SOCIAL PHASE OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 355 



4. Nor may we ignore the political factor in the rural problem. 

 Doubtless the American farmer, like most Americans, places undue 

 reliance upon legislation. But we can not disregard the profound 

 industrial and social effects of either wise or foolish laws. The political 

 efficiency of the farmer will have much to do in determining class 

 progress. Furthermore, the political duties of farmers must be en- 

 forced, their influence must continue to be exerted in behalf of the 

 general policies of government. It is of vital consequence to our demo- 

 cratic government that the American farmer shall in no wise lose his 

 political instinct and effectiveness. 



5. The consideration of the political phase of the question leads us 

 to the heart of the farm problem. For it is conceivable that the 

 farmers of this country may as a class be skilled growers of produce, 

 successful sellers of what they grow, and indeed that the industry as a 

 whole may be prosperous, and yet the farming class in its general social 

 and intellectual power fail to keep pace with other classes. It is not 

 impossible that a landlord-and-tenant system, or even a peasant system, 

 should yield fairly satisfactory industrial conditions. But who for a 

 moment would expect either system to develop the political and general 

 social efficiency that American democratic ideals demand? Even if 

 there is no immediate danger of either of these systems becoming estab- 

 lished in America, we still desire that our farmers as a class shall secure 

 for themselves the highest possible position not only in industry but in 

 the political and social organization of American society. Indeed this 

 is the ultimate American rural problem, to maintain the best possible 

 status of the farming class. No other statement of the problem is 

 satisfactory in theory. None other is explanatory of the struggles and 

 ambitions of farmers themselves. The American farmer will be satis- 

 fied with nothing less than securing for his class the highest possible 

 class efficiency and largest class influence, industrially, politically, so- 

 cially. It is true that industrial success is necessary to political and 

 social power. But it is also true that social agencies are needed in 

 order to develop in our American farmers the requisite technical skill, 

 business method and industrial efficiency. The influence of such social 

 forces as education, developed means of communication, the organiza- 

 tion of farmers, and even the church, must be invoked before we can 

 expect the best agricultural advancement. And the end is after all a 

 social one. The maintenance of class status is that end. 



This analysis of the rural problem is necessarily brief, almost crude, 

 but I hope that it reveals in some degree the scope and nature of the 

 problem ; that it indicates that the farm question is not one merely of 

 technique, fundamental as technical skill must be ; that it demonstrates 

 that the problem is also one of profound economic, political and social 

 significance. If this be so, do we need to argue the proposition that 



