1 88 THE FARMER AND THE NEW DAY 



to the individual except through his work and his re- 

 lations. It can come only in communities. Commun- 

 ity building then becomes the prime task of the country 

 church; through preaching and worship; through the 

 presence of a resident pastor who regards himself as 

 a community builder; the developing of many com- 

 munity activities; the practice as well as the preaching 

 of true democracy, the church will become a vital fac- 

 tor in the community. 



Local Rural Government. It is needless to say that 

 local government should be honest; it must also be ef- 

 ficient. In dealing with public health, protection of 

 life and property, community conveniences and all edu- 

 cational work, the local government already finds its 

 field. But is it not possible to enlarge the function 

 of the local government? As the country community 

 comes to need water, sewerage systems and so on, shall 

 not public utilities be under public control in the coun- 

 try as well as in the city? Why should not the county, 

 for example, own and control a slaughter house, a 

 cold storage, a system of elevators? In many counties 

 the town or township is required to appropriate public 

 money for the agricultural interests of the region in- 

 stead of relying wholly upon the state or the nation or 

 even the county as a whole. 



WHY SO MUCH EMPHASIS UPON THE ORGANIZATION 

 OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY? 



In this book, two chapters are devoted to this one 

 idea. Why so much talk about it? Let us summarize. 



i. To secure full efficiency in rural affairs, it is nec- 

 essary to have relatively small groups or units. There 

 is no business, no government, no army, no organized 

 activities of any kind but finds this essential. It has 



