Moreover, we should not forget that we are 

 now living in a new world. The old agriculture 

 and its associated rural industries have been 

 shaken to their very foundation. This makes the 

 solution of the rural problem, to some extent, 

 speculative. 



For one thing the country is becoming urban- 

 ized. This may prove helpful. Again it may not. 

 Individualism, however, is giving place more and 

 more to commercialized enterprise. At the same 

 time the evils of transient tenantry follow close 

 upon the heels of successful farming, where farm- 

 ers rent their land and move to town; and also of 

 unsuccessful farming, where the mortgage shark 

 eventually becomes possessed of the land. What 

 the state needs to encourage, therefore, is farm 

 ownership by the many rather than by the few, 

 and farm ownership rather than farm tenantry. 

 We must retain on the farm, as farmers, the best 

 type of American manhood and womanhood or 

 the nation will fall into decay, just as Rome fell 

 with the decline of her agrarian influence. 



The consolidated country school, by rendering 

 obsolete the one room district school house, is a 

 progressive step toward improved educational 

 facilities for rural children. 



The country church, on the other hand, has be- 

 come more decadent than aggressive. This among 

 other rural agencies is not organized in propor- 

 tion to its importance. Some progress, however, 

 is being made by means of social organizations, 

 but the ultimate solution of the rural problem de- 

 pends more largely upon education than upon any 

 other single factor. 



Rural Social Leaders. Rural social leaders in 

 full sympathy with the country life movement will 

 find here a fruitful field for earnest endeavor. To 



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