37 
own observation. These conditions in themselves present a very serious prob- 
lem. Indeed, they are a series of problems, some of which seem Inei stable and 
perhaps incapable of satisfactory solution. Among these l mention : 
ill The tendency away from the farm, which is so manifest as to he the 
cause of great anxiety in many communities. There can be no doubt that our cil lea 
have ha«l a large accession Of the best material in the rural tlist rids. These 
persons, with a certain mural superiority and excellence of natural endowment, 
and with manifest inferiority in education, have forced their way to the front 
in the cities and have become the living examples of the splendid quality of 
body and mind and heart produced on the farm. This efficiency is to be 
accounted for in part on the theory of personal taste. Not every pel-son horn 
on the farm is adapted to farming pursuits. People are disposed to follow their 
likes and avoid their dislikes. The ambitions of men oftentimes reveal their 
Cherished ideals. This, however, does not completely account for the marked 
tendency away from the farm. We must recognize the prejudice there is against 
the drudgery associated with mneh of rural life. We must also recognize the 
fact that the American people regard the rural accumulations as inadequate 
and oftentimes as too slow. We recognize also that the rural population has 
not cultivated a just appreciation of its own importance and of its own dignity. 
The proverb has it that "every man wants to live in the- next county." This 
restless discontent and unwillingness to solve the problems of life in spite of our 
surroundings is an evil that grows by what it feeds upon. Something is to be 
said also concerning the failure to give young men and young women proper 
opportunities for personal advancement The young business man feels that he 
can win when he has opportunity. The business world recognizes that no loss is 
sustained by giving such young men opportunity. I do not undertake to discuss 
the reasons in the case, but I thiniv we shall agree that the facts warrant the 
statement that many a farmer's boy lacks the opportunity for individual initia- 
tive so essential for independent positions. The prospect of dependent subor- 
dination being continued too long naturally arouses a young man's ambition for 
a position where he can do for himself. He desires to be his own man and to 
conduct his own business. There can be no just criticism upon that kind of 
ambition. It is essential to the perpetuity of a free people. These several 
items named above operate to help the young man in his decision toward the 
business world and away from the productive world. The agricultural college 
has been unjustly charged with educating young men away from the farm. We 
may as well recognize, however, that in spite of the agricultural colleges this 
tendency continues. It is no small part of our work to cultivate such a senti- 
ment as will retard this tendency. We should not fail, however, to recognize 
that under absolutely perfect conditions a large number of rural people should 
find their way to the city. We can not make lawyers out of all sons of lawyers. 
Just now the ministry is decreasing in numbers, but we can not look to the 
manse as the only base of supply. Farmers should not expect all their children 
to follow the plow or be queens in the kingdom of domestic economy. Such an 
ideal, if realized, would encourage the class system and open the way for a large 
amount of inefficiency while closing the door to many and making impassible 
some of our greatest achievements. There should be a free movement toward 
the city and an equally free movement toward the farm. In other words, farm 
life must not be the last resort; it must not be the refuge of necessity; it 
should be the life of choice, and I may say of enthusiastic choice. It is evident 
that it has not always been such a choice, but in many instances men have 
dignified themselves and the farm by deliberately choosing to lead an inde- 
pendent life rather than to rush into the miserable artificialities of much of our 
city life. It is to the population capable of such a choice that we must look for 
the elements that will check the too strong current away from the farm. 
(2) This tendency is increased, in my judgment, by the fact that fewer men 
are needed in agricultural pursuits. The improvement of machinery has done 
something to intensify farming at certain periods of the year and rendered it 
unnecessary to keep a large force of men constantly available. The law of 
supply and demand would therefore cooperate to reduce the rural population. 
On the other hand, the multiplication of machinery in civilization has increased 
the demands for men through the opening up of so many new methods of 
business. The modern methods of transportation have reduced the hours of 
labor, and the specialization of labor has combined to give the laboring popula- 
tion a larger share in the earnings of society and a wider distribution of these 
earnings. We must recognize also that the improvement of farm machinery 
has greatly increased the investments necessary for successful farming. Not 
