THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 



of the open country have not yet 

 arrived at a conception of a thoroughly 

 social or cooperative society. The farm- 

 ing people have been obliged and are 

 still obliged to give too great a pro- 

 portion of their thought and energy 

 merely to making a living. They have not 

 entered on the social phase and they 

 scarcely know what it means. They are 

 tied to the daily routine both because they 

 have not learned how to organize and con- 

 duct an agricultural business effectively, 

 and because they are preyed upon and sub- 

 jugated by interests that control distribu- 

 tion, exchange, and markets and that divert 

 or exploit the common resources of the 

 earth. 



The farmer must be aided in his busi- 

 ness of farming, and the artificial hin- 

 drances that are not a part of this business 

 must be removed or checked by govern- 

 ment ; then he must be made to feel that he 

 is to give of his time and talent to the com- 

 munity. In the largest sense, no person is 

 a good citizen, whether in country or town, 

 who merely has good character and is pas- 

 13 



