RURAL GOVERNMENT 



rilHE American system of government is 

 I theoretically a process of self-educa- 

 tion. All rural government should produce 

 improved conditions of living in country 

 communities. Unfortunately, parts of it 

 have fallen into the hands of men who seek 

 mere personal advantage, and to that ex- 

 tent the system has been deflected from an 

 organism to serve and develop the people 

 into one that serves to place men in power ; 

 it has to this degree ceased to be educa- 

 tional, and therefore has missed its func- 

 tion. 



The subversion of government is spe- 

 cially marked in many rural communities, 

 where local incentive is often so completely 

 stifled by machinery, domination and cus- 

 tom that the community is unable to work 

 out any real improvement in its condition. 

 There is a general lack of any fundamental 

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