THE SOCIAL PHASE OF THE RURAL PROBLEM. 221 



But simple as the proposition is, it is so simple that it is often over- 

 looked, and for this reason the social i)liase of the rural problem is very 

 much a neglected factor. Each of us is so prone to see the entire prob- 

 lem through the spectacles of his immediate work that he fails usually 

 to appreciate and to make use of all those other agencies that are of 

 importance. 



All of the above discussion really leads to a consideration of a subject 

 which for want of a better term we may call "Kural Sociology." And 

 having endeavored to show the importance of the social aspect of the 

 rural (luestion, I wish to make this paper of some practical value by 

 making a plea in as brief a manner as possible for the study of rural 

 sociology. The meaning and scope of rural sociology can best be indi- 

 cated by reviewing some of those themes that would naturally be taken 

 up under such a title. In studying the social aspect of the rural question 

 we ought first of all to find out the real condition of affairs — to study the 

 rural status. In doing this we must study the condition of the industry 

 of agriculture, its nature, its present status, its relation to other indus- 

 tries, the relation of science to agriculture, and so on. We must study 

 the rural population and endeavor to explain the movements of that 

 population. We should study rural social conditions as they relate to 

 morals, crime, intemperance, illiteracy, charity, etc., ■"etc. We need to 

 make a study of the traits that are develo]>ed by farm life, and the in- 

 fluence of those traits in retarding or assisting rural progress. In gen- 

 eral, we need to find out all we can about the conditions of farmers to- 

 day, how they live, how they think, the influences that surround them. 

 We must get a good, idea of the whole rural question. When this 

 is done we need to study more especially those social factors that 

 seem to be making for rural progress — -the development of means of 

 communication in rural districts, as by roads, telephones, rural mail 

 delivery, electric lines; the need for farmers' organizations, their value, 

 thier history, and their achievements; the study of the rural school ques- 

 tion from the standpoint of the opportunity to l>e given rural children 

 to enter any occupation in life ; the study of all the many means of 

 agi'icultural education, including the work that can be done with the 

 younger people in the prinmry and secondary schools; all the work of 

 our agricultural colleges and experiment stations, farmers' institutes 

 and reading courses; nor must we neglect the country church, an institu- 

 tion that we can hardly regard otherwise than as absolutely necessary 

 to satisfactory rural life, and yet one which is apparently not meeting 

 the demands made upon it. We can also study how far it is possible to 

 secure co-(jiperation among all these agencies. These subjects and themes 

 like them are the legitimate field of rural sociology. You will see that 

 it is not so much a new thing as a co-ordination of old things. It is 

 looking at the farm problem from a little different point of view. 



In pleading for the study of rural sociology I want to suggest a few 

 advantages that it seems to me it possesses as a subject of study. In the 

 first place, it is a subject of great interest to farmers. I think it is 

 increasingly clear that our more intelligent farmers view the problem 

 that faces them very much from the standpoint that I have been indi- 

 cating. They don't call it rural sociology perhaps, but if you will ob- 

 serve the progress of Granges, and institutes, and farmers' congresses, 

 you will note the increasing interest in those very aspects of the ques- 



