The home can do more to produce
them than any other community agency. Therefore the nation is wise
to look after its homes.

RELATION OF HOME CONDITIONS TO INDUSTRY

People cannot do their work well if they live in unwholesome or
unpleasant homes. This was made clear during the recent war. The
lack of suitable living places for workmen and their families was
one of the chief obstacles to shipbuilding and munitions
manufacture during the early part of the war. England found this
out as well as the United States, and one of the first things both
countries had to do was to take measures to provide proper home
conditions for those who were engaged in supplying the nation's
needs. During the first year of the war our Congress appropriated
$200,000,000 to build houses for industrial workers.

The problem of securing good physical conditions of home life has
naturally been greatest in crowded industrial centers, but it is
by no means absent in small communities, or even in the open
country. One writer describes a certain farmhouse where five
people were accustomed to sleep in one not very large bedroom,
which had only one small window, and even that was nailed shut,
one of these five had incipient tuberculosis. These people were
well-to-do farmers, living in a large twelve-room, stone house and
simply crowded into one room for the sake of mistaken economy--
presumably to save coal and wood.

Many such cases could be described, not only in the more remote
and backward regions, but even in prosperous farming communities.

What is the result of this overcrowding and lack of proper housing
in the country? Just exactly the same as in the great cities--lack
of efficiency, disease, and premature death to many ... While the
great majority of people subjected to overcrowding and bad housing
conditions do not prematurely die, yet they have a lessened
physical and mental vigor, are less able to do properly their
daily work, and not only become a loss to themselves and their
families, but to the state ... [Footnote: Bashore, "Overcrowding
and defective housing in the rural districts," quoted in Nourse,
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, pp. 118, 119, 121.]

STRENGTH OF THE NATION DEPENDS ON THE HOME

Some of our states and many of our cities have laws to regulate
housing conditions, but such laws seldom apply to small
communities. In cities where people live crowded together in
closely built city blocks, unsanitary conditions in one home
endanger the health of the entire community. There is also danger
from fire, and vice and crime may breed and spread quickly and
unseen. The community is driven, therefore, in its own defense, to
regulate the people's housing. In small communities, and
especially in rural communities, where homes are more widely
separated and in some cases quite isolated, it has seemed of
little concern to others how one citizen builds his home and what
he does in it. Thoughtful consideration of such cases as that
described above, however, must convince us that it IS a matter of
national concern what happens even in remote homes. Both the
physical and the economic strength of the nation are undermined by
unwholesome conditions in the separate homes of the land.

COMMUNITY PLANNING

Economic loss to the community may result not merely from
UNWHOLESOME home conditions, but also from INCONVENIENCE of
location and arrangement of the homes. A good deal of attention is
being given to "community planning" in the United States and
especially in England and other European countries. Community
planning includes not only provision for the proper location and
construction of public buildings and streets, for water supply,
lights, parks, etc., but also for the convenient, as well as
wholesome and pleasant location of homes. Large cities, like
London, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, have spent enormous
sums of money in city planning after they have already grown up
without plan. It has necessitated destroying old structures and
widening streets. Villages and small towns are in a position to
introduce a plan for future growth without this needless expense.
Our beautiful capital city of Washington has grown according to a
plan that was carefully laid out before a building was erected.
But even in Washington one of the greatest problems the city had
to face during the war was that of providing homes for the
enormous number of workers who came to the city to do the work of
the government.

PLANNING THE FARMSTEAD

"The need of careful arrangement in country homes is much more
urgent than in city homes for the reason that country people use
their homes as the business center of their profession," says
Prof. R.J. Pearce, of Iowa State College. "The farmer in his
business center must not only produce enough raw material to
provide for him self and family, but he needs to produce enough to
feed and clothe the entire human race." "CONSERVATION OF SPACE
must be taken into consideration to obtain the greatest results
from our high-priced land; CONVENIENCE must be a prime factor when
expensive labor is at a premium; and ATTRACTIVENESS must be one of
the chief motives not only to make farm property more saleable but
to give greater enjoyment to the owner and his family..." "A
farmstead is, but a unit in a farming community, yet travelers
form an impression of the entire community by individual farm
homes which they see in passing. Therefore, not only financial
consideration but personal pride and a feeling of community spirit
and enterprise should urge the farm owner to develop his farmstead
according to the best of modern methods."

What facts can you find in regard to what the government did to
provide homes for workers in shipbuilding or munitions plants
during the war?

In many of the war industries preference was given to men with
families in employing workmen. Why was this?

In some rural communities in the United States a "teacherage"
(home for the teacher) is provided. Of what advantage to the
community is this?

Is there a "housing problem" in your community?

Are there any laws in your state regulating the building of homes?
If so, what are some of them? Do they apply in your community? Are
they carefully observed and enforced?

Make a study of the arrangement of the buildings on farms with
which you are familiar, drawing diagrams, and report whether or
not they are well planned with reference to ECONOMY OF SPACE
occupied, CONVENIENCE, and ATTRACTIVENESS. Consider

(a) Are they properly placed with reference to the highway?

(b) Are they conveniently placed in relation to one another?

(c) Are they suitably protected from the prevailing winds? How?

(d) What makes them attractive or unattractive?

(e) Are the stables properly situated to protect the health of the
family? How?

Must a home be large and costly to be attractive?

What impression would a stranger get in regard to the "community
spirit" of your community from the appearance of its homes? Would
he be right?

THE HOME AND COMMUNITY STABILITY

Home ownership is one of the strongest influences that give
permanence and stability to the community. The census taken by the
United States government every ten years shows that home ownership
has been decreasing throughout the country as a whole. The
decrease has been greatest in cities, but it is true also of
farmhome ownership. In 1880 only 25% of the farms of the United
States were occupied by tenants (renters); in 1910, 37% were so
occupied. It is true that in the ten years from 1900 to 1910 there
was a slight increase in the proportion of farms owned by their
occupants in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, and in a
large part of the West; but the increase in these parts was more
than overbalanced by the decrease in the South Atlantic and Gulf
states and in the Mississippi Valley. The smallest proportion of
farm tenancy is found in New England (8%), and the largest in the
southern states (45.9% in the South Atlantic states, and more than
50% in the South central states). A large part of the farming in
the South is done by negroes, most of whom are either laborers on
the farms of the white population or tenants on small farms which
they usually work on shares. And yet the number of negro farm
owners in the South has been rapidly increasing in the last few
years, though not so rapidly as the number of tenants. In 1910
negro farm owners cultivated nearly 16,000,000 acres of land in
the South, all of which they have acquired since the Civil War.

EFFECTS OF DECLINE OF HOME OWNERSHIP

The decline in home ownership both in the cities and in the rural
districts of the United States has been observed with considerable
anxiety because of the effect upon our national welfare and upon
the citizenship of the country. One writer says:

Farming is a permanent business; it is no "fly by night"
occupation. ... No man can pull up stakes and leave a farm at the
close of the year without sacrificing the results of labor which
he has done ... The renter who ends harvest knowing that he will
move in the spring, will not do as good a job of hauling manure
and fall plowing as he would were he to stay; nor does he take as
good care of the buildings and other improvements ...

The cost to the farming business of the country each year for this
annual farm moving-week mounts into the millions of dollars. And
the pity of it all is that practically no one is the winner
thereby ... The renter loses, the landlord loses, the general
community and the nation at large lose. [Footnote: W.D. Boyce, in
an editorial in THE FARMING BUSINESS, February 26, 1916, quoted in
Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, p. 651.]

Tenant farming also places obstacles in the way of community
progress in other ways.

The tenant takes little interest in community affairs. The
questions of schools, churches, or roads are of little moment to
him. He does not wish to invest in enterprises which will of
necessity be left wholly ... to his successor. In short, he is in
the community, but hardly of it. [Footnote: B.H. Hibbard, "Farm
Tenancy in the United States," in Annals of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science, March, 1912, p. 39.]

A family that owns its home feels a sense of proprietorship in a
part of the community land. The money value of a home increases in
proportion to the prosperity of the community as a whole; its
owner will therefore be inclined to do all he can to promote the
welfare of the community. A community that is made up largely of
homes owned by their occupants is likely to be more prosperous and
more progressive, and its citizens more loyal to it, than a
community whose families are tenants.

THE TENANT AS A CITIZEN

While all that has been said in the preceding paragraph is true,
it must not be thought that tenancy is necessarily a bad thing in
all cases, nor that a man who does not own his home cannot be a
thoroughly good citizen. There are circumstances that make it
necessary for many families to live in dwellings that they do not
own. Tenancy may be a step toward home ownership. A citizen may
have insufficient money to buy a farm, but enough to enable him to
rent one. By industry, economy, and intelligence, he may soon
accumulate means with which to buy the farm he occupies or some
other. The increase in the number of tenants in the Southern
States is due in large part to the breaking up of many larger
plantations into small farms which are occupied by tenants, many
of them negroes. That many of these tenants are on the road to
home ownership is indicated by the facts stated on page 117.

It is as much the duty of the home renter as it is of the home
owner to take an interest in the community life in which he and
his family share, and to cooperate with his neighbors for the
common good. While he lives in the community he is largely
dependent upon it, like any other citizen, for the satisfaction of
his wants. Its markets and its roads are his for the
transportation and disposal of his produce and stock. He gets the
benefit of its schools for the education of his children. He may
share in its social life if he cares to do so. His property is
protected by the same agencies that protect that of his neighbors.
He cannot, therefore, escape the responsibility of contributing to
the progress of his community to the extent of his ability.

TEAMWORK BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT

It is as much the duty of the man who rents a farm as it is of the
man who owns one to make his farm produce to its full capacity, to
protect the soil from exhaustion and the buildings and fences from
destruction. But on the other hand, it is the duty of the
landlord, both as a good business man and as a good citizen, to
make such terms with his tenant that the latter will take an
interest in the farm and will find it profitable to farm properly.
There must be team work.

The landlord must be interested not only in his land but in his
tenant. The tenant must be interested not only in himself but in
his landlord and his land. A system that favors the tenant to the
injury of the land is bad. A system that favors the land to the
injury of the tenant is equally harmful. Either system will result
in the poverty of both the landlord and the tenant. [Footnote: Dr.
Seaman A. Knapp, quoted by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones in "Negroes and
the Census of 1910," p 16. (Reprint from THE SOUTHERN WORKMAN for
August, 1912.)]

The fact remains, however, that home ownership contributes to the
permanence, the stability, and the progress of a community. It is
also a fact that conditions have developed in our country, both in
cities and in rural communities, which make home ownership
increasingly difficult. In another chapter (Chapter XIV) we shall
see what some of these conditions are, and what our government has
done and may do to overcome them.

THE HOME A SCHOOL OF CITIZENSHIP

One of the most important services performed for the community by
the home is that of training its members for citizenship. The
family has been called "a school of all the virtues" that go to
make good citizenship. It is a school in which not only the
children, but also the parents, not only the boys and men, but
also the girls and women, receive training by practice. In the
home are developed thoughtfulness for others, a spirit of self-
sacrifice for the common good, loyalty to the group of which the
individual is a member, respect for the opinions of others of long
experience, a spirit of teamwork, obedience to rules which exist
for the welfare of all. If these and other qualities of good
citizenship are not cultivated in the home, it is not in a healthy
condition nor performing its proper service to the community.

Moreover, the exercise of these virtues in the home is not only
training for good citizenship; it IS good citizenship. If the home
is as important a factor in our national life as this chapter has
indicated, then one of the greatest opportunities for good
citizenship, and one of the greatest duties of good citizenship,
is that of making the home what it should be; and in this each
member of the family has his or her share.

Make a study of farm tenancy in your locality (neighborhood,
township, or county).

How many of the farms of the locality are occupied and operated by
their owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of
tenancy?

To what extent are the tenants men who were formerly farm
laborers, but who by renting farms are making a start on their own
account? Is this a sign of progress?

What percentage of the tenants are white? negro?

To what extent are the tenants foreigners who have recently come
to the locality?

Are the tenant farms usually rented for long periods or for short
periods?

What is the system of tenancy in your locality (i.e. cash rental,
working on shares, partnership with the owner, etc.)? If more than
one exists, which seems to work best? Why?

Is tenancy increasing or decreasing in your locality? What reasons
are given for this?

Does experience in your locality support the statement that tenant
farmers are less likely than others to interest themselves in
community progress?

If you live or go to school in town, make a study of home
ownership in the town. (If a small community, the class may study
the entire area; if large, different sections may be studied by
different groups of pupils.) How many homes are occupied by their
owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of tenancy? Is
tenancy increasing or decreasing? For what reasons?

Is there some section of the community where most of the people
own their homes, and another section where most of the people
rent? If so, do you notice any difference in the general
appearance of the two sections? Do you think that the difference,
if any exists, is due in any part to the fact that some own and
others rent their homes?

Is there a tendency for the farmers of your locality to move into
town? If so, why? What becomes of their farms?

Review the points made in the discussion of topics 4 and 5 on page
38 (Chapter III). Continue to develop plans for cooperation in the
home and school.

What does it mean to be "in training" for athletics? In the light
of your answer to this question, what would it mean to be "in
training" for citizen ship?

READINGS

See Readings for Chapter IX. Also:

"Housing the Worker on the Farm," Department of Agriculture Year
Book, 1918, pp. 347-356.

"What the Department of Agriculture is Doing for the Housekeeper,"
Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1913, pp. 143-162.

"The Effect of Home Demonstration on the Community and the
County," Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1916, pp. 251-266.

"Farm Tenantry in the United States," Department of Agriculture
Year Book, 1916, pp. 321-346.

Lessons in Community and National Life: Series C, Lesson 32,
"Housing for Workers."





CHAPTER XI

EARNING A LIVING

LIVING, NOT EARNING, THE END IN VIEW


The most conspicuous activities that we see going on in the
community are usually those that have to do with earning a living
or the production of wealth. [Footnote: The activities by which we
earn a living are also the activities by which wealth is produced.
It is important to understand that when we speak of "wealth" we do
not necessarily mean GREAT wealth. A boy who has a fifty-cent
knife, or a girl who has a twenty-five-cent purse, has wealth as
truly as the man who owns a well-stocked farm. The difference is
merely in kind and amount. Food, clothing, houses, books, tools,
cattle, are all forms of wealth. ANY material thing, for which we
are willing to work and make sacrifices because it satisfies our
wants, is wealth. Earning a living is merely earning or producing
wealth to satisfy our wants and those of others.] Indeed, some
people become so absorbed in the business of earning a living that
they seem to be LIVING TO EARN rather than EARNING TO LIVE. It
does not do to forget that not EARNING, but LIVING, is the real
end in view. Unless we know how to use what we earn to provide
properly for all of our normal wants, the effort we spend in
earning is very largely wasted.

Nevertheless, before we can enjoy a living it has to be earned, by
ourselves or by someone else; and the activities by which it is
earned occupy so important a place in our lives, are so closely
dependent upon the community, have so much to do with our
citizenship, and receive so much attention from government, that
we must give them some consideration in this chapter and several
chapters following.

IMPORTANCE OF VOCATIONAL LIFE

While young people are spending most of their time at school or at
play, their fathers and other grown people are usually chiefly
occupied in the business of making a living or "earning money."

[Footnote: Gold and silver and paper and wood are forms of wealth.
Out of wood we make a yardstick or a peck measure with which TO
MEASURE QUANTITIES of cloth or grain. In a similar manner, out of
gold, silver, paper, and other materials, we make money, and for a
similar reason, viz. to MEASURE THE VALUE of wealth. When we speak
of a FIFTY-CENT KNIFE and a TWENTY-FIVE CENT PURSE, we measure the
value of these articles. It would take thousands of DOLLARS to
measure the value of a well-stocked farm.

When we say that a boy earns a dollar, or that a man earns $4.00 a
day, we measure the value of his work or his service. If a man
works for a farmer, he very likely receives his "board and
lodging" in part payment for his services; he makes a direct
exchange of his services for food and shelter. But he also
probably receives in addition an amount of money, because with the
money he can buy clothes and other things that the farmer cannot
give. He takes the money and buys with it these other things that
he needs to supply his wants. Thus money becomes something more
than a measure of wealth or of services; it is also A MEANS OF
EXCHANGING WEALTH OR SERVICES.

These are the two uses of money. Money has value only because of
what it represents in wealth, and wealth is useful because it
enables us to satisfy wants. These things are mentioned because it
is quite important that we should never forget that "money" and
"wealth" are worth working for only because of the "living," or
life, that they help us to attain.]

Children are, as a rule, wholly dependent upon their parents for
their living. But during their period of dependence they are
gaining skill and experience, in school and otherwise, that will
later enable them to earn their own living and that of other
people who may, in turn, become dependent upon them.

As adult life approaches, there comes an increasing desire for
independence of others, to have possessions, own property, or
accumulate wealth. Our VOCATIONS, or occupations, by which we earn
a livelihood, come to occupy a prominent place in our thought, and
to a large extent control our activity. Doubtless most of those
who read this chapter have begun to think more or less seriously
about what they are going to do for a living. Some may be already
doing so, in part, or helping to earn that of their families. Boys
and girls who live on farms are especially likely to have a share
in the work by which the family living is provided; but most boys
and girls have more or less regularly "earned money," even if they
have not considered it necessary for their living. An inquiry in a
large, first-year high school class disclosed the fact that the
girls of the class, quite as much as the boys, were thinking of
their choice of vocation. More avenues are open to girls to-day
than formerly by which to earn their living outside of the family;
but even the management of a home is a business as truly as the
management of a farm or factory, and is an exceedingly important
factor in the earning of the family living.

What part, if any, do you have in helping to earn the family
living?

What have you done during the past year to earn money (a) out of
school hours on school days, (b) on Saturdays, (c) in vacation
time? Tabulate the results for the entire class.

What vocation would you like to follow for life? Why?

If you have not decided upon some one vocation, name several that
seem attractive to you. Why are they attractive?

What do you know about the opportunities and the qualifications
necessary for success in the vocations you have named? How may you
proceed to find out more about them?

What vocations offer special opportunities for girls and women to-
day? How do these opportunities compare with those when your
mothers were girls?

Make a list of the occupations of the fathers (or other members of
the families) of the members of your class.

Make a list of as many occupations in your community (town or
county) as you can think of.

DEPENDENCE OF THE PIONEER

Our dependence upon others for a living by no means ends with
childhood. There is no such thing as an entirely "self-made man,"
by which is meant a man who has been successful entirely by his
own efforts. It is true that the primitive hunter and the pioneer
farmer were independent of others to an unusual extent. But their
living was a meager one, and they could not accumulate much
wealth. The very land that a pioneer occupies, even though it is
extensive and fertile, has little value as long as it is remote
from centers of population.

Even if a pioneer laid claim to a large tract of land, he could
produce little wealth from it in crops if he could get no help to
cultivate it, or if he had no improved machinery (made by others);
and whatever he produced, he and his family could eat but little
of the product. He could feed some to his few animals, and he
would save some for seed; but anything that he raised above what
he could actually use would have no value unless he could get it
to other people who wanted it. If he could not sell what he
produced, neither could he buy from others what they produced to
satisfy other wants than that for food. So the kind of living a
person enjoys, and the amount of wealth he accumulates, depend
largely upon other people, and upon the community in which he
lives.

DEPENDENCE OF THE MODERN FARMER

Under present-day conditions, a farmer who raises wheat probably
uses none of it himself. He sells his entire crop for the use of
others, while to supply himself and his family with bread he goes
to the store and buys flour that may have been milled in Minnesota
from wheat raised by other farmers, perhaps in North Dakota or
South Dakota. In exchange for his wheat he also gets clothing
manufactured in New York or New England from cotton raised in
Georgia or Texas, or from wool grown in Montana. He buys a wagon
made in Indiana from lumber cut in the South and iron mined in
Michigan and smelted in Ohio. Thus he earns his living by
producing food for other people, while the things he uses in
living are the product of labor expended by other people in the
effort to earn THEIR living. We noticed in Chapter II how many
people and occupations were concerned in producing a pair of
shoes.

EARNING BY SERVICE

While the farmer or other worker may be interested primarily in
providing for his own wants and those of his family, he can do
this only by producing something or performing service for others;
and while each worker may be most concerned about WHAT HE RECEIVES
for his work, the community is most concerned about WHAT HE
PRODUCES. Earning a living has two sides to it: rendering service
to others and being paid for the service rendered. It is as if the
community entered into a sort of agreement with the worker to the
effect that it will provide him with a living in return for
definite service to the community or for the product of his labor.
What we call "business" is SELLING A SERVICE. It may be personal
service, such as teaching, or prescribing medicine, or nursing, or
giving legal advice, or cutting hair, or driving a team, or
running an automobile. Or it may be purchasing, storing,
retailing, and delivering things which have been produced perhaps
many hundreds or thousands of miles away. Or it may be raising
foodstuffs on the farm, or mining fuels and metals from the earth,
or cutting timber from the forest. Or it may be manufacturing--
buying materials and converting them into products serviceable to
others. Whatever it is, every man's business is also the
community's business, and the community has a right to expect
industry and honest, efficient work from every worker.

Discuss the occupations named in answer to the two questions on
page 26, from the point of view of their service to the community.

To what extent is your father's business or occupation dependent
upon the business or occupation of the fathers of other members of
the class?

Show how your father's business is also the community's business.

What is the price of land in your neighborhood? Consult your
father or friends in regard to the increase or decrease in price
in recent years and in regard to the reasons for it.

LIVING WITHOUT EARNING

There are exceptional cases where people RECEIVE a living without
EARNING it. One class of such people is represented by thieves,
gamblers, swindlers, and persons engaged in occupations that are
positively harmful to the community. Such people may be very
skillful and they may work hard enough, but they take what others
have earned without producing anything of value to the community.

Then there are those who are incapable of productive work because
of physical defects, or through the feebleness of old age. It is
the duty of every citizen to provide, as far as possible, during
his productive years, for the "rainy day" of misfortune or
advancing age. For those who cannot do so, the community must
provide.

Very young children are users of wealth produced by others. It is
expected, however, that children will in later years make return
to the community for what they have received during their period
of dependence.

INHERITED WEALTH

Some people inherit wealth, or otherwise come into possession of
it without effort on their part. The wealth so received, however,
has been earned by someone, or has come from the community in some
way. If the person who so receives it uses it in a way that is
highly useful to the community, he may in a sense earn it even
after he receives it; but if he uses it solely for his own
enjoyment, without effort to make it highly useful to the
community, he does not in any sense earn it, and places himself in
the class of those who are wholly dependent upon the community.

UNFAIR COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE

On the other hand, there are people who do not get for their work
a living that fairly compensates them for the service they render
by it to the community. If our community life were perfectly
adjusted in all its parts; if all the people clearly recognized
their common interests and their interdependence; if they had the
spirit of cooperation and were wise enough to devise smoothly
working machinery of cooperation;--then the returns that a worker
received for his work would be closely proportionate to the
service rendered by his work. That is, he would GET what he
EARNED, so far as wages or profits were concerned. But this is one
of the particulars in which our community life is still imperfect.
Where so many different kinds of workers are engaged in producing
shoes, for example, it is extremely difficult to determine how
much each should be paid for his share of the work. What WAGES
should be given to the different classes of workers who care for
cattle, make the leather, manufacture the machines with which the
shoes are made, operate the machines, mine the coal and iron for
the production of the machines, and so on? What PROFITS shall be
allowed to the men who raise the cattle, to the merchants who sell
the shoes and the machines, and to the transportation companies
that carry them from the factories to the dealers? What INTEREST
shall be received by the men who furnish the CAPITAL necessary to
run the factories and the farms? These questions relating to the
DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH that men produce have proved very difficult
to answer satisfactorily.

A very useful and interesting, but rather difficult, science has
grown up to explain the PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE OF
WEALTH. It is called the SCIENCE OF ECONOMICS. Of all the
divisions of this science, that relating to the distribution of
wealth is the most perplexing. It is the inequalities in the
distribution of wealth, the sense of injustice produced by these
inequalities, and sometimes a failure to understand what a fair
distribution is, that have caused all the labor disputes referred
to in Chapter VII (p. 71), and the discontent sometimes felt by
farmers and other producers in regard to the prices of their
products.

Have you ever heard any one say, "The world owes me a living"? Is
this a true statement? If so, in what sense do you think it is
true?

Which do you think is the truer statement: "I have a right to a
living," or "I have a right to earn a living"? Discuss the
difference.

A thief has been known to say, "I was brought into the world
without my own consent; therefore the world owes me a living, and
I owe the world nothing." Is this good argument? Did the people
upon whom he depends for a living have any more to say about their
being brought into the world than he had?

What things are you using to-day that were not provided for you by
others?

If a stranger should come to your community to-day to live, what
are some of the things that he would find already provided by the
community for his use in making a living?

Name five important inventions and state what they have done for
you.

Would you say that the world owes Thomas A. Edison and Luther
Burbank a living? Why?

How are you indebted for your living to the pioneers who settled
your state? to Robert Fulton? to the men who built the first
transcontinental railroad?

Can you think of some way in which your family is indebted for its
living to the British nation? to France? to ancient Greece? to the
Phoenicians? to the people of Brazil?

Which is the greater, the debt of your family to the world or the
debt of the world to your family?

What is a "parasite"? Could this term be appropriately applied to
any of the people referred to in the last few paragraphs of the
text above?

GOVERNMENT INTERESTED IN PRODUCTION

Each citizen has a right to feel that the government is interested
in his individual prosperity and happiness; and it is, for unhappy
and discontented citizens are seldom good citizens. But the
government represents community as a whole, and has the interest
of the community as a whole in its keeping rather than the
interest of particular individuals. Its interest is primarily in
what each citizen PRODUCES, for it is upon this that the strength.
of the nation depends.

THE "NATIONAL SERVICE ARMY" OF PRODUCERS

A few days after war was declared against Germany, the President
made an appeal to his fellow producers countrymen, in which he
said:

It is evident to every thinking man that our industries on the
farms, in the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be
made more prolific and more efficient than ever and that they must
be more economically managed and better adapted to the particular
requirements of our task than they have been; and what I want to
say is that the men and women who devote their thought and their
energy to these things will be serving the country and conducting
the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and just as
effectively as the men on the battlefield or in the trenches. The
industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a
great national, a great international Service Army,--a notable and
honored host engaged in the service of the nation and the world ...
Thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable
to military service will of right and necessity be excused from
that service and assigned to the fundamental, sustaining work of
the fields and factories and mines, and they will be as much part
of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under fire.

He then appealed directly to every kind of worker in the country,
and to the farmers he said:

The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which
we are cooperating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of
foodstuffs. ... Without abundant food ... the whole great
enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail ...
Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure,
rests the fate of the war and the fate of nations. Let me suggest,
also, that every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and
helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations;
and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself
in the ranks of those who serve the nation.

The nation needs the productive work of each citizen in time of
peace as truly as in time of war, although when it is not fighting
for its very life it is more tolerant of those who do not
contribute efficiently by their work to the common good. It
carries them along somehow. But such members of the community are
a burden and a source of weakness at all times. Therefore, for
example, there are in most of our communities laws against
vagrancy; that is, against willful and habitual idlers "without
visible means of support," such as beggars and tramps.

PROBLEM OF THE UNEMPLOYED

There are times when many men are "out of work." In times of
business depression the number may become very great, while in
prosperous times the number dwindles; but always there are some.
It is often through no fault of their own; it is another result of
the imperfect adjustment of our community life. It often happens
that while large numbers of men are unable to find work in
industrial centers, the farmers may be suffering for want of help.
This may be merely because there is no way by which to let workmen
know where they are needed, or of distributing them to meet the
need. Or, many of the unemployed may be unskilled, while the
demand is for skilled workmen; or they may be skilled in one line,
while the demand is in another line. Whatever the causes, the
"problem of the unemployed" is one of the most serious that the
community has to deal with. During the war the national government
sought to overcome these difficulties by the organization of an
employment service in the Department of Labor, and state and local
communities established employment bureaus.

Who have been some of the builders of your own community by reason
of their business life? Explain.

So far as you have observed, what boys have been most successful
after leaving school--those who make it a practice to do all they
can for their employers, or those who have tried to do the least
possible?

Is it true in your community that the most useful citizens are
those who care more about the excellence of their work than about
what they receive for it?

Are there many vagrants in your community? Are there laws against
vagrancy? If so, what are they?

Are there often many men out of work in your community? If so, why
is it?

Is it ever difficult to get farm labor in your locality? If so,
how do the farmers explain it?

What experience have the farmers of your locality had during and
since the war in getting labor when it was needed? Did the
government help them at that time? How?

It is of the greatest importance both to the individual and to the
community that every citizen: (1) should be continuously employed
in a useful occupation, (2) should be free and able to choose the
occupation for which he is best fitted, and in which he will be
happiest, and (3) should be thoroughly efficient in his work,
whatever it is.

THE RIGHT OF THE COMMUNITY TO INDUSTRY

(1) The community has a right to expect every citizen to be
industrious and productive, for only in this way can he be self-
sustaining and at the same time contribute his share to the well-
being of the community. Doubtless all who read this chapter are
desirous of doing useful work. At the same time, it is easy for
any of us to fall into the habit of thinking more about what we
can GET than about what we can GIVE. There ARE people who
habitually seek to do as little as possible for what they receive,
or to get all they can for the least possible service. This
applies not only to idlers who live entirely off the community
without any service on their part, but also to those who have
employment, but who seek to evade, by "time-serving" and otherwise
"slacking," the full responsibility of service. We sometimes hear
complaint in regard to public officials who draw good salaries
without rendering adequate or honest public service in return, and
to such we frequently apply the term of "grafter." But the
principle is exactly the same when any person who has undertaken
to do a piece of work fritters away his time or "loafs on the
job."

SATISFACTION IN SERVICE

After all, the chief return that we get for our work is not the
wages or the profits, important as they are to us, but the
satisfaction of doing something that is worthwhile. If this
pleasure is absent from the work we do, no amount of money returns
can compensate us for it. The happy man is a busy man, an
industrious man; and his happiness is more in the doing than in
the mere fact of money returns.

IMPORTANCE OF A RIGHT CHOICE

(2) The value of our work to the community and the pleasure that
we derive from it both depend to a large extent upon our fitness
for it. It is important to choose our work carefully. There are
four important considerations in choosing a vocation: (a) its
usefulness to the community, (b) one's own fitness for it, (c)
one's happiness in it, and (d) whether it offers an adequate
living to one's self and dependents. The last of these is, of
course, a most important consideration. What a person receives for
his work ought to be determined by the first two considerations,
i.e. the usefulness of the work to the community and one's fitness
for it. We have seen that this is not always true. In such cases
it often becomes necessary to make a further choice--a choice
between working primarily for one's own profit and working
primarily for the satisfaction that comes from important service
well rendered. It is not always easy to make this choice; but
there are many people who have sacrificed large incomes for the
sake of doing work that the community needs and for which they
consider themselves well fitted.

A CHOICE OF VOCATION IS INEVITABLE

Many people seem to have little choice in the matter of vocation.
The farmer's boy has to work on the farm whether he wants to or
not; and many a man is a farmer apparently for no other reason
than that he was raised on the farm and has seen no opportunity to
do anything else. Other people seem to be forced into other
occupations by circumstances or drift into them by chance. But
even in these cases there is something of a choice. The farmer's
boy "chooses" to remain on the farm rather than to take the
chances involved in running away, or because he would rather be at
home than in a strange city. The discontented farmer might have
chosen to be a lawyer if he had been willing to make enough
sacrifices to get ready for it; and even now he "chooses" to
remain on the farm in spite of his dislike for it because to do
otherwise would mean sacrifice of some kind or other that he is
unwilling to make.

