36 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



pauperism, now confined to some six or seven of the greatest, may 

 be more widely spread ; and even if wages do not sink work may 

 be less abundant. In fact the chronic evils and problems of old 

 societies and crowded countries, such as we see them to-day in 

 Europe, will have reappeared on this new soil. 



THE GREAT SOUTHWEST 1 



RAY STANNARD BAKER 



ONE of the first teachings of the arid land is that the individual 

 must subserve his interest to that of the community, and that 

 is a hard matter for many an American to do. In the East a 

 farmer may settle on his quarter-section, build a home, raise 

 what he pleases or let the weeds grow, keep up his fences or 

 let them fall down, and no one says a word in objection; he is 

 the most independent of men. But in the desert, where the 

 struggle for existence is more intense, men must march in lock- 

 step: if one wastes water, allows water to run out on another's 

 field, does not keep up his ditches, does not cooperate with his 

 neighbors in the work of cleaning or repairing ditches, he injures 

 the entire community, and the community must force him 

 sternly into the line of duty. Moreover, he must join with his 

 neighbors in the protection of the water-supply, in case some 

 other community seeks to divert more than its share from the 

 river above; and in many cases of drought and low water he 

 must suffer equally with his neighbors, sharing what little water 

 there is to be had, even though his own orchards are dying. All 

 this serves to build up such a community spirit in the irrigated 

 countries as the Easterner cannot appreciate. There are human 

 bickerings here as everywhere else, but a man soon learns that the 

 community interest is, after all, greater than that of the in- 

 dividual, and upon every important subject he submits his will 

 to that of the community. From this spirit have arisen those 

 peculiar and powerful cooperative associations of farmers, which 

 all but control the marketing of crops in parts of the West. 

 Instead of trusting to avaricious commission men and engaging 



i Adapted from Century, 64: 369-371, July, 1902. 



