102 The State and the Farmer 



desire or willingness to shift responsibility. 

 Much can be done and has been done wisely 

 to strengthen the local institutions by the 

 timely aid and suggestion of the national 

 Department ; but it is easy to see that such 

 a policy might arise as a gradual result of the 

 best-intentioned work as to prove in the end 

 to be destructive rather than constructive. 



States rights. 



We have passed the old formula of "states 

 rights." We have learned that certain things 

 would better be delegated to federal agencies. 

 Consolidation or centralization of power is a 

 necessity. Yet at the same time we are pressed 

 by the necessity of maintaining local initiative 

 and vitality. It is possible to centralize power 

 and at the same time to develop the locality- 

 be it state, county, or neighborhood if only 

 we keep a clear distinction of functions. The 

 real states' rights principle underlies the devel- 

 opment of the individual and the community 

 rather than the maintenance of the pride and 

 prerogative of the commonwealth as an organ- 



