248 RURAL SOCIOLOGY 



and traditions, some one stands ready with a scheme of pageantry 

 which, if slight adaptations are made in the scenes, may be used 

 almost anywhere. With this plan all that is most desirable in- 

 stantly disappears, for in pageantry of the right sort a com- 

 munity not altogether understanding itself seeks to know itself 

 better, and tries in self-expressive, artistic action to review its 

 past, know the meaning of its .present and appreciate rightly the 

 latent beauty of its life. 



An auditor leaving the pageant field or hall should feel that 

 he understands as never before the special significance of the past 

 and present life of that town. The common share of all workers 

 in the inspiration of dreams, that is what the hearer should have 

 brought away. Individuality, a special meaning that grows out 

 of right interpretation of the life of a particular community 

 that, then, is the great desideratum of the best type of pageant. 



Is not, then, the pageant worth while? It spreads widely the 

 name and reputation of a town. It brings trade to it. It rouses 

 and sustains civic pride. It reveals and develops artistry. It 

 gives the fine arts their right position in the life of the people. 

 Above all, it is to the people who share in it a pleasure in the 

 doing, and a proud and delightful memory. When our young 

 people, indeed the people of the country at large, have by popu- 

 lar vote chosen the drama as our chief interest in the fine arts, 

 when the great essential for our proper growth in drama is to 

 give our people right standards, can there be any question that 

 it is wise to foster pageantry in this country? 



RURAL ART l 



FRANK A. WAUGII 



THE term is one which is coming into use in certain circles. 

 Some of the universities now offer courses in rural art. The 

 present article can hardly do more than survey the field and 

 indicate the scope of the subject. 



Art is, of course, universal, and its principles are the same in 

 the country as in the city. All we can mean therefore by rural 



i Adapted from Business America, Feb., 1914, pp. 164-167. 



