Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/361

Rh 4. Nor may we ignore the political factor in the rural problem. Doubtless the American farmer, like most Americans, places undue reliance upon legislation. But we can not disregard the profound industrial and social effects of either wise or foolish laws. The political efficiency of the farmer will have much to do in determining class progress. Furthermore, the political duties of farmers must be enforced, their influence must continue to be exerted in behalf of the general policies of government. It is of vital consequence to our democratic government that the American farmer shall in no wise lose his political instinct and effectiveness.

5. The consideration of the political phase of the question leads us to the heart of the farm problem. For it is conceivable that the farmers of this country may as a class be skilled growers of produce, successful sellers of what they grow, and indeed that the industry as a whole may be prosperous, and yet the farming class in its general social and intellectual power fail to keep pace with other classes. It is not impossible that a landlord-and-tenant system, or even a peasant system, should yield fairly satisfactory industrial conditions. But who for a moment would expect either system to develop the political and general social efficiency that American democratic ideals demand? Even if there is no immediate danger of either of these systems becoming established in America, we still desire that our farmers as a class shall secure for themselves the highest possible position not only in industry but in the political and social organization of American society. Indeed this is the ultimate American rural problem, to maintain the best possible status of the farming class. No other statement of the problem is satisfactory in theory. None other is explanatory of the struggles and ambitions of farmers themselves. The American farmer will be satisfied with nothing less than securing for his class the highest possible class efficiency and largest class influence, industrially, politically, socially. It is true that industrial success is necessary to political and social power. But it is also true that social agencies are needed in order to develop in our American farmers the requisite technical skill, business method and industrial efficiency. The influence of such social forces as education, developed means of communication, the organization of farmers, and even the church, must be invoked before we can expect the best agricultural advancement. And the end is after all a social one. The maintenance of class status is that end.

This analysis of the rural problem is necessarily brief, almost crude, but I hope that it reveals in some degree the scope and nature of the problem; that it indicates that the farm question is not one merely of technique, fundamental as technical skill must be; that it demonstrates that the problem is also one of profound economic, political and social significance. If this be so, do we need to argue the proposition that