8 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



things on character. Do they stunt or encourage 

 the inner life ? It must be admitted that coun- 

 try people do not always accept their environing 

 opportunities for enjoying the higher life of mind 

 and heart. But do they differ in this respect 

 from their cousins of the town ? 



We must remember, too, that this is a large 

 country, and that a study of rural conditions in a 

 certain community, township, county, state, or sec- 

 tion may not give us the correct basis upon which 

 to determine the agricultural status of the country. 



Nor must we make the mistake of confusing 

 conservatism and decadence. That the city 

 will in many particulars always progress more 

 rapidly than the country is inevitable. But 

 speed is not the ultimate criterion of a full life. 

 Again must we apply the test whether the gain 

 is relative or essential. Telephones, free mail 

 delivery, electric car lines, operas, great libraries, 

 cathedrals all come to the city first, some 

 of them solely to the city. The country cannot 

 hope to be other than inherently conservative 

 as regards such institutions. But may there not 

 be found such adaptations of or substitutes for 

 these institutions as shall not only preserve the 

 rural community from decadence, but, indeed, 

 build it up into strength, beauty, and purity? 



