112 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



of a generation ago, if he were born in the country, or, if not, 

 to draw upon his observation made upon some summer vacation 

 or on casual business trips into the interior. Or he takes his 

 picture from ' ' Shore Acres ' ' and the ' ' Old Homestead. ' ' In any 

 case it is not improbable that the image may be faulty and as a 

 consequence his appreciation of present conditions wholly inade- 

 quate. Let us consider some of these possible sources of mis- 

 conception. 



In the first place it is not fair to compare the country life as 

 a whole with the best citj r conditions. This is often done. The 

 observer usually has education, culture, leisure, the experience 

 of travel, more or less wealth: his acquaintance is mostly with 

 people of like attainments. When he fails to find a rural en- 

 vironment that corresponds in some degree to his own and that 

 of his friends, he is quick to conclude that the country has noth- 

 ing to offer him, that only the city ministers to the higher wants 

 of man. He forgets that he is one of a thousand in the city, 

 and does not represent average city life. He fails to compare 

 the average country conditions with the average city conditions, 

 manifestly the only fair basis for comparison. Or he may err 

 still more grievously. He may set opposite each other the worst 

 country conditions and the better city conditions. He ought in 

 all justice to balance country slum with the city slum ; and cer- 

 tainly so if he insists on trying to find palaces, great libraries, 

 eloquent preachers, theaters, and rapid transit in rural com- 

 munities. City life goes to extremes ; country life, while varied, 

 is more even. In the country there is little of large wealth, 

 luxury, and ease; little also of extreme poverty, reeking crime, 

 unutterable filth, moral sewage. Farmers are essentially a mid- 

 dle class and no comparison is fair that does not keep this fact 

 ever in mind. 



We sometimes hear the expression, "Country life is so barren; 

 that to me is its most discouraging aspect." Much country life 

 is barren ; but much more of it is only relatively and not essen- 

 tially so. We must admit that civilization is at least partially 

 veneer; polish does wonders for the appearance of folks as well 

 as of furniture. But while the beauty of "heart of oak" is 

 enhanced by its "finish," its utility is not destroyed by a failure 



