198 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



organ through which rural civic life finds expression is the county 

 government; therefore, we may define rural sanitation as the 

 administration of sanitary measures by or through the county 

 government. Rural sanitation finds its parallel in urban sanita- 

 tion, and county sanitation its parallel in municipal sanitation. 



The field of rural sanitation includes more than 99 per cent, 

 of the area and more than half of the population of the United 

 States. 



Rural sanitation should be initiated by the state, but executed 

 through the rural civic machinery, the county government. The 

 state should initiate, because the state is the only existing force 

 that can initiate rural or county health work. The county gov- 

 ernment must carry on the rural sanitation initiated by the state 

 for two reasons: First, should the states undertake to execute, 

 as well as initiate, rural sanitary measures, all of the states, with 

 a few exceptions, would soon realize that their undertaking was 

 far beyond their means ; second, no one, or no agency should do 

 for oth rs what they can do for themselves, as such practice leads 

 toward dependence and indifference and away from independence 

 and appreciation. The people are able, when properly shown, to 

 care for themselves, and it is better for them to do this than to 

 have it done for them. 



The independence of the county as a governmental unit de- 

 mands a plan of rural health work that will permit the more 

 progressive counties to go forward, liberating such counties from 

 the possible retarding influence of the backward counties in 

 short, a plan that permits of leadership and healthy rivalry 

 among counties. 



The multiplicity of rural governments is a greater rural sani- 

 tary asset, affording a corresponding multiplicity of opportunity. 

 There are 2,953 county governments in the United States, an 

 average of 66 to the state. The county governments of the 

 average state hold over a thousand meetings a year; at practi- 

 cally all of these meetings the state's representatives are welcome 

 and can get a hearing. If the state health officer has a reasonable 

 proposition, with good argument behind it and not too big a 

 budget in front of it, he can influence the county to take one, 

 two, or three steps toward a cleaner civic life. Every meeting 

 of the county government is a challenge to the state department 



