THE NEW DEMOCRACY 221 



pathetic; to be suspicious of some dark plot to entrap 

 the unwary; to assume that all city residents regard 

 country residents as inferior; to be in general unduly 

 class-conscious. There is no doubt but the city can help 

 the country in many ways. It has organizing ability, 

 it has wealth, it has well-developed agencies for both 

 business and social improvement. The right sort of 

 urban aid, from the right sort of people, offered in a 

 spirit of genuine cooperation and suffused with under- 

 standing as well as real sympathy, could be vitalized in 

 many rural causes. There is no sound reason why 

 farmers should not welcome such cooperation, and they 

 will do so once it is clear that the offer is sincere and 

 intelligent. 



Another question, less frequently asked, is equally 

 pertinent: Can the country help the city? Why not? 

 It already furnishes fresh blood for city building. 

 Were it not for this transfusion, city life would surely 

 deteriorate. The country can endeavor to ensure the 

 health of the migration cityward. The service to the 

 cities and so to the nation which the country is ren- 

 dering as the nursery of young manhood and woman- 

 hood is not sufficiently recognized. The greatest asset 

 of a democracy is people who are healthy of body, intel- 

 ligent of mind, clean of morals and friendly of spirit. 

 The farms have bred such people and they can and 

 should continue to breed them. It will be one of the 

 farmer's best contributions to democracy. The farmer 

 can help the city by trying to understand the problems 

 of the city. He can support such wise measures of re- 

 form as will help the honest urban citizens to put under 

 foot the sinister forces that haunt municipal politics and 

 prey upon the people. Farmers habitually think of 

 these things as not particularly their affair; but it is their 



