Community Civics and Rural Life by Arthur William Dunn
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Title: Community Civics and Rural Life

Author: Arthur W. Dunn

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RURAL EDUCATION SERIES

EDITED BY HAROLD W. FOGHT

PRESIDENT SOUTH DAKOTA TEACHERS COLLEGE

COMMUNITY CIVICS AND RURAL LIFE

BY ARTHUR W. DUNN

SPECIALIST IN CIVIC EDUCATION, UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION; AUTHOR OF “THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN”

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

This book, like the author’s earlier one, The Community and the Citizen, is a “community civics” text. Two purposes led to the preparation of this second volume. The first was to produce a text that would meet the needs of pupils and teachers who live outside of the environment of the large city. Training for citizenship in a democracy is a fundamentally identical process in all communities, whether urban or rural. But, if it really functions in the life of the citizen, this process must consist largely in deriving educational values from the actual civic situations in which he normally finds himself. Moreover, instruction that relates to matters that lie beyond immediate experience must nevertheless be interpreted in terms of that experience if it is really to have meaning. At least half of the young citizens of America live in an environment that is essentially rural. Hence their need for civics instruction that takes its point of departure in, and refers back to, a body of experience that differs in many ways from that of the urban citizen.

This does not imply that urban conditions should be ignored in the civic education of the rural citizen. On the contrary, one of the things that every citizen should be led to appreciate is the interdependence of country and city in a unified national life. In the present volume emphasis is given to this interdependence. For this reason, and because of the fundamental principles which have controlled the development of the text, it is believed that the book may perform a distinct service even in city schools.

The second purpose in undertaking the present book has been to make as obvious as possible the elements which, in the author’s judgment, characterize “community civics” and give it vitality. The Community and the Citizen was a pioneer among texts that have sought to vitalize the study of government and citizenship. The term “community civics” became current only at a later time to designate the “new civics” which that book represented. It seems to the author, however, that many teachers and others have seized upon some of the more incidental, even though important, features of the “new civics” without apparently recognizing its really vital characteristics.

For example, the “new civics” performed a real service in giving emphasis to the study of the “local community,” which was being sadly neglected ten or fifteen years ago. It was this emphasis, doubtless, that gave rise to the name “community civics.” But “local study,” even though labelled “community civics,” may be, and often is, entirely lacking in vitalizing features. On the other hand, the vitalizing methods that should characterize community civics may be applied to the study of our “national community,” and even of the embryonic “world community,”—and should be so applied in any “community civics” that is worthy of a place in our schools in this critical period of national and world history. The real significance of the term “community civics” is to be found in its application to an interpretation of the COMMUNITY-CHARACTER of national and international life equally with that of town or neighborhood.

Another service that community civics performed was in introducing certain elements of social or “sociological” study into grades as low as the grammar school. This has sometimes led to the description of community civics as “elementary sociology.” The Community and the Citizen was perhaps the first “civics” textbook to include such “sociological” material. So far as that book is concerned, at least, the “sociological” material was included PRIMARILY to afford a viewpoint from which the better to interpret GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENSHIP. This point seems often to be missed, with the result that in some schools we find a more or less vitalized “social study” labelled “community civics,” FOLLOWED BY a formal study of government that shows no obvious, organic relation to the earlier study. Whatever else “community civics” may accomplish, one of its foremost aims should be TO MAKE GOVERNMENT, INCLUDING THAT OF THE NATION, MEAN SOMETHING TO THE YOUNG CITIZEN. In the present book the author has endeavored to keep this aim prominent in the mind of the teacher. It is hoped that the organic relation of the last few chapters, which deal explicitly with governmental mechanism and operation, to the earlier chapters will be obvious.

The underlying, vitalizing features of community civics may be summed up as:

1. THE DEMONSTRATION TO THE YOUNG CITIZEN, BY REFERENCE TO HIS OWN OBSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE, OF THE MEANING OF HIS COMMUNITY LIFE (LOCAL AND NATIONAL), AND OF GOVERNMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THAT LIFE;

2. THE CULTIVATION OF CERTAIN HABITS, IDEALS, AND ATTITUDES ESSENTIAL TO EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THAT LIFE THROUGH GOVERNMENT AND OTHERWISE.