THE MEANING OF OUR WORK TO THE COMMUNITY

The pleasure and effectiveness of ANY work, however, are increased
if its importance to the community or to the world is clearly
understood; for ALL productive work is important. There is no more
terrible work than that of the soldier in the trenches. No man
would voluntarily choose it for his own pleasure. But millions of
men have gone into it joyfully because of the results to be
attained for their country and the world. Other millions of men
and women, and even children, on the farms, in the mines, in the
shops, and in the homes, worked and sacrificed during the war with
Germany as they had never worked and sacrificed before, produced
results such as had never been produced before, and doubtless
experienced a satisfaction in their toil that they had never
experienced before, because each one saw more definitely than
before the relation of his work to the great national and world
purpose. An understanding of the meaning of our work in its
relation to community welfare goes a long way toward "transmuting
days of dreary work into happier lives."

FREEDOM, EQUALITY AND JUSTICE

The opportunity to choose one's calling, to decide what service
one will fit himself for, the right of "self-determination" with
regard to what one's work shall be--this is what "freedom" means.
This is why men are happier when they are free. The "equality" and
"justice" that all men want mean EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE
that which they like to do, and AN EQUAL CHANCE TO MAKE A LIVING,
or to obtain compensation for their labor or enterprise. It is for
these things more than for anything else that people have left
old-world conditions and come to America. The ability to make a
living under conditions of freedom and justice depends in part
upon the common wants of the community, and upon the willingness
of members of the community to pay for the satisfaction of their
wants enough to enable those who perform service for them also to
satisfy theirs. But it also depends upon the ability of the
individual to make a choice, and upon his willingness to spend
years in preparation, if need be, to enable him to offer a service
of the kind he likes to render, and for which others are glad to
pay well.

A DAY OF SPECIALISTS

We are living in a day of specialists. The very nature of our
interdependent life makes it necessary for each worker to do one
thing and to do it exceedingly well. Even farming is broken up to
a considerable extent into special kinds of farming. Moreover,
since the worker must be a specialist, requiring long, special
training, it is more difficult than it used to be for him to
change from one occupation to another after he has once started.
Each person, therefore, owes it both to himself and to the
community to choose his vocation carefully, so far as he has
opportunity to make a choice. The schools are more and more making
it their business to give boys and girls the knowledge and the
experience that will enable them to choose wisely their mode of
earning a living.

THE NECESSITY FOR TRAINING

(3) Whether a citizen follows a vocation of his own voluntary
choice, or one into which he has fallen by chance or by force of
circumstances, he is under obligation to the community as well as
to himself to do his work well. In these days of specialization
this inevitably means preparation, training. If the community
expects the citizen to perform efficient service, it must afford
him a fair opportunity for preparation. During the war the
government made special provision for training, not only for
military service, but also for the industrial occupations that the
nation needed. Vocational training is now receiving great
attention from the schools and from government.

HASTY ENTRANCE UPON VOCATIONAL LIFE

As in the choice of a vocation, so in preparation for it the
individual has his share of responsibility. It is always a
temptation for young people to get out into the active work of the
world at the earliest possible moment. The desire to be
independent, to earn one's own living, to "make money," is strong.
It leads many boys and girls to leave school even before they have
finished their elementary education. In the great majority of
cases this results in serious economic loss both to the boy or
girl and to the community. The charts on page 137 furnish evidence
of this.

PATRIOTISM IN VOCATIONAL LIFE

We call it patriotism when a man gives all that he has, even his
life if necessary, for the good of his country, without stopping
to consider whether or not he will receive an equal benefit in
return. There is no higher type of patriotism than that which
prompts a citizen to perform his best service for the community in
his daily calling, not for what he can get for it, but for what he
can give. This patriotism is shared by the young citizen who is
willing to defer an apparent immediate gain to himself in order to
prepare himself thoroughly for more effective service later.

If your father had his life to live over again, would he choose
the same vocation that he is now following? Consult him as to his
reasons.

What special kinds of farming exist in your locality? Is there a
tendency in your community toward specialization in farming, or
toward general farming? Reasons?

To what extent is "scientific farming" practiced in your locality?
What does it mean?

Make a study of the extent to which specialization is necessary in
the industries of your town.

Does your school offer any vocational training or vocational
guidance?

Is there a tendency in your school for boys and girls to quit
before completing the course? At what grades do pupils begin to
drop out in considerable numbers? Why do they leave? What sort of
work do they do when they leave school?

At what ages does the law in your state permit boys and girls to
go to work? Show how this restriction of freedom now increases
freedom later on.

READINGS

In Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series A:  Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society.
           Lesson 5, The human resources of a community.
           Lesson 7, Organization.
           Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry.
           Lesson 9, Social control.
           Lesson 10, Indirect costs.
           Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry.
           Lesson 23, The services of money.
           Lesson 28, The worker in our society.

Series B:  Lesson 8, Finding a job.
           Lesson 11, The work of women.
           Lesson 28, Women in industry.

Series C:  Lesson 9, Inventions.
           Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life.
           Lesson 21, Before coins were made.
           Lesson 22, The minting of coins.
           Lesson 23, Paper money.
           Lesson 24, Money in the community and the home.
           Lesson 29, Child labor.

In Long's American Patriotic Prose:

Frank A. Vanderlip, "Service Leads to Success," pp. 347-348.

Charles M. Schwab, "Opportunity is Plentiful in America," pp. 348-
350.

Tufts, The Real Business of Living, Chapters viii-x; xv-xxviii.

The following books relating to vocational life may be helpful and
stimulating if available:

Gowin and Wheatley, Occupations (Ginn & Co.).

Giles, Vocational Civics (Macmillan).

Gulick, The Efficient Life (Doubleday, Page & Co.).

Reid and others, Careers for the Coming Men (Saalfield Pub Co.,
Akron, Ohio).

Marden, Choosing a Career (Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis).

Marden, Talks with Great Workers (Thos. Y. Crowell).

Bok, Successward (Doubleday, Page & Co.).

Williams, How it Is Made, How it Is Done, How it Works (Thos.
Nelson & Sons).

Fowler, Starting in Life (Little, Brown & Co.).

Parsons, Choosing a Vocation (Houghton Mifflin Co.).

Carnegie, The Empire of Business, (Doubleday Page & Co.).





CHAPTER XII

GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE

GAINFUL OCCUPATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES


According to the census of 1910, somewhat more than 38 million of
the 92 million people of our country at that time were engaged in
"gainful occupations"; that is, in earning their living and that
of the remaining 54 million people who were dependent upon them.
Of the 38 million, more than 13 1/2 million were producing wealth
directly from the land, in agriculture, forest industries, mining
industries, and fishing. About 10 1/2 million were engaged in
manufacturing and mechanical trades, by which the materials
extracted from the land are transformed into articles of use. The
remainder of the "breadwinners" were engaged in trade and
transportation, and in professional, personal, and public service.

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE

Of the 13 1/2 million people gaining their living directly from
the land, more than 12 1/2 million were engaged in agricultural
pursuits. At the present time (1919) probably one half of the
population, including women and children, is directly dependent
upon agriculture as a means of livelihood, while the other half,
as well, is dependent upon it for food supply and the materials
for clothing.

In view of the fact that agriculture is the source of the nation's
food supply and of a large part of the national wealth, and that
so large a part of the people are engaged in it as a means of
livelihood, it is not surprising to find our government deeply
interested in it and performing a vast amount of service for its
promotion.

STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE

The government of every state in the Union has an organization to
protect and promote the farming industry and the welfare of the
farmer. This organization differs in its form and in the extent of
service performed in the several states, due partly to the varying
importance of agriculture in the different states, and partly to
the varying success with which the people and their
representatives have dealt with the problem. In some of the states
there are departments of agriculture, equal in dignity and power
with the other main divisions of the government. In others
agricultural interests are placed in the hands of subordinate
boards, bureaus, or commissions. In some cases the officials in
charge of the organization, such as the commissioner of
agriculture, are elected directly by the people, while in others
they are appointed by the governor of the state or by the
legislature. Often the department is organized in numerous
branches with specialists at the head of each. Thus, there are
dairy commissioners, horticultural boards, livestock sanitary
boards, foresters, entomologists (specialists in insect life in
its relation to agriculture), and others, to look after every
aspect of farming. In a constantly decreasing number of states the
powers of the agricultural officers are slight and their work
ineffectual; but in others the organization is thorough and the
work efficiently done and of the greatest value to the state.

DUTIES OF STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE

In general, state departments of agriculture have had two kinds of
duties: first, regulative and administrative duties, such as the
enforcement of laws relating to agriculture passed by the state
legislature, enforcing quarantine against diseased animals,
establishing standards for the grading of grain, making and
enforcing rules for the control of animal and plant diseases, and
similar matters. Second, investigative and educational duties,
such as the investigation of animal and plant diseases, crop
conditions, and other agricultural problems; and the distribution
of information to the farmers and to the people of the state
generally, relating to agricultural matters. Reports and bulletins
on special subjects are published and farmers' institutes are
conducted.

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS

The practice is growing, however, to transfer the work of
investigation and education to the STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND
EXPERIMENT STATIONS which have been established and are conducted
with the cooperation of the national Department of Agriculture.
These institutions have a corps of highly trained specialists and
educators and are equipped with laboratories and experimental
farms where research may be carried on under the most favorable
conditions. The agricultural colleges not only educate young men
and women within their walls in agriculture and related subjects,
but carry on EXTENSION WORK throughout the state for the benefit
of the farmers and the people of rural communities. With the
development of these institutions the state department of
agriculture is left with almost purely administrative and
regulative duties. This seems to be the wiser plan of
organization.

Write to your state commissioner of agriculture or to the
secretary of your state board of agriculture for a copy of the
law, or other published document, containing a description of the
organization of your state department of agriculture and its work.
Also ask for, if available, a list of publications issued by the
department, from which you may later select such as may seem to be
useful.

Write to your state agricultural college, or to the experiment
station, for its latest report showing the work that it has done,
and for a list of available publications.

In writing to public officials for materials for class use, it is
well to send but ONE letter for the class or school, and to
request THE SMALLEST NUMBER OF COPIES that will serve the purposes
of the class. Public officials are busy people, and the
publications for which you ask cost the people of the community
money.

The members of the class may compete, if desired, in formulating a
suitable letter, and a class committee may select the best, or
formulate one on the basis of suggestions from the class.

Materials collected in this way should become school property, and
the class should be conscious that it is accumulating a library
for later classes as well as for themselves. Study and report on
the following:

The organization of your state department of agriculture, its
officers and how chosen, its divisions and their work.

The work done at your state experiment station (individual reports
may be made on the several important lines of work, or on
particular investigations or discoveries of interest).

The character of the extension courses offered by your state
agricultural college. Courses given in your own community.

Instances of regulative work done in your state and county by your
state department of agriculture.

Instances in which your county or locality has been served by your
state agricultural college or by the experiment station.

The difficulty of the farmer in coping with animal disease or
plant disease by his own effort.

Facts to show that money has been saved to your community by the
state agricultural department or experiment station.

Why the people of the cities of your state should pay taxes to
support the department of agriculture.

Facts to show that your state department of agriculture and your
experiment station are really "means of cooperation" in your state
and county.

Extent to which the farmers of your locality actually cooperate
through the governmental machinery of the department of
agriculture.

Consult your parents or farmer friends as to ways in which the
work of your state department of agriculture, agricultural
college, or experiment station should be extended.

Sentiment among the people of your locality, especially the
farmers, as to the usefulness of your department of agriculture,
experiment station and agricultural college.

Get information from your county agent, or from your state
agricultural college, as to the states having the best organized
departments of agriculture, and then get information as to their
points of excellence.

The advantage of a state fair (A) to the farmer, (B) to the state.
The fair as a means of cooperation.

The management of your county fair (if any).

AGRICULTURE A NATIONAL ENTERPRISE

It does one state very little good to fight hog cholera or the
boll weevil unless neighboring states do likewise. Inferior
service in one state by its department of agriculture is a
detriment not only to the farmers of that state, but to those of
other states and of the country as a whole. States gradually learn
from one another and frequently adopt from one another the best
methods that are developed. This is a slow process. The
agriculture of our nation must be considered as a great national
enterprise, and not as forty-eight separate enterprises. This was
made evident during the recent war. Hence the necessity for
national control.

EARLY NATIONAL SUPPORT OF AGRICULTURE

Washington and Jefferson, like other founders of our nation, took
the keenest interest in agriculture. But in the early years of our
history little was done by the national government for its
promotion, except by a rather generous policy of disposing of the
public lands (see Chapter XIV). In 1820 a committee on agriculture
was for the first time created in the House of Representatives,
and in 1825 a similar committee in the Senate. In 1839 Congress
made its first appropriation for agricultural purposes, $1000, to
be spent in gathering information about crops and other
agricultural matters. This was a small beginning when compared
with the $37,000,000 appropriated by Congress for agricultural
purposes in 1918.

CREATION OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The United States Department of Agriculture was created by
Congress in 1862, though it was not placed on an equality with the
other executive departments of the national government, with a
member of the President's cabinet at its head, until 1889. While
it has some very important regulatory powers, that is, powers to
enforce laws and otherwise to control the practice of the people,
its service has been largely by way of scientific investigation of
the problems of agriculture and the distribution of the
information so acquired. Its policy has been one of cooperation
with state authorities.

NATIONAL COOPERATION WITH THE STATES

In 1862 Congress gave to the several states portions of the public
lands, the proceeds from which were to be used for the
establishment and support of the agricultural colleges of which
mention has been made. Again, in 1887, Congress made
appropriations for the establishment of the agricultural
experiment stations, which are conducted cooperatively by the
state and national governments. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act was
passed by Congress, making appropriations for agricultural
extension work to be conducted by the state agricultural colleges
with the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture. By the
terms of this act each state must appropriate a sum of money for
the extension work equal to that received from the national
government.

THE STATES RELATIONS SERVICE of the Department of Agriculture
supervises and administers these cooperative relations with the
states under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act. In each state there
is a director of extension work who represents both the United
States Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural
college. Under him there is usually a state agent or leader,
district agents, county agents, and specialists of various kinds.
The county agents conduct agricultural demonstration work in their
counties and assist in organizing rural communities for
cooperation. Women county agents, or home demonstration agents,
are rapidly being installed also, to conduct extension work in
home economics and organize cooperation among the women.

In the Southern States during 1915 about 110,000 farmers carried
out demonstration work under the supervision of county agents.
Each such farm demonstration serves as an object lesson for the
entire community. These demonstrations included corn raising in
446,000 acres, cotton in 202,000 acres, tobacco in 2630 acres,
small grains in 196,000 acres, and many other products in hundreds
of thousands of acres. Stumps were removed from more than 70,000
acres, 220,000 acres were drained, and there were 29,000
demonstrations in home gardens. Sixty-four thousand improved
implements were bought. Work was done with orchards involving more
than 2,000,000 trees, 29,000 farmers were instructed in the care
of manure with an estimated saving of more than 3,000,000 tons.
Farmers in 678 cooperative community organizations were advised
with regard to the purchase of fertilizers with a saving in cost
of $125,000. One thousand six hundred fifty-four community
organizations were formed to study local problems and to meet
local business needs. Nearly 63,000 boys were enrolled in corn
clubs.

There were also in the Southern States 368 counties with home
demonstration agents, who gave instruction to 32,613 girls and
6871 women. Each of the girls produced a one tenth acre home
garden of tomatoes and other vegetables. They put up more than
2,000,000 cans of fruit and vegetables worth $300,000. There were
nearly 10,000 members in poultry clubs and 3000 in bread clubs.
Two hundred fifty women's community clubs were formed.

Similar work was done in the Northern States, where 209,000 boys
and girls were enrolled in club work. Nearly 25,000 of these were
engaged in profit-making enterprises in which they produced food
worth more than $500,000. Reports from 3155 homes show 546,515
quarts of fruits and vegetables canned, about half of which
consisted of vegetables, windfall apples, and other products that
frequently go to waste.

How much money does your state receive from the national treasury
under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act? (Discuss at home, consult
your county agent.)

Find out from your county agent, and from your home demonstration
agent (if there is one), what their work includes and how it is
done. Invite them to speak to your school on the subject.

What demonstration work is being carried on in your county for men
and women? Results achieved?

With the help of your county agent, make a map of your county
showing the distribution of his demonstration work.

Report on boys' and girls' club work in your county. Describe
particularly any such work in which you are engaged.

What are some of the problems in regard to which the farmers of
your community need help?

Make a report on George Washington the Farmer; on Thomas
Jefferson's contributions to agriculture.

THE OFFICE OF MARKETS AND RURAL ORGANIZATION promotes the
organization of rural communities for cooperation in buying and
selling, in obtaining rural credits and insurance (see Chapter
XIII), in developing means of communication (Chapter XVIII), and
in providing for social needs. It investigates markets and methods
of marketing, and transportation and storage facilities.

It seeks to establish standards for grading and packing fruits,
vegetables, and other products.

THE OFFICE OF FARM MANAGEMENT investigates and promotes the
application of business methods to farm management and farm
practice. It studies the cost and profitableness of producing
particular crops, livestock, and dairy products, the use of the
woodlot, the most economic and effective farm equipment. It
investigates the cost of the farmer's living, methods of keeping
accounts, the methods and results of tenantry.

THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY investigates the causes, prevention,
and treatment of diseases of domestic animals, and has done much
to eradicate them. It studies methods of dairying and dairy
manufacturing, of breeding and feeding livestock, of producing
wool and other animal fibers, of poultry raising. It cooperates
with the States Relations Service and the state agricultural
colleges in educational work, conducting livestock demonstration
work and advising with regard to the establishment and management
of creameries and cheese factories. It promotes the organization
of pig clubs to stimulate interest in swine production.

THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY investigates the causes, prevention,
and treatment of plant diseases, including those of fruit, shade,
and forest trees. It has introduced over 43,000 varieties of
foreign seeds and plants, from which many new industries have
grown up amounting in value to many millions of dollars each year.
Its explorers have brought new varieties of cereals from Russia
and Siberia; alfalfas from Siberia; date palms from North Africa,
Arabia, and Persia; the pistachio nut from Greece and Sicily;
vanilla and peaches from Mexico; barleys and hops from Europe;
rices and matting rushes from Japan; forage grasses from India;
tropical fruits from South America. It experiments in the breeding
of hardy and disease-resisting grains, fruits, and vegetables,
studies soil fertility, investigates the medicinal qualities of
plants, tests seeds, and improves agricultural implements. Its
experiments are conducted in experimental gardens in Washington,
D.C., at Arlington, Va., and at the experiment stations
distributed widely over the United States.

This bureau does much educational work, instructing farmers how to
control plant diseases and how to organize for cooperation in the
breeding of disease-resisting plants, and conducting
demonstrations on reclaimed lands in arid regions. During 1916 it
distributed, through members of Congress, 356,000 tulip and
narcissus bulbs, 96,000 strawberry plants of 15 varieties, 14,000
packages of lawn grass seed, and more than 16,000,000 packages of
vegetable and flower seeds.

THE BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY studies the influence of environment on
crops and plants; investigates the quality of mill products, the
methods of bread making, of tanning leather, and of paper making.
It tests the food values of all kinds of products, the keeping
quality of poultry, eggs, and fish in the course of
transportation, and the composition of drugs. It is called upon by
other departments of government to make chemical analysis of many
articles.

THE BUREAU OF SOILS investigates the quality of soils and their
adaptation to different kinds of crops, and the fertilizer sources
of the country.

THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY is concerned with the study of insects
and their relation to agriculture, including those that are
destructive to fruit, shade, and forest trees. Its work includes
the study and promotion of bee culture. It has carried on a
campaign for the eradication of such diseases as spotted fever,
malaria, and typhoid which are carried by ticks, mosquitoes,
flies, and other insects (see Chapter XX).

THE BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY maintains game, mammal, and bird
reservations, including among others the Montana National Bison
Range, the winter elk refuge in Wyoming, the Sully's Hill National
Game Preserve in South Dakota, and the Aleutian Islands
Reservation in Alaska. It studies the food habits of North
American birds and mammals in relation to agriculture,
horticulture, and forestry, and the habits, geographical
distribution, and migrations of animals and plants. It conducts
experiments and demonstrations in destroying animals harmful to
agriculture and animal husbandry and in connection with rearing
fur-bearing animals. It cooperates with local authorities in the
protection of migratory birds.

THE BUREAU OF CROP ESTIMATES gathers and publishes data regarding
agriculture, and particularly estimates relating to crop and
livestock, production.

THE WEATHER BUREAU is in charge of the forecasting of the weather,
the issuing of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood
signals for the benefit of commerce, agriculture, and navigation
(see Chapter XVI).

THE FOREST SERVICE has in its keeping the great national forests
(see Chapter XV).

THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS AND RURAL ENGINEERING administers the
work of the federal government for road improvement, and studies
farm engineering problems such as those relating to sanitation and
water supply (see Chapters XVII and XX).

REGULATORY POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The Department of Agriculture has certain important powers of
regulation and control. Animals are inspected at market centers to
discover the presence of disease, and localities infected are
quarantined.

In 1915 more than 15 million sheep were inspected and nearly 4
million dipped to cure scabies. As a result nearly one and one
half million square miles of land were released from quarantine.
In the same year more than a million square miles were released
from quarantine against scabies in cattle.

In quarantining a state, or portion of a state, the Department
acts by authority of laws passed by Congress under its power to
regulate interstate and foreign commerce (Constitution, Art. I,
Sec. 8, cl. 3). By the same authority, all cattle for export and
all imported from foreign countries are inspected and those
diseased excluded. Slaughter houses and meat-packing
establishments where meat is packed for interstate or foreign
commerce are inspected; meat that is unfit for use being
condemned, while that which is good has the government stamp
placed upon it. Such measures are primarily health measures (see
Chapter XX), but they have great economic value.

In a similar manner imported seeds, plants, and plant products are
inspected to prevent the importation of plant diseases and plant
pests, and also to prevent adulteration of plant products.
Warehouses are inspected and licenses granted to those that are
suitable for the proper storage of cotton, grains, tobacco,
flaxseed, and wool. The Department enforces the laws that fix the
standards for grading cotton and grain, and licenses grain
inspectors. It also enforces the Food and Drugs Act (see Chapter
XX).

Topics for investigation:

Difficulties experienced by farmers in your locality in marketing
produce or livestock.

Assistance received from the United States Department of
Agriculture to overcome the difficulties.

Experiments in cooperative marketing in your locality.

Products of your locality that require storage facilities.
Adequacy of storage facilities.

Transportation needs of your locality. Improvements in
transportation facilities in recent years.

Consult your county agent, or write to the Office of Farm
Management, for publications relating to farm management, farm
accounting, etc.

Discuss with farmers of your acquaintance the extent to which they
find farm accounts and farm records useful.

Diseases of livestock prevalent in your locality and state.
Experiments in cooperation to eradicate these diseases. Assistance
received from the Department of Agriculture.

Crops of foreign origin raised in your locality. Countries from
which introduced.

Destructive plant diseases and plant pests of your locality.
Efforts to combat them.

Importance of bird migrations to the farmers of your locality.
Extent of protection afforded birds. How you cooperate in this
matter.

Importance of these various farmers' problems to the people in
town--the housekeeper, the merchant, the manufacturer, the
railroad companies.

Cases of animal quarantine occurring in your locality.

Why warehouses for food products, cotton, etc., should be
licensed. What "licensing" means.

How grain, cotton, or other products are "graded." The reason for
grading. Why there needs to be a law on the subject.

SERVICE OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT

While the business interests of the farmer, and indeed many of his
other interests, such as health, education, and social life, are
especially looked after by the Department of Agriculture, he
shares with all other citizens the services of all the other
departments of government, each of which also has its elaborate
organization (see Chapter XXVII). It is the Treasury Department,
for example, acting under authority given to it by Congress, that
provides the people with their system of money and with a banking
system, both of which are great cooperative devices. The
Department of Commerce serves the farmer directly by discovering
markets for his products in every part of the world, and
indirectly by everything it does to promote the country's
commerce. The rural mail delivery, the parcel post, and the motor
truck service of the Post Office Department are of untold value to
the farmer (see Chapter XVIII). The Department of the Interior has
supervision over the public lands, the reclamation of arid lands,
and the development of mineral resources (Chapters XIV, XV).

THE QUESTION OF LABOR SUPPLY

The question of labor supply is one of the most serious questions
which the farmer has to face. It is one that he must help to solve
for himself:

As soon as work on the farms is organized, and employment is made
steady for all help, just so soon will a better class of laborers
be attracted to the farm. As the farm-owner wishes life to be free
from eternal drudgery for himself and family, yielding the fruits
of happiness, leisure, and culture, he would do well to consent
and arrange to give the farm hand who shares the shelter of his
roof a fair chance at the same benefits. The laborer wants regular
hours, a chance for recreation, a good place to live in, and
enough wages to maintain a family according to American standards.
[Footnote: W.J. Dougan and M.W. Leiserson in "Rural Social
Problems," Fourth Annual Report Wisconsin Country Life Conference,
quoted in Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS pp. 258-260.]

But there are aspects of the labor problem over which the farmer
by his own unaided efforts can have little control. One of these
is the problem of bringing the laborer and the job together (see
Chapter XI, p. 133). The work of the Employment Service in the
Department of Labor during the recent war affords a striking
illustration of cooperation secured through an agency of
government.

THE UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

The Employment Service had been created in 1914, but was rapidly
developed during the war to meet the demand for farm labor to
provide a food supply adequate to war needs. The main offices of
Employment Service were with the Department of Labor in
Washington. But each state had a federal director of employment,
and branch offices were established in local communities. The
success of the whole scheme depended, first of all, upon
cooperation between national, state, and local governments.

Thousands of county agents and local rural community organizations
discovered and reported local needs to local employment offices,
which in turn distributed the information by means of the
district, state, and national organizations. Fifty-five thousand
post offices became farm-labor employment agencies, postmasters
and rural carriers acting as agents. Railroads cooperated both in
reporting needs for the districts through which they run and in
distributing labor to the points where needed. Newspaper offices
served as employment bureaus. The operators of nearly 8000 rural
telephone companies weekly called up the homes of two million
farmers to inquire as to needs. State and county councils of
defense, chambers of commerce, labor unions, farmers'
organizations, and other volunteer agencies afforded channels
through which the farmer and the laborer were brought together.

From January to the end of October 1918, approximately 2,500,000
workers were directed to employment (not all farm workers). In
that year the enormous wheat crop of the western states was
entirely harvested by labor forces organized and moving northward
as the harvest ripened. "Teamwork between the county agricultural
agents and farm-help specialists of the Department of Agriculture
and the harvest emergency force of the United States Employment
Service is considered largely responsible for the excellent
results." In a similar manner assistance was given in harvesting
the corn and cotton crops, the fruits of orchards and vineyards,
and the vegetable crops of the country.

The Boys' Working Reserve constituted one division of the
Employment Service. In 1918, 210,000 boys between the ages of 16
and 20 were enrolled for work on the farms during the summer. The
Reserve was responsible in 1917 and 1918 for saving millions of
dollars worth of crops. It is estimated that in 1918 it raised
enough food to feed a million soldiers for one year.

EMPLOYMENT SERVICE IN PEACE TIME

With the passing of the war emergency, the elaborate machinery of
the Employment Service was in large measure allowed to fall to
pieces through lack of appropriations for its maintenance. This is
true of much of the emergency organization of government developed
during the war period. It illustrates the tendency in our country
to leave business control as fully as possible to individual
initiative excepting in times of great emergency. So important is
the problem of bringing the worker and the job together that many
believe that the Employment Service organization should be revived
and continued.

The central office at Washington is still maintained. In most
states there are still (1919) state directors. The local machinery
has been largely discontinued except in cities where volunteer
agencies, such as the Red Cross and other welfare organizations,
have taken over the work, chiefly to find employment for
discharged soldiers and sailors. A few states have made
appropriations to continue the Boys' Working Reserve.

NATIONAL VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

One division of the Employment Service is the Junior Section, for
the guidance of boys and girls from 16 to 21 years of age seeking
employment. Local junior sections were organized as branches of
local employment offices and in schools. A "junior counselor" was
placed in charge of each local junior section to study the needs
and qualifications of those who applied for employment, and to
give them advice. The Junior Section is still maintained with a
director in the Washington office. The duties of the junior
counselor are stated as follows:

To influence boys and girls to remain in school as long as
possible.

To give aid toward the right start for those who have to leave
school to go to work.

To arouse the ambitions of the boys and girls to fit themselves
for definite careers.

To direct youth who are employed toward some form of trade,
technical, or business school for special training.

To promote the opportunities for vocational education.

To follow up all applicants in their training and at their work to
see that they have the best available advantages of study and
labor.

GOVERNMENT ALWAYS AT OUR SERVICE

The array of facts contained in the foregoing paragraphs is given,
not with the expectation that those who read will memorize them,
but to suggest the enormous amount of work that the United States
government is doing in the interest of agriculture and the farmer,
and the extensive machinery necessary to do it. The facts given
are only a few of those that might be given. The detailed story of
how much of this work is done is fascinating, and often of
thrilling interest. All around us may be seen, if our eyes are
open, the evidences of the work of our government. Always the
governmental machinery is at hand to serve us in a thousand ways,
if we are wise enough to use it. The more we study its work, the
more we shall be impressed by the fact that its greatest service
is in opening the way for cooperation, and in providing the
organization and the leadership for such cooperation.

Topics for investigation:

How money serves as a means of cooperation.

How a bank serves as a means of cooperation.

The attractiveness of the conditions of living for farm laborers
in your community. How they could be improved.

The farm labor supply in your locality and state.

The work of the United States Employment Service in your state and
community.

Employment agencies in your community at the present time. By whom
conducted. Are they free, or run for profit? Advantages and
disadvantages of the two kinds.

Harvesting the wheat crop in war time.

The Boys' Working Reserve in your locality. The experience of the
farmers of your locality as to its value. Possible objections
raised to it. Its continuance since the war.

The Junior Section of the Employment Service.

Junior counselors in your community.

READINGS

Procure from the State Department of Agriculture, the State
Agricultural College, and the State Experiment Station,
publications relating to their work.

Send to the U. S. Department of Agriculture for its List of
Publications Available for Distribution; or for publications
relating to particular topics. Among the useful publications of
the Department are:

Farmers' Bulletins (covering a wide variety of subjects).

States Relations Service Circulars.

The Year Book.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Program of Work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1917 or
later years).

Report on Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative
Agricultural Extension Work (1915 or later years).

A very useful publication is the "Guide to United States
Government Publications," published by the U.S. Bureau of
Education as Bulletin, 1918, No. 2. It not only describes the
publications of each department of government, but also the
organization and work of each department and its subdivisions.
(Government Printing Office, 20 cents.)

More recent and equally useful is "The Federal Executive
Departments as Sources of Information for Libraries," also
published by the Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74
(Government Printing Office, 25 cents). The work of each
Department and its subdivisions is described in some detail.

In Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series B: Lesson 30, Employment agencies.

Series C:  Lesson 12, Patents and inventions.
           Lesson 13, Market reports on fruits and vegetables.





CHAPTER XIII

THRIFT

"THRIFT IS GOOD MANAGEMENT OF THE BUSINESS OF LIVING."

NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF THRIFT


This definition is taken from "Ten Lessons in Thrift," issued by
the Treasury Department of the United States Government (February,
1919). The United States Government sent out these lessons because
"America to-day stands in the position in which all her economic
problems must be solved through thrift ... Unless our people gain
a deep, sincere appreciation of the absolute necessity for thrift,
we cannot hope to hold the proud position we occupy as the flag
bearer of nations ..." [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, President American
Society for Thrift, in "The Patriotism of War Savings" (National
Education Association pamphlet, THRIFT, 1918)]

LESSONS OF THE WAR

The great war taught us some lessons about the importance of
thrift to the nation. The enormous expenses of the war were paid
and the armies and the civilian populations of the countries at
war were fed very largely by the combined small savings of our
people. Nearly 20 million people contributed to the fourth liberty
loan, by which almost seven billion dollars were raised, an
average of about $350 for each contributor. Almost every one
bought war savings stamps, by which about a billion dollars were
raised in 1918. Practically all this money came from savings.
Enormous sums were also given to the Red Cross and other causes.
To do this people saved and sacrificed "until it hurt." The
provisioning of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was
made possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of
bread, of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and
fats.

THRIFT AS PATRIOTISM

Thrift, however, is not merely a war necessity. "The time when
thrift shall not be needed--needed as vitally as food itself--will
never come ... Through thrift alone can the rebuilding come--the
rebuilding of America--the rebuilding of the world ... Thrift is
patriot ism because it is the elimination of every element that
tends to retard..." [Footnote: S W Strauss, "The Patriotism of War
Savings"]

Thrift is necessary both for individual success and for good
citizenship. It is only by thrift that the individual may in some
measure repay others for the care he himself received during
dependent childhood, and provide, during his productive years, for
the "rainy day" of sickness and old age. It is by thrift that
CAPITAL is accumulated with which to carry on the world's work.
The citizen who saves and invests his savings in a home, in
business enterprises, in bonds or savings stamps, not only makes
his own future secure, but becomes identified with the community
and takes a greater interest in it. The thrifty citizen inspires
the confidence of the community, and acquires an influence in
community affairs that the unthrifty citizen does not enjoy.
Finnish farmers in a certain section of New England are said to be
able to obtain credit from neighboring bankers and businessmen
more easily than many of their neighbors, and to be considered as
especially desirable citizens, because of their reputation for
thrift and honesty. Thrift is often confused with stinginess and
selfish ness. On the contrary it alone makes generosity and
service possible.

THRIFT, "THE ESSENCE OF DEMOCRACY"

"Thrift is the very essence of democracy." For democracy means
freedom, equality of opportunity, "self-determination." No man is
a greater slave than one who is bound and driven by financial
necessity. By thrift the mind is "unfettered by the petty
annoyances that result from improvident ways." Thrift means
providing for the future. There is nothing in the world that will
so establish one's faith in the future and that will, therefore,
give that freedom of spirit upon which democracy depends, as the
wise use of to-day and of to-day's resources.

THRIFT A RIGHT AS WELL AS A DUTY

"Every man must practice thrift and every man must have the CHANCE
of practicing it." It is a RIGHT as well as a duty. Before the war
it was said that four fifths of the wage earners of our country
received less than $750 a year for their labor. Studies in various
cities also showed that an average family of five could not
maintain health and efficiency on an income of less than from $750
to $1000. Under such circumstances thrift is the strictest
necessity, but it is a thrift that means pinching economy and the
sacrifice of health and efficiency. It is not the thrift that
provides for the future and gives freedom to the individual, the
thrift that is "the essence of democracy itself." Every man should
have an opportunity to earn a "living wage," which includes an
opportunity to provide for the future. Democracy is not complete
until that opportunity is afforded.

Thrift, or the good management of the business of living, is shown
(1) in earning, (2) in spending, (3) in saving, and (4) in
investing.

THRIFT IN EARNING

(1) Since the earning of a living was the subject of Chapter XI,
we need not dwell upon it now except to note that a thrifty person
is an industrious person--he makes wise use of his time; and also
to note that many of those who are now in want, or who, in
advanced years, are receiving small wages, owe their condition to
a failure at some time or other to make use of the opportunity for
thrift. Many people do not recognize the opportunity when it is
presented, or lack the wisdom or the courage to seize it. Thrift
involves MAKING A CHOICE, and in many cases a wise choice requires
courage as well as wisdom. It is a choice between the satisfaction
of present wants and the sacrifice of present enjoyment for the
sake of greater satisfaction and service in the future.

When a boy in school has a chance to take a job that will pay him
wages, he has to make a choice between it and remaining in school.
It may seem to be the thrifty thing to go to work; but real thrift
is shown by careful choice of vocation, and by thorough
preparation for it, even though it requires sacrifices that seem
difficult (see pp. 137, 139).

We may note here, also, that physical fitness is essential if
earning power, which means power to perform service, is to be
fully developed. The "conservation" of health and life is so
important that a chapter is devoted to it later (Chapter XX).

THRIFT IN SPENDING

(2) After money has been earned, thrift shows itself first of all
in the way the money is spent; and many of us have the spending of
the money that some one else has earned. Every time we spend a
nickel or a dollar we make a choice--we choose to spend or not to
spend, how much we shall spend, for what we shall spend.

A lawyer in a small town reports that in one month he made out the
necessary papers to enable 75 men to mortgage their homes to buy
automobiles.

Butchers say that during the war they more often sold expensive
cuts of meat to wage earners who were by no means well-to-do, but
who happened for the time to be getting good wages, than to people
of larger means. One reason, perhaps, for extravagance in food and
clothing on the part of unintelligent people who find themselves
unusually prosperous, is that they see no better way to spend
their money. Those who find pleasure in books, in education for
their children, in travel, in investing money in serviceable
enterprises, and in the higher things of life, have to make A
CHOICE in regard to what they shall enjoy, and as a rule prefer to
sacrifice the grosser pleasures.

CHOOSING WHAT TO SPEND

People, and especially young people, need a certain amount of
sweets in their diet. But when we know that the candy bill of the
people of the United States amounts to $400,000,000 a year, that
this is almost as much as the total amount spent for public
education, that it is about double the amount used to keep Belgium
supplied with food for a year during the war, or that it will buy
234 million bushels of corn at $1.70 a bushel, we may well think
twice before deciding to spend MUCH money for candy.

TESTS FOR SPENDING

The few cents difference in the price of two articles between
which we must choose, and the nickels we spend for immediate
enjoyment, may seem to amount to very little; but the New York
City street railways collected in a year $95,000,000 in five-cent
fares, and the Woolworth Building in New York, one of the largest
office buildings in the United States, was built from the profits
of "5 and 10 Cent Stores." One thrift stamp a week amounts in five
years to $65, and 14 cents a day at 4 per cent interest amounts in
twenty years to more than $1500. In one of the "Ten Lesson in
Thrift," the following "tests in buying" are given:

Do I need it?

Do I need it now?

Do I need something else more?

Will it pay for itself in the end?

Do I help or injure the community in buying this?

Do you have instruction in your school in home economics that
relates to wise spending or buying?

If you do not have such instruction, apply to the home
demonstration agent in your county (if there is one), or write to
your state agricultural college, or to the States Relations
Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for
circulars or bulletins relating to thrift in buying food,
clothing, etc.

In writing for such material, why is it an example of thrift to
ask for ONE copy of EACH publication for your CLASS or for your
SCHOOL, rather than to ask for a copy for each pupil?

In what ways is thrift shown by having a class committee write one
letter making the request for the class instead of having each
member of the class write?

Has any home demonstration work relating to thrift been conducted
in your community? What methods were employed, and what results
achieved?

Who in your family makes most of the expenditures for the family
living?

For what items in the family living is most of the money spent?

What are some of the things that have to be considered in buying
food? clothing? house furnishings? books? amusements?

Discuss the topics mentioned in the following statement of "values
in buying" (from "Ten Lessons in Thrift"):

Food: nutrition, healthfulness, cleanliness, attractiveness,
flavor, quality, price, economy in preparation (of time, strength,
fuel, utensils), buying from bulk or in package, buying in
quantity or small unit, buying for the day or laying in stores,
calculation of portions, calculation of meals, varied diet.

Clothing: design related to material, color, and becomingness;
style, durability; adaptability to fine or rough wear, to repair
and remaking; suitability to season, health, occupation, comfort;
home-made VERSUS ready-made; conditions of manufacture, use of
child labor, the sweat shop, the living wage, health.

Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles
bought in small and large quantities: for example, laundry soap by
the bar, by the quarter's worth, by the box; canned goods by the
can, by the dozen, and by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25-
pound sack, 50-pound sack, by the barrel; etc.

Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in
package; for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon;
bacon in bulk and in jars, etc.

Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather
than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples.

Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by
telephone or in person? To buy by mail order or at the store in
town? Why?

At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington,
D.C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in
Maryland. The turkeys were brought by the producers to the
schoolhouse of the rural neighborhood, taken by a postal service
motor-truck to the schoolhouse of the Park View center in
Washington, and from there distributed to the 140 families. The
city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound less than the
price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the producers
received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were
paying.

Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above
case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced?

What is the "middleman"? Does he perform a real service to the
community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that
the middleman should be "eliminated" by cooperative marketing and
buying organizations? Why?

Is there any cooperative buying organization in your community? If
so, how has it benefited the community? If not, why? (Consult your
parents, your county agent, and others.)

Get publications from your state agricultural college relating to
cooperative buying and selling.

THRIFT IN MANAGEMENT

Wise expenditures depend not only upon knowledge of prices and
qualities, but also upon good management, as in planning ahead.
One plan that has been the means of lifting many individuals and
families out of financial difficulties and of enabling them to lay
by as savings a portion of their income, however small the latter
may be, is the BUDGET, which means the apportionment of
expenditures according to a plan laid out in advance. No budget
can apply to all families alike, but the following illustrates the
principle:

House (rent, taxes, insurance, repairs)........................25%

Food (all expenditures for the table, ice, etc.)...............30%

Clothing (materials and making, repairing, cleaning, pressing,
millinery, shoes)..............................................13%

Housekeeping (labor and materials for laundry, fuel and light,
telephone, supplies, and furnishings)..........................12%

Educational (school and school books, club dues, church and charity
contributions, gifts, books, magazines, newspapers, amusements,
medical and dental treatment)...................................6%

Luxuries (all items not necessaries and not coming under
"educational," such as candies, etc.)...........................4%

Savings........................................................10%

Total.........................................................100%

Before a budget can be planned, and in order to know whether it is
being lived up to, it is necessary to keep accounts of receipts
and expenditures. With such accounts, it is possible to determine
where savings can be made under some heads and where, perhaps, it
is necessary or advisable to spend more.

Is a budget used in your home? Find out from your parents their
reason for using, or not using it.

Could you use a budget in your own personal affairs?

Find out whether a budget system is used by your local government
and your state government in apportioning expenditures.

How may we "budget" our time? Is the time you spend in school
"budgeted"? Make a daily time budget for yourself.

When is clothing a necessity and when a luxury? [Footnote: This
and the following topics are adapted from "Ten Lessons in
Thrift."]

When is food a necessity and when an amusement?

When is amusement education and when a frivolity?

When is fuel an item in rent and when current housekeeping
expense?

When are club dues education and when amusement?

When is vacation health and when amusement?

When is the theater amusement and when indulgence?

When is rent a necessity and when an extravagance?

[Footnote: From "Suggestion for Home Demonstration Agents
regarding Methods of Teaching Thrift," States Relations Service
Circular, Dec. 27, 1918.]

THRIFT IN SAVING

(3) The object of thrift in spending is both to get the greatest
value for our money now and to insure savings that will provide
for the future. Every budget should make as definite provision for
savings as for rent or clothing. The purpose of a budget and of
accounts is to assure a surplus rather than a deficit. Successful
men and women make it a practice always to spend less than they
earn, no matter how little they earn, and they cannot be sure of
this without planning ahead and keeping accounts. Saving in this
way is largely a matter of habit; but it is astonishing how many
fail to form the habit. Court records show that out of every 100
men who die, 82 leave no income-producing estates, or that about
85 per cent who reach the age of 65 are dependent upon relatives
or upon the community. "Out of every 100 widows, only 18 are left
in comfortable circumstances, while 47 are obliged to go to work
and 35 are left in absolute want." [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, "The
Greater Thrift," National Education Association PROCEEDINGS, 1916,
p. 278.]

AMERICAN EXTRAVAGANCE

Wise buying means saving money; and so does the wise use of what
we buy. It is said that an American ship can be distinguished from
the ships of other nations in harbor by the flocks of gulls that
hover around to feast on the food thrown overboard. Whether this
is true or not, Americans have a reputation for wastefulness. It
has been called our chief national sin. It is said that a family
in France can live in comfort on what an American family in the
same circumstances ordinarily throws away. An average load of
garbage in New York City has been shown to contain fifty dollars'
worth of good food materials.

WHAT SMALL SAVINGS WILL DO

Investigations by the Food Administration showed that there is
enough glycerine in a ton of garbage to make explosives for 14
shells, enough fat and acid to make 75 bars of soap, and enough
fertilizer to grow 8 bushels of wheat. It is said that 24 cities
wasted enough garbage to make 4 million pounds of nitroglycerine,
40 million cakes of soap, and fertilizer for 3 million bushels of
wheat. On the other hand, 300 cities produced 52 million pounds of
pork by feeding their garbage to hogs.

The Department of Agriculture has shown that the waste of a half-
cup of milk daily by each of the 20 million families in the United
States would equal in a year the total production of 400 thousand
cows; that one ounce of meat or fat saved daily would in a year
mean 875 thousand steers, or a million hogs; and that if 81
percent of the whole wheat were used in bread instead of 75
percent, the saving in a year would feed 12 million people. During
the war our government organized a campaign for the salvage of
"junk," and the total amount collected had a value of 1 1/2
billion dollars. The school children of Des Moines, Iowa, are
reported to have gathered and sold two thousand dollars' worth of
waste paper in one week, and those of many other communities
obtained similar results.

VALUE OF BY-PRODUCTS

Every successful business man is constantly vigilant to discover
and remedy waste in his business--waste of materials, time, and
effort. Many of the most valuable products in certain industries
are "by-products,"--that is, products produced as an incident to
the main industry and from materials that otherwise would have
been wasted. In the manufacture of gas from coal, for example,
important by-products are coke, tar, and ammonia. There has been
great waste in the lumber industry, but now practically every
scrap from the tree may be used. In the Forestry Products
Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, a process has been
discovered of producing from 15 to 25 gallons of wood alcohol from
a ton of sawdust--and sawdust has many other uses. These are only
illustrations. Scientists and inventors, many of them employed by
the government, are constantly at work finding uses for waste
products.

WASTEFULNESS IN FARMING

Wastefulness is found in great variety in farming activities. For
example:

Why plant seed only 60 or 70 per cent of which will germinate
when, for a few dollars extra and a little work, seed may be
procured that will average 90 to 95 per cent in the germination
test? Why purchase or cultivate a worthless crab apple tree or a
hybrid when Rome Beauty, Northern Spy, or Grimes Golden, and other
standard varieties of apples may be secured for a few additional
cents? Why feed and care for a "scrub" pig, calf, or colt when it
will bring at maturity only half or two thirds the price of a
thoroughbred? ... It is not thrift to invest money in second-rate
products.

Some farmers are so careless ... that they do not husk their corn
in the fall but leave it standing in the field until late winter
or early spring. By this time the fodder is somewhat decayed and
unfit for feeding purposes. Possibly a third of the corn has been
eaten by the birds, a third of it has rotted, and a third of it
remains in a damp and moldy condition. ... Many boys could make
good wages by going over the corn field at cutting time and
collecting the ears lying on the ground. ... Often a farmer will
cut down his hay, paying no attention whatever to the reports of
the weather bureau ... Apples shaken from the trees by the wind
decay on the ground ...

The bearings of mowing machines and reapers often suffer excessive
wear because the owner neglects to keep them properly oiled. Often
a wheat drill, a mowing machine, a threshing machine, or an engine
is left out of doors for a whole year, or for several months after
the farmer has ceased to use it. A good piece of machinery, if
judiciously used, properly lubricated, and put away in a dry
place, may last from ten to twenty years, while the life of such
machinery will only be about half as long without proper care. If
a wooden handle rots loose from its fastenings it is an indication
that the handle has not been thoroughly dried after it has been
used. Tools rust out very readily if they are not kept dry and
thoroughly oiled ... So careless are some farmers that hoes,
shovels, mattocks, wrenches, saws, and axes are thrown down in the
field or woods to lie there until it is again necessary to use
them. It often takes hours to find an article thus misplaced or
thrown aside. It is economy of time to know just where to find
everything on the farm. [Footnote: The Teaching of Thrift, by H.
R. Bonner, Assistant State Superintendent of Schools, West
Virginia, pp. 22, 23.]

The topics on page 180 from publications of the States Relations
Service of the Department of Agriculture are suggestive:

Preventing loss of food in the home:
  Suitable food storage places and equipment.
  Essentials of a good refrigerator.
  The care of winter vegetables and fruit.
  The care of perishable vegetables and fruit.
  Prevention of spoilage of milk, meat, and fish.
  Preservation of eggs.
  Care of bread and other baked products.
  What should not go into the garbage pail.
  Good cooking and attractive serving.
  Failure to use perishable food promptly.
  Failure to use left-overs completely.
  Failure to use all food materials (fats, meat and fish bones, etc.).
  Leaving small portions of food in mixing and cooking dishes.
  Lack of accurate measuring and mixing, so that food is not palatable.
  Allowing food to be scorched or otherwise spoiled in preparation.
  Providing over-generous portions in serving.
  Failure to eat all food served.
Preventing loss of food in the market:
  Sanitary display cases for food.
  Prevention of "sampling" and handling of food.
  Food protection in food carts and delivery wagons.
  Proper care of milk.
  Proper care of meat and fish.
  Prevention of cereal products from deterioration.
  Protection of fruits and vegetables.
  The care of bread and bakery products.
  Careful selection of food.
Following are special points which might be discussed:
  The well-planned house.
  Saving steps by better arrangement of equipment.
  Lessening work by systematizing it.
  Menu-planning for lessened work in preparation.
  Household lighting.
  Labor-saving equipment in the laundry, the kitchen, and the sewing room.
  Labor-saving devices for house cleaning.
  Leading a simple life.

Apply to your home demonstration agent, or write to States
Relations Service, for publications relating to thrift in food,
clothing, fuel, etc.

THRIFT IN INVESTMENT

(4) Thrift involves a wise use of savings. They may be invested in
a home, a wise use because of the satisfaction that a home
produces. If the home is well located, well built, and well kept
up, it will probably also increase in money value. Savings may be
invested in machinery for farming, manufacturing, or mining; in a
stock of goods to be sold at a profit; in houses or office
buildings to be rented to others; or they may be lent to others
who pay interest for their use. In all these cases money
represents CAPITAL--capital being the machinery or tools and other
equipment with which wealth is produced.

Capital is brought into existence in only one way--that is, by
consuming less than is produced. If one has a dollar one can spend
it either for an article of consumption, say confectionery, or for
an article of production, say a spade. He who buys a spade becomes
a capitalist to the amount of a dollar--that is, he becomes the
owner of tools. The process is precisely the same whether the
amount in question is a dollar or a million dollars. [Footnote:
T.N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," FARMERS' BULLETIN 593, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, p. 2.]

BORROWING

Every business requires capital, some more than others. Farming
requires more capital to-day than formerly because of the
increased use of machinery. The necessary capital must either be
saved by the person who wants to use it, or borrowed from others
who have saved it.

The advantage of borrowing is that one does not have to wait so
long to get possession of the tools and equipment. One can get
them at once and make them produce the means of paying for
themselves. Without them the farmer's production might be so low
as to make it difficult ever to accumulate enough with which to
buy them. With their help he may be able to pay for them--that is,
to pay off the debt--in a shorter time than it would take to
accumulate the purchase price without them. That is the only
advantage of credit in any business, but it is a great advantage
to those who know how to use it. [Footnote 2: T.N. Carver, "How to
Use Farm Credit," FARMERS' BULLETIN, 593, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, p. 2.]

CREDIT

Credit is simply a person's ability to borrow and depends upon the
confidence that others place in him. This confidence depends on
his reputation for honesty and his known ability to repay. A man,
as a rule, has to HAVE something--land or property of other kind--
that he can offer as security before he can borrow much. It is for
this reason that thrift is essential to a man's credit--thrift and
honesty.

There is no magic about credit. It is a powerful agency for good
in the hands of those who know how to use it. So is a buzz saw.
They are about equally dangerous in the hands of those who do not
understand them. ... Many a farmer would be better off to-day if
he had never had a chance to borrow money at all, or go into debt
for the things which he bought. However, there is no reason why
those farmers who do know how to use credit should not have it.

Shortsighted people, however, who do not realize how inexorably
the time of payment arrives, who do not know how rapidly tools
wear out and have to be replaced, or do not keep accounts in order
that they may tell exactly where they stand financially, will do
well to avoid borrowing. Debts have to be paid with deadly
certainty, and they who do not have the wherewithal when the day
of reckoning arrives become bankrupt with equal certainty.

On the other hand there is nothing disgraceful in borrowing for
productive purposes. The feeling that it is not quite respectable
to go into debt has grown out of the old habit of borrowing to pay
living expenses. That was regarded, perhaps rightly, as a sign of
incompetency. ... But to borrow for a genuinely productive
purpose, for a purpose that will bring you in more than enough to
pay off your debt, principal and interest, is a profitable
enterprise. It shows business sagacity and courage, and is not a
thing to be ashamed of. But it cannot be too much emphasized that
the would-be borrower must calculate very carefully and be sure
that it is a productive enterprise before he goes into debt.
[Footnote: T. N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," p. 2.]

COOPERATION FOR CREDIT

Even though a farmer be thrifty, industrious, and honest, the
conditions of farm business are such that it has not always been
easy for him to borrow capital. Here again cooperation helps. In
some of our states the law permits the organization of CREDIT
UNIONS. The members are farmers of a neighborhood or district and,
therefore, are acquainted with one another. Each member must buy
shares of stock, which provides a certain amount of funds. The
union may also receive deposits of money, paying interest on them
as a savings bank would do. This increases the funds and also
encourages thrift on the part of the farmer. Idle money, or money
that might otherwise be spent unwisely, is thus made productive.
In some unions, as in Massachusetts, children are encouraged to
deposit their small savings, and in some cases half the capital of
the union is made up of such small savings deposits. From these
funds loans are made to members of the union on reasonable terms,
provided they are to be used for productive purposes. The union
may also borrow money from the bank in town on the COLLECTIVE
CREDIT of its members for the improvement of agricultural
conditions in the neighborhood.

NATIONAL AID TO THE FARMERS' CREDIT

Similar aid to the farmers' credit has been given by the national
government through the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916. This Act
created a Federal Farm Loan Board in the Treasury Department, and
twelve Federal Land Banks, one in each of twelve districts into
which the United States was divided for that purpose. Through the
organization provided by the board and the banks, a farmer may now
borrow money on more favorable terms, but only on condition that
he agrees to use the money for the purchase and improvement of
land or for equipment, and to engage in the actual cultivation of
the farm for the development of which he desired the money.

The provisions of the Federal Farm Loan Act afford an excellent
illustration of how government promotes citizen cooperation. The
government does not lend the money to the farmers; it merely
provides the machinery by which the farmers may cooperate among
themselves, and also secure the cooperation of investors in all
parts of the country, to obtain capital necessary for the proper
development of the land. As a rule the farmer can borrow money
from the land bank only by being a member of a local "national
farm loan association." His dealings with the bank are through
this association. His membership in the association gives him
better standing and secures for him better terms than he could get
if acting separately. Moreover, the money that the bank lends to
the farmer comes from the farmers who belong to the association,
and from investors in all parts of the country, who buy shares of
stock in the bank and bonds issued by the bank on the security of
the farmers' land and equipment. The whole scheme is one of
cooperation which would be impossible but for the legislation,
financial support, and supervision of the government at
Washington.

PARTNERSHIP IN THE NATION'S BUSINESS

It will be seen then that much of the capital that a farmer uses
is borrowed, and is made up of small savings of other people--some
of them his neighbors, others in distant places. The same is true
with respect to the capital used in all other businesses. The
enormous capital of railroads is derived chiefly from the savings
of millions of people, some of whom buy shares of railroad stock
directly, but most of whom deposit their savings in banks or other
institutions which, in turn, lend it to the railroads or invest it
in their stock. The farmer or the school boy who has a savings
account in a neighboring bank thus may become a partner in various
business enterprises of the country. His dollars or dimes, added
to the dollars and dimes of many other people, are used to buy
machinery and tools and materials, and to pay labor. Because of
the service performed by his savings he receives interest on his
money.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTMENT

There are many opportunities for young people to invest savings in
productive enterprises,--perhaps more in rural communities than
elsewhere. The different kinds of boys' and girls' clubs
illustrate the variety of channels through which money may be both
earned and invested. As soon as a boy invests a little money in a
pig, or a calf, or garden tools, he becomes a capitalist to that
extent. It is to be hoped that not many have the experience of the
boy described in the following lines: [Footnote: Read by R.H.
Wilson, in an address before the National Council of Education,
N.E.A. PROCEEDINGS, 1917, p. 133.]

    Johnnie bought a little pig with money he had earned,
    He named her Nell and fed her well, and lots of tricks she learned.
    But Nellie grew to be a sow, had piggies quite a few,
    Then father up and sold them, and kept the money, too.

    Johnnie took a little calf as pay for hoeing corn,
    He loved the calf and the calf loved him as sure as you are born.
    The calfie grew to be a cow, as all good calfies do,
    Then father up and sold her, and kept the money, too.

    Now, Johnnie loved his little pets, but father loved the pelf,
    So Johnnie left his father's farm and struck out for himself.
    Said Johnnie's pa, one summer day, "I often wonder why
    Boys don't like life upon the farm, 'the city' is their cry."

    "It always will be strange to me," continued Johnnie's pa,
    "It only goes to prove, though, how ungrateful children are."
    When Johnnie heard what father said, he gave a bitter laugh,
    And thought of his empty childhood and of his pig and calf.

Savings may be deposited in savings banks, which accept small
deposits and pay compound interest, usually at a rate of 3 per
cent or 3 1/2 per cent. Such banks operate in accordance with
state or national laws to protect the depositor against loss. Many
schools conduct school savings banks. The pupils bring their small
amounts to the teacher or to some pupil acting as "teller," the
collected funds then being deposited in some bank in the
community. These school banks promote habits of thrift and afford
experience in business methods, besides bringing into use in the
world's work many small amounts of money that would otherwise be
lying idle or spent unwisely.

POSTAL SAVINGS SYSTEM

In 1910 Congress established the Postal Savings System under which
any post office may be a savings bank. Any person over ten years
of age may deposit money at the postal savings bank in amounts of
from $1.00 to $25.00, receiving from the postmaster POSTAL SAVINGS
CERTIFICATES as evidence of the deposit. Provision is made for
savings accounts of less than a dollar by selling POSTAL SAVINGS
STAMPS at ten cents each, ten of which may be exchanged for a
dollar certificate. Two per cent interest is paid on postal
savings, but savings certificates may be exchanged for POSTAL
SAVINGS BONDS, bearing interest at the rate of 2 1/2 per cent.

LENDING TO THE GOVERNMENT

The purchase of Liberty Bonds or Savings Stamps and Thrift Stamps
is a good investment and a patriotic act. The money raised in this
way is used for the national defense and for reconstruction after
the war. The Savings Division of the United States Treasury
Department carries on a campaign of thrift education. Among other
things, it promotes the organization of savings societies and
thrift clubs, because thrift is a habit which is encouraged by the
example and cooperation of others. In Randolph County, Indiana,
for example, each consolidated school has its thrift club, and
over 75 per cent of the pupils are members. One of these schools
sold over $11,000 worth of thrift stamps, and others sold from
$1500 to $3500 worth. Savings societies exist among the workmen of
many industries, and employers report that these have increased
the purchase of homes, and have resulted in a saving of materials
and tools because of the habits of thrift established.

INSURANCE

Among the many other agencies to promote thrift we shall only
mention BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS and INSURANCE. The purpose
of building and loan associations is to help people of small means
to purchase or build homes. Insurance affords a particularly good
illustration of organized cooperation. The PREMIUMS paid by
thousands of policy holders produce a large sum of money, part of
which goes to pay the expenses of the insurance company, but most
of which is invested in enterprises that cause the amount rapidly
to increase. Out of this fund the occasional losses of individuals
are paid. Life insurance is a good form of investment. It provides
for the future of the family of the insured in case of his death.
By the ENDOWMENT plan the insured may himself receive, at the end
of a specified number of years, all that he has paid in premiums
together with interest.

During the war our national government itself insured the soldiers
against death or injury. This was known as WAR RISK INSURANCE. At
the end of the war the soldier had the privilege of converting the
war risk insurance into a regular form of insurance, still
provided, however, by the government itself. One of our states
also, Wisconsin, sells life insurance to its citizens.

As we proceed with our study we shall encounter other aspects of
thrift in various chapters. As a nation we may be thrifty or
unthrifty in the use of our resources (see Chapters XIV and XV).
Thrift is as essential in our "community housekeeping," which is
carried on by government, as in our homes and business. But we can
hardly expect thrift to become a national characteristic unless it
first becomes a personal habit.

Are you a capitalist? If so, explain in what way.

What forms does the capital take with which your father does
business?

What capital does an Eskimo have? the American Indians when the
country was first settled?

Do you belong to a thrift club? Would it be desirable to organize
one in your school? Confer with your teacher and principal about
it. Write to the Savings Division, U.S. Treasury Department,
Washington, D.C., for literature regarding organization.

Is there a credit union, or a savings association, or other
organization to promote thrift in your community? If so, find out
how it operates.

Write a story on the subject, "What my five dollars may accomplish
after I put it in the savings bank, before it comes back to me
with interest."

Why are people willing to accept a lower rate of interest from a
postal savings bank than from an ordinary savings bank?

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A:  Lesson 6, Capital.
           Lesson 13, U.S. Food Administration.
           Lesson 14, Substitute foods.
           Lesson 15, Woman as the family purchaser.
           Lesson 21, Borrowing capital for modern business.
           Lesson 22, The commercial bank and modern business.

Series B:  Lesson 7, An intelligently selected diet.
           Lesson 22, Financing the war.
           Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings.

Series C:  Lesson 7, Preserving foods.
           Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings.
           Lesson 14, The U.S. Fuel Administration.
           Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council
                      of National Defense.

Write Savings Division, U.S. Treasury Department, for materials;
especially "Ten Lessons in Thrift," and "Teaching Thrift in
Elementary Schools." Both of these contain lists of readings.

The Post-Office Department has publications descriptive of the
postal savings service.

Farmers' Bulletins, U.S. Department of Agriculture, relating to
thrift.

Federal Farm Loan Act, How It Benefits the Farmer, Farmers'
Bulletin 792.

See references in footnotes in this chapter.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, Chapter XIV, "Waste and
Saving."

The local public library, the State Library, and the State
Agricultural College, will doubtless furnish lists of references
and perhaps provide materials.

The United States Bureau of Education will send list of
references.





CHAPTER XIV

THE RELATION BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND


"NATURE WAS MUCH BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN MAN. SHE WOULD SUFFER NO
SUDDEN HIGHWAYS TO BE THROWN ACROSS HER SPACES; SHE ABATED NOT AN
INCH OF HER MOUNTAINS, COMPROMISED NOT A FOOT OF HER FORESTS. ...
FOR THE CREATION OF THE NATION THE CONQUEST OF HER PROPER
TERRITORY FROM NATURE WAS FIRST NECESSARY ... A BOLD RACE HAS
DERIVED INSPIRATION FROM THE SIZE, THE DIFFICULTY, THE DANGER OF
THE TASK."

