Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/128

 114 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

It was said of the monograph of the workshop that it is more diffi- cult and complex than that of the family ; but in the monograph of the community the difficulty and complexity are even more increased. The divisions become broader and less defined ; but this must neces- sarily be so because of the wide differences of the communities for the description of which the schedule is designed to be sufficient. There is another reason for this indefiniteness. It is intended that the sched- ule shall be a guide, in a general way, to the investigator ; it is not thought best to furnish him with an inflexible formula or with an intel- lectual strait-jacket ; hence latitude is purposely left wherein the student is thrown upon his own resources and must exercise his discretion.

It will be clearly evident to all that, if a monograph thus made up is fully to serve the purpose for which it was designed, there must be in it no guesswork, no improvised facts. It is a task of long duration, requiring not only an actual residence on the spot, but also a most lively interest in the community and constant personal contact with all those who are able to aid one in reconstituting the past or in compre- hending the present. Especially is it important that one should be in touch with the local leaders of the community, those neighborhood authorities by whose shrewd observations of both past and present one cannot profit too much. But even with such advantages it is only by dint of patient research, great perseverance, and a strenuous holding of his energies to the accomplishment of his purpose that the student will at length he enabled to gather up the scattered and tangled threads of fact and weave them into a web of consistent history, the value of which shall justify his labors.

The task is both difficult and important, but for the one who will faithfully endeavor to perform it, it will develop sources of great attraction and satisfaction. It will more than liberally reward his labors by the discoveries to which it will lead and by the new thoughts and sentiments stirred within him. The community will appear to him in a new light. The vital importance to civilization of the sturdy virtues fostered by rural life will be thrown into clearer relief. The intimate relation existing between the weal or woe of the rural commu- nity and the welfare or ///-fare of the whole nation of which that com- munity forms an integral part will be more definitely revealed to him than ever before.

The rural community is an organism. It is not the ephemeral product of whim and caprice, but a living thing, whose parts, both in form and function, have come into being as manifestations of that force