The aim of the following text is to fix in the pupil’s consciousness a few essential ideas, which will help to determine his ideals and attitudes, by a judicious USE of facts, which will thereby be more readily remembered and understood. “The most important element of success in community life … is TEAM WORK; and team work depends, first of all, UPON A COMMON PURPOSE”. The controlling ideas throughout the following chapters are:

1. The common purposes in our community life;

2. Our interdependence in attaining these common purposes;

3. The consequent necessity for cooperation (team work);

4. Government as a means of securing teamwork for the common good. These ideas are set up in the first few chapters and exemplified in the remaining chapters. They are easily grasped by young citizens when DEMONSTRATED by reference to their own observation and experience, which the text and the accompanying topics seek as far as possible to compel. The last few chapters contain an analysis of our governmental mechanism which seeks to answer the question, How far does our government provide the organization, the leadership, and the control over leadership necessary to secure the teamwork which the preceding chapters have shown to be essential?

The present volume is larger than The Community and the Citizen. The author believes that this is an advantage, especially for pupils in communities where supplementary materials are not so easily available. The increased length is due chiefly to the liberal incorporation of concrete illustrative and explanatory matter. Young students need larger textbooks, provided the additional matter clothes the skeleton with living flesh.

Whether based on this textbook or some other, however, community civics cannot be successfully taught if it is made primarily a textbook study. The word “demonstration” has been used advisedly in the paragraphs above as applied to the ideas to be taught. The text sets up ideas, interprets and exemplifies them; but “demonstration” can be made only as the pupils draw upon their own observation and experience. Hence, numerous SUGGESTIVE topics are interspersed throughout to divert attention from the text and to direct it to the actualities of the pupils’ experience. Even the topics should not be followed literally in every case, but should be diversified to meet the needs and opportunities of the occasion. But to “omit” such studies as suggested by the topics is to negate the value of community civics.

The successful teacher will seek to extend the pupil’s opportunity to participate in group activities both within the school and in the community outside, and will make the fullest possible use of such activities both as a means of demonstrating the operation of the fundamental principles of civic life, and as a means of cultivating “habits, ideals, and attitudes.” “Training for citizenship through service” is an essential factor in community civics.

“Community civics” has now been quite definitely assigned to the junior high school grades (see Report of Committee on Social Studies, Bulletin, 1916, No. 28, U.S. Bureau of Education). While the tendency is toward continuous civics instruction in all of these grades, practice still varies greatly. The present text has been written in recognition of this variation and is, in the author’s judgment, adapt able to any of the grades in question. If community civics is placed below the ninth grade, however, the author would suggest its distribution over both seventh and eighth grades. An outline suggesting a vital coordination between the civics and the history of these grades, and of particular service in the seventh grade, is given in United States Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 50, Part 3 (a report on Civic Education for the Schools of Memphis, Tenn.).

It may be added that community civics in the junior high school grades will be vastly more effective if it is preceded in the six elementary grades by some such course as that outlined in Citizenship in School and Out (Dunn and Harris, published by D.C. Heath & Company). See also Lessons in Civics for the Six Elementary Grades of City Schools, by Hannah Margaret Harris (Bulletin, 1920, No. 18, U.S. Bureau of Education).

A list of “Readings” is appended to each of the following chapters. While it is not expected that pupils in the grades for which the book is intended will do a great deal of reading outside of the text, an abundance of illustrative material is desirable and much more easily available, even for rural schools, than is often appreciated. Let the pupils USE THEIR GOVERNMENT, in this connection, as freely as possible. A very large part of the references given are to government publications, many of which can be obtained free of cost directly from the departments issuing them, and all of which can be had for a nominal cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Useful publications of the state government and of state institutions can usually be had for the asking. In ordering from the Superintendent of Documents the money must be sent in advance (stamps are not accepted). Lists of publications with the prices may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, or from the several Departments of the Government.

Frequent reference is made to Lessons in Community and National Life. These are issued in three pamphlets (Series A, B, and C) by the United States Bureau of Education, at 15 cents per pamphlet. They contain a large amount of illustrative material. A very few books are referred to in certain chapters because of their especial value when obtainable. Among these are two collections of patriotic selections valuable because of their emphasis upon national ideals—Long’s American Patriotic Prose (D.C. Heath & Company), and Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals (Houghton Mifflin Company). Other similar collections will be found useful.

The illustrations of the book, with comparatively few exceptions, are from photographs furnished by various departments of the United States Government.

ARTHUR W. DUNN.

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

Rural schools, and schools whose pupils have largely a background of rural experience, have not done as much as they should towards training for citizenship. This is largely because the text books have failed to interpret citizenship and government in terms of the actual experience of such pupils, or to stimulate teamwork and leadership in communities with a distinctly rural background. More over, in city and rural schools alike, there has been failure to emphasize the interdependence of rural and urban communities in a single national enterprise. Community Civics and Rural Life is planned to meet these deficiencies.

