60 THE FARMER AND THE NEW DAY 



and womanhood among ourselves. To enhance the 

 comforts and attractions of our homes." From the 

 first, women were admitted to membership and to a 

 share in responsibility. The " lecture hour " of each 

 Grange meeting is intended for education and recrea- 

 tion. The broad social purpose and work of the 

 Grange have been conspicuous. The fraternal idea 

 has been strong. The Grange has for half a century 

 consistently followed these great principles of rural 

 welfare and it would be impossible to persuade any 

 responsible Grange body to take the position that we 

 can afford to neglect or to leave to chance the problem 

 of a nobler womanhood and a higher manhood. To 

 do so would be to repudiate the organization and all its 

 works. 



BAD SOCIAL CONDITIONS DO EXIST 



If we face facts, we shall soon find that there is ample 

 cause for alarm with respect to rural life conditions. 

 We can easily find rural areas so isolated that loneli- 

 ness reigns supreme, with the attendant evils of con- 

 stant drudgery, unrelieved monotony, even of insanity 

 and other forms of decadence. There are farm homes 

 almost completely lacking in comfort, convenience, or 

 even in the mere elements of refinement. There are 

 rural schools of a half-dozen pupils, housed in an un- 

 kempt box of a building, taught by a half-trained 

 teacher who is paid most meager wages. In some cases 

 the amount as well as the quality of the schooling is 

 pitifully inadequate. There are farmers who rarely 

 take any recreation or permit their children to have it. 

 There are places where the generally accepted rules of 

 public health are unknown or unenforced, even places 

 where common decencies are not observed. There are 



