82 THE THIRD POWER 



of touching elbows constantly with his fellow-sol- 

 diers. Thus there is this sense of unity independent 

 of the organization itself. He knows that others 

 are interested in him as he is in others. Combina- 

 tion and concert of action could not but come. And 

 it was easy because the laboring men were close to- 

 gether. 



It has been different on the farm. The farmer, 

 to be sure, knew that there were millions of others 

 engaged in the same occupation as his, but he never 

 saw them, knew nothing about them, and he could 

 hardly help feeling that he was a lone skirmisher, not 

 certain whether he would be supported by the main 

 body or not. He worked for himself as others did 

 for themselves, and, as a consequence, each was sub- 

 jected to the severest competition from the others. 

 Community of interest was not thought of. Com- 

 bination seemed unnatural, and so, impossible. The 

 conditions implied division and separation. Isola- 

 tion was the bar to organization. But now all this 

 is changed, and henceforth the tendency will be 

 strong in the direction of combination. The rural 

 delivery, the telephone, the interurban trolley, good 

 roads, the wider diffusion of books and papers, the 

 growth of cities and towns throughout the rural re- 

 gion, have all served, and will increasingly serve, 

 to bring the farmers closer together. The farmer 

 can get to town every day now, whereas twenty-five 

 years ago he could not, or did not, do so once a week 

 or once a month. He meets his neighbors in socie- 



