CO-OPERATION 135 



cial forms. It is probable, for example, that 

 cooperation to secure and to employ farm labor 

 would be helpful. It may have for its object 

 the securing of telephone service (which is al- 

 ready contributing much to country life and is 

 capable of contributing much more), the ex- 

 tension of electric lines, the improvement of 

 highways, and other forms of betterment. Partic- 

 ular temporary needs of the neighborhood may 

 be met by combined effort, and this may be 

 made the beginning of a broader permanent 

 organization. 



A method of cooperative credit would un- 

 doubtedly prove of great service. In other 

 countries credit associations loan money to their 

 members on easy terms and for long enough time 

 to cover the making of a crop, demanding se- 

 curity not on the property of the borrower, but 

 on the moral warranty of his character and in- 

 dustry. The American farmer has needed money 

 less, perhaps, than land-workers in some other 

 countries, but he could be greatly benefitted by 

 a different system of credit, particularly where 

 the lien system is still in operation. It would 

 be the purpose of such systems, aside from pro- 