If you wanted to buy a farm, what facts would you investigate in
regard to land and location?

What farm in your neighborhood comes nearest to meeting your
requirements in these matters? Explain fully why.

Make a sketch map of a farm in your neighborhood, preferably one
upon which you have lived, showing as nearly as you can the
boundaries, the position of highlands and lowlands, marshes,
timber, streams, etc. Also the position of house, barns, bridges,
roads, and other important features.

Did the features of the land indicated on your map determine the
location of the buildings? of the roads and bridges? the kinds of
crops raised on different parts of the farm?

Should the surface features of the land be taken into account in
determining the position of the house and barns in relation to
each other? Why?

Has the character of the land influenced the life of the farmer's
family in any way? Explain.

IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

Directly or indirectly, geographical conditions affect every
aspect of community life and help or hinder us in satisfying all
of our wants (see Chapter I). Their influence is chiefly felt,
however, in their relation to the economic interest of the people;
that is, in relation to earning a living and the production of
wealth.

ESTABLISHING RELATIONS WITH THE LAND

Every step that man has taken to make his relations with the land
permanent and definite has been a step of progress in
civilization, as when, for example, the savage hunter became a
herdsman, or the herdsman an agriculturist. We live to-day in an
age of machinery, which is a result of turning to our use the
metals from the depths of the earth and the power derived from the
forces of nature, as in the application of steam, electricity, and
the explosive force of gasoline. Many have had a part in this work
of establishing relations with the land: explorers; scientists who
have discovered the uses of our varied mineral and vegetable
resources and how to make the forces of nature serve us; engineers
who have built our railroads and bridges and tunneled our
mountains. A most important part has been taken by those who win
their living directly from nature's resources--the woodsman, the
miner, the farmer; and the service of the farmer has been
especially great in giving stability to our community life.

AGRICULTURE MEANS A SETTLED LIFE

Those American Indians were most civilized who had developed
agriculture to the highest point, because this meant a settled
life. If we recall the story of the colonization of America we
shall remember that it was not successfully accomplished by the
gold hunters and fur traders who came first, but only when those
came who, as farmers, began to cultivate the soil. Later, as the
population moved westward across the Alleghenies into the
Mississippi Valley and on to the Pacific Coast, the hunters and
trappers were the scouts who found the way, while the real army
that took possession of the land was an army of farmers.

Did the American Indians who formerly lived in your locality lead
a settled life? Why? Were they agriculturists to any extent? If
so, what do you know of their method of agriculture?

Of what pastoral peoples have you read? Why was their life more
settled than that of hunting peoples? Why less settled than that
of farmers?

Why were settlements by gold hunters and fur traders likely not to
be permanent?

Do you know of important mining towns that have had a brief life?

PROTECTING OWNERSHIP OF LAND

The story of how individuals acquired the right to own land is an
interesting one, but too long to be told here. The right has long
been recognized and protected by government. If your father owns a
piece of land he doubtless has a DEED for it, containing an
accurate description of the land and giving him title to
ownership. In each county there is an office of government where
all deeds are recorded--the office of the recorder or register of
deeds.

The record of every piece of land is thus kept and is open to
examination by any one. If a man wishes to buy a piece of land he
will go to the office of the recorder and find out whether the
title to the land is clear. Only by so doing may he be protected
against error or fraud.

TRANSFERS OF LAND

Since lands are likely to change hands a number of times, and
since men frequently MORTGAGE their lands as security for loans or
other indebtedness, thus giving to others a claim to their land,
it is sometimes a tedious and difficult task for a buyer to trace
the record back and to be sure that the title to the land is
clear. It sometimes requires months. There are lawyers who make a
business of examining the records and making ABSTRACTS OF TITLES.
This involves expense. Besides, there is always the chance that a
mistake may be made somewhere. For this reason some states have
adopted a plan known as the TORRENS SYSTEM of land transfer, from
the name of the man who devised it in Australia.

Under the Torrens System the government itself, through its proper
officer, may examine the title to any piece of land. The land is
then REGISTERED, and the owner is given a certificate as evidence.
If a mortgage is placed on the land or if it changes hands the
transaction is recorded on the certificate and in the office
records. A mere glance at the record of registry or at the
certificate is sufficient to ascertain the title to the land. Thus
time and expense are saved; and moreover the government gives its
absolute guarantee to the owner or buyer as to his rights in the
land.

The Torrens System is in use in some form in fourteen states of
the Union, in the Philippines and Hawaii, and in various other
countries of the world.

THE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC LANDS

When settlers began to occupy the lands west of the Alleghenies,
many of them laid claim to tracts without much regard for the
claims of others. Boundary lines were indefinite. Where surveys
were made they were often inaccurate. Much confusion resulted.
Disputes arose that frequently found their way into the courts and
dragged on for many years. The government sought to put an end to
this state of affairs, and in Thomas Jefferson's administration a
survey was begun to establish lines by which any piece of land
might be located and defined with exactness.

The government survey was begun by establishing certain north and
south lines known as PRINCIPAL MERIDIANS. There are twenty-four of
these, the first being the meridian that separates Indiana from
Ohio, while the last runs through the state of Oregon. At
intervals of six miles east and west of the principal meridians
were established other meridians called RANGE LINES. A parallel of
latitude was then chosen as a BASE LINE, and at intervals of six
miles north and south of the base line were established TOWNSHIP
LINES. These township lines with the range lines divide the
country into areas six miles square called TOWNSHIPS. A township
may thus be located with reference to its nearest base line and
principal meridian (see diagram I).

Since meridians converge as we go north (look at a globe), the
townships are not exactly square, and become slightly smaller
toward the north. To correct this, certain parallels north and
south of the base line were chosen as CORRECTION LINES, from which
the survey began again as from the original base line.

Each township is divided into SECTIONS one mile square, and
therefore containing 640 acres each. These sections are numbered
in each township from 1 to 36 as indicated in diagram III. Each
section is further subdivided into halves and quarters, which are
designated as in diagram IV.

This government survey has been made only in the "public lands"
(see below, p. 197). It is still being carried on by the General
Land Office of the Department of the Interior. In 1917 more than
10,000,000 acres, or nearly 16,000 square miles, were surveyed. In
that year there still remained unsurveyed more than 900,000 square
miles of public land, 590,000 of which were in Alaska and 320,000
in the United States proper. In the original thirteen states along
the Atlantic seaboard a similar survey has been made, but either
by private enterprise or under the authority of the state or
county governments. Massachusetts has recently spent a large sum
of money in a new survey of the state for the purpose of verifying
and correcting doubtful boundaries.

Has your father a deed to the land you live on? If so, ask him to
show it to you and explain it. How is the land described?

At the first convenient time, make a visit to the office of the
recorder of deeds in your county, and ask to have some of the
records shown and explained to you, preferably the record of the
property you occupy. Where is the office of the recorder? (A visit
of this sort should be in company with the teacher or parent. A
class excursion for this and other purposes may well be arranged
for.)

What is a MORTGAGE? An ABSTRACT OF TITLE? (Consult parents.)

Is the Torrens System in use in your state?

Is your state a "public land state"?

From the deed to your father's land, or from the records in the
recorder's office, or from a map of your county showing the survey
lines, locate the land you live on, as indicated in the
accompanying diagrams.

In what section and township is your schoolhouse?

Are there still any "public lands" in your state?

Are the boundary lines of farms in your neighborhood regular or
irregular? How does this happen?

Do you know of any boundary disputes between farmers or other
citizens in your community? What machinery of government exists to
settle such disputes?

THE PUBLIC LANDS

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the territory of the United
States extended west as far as the Mississippi River. That part of
this territory which lay west of the Allegheny Mountains had been
claimed by seven of the thirteen states that formed the Union; but
soon after the war they ceded these western possessions to the
United States, having received a promise from Congress that these
lands, which were largely unoccupied at the time, should be
disposed of "FOR THE COMMON BENEFIT OF THE UNITED STATES." They
thus became PUBLIC LANDS; that is, they belonged to the people of
the nation as a whole. The common interest in these public lands
was one of the chief influences that kept the thirteen states
united under one government during the troubled times between the
close of the Revolution and the adoption of the Constitution in
1789. As time went on, the public lands of the nation were
increased by the acquisition of new territory, [Footnote:
Louisiana Territory was acquired in 1803, Oregon in 1805, Florida
in 1812 and 1819, Texas in 1845, California and New Mexico in
1846-48, the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, Alaska in 1867.] Of the
3,600,000 square miles comprising the United States and Alaska
more than three fourths has at some time been public land; but of
this there now remain, exclusive of Alaska, only about 360,000
square miles, much of which is forest and mineral land, unsuitable
for agriculture.

DISPOSAL OF THE PUBLIC LANDS

To turn this great domain with all its resources to the fullest
service of the nation has been one of the greatest problems with
which our government has had to deal. In the early part of our
history various plans were tried by which to secure the occupancy
and development of the agricultural lands by farmers, until in
1862 the first Homestead Act was passed by Congress.

About 10,000,000 acres of the public land were given to soldiers
who fought in the Revolution and in the War of 1812 in recognition
of then-service to their country. About 60,000,000 acres were
later given to veterans of the Mexican War.

Until the year 1800 the plan in use for the disposition of the
public lands was to sell large areas to colonizing companies, with
the expectation that these companies would find settlers to whom
they would sell the land in small quantities at a profit. This was
not successful, as actual settlers found it difficult to get land
they wanted at prices they could afford.

From 1800 to 1820 lands were sold in small areas ON CREDIT. Many
bought more than they were able to pay for, and much land so
disposed of had to be taken back by the government.

In 1820 a third plan was adopted: That of selling land for cash in
any quantity to any purchaser. This led to speculation,
individuals and companies of individuals buying recklessly,
without intention of actual settlement, but with the purpose of
selling again at a profit. This brought on a financial panic in
1837.

Then followed the "PREEMPTION" plan, by which actual settlers
could "preempt" land (get the first right to it) by merely taking
possession and paying a cash price of $1.25 an acre.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was an extension of the preemption plan;
but instead of paying a cash price, the settler could acquire the
land merely by living on it for a period of five years (now three)
and paying fees of about $40.00.

HOMESTEAD ACTS

The Homestead Act, like earlier laws, made a direct appeal to
men's desire to earn a living, to acquire property, and especially
to own homes. It has been modified from time to time, but in all
essentials it still remains in force and provides that any citizen
of the United States who has reached the age of twenty-one, or who
is the head of a family, may acquire a farm on condition of living
upon it for a period of three years, cultivating the land and
erecting a dwelling, and paying to the government a small fee. The
size of the farm that he may so acquire varies according to the
nature of the land, but the usual homestead on good agricultural
land is limited to 160 acres.

The purpose of the government has been to encourage ACTUAL
SETTLEMENT in order to secure the development of the nation's
resources, and for this purpose to allow each settler enough land
to enable him to support a family in comfort. It was decided that
160 acres of GOOD FARM LAND was enough.

Some portions of the public land, however, are less productive
than others. Where the rainfall is slight and where irrigation is
impracticable, and yet where crops can be raised by the "dry
farming" process, the law allows a settler to take 320 acres.

A settler may also obtain 320 acres in the "desert lands" of some
of the western states. These lands may be made productive by
irrigation, but the settler must construct his own irrigation
system. Originally 640 acres were allowed in such lands, but the
amount has been reduced to 320 acres, and the Commissioner of the
General Land Office now recommends (1916) that it be further
reduced to 160 acres.

In those parts of the desert region which the government has
already reclaimed by irrigation, thus making the land extremely
fruitful, the amount usually allowed a settler is from 40 to 80
acres.

There are regions where the land is suitable only for stock
raising and for forage crops. Here Congress has decided that 640
acres is a fair amount for the support of a family.

Lands that are valuable for their timber and mineral resources are
disposed of on different terms, but on somewhat the same
principle.

RECLAMATION OF LANDS BY SOLDIERS

At the close of the war in 1918 a plan was proposed by the
Secretary of the Interior to secure the occupation of land by
returning soldiers. Since the lands suitable for farming in their
natural state have practically all been disposed of; the plan
contemplates the reclamation of arid and swamp lands, and of land
from which the forests have been cut but which are still covered
with stumps. It is proposed that returned soldiers shall be
employed by the government in the work of reclaiming the land, and
that those who desire to become farmers may buy their farms in the
reclaimed lands at a reasonable price, and with a period of thirty
or forty years in which to pay for them. The Secretary of the
Interior said: "This plan does not contemplate anything like
charity to the soldier ... He is not to be made to feel that he is
a dependent. On the contrary, he is to continue in a sense in the
service of the Government. Instead of destroying our enemies he is
to develop our resources." Much of the land whose reclamation by
and for returning soldiers is thus contemplated is not now public
land, but is lying idle in the hands of private owners.

LAND SETTLEMENT IN CALIFORNIA

The state of California has recently enacted a law known as the
Land Settlement Act, which provides for "a demonstration in
planned rural development." "Its first idea is educational, to
show what democracy in action can accomplish." Under the terms of
this act the state acting through a Land Settlement Board and with
the cooperation of experts from the University of California, has
purchased several thousand acres of land at Durham, in Butte
County, which it sells to settlers on easy terms. It also lends
money to settlers for improvement and equipment for the farmers.

The California Land Settlement Act is significant, because it
eliminates speculation, it aims to create fixed communities by
anticipating and providing those things essential to early and
enduring success.

Another feature is the use it makes of cooperation. The settlers
are at the outset brought into close business and social
relations. It reproduces the best feature of the New England town
meeting, as every member of the community has a share in the
discussions and planning for the general welfare. This influence
in rural life has been lacking in new communities in recent years.
In the great movement of people westward with its profligate
disposal of public land, settlement became migratory and
speculative. Every man was expected to look out for himself. Rural
neighborhoods became separated into social and economic strata.
There was the nonresident landowner; the influential resident
landowner; the tenant, aloof and indifferent to community
improvements; and, below that, the farm laborer who had no social
status and who in recent years, because of lack of opportunity and
social recognition, has migrated into the cities where he could
have independence and self-respect, or has degenerated into a
hobo.

 At Durham, for the first time in American land settlement, the
farm laborer who works for wages is recognized as having as useful
and valuable a part in rural economy as the farm owner. The
provisions made for his home are intended to give to his wife and
children comfort, independence, and self-respect; in other words,
the things that help create character and sustain patriotism. The
farm laborers' homes already built are one of the most attractive
features of the settlement; and when the community members gather
together, as they do, to discuss matters that affect the progress
of the settlement, or to arrange for cooperative buying and
selling, the farm laborer and his family are active and respected
members of the meetings.

From maps in school histories study the claims of the seven states
to western lands.

What is the Ordinance of 1787?

Make reports on the circumstances connected with our various
territorial acquisitions.

From whom did the colonists get the right to the land in the
original thirteen colonies?

Do you know anyone who has ever taken up a "homestead claim"? If
so, learn how it was done.

If possible, get a description of a "land lottery" and a "land
rush" in newly opened public lands.

Get all the information you can about the plan to provide land for
the soldiers, referred to above. Do you think this is a better
plan than that of giving land to soldiers outright? Why? Is your
state likely to cooperate with the national government in carrying
out this plan? How?

THE NATION'S INTERESTS ARE FIRST

The policy of the government of disposing of the public lands to
individuals has of course been of great benefit to the latter; but
we should not lose sight of the fact that the national well-being
is the first consideration. As the Commissioner of the General
Land Office said in a recent report (1916), "Every acre of public
land disposed of under this line of legislation is AN INVESTMENT,
the profits to be found in the general development of the welfare
of the nation at large."

SAFEGUARDING THE INTERESTS OF INDIVIDUALS

It has been no simple matter to administer our public lands, and
mistakes have been made. Sometimes the interests of individuals
have not been sufficiently safeguarded. Many settlers have
suffered serious loss, and many promising communities have failed,
through the taking of homesteads in regions of little rainfall, as
in western Kansas and Nebraska. The government now seeks to
protect homesteaders against such errors by distinguishing
carefully between lands suitable for ordinary agriculture and
those suitable only for dry-farming and stock-raising, by
informing prospective settlers in regard to the facts, and by
allowing larger entries in lands of the latter classes. Another
mistake was made in allowing many of the first claimants to stock-
raising lands so to locate their claims as to acquire the
exclusive use of the only available water supply for miles around,
thus making useless other large tracts. This might have been
avoided by a little foresight.

ABUSE OF LAND LAWS

On the other hand, the land laws have sometimes been abused. Large
quantities of public land have fallen into the hands of
speculators whose purpose is not to develop its resources, but to
make a profit from the increased value of the land due to the
efforts of others. Immense areas of land have thus been withheld
from production, or have been made to produce to a limited extent
only, to the great loss of the nation.

RAILROAD LANDS

In the days of transcontinental railroad building, large tracts of
land were given to the railroad companies by the government, with
the expectation that they would dispose of it at reasonable prices
to settlers attracted by the new transportation facilities, and
would use the proceeds in railway development. In fact, however,
large quantities of this land have been held in an unproductive
state for speculative purposes.

An illustration of this is the case of the Oregon and California
Railroad land grant, made by Congress in 1869 and 1870, and
comprising more than 4,200,000 acres, most of which bore a heavy
growth of valuable timber. "This railroad grant ... contained a
special provision to the effect that the railroad company should
sell the land it received to actual settlers only, in quantities
not greater than one-quarter section to one purchaser and at a
price not exceeding $2.50 an acre. By this precaution it was
intended that in aiding the construction of the railroad an
immediate impetus should also be given to the settlement and
development of the country through which the road was to be
constructed."

After selling some of the lands according to the terms of the
agreement, the railroad company ceased to live up to these terms
and sold large bodies of the land to lumber interests, thus
putting a stop to the development of the region in the way
intended by the government. The government brought action against
the railroad company, the outcome of which is that the government
has bought back from the company at $2.50 an acre all of the lands
of the grant which remained unsold, amounting to about 2,300,000
acres and valued at from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000.

These lands are being classified "in accordance with their chief
value, either in power-site lands, timber lands, or agricultural
lands," and are to be disposed of accordingly. The timber will be
sold separately from the land, and the land will then be opened to
homestead entry.

By this arrangement the railroad company gets for the land all
that it was entitled to under the terms of the original grant. In
addition, provision is made for the payment to the counties in
which the land lies of the taxes which the railroad company has
not paid. As the lands are sold, the proceeds are to be divided
between the state and the United States, the state receiving 50
percent, 40 percent being paid into the general reclamation fund
of the United States (see Chapter XIV, p. 213), and 10 per cent
into the general funds of the United States Treasury.

(From the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office,
1916, pp. 46-49).

This is a striking illustration of how our government, acting
through Congress, the Courts, and the General Land Office of the
Department of the Interior, has sought to obtain justice for all
parties concerned, and to fulfill the original purpose of securing
the development of the land in the interest of the state and the
nation.

LANDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Something like 133,000,000 acres of our public lands have from
time to time been turned over to the states, the proceeds to be
used for the promotion of public education, for the construction
of roads, and for other purposes (see Chapters XVII and XIX). In
some cases these lands have not been used altogether for the
purposes for which they were granted. School lands have sometimes
been sold at a nominal price to individuals who have reaped the
profit, whereas the lands might have been so administered by the
states as to have brought large returns for educational purposes.
In some cases, state officials have made unwise investments of the
funds derived from the sale of the lands, thereby losing them for
the use of the state.

LAND MONOPOLY AND TENANTRY

The control, or "monopolizing," of the public land by large
holders is said to be one of the causes of increasing tenantry
(Chapter X, p. 116); for as the available supply of desirable
farming land is diminished, the actual home-seeker is driven to
take less productive lands, or to purchase from the large holders
at a higher price. The more recent land laws limit the amount of
public land that an individual may acquire to an area sufficient
to enable him to make a comfortable living for a family (see
above, p. 199). They also exact from the homesteader an agreement
that he will actually occupy and cultivate the land.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR LAND FRAUDS

The responsibility for the defects in our methods of administering
the public lands rests in part upon our governmental
representatives, who have not always dealt wisely with the
extremely difficult problem. But it rests also upon each
individual citizen. There are those, be it said to our shame, who
deliberately seek to defeat the purpose of the laws and to
appropriate to their own selfish uses the lands which belong to
the nation as a whole. There is one division of the General Land
Office in Washington known as the Contest Division. Before it
come, not only the ordinary disputes that are likely to arise
between rival claimants, but also cases of alleged fraud and
violation of the land laws. In the year 1916 MORE THAN 12,000
CASES OF ALLEGED FRAUD WERE ACTED UPON, AND NEARLY 12,000 OTHER
CASES AWAITED ACTION AT THE END OF THE YEAR! But the
responsibility comes much closer home than this. Many of us who
would not think of violating the law have failed to appreciate the
value of the gifts that nature has given us, and have apparently
been "too busy" to inform ourselves as to whether or not our
public lands have been administered solely for the purpose to
which Congress devoted them just after the Revolution. This, like
every other matter of community interest, requires team work.

The community has certain rights to a citizen's land that are
clearly recognized as superior to the citizen's rights. Acting
through its government, it may take a part of a citizen's property
by taxation (see Chapter XXIII). Taxes are paid in money; but if a
citizen does not pay the tax upon his land, the government may
sell the land for enough to cover the obligation.

THE RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN

Again, the government may take a citizen's land for public uses,
if the interests of the community demand it, by what is called the
RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN. For example, if the interests of the
community demand that a new road be built, the government will
seek to buy the necessary land from the farmers along the line of
the proposed highway. Some farmer may say that he does not want
the road to run through his farm, or he may try to get a price
beyond what his land is worth. The government may then CONDEMN the
required land and fix a price despite the farmer's objections. The
citizen whose land is taken must, however, be paid for it; the
Constitution of the United States protects him by the provision,
"nor shall private property be taken for public use without just
compensation" (Amendment V, last clause).

The right of eminent domain may be exercised to secure a site for
a schoolhouse, a post-office, an army post, or courthouse, or for
any other public purpose. The government also authorizes
corporations that perform a public service to exercise the right,
as in the case of railroads which must obtain a right of way for
their tracks, and sites for their yards and stations.

THE POLICE POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT

Finally, by the exercise of what is known as the POLICE POWER, the
government may control the use to which a citizen may put his
land. Occasion for the exercise of the police power arises most
frequently in cities, where it is necessary to control the
construction of buildings for fire protection, and to regulate the
kinds of business that may be conducted. In country districts it
does not usually make so much difference what a man does on his
own land; but even there the police power may be exercised, as
when the state of Idaho passed a law forbidding the herding of
sheep within a certain distance of towns.

POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THE LAND

There is another way in which government establishes relations
between the people and the land. Citizens of the United States
have certain political rights and duties, such as voting, holding
office, and paying taxes. These rights may be enjoyed and the
duties performed only within certain districts which the
government creates for this purpose. Thus, a citizen has a right
to vote within the state where he lives, but not in any other
state. He must cast his vote within his own county, township, and
precinct. The boundaries of the states are established by the
national government (except the original thirteen states of the
Union, whose boundaries were fixed before the national government
was organized); but they may not be changed afterward without the
consent of the states affected. The states organize their own
counties and townships [Footnote: In the public land states the
political township usually, but not always, corresponds with the
township surveyed by the national government. See pp. 194-196.]
and other districts. Villages and cities are granted definite
boundaries by the state, and organize themselves into wards and
precincts. There are legislative, congressional, judicial, and
revenue districts, the boundaries of which are fixed by state and
national governments. Locally, there are school districts. The
boundaries which separate one nation from another are determined
by agreement, or treaty, between the nations concerned.
Uncertainty or indefiniteness in regard to national boundary lines
has been the cause of much international strife, and was an
important factor in the European war begun by Germany in 1914.

If you live in a "public land" state, for what uses have public
lands been given to the state? Have the school lands in your state
been wisely used?

Is it easy for a young man to acquire a farm in your locality? to
keep up improvements on a farm that he owns? Has it been easy for
a farmer in your locality to borrow money? (Consult parents and
friends.)

Have the farmers of your locality made much use of the Federal
Farm Loan Act? Do they think it is a good law?

Have you heard of forced sales of land in your community to pay
taxes?

Do you know of cases of the exercise of the right of eminent
domain in your community? For what purposes? Was it exercised by
local, state, or national government?

In what ways does government control the use to which you may put
the land on which you live?

In what township do you live? school district? congressional
district? state legislative district? revenue district?

READINGS

Annual reports of the Secretary of the Interior.

Annual reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office,
Department of the Interior, Washington.

The General Land Office has published a large wall map showing the
land surveys, the national forests, and many other important
items. It may be secured from the Superintendent of Documents,
Government Printing Office, Washington, for $1.

See the New International Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia
Americana on public lands, national forests, and other topics
referred to in this chapter.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 4, What nature has done for a typical city.





CHAPTER XV

CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES

RESOURCES OF THE SOIL


In the preceding chapter we learned that as a nation we have not
been altogether thrifty in the disposal and use of our public
lands. The same thing will have to be said regarding the use of
the resources of the land, of which the soil is by far the most
valuable.

It is said that 1200 boys in Ohio, organized in clubs, increased
the average yield of corn from 35 bushels to 81 bushels per acre.
The average returns per acre from the soil of the United States
were lower before the war than in any European country, except
Russia. The following table gives the production per acre of four
cereals in the United States and five European countries in 1913.
The same relative position of the United States would be shown if
we took the average production of these countries for a series of
years.

PRODUCTION IN BUSHELS PER ACRE UNDER CULTIVATION IN 1913

ABILITY OF THE AMERICAN FARMER

The low position of the United States in agriculture is by no
means due to inferior ability on the part of the American farmer.
The Secretary of Agriculture says that

Even now no farmer in the world can compare with the American
farmer in agricultural efficiency. His adaptability to new and
changing conditions, to the use of improved machinery and
processes, coupled with the great natural resources with which the
nation is endowed, make him far superior to any of his
competitors. It is true that he does not produce more per acre
than the farmers of some other nations. Production per acre,
however, is not the American standard. The standard is the amount
of production for each person engaged in agriculture, and by this
test the American farmer appears to be from two to six times as
efficient as most of his competitors.

WASTEFULNESS OF EARLY FARMING

As long as we had a great abundance of unoccupied land it would
perhaps have been uneconomic to increase the production of that
which was occupied by the costly methods of agriculture used in
Belgium, Germany, and other thickly settled countries. But the old
methods of farming not only failed to get from the soil all that
it was then capable of producing, they also robbed it of fertility
without restoring to it what was taken from it. Thus the loss
caused by wasteful methods was passed on to future generations. To
continue such methods in the light of our present knowledge and
with our growing population is thriftless in the extreme. Methods
of preserving and restoring the fertility of the soil and of
obtaining the largest returns from it are now receiving the most
careful attention from both state and national governments.

IDLE LANDS

A great deal of land lies idle that might be productive of food--
not only arid, swamp, and cut-over lands, mentioned in later
paragraphs, and land held for speculation, but also vacant lots
and unused back yards in cities and villages, and waste or unused
portions of cultivated farms. It is largely from city and village
lots that the School Garden Army obtained its remarkable results.
It is astonishing how many farmers buy instead of raising their
vegetables for the table, as well as feed for their stock.

Texas, for instance, has purchased $200,000,000 worth of food
products yearly from northern markets which might have been
produced more cheaply at home. It takes 15 to 20 acres of land in
Texas to grow cotton enough to buy 160 bushels of canned sweet
potatoes, while one acre of Texas soil would produce the same
quantity, and uncanned. [Footnote: THRIFT, a monograph published
by the National Education Association, 1918.]

Such topics as the following should be studied, consulting
parents, farmers of the locality, and such printed sources of
information as are available.

The important cereal crops of your state. The average yield per
acre of each. Increase or decrease in yield in recent years.

The work of corn clubs and other boys' and girls' clubs to
increase the yield of crops in your state.

The difference between "production per acre" and "production per
person engaged in agriculture."

The difference between "intensive" and "extensive" agriculture.

"Single crop" and "diversified crop" types of agriculture in your
locality. Advantages of each.

Extent to which farmers of your locality raise their own table
vegetables and stock feed.

Evidence furnished by your town, or neighboring towns, during the
war, of the wealth-producing power of vacant lots or unused
backyards.

RECLAMATION OF ARID LANDS

Much of our public land has been nonproductive solely because of
the lack of moisture. In 1902 a law known as the Reclamation Act
was passed by Congress, providing that the proceeds from the sale
of public lands in states containing arid regions,[Footnote: The
states to which this law applies are Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington,
and Wyoming. See map.] except such as were already devoted to
educational and other public purposes, should be used for the
construction and maintenance of irrigation works. This reclamation
work is in charge of the Reclamation Service of the Department of
the Interior, whose engineers have built great dams and reservoirs
from which the water has been led by canals and ditches into the
desert. By 1916 more than 1,000,000 acres had been irrigated under
this act, the crop value in that year reaching $35,000,000. The
reclaimed land is disposed of to actual settlers in accordance
with the homestead laws, each homesteader repaying the government
in annual installments the cost of reclaiming the land he
occupies. The fund so created is used by the government for
further reclamation projects. The Department of Agriculture sends
its experts to advise with the farmers in regard to the problems
peculiar to the reclaimed regions. "Every effort should be and is,
therefore, being made to promote the success of the farmer, and on
the basis of his success to increase the prosperity of the
country." [Footnote 2: Report of the Reclamation Service, 1912-
1913, p. 4.]

The Yuma project in Arizona opened a new Valley of the Nile where
four crops of alfalfa are now raised on what once were arid lands.
The streets of Yuma and Somerton are crowded with the automobiles
of farmers, enriched by thousands of acres of splendid long-staple
cotton, alfalfa, corn, and feterita. Another irrigated valley in
Arizona, that of the Salt River, has few superiors in the world
and has come in three years into great prosperity. Arizona planted
to cotton last year 92,000 acres. Its crop was 96 per cent
perfect, the best record in the United States. [Footnote: Arthur
D. Little, "Developing the Estate," ATLANTIC MONTHLY, March,
1919.]

The principal irrigation projects of the Reclamation Service are
shown on the accompanying map.

RECLAMATION BY STATES AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

Five or six times as much arid land has been reclaimed by private
enterprise as by the Reclamation Service. The first extensive
irrigation project in the West was a cooperative enterprise by the
Mormon colonists in Utah. It is said that about two fifths of the
land irrigated in the United States is supplied with water by
works built and controlled by individual farmers or by a few
neighbors, while another one third is supplied by stock companies.
As early as 1877 Congress passed "a desert land law," by which
homesteads were granted in the arid lands on condition that the
settlers should irrigate the land. In 1894 the Carey Act was
passed by Congress under which the national government may give to
a state as much as a million acres of arid public land within its
borders, on condition that the state provides for its irrigation.
The work is done by private stock companies, with whom the state
makes a contract for the purpose. The most extensive irrigation
project undertaken by private enterprise is that of the Imperial
Valley in California, which derives its water from the Colorado
River. Under the laws of California the Imperial Valley region has
been organized as an "irrigation district," with power to levy
taxes for the development and support of the irrigation work. Each
state in which irrigation is practiced has its own laws regulating
the use of water by farmers and other consumers.

