266 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



The lesson to be drawn therefrom is the need of thorough or- 

 ganization of our road forces and of careful preliminary study. 

 The interests affected are among the most important to the wel- 

 fare of the nation. The investment will be gigantic in size, but 

 can be made to return a benefit far beyond its cost if we will 

 handle it as a business proposition. If, on the other hand, we 

 rush into work of unparalleled magnitude without adequate 

 preparation, if we continue to intrust its execution to men un- 

 skilled in the work, chosen mainly on account of past political 

 services and lacking public confidence, and if we keep changing 

 them as various parties may command popular pluralities, we 

 shall pay the price of our folly. 



MITIGATING RURAL ISOLATION x 



JOHN MORRIS GILLETTE 



THE statement is often made that the great urban problem is 

 that of congestion of population while the chief drawback to 

 rural life consists in the isolation of families and people. It is 

 held that life in cities is too compact while that in the country 

 is characterized by too great an aloofness. Isolation is not solely 

 a matter of spatial separation; the greater the distance persons 

 are removed from one another the more intense the consequent 

 social aloofness. On the contrary, isolation is in part a state of 

 mind, one of the chief factors of which is a feeling of loneliness, 

 and such a state frequently occurs among persons living amid 

 dense urban populations. Perhaps the greatest hunger for 

 human association and friendship is often to be found in the 

 midst of the throngs of great cities. Neighboring in cities is not 

 always or mostly with those who live next door or in the same 

 block. The urbanite's closest friends may be blocks or miles 

 removed, necessitating the occurrence of social exchanges at in- 

 frequent intervals. Similarly the church and other institutions 

 that are attended, the theater, the recreation place and the like, 

 may be far distant, requiring a considerable journey to attend 

 them. 



i Adapted from a Reprint from the Quarterly Journal of the University 

 of North Dakota, Vol. VII, No. 2, University, January, 1917. 



