ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS 107 



are already considerations in intensive farming, and 

 will dominate more and more widely."* 



But how secure this ? Leading farmers everywhere 

 are already guided by it ; how shall all be led to follow ? 

 Such is the final question in all discussions of our 

 problem. The solution is not economic in nature, but 

 ethical it depends not on knowledge, but character. 

 " The results of intellectual achievement of one race 

 or one man may be freely borrowed by the rest of the 

 world, provided the rest of the world have the moral 

 qualities which will enable them to profit by them; 

 whereas moral qualities cannot be borrowed by one race 

 from another. Japan, for example, could easily borrow 

 from European nations the art of modern warfare, 

 together with its instruments of destruction; but did 

 not borrow, and could not borrow, that splendid courage 

 and discipline which enabled her to utilize so efficiently 

 the inventions which she borrowed. So one nation can 

 easily borrow farm machinery and modern methods of 

 agriculture, but it cannot borrow the qualities which 

 will enable it to profit by them. Saying nothing of 

 mental alertness and willingness to learn, ... it 

 could not borrow that patient spirit of toil, nor that 

 sturdy spirit of self-reliance, nor that forethought which 

 sacrifices present enjoyment to future profit, nor can it 

 borrow that spirit of mutual helpfulness which is so 

 essential to any effective rural work, . . . nor can 

 it borrow a general spirit of enterprise which ventures 

 out upon plans and purposes which approve themselves 

 to the reason. These things have to be developed on 



* K. L. Butterfield, " Country Church and Rural Problem," 

 p. 14. 



