PROGRAM OF RECONSTRUCTION 247 



themes, but in the fields of citizenship and of literature 

 and art. The entire farming community should be per- 

 petually at school. 



The function of education in a rural democracy 

 should be conceived in no narrowly vocational or ma- 

 terialistic spirit. The making of more efficient farm- 

 ers is one great end to keep in view, but it is only a part 

 of the need. Farm bred boys and girls must have the 

 same chance to secure an adequate education for city 

 occupations that they should have to study agriculture. 

 City bred boys and girls should have the chance to learn 

 farming if they care to. There must be no class or 

 caste lines developed by our educational system. Un- 

 derstanding of the entire farm problem, appreciation of 

 the importance of a satisfying country life, love of the 

 land, a sense of the farmer's duties as well as his rights, 

 delight in good literature, clearness of thinking about 

 all the problems of democracy at home and abroad - 

 these should be the fruit of a well-planned system of 

 rural education. Leaders, too, must be trained for 

 rural service. Agricultural experts must be educated 

 and given a place to work. A rural democracy can be 

 efficient and free only through education. 



THE VOICE OF AGRICULTURE 



One of the most enduring results of an adequate 

 system of rural education should be seen in the increas- 

 ing ability of the farmers to maintain their ground in 

 all those councils in which their interests are discussed 

 and decided. It should be a fundamental principle that 

 no state or national legislation, no project of a pub- 

 licly supported agency involving the cooperation or the 

 larger interests of the farmers, no enterprise in- 

 augurated by associations of a general business or urban 



