8 The Condition of the Western Farmer. [286 



avoiding these greater dangers, is only of value if it can be 

 shown that the district chosen is really representative, so that 

 what is true of its inhabitants can fairly be predicated in gen- 

 eral of the inhabitants of all that region about which knowl- 

 edge is sought. It is this last form of study which has been 

 adopted in this monograph, with the hope that it may, if 

 nothing more, supplement the facts shown by other and more 

 pretentious investigations. 



The local causes at the basis of the farmers' movement 

 differ greatly between the South and the West, as between 

 other parts of the country, so that in any study these various 

 sections would need to be kept distinct; and it is to the West 

 alone, and to that part of the West whose main agricultural 

 development has taken place within the last twenty-five or 

 thirty years, that any conclusions drawn in this paper may be 

 applied. The district chosen for consideration is Harrison 

 township, in Hall county, Nebraska. Harrison is not only a 

 political subdivision, but also a congressional survey town- 

 ship, and so contains just thirty-six square miles. This 

 paper relates almost entirely to that small area, and to the 

 conditions which have directly affected it; only enough pre- 

 liminary matter is inserted to show clearly the relations of 

 the district with the state in which it lies and the group of 

 states of which it forms a part. 



In weighing the reasons which are now to be given as 

 indicative of the representative character of the district se- 

 lected, it must be kept in mind that often the " average case " 

 is not the real representative one. The true "type" is 

 sometimes very different from the bare mathematical average. 

 For example, in such a study as the present one, the crucial 

 point is not alone such a question as whether the average 

 amount of mortgages owed by residents of the town is the 

 same as the average owed in the state as a whole. To dis- 

 cern a truly typical district, we must go much further than 

 that and take into consideration the many influencing con- 

 ditions: in short, we must strike a careful balance between 

 these conditions. 



