64 The State and the Farmer 



from the cities. The open country has prob- 

 lems enough of its own without being obliged 

 to receive the over-plus from cities. 



What I have in mind is far more than the 

 mere relief of symptoms here and there. I 

 want to see the development of a virile and 

 effective rural society ; and I know that such a 

 society can come only as the result of forces 

 arising directly out of the country, as a natural 

 expression of the country itself, not as a reflec- 

 tion or transplanting of city institutions. The 

 country must develop its own ideals and self- 

 respect. My city friends, for example, are 

 proposing ways whereby country people may 

 have entertainment, but they make the funda- 

 mental error of fashioning their schemes on 

 city ways. The real countryman does not 

 think of theaters and recitals and receptions 

 and functions in the way that the city man 

 does, and it is not at all necessary that he 

 should. On the contrary, it is very important 

 that he should not. The countryman needs 

 more social life; but his entertainment and 

 contentment must come largely out of his 



