572 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



e. COMMUNITY LIFE the home, education, health, transporta- 

 tation, recreation, civic improvement, public morality. 



These committees should be asked to do three things: (a) 

 Study the town thoroughly along their respective lines, (b) 

 Call in whatever help can be secured from state and county 

 organizations, boards and institutions, (c) Work out two or 

 three practical projects for improvement which will be submitted 

 to the second mass meeting. These projects should be based on 

 actual needs. 



6. THE SECOND COMMUNITY MEETING. This should be merely 

 an unofficial town meeting. The chairman of the first mass 

 meeting should preside. The committee chairman should report 

 their projects which should be taken up separately and put to 

 a vote just like an article in the town warrant. While there 

 will be nothing official or binding in this vote, still it will give 

 sufficient attention to each project to prevent worthless ones 

 being passed. Here again everybody should have his say, for it 

 is better for opposition to appear now than later. Do not forget 

 that a community will go no farther nor faster in its develop- 

 ment than the majority of the people both see and believe. 



7. THE COMMUNITY PLAN OR PROGRAM. Such projects as are 

 adopted become the community's working program. It should 

 comprise some projects which can be carried out at once and 

 others which will require a period of years. The projects 

 adopted are turned over to the community council, which acts 

 as their custodian and directs their carrying out. 



8. GETTING RESULTS. The local organizations carry out the 

 specific projects. As their representatives come together in the 

 council they either choose or by general consent are asked to 

 become responsible for definite things. They do this knowing 

 that they will have the sympathy and support of other organi- 

 zations and also that they will be expected to produce results. 

 If there are projects which no organization can carry on, such 

 as cooperative buying and selling, it may be necessary to organize 

 a new group to do this work. 



9. COUNCIL MEETINGS. The council should meet regularly 

 every three months, with special meetings as necessity requires. 

 These meetings should be real conferences on the most important 



