146 The State and the Farmer 



The small effect of "arbor day" is also most 

 surprising. After all these years of planting, 

 and of song and recitation about it, the com- 

 munities have not yet risen to the point 

 of having well-planted school-premises. The 

 larger part of the grounds are yet bare of 

 good trees. This would not be so if there 

 were any genuine local interest in the subject 

 of improvement of school-grounds. 



Whether the federal government may prop- 

 erly aid the common schools in the several 

 states is much more than a question of state 

 or community opportunity, however. It is 

 often a question of community ability. A 

 child ought not to be disadvantaged by the 

 locality in which he lives. All should have 

 equal educational opportunity. The ratio of 

 population to taxable property and to the 

 labor demand, differs widely in different com- 

 munities; and society must in some way see 

 that chances are evened up in the communities 

 that cannot support proper schools. How far 

 this shall be done by state and federal agen- 

 cies may perhaps be a matter of detail; but it 



