THE OUTLOOK COUNTRYWARD. 



By Prof. L. H. Bailey, Ithaca, New York. 



Delivered before the Society, March 11, 1911. 



Two important movements are now before the country — the 

 country -life movement and the back-to-the-land movement. 

 The country-life movement is the expression of the desire to make 

 the farming regions as satisfying and effective socially and eco- 

 nomically as are the towns and the cities. The movement is not 

 only sound but is fundamental, for the reason that an effort to 

 effectualize any necessary existing society is part of the progress of 

 civilization. 



The present back-to-the-land agitation is largely a city effort, 

 expressing many motives and ideas. It is in part an effort of the 

 city to relieve its congestion, in part a desire to find labor for the 

 unemployed, in part the result of the doubtful propaganda to de- 

 crease the cost of living by sending more persons to the land, in 

 part the desire of certain persons to escape the city, and in part 

 the effort of real-estate dealers to sell land. There can be no objec- 

 tion to properly qualified city persons moving out to the open 

 country, and many of them make good farmers; but for the most 

 part the back-to-the-land movement is socially and economically 

 unsound. 



Something can be done, perhaps, to relieve city congestion by 

 finding opportunities for urban citizens in the country, but the 

 extent of relief that really can be secured in this way is very small 

 and it does not reach the core of the question; for the core of the 

 question is that the city must learn to take care of its own and to solve 

 its inherent problems, and that the whole interrelation of city and 

 country must be solved by fundamental processes. Part of the 

 congestion of cities is the increase due to immigration. Undoubt- 



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