104 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



to make rural life all that it is capable to become, and to understand 

 and to realize in the best way all the natural products of the earth." 

 In the prosecution of the movement he urged that the first principle 

 of democracy should not be lost sight of, " which is to let the control 

 of policies and affairs rest directly back on the people." He cau- 

 tioned against too strong centralization of authority and administra- 

 tion, but instead urged that the effort should be made a real demo- 

 cratic expression on the part of the people. 



This idea was applied particularly to the extension enterprise, 

 where much hope was expressed of the county agent work in fur- 

 nishing stimulation and guidance, " if the motive power in it is kept 

 with the people." But it Avas maintained that it " can never produce 

 the background results of which it is capable if it is a strongly in- 

 trenched movement pushed out from one center, as from the agri- 

 cultural college. The college may be the guiding force. But it 

 should not remove responsibility from the people of the localties, or 

 offer them a kind of cooperation that is only the privilege of partak- 

 ing in the college enterprise." Some of the so-called cooperation in 

 public work was characterized -as being " little more than to allow 

 the cooperator to approve what the official administration has done." 



Professor Bailey looked to the colleges of agriculture for leader- 

 ship, and because of this he warned against their assuming any 

 dictatorship. " It is just the moment," he said, " to give the people 

 in the neighborhoods all the freedom and all the responsibility they 

 ought to have for their own best development. The future will care 

 very little for the mechanism of administration, but it will care very 

 much for the results in the training of the folk." 



The contention of the j)aper was tersely summed up in these 

 closing sentences : " Agriculture is in the foundation of the political, 

 economic, and social structure. If we can not develop starting power 

 in the background people we can not maintain it elsewhere. The 

 greatness of all this rural work is to lie in the results and not in the 

 methods that absorb so much of our energy. If agriculture can not 

 be democratic, then there is no democracy." 



This address dealt with a vital matter, in which we need all the 

 counsel that can be had at this time. It was suggestive and of 

 unusual interest, and it will be helpful in avoiding some of the 

 dangers. It deserves to be widely read. 



There is undoubtedly a danger in the latest phase of going too 

 far — of doing too much for the people, of robbing them of their 

 initiative and the independence on which they need to rely so 

 largely, and of leading them to lean too heavily upon their advisors. 

 The effort may not be stereotyped, and it should be genuinely coop- 

 erative with the people themselves. But, on the other hand, there 



