RURAL AMERICA 



bequest to be administered in accordance with the wishes 

 of the donor. Such a foundation might be called a clearing 

 house of bequests, gifts, donations, etc., and should be estab- 

 lished in every community. Even small communities of a 

 thousand people might well have them, and there is no reason 

 why such institutions would not fill a need in townships and 

 counties. They would, in time, receive property of various 

 kinds that would surprise even the most sanguine. They 

 would encourage philanthropy. They would correct miscel- 

 laneous and harmful charity. They would promote local 

 spirit. They would eventually become a strong factor in 

 putting Rural America on a solid foundation. Almost every 

 community today contains would-be benefactors, and the need 

 of an organization which will inspire confidence and encourage 

 giving for the general welfare is becoming more and more 

 urgent as the nation increases in wealth. 



N. Efficiency 



All know that one of the big words of the present age is 

 efficiency, which is just now playing a very important part 

 in the industrial world. Of course the reason why men are 

 giving the matter of efficiency so much attention in the indus- 

 trial world is because it increases profits, and profits rule the 

 nation, even though it is gradually dawning on the national 

 consciousness that profits are not the whole of life. The 

 expression is gaining currency, " Man does not live by cash 

 alone." Now, it is comparatively easy to develop efficiency 

 in the industrial world, where great aggregations of men are 

 under the direction of trained leaders and where the rule is, 

 few units and increasing expertness of leaders. But in Rural 

 America, where the units are innumerable and almost every 

 man is his own master, efficiency makes very slow progress. 

 It is no serious criticism of Rural America to say that the 

 amount of her wasted and misdirected energy is beyond com- 

 putation. R. L. Gray, in The Saturday Evening Post, speaks 

 very much to the point in this connection: 



" A young man was husking corn at two cents a bushel 



73 



