CHAPTER XVII 

 FEDERATION FOR RURAL PROGRESS 



It is almost trite to assert the need of the 

 "socialization" — to use a much- worked phrase 

 — of the country. It is possible that this need 

 is not greater than in the cities, but it is different. 

 Among no class of people is individualism so 

 rampant as among farmers. For more than a 

 century the American farmer led the freest 

 possible social life. His independence was 

 his glory. But, when the day of co-operation 

 dawned, he found himself out of tune with the 

 movement, was disinclined to join the ranks of 

 organized effort, and he prefers even yet his per- 

 sonal and local independence to the truer 

 freedom which can be secured only through co- 

 operative endeavor. Moreover, the social aspect 

 of the rural problem is important not merely 

 because the farmer is slow to co-operate. The 

 farm problem is to be met by the activities of 

 social institutions. 



We may say (assuming the home life, of course) 

 that the church, the school, and the farmers' or- 

 ganization are the great rural social institutions. 



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