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Local Government. Apparently the farm village is the 

 stabilizing influence in Chinese political life, and is bound to be 

 a most effective factor in Chinese political development. 



The Isolation of Villages. These villages are out of the 

 currents of life. They are a law unto themselves. All the evils 

 of rural isolation are here in spite of the fact that people live in 

 groups. Village life is both strength and the weakness of 

 China. 



G Agriculture and National Life 



There are many problems arising among farmers that 

 concern the nation as a whole even more intimately than the 

 farmers themselves. Among them are matters such as those 

 now to be mentioned. 



Famine. Famines are due to floods, to drought, to the lack 

 of transportation, and to the lack of a surplus with which to buy 

 when the local supply is scarce. Mr. J. H. Reisner has stated 

 the remedies as: river conservancy; reforestation; irrigation, 

 both from streams and by tapping underground water supplies, 

 especially in North China; development of transportation facili- 

 ties; distribution of population through colonization; industrial 

 development to reduce surplus village population; installation of 

 granaries; increase of agricultural production and food surplus; 

 and the establishment of rural credit and saving societies. 



Population and the Food-supply. The density of population 

 in China as a whole is not excessive, about 250 to the square 

 mile, (in 19 provinces.) The province of densest population 

 has nearly 900 to the square mile. This may be compared with 

 the population density of England (670), Belgium (650), and of 

 Holland (540). There are, however, huge dense spots. It is 

 said that the Chengtu Plain, with an area of 2000 square miles, 

 has a population of 2,300 to the square mile. Other areas of 

 extreme density are on the lower Yellow river, both in Honan 

 and in Shantung,- at the mouth of the Yangtsze, and in and 

 about Canton. There are also many and large sparsely 

 populated areas. In some cases the densely populated areas 

 feel the pressure of food supply. On the other hand, it is stated 

 that the Chengtu Plain is self-sufficing with a fair standard of 

 living. 



There is much testimony leading to the belief that on the 

 whole the production of Chinese land could be materially 

 increased, both by better methods and by colonization. Cheap 