The theory is that the state regulates the appropriation of the
water, exercising this power and holding the land in trust for the
public ... It is the duty of every state to which the Reclamation
Act is applicable to assist with every resource under its
control.[Footnote: Water Supply Paper, 234, U.S. Geological
Survey, Department of the Interior, p. 66.]

Reference has been made in Chapter XIV to the proposed plan for
the reclamation and settlement of new areas of arid land by
returning soldiers.

SWAMP LANDS

There are probably 80,000,000 acres of swamp lands in the United
States which could be made productive by drainage. Farmers
themselves could reclaim much of this land at comparatively small
cost, greatly increasing their own profit and the wealth of the
country.

One farm in Wisconsin has 40 acres of poorly drained land that in
its present condition is practically worthless. $25.00 per acre
spent in drainage will make this 40-acre tract the equal of any in
the district, and good land is selling there at $150.00 per acre.
[Footnote 2: "Unprofitable Acres," in YEAR BOOK, Department of
Agriculture, 1915, P. 147.]

The national government has at various times granted to the states
swamp lands aggregating 60,000,000 acres, with the expectation
that the states would reclaim them. The states have, however, done
very little to fulfill the expectation. These swamp lands are
among those whose reclamation by returning soldiers is proposed by
the government.

Investigate and report on the following topics:

The work of the Reclamation Service of the national government.

If you live in one of the states to which the Reclamation Act
applies, report on what has been accomplished by it in your state.

The development of one of the irrigation projects shown on the
map.

Irrigation by private or state enterprise in your state (if any),
and what it has accomplished.

The reclamation of Utah by the Mormons.

The development of the Imperial Valley of California.

The laws regulating the use of water for irrigation in your state
(if an irrigated state).

The swamp areas in your locality or state. Progress made in their
reclamation.

The reclamation of swamp or marshy land on particular farms of
your locality.

The extent of idle cut-over land in your locality, why it is idle,
the uses to which it could be put if reclaimed.

CONSERVATION OF WATER POWER

By the construction of dams, reservoirs, and canals the waters of
a few of our streams are turned to the work of reclaiming land.
Our unused water resources are very great. Niagara Falls have been
harnessed for industrial uses, and with only a small part of their
power in use they light the streets and houses, run the street
cars, and turn the wheels of industry in Buffalo and Toronto and
the neighboring region. But so far we are making use of less than
10 per cent of the power easily available from our streams. "The
water now flowing idly from our hills to the sea could turn every
factory wheel and every electric generator, operate our railroads,
and still leave much energy to spare for new developments."
[Footnote: Arthur D. Little, "Developing the Estate," ATLANTIC
MONTHLY, March, 1919, p. 388.] It is probably not too much to
expect that when our undeveloped water power is utilized it will
provide electric light and power for every farm in the land. Our
nation has allowed many of the best water power sites of the
country to fall into the hands of private speculators who hold
them undeveloped, as in the case of farmlands, forests, and other
resources.

CONSERVATION OF FLOOD WATERS

Floods are not only immensely destructive of property, causing a
loss of $100,000,000 along the Mississippi River alone in a single
year, but they carry to the sea water that might be used for
irrigation and for industry. Reservoirs, such as are built for
irrigating projects, regulate the flow of water in streams and
prevent floods. In New England and New York reservoirs have been
built for this very purpose, and probably 10 per cent of the flood
waters that originate in these states is saved in this way and
turned to industrial uses. Similar conservation of flood waters
occurs in Minnesota, but it is estimated that for the country as a
whole not more than one per cent of the flood waters is saved.
[Footnote: "Conservation of Water Resources," Water Supply Paper
234, U.S. Geological Survey, 1919.] There are areas in which the
reservoir system is impracticable, as in the lower Mississippi
Valley. Here all that can be done is to protect the adjacent land
by means of levees while controlling the floods farther up the
valley.

FUEL RESOURCES

Larger use of water power would conserve another valuable
resource--coal. Of this fuel we have vast resources--"in West
Virginia alone more than Great Britain and Germany combined." But
the supply is not inexhaustible and we are mining it and using it
in an extravagant manner. The loss here is not merely of heat and
power and light, but of many valuable products of coal, including
dyes, ammonia, vaseline, and many others.

DESTRUCTION BY FLOODS

Floods are increasing in the United States. This is due chiefly to
the destruction of our forests by wasteful lumbering and by fire.
In forested areas the ground absorbs the rainfall more easily,
while in areas barren of trees and other vegetation it runs off
the surface. The destruction of the forests, therefore, involves
not only the loss of the timber, but also the loss caused by the
floods, including the washing away of the soil.

THE FOREST RESERVES

In 1891 Congress authorized the President to establish "forest
reserves," the first to be created being the "Yellowstone Park
Timberland Reserve." From time to time new reserves were
established, and in 1907 the name was changed to the National
Forests. In 1917, more than 176 million acres were included within
the National Forest boundaries, 21 million acres of which,
however, belonged to private owners. They are administered by the
Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, at the head of
which is the Chief Forester. They are grouped in seven districts
with a district forester in charge of each. Over each of the 150
forests in the seven districts there is a forest supervisor; and
each forest is further subdivided into ranger districts under
district rangers who not only look after timber sales and the use
of the forests generally, but also "help build roads, trails,
bridges, telephone lines, and other permanent improvements."

A ranger must naturally be sound in body, for he is called upon to
work for long periods in all kinds of weather. He must also know
how to pack supplies and find food for himself and his horse in a
country where it is often scarce. Besides a written test,
prospective rangers are examined in compass surveying, timber
work, and the handling of horses. [Footnote: "Government Forest
Work," Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, p. 15.]

There are also employed in the Forests great numbers of logging
engineers, lumbermen, scalers, planting assistants, guards, and
others. In the great war, the Forest Service raised two regiments
of men who went to France to assist in the various kinds of
forestry work necessitated by the war.

WORK OF THE FOREST SERVICE

The purpose of the Forest Service is to secure the use of the
forests "in such a way that they will yield all their resources to
the fullest extent without exhausting them, for the benefit
primarily of the home builder. The controlling policy is serving
the public while conserving the forests." [Footnote: "The Status
of Forestry in the United States," Forest Service Circular 167,
1909, p. 5.] Timber is cut and sold, but always with a view to
developing future growth. The forests are protected against fire.
Burned-over areas are reforested by planting. Water power sites
are protected. The freest possible use of forest pasture land is
permitted, but under such regulations as to prevent injury to the
forests and the denudation of the land by overgrazing. In 1915,
nine million cattle, horses, sheep, and goats were pastured in the
forests. In 1916 it was said that "more than 20 million dollars
will probably be spent in the next ten years in building good
roads in the National Forests." [Footnote 2: "Opening up the
National Forests by Road Building," YEAR BOOK of the Department of
Agriculture, 1916. Also reprinted in separate Leaflet No. 696.]

WASTE OF TIMBER RESOURCES

But our timber resources are not all in the National Forests, and
the waste continues to an appalling extent.

With a total annual cut of 40,000,000,000 feet, board-measure, of
merchantable lumber, another 70,000,000,000 feet are wasted in the
field and at the mill. In the yellow-pine belt the values in
rosin, turpentine, ethyl alcohol, pine oil, tar, charcoal, and
paper stock lost in the waste are three or four times the value of
the lumber produced. Enough yellow-pine pulp-wood is consumed in
burners, or left to rot, to make double the total tonnage of paper
produced in the United States.

But the wastes in lumbering, colossal though they are in absolute
amount, are trivial compared to the losses which our estate has
suffered, and still endures, from forest fires. The French
properly regard as a national calamity the destruction of perhaps
a thousand square miles of their fine forests by German shells.
And yet the photographs that they show of this wreck and utter
demolition may be reproduced indefinitely on 10,000,000 acres of
our forest lands swept each year by equally devastating fire for
which our own people are responsible. You have doubtless already
forgotten that forest fire which last autumn, in Minnesota, burned
over an area half as large again as Massachusetts, destroying more
than twenty-five towns, killing 400 people, and leaving 13,000
homeless. [Footnote: "Developing the Estate," ATLANTIC MONTHLY,
March, 1919, pp. 384-385.]

The nation has been defrauded of a great deal of wealth in timber
by speculators who have taken advantage of the homestead laws.

Single tracts of 160 acres often have a value for the timber alone
of $20,000 ... Lands acquired ... under the guise of the homestead
law are to-day in the hands of lumber companies who promptly
purchased them from the settlers as soon as the title passed, and
are either reserving them for later cutting or are holding the
land itself after cutting for from $40 to $60 an acre, or even
more--a speculative process which effectively prevents the
possibility of men of small means acquiring and establishing homes
there. [Footnote 2: "The National Forests and the Farmer," in YEAR
BOOK, Department of Agriculture, 1914, p. 70.]

To prevent this sort of thing, the government now sells the timber
and the land separately, withholding from agricultural entry
heavily timbered land until the timber is cut off.

In the Kaniksy National Forest, in Idaho and Washington, timber
sales have been made to include much of the remaining agricultural
timberland. Within eight years fully 10,000 acres of land will be
made available for settlement. Permanent homes will be established
and there will be available for the use of the communities
approximately $225,000 for roads and schools, their share of the
proceeds from the sale of the timber. [Footnote 3: IBID., p. 71.]

STATE FORESTS

Besides the National Forests, there are more than 4,000,000 acres
of STATE FORESTS.

Twenty-four states have forestry departments, sometimes under a
state board or a commission, sometimes under the control of a
single state forester, as in Massachusetts and Virginia. In New
York, New Jersey, and Wisconsin the state forestry is a part of
the work of a general "conservation commission." In Connecticut it
is centered in the state agricultural experiment station, and in
Texas in the agricultural college. In South Dakota the state
forester is under the "commissioner of schools and public lands."
So there is great variety in the organization of forestry work,
and great variation in the amount and kind of attention given to
it.

PRIVATELY OWNED TIMBERLANDS

The difference between the number of states having state forests
and the number having forestry departments is due to the fact that
the public forests embrace only a small part of the timbered land
of a state. It will be noted from the table on page 225 that only
one southern state (North Carolina; two if Maryland is counted)
has state forests. Six of them (eight with Maryland and Virginia)
have state forestry departments. More attention is now being given
to forest preservation and use in the South than these facts
indicate, because of cooperation between state and national
governments, chiefly through the county agents. Such cooperation
also exists in the northern states. The map on page 242 shows
cooperation for fire protection in New Hampshire.

VOLUNTARY PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS

The conservation of our forest resources requires cooperation on
the part of citizens. In many states there are "timberland owners'
fire protective associations," in 1917 about fifty of them. There
is an American Forestry Association that publishes a magazine
devoted to forestry, AMERICAN FORESTRY; a Society of American
Foresters; The Camp Fire Club of America, with a committee on
conservation of forests and wild life. Besides, there is a
considerable number of local associations with similar purposes.

EROSION

It is not always realized how important to our welfare the forests
are, especially from the point of view of agricultural production.
A very large part of the timbered area of the United States is in
small woodlands on privately owned farms. Not only are the timber
resources themselves of great value, but the relation of woodland
to agriculture is very close, especially in its effect upon soil
erosion.

Altogether it has been estimated that erosion is responsible for
an annual loss in this country of approximately $100,000,000. To
the farmer it means money out of pocket from start to finish. It
impairs the fertility and decreases the productivity of his land,
and may even ruin it altogether; it renders irrigation more
difficult and more costly; by reducing the possibilities of cheap
water power development it tends to keep up the price and check
the more extended use of electricity; and by interfering with
navigation it helps to prevent the development of a comprehensive
system of cheap inland water transportation. But the farmer is not
the only sufferer. The entire community is directly affected by
the loss and is justified in taking heroic measures to remedy the
evil.

If the problem is to be solved we must cease to accelerate surface
run-off by burning the forests and brush fields, overgrazing the
range, clearing steep slopes for agriculture, and practicing
antiquated methods of cultivation. On the contrary, the farmer,
the forester, and the stockman must cooperate in seeing that the
land is so used that surface run-off, particularly at the higher
elevations, is reduced to a minimum.

Children in particular should have their interest actively aroused
and their support enlisted. In one state, "gully clubs" have been
organized by the state forester. These are composed largely of
school children who take an active part in the work of gully
reclamation and particularly in finding and checking incipient
gullies before it is too late. Why could not such organizations as
boy scouts, girl scouts, and campfire girls be used in the same
way? [Footnote: "Farms, Forests, and Erosion," YEAR BOOK of the
Department of Agriculture, 1916, pp. 107-134.]

MINERAL RESOURCES

Soil, water, and forests are only a few of the rich natural
resources of our country, although they are among the most
important. Great as the mineral production of our country now is,
we have only begun to open the mineral storehouse. On the other
hand, we have been extremely wasteful of some of our minerals, as
in the case of natural gas, oil, and coal. The war has done more,
perhaps, than anything else to open our eyes to our mineral wealth
and to convict us of our wastefulness in the past. In the light of
what it has shown us we should redouble our efforts to conserve
our resources. Our government has been gradually developing a
program of conservation which we should help to make effective. At
the end of this chapter will be found references to interesting
accounts of our national wealth, and of what the government is
doing to conserve it in other directions than those described in
this chapter. Many of these references are to publications issued
by the government itself, which can be obtained for the asking.

Investigate and report on.

Losses in your state from periodic floods. Measures adopted or
proposed to control them.

The by products of coal and of petroleum.

The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture.

A description of your state forests (if any).

Forestry in your own state, public and private.

Losses from forest fires in your state.

The life of a forest ranger.

The use of the farm woodlot in your locality.

The extent and effects of soil erosion in your locality or state.
Measures taken to prevent it.

The feasibility of "gully clubs" in your locality.

The mineral resources of your state. Uses in war and peace.

Game laws of your state.

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 13, The United States Food Administration.
          Lesson 14, Substitute Foods.

Series B: Lesson 5, Saving the soil.
          Lesson 6, Making dyes from coal tar.
          Lesson 9, How men made heat to work.
          Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior.

Series C: Lesson 4, Petroleum and its uses.
          Lesson 5, Conservation as exemplified by irrigation projects.
          Lesson 6, Checking waste in the production and use of coal.
          Lesson 10, Iron and steel.
          Lesson 14, The United States Fuel Administration.
          Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council
                     of National Defense.

Reports of your State Agricultural College and Experiment Station,
and of your State Geologist and other officers having to do with
the natural resources of your state.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Interior. That for 1915
(pp. 1-30) contains an interesting review of our natural resources
and their use; also (pp. 151-209) a comprehensive and interesting
discussion of our mineral resources and their development. That
for 1918 contains an account of the plan for land reclamation by
and for soldiers.

Publications of the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, and
the Reclamation Service (all in the Department of the Interior),
and of the Bureau of Fisheries (Department of Commerce).

Publications of the Forestry Service (Department of Agriculture).

Among the numerous publications of the Department of Agriculture
may be mentioned:

Farmers' Bulletin 340(Declaration of Governors for the
conservation of natural resources).

The National Forests and the farmer, YEAR BOOK 1914, 65-88.

Importance of developing our natural resources of potash, YEAR
BOOK 1916, pp. 301-310.

Agriculture and Government reclamation projects, YEAR BOOK 1916,
177-198.

Farms, forests, and erosion, YEAR BOOK 1916, 107-134.

The farm woodlot problem, YEAR BOOK 1914, 439-456.

Economy of farm drainage, YEAR BOOK 1914, 245-256.

Economic waste from soil erosion, YEAR BOOK 1913, 207-220.

Unprofitable acres, YEAR BOOK 1915, 147-154.

Consult "Guide to United States Government Publications," U.S.
Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. 2; also, "The Federal
Executive Departments as Sources of Information," U.S. Bureau of
Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 74.

Report of the National Conservation Commission (1909), Senate
Document 676, 60th Congress, 2nd Session.





CHAPTER XVI

PROTECTION OF PROPERTY AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY


There is nothing more discouraging than to have the product of
one's labor swept away by disaster. The farmer who has every
prospect of a bumper crop after a hard season's work may have his
hope dashed by smut in his grain, or by a visitation of
grasshoppers, or by storm and flood. Cholera may carry off his
hogs, or hoof-and-mouth disease his cattle. Rats and other rodents
may eat his grain. Fire may destroy his barn or his home. The
thief may steal his pocketbook or his automobile. His investments
may prove unfortunate, or be swept away by somebody's bad
management or fraud. Some thoughtless boys or deliberate vandals
may ruin in a few minutes a beautiful lawn or trees that have
taken years to grow and have involved great expense and effort.

THE NATIONAL LOSS FROM PROPERTY DESTRUCTION

The individual's loss is also a loss to the community. It is
reported by the Department of Agriculture that nearly $800,000,000
damage was done to crops by insects in a single year. Animal
diseases cause a direct loss to our country estimated at
$212,000,000 annually. Hog cholera alone costs $75,000,000 a year.
Smut destroys more than $50,000,000 a year in cereals. Food and
feed products to the value of $150,000,000 a year are destroyed by
prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and other rodents. It is said that
prairie dogs often take half the pasturage of western cattle
ranges. It is estimated that the killing of wolves, coyotes,
mountain lions, bobcats, and lynxes saved more than $2,000,000
worth of livestock in 1918. Floods have destroyed $100,000,000 in
property in the Mississippi Valley alone.

The loss from fire in the United States is said to equal the value
of our total product of gold, silver, copper, and petroleum.

The buildings consumed by fire in 1914, if placed on lots of 65
feet frontage, would line both sides of a street extending from
New York to Chicago. A person journeying along this street of
desolation would pass in every thousand feet a ruin from which an
injured person was taken. At every three fourths of a mile in this
journey he would encounter the charred remains of a human being
who has been burned to death. [Footnote: "The Fire Tax and Waste
of Structural Materials in the United States," Bulletin 814, U. S.
Geological Survey, Department of the Interior.]

THE SERVICE OF GOVERMENT

Protection against loss of property is one of the chief services
performed for us by our government. We have already noted in
Chapter XII what a great deal of work both the national and state
governments are doing to prevent loss of crops and of livestock
from disease, insects, and other causes. What this may mean to the
individual farmer and to the country is suggested by the case of a
farmer who had hundreds of acres of corn destroyed in some manner
unknown to him. A single visit from a representative of the
Department of Agriculture showed him the cause of the trouble, the
corn rootworm, and how it could be eradicated by a simple rotation
of crops. The farmer said that this knowledge would save him
$10,000 a year.

LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION

The state and national governments spend a great deal of money in
equipping experimental laboratories and employing scientists to
seek out these enemies of the farmer and of the nation, to find
methods of destroying them or counteracting their effects, and to
advise the farmer how he may protect himself and his neighbors.
While the government provides leadership in these matters, it
depends upon the cooperation of the people to get results, as we
have seen in so many cases. A farmer may destroy all the rats, or
ground squirrels, or prairie dogs on his place, but the trouble
will be repeated unless there is community cooperation. The same
thing is true of animal and plant diseases, insect enemies, and so
on.

Investigate and report on:

Further facts regarding losses to farmers of the United States due
to insect and bird enemies, predatory animals, animal and plant
diseases.

Similar losses in your own state.

Estimated losses of individual farmers in your locality from any
of these causes.

The value of insect-eating birds as property savers.

Campaigns against rabbits and prairie dogs in the West.

Bounties on wolves and other predatory animals in your state.

The work of your state experiment station to prevent loss of
property.

NATIONAL COOPERATION FOR FLOOD PREVENTION

Some kinds of protection require effort beyond the powers of
individual citizens, or even of combined citizen action. This is
the case with flood protection. Millions of dollars in property
have been destroyed, thousands of lives lost, and untold suffering
caused by the periodic recurrence of floods in certain sections of
the country, as in the lower Mississippi Valley, or as in Ohio, a
few years ago. The individual farmer has some responsibility for
such floods, because by looking after his own drainage and
preserving his own timberland he may help decrease the amount of
water that flows into the streams and ultimately causes such havoc
farther down the valley. But such efforts are helpful only in
connection, with the larger efforts of the government. Even state
governments cannot alone control the floods, because the waters
that cause damage in Louisiana and Mississippi come from the
states along the entire course of the Mississippi River and its
tributaries. Moreover, the destruction caused in Louisiana or any
other state is a loss to the entire nation. The control of floods
requires the combined efforts of national and state governments,
as well as of local communities and individuals.

Levees have been built along some of our rivers that are subject
to flood, notably the lower Mississippi, where the work has been
done by the joint action of the states affected, through their
local levee boards and their state boards of engineers, and the
United States Mississippi River Commission. The United States
government has spent large sums for river improvements, but there
is a general feeling that the money has not always been wisely
spent. At all events the work has been restricted to navigable
streams under the power of the national government to regulate
interstate commerce. Recently, however, the President has approved
a law passed by Congress appropriating $45,000,000 for the control
of the floods of the Mississippi by improvements from the
headwaters of the river to the mouth of the Ohio. The law also
includes the appropriation of $5,000,000 for the protection of the
Sacramento Valley in California. This law was passed under the
power given to Congress by the Constitution "to lay and collect
taxes...for the common defense and general welfare of the United
States" (Art. I, sec. 8, clause i).

WORK OF THE UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU

Great saving of property has been effected by the United States
Weather Bureau. The work of this Bureau is wonderful, but it is
not mysterious. Just as the movements of a ship or of a railroad
train may be reported day by day, and hour by hour, by telegraph,
so the appearance and movement of a storm center or of a cold wave
or of a flood are reported from a multitude of observing stations.
There are central weather-forecasting stations at Chicago, New
Orleans, Denver, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Washington,
D.C. Weather forecasts are made up at these points from
observations telegraphed in from observing stations, and within
two hours are telegraphed to about 1600 distributing stations,
from which they are further distributed to about 90,000 mail
addresses daily, to all newspapers, and are made available to
5,500,00 x3 telephone subscribers. A farmer may call central by
telephone and learn with remarkable certainty what the weather for
twenty-four hours will be, except in the case of local thunder
showers which may drench his fields while passing by those of his
neighbor.

"It may be said without exaggeration that the San Francisco office
of the Weather Bureau has saved to the citrus fruit growers of
California more money within the last five years than the annual
appropriation for the entire Bureau during a period of twenty
years." "In the citrus fruit districts of California it is
reported that fruit to the value of $14,000,000 was saved...
during one cold wave." "The value of the orange bloom, vegetables,
and strawberries protected and saved on a single night in a
limited district in Florida...was reported at over $100,000." "The
warnings issued for a single cold wave... resulted in saving over
$3,500,000 through the protection of property." "Signals displayed
for a single hurricane are known to have detained in port on our
Atlantic coast vessels valued with their cargoes at over
$30,000,000." Flood warnings are sent in from about 60 centers
along our rivers, enabling farmers to remove their cattle from
bottom lands, to save their crops when they are ready for cutting,
and otherwise to determine their farming operations. They are also
of the greatest service to railroads, business men, and home
owners, in cities. These are but a few illustrations of the
services performed by the Weather Bureau.

Investigate and report on:

The building of levees in your state. Where, by whom, their value.

The amount of money spent in your state for river improvement (or
harbor improvement).

How the Weather Bureau forecasts the weather, storms, floods.

How to read a weather map.

Experiences of individual farmers of their locality with regard to
benefits derived from the Weather Bureau.

How a merchant in your town may be benefited by the Weather
Bureau.

The losses in your state and locale from frost.

Preventable Losses

A great deal of the property loss referred to is due to causes for
which we are not responsible, such as storms, the depredations of
insects, and epidemics of animal disease. But some of it is due to
our own carelessness. It was said on page 176 that wastefulness is
our chief national sin. Carelessness is the twin sister of
wastefulness; they go hand in hand. Enormous waste is caused by
fire, and most fires are due to carelessness--carelessness in
handling matches, in the use of oil stoves, in accumulations of
rubbish, in disposing of hot ashes, in smoking where there are
inflammable materials.

Fire Protection in Cities

In cities and towns the safety of our own property from fire is
largely dependent upon the care of others. If our neighbor is
careless, our property as well as his may be destroyed. Under such
circumstances it is necessary to have rules to regulate conduct
for the common safety. The materials with which we may build, the
thickness of our walls, the construction of our flues, the storage
of explosive or inflammable materials, the disposal of rubbish and
ashes, and many other things, are regulated by law. This is
cooperation for fire prevention. Much money is also spent by
cities for fire protection, including water supply and organized
fire departments.

FIRE PROTECTION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Where people live widely separated from one another, as in rural
communities, such regulations are less necessary and organized
fire protection is less easy to afford. A farmer's property may be
destroyed by fire from a spark from a passing locomotive, or from
the camp of a careless hunter in the adjoining woods. There may be
state laws to control such cases. But in the main, if his property
burns it is due to the carelessness of some one who lives on the
premises, and he is dependent upon his own efforts to control the
fire. Improved farm water supply with adequate pumping facilities,
the telephone by which neighbors may be summoned, and the
automobile by which help may quickly be brought, have increased
the farmer's safety; but his chief safeguard is the exercise of
care by all who live on the farm at every point where a fire might
possibly be started.

FIRE INSURANCE

Fire insurance is a means of reducing the fire loss of individual
property owners by a form of cooperation. Insurance companies,
operating under state laws, sell insurance to property owners. The
latter pay a small premium for the protection afforded. From the
funds produced by the premiums and the interest on their
investment, the occasional losses of individuals are paid. This
does not prevent the destruction of the property, but it
distributes the loss among thousands of people, perhaps in all
parts of the country.

FARMERS' COOPERATIVE INSURANCE

There are in the United States about 2000 FARMERS' COOPERATIVE
FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES, carrying insurance amounting to more
than 5 billion dollars. These companies are associations of
farmers who elect their own directors and manage their own
insurance business. They provide insurance at a much lower rate
than the ordinary commercial insurance companies. A usual
provision of the laws under which these cooperative companies
operate is that no member may insure his property for its full
value. His neighbors will help him bear his loss, but will not
bear it all. This has the effect of causing him to exercise
greater care to prevent fire on his premises. For this reason
insurance does reduce the actual fire loss to some extent.
Property may also be insured against loss from storm and flood.

Investigate and report on:

Fire losses in your community in a year.

Causes of fires in your community last year. Number that were
preventable.

Precautions against fire in your home and school.

Fire preventive regulations in your community.

Cost of fire prevention in your community.

Improved means of fire prevention in country districts.

How fire insurance works.

Cooperative fire insurance companies in your state.

Storm insurance in your locality.

POLICE PROTECTION

All states have laws to protect their citizens against the "ill-
mannered" who do not respect property rights--thieves, burglars,
highwaymen, vandals, sharpers, and others. The enforcement of
these laws is left largely in the hands of local community
officers. Cities have police departments, with large numbers of
patrolmen and detectives whose business it is not only to arrest
violators of the law after the violation has taken place, but also
by their vigilance to prevent the violation from occurring.

RURAL POLICE PROTECTION

The state laws against the violation of property rights apply to
rural communities as well as to cities, and rural communities have
officers for their enforcement--the constable in townships, the
sheriff and his deputies in counties. Where the population is
small and widely scattered, as in a rural township or county,
about all the officers can do is to arrest law violators after the
commission of the unlawful act, if they can be found. The officers
are too few to watch isolated and remote property, and in case of
serious disturbance, such as a riot, they are too few to handle
the situation effectively. Rural communities and many small
industrial or mining communities do not always have the protection
they need against lawlessness. In such cases the tendency is
sometimes for the people to "take the law in their own hands." In
times of labor trouble mining companies and other industrial
corporations have sometimes organized their own police. Such
practice is dangerous, for the enforcement of law should be in the
hands of the state, and not in the hands of an interested party.
In early days on the frontier, in mining and lumber camps,
"vigilance committees" were common; and even now, in various
localities, we hear too frequently of "lynching parties," which
are as lawless as the original offenders against the law, and tend
to create a disrespect for law.

And yet disrespect for law may also result from failure on the
part of the community to enforce the law through regular agencies,
from failure of officers to apprehend offenders promptly, or of
courts to mete out justice promptly and impartially.

STATE POLICE Canada has been more efficient than the United States
in affording protection to remote and rural communities, by means
of her national mounted police. "The isolated farmer and his wife
slept securely in their sod hovel beyond the frontier, because
they knew that a brave and swift corps of vigilant young athletes ...
kept sleepless vigil. Life and property were secure ... ."
[Footnote: C.R. Henderson, "Rural Police," ANNALS American Academy
of Political and Social Science, 1912, p. 228.] In our own country
Texas has her "rangers" who protect her borders against raids; but
the best example of rural policing in the United States is in
Pennsylvania, where there is a well-organized state police, or
"constabulary," which has many times proved its efficiency in
protecting remote rural communities and homes, in bringing
criminals to justice, and in quelling riots in mining centers.

VANDALISM

A great deal of property is destroyed or injured by VANDALS. The
original Vandals were a tribe of Germanic peoples who invaded
southern and western Europe in the Middle Ages, and who were noted
for their destructiveness of the beautiful buildings and other
evidences of Roman civilization. There seem to be vandals in
almost every community, and sometimes they seem to be especially
numerous in small communities, perhaps because of the lack of
police protection. Sometimes vandalism is wanton,--that is, it
results from an apparent love of being destructive. Most often it
is purely thoughtless. Few people would knowingly injure the
property of another if they would stop to think of their feelings
if another should injure THEIR property. It is a case of "bad
manners." Moreover, it is not a "square deal" to injure another's
property while expecting one's own property to be secure. When
vandalism occurs in a community it creates a general feeling of
insecurity and destroys the sense of freedom.

PUBLIC PROPERTY is often more likely to suffer from vandalism than
private property. Some people will mar the walls of public
buildings, or make their floors filthy with expectoration, when
they would not think of doing so in private buildings. They will
break shrubbery in public parks, or despoil public flower beds,
when they would not think of entering private premises for such
purpose. There seems to be a feeling that public property belongs
to no one, or else that, since it is public, any one is at liberty
to do as he pleases with it. This, of course, is foolish. It is as
if a stockholder in a business corporation should injure or
destroy the corporation property, forgetting that he owned a share
in it and suffered a share of the loss.

Investigate and report on:

Organization of police protection in your community.

Organization of a police department in a large city.

The Mounted Police of Canada and their work.

The Texas rangers.

The state police of Pennsylvania.

Vigilance committees in frontier towns of former times.

Why lynching is wrong.

The promptness with which justice is meted out in the courts of
your state.

The extent and causes of vandalism in your community.

Is vandalism justifiable on Halloween?

Inspect the courthouse and other public buildings in your
community and report as to whether they are disfigured in any way.

THE SACREDNESS OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

When a thief or vandal takes or destroys another person's
property, the loss of the property is not the worst thing that
happens, but the attack upon PROPERTY RIGHTS. The right to
security in one's possessions is among the most sacred rights of a
free people, being classed with the right to life, the right of
free speech, the right of petition, the right to freedom of
religion. It is by securing these rights that the law makes us
free. The sacred right to property is as truly violated by one who
steals a nickel as by one who robs a bank of a thousand dollars,
by one who ruins our flower bed as well as by one who burns our
house. The amount has nothing to do with it. The tax which the
English government imposed on tea imported by the American
colonists was not a heavy tax, but the colonists objected because
it was imposed without their consent.

CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

The citizens of a free country require protection of their
property rights against infringement by their government as well
as by one another. The Revolutionary War was fought in defense of
this and other rights against violation by the English government.
When the Constitution of the United States was framed, the people
refused to ratify it unless amendments were added guaranteeing
these rights. Thus it was provided that "no soldier shall, in time
of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the
owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by
law" (Amendment III); that "the right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ..."
(Amendment IV); that "no persons shall be ... deprived of life,
liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private
property be taken for public use without just compensation"
(Amendment V. See also Chapter XIV, p. 207). The Constitution also
provides that "no state shall ... pass any ... law impairing the
obligation of contracts" (Art. I, sec. 10, clause I), and in
various other ways protects our property rights. Our state
constitutions contain many similar provisions. Our governments
have the power to take property in the form of taxes, but under
certain restrictions imposed by our constitutions to safeguard the
rights of the people (see Chapter XXIII).

OUR NATIONAL ARMY

It is to protect these RIGHTS, rather than property itself, that
communities have their police, that states have their militia, and
that the nation has its army and its navy. Among the chief causes
that led us into war with Germany was the fact that Germany was
violating the property rights of our citizens. While our
Constitution provides for state militia and a national army for
the defense of our rights, property rights included, it has always
been our national policy to maintain as small a standing army as
is consistent with the national safety; and this for the very
reason that a large standing army and a large navy are not only a
great burden of expense, but also, as the founders of our nation
believed, a menace to the liberties of the people and to the peace
of the world.

THE SERVICE OF THE COURTS

We have seen that no person may be deprived of property by the
government "without due process of law." This means that the
procedure provided by law must be followed, and that the citizen
whose property is taken may have his side of the case presented,
the value of the property in question appraised by impartial
judges, and so on. It is the business of THE COURTS to see that
justice is done. They inquire into the facts in the case, and
interpret the law bearing on it. The courts are the final
safeguard to our liberties. Our government comprises, therefore,
not only a law-making branch and a law-enforcing branch, but also
a LAW-INTERPRETING, OR JUDICIAL, branch--the courts.

THE RIGHTS OF ACCUSED PERSONS

The Constitution guarantees justice to persons accused of
violating the property rights, or other rights of citizens, by
theft, fraud, or otherwise, as well as to the citizen who has been
wronged. "In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the
State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed ...
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to
be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defense" (Amendment VI). "Excessive
bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
and unusual punishments inflicted" (Amendment VIII).

Investigate and report on:

How are property rights guaranteed in your state constitution? in
the national Constitution?

Read the charges made in the Declaration of Independence against
the King of England with respect to the violation of property
rights.

"Due process of law."

The violation of property rights by Germany as a cause for war.

Are property rights as sacred in time of war as in time of peace?

What property rights has an American in Mexico?

What property rights has a Mexican in the United States?

What became of German property in the United States during the
war?

The purpose of the courts.

What courts exist in your community?

The rights of a person accused of crime.

READINGS

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture:

1910, pp. 413-424, Fire prevention and control on the national
forests.

1913, pp. 75-92, Bringing applied entomology to the farmer.

1915, pp. 159-172, Animal disease and our food supply.

1915, pp. 263-272, Recent grasshopper outbreaks and methods of
control.

1916, pp. 217-226, Suppression of gypsy and brown-tailed moths.

1916, pp. 267-272, Cooperative work for eradicating citrus canker.

1916, pp. 381-398, Destroying rodent pests on the farm.

1918, pp. 303-316, Federal protection of migratory birds.

Farmers' mutual fire insurance, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Bulletin No. 530; also, Year Book, 1916, pp. 421-434.

The Weather Bureau (a pamphlet), Government Printing Office,
Washington. Send to the Weather Bureau for list of publications.

How the Weather Bureau forecasts storms, frosts, and floods,
Office of Information, U.S. Department of Agriculture; reprinted
in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, March 14, 1914.

Forecasting storms: the Weather Bureau's helpfulness, SUNSET
MAGAZINE, vol. 25, pp. 529-532 (Nov., 1910).

The Farmer and the Weather Bureau, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Feb. 18,
1911.

Doing business by the weather map, WORLD'S WORK, June, 1914.

Flood control:

Water Supply Paper 234, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the
Interior, 1919. Write for other publications on this subject.
Also, the Office of the Chief of Engineers, War Department.

There has been much magazine literature on this subject.

War and Navy Departments, in the Federal Executive Departments,
Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, chap. X.

Hart, ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, pp. 573-582.





CHAPTER XVII

ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

STUDIES OF THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS


During the years 1910-1915 the Office of Public Roads of the
United States Department of Agriculture made a continuous study,
year by year, of the methods and results of road improvement in
eight selected counties of the United States. [Footnote:
Spotsylvania, Dinwiddie, Lee, and Wise counties in Virginia;
Franklyn County in New York; Dallas County in Alabama; Lauderdale
County in Mississippi; and Manatee County in Florida.] The results
of the investigation are described in Bulletin No. 393 (1916) of
the Department of Agriculture, which is worth sending for and
studying by any school that is interested in the improvement of
the community.

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA

One of these counties was Spotsylvania County, Virginia, a map of
which is shown on the opposite page. Since the Civil War the
farmland in this county had gradually declined from its prosperous
condition before the war until it was little better than a
wilderness of second-growth timber, valued at from $5 to $15 an
acre. For many months of the year the roads were well-nigh
impassable. There was much wealth in timber, but it could not be
marketed to advantage. The soil was very little cultivated. More
farm products were shipped into Fredericksburg, the only city in
the county, by rail from outside than were shipped out from the
farms of the county.

MOVEMENT FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT

Nearly one third of the population of the county lived in
Fredericksburg; but under the law of the state of Virginia the
people of the city could not be taxed for county purposes outside
of the city. Moreover, two of the four districts of the county at
first took little interest in the matter of road improvement,
although they had to use the roads in going to market at
Fredericksburg. Courtland and Chancellor districts, however, were
determined to have better roads, and voted to raise the necessary
money by selling bonds to the amount of $100,000. Three years
later the other two districts, inspired by the success of
Courtland and Chancellor districts, also voted bonds for road
improvement to the amount of $73,000. This debt would of course
have to be paid off by levying taxes upon the people of the
districts. With a tax rate of $1.70 on every hundred dollars'
worth of property, a farmer with a farm assessed at $3000 would
pay a total tax of $51, of which $19.48 would be for the roads.

COST MUST BE JUSTIFIED

It is not always easy to convince the people of a community that
it is worth while to spend so much money on their roads. They have
to be shown that the expenditure will in due time pay for itself,
as well as add to the convenience and pleasure of the community.
Too much money spent in costly improvements on roads that are
little used, or in construction that does not stand the traffic
and soon wears out, is of course a bad investment. But the results
in Spotsylvania County, as well as in the seven other counties
studied by the Office of Public Roads, justified the cost.

STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION

The law of Virginia provided that all highway construction in the
state must be supervised by the STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER. He
accordingly appointed an engineer to supervise the work in
Spotsylvania County, the engineer's salary being paid by the
state. The work of construction, however, was under the direction
of a COUNTY BOARD OF PUBLIC ROADS. The board appointed a
superintendent who hired all labor and teams and purchased all
equipment and materials. Three main highways in Courtland and
Chancellor districts, and leading into Fredericksburg, were chosen
for improvement. Within two years more than forty miles of road
were completed, or about 10 per cent of all the roads in the
entire county.

MONEY FOR REPAIRS

Roads have to be kept in repair after they are constructed. By
1914 money was needed for this purpose. The farmers objected to
further increase of the tax rate, so it was decided to charge
TOLLS for the use of the improved highways--5 cents for a single
horse and vehicle, 10 cents for two horses and a buggy, 15 cents
for two horses and a wagon, 25 cents for four horses and a wagon,
and from 20 cents to 35 cents for automobiles. More money than was
needed was raised in this way in the first month, and the tolls
were therefore reduced one half. One advantage to the county of
the toll system was that automobilists and others from other
districts, counties, and states would contribute to the upkeep of
the roads.

EFFECT OF IMPROVEMENTS ON LAND VALUES

On the roads selected for improvement there were 35 farms
including 5518 acres. In 1910, the average value of these farms,
including buildings, was $14 per acre, and seldom did any one want
to buy land in the neighborhood. But within two years after the
road improvement seven of the 35 farms had been sold, and a large
part of another, as shown in the following:

In the next two or three years a number of other farms were sold
at similar increased prices, and some farms that had been
abandoned were reoccupied. Large areas of land were cultivated for
the first time since the Civil War. The farmers were, however,
most interested for the time being in their timber wealth, and
between 1909 and 1913 the shipments of forest products from
Fredericksburg increased 78.2 per cent.

THE AVERAGE HAUL

Before the improvement of the roads, the average weight of load
for a two-horse team in the winter and spring, when the roads were
bad, was about 1200 pounds; when the roads were dry, about 2400
pounds. The cost for hauling at this rate averaged, for the year
round, about 30 cents per ton per mile. After the roads were
improved, the average load the year round was 4000 pounds, and the
cost for hauling only 15 cents per ton per mile.

Investigate and report on:

Results of road improvement in others of the eight counties
referred to on page 248 (see Bulletin 393, 1916, Department of
Agriculture).

Procure or make a map of your county showing road improvement. Is
your county well provided with improved roads?

Do the cities and towns in your county contribute to the
improvement of the country roads?

Do the people of the rural districts of your county contribute to
the improvement of the streets of the cities and towns?

Bond issues in your county for road improvement. Meaning of "bond
issues."

Tax rate in your county for road improvement.

How is road improvement managed in your county?

What help does your county get from your state for road
improvement?

What supervision does your state exercise over road improvement?

Are there toll roads in your county or state?

Toll roads were once common in this country. Why have tolls been
generally abandoned?

Who has charge of bridge construction in your county?

From what sources does the money come for road repair in your
county?

What is the cost of hauling on the roads of your county? How does
this cost compare with the cost in neighboring counties and
states?

Relation of land values in your county to the character of the
roads.

MONEY VALUE OF GOOD ROADS

Good roads pay, in dollars and cents, provided they are made of
suitable materials and with due regard to the kind and amount of
traffic they are to carry. They permit of larger loads, and more
loads in a given time; they save wear and tear on horses, harness,
wagons, and automobiles; in the case of automobiles they save
gasoline; they save the time of the farmer; they make possible a
more varied agriculture by making marketing easier; they add to
the value of the land.

GOOD ROADS AND COMMUNITY LIFE

But good roads pay in many other ways than in dollars and cents.
In Spotsylvania County, as in other counties investigated at the
same time, the improvement of the roads was followed by a decided
improvement in school attendance. In more than one case it led to
the improvement of the quality of the schools by the consolidation
of a number of poor, one-room schoolhouses into a single larger
school with better equipment and better teachers (see Chapter
XIX). The relation between good roads and good schools is clearly
suggested in one of the illustrations in this chapter. So, also,
good roads increase the ease with which the people of the
community may associate with one another, attend church or
community meetings at the schoolhouse, and enjoy the social life
and entertainment of the neighboring city or village. When the
road is improved, the farmers along the way are more likely to
keep the weeds cut, to repair broken fences or build new ones, and
otherwise to beautify the adjoining premises, which adds both to
the money value of property and to the enjoyment of life.

ROAD MAKING A COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE

Road making is necessarily a cooperative enterprise. In the first
place, a public road serves the common interest of the entire
community. The community may, through its government, exercise the
RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN, taking land from adjacent farms for the
purpose of laying out a new road, provided, of course, that the
farmers are paid for it. In the second place, the making of a road
is far too costly and difficult for an individual farmer to
undertake for the benefit he himself would derive from it. It
requires a great deal of labor and a high degree of technical
skill.

ROAD MAKING A JOB FOR EXPERTS

It has been quite common for farmers themselves to work on the
roads of their locality--"working out" their road taxes. But roads
so made are seldom very good, unless the work is supervised by
someone trained in the business. Whether a farmer works on the
roads himself or merely pays for having it done, it is to his
advantage to know something about road making. The Department of
Agriculture and the state agricultural colleges now give extension
courses in road making for the benefit of the farmers. It is
reported that in one county of Oklahoma the pupils of forty
different school districts have built more than forty miles of
good roads, of course working under supervision.

VALUE OF COUNTRY ROADS TO CITIES

Good country roads are of the greatest importance, not only to the
farmers and rural communities, but also to the people of cities.
The road improvement in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was of as
much benefit to the people and the business of Fredericksburg as
to the farmers. An excellent illustration of the recognition of
the common interest of city and country in the public roads, and
of effective cooperation in improving them, was given in Chapter
III, page 32, in the case of Christian County, Kentucky. The wide
use of the automobile has done a great deal to awaken the people
of cities to their interest in country roads, and associations and
journals devoted to the interests of automobilists have been
active in advocating the improvement of the public highways.

GOOD ROADS NOT MERELY OF LOCAL CONCERN

In Spotsylvania County we saw, also, that the improvement of roads
in two districts was a direct advantage to the farmers of the
other two districts. Carrying this idea further, we shall see that
the roads of one county may be of the greatest importance to other
counties in the state; and those of one state of importance to
other states. The crossties produced from the timber of
Spotsylvania County may be wanted for railroad building in a
distant state. The cotton from the plantations of Tennessee or
Texas is needed at the mills in New England. The wheat of the
great farms of the northwest supplies the whole nation. Most of
the freight carried on the railroads and steamships has at some
time and in some form been hauled in wagons and trucks over
country roads. It is clear, then, that the character of the
highways in any locality is a matter of national interest, and
even of world-wide interest.

EARLY NATIONAL INTEREST IN ROAD BUILDING

When our nation was created, the question of highways at once
became very important. The states needed to be bound together, and
the public lands must be settled. The Constitution gave Congress
the power "to establish post offices and post roads," and "to
regulate commerce ... among the several states"; but it was not
clear how far these powers could be exercised for "internal
improvements." Roads and canals were proposed in great numbers. In
1806 Congress authorized the building of the Cumberland Road,
which began at Cumberland, Md., and was finally completed as far
west as Illinois. Road building was, however, left chiefly to the
states and to private enterprise. The Cumberland Road finally
passed under the control of the states through which it ran, and
by them was given into the management of the counties. Many
"turnpikes" were built by private companies, which charged tolls
for their use.

POOR ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES

The building of many canals and, later, the coming of railroads
caused interest in public highways to decline, and their building
was left almost wholly to local initiative, where it remained
until very recently. The result is that the United States has had
the poorest roads in the civilized world. Under local management
the cost of public roads fell chiefly upon the farmers, cities
escaping taxation for this purpose, except for their own streets.
A road running across a state might be well kept in some
localities while allowed to run down in others. A community was
reluctant to spend money on a highway only to have the
improvements destroyed by through traffic from neighboring
communities who had no responsibility for maintaining the road.
Local communities could not afford to employ expert officials to
plan and supervise road construction.

STATE CONTROL OF HIGHWAYS

Under these conditions the road situation became so bad that
public sentiment was gradually aroused on the subject, and it was
seen that a road was of more than merely local importance. State
control was agitated. New Jersey was the first state to pass a law
placing the highways within the state under state regulation. This
was in 1891. Other states followed New Jersey's example, until by
1914 forty-two states had state highway departments. These differ
greatly from one another in organization, powers, and efficiency.
Unfortunately, "political influence" has entered into road
building and management in many states in such a way as to
interfere with efficiency;--that is, those in charge of roads have
often been chosen for political reasons rather than for their
fitness for the work, and large sums of money have been spent
unwisely, if not dishonestly in some cases.

RECENT PROGRESS UNDER STATE CONTROL

In a number of states, STATE HIGHWAYS have been built. These are
wholly state enterprises, paid for and managed by the state.
California has two trunk lines running the entire length of the
state, with branch lines connecting them with the county seats. To
January 1, 1914, Massachusetts had completed more than 1000 miles
of state highways. New York has an extensive system, and Maryland
is another example. But the plan most commonly in use is state aid
and supervision in the construction of roads by counties. This was
the New Jersey plan of 1891. By it, plans for road improvement
with state aid in any county must be approved by the state highway
department, and construction is supervised by state engineers. The
cost is divided between the state and the local community.

In New Jersey the property owners along the highway, who of course
are most directly benefited, were to pay one-tenth of the cost,
the state one-third, and the county the remainder. In Wisconsin,
the board of county commissioners in each county is required to
plan a "county system" of highways to be a part of the state
system. The cost of each county system is divided equally among
township, county, and state. The work is directed by a county
highway commissioner, but in accordance with plans and
specifications of the state highway commission. In Ohio, a system
of "intercounty highways" is being built, connecting all the
county seats of the state. Counties, towns, and property owners
along the highway must provide an amount equal to that provided by
the state, and the work is under the direction of the state
highway department.

In Virginia the cost of highway construction is divided equally
between state and local communities; but the counties often accept
from the state the labor of prison convicts instead of money.
Convict labor on the roads is quite common in southern states.

The money for state aid in highway building is commonly raised by
the sale of bonds by the state. For the maintenance of the roads
after they are built, the proceeds from automobile licenses are
applied.

Our roads, even in remote rural districts, are of national
importance for the reasons stated on page 259. Moreover, they are
becoming more and more used for the transportation of freight and
passengers over long distances, for which the introduction of the
automobile and the motor truck is responsible. Therefore, national
cooperation is necessary for adequate road improvement.

WORK OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT

The work of the national government on behalf of good roads has
heretofore been largely educational and advisory. In 1893 the
Office of Road Inquiry (now the Office of Public Roads) was
created in the United States Department of Agriculture to
investigate methods of road making and management. The results of
its investigations have been published for the benefit of the
country. Advice was given when asked for. Instruction was given
through extension courses (p. 257). Here and there model or
experimental roads were constructed to test new methods or to
serve as object lessons to the localities where they were built.
Good road building has also been greatly stimulated by the
extension of the rural free mail delivery, routes not being
established unless the roads are in reasonably good condition. The
national government has also given to many states public lands
within their borders, the proceeds from which were to be used for
road construction; and a part of the proceeds from the sale of
timber in the national forests is devoted to road building in the
locality.

FEDERAL AID ROAD ACT

In 1916, however, Congress passed the law known as the Federal Aid
Road Act. This law places the national government in the same
relation to the states, in the matter of road building, that the
state governments have borne to the counties in granting state
aid.

The Federal Aid Road Act appropriated 75 million dollars to aid
states in improving their "rural post roads," and 10 million
dollars for the construction and maintenance of roads in the
national forests. Of the 75 million dollars for state aid in
building post roads, 5 million dollars were to be available the
first year, 10 million the second, 15 million the third, and so on
for five years, when the total amount will have been used. The
money is given to the states only on their request, and on
condition that each state shall provide an amount equal to that
received from the national treasury. The money is apportioned
among the states on the basis of area, population, and the extent
of post roads in the state.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE

The administration of the law is in the hands of the Office of
Public Roads. The entire country is divided into ten districts,
over each of which is a district engineer. When a state desires
aid from the national government, its highway department must draw
up plans for the improvements proposed and submit them to the
district engineer, who in turn submits them with recommendations
to the Secretary of Agriculture, whose approval they must have.
Having obtained this approval, the work is carried on by the state
as in the case of other roads entirely under state control.

RESULTS OF FEDERAL AID

It is too soon yet to tell what the results of this new
cooperative enterprise of the national government will be. But the
first important effect has been to cause the organization of state
highway departments in the few states that did not already have
them, and the reorganization of such departments in the states
where they were weak; for the Federal Aid Road Act provides that
aid may be given to the states only on condition that they have
effective highway departments. The result is that every state in
the Union now has an active highway department, and road
improvement is going on at a rate never before known.

Investigate and report on:

The amount of time saved in a year by a farmer in your locality
because of good roads; or lost because of unimproved roads.

The wear and tear on vehicles and equipment because of unimproved
roads.

Effect of improved or unimproved roads in your county on school
and church attendance, social life, etc.

Instances of the exercise of the right of eminent domain in your
county for road improvement.

Materials used in road making in your county. Relative merits of
different materials as shown by experience in your county.

Methods of road construction in your county.

Extension courses in road making by your state agricultural
college.

The amount of traffic on the roads of your community by non-
residents.

The sentiment of farmers of your locality with regard to road
improvement.

Organization of the state highway commission of your state.

The state highway system of your state.

History and use of canals in your state (if any).

Influence of rural mail delivery upon road improvement in your
county.

The extent to which federal aid for road improvement has been
taken advantage of by your state.

THE NATION'S INTEREST IN TRANSPORTATION

Those who live in the most remote rural communities have a vital
interest in the nation's transportation system, including railways
and steamship lines. As we have seen (p. 203), there was the
closest relation between the building of railroads and the opening
of the public lands. The market of the farmer and the source of
his supplies are not merely the neighboring trading center, but in
far distant parts of the country and of the world. Without
railroads, the farmer, the manufacturer, and the city merchant
would alike be helpless.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF RAILROADS

While our government has at times given direct aid to encourage
the building of railroads, as by the gift of public lands, they
have been developed chiefly by private enterprise. They are owned
by private corporations which do business under charters granted
by the state governments (rarely by the national government) and
regulated by law. Control over them has been exercised chiefly by
the state governments, except in matters affecting interstate
commerce, which falls under the control of Congress. As the parts
of our country have become more closely bound together and
interdependent, largely by the influence of the railroads
themselves, an increasingly large part of commerce has become
"interstate" in character, and railway transportation has become
more and more a national concern. The result is an increasing
control by the national government

INTERSTATE COMMERCE

In 1887, Congress created an Interstate Commerce Commission with
power to inquire into the management of the business of "common
carriers," such as railroads, steamship lines, and express
companies. It was later given power to fix rates which such
carriers could charge. Other laws were passed, such as the Sherman
Act, or "Anti-Trust Law," of 1890, which made unlawful any
"contract, combination ... or conspiracy in restraint of trade."
These and other laws checked abuses that characterized railroad
management at that time, but, on the other hand, they are said in
some respects to have hampered the economic and efficient
development of the country's transportation system. The Sherman
Law, for example, absolutely forbade the consolidation of
competing railroad lines under one management, although such
consolidation often makes for efficiency and economy.

GOVERNMENT RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION IN WAR

When the United States entered the recent war, the weakness of our
transportation system quickly became apparent, and the need for
the most effective transportation service led the government to
take unusual steps to secure it. The President issued a
proclamation by which, in the exercise of his WAR POWERS, he "took
possession and assumed control of each and every system of
transportation in the United States and the appurtenances
thereof." This meant assuming control over 397,000 miles of
railways owned by 2905 corporations and employing more than
1,700,000 persons. The management of this great transportation
system was intrusted to a Railroad Administration with a Director
General of Railroads at its head. The ownership of these
railroads, however, remained with the private companies, which
were to receive compensation for the use of their property, and
were to receive back the railroads after the war was over.

ADVANTAGES OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT

The whole purpose of the government in its management of the
railroads was to win the war, the convenience of the public being
a minor consideration. The people cheerfully put up with
inconveniences of travel and with rates that they had not
experienced while the roads were under private management. On the
other hand, there were certain decided advantages in the
management of all railroads as one great system. It meant the
consolidation of competing lines that the law itself prevented the
railway companies from effecting, it meant shortening routes in
many cases, the use of common freight terminals by different
lines, the increase of track facilities and storage areas at
seaport terminals, the selling of passenger tickets good over any
one of several roads running between two points.

There are those who believe that the railroads should be managed,
or even owned, by the government in time of peace as well as
during war. There are others who believe as strongly in private
ownership and direction. Many of the latter believe, however, that
a more perfect control should be exercised over the privately
owned roads by the government under laws that protect the
interests of the public and that at the same time permit, or even
require, greater cooperation among the roads than has heretofore
existed. Since the war, bills have been introduced in Congress
looking to these ends, and doubtless the experience of the war
will result in an appreciable improvement in our country's railway
transportation system.

WATER TRANSPORTATION

In the early days of our nation, rivers were used for
transportation to a large extent, and canals were proposed in
great numbers, some of them being built and carrying a large
amount of traffic. The coming of the railroads caused water
transportation to decline, to the nation's great loss. The war
stimulated the use of our waterways to a considerable extent, and
any scheme for transportation control in the future should provide
for their fullest development as a means of marketing the products
of our farms, forests, mines, and factories.

There was also a time, in the early part of our history, when our
seaports swarmed with American ships that sailed every sea. Our
shipping afterward declined because other nations built and manned
ships more cheaply than we could do. We allowed these other
nations to carry our commerce. We deplored the fact that our
merchant marine had disappeared and discussed ways and means to
restore it. But all to no purpose, until the great war came; then
we HAD to have ships.

EFFECT OF WAR UPON OUR MERCHANT MARINE

When we entered the war we had almost no ships. Congress created
the United States Shipping Board and its Emergency Fleet
Corporation. As a result, and within a year's time, the United
States took rank as the leading shipbuilding nation in the world.
It has more shipyards, more shipways, more ship workers, more
ships under construction, and is building more ships every month
during the war than any other country. Prior to the war the United
States stood a poor third among the shipbuilding nations. Since
August, 1917, more seagoing tonnage has been launched from
American shipyards than was ever launched before in a similar
period anywhere. [Footnote: "Shipping Facts," issued by the U.S.
Shipping Board, September, 1918.]

Moreover, under the stress of necessity methods of shipbuilding
and operation were developed that ought to make it possible for
the United States to compete successfully in the future with other
nations, even though our workmen and sailors are paid more than
those of other nations.

The chairman of the shipping board said, "The American community
must think of ships as a local improvement." This means that the
business and welfare of every American community, whether a
seaport or a remote farming community, are dependent upon ships.
By our merchant marine the American farmer and the American
businessman are brought into touch with the remotest parts of the
earth.

Investigate and report on:

The service of the railroads to the farmers of your county. To the
merchants of your town.

The story of the building of the first transcontinental railway.

State control of railroads in your state.

Experiences of your community with respect to railroad rate
discrimination.

The work of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The work of the United States Railway Administration during the
war.

Advantages and disadvantages of government control of railroads
during the war.

The war powers of the President.

Arguments for and against government ownership of railroads.

Electric interurban railways in your county and state. What they
mean to the farmer and to the city resident.

The work of the United States Coast Survey.

The history of the American merchant marine.

The development of the American merchant marine during the recent
war.

The building of "fabricated ships."

The life of a sailor to-day, as compared with that of 100 years
ago.

The dependence of the American farmer upon the merchant marine.

READINGS

County reports relating to road construction and improvement.

Reports of State Highway Commission.

State management of public roads, YEAR BOOK, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1914, pp. 211-226.

Publications of Office of Public Roads, U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Write also to Superintendent of Documents, Government
Printing Office, Washington, for price list of documents relating
to the subject of roads.

Farmers' Bulletins relating to marketing and transportation
facilities, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 26, Concentration of control in the railroad
industry.

Series B: Lesson 27, Good roads.

Series C: Lesson 25, A seaport as a center of concentration of
population and wealth.

Lesson 27, Early transportation in the Far West.

Lesson 28, The first railway across the continent.

Consult the public library for magazine literature on the subject
of roads, railroads, river transportation, etc. For example, in
the REVIEW OF REVIEWS, February, 1918, there are the following
articles:

"Uncle Sam Takes the Railroads."

"The World's Greatest Port" (New York).

"New York Canals a Transportation Resource."

"River Navigation--a War Measure."

Hart, ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, chap. XXVII.





CHAPTER XVIII

COMMUNICATION


Roads and other means of transportation are important not only as
a means of transporting products, but also as a means of
communication among the members of the community. Team work is
impossible without prompt and effective means of communication.

Tell what you know about the value of signals in getting team work
in a football or baseball team.

Discuss the importance of means of communication in conducting
military operations. What means were used for this purpose in our
Army in France?

How were military movements reported and directed in the
Revolutionary War?

Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans was won a month after the
War of 1812 was officially ended. How did this happen?

What were some of the methods used by the American Indians to
convey information between distant points?

LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

One of the most interesting chapters in history is that relating
to the development of means of communication. Language itself is
the most important of these means. It is not altogether clear what
the first steps were in the development of spoken language; but we
know that among uncivilized peoples conversation is aided, and
often largely carried on, by signs made with the hands. Written
language certainly developed from the use of pictures, which were
gradually curtailed into HIEROGLYPHICS, such as were used by the
ancient Egyptians, and finally developed into the ALPHABET, each
letter of which was originally a picture.

A story is told of a group of American Indians who some years ago
visited an eastern city. They could not make themselves
understood, nor could they understand others, and became very
lonely. They were taken to visit a deaf-and-dumb institution,
where they were quite delighted to find that they could converse
freely by the use of a natural sign language.

Uncivilized peoples are in the habit of conveying ideas in the
most astonishing ways. For example, among a certain African tribe
the gift of a tooth brush carries a message of affection. These
Africans take great pride in their white teeth, and the tooth
brush carries the message, "As I think of my teeth morning, noon,
and night, so I think often of you."

To illustrate the development of the alphabet from pictures, our
letter M represents the ears of an owl, which in Egypt was called
MU, and the picture of which, later reduced to the ears, came to
represent the sound of M..

EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY AND INABILITY TO USE ENGLISH

The fascinating story of the development of language cannot be
told here. It is referred to because we are likely to forget what
an important factor it is in making community life possible.
Inability to use a common language prevents intercourse and team
work. Large numbers of men drafted in the American Army were
unable to understand the English language. Between 30,000 and
40,000 illiterates were taken in the first draft and it is said
that there were nearly 700,000 men of draft age in the United
States who could neither read nor write. They could not sign their
names, nor read orders or instructions. They had to be separated
and taught, thus greatly delaying the complete organization of our
available fighting forces. Inability to use a common language is
equally an obstacle in industrial life, for non-English speaking
workmen are unable to understand instructions, or to read signs
and warnings. Many accidents are due to this cause. It is said
that approximately 5 1/2 million of our population above ten years
of age cannot read or write in any language, and that 5 million of
our foreign population cannot use English. An active campaign is
now being conducted to teach English to foreigners and to
eradicate illiteracy. A bill has recently been introduced in
Congress to provide Federal aid for this purpose.

If the productive labor value of an illiterate is less by only 50
cents a day than that of an educated man or woman, the country is
losing $825,000,000 a year through illiteracy ... The Federal
Government and the States spend millions of dollars in trying to
give information to the people in rural districts about farming
and home making. Yet 3,700,000, or 10 per cent, of our country
folk can not read or write a word. They can not read a bulletin on
agriculture, a farm paper, a food-pledge card, a liberty-loan
appeal, a newspaper, the Constitution of the United States, or
their Bibles, nor can they keep personal or business accounts. An
uninformed democracy is not a democracy. A people who cannot have
means of access to the mediums of public opinion and to the
messages of the President and the acts of Congress can hardly be
expected to understand the full meaning of this war, to which they
all must contribute in life or property or labor.--SECRETARY
LANE, Annual Report, 1918, p. 30. From letter to the President.

Ask at home: What is "illiteracy"? What is the difference between
an "illiterate" and a non-English speaking person?

Debate (or discuss):

RESOLVED, That ALL persons of sound mind in the United States
should be required by law to attend school until they are able to
speak, read, and write English fluently.

RESOLVED, That the elimination of illiteracy and the teaching of
English to foreigners should be left wholly to the states without
interference or aid from the national government.

Why are foreigners required to read sections from the Constitution
of the United States before they receive their "naturalization"
papers?

What does "knowing how to read" mean?

Debate:

RESOLVED, That no native-born American should be permitted to vote
who cannot read intelligently.

What is being done in your community and in your state to
eradicate illiteracy and to teach English to foreigners?

