THE RURAL ORGANIZATION SERVICE. 



Dr. T. N. Carver, 



Director, Rural Organization Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 



Washington, D. C. 



Ladies and Gentlemen; The problem of the economic distribution of 

 the products of the farm is, as I presume has been stated several times 

 already in this meeting, largely a matter of getting the city consumer and 

 the country producer on a basis of mutual understanding and co-operation, 

 but it is not a very profitable expenditure of time to discuss co-operation 

 in the air until you have some definite scheme or plan according to which 

 you are going to co-operate or upon which you are going to co-operate. 

 All co-operation, which means merely working together, is, of course — 

 and this is elementary — ^based upon mutual concessions and accommoda- 

 tions. People who will not concede anything or accommodate themselves 

 to the requirements of other people, of course cannot work with other 

 people and must work alone and, therefore, inefficiently. There is 

 nothing to be accomplished by talking either to the farmers or the city 

 consumers about the other fellow's faults. Leadership in this world has 

 always been divided into two main tjrpes. One tells the people about 

 their own rights, their wrongs, their grievances, but he never accom- 

 pUshes anything except getting himself a little popularity at times. 

 Nothing that is worth while is ever done by that method. There is 

 another type of leader who tells the people nothing about their rights or 

 wrongs or grievances, but tells them about their opportunities and their 

 obligations. While this type of leader is not always the most popular, 

 his is the leadership that is really constructive and that accomplishes 

 results. The best illustration that we have at the present day is in the 

 condition of the southern negro. There is a type of leader who sets up a 

 fiery cross and tells the people about their grievances and their wrongs 

 and tries to excite them into some kind of concerted action to get their 

 rights and redress their wrongs. Then there is Booker T. Washington 

 telling them nothing about their wrongs or their grievances, but telling 

 them a great deal about their opportunities and obHgations. We all 

 believe that is the type of leader that is going to help the southern negro. 



That is a mere preface to what I want to say about mutual accommo- 

 dations and concessions which the city and country people must make. 

 All moral principles, in fact, begin by getting the other man's point of 

 view. The child cries and asks, "How would you Hke it if you were in 



(95) 



