COHESION NEEDFUL 109 



with them; but they must all be studied in their 

 relations to the kind of life that should ultimately 

 be established in rural communities. The Com- 

 mission will fail of its purpose if it confines itself 

 merely to providing remedies or correctives for 

 the present and apparent troubles of the farmer, 

 however urgent and important these troubles 

 may be. All these matters must be conceived of 

 as incidents or parts in a large constructive pro- 

 gram. We must begin a campaign for rural 

 progress. 



To this end, local government must be de- 

 veloped to its highest point of efficiency, and all 

 agencies that are capable of furthering a better 

 country life must be federated. It will be neces- 

 sary to set the resident forces in motion by 

 means of outside agencies, or at least to direct 

 them, if we are to secure the best results. It is 

 specially necessary to develop the cooperative 

 spirit, whereby all people participate and all be- 

 come partakers. 



The cohesion that is so marked among the dif- 

 ferent classes of farm folk in older countries 

 cannot be reasonably expected at this period in 

 American development. Nor is it desirable that 