THE PRINTING PRESS AND NEWSPAPERS

Next to language itself, the most important invention for the
communication of ideas is the art of printing. It made possible
the book, the magazine, the newspaper. The writer of this book is
enabled to communicate with boys and girls whom he will never see
by means of the printed page and the pictures which the book
contains. By the same means the ideas of people who lived long ago
have been handed down to us, and the ideas of to-day will be
passed on to later generations. Most wonderful is the modern
newspaper, which daily carries into almost every home of the land
the important happenings in the world during the preceding twenty-
four hours. In cities several editions are printed during the day.
The newspaper enables the merchant to communicate, through
advertisements, with possible buyers, and the farmer and business
man to keep posted regarding crop conditions and market prices.
Most newspapers have special departments for different classes of
readers--a woman's page, a children's column, a page devoted to
sports, another to market conditions. Most of them also have a
department in which individuals may ask questions or express their
own opinions regarding questions of the day. The "local
newspaper," with a circulation that seldom extends far beyond the
county in which it is published, is of the greatest value in
stimulating a community spirit.

THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States
provides that:

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...

The right of free speech and of a free press is a very sacred one,
and its maintenance is one of the chief safeguards of democracy.
It is the means by which PUBLIC OPINION is formed and made known;
and public opinion is one of the chief means of control in a
democracy. It controls the conduct of individuals, and it controls
the actions of government. The representatives and leaders of the
people in the government seek constantly to know what public
opinion is, and the public press is one of the chief channels
through which they may find out. On the other hand, leaders and
parties seek to FORM public opinion, to lead the people to think
in certain ways and to support certain ideas. The press affords an
effective means for doing this.

PROPAGANDA

It is easy to see that both good leaders and bad leaders may thus
create public opinion, that both good and bad ideas may be spread
through the press. During the war we heard much about German
PROPAGANDA. This means that ideas were systematically spread to
create a public opinion favorable to the German cause. It was done
largely by rumors, springing from no one knows where, and
spreading by word of mouth. But it was also accomplished through
the newspapers, by news items and stories that appeared to be true
and that were published innocently enough in most cases, but that
afterward were found to be false.

THE DEVELOMENT OF PUBLIC OPINION

It is not to be supposed that all propaganda is harmful or
dangerous. There is propaganda in good causes, or on both sides of
a disputed question. By this means public opinion is educated.
When the peace conference at Paris proposed a plan for a League of
Nations, it was at once taken up for discussion through the
newspapers and magazines. People who believed in the idea
organized a campaign of PUBLICITY to support the plan and to
create a public opinion for it, while those opposed to it were
equally active in their attempt to create a public opinion against
it. In this way the people became informed regarding the question,
provided they read both sides of the discussion and not one only.
Leaders in the community may conduct propaganda through the
newspapers in behalf of better schools, better roads, woman
suffrage, prohibition, or any other cause.

The good citizen cannot well get along without the newspaper and
magazine. But he needs to keep in mind the fact that news items
may be in error, and that the opinions expressed by editors and
other writers usually represent the opinions of but a single group
of people, which may be large or small, right or wrong. In most
cases these writers are sincere, but there is always the chance
for error. The intelligent citizen will not base his own opinions
and actions solely on what he reads in ONE paper or magazine or
book, but will seek to understand ALL sides of a question. He is
helped to do this by the great variety of publications available
representing every shade of belief, and by the freedom of speech
and of the press under our system of government.

THE CONTROL OF FREE SPEECH AND A FREE PRESS

Freedom of speech and of the press does not mean that a citizen
may always say anything he pleases in public. At no time has one
the right to attack the character of another by false or malicious
statements. This constitutes slander, or libel, and may be
punished by the courts. In time of war freedom of speech and of
the press may be restricted to an extent that would not be
tolerated in time of peace, because if absolute freedom were
permitted information might be made public that would be helpful
to the enemy, and propaganda started that would be dangerous to
the public safety. But even in war time, the people of a democracy
chafe under restrictions upon free speech and a free press, and it
is often a delicate question to determine how far such restriction
is justifiable or wise.

Make a report on the invention of the printing press.

Is there more than one "local paper" in your town or county? Do
these local papers take the same position in regard to public
questions? Do you read more than one?

What is the most influential newspaper in your state (ask at
home)? Why is it so influential?

What is the difference between a news story and an editorial?

Ask at home what newspaper editor it was who said, "Go West, young
man." Also find out what you can about his influence as an editor.

Examine with care the newspapers you take at home and make a list
of their different "departments" or "sections."

What do you first look for in the newspaper when you read it? Ask
your father and mother and other members of the family what they
first look for.

What is the value of CARTOONS in the newspaper? Do you study them?
Do they convey a story to you? Make a collection of cartoons that
you think are particularly good, and explain what each means.

Is any propaganda being conducted now in the newspapers you read?
If so, explain what it is.

To what extent are newspaper and magazine advertisements useful in
your home?

POST-OFFICES AND POST-ROADS

Congress was given power by the Constitution "to establish post-
offices and post-roads." There had been a postal service in the
colonies before the Revolution. During the Revolution Benjamin
Franklin was made Postmaster General, and he made the service as
effective as it could well be made under the conditions that
existed in those times. The plan that he devised was continued
after the Constitution was adopted. In those days mails were sent
from New York to Boston and to Philadelphia two or three times a
week. They were carried on horseback or by stage and by boat.
Sometimes a month was consumed by a trip that can now be made in a
half-day. Postage cost from six cents to twenty-five cents for
each letter, according to the distance it was carried, and had to
be paid in cash in advance. Postage stamps were not introduced
until 1847. Often mail was allowed to accumulate until there was
enough to pay for the trip. The isolation of a remote rural
community can well be imagined where the difficulties of
communication were so great, and where the scarcity of money made
postage an important item.

RURAL MAIL ROUTES

In 1918 there were 54,345 post-offices in the United States
managed by the Post-Office Department at Washington, besides
nearly 600 in the Philippines managed by the war Department, and a
few in the Panama Canal Zone. Of the 3030 counties in the United
States, 3008 had rural mail routes aggregating more than a million
miles in extent, serving more than 6 million families, and costing
for operation more than 53 million dollars. This cost, however
amounts to only about $1.90 for each person served, or a little
more than one cent for each piece of mail handled. The aim is to
make the postal service pay for itself, and in 1918 the receipts
exceeded the expenditures by more than 60 million dollars.

SPECIAL SERVICES OF THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT

The Post-Office Department not only provides for the
transportation of ordinary mail, but through its post-offices it
sells money orders for the transmission of money safely through
the mails; it operates the parcel post by which merchandise may be
transported, including farm produce of many kinds; it administers
the postal savings system. One of the interesting divisions of the
Post-Office Department is the Division of Dead Letters, to which
is returned all mail that fails to reach its destination. In 1918
there were returned to the Dead-Letter Division 14,451,953 pieces
of mail. In these "dead letters" there were drafts, checks, money
orders, and loose money, amounting to $4,194,839.68. The failure
of this mail to reach its proper destination is due in very large
measure to carelessness in addressing and to failure to place on
the envelope or package a return address. A great deal of loss and
inconvenience could be avoided, and much labor and expense saved
for the postal service, if every one would see that every piece of
mail sent out is properly addressed and stamped, and has a return
address in the upper left-hand corner.

TRANSPORTATION OF THE MAILS

The efficiency of the postal service depends very largely upon the
means of transportation, from steamship and railway lines down to
the country roads. Nothing else, perhaps, has stimulated the
improvement of roads so much as the rural mail service. It is the
power granted by the Constitution to Congress to establish POST-
roads that enables the Federal government to aid the states in
road improvement. The development of fast mail trains and the
introduction of motor-truck service have been important steps in
the improvement of the postal service in city and country. The
latest development is the transportation of mail by airplane. An
aerial mail route between Washington, D. C., and New York City was
established May 15, 1918, and a round trip daily is now made over
this route, regardless of weather conditions. The flying time from
Washington to New York, with a stop at Philadelphia, averages two
hours and thirty minutes, or one half the time of the fastest
trains. The Post-Office Department is planning an extensive
airplane mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with
various side lines; also to the West Indies, Panama, and South
America. The routes are partially worked out, and trial trips have
been made in some cases, as between New York and Chicago.

THE TELEGRAPH

We need only mention the important part played by the telegraph,
the submarine cable, and RADIO-COMMUNICATION, in binding together
our nation and the world as a whole. Without them the modern
newspaper, with its daily news from every corner of the globe,
would be impossible, our cooperation in the great World War would
have been extremely difficult, and the President probably would
not have left the United States to participate in the peace
negotiations at Paris. Although the first telegraph line in the
United States was owned and operated by the government as a part
of the postal service, the telegraph service of the country has
since been in the hands of private corporations; except that
during the war the Post-Office Department took over the management
of the telegraph and the telephone, as the Railroad Administration
took over the transportation lines.

THE TELEPHONE

As this chapter is being written, word has come that the Secretary
of the Navy has talked by WIRELESS TELEPHONE with the President of
the United States while the latter was 800 miles out at sea on his
return from France. At the close of the war American aviators were
talking with one another from airplane to airplane, and receiving
orders from the ground, by wireless telephone. These instances
suggest new possibilities of communication in the near future.
Already the ordinary telephone has practically made over our
community life in many particulars. We can hardly estimate its
value in business and home life, in the city or on the farm. There
are about 8000 rural telephone systems in the United States
serving the homes of two million farmers. In 1912, out of seven
hundred and eighteen telephone systems in North Carolina, about
six hundred and fifty were country telephone systems owned and
operated privately by groups of farmers. These included about
20,000 telephones and used approximately 35,000 miles of wire.

SERVICE OF THE RURAL TELEPHONE To call a neighbor and ask for the
exchange of labor on certain work, as threshing, haying, etc., is
only the work of a moment. To have a definite answer immediately
is often worth much. To be able to 'phone the village storekeeper,
who runs a country delivery, and ask that supplies be sent out is
a great convenience to the housewife. To 'phone the implement
dealer and learn whether he has needed repairs in stock and, if
so, to have them sent out on the next trolley car, if not to ask
him to telegraph the factory to forward them immediately by
express, is a saving of time that often amounts to a large saving
when the planting or harvesting of crops is delayed because of
needed repairs.

... farm homes have been saved from destruction by fire because of
prompt help secured by word over the telephone; ... valuable
animals have been saved through the early arrival of the
veterinarian who was summoned by 'phone. ... Many an itinerant
sharper's plans have been frustrated. ... The sharper in disgust
turns to other fields where there are no telephones over which to
notify his prospective victims of his game.

Business appointments, social appointments, discussions of social
and church plans, to say nothing of the mere friendly exchange of
greeting over the telephone have probably compensated every owner
of a rural telephone many times over for the expense of it, if all
business advantages were ignored.

... At some seasons of the year the general summons to the 'phone
gives notice that central is ready to report the weather bureau's
prognostication for the following day. ...

[Footnote: "Rural Conveniences," by H. E. Van Norman, in the
ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,
March, 1912]

 The cost of this important aid to community life has been reduced
to a small amount in many rural districts by the organization of
local cooperative telephone companies.

Ask at home, or have committee interview postmaster:

How is the postmaster in your post-office chosen? Are all
postmasters chosen in the same way?

What are first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class
post-offices?

How are rural mail-carriers chosen?

What is a "star mail route," and how does it differ from an
ordinary rural route? Are there any "star routes" in your county?

What constitute first-class, second-class, third-class, and
fourth-class mail? What is the rate of postage on each?

Has rural mail delivery had the effect of causing road improvement
in your county? If so, give instances.

From the office of a local newspaper find out about the work of
the Associated Press or similar news agency.

Why does the work of a newspaper reporter carry with it great
responsibility?

Who was Samuel F. B. Morse? Who is Alexander Graham Bell? Marconi?

What particular advantages has the telephone brought to your
community? to your home?

Is there a cooperative telephone company in your community? If so,
how is it organized?

If possible, visit a telephone exchange and report on what you
see.

Write a theme on "Modern means of communication and the growth of
a world community."

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 10, Telephone and telegraph.

Series C: Lesson 1, The war and aeroplanes.
          Lesson 9, Inventions.

The development of writing:

Picture Writing of the American Indians, 10th Annual Report of the
U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-1889. This is profusely
illustrated and very interesting.

The volume may be in the public library. It may be difficult to
obtain, otherwise, unless through a representative in Congress.

Tylor, E. B., ANTHROPOLOGY, chaps. IV-VII (D. Appleton & Co.), and
EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND, chaps. II-V (Henry Holt & Co.).

Given, J. L., THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER (Henry Holt & Co.).

Annual Reports of the Postmaster General of the United States.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1918, pp. 13-24, 29-31,
for a discussion of the necessity of eliminating illiteracy and
teaching English to foreigners.

There is much magazine literature on this subject.
AMERICANIZATION, a publication issued regularly by the United
States Bureau of Education, is useful in this connection.





CHAPTER XIX

EDUCATION

DEMOCRACY DEPENDS UPON EDUCATION


Both the efficiency and the democracy of a community depend upon
the extent and the kind of education it affords to its people.
Autocratic Germany had a most thorough-going system of education,
but a system that made autocracy possible. The common people were
trained to be efficient workers, and thus to contribute to the
national strength; but they were trained TO SUBMIT to authority,
and not to exercise control over it. The kind of education that
develops leaders was given only to the few. The leaders of the
German people were imposed upon them from above; in the United
States we are supposed to CHOOSE our leaders. In a nation whose
aim is to afford to every citizen an equal opportunity to make the
most of himself and whose people are self-governing, education
must be widespread, it must develop the power of self-direction,
it must train leaders, and it must enable the people to choose
their leaders intelligently. When Governor Berkeley of Virginia
reported to the king of England in 1671, "I thank God there are no
free schools nor printing; and I hope we shall not have these
hundred years," he spoke for the autocratic form of government
which a hundred years later led the colonies to revolt, and which
in 1917 forced the United Stares into a world war.

GOVERNMENT BY MEANS OF EDUCATION

In a democracy government must be carried on largely BY MEANS OF
education. There must be trained leadership. And since the aim of
democratic government is to secure team work in public affairs,
the people must have the tools of team work, such as a common
language and other knowledge that makes living and working
together possible; they must have training that will enable them
to contribute effectively to the community's work, and an
intelligent understanding of the community's aims and ideals. And
since government is controlled largely by public opinion, the
people must have an intelligent understanding of the community's
problems. We had abundant illustration during the recent war of
the extent to which our government not only depended upon highly
educated men and women for leadership, but also used educational
methods to secure its ends.

THE COST OF EDUCATION

These facts explain why public education is the largest single
item of expense in our government (except in time of war). In 1914
nearly 600 million dollars were spent for public elementary and
high schools. Some 200 million dollars more were spent for private
elementary and high schools, and for universities, colleges, and
normal schools, some of which are public and some private.

INEQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL REQIUIREMENTS

If democracy is to be safe and efficient, every member must have a
reasonable education. Every state now has a compulsory education
law, though these laws vary greatly. In some states every child
must attend school for seven years (7 to 14, or 8 to 15), and in
one state (Maryland) for eight years. In other states the period
is less, sometimes as little as four years. In most of the states
there is an additional period, usually of two years (14 to 16),
during which children must remain in school unless they go to
work. As a rule there are laws that forbid the employment of
children in industry before the age of 14. In some states they may
go to work as soon as they reach the age limit regardless of what
their educational qualifications are; in others they must have
completed the eight grades of the elementary school; in others

[Editor's Note: Missing text.]

laws are not well enforced in some states. The facing table shows
the number of children of school age in and out of school in the
several states in 1915-1916. For the country as a whole, 17.4 per
cent of the children of school age were not in school.

"School terms are so short in many states and compulsory
attendance is so badly enforced that THE SCHOOL LIFE OF THE
AVERAGE PERSON GROWING UP IN RURAL SECTIONS IS ONLY 4.5 SCHOOL
YEARS OF 140 DAYS EACH. In urban communities conditions are
better, but far from satisfactory." [Footnote: Bulletin, 1919, No.
4, U. S. Bureau of Education, "A Manual of Educational
Legislation," p. 6.]

[PM Note: Leave this page blank. Please do not delete this note]

The facing table shows the number of days the public schools were
open, the average number of days of attendance by each pupil
enrolled, and the rank of the state in each case, for each state
in the school year 1915-1916.

Why would it not be more democratic to permit children to attend
school or not as they or their parents wish?

Discuss the statement that "education makes people free." Compare
this statement with a somewhat similar statement made on page 136,
Chapter XI.

What is the compulsory school age in your state?

Is wide variation in the compulsory school age among the different
states a good thing? Why?

Is the compulsory school law rigidly enforced in your state? How
is it enforced?

How much of each year must a child spend in school during the
compulsory period in your state?

Investigate the reasons given by pupils in your community for
leaving school before completing the course, and report.

What rank does your state hold with respect to length of term? to
average daily attendance of pupils? (See table.)

What rank does your state hold with respect to number of children
of school age in and out of school? (See table.)

What is the length of your own school year? Do you think it should
be lengthened? Why?

Get from your teacher or principal the average daily attendance
for each pupil enrolled in your school; in your county. Do you
think this record could be improved?

Is there any good reason why the school year should be shorter in
rural communities than in cities?

It is advocated by many that schools should be open the year
round. What advantages can you see in the plan? Debate the
question.

THE DISTRICT SCHOOL

The pioneer family was dependent at first upon its own efforts for
the education of its children. When other families came, a
schoolhouse was built, a teacher employed and the work of teaching
the elements of knowledge was handed over to the school. This was
the origin of the "district school," which is characteristic of
pioneer conditions. As the population grew and local government
was organized, the unit of local government tended to become the
unit for school administration. In New England this was the "town"
or township; in the South it was the county; in the West it was
sometimes the township and sometimes the county, or else a
combination of the two. In a large number of the western states,
however, and in a few of the eastern states, the district school
persists in many rural communities, a relic of pioneer conditions.
It is often felt that it is more democratic for each district to
administer its own school, subject only to the laws of the state.

Under the district system there is an annual school meeting of the
voters of the district, who vote the school taxes, determine the
length of the school year, and elect a board of education or
school trustees. The trustees look after the school property,
choose the teacher and fix his salary, and in a general way manage
the school business. Each school is independent of all other
schools.

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION

Under the township system all of the schools of the township are
administered by a township board or committee (or by a single
trustee in Indiana) elected by the people of the township. The
chief advantages over the district system are that all the schools
of the township are administered by a single plan, the taxes are
apportioned to the schools according to needs, and pupils may be
transferred from one school to another at convenience. In New
England two or three townships are sometimes united into a "union
district" supervised by a single superintendent.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION

Under the county system all the schools of the county are under
the management of a county board and, usually, a county
superintendent. In 29 of the 39 states that have county
superintendents they are elected by the people, in 8 states they
are appointed by the county board, in Delaware they are appointed
by the governor, and in New Jersey by the state commissioner of
education. Election of the county superintendent is losing favor
on the ground that there is less assurance of securing a highly
trained man. The chart on page 293 shows a plan of organization
for county schools proposed to the legislature of South Dakota by
the United States Bureau of Education.

ADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION

Among the advantages of the county system are greater economy,
more nearly equal educational opportunity for all children of the
county, and better supervision because of the larger funds
available for this purpose. It is under the county system of
organization that the movement for SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION is
progressing most rapidly. By this is meant the union of a number
of small, poorly equipped schools into a larger, well-graded, and
well equipped school. Its advantages may best be suggested by an
example.

In Randolph County, Indiana, there were, in 1908, 128 one-room
schools in the open country, with an attendance of from 12 to 60
pupils doing grade work only, 6 two-room schools in hamlets, with
grade work only; 2 three room schools in villages, with grade work
and two years of high school work with a six months' term; 3 four-
room village schools, with grade work and three years of high
school work with a six months' term; 1 six-room school in a town,
with grade work and four years of high school work with an eight
months' term.

By consolidation, 113 one-room schools and 4 two-room schools were
supplanted by 20 consolidated schools with two grade teachers; 6
with four grade teachers, 6 with five grade teachers; 2 with six
grade teachers; and 1 with eight grade teachers--a total of 86
grade teachers doing the work formerly done by 148 teachers, and
doing it better. Fifteen of the schools have a four-year high
school course with an eight months' term. For the five-year period
preceding consolidation not more than half of the eighth-grade
pupils attended high school; after consolidation, an average of 96
per cent of the eighth-grade pupils went to high school.

The pupils are transported to and from school in hacks or motor-
busses heated in winter. The school buildings are equipped with
running water, modern heating and sanitation, telephone, restrooms
for pupils and teachers, gymnasiums and outdoor physical
apparatus, physical training and athletic competition being
carried on under supervision. The courses of study have been
enriched, increased attention is given to vocational work, and
music and art receive attention impossible in the district
schools. Eleven of the schools have orchestras, and concerts are
held which the community as well as the schools attend. There are
auditoriums used for community lectures and concerts, Sunday-
school conventions, community sings, parent-teachers' meetings,
and exhibits of various kinds.

Report on the following:

School life in colonial New England; in colonial Virginia.

The first schools in your own community--length of school term,
attendance, whether private or public, qualifications of teachers,
methods of teaching.

What the family does for the education of the children that the
school cannot do. What the school does that the family cannot do.

Organization of the schools in your district, township, county, or
city.

Advantages of graded schools over ungraded schools.

Consolidation of schools in your county or state.

Debate the question: The district school is more democratic than
the county organization.

Method of selection of the superintendent of your county and town.
Length of term of office.

Organization, powers, mode of election, etc., of your local board
of education.

Authority, or lack of authority, of your county superintendent
over the schools of cities and large towns in the county.

Qualifications prescribed for teachers in your county or town. How
selected.

How are school books selected? Are they free to pupils? Advantages
and disadvantages of free textbooks.

Evidence that public education is or is not a matter of common
interest to the people of your community.

Examples of team work, or lack of it, in your community in the
interest of the schools.

Are the methods by which school authorities are chosen in your
community calculated to secure the best leadership?

How the duties relating to the schools are divided between your
school board and the superintendent. Does your board perform any
duties that should be performed by the superintendent, or VICE
VERSA? Explain.

Parent-teacher organizations in your community and their service.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL

Public education was long restricted to the elementary school.
High schools were at first private academies designed to prepare
for college the few who wished to continue their education. While
they still continue to give preparation for college, their
development in recent years has been largely for the benefit of
the greater number of boys and girls who do not expect to go to
college. The high school naturally made its first appearance in
cities. It requires more elaborate equipment and more highly
trained teachers, and its cost is at least twice that of
elementary schools. These facts, together with the small and
scattered population of rural communities, have been obstacles to
the development of rural high schools. The consolidated school has
in large measure removed these obstacles, and a high school
education is rapidly becoming as available for rural boys and
girls as for those who live in cities.

Report on:

The history of high school development in your community.

The percentage of pupils in your community who go to high school
after completing the elementary school.

"What the high school does for my community."

"My reasons for going (or not going) to high school."

The cost per pupil in the high school in your community as
compared with that in the elementary school.

Education must not only be within the reach of every citizen of a
democracy, but it must be of a kind that will fit him to play well
his part as a member of the community.

EDUCATION FOR PHYSICAL FITNESS

The public schools now give more attention than formerly to the
physical education and welfare of the pupils (see Chapter XX, pp.
314, 315). The wide prevalence of physical defects disclosed in
the effort to raise an army during the recent war will doubtless
cause still greater emphasis to be placed on this aspect of
education. Physical fitness is the foundation of good citizenship.
Provision for physical education and welfare has found its way
into rural schools more slowly than in city schools, as the
following table shows. But our nation can be neither efficient nor
fully democratic until the physical well-being of all its citizens
is provided for, and the responsibility rests largely with the
public school.

HEALTH WORK IN CITY AND RURAL SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES

[Footnote: Adapted from Dr. Thomas D. Wood, in New York TIMES
Magazine, April 2, 1916.]

EDUCATION FOR VOCATIONAL FITNESS

It is a part of the business of education to fit every citizen to
earn a living, for every efficient citizen must be self-supporting
and able to contribute effectively to the productive work of the
community. The interdependence of all occupations in modern
industry and the necessity for every worker to be a specialist
make training essential for every worker who is to attain success
for himself and contribute his full share to the community's work.
The war emphasized strongly the nation's dependence upon trained
workers in every field of industry.

NATIONAL AID FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

One of the direct results of war needs was the passage by
Congress, in 1917, of the Smith-Hughes Act, providing for national
aid for vocational instruction for persons over 14 years of age
who have already entered upon, or are preparing to enter, some
trade. The instruction given under the terms of this act must be
of less than college grade. Every state in the Union has met the
conditions imposed by this law.

The Smith-Hughes Act created a Federal Board for Vocational
Education to consist of the Secretaries of the Departments of
Agriculture, Commerce and Labor, the United States Commissioner of
Education, and three citizens appointed by the President, one to
represent labor interests, one commercial and manufacturing
interests, and the third agricultural interests. The law
appropriates national funds to be given to the state for the
establishment of vocational schools and for the training of
teachers for these schools; but each state must appropriate an
amount equal to that received from the national government. Each
state must also have a board for vocational education, through
which the national board has its dealings with the state.

BREADTH OF PREPARATION FOR VOCATIONAL LIFE

The duty of the regular elementary and high schools is not to
cultivate special vocational skills; not to turn out trained
farmers, or mechanics, and so on. But the work of these schools
should be such that their graduates will be better farmers, or
mechanics, or lawyers, or doctors, or engineers, or teachers, than
they would be without it. First of all these schools should
produce workers who are physically fit for the work they enter.
They should educate the hand and the eye along with the brain.
They should cultivate habits of working together, give instruction
regarding the significance of all work in community and national
life, and by every means possible prepare the pupil to make a wise
choice of vocation. Moreover, the schools should provide a breadth
of education that will "transmute days of dreary work into happier
lives."

MAKING LIFE EDUCATIONAL

Mr. Herbert Quick in his story of "The Brown Mouse," which is a
plea for better rural schools, says:

Let us cease thinking so much of agricultural education, and
devote ourselves to educational agriculture. So will the nation be
made strong.

The life we live, even on the farm, is full of science and
history, civics and economics, arithmetic and geography, poetry
and art. The modern school helps the pupil to find these things in
his daily life and, having found them, to apply them to living for
his profit and enjoyment. For this reason it works largely through
the "home project," boys' and girls' clubs, gardening, and many
other activities.

A recent writer has said,

What is the true end of American education? Is it life or a
living? ... Education finds itself face to face with a bigger
thing than life or the getting of a living. It is face to face
with a big enough thing to die for in France, a big enough thing
to go to school for in America ... Neither life nor the getting of
a living, but LIVING TOGETHER, this must be the single PUBLIC end
of a common public education hereafter. [Footnote: D. R. Sharp,
"Patrons of Democracy," in ATLANTIC MONTHLY, November, 1919, p.
650.]

EDUCATION FOR LIVING TOGETHER

The more nearly the conditions of living in the school community
correspond to the conditions of living in the community outside of
school, the better the training afforded for living together. In
many schools the spirit and methods of community life prevail,
even to the extent of school government in which the pupils
participate.

Of this community pupils and teachers are members with certain
common interests. Cooperation is the keynote of the community
life. The realization of this cooperation is seen in the
classrooms, in study halls, in the assembly room, in the
corridors, on the playground. It manifests itself in the method of
preparing and conducting recitations; in the care of school
property; in protecting the rights of younger children; in
maintaining the sanitary conditions of the building and grounds;
in the elimination of cases of "discipline" and of irregularity of
attendance; in the preparation and conduct of opening exercises,
school entertainments, and graduating exercises; in beautifying
the school grounds; in the making of repairs and equipment for
"our school"; in fact, in every aspect of the school life.

[Footnote: "Civic Education in Elementary Schools," p. 31, United
States Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 17.]

THE SCHOOL AS A COMMUNITY CENTER

The schoolhouse is becoming more and more the center of community
life. We have noticed how, in Randolph County, Indiana, the
consolidated school building affords a meeting place for all sorts
of community activities. The school law of California provides
that:

There is hereby established a civic center at each and every
public schoolhouse within the State of California, where the
citizens of the respective public school districts ... may engage
in supervised recreational activities, and where they may meet and
discuss ... any and all subjects and questions which in their
judgment may appertain to the educational, political, economic,
artistic, and moral interests of the respective communities in
which they may reside; Provided, that such use of said public
schoolhouse and grounds for said meetings shall in no wise
interfere with such use and occupancy of said public schoolhouse
and grounds as is now, or hereafter may be, required for the
purpose of said public schools of the State of California.
Investigate and report on the following:

Provision in your school and in the schools of your state for
health work suggested in the table on page 299.

Other provisions in your school for the physical well-being of
pupils.

The work of your school that relates directly to preparation for
earning a living.

The extent to which a high school can make a farmer.

The operation of the Smith-Hughes Act in your state and in your
county or town.

The meaning of the quotation from "The Brown Mouse" on page 301.

The use of "home projects" by your school.

The meaning of the statement that the end of public education is
"neither life nor the getting of a living, but living together."

Differences and similarities between the government of your school
and that of the community in which you live. The wisdom of making
them more alike.

Different plans of "pupil self-government." (See references.)

Uses to which the schoolhouses of your community are, or might be,
put.

Hours per week and weeks per year during which your schoolhouse is
used.

Economy (or lack of it) in allowing schoolhouses to stand idle
most of the time.

The community center idea. (See references.)

Educational work for adults in your community.

Educational agencies in your community besides schools.

STATE ORGANIZATION FOR EDUCATION

The schools of the local community are a part of the state school
system. Education is considered a duty of the state, though it is
performed largely by local agencies. The constitutions of all
states make provision for it. State control and support of
education are necessary if there is to be equality of educational
opportunity for all children of the state. Every state has a
department of education, and in most states each local community
receives a portion of a general state tax for school purposes. The
state departments of education differ widely from one another both
in organization and in the effectiveness of their work. In most
states there is a state board of education, composed sometimes of
certain state officials, including the governor and the state
superintendent of education, sometimes of citizens appointed for
this purpose alone by the governor or (in four states) by the
legislature. In only one state is it elected by popular vote. In
all states there is also a chief educational officer, usually
called state superintendent or commissioner of education or of
public instruction. In several states women hold this position.
The state superintendent is sometimes elected by popular vote,
sometimes appointed by the state board of education or by the
governor. Under the state superintendent there are deputy
superintendents, heads of departments, and supervisors of the
various branches of educational work. The diagram on page 293
shows a plan of organization proposed for one state by the United
States Bureau of Education.

RELATION OF STATE TO LOCAL ORGANIZATION

The extent of the supervision and control exercised by the state
department of education over the schools of the state varies
within wide limits. In some cases it is very little. In many
states there are state courses of study that are followed more or
less closely by local communities. In a number of states the
textbooks used by all schools are selected either by the state
board of education or by a special state textbook commission. In
New York State the examination questions used in all schools are
prepared by the state educational authorities. Some states furnish
text books free, and in a very few the state even prints all
textbooks. It has not been easy to work out a well-balanced plan
of state administration of schools that would ensure a
thoroughgoing education for the entire state, and that would at
the same time leave sufficient freedom to local school authorities
to adjust the work to local needs.

HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Many of the states support higher educational institutions, such
as state universities and state agricultural colleges, at which
attendance is free for citizens of the state. There are also
special state schools for defectives, such as the blind and the
deaf.

POLICY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TOWARD EDUCATION

The national government gave its first support to public education
by the Ordinance of 1787 under which the Northwest Territory was
organized. It provided that "religion, morality, and knowledge
being necessary government to good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever
encouraged." As new states were organized, sections of the public
lands were to be reserved for school purposes. Grants of public
land were also made for the establishment of agricultural colleges
and experiment stations.

THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION

We have also noted the national cooperation with the states for
agricultural extension work and for vocational education. The
United States Bureau of Education is under the direction of the
United States Commissioner of Education. It has exerted its chief
influence through its investigations of educational methods and
its numerous reports and other publications. It serves as a sort
of educational "clearing house" for local and state school
authorities. One of its chief endeavors has been to increase the
educational opportunities in rural communities.

Report on the following:

Provisions of your state constitution with regard to education.

Cost of public schools per year to your community; your county;
your state.

How this cost is met in your town or county. Portion paid by the
state.

Organization of your state department of education. Compare with
the organization of state departments in neighboring states.

Arguments for and against the method of choosing your state board
of education and your state superintendent.

Do the rural schools and city schools of your state operate under
the same state supervision? Why?

Use of state course of study in your school and community.

Selection of textbooks for your school.

Advantages and disadvantages of uniform textbooks and course of
study. Of uniform examinations throughout the state.

Management and support of your state university.

Qualifications for admission to the state university and state
agricultural college.

Why you are (or not) going to college.

The value of the state university or agricultural college to your
state.

State educational institutions for the blind, the deaf, etc.

Arguments for and against national control of education.

Chief provisions of any bill now before Congress for a national
Department of Education.

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry.

Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings.

In Long's AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Educated men in politics (Grover Cleveland), pp. 255-257.

The educated man and democratic ideals (Charles E. Hughes), pp.
286-288.

In Foerster and Pierson's AMERICAN IDEALS:

The American scholar (R. W. Emerson), pp. 133-155.

Democracy in education (P. P. Claxton), pp. 156-157.

Reports of local and state departments of education.

Publications of the United States Bureau of Education.

Latest annual report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education. These
annual reports contain excellent summaries of every phase of
education in the United States and in many foreign countries.

Bulletins. Send to the Bureau for List of Available Publications.
These bulletins relate to every important aspect of education,
school organization and administration, etc. Many of them are of
special application to rural education.

Teachers of civics will find the following helpful:

1915, No. 17, Civic education in elementary schools as illustrated
in Indianapolis (Government Printing Office, 5 cents).

1915, No. 23, The teaching of community civics (Government
Printing Office, 10 cents).

1916, No. 28, The social studies in secondary education
(Government Printing Office, 10 cents).

1917, No. 46, The public school system of San Francisco, chapter
on civic education.

1917, No. 51, Moral values in secondary education.

1918, No. 15, Educational survey of Elyria, Ohio, chapter on civic
education (Government Printing Office, 30 cents).

1919, No. 50, Part 3, Civic education in the public school system
of Memphis. Write to the U.S. Bureau of Education for list of
references on pupil self-government. Also write to the School
Citizens' Committee, 2 Wall St., New York City, for material on
the same subject.

Earle, Alice Morse, CHILD LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS (Macmillan).

Dewey, John, THE SCHOOL AND SOCIETY and SCHOOLS OF TO-MORROW.

Quick, Herbert, THE BROWN MOUSE (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis).

Foght, H. W., THE RURAL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.

Jackson, Henry E., A COMMUNITY CENTER--WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO
ORGANIZE IT. Bulletin, 1918, No. 11, U. S. Bureau of Education.





CHAPTER XX

THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH

PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND THE NATIONAL DEFENSE


There is nothing else that concerns the community or the nation so
much as the health of its citizens. Of more than three million men
between the ages of 21 and 31 examined for military service in
1918, only about 65 per cent were passed as physically fit to
fight for their country. [Footnote: Public Health Reports, U. S.
Public Health Service, vol. 34, No. 13, p. 633 (March 28, 1919).]

The remaining 35 per cent were either totally unfit for any kind
of service, or were capable only of the less strenuous activities
connected with warfare. Most of the defects found could have been
remedied, or prevented altogether, if proper care had been taken
in earlier years.

PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND THE NATION'S INDUSTRY

The nation loses by this physical unfitness in other ways than in
fighting power. Investigations have shown that wage earners lose
from their work an average of from six to nine days each year on
account of sickness.

[Footnote 2: Public Health Reports, U. S. Public Health Service,
vol. 34, No. 16, pp. 777-782 (April 18, 1919).]

The cost to the individual in loss of wages, doctors' bills, and
otherwise, is a serious matter, to say nothing of the absolute
want to which it reduces many families and the suffering entailed.
In addition to this, the country loses the wage earner's
production. Sometimes death brings to the family permanent loss of
income, and to the nation complete loss of the product of the wage
earner's work. The nation spends large sums of money every year in
providing for dependent families and individuals.

If each of the 38 million wage earners in the United States in
1910 lost 6 days from work in a year, how many days' work would
the nation lose? How many years of work would this amount to?

At $2.50 a day (is this a high wage?) how much would be lost in
wages in a year?

Get information regarding the cost of a long case of sickness,
such as typhoid fever, in some family of your acquaintance
(perhaps your own), including doctor's bills, medicines, time lost
from work, etc.

What would such expense mean to a family living on as low wages as
those mentioned on page 167?

EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL DEFECTS

Moreover, the nation loses a great deal (how much cannot be
calculated) from the physical unfitness of many who keep on
working, but who are not fully efficient because of bodily defects
or ailments. We see the results of this even in school. Pupils who
lag behind their mates in their studies are often suffering from
physical defects of which their teachers, and even they
themselves, may be unaware. It may be that they are ill-nourished,
or that they have defective vision, or hearing, or teeth, or that
they sleep in poorly ventilated rooms. The community does not get
its money's worth from its schools if its children are not in
physical condition to profit by them. In a similar manner earning
and productive power are reduced.

PHYSICAL UNFITNESS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

It has usually been assumed that the people in rural districts are
more healthy than those who live in cities; but it has been found
that there is as much physical unfitness there as elsewhere. It is
true that the records of the war department seem to show fewer men
rejected in rural districts as totally unfit for any kind of
military service; but evidence of other kinds has been collected
that indicates that some kinds of disease, at least, and many
physical defects are more prevalent in the country than in the
city. In THE LURE OF THE LAND, Dr. Harvey Wiley makes a comparison
of the death rate from certain diseases in a few states where the
figures are available for both city and country.

[Footnote: Dr. Harvey Wiley, THE LURE OF THE LAND, Chapter VIII,
"Health on the Farm," pp. 53-60.]

RURAL AND CITY SCHOOL CHILDREN COMPARED

Studies have been made of the comparative health of city and rural
school children, which show results in favor of the former. Of
330,179 children examined in New York City 70 percent were found
defective, while of 294,427 examined in 1831 rural districts of
Pennsylvania 75 per cent were defective. The preceding chart shows
the comparative prevalence of health defects among city and
country children.

Investigate the following:

Meaning of "vital statistics." Importance of vital statistics to
your community. Where recorded for your county or town. What the
vital statistics of your community for the last year show.

Causes of deaths in your community for the last year. The
percentage of these deaths that were "preventable." Increase or
decrease of death rate in your community during recent years, in
your state.

The nature of the prevailing sicknesses in your community during
the last year. Per cent of these that were contagious. List of
contagious diseases in the order of their prevalence.

Quarantine regulations in your community against contagious
diseases. Extent to which they are observed. Who is responsible
for their observance? For their enforcement?

Observe condition of sidewalks and other public places with
respect to expectoration. Is there a law on the subject in your
community'? Is it observed or enforced? Who is responsible?
Dangers from expectoration.

Medical inspection in the schools of your county, town, and state.
If any, its results. Kinds of defects most commonly found. How is
it conducted? Who sends the inspectors? To what extent the homes
of the community cooperate with the schools in getting results
from medical inspection.

BETTER CONDITIONS IN CITIES DUE TO ORGANIZED TEAM WORK

We may well ask why ill health and physical defects seem to be
more prevalent in rural communities than in cities. The answer
probably is, simply, that in cities they are PREVENTED more
effectively. The chart on page 313 shows that while the death rate
in New York City was 20.6 per thousand in 1900, it had declined to
14 per thousand in 1914; while that in the rural districts of New
York State remained practically the same during these years (15.5
per thousand in 1900, 15.3 in 1914).

This indicates that health conditions in the city were originally
much worse than in the country. They were rapidly improved by
organization for health protection. There is not the occasion, in
rural communities, for the elaborate health-protecting
organization that is now found in all large cities, because the
people in rural communities are not so completely dependent upon
one another nor at the mercy of conditions over which, as
individuals, they have no control. And yet even in rural
communities physical well-being depends largely upon organized
team work.

SCHOOLS AS AN AGENCY FOR HEALTH CONSERVATION

Cities have used their school organization to combat physical
defects and weaknesses of pupils, and that is why they make a
better showing than rural communities in such matters as those
shown in the table on page 312. Removing such defects from young
people means a stronger and more efficient adult population ten or
twenty years from now; for these defects are often the causes of
more serious illness in later years. The table on page 299,
Chapter XIX, shows how much behind cities rural communities have
been in the use of their school organization for this purpose. The
encouraging thing is, however, that rural communities are
beginning to find the means to use their schools in this way. The
way has been opened by school consolidation (p. 295), by the
grouping of all the small and isolated schools of a county under a
central county administration (p. 294), by aid from the state,
both in money and in supervision, and by cooperation from the
national government.

HEALTH EDUCATION FOR ADULTS IN CITIES

Cities have extended their health-educational work to the adult
population. This takes place in part through the schools also.
Instruction given to children is of course taken home by them.
Visiting nurses employed by the schools visit the homes. Classes
for mothers are conducted at the school in the afternoon or
evening. But more than this, city boards of health, often in
cooperation with the school authorities, conduct educational
campaigns by means of literature distributed to the homes through
school children, by means of evening lectures and moving pictures,
and through the newspapers.

AGENCIES FOR HEALTH EDUCATION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Means are not wanting for similar work in rural communities. The
homes may be reached by the right kind of instruction in the
schools. The classes or clubs for women conducted by women county
agents may be, and often are, used as means of health instruction.
Public meetings at the "community center" at the schoolhouse may
be devoted at times to public health problems, with lectures,
moving pictures, and discussions. The local newspapers always
afford a channel through which to get matters of this kind before
the people. Local and state boards of health, the United States
Department of Agriculture, and the Public Health Service may and
do use these and other agencies to reach the people.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE HOME

No matter how much machinery for cooperation we may have in our
community, like that described above, it cannot help much unless
every family and every citizen cooperates intelligently.

In a large city, a small group of men, constituting the city
council, may inaugurate measures which will accomplish sanitary
improvements at thousands of homes; but for the accomplishment of
sanitary improvements at 1000 farm homes at least 1000 persons ...
must be convinced that the sanitary measures are needed, become
informed how to apply them, and be willing to put them into
operation.

[Footnote: RURAL SANITATION, by L. L. Lumsden, Public Health
Bulletin No. 94, United States Public Health Service, p. 10.]

THE IMPORTANCE OF PURE AIR

Pure air is essential to good health. It is not always easy to get
in the crowded living and working conditions of cities. There it
is necessary to regulate these conditions by law, and factories
and tenements are inspected to see that they are properly
ventilated and not overcrowded. In rural communities there is less
excuse for bad air, and the responsibility for it rests more
directly upon the individual, as illustrated on page 112, Chapter
X.

BAD AIR AND THE SPREAD OF DISEASE

It might seem that it is nobody's business but our own how we live
in our homes or at our work. But bad air lessens vitality and
nurtures disease. This reduces productive power. Moreover, colds,
influenza, and tuberculosis (of which more than a million people
are constantly sick in the United States), all of which are
nourished in bad air, may be spread by contact, or by food handled
by those who are sick. People who live in bad air at home mingle
with others at church, in moving picture theaters, at school, in
the courtroom, and in other public meeting places, which are
themselves often poorly ventilated. It is strange that court
rooms, where justice is administered, schools where children are
prepared for life, and churches where people worship, are so often
badly ventilated.

Report on the following:

Is your schoolroom well ventilated? How do you know? What effect
does poor ventilation have upon your feelings and your work?

If the law requires school attendance, why should it also require
good ventilation of the school?

If the ventilation of your school is not good, what may you do
about it? Who is responsible for it?

Observe and report upon the ventilation of the court rooms, moving
picture theaters, churches, and other meeting places in your
community.

PURE WATER AND HEALTH

Cities go to great expense to get an abundant pure-water supply.
It is of the greatest importance in community sanitation Impure
water is one of the chief sources of typhoid fever and other
diseases of the intestines. About 400,000 persons have typhoid
fever every year in the United States, and 30,000 are killed by
it; and it is unnecessary. We have from three to five times as
much typhoid as many European countries have, and for no other
reason than that we are negligent.

PURE FOOD AND HEALTH

Pure, clean, wholesome food is equally essential. We need not
dwell upon the importance of the right kinds of food and well-
cooked food. Much illness is caused by "spoiled" foods. Disease
germs may be carried by food as well as by water. Tuberculosis may
be carried by milk, either from diseased cattle, or from victims
of the disease who handle the milk at some point in its progress
from the dairy farm to the home. The death rate among babies is
appalling, especially in cities, because of the use of milk
containing germs of intestinal diseases. Typhoid fever may be
contracted from milk, green vegetables, and oysters from beds
contaminated with sewage.

The food supply of cities passes through many hands before it
reaches the consumer. At almost every point it is protected by
regulations and inspection. Most of it, however, comes originally
from the farm which is beyond the control of the city authorities.
The producers and handlers of food products in rural districts
therefore owe it not only to themselves but also to their city
neighbors to exercise every possible precaution against the spread
of disease. Such precautions consist in cleanliness in handling
and storing milk, butter, and meats; in the cleansing of milk
receptacles with pure water; in the proper location and
construction of wells; in protecting springs from surface
drainage; in sanitary disposal of sewage and other wastes from the
household; in protection of food against flies.

SANITATION IN CITIES

In cities a great deal of attention is given to sanitation. Sewage
is carried off by public sewers. Householders are required to
place garbage in sanitary cans, whence it is collected and
disposed of in such a way as not to pollute the soil. Ashes and
refuse are carried away from homes and shops, and the streets are
cleaned daily. In rural communities such matters are left almost
entirely to the householder.

FLIES AS DISEASE CARRIERS

Exposed garbage, improperly built outdoor toilets, and stable
manure are breeding places of flies; and flies are notorious
carriers of disease. Yet, out of more than 3000 homes in one
county in Indiana only 31 made provision to prevent stable manure
from breeding flies, and the same was true of only 1 out of more
than 2000 homes in a county in North Carolina, and only 86 out of
nearly 5000 homes in an Alabama county.

DANGER FROM MOSQUITOES

Malaria is widespread in the United States and imposes a heavy
toll upon the nation's health. It is carried from one victim to
another by a certain kind of mosquito, of which it is
comparatively easy to get rid by proper drainage of breeding
places, by treating the surface of pools with kerosene, by
screening, and by seeing to it that rain barrels are covered and
that tin cans and other receptacles of water are not left lying
around. But flies and mosquitoes do not stop with fences, nor do
they recognize city or county boundaries. Hence, individual effort
without community cooperation is likely to be useless.

POLLUTED SOIL AND HOOKWORM DISEASE

The terrible hookworm disease so prevalent in our southern states
is caused by a minute worm that infests soil polluted with sewage.
It penetrates the soles of the feet of those who go barefoot and
the palms of the hands of those who work in the soils, finds its
way through the blood to the intestines, and thence to the soil
again. An investigation in 770 counties in 11 states where
hookworm disease is prevalent showed that out of 287,606 farm
homes only six tenths of one per cent disposed of their sewage in
such a way as to prevent soil pollution.

Out of 305 homes in a little community in Mississippi, only 4
properly disposed of sewage. When the first investigations were
made, there were 407 cases of hookworm disease out of 1002
residents. Besides, there had been recently 12 cases of
tuberculosis, 47 of typhoid fever, 184 of malaria, and 384 of
dysentery.

Safe methods of disposing of sewage were introduced, houses were
screened, an artesian well was bored for a public water supply,
and the community cleaned up generally. After these improvements
the various diseases almost entirely disappeared. Similar results
were obtained in 99 other communities in the southern states.

[Footnote: Report of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1917, pp. 136-
138.]

Topics for investigation:

The water supply of farms in your locality. Any recent
improvements.

The public water supply (if any) of your community. Its sources.
Method of purification. Quality of water. How the people know it
is pure or impure. Public or private ownership of the supply. Cost
to the householder.

Extent to which the families represented in your class depend upon
private wells. How many have had their well water examined to test
its purity. How to proceed to have water tested. Who tests it? Who
pays for the test? (If possible, visit the laboratory where the
tests are made.)

Number of cases of typhoid fever in your community, now or during
last year. How the information can be obtained. Is the information
likely to be accurate? Whose business is it to keep a record? Why
should a record be kept? Why should it be made public?

Causes of typhoid in your community. Are they preventable? How?
Observance of quarantine against typhoid.

How may wells become polluted? Give cases of which you may know.
Study diagram on page 314.

Methods of sewage disposal in your community. Laws on the subject.
Can you suggest improvements?

Regulation of milk production and handling in your community: on
the farms where it is produced; in the hands of dealers and
distributors; in the home. Who make these regulations?

Outline on a map the area from which your community is supplied
with milk. Show on a map cities that are supplied by your county
with dairy products, garden vegetables, meats, etc.

Clean-up campaigns in your community.

Progress and methods of fly and mosquito extermination in your
community.

The work of the Rockefeller Foundation for the extermination of
hookworm disease (see references).

Hospitals that serve your community. Where located. By whom
supported (private, city or town, county, state).

NATIONAL CONTROL OF HEALTH CONSERVATION

Health protection, like education, has been considered primarily
the duty of the state. But many conditions affecting health have
arisen that the state cannot completely control. Chiefly under the
power given to it by the Constitution to regulate foreign and
interstate commerce (p. 451), Congress has passed many laws that
protect health, placing their enforcement in the hands of the
several departments of the national government.

HEALTH WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The Department of Agriculture conducts much public health work,
through its home demonstration agents, its Office of Rural
Engineering, which deals with problems of farm water supply and
rural sanitation, its Bureau of Entomology which wages war against
flies and other disease-carrying insects, and its Bureau of Animal
Industry which inspects cattle, meats, and dairy products. The
Department of Agriculture also administers the Food and Drugs Act,
the purpose of which is to secure purity of food products and to
require that they and medicinal drugs shall be labeled in such a
way as to show what they contain. Fraudulent and harmful "cures"
and "patent medicines" may thus be exposed.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

The United States Public Health Service investigates diseases and
health conditions and the means of controlling them. It has given
considerable attention to rural sanitation. It issues reports and
other publications of great value to the citizen, some of them
being listed at the end of this chapter. It has representatives in
all important foreign ports, inspects all ships that enter
American harbors, and holds them in quarantine until they and
their passengers are given a clean bill of health. Cholera and
other dangerous diseases have thus been prevented from gaining a
foothold on American soil.

HEALTH WORK OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS

The War Department has also waged a relentless warfare against
disease, not only in the army itself, but also in the Panama Canal
Zone, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and other regions
occupied by the army. The Department of Labor seeks to improve the
physical conditions of labor for both men and women, and its
Children's Bureau is charged with a study of all matters
pertaining to the welfare of children. In the Department of the
Interior the Census Bureau collects national vital statistics; the
Bureau of Mines has done valuable work for the prevention of
accidents in mines and mining industries; and the Bureau of
Education seeks to promote physical education, instruction in home
economics, and education in the home relating to the care of
children.

STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HEALTH PROTECTION

A very large part of the duty of health protection must, however,
remain with the states. Every state has its department of health,
headed by a state board of health, or a commissioner of health, or
both. These departments differ greatly in their organization and
in the extent and effectiveness of their work.

NEW YORK STATE ORGANIZATION

One of the best organized state departments of health is that of
New York. Among its most important features are (1) a PUBLIC
HEALTH COUNCIL which has power to establish a state-wide SANITARY
CODE; (2) the concentration of all administrative power in the
hands of a single state COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, who has a staff of
experts to direct special lines of health work; and (3) a well-
organized scheme of cooperation between the state department and
local health authorities.

LOCAL ORGANIZATION FOR HEALTH PROTECTION

The absence or weakness of local organization for health
protection has been one of the obstacles to progress in physical
well-being in the United States. Driven by an appalling death rate
and frequent epidemics, our large cities have developed health
departments which in many cases have proved very effective. But in
smaller communities, while health departments or health officers
usually exist, the organization has for the most part been very
ineffective. The people themselves have not been sufficiently
aroused to their needs and to methods of meeting them. New York
and Massachusetts are among the most progressive states in this
matter. Each local community in these states (town, village, or
small city) has its board of health and health officer; but these
communities are grouped into HEALTH DISTRICTS (8 in Massachusetts,
20 in New York), each district being in charge of a health officer
appointed by the state commissioner or board of health. In New
York the district health officer, who is there called the SANITARY
SUPERVISOR, has the following duties:

To keep informed regarding the work of each local health officer
within his sanitary district.

To aid the local health officers in making health surveys of the
community under their control.

To aid each local health officer in the performance of his duties,
particularly on the appearance of contagious diseases.

To hold conferences of local health officers.

To study the causes of excessive death rates.

To promote efficient registration of births and deaths.

To inspect all labor camps and to enforce in them all public
health regulations.

To inspect Indian reservations and to enforce all provisions of
the sanitary code in them.

To secure the cooperation of medical organizations for the
improvement of the public health.

To promote the information of the public in matters pertaining to
the public health.

EXAMPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Another type of local health organization and of cooperation
between local and state authorities for health protection and
promotion has been developed in North Carolina, where 85 per cent
of the population is rural. Here the county has been taken as the
unit of local organization. Health conditions had been very bad in
this state, hookworm disease, tuberculosis, malaria, and other
diseases being prevalent. The state board of health, assisted by
the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission (see above, page 320, and
references below), began an investigation and an educational
campaign among the people, with the result that many of the
counties of the state now have an organization for health
cooperation unsurpassed, perhaps, in any other state. Each county
has a health department, which is controlled jointly by the state
board of health and a county board of health. The county board of
health consists of the mayor of the county seat, the chairman of
the board of county commissioners, the county superintendent of
schools, and two physicians of the county elected by the other
three members. The work of the health department is directed by a
county health officer, who is appointed by the state board of
health of which he is also a member. He has a staff of trained
assistants.

In this plan note the cooperation between state and local
communities, between town and county officials, and between the
school authorities and the health organization. Note, also, the
leadership of specialists in health matters.

Topics for investigation:

Organization of the department of health in your community (both
county and town): the board of health; the executive health
officer or officers; the kinds of work done.

Amount of money spent by your local health department for all
purposes and for each purpose separately. Compare with the amounts
spent for roads, for schools, and for other work of the local
government.

The interest shown by the people in your community in public
health matters.

Some of the more important health problems of your community.

The leadership in your community in health matters.

Cooperation between the state government and your local government
in health matters.

The more important local and state laws relating to health in your
community.

Organization of your state department of health.

Local health problems that need state control.

State health problems that need local cooperation.

The operation of the Food and Drugs Act in your community.

The work of the Public Health Service.

The extermination of yellow fever in the United States.

The fight against the bubonic plague in California.

The work of the War Department to maintain the health of the
soldiers during the recent war. Volunteer agencies that cooperated
in this work.

Work done in your community for the promotion of health by the
Department of Agriculture and the United States Public Health
Service.

The work of the Children's Bureau of the Department of Labor.

The inspection of immigrants.

READINGS

Reports of local and state boards of health.

Publications of state agricultural college relating to public
health.

Publications of the United States Public Health Service,
Washington. The following are illustrative:

Federal Public Health Administration: Its Development and Present
Status. Reprint No. 112, U. S. Pub. Health Reports, 1913.

Public Health Reports. Issued weekly.

Rural Sanitation, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 94, 1918.

Health Insurance, Pub. Health Reports, vol, 34, No. 16, 1919.

The Nation's Physical Fitness, Pub. Health Reports, vol. 34, No.
13, 1919.

Good Water for Farm Homes, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 70, 1915.

Typhoid Fever: Its Causation and Prevention, Pub. Health Bulletin
No. 69, 1915.

Public Health Almanac (for current year).

What the Farmer Can Do to Prevent Malaria, Pub. Health Reports,
No. 11, Supplement, 1914.

Fighting Trim: The Importance of Right Living. Supplement No. 5,
Pub. Health Reports, 1913.

The Transmission of Disease by Flies, Supplement No. 29, Pub.
Health Reports, 1916.

The Citizen and Public Health, Supplement No. 4, Pub. Health
Reports, 1913.

The Department of Agriculture publications contain material
relating to public health. For example:

Health Laws, Year Book, 1913, pp. 125-134.

Animal Disease and Our Food Supply, Year Book, 1915, pp. 159-172.

Public Abattoirs in New Zealand and Australia, Year Book, 1914,
pp. 433-436.

Meat Inspection Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Year Book 1916, pp. 77-98.

Sewage Disposal on the Farm, Year Book, 1916, pp. 347-374.

Clean Water and How to Get It on the Farm, Year Book, 1914, pp.
139-156.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, Chapter IX.

Beard, C. A., AMERICAN CITY GOVERNMENT, pp. 261-282.

Among the Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Education
treating of health matters are the following:

1910, No. 5, American schoolhouses.

1913. No. 44, Organized health work in schools. No. 48, School
hygiene. No. 52, Sanitary schoolhouses.

1914, No. 10, Physical growth and school progress. No. 17,
Sanitary survey of the schools of Orange County, Va. No. 20, The
rural school and hookworm disease.

1915, No. 4, The health of school children. No. 21, Schoolhouse
sanitation. No. 50, Health of school children.

1917, No. 50, Physical education in secondary schools.

1919, No. 2, Standardization of medical inspection facilities. No.
65, The eyesight of school children.

Publications of the Children's Bureau, Department of Labor.

See, for example, Rural Children in Selected Counties of North
Carolina, Rural Child Welfare Series No. 2, and Baby-Saving
Campaigns. A Preliminary Report on What American Cities are Doing
to Prevent Infant Mortality, Bureau Publication No. 3. See list of
publications issued by the Bureau.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service.

Series C: Lesson 19, How the city cares for health.

Reports of the Rockefeller Foundation, 61 Broadway, New York City.





CHAPTER XXI

SOCIAL, AESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS

HAPPINESS THROUGH SERVICE


Several times in the preceding chapters reference has been made to
our national purpose "to transmute days of dreary work into
happier lives." This does not mean to get rid of work; for
happiness can be attained only IN work and THROUGH work. Happiness
IN work depends largely upon our freedom and ability to choose the
kind of service for which we are best fitted, and upon the extent
to which we prepare ourselves for it. It also depends to a large
extent upon good health (p. 309).

SATISFACTION OF HIGHER WANTS

But there never was a truer statement than that "all work and no
play makes Jack a dull boy." In return for his work every citizen
is entitled to enough compensation to enable him to provide not
only for the bare necessities of life, such as food and shelter,
but also for the pleasure that he derives from the satisfaction of
his higher wants, such as social life and recreation, an education
that will give him a richer enjoyment of life, pleasant
surroundings, religious advantages.

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY LIFE

All these things have much to do with our national well-being and
our citizenship. Our nation is democratic only in proportion to
the equality of opportunity enjoyed by all citizens to satisfy
these wants. Moreover, the efficiency of each citizen in
productive work and as a participator in self-government depends
more than we sometimes think upon his opportunity to "enjoy life"
in pleasant surroundings and in wholesome social relations. In the
past the citizen has been left largely to his own resources and to
purely voluntary cooperation to provide for these wants.
Government has not even adequately PROTECTED his rights of this
kind, to say nothing of positively PROMOTING them. At present,
however, community team work through government is being organized
as never before both to promote and to protect the interests of
all citizens in the fullest possible enjoyment of life.

RECREATION AND SOCIAL LIFE

THE VALUE OF PLAY

Children enjoy play because it satisfies physical, mental, and
social wants. But it is also the principal means by which they
prepare for the more serious duties of later life. It builds up
health, trains the muscles and the senses, and sharpens the wits.
It gives practice in team work, develops leadership, and teaches
the value of "rules of the game." Every child is entitled to an
abundant opportunity to play, both because of the happiness it
affords him and because by it he is trained for membership in the
community. It is to the interest of the community to afford him
the opportunity. It is largely for this reason that most of the
states protect children by law from being put to work for a living
at too early an age.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAY IN CITIES

In large cities thousands of children live in crowded districts
where there is no place to play except in the public streets. So
little appreciative have we been of the importance of play in the
development of young citizens that great numbers of city schools
have been built with no provision whatever for playgrounds. This
mistake is slowly being corrected, often at great expense. No city
school is now considered first-class if it does not have an ample
and well-equipped playground, with competent directors to teach
children how to get the most out of their play. Most cities are
also establishing public playgrounds apart from the schools,
sometimes under the management of the school board, but often
under that of a special playground or recreation commission.

PLAY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Play for the children of rural communities is as important as for
those of cities, but even less attention has been given to it.
Many a country school has no playground, and if it has one it is
likely to be small and not equipped with play apparatus. Why
should there be playgrounds when there is all outdoors in which to
play? Why should there be expensive play apparatus and play
directors when boys and girls can get all the "exercise" they need
at home or on the farm? "Play" means more than mere physical
exercise, and must be pleasurable if it is to have value.
Organized play is as truly a means of education as any school
instruction, and must have competent leadership or direction. In
rural districts, where the children live far apart, there is
particular need for a common meeting place for organized group
play, and the school is the most appropriate place for it.

ARGUMENT FOR SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION

The need for organized play in rural communities is one of the
best arguments for school consolidation, for it brings together
larger numbers and makes possible the employment of a competent
play director and the proper equipment of the playground. Teacher-
training schools now make a point of training play leaders as well
as teachers of arithmetic and geography.

MEANING OF RECREATION

As children grow older, an increasing part of their time must be
given to work--school work, tasks at home, remunerative employment
outside of the home. After leaving school and throughout adult
life, work absorbs the major part of one's time and attention. But
even then, "all work and no play" will continue to "make Jack a
dull boy." We now call play "recreation," for by it body and mind
and spirit are refreshed, renewed, RE-CREATED, after close
application to work. That is why school work is broken by
"recesses." Recreation is necessary as a means of providing for
physical, mental, and social wants; for the pleasure that it
affords. But it is also important in its relation to work, for
without it body and mind become "fagged," people grow "stale" at
their work, producing power and power of service are reduced.

THE HABIT OF PLAY

It is very easy to get out of the habit of play, and especially
difficult to form the habit in adult life if it has not been done
in youth. People often become so absorbed in work that there seems
to be no time for recreation. In such cases not only is the
enjoyment of life narrowed, but there is a risk of damaging the
quality of one's work and even of shortening one's life of
productive activity, or of service.

LEISURE A REQUIREMENT

Every worker is entitled to opportunity for recreation, both for
his own sake and for the well-being of the community. This means,
first of all, that he must have LEISURE for it. When people have
to work hard for ten or twelve or more hours a day, year in and
year out, as was once customary in industry, there is neither time
nor energy for wholesome recreation. That such conditions existed,
and still exist to a considerable extent, is due to gross
imperfections in the industrial organization of the community. One
of the evidences of progress toward "transmuting days of dreary
work into happier lives" is the reduction in the hours of toil in
many industries, and the consequent increase of leisure for the
enjoyment of life and for self-improvement.

One of the things for which labor unions have struggled is the
shortening of the working day. Through their efforts, and through
the awakening of public interest and knowledge in regard to the
matter, the working day is now fixed by law at eight hours in most
industries, of