There has been too much TALKING ABOUT citizenship in school, and too little LIVING it from day to day. Training for citizenship necessitates its daily practice in school and out. In the hands of an able teacher, Community Civics and Rural Life should point the way to real community living, both now and in the future. It should teach the pupils what their real civic responsibilities are as well as their civic opportunities—and assist them to embrace them when they come. Children so trained will learn to respect, now and later, the rights of their neighbors, and will become as fair in their dealings with the government as with their fellowmen. They will furnish their communities with the right kind of leaders, unselfish and public spirited. When the time calls, they will be ready to accept and shed a new dignity upon the old positions of school trustee, highway engineer, sanitary inspector, township supervisor, county commissioner, or the more conspicuous offices of state and national government. Or as plain citizens they will lend these officials their active support for community and national betterment.

HAROLD W. FOGHT.

CONTENTS

I. Our Common Purposes in Community Life II. How We Depend Upon One Another in Community Life III. The Need for Cooperation in Community Life IV. Why We Have Government V. What is Citizenship? VI. What is Our Community? VII. Our National Community VIII. A World Community IX. The Home X. Why Government Helps in Home Making XI. Earning a Living XII. Government as a Means of Cooperation in Agriculture XIII. Thrift XIV. The Relation Between the People and the Land XV. Conserving Our Natural Resources XVI. Protection of Property and Property Rights XVII. Roads and Transportation XVIII. Communication XIX. Education XX. The Community’s Health XXI. Social, Aesthetic, and Spiritual Wants XXII. Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Members of the Community XXIII. Teamwork in Taxation XXIV. How We Govern Ourselves XXV. Our Local Governments XXVI. Our State Governments XXVII. Our National Government Appendix—The Constitution of the United States

COMMUNITY CIVICS

CHAPTER I

OUR COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE

TEAM WORK AND COMMON PURPOSES

The most important element of success in community life, as in a ball game, a family, or a school, is TEAM WORK; and team work depends, first of all, upon a COMMON PURPOSE. Our nation gave an example of team work during the recent war such as is seldom seen; and this was be cause every member of the nation was keenly intent on WINNING. We may see the same thing in our school when Christmas entertainment is being planned, when an athletic tournament is approaching, or when some other school activity is under way in which all are deeply interested. It is often illustrated in our town, or rural neighborhood when some important enterprise is on foot, such as the building of a new railroad into town, a Red Cross “drive” and a county fair, or the construction of a much needed new schoolhouse.

RECOGNITION OF COMMON PURPOSES

All communities have common purposes, although they are not always as clearly defined as when our nation was at war, or as in the other cases mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Sometimes the people of a community, or a large portion of them, seem to be wholly unconscious that a common purpose exists. This may be true even in a family or in a school. And when this happens, the effect is the same as if there WERE no common purpose. No club or athletic team can be successful unless its members have a common purpose AND UNDERSTAND IT. Insofar as our communities are imperfect—and none of them, is perfect—it is largely because their members fail to recognize or understand their common purposes.

People in communities have common purposes because they have the same wants. This may not at first seem to be true.

COMMON PURPOSES DUE TO COMMON WANTS

If we visit a large city, we see throngs of people hurrying hither and thither, jostling one another, apparently in the greatest confusion. We wonder where they are all going, what they are doing, what they are seeking. In rural communities or in small towns there is less apparent confusion than in the bustling life of the city. Yet even here it is not always easy to see common purposes and common interests. Whether in large or small communities, we are more likely to be impressed by the VARIETY of men’s wants and even by the CONFLICT of their purposes.

But no matter how numerous and conflicting our wants may seem, they may all be grouped in a very few important kinds, which are common to all of us alike. It will be worthwhile to test the truth of this, because it will help us to see our community life in some kind of order, and will throw a flood of light upon the common purposes that control it.

PHYSICAL WANTS: LIFE AND HEALTH

For example, we all want food, drink, and sleep, clothing to protect our bodies, and houses to shelter us. But all these things supply our PHYSICAL wants; that is, they re late to LIFE AND HEALTH. Many of the things that we do every day are important because of their relation to our physical well-being. One reason why we enjoy out door sports is that they make our blood tingle and give a sense of physical pleasure. Unless our physical wants are provided for, the other wants of life cannot well be satisfied. Good health is a priceless possession.

Mention some things you have done today for your physical welfare.

THE WANT FOR ASSOCIATION WITH OTHERS

Another reason why sports and games give pleasure is be cause of the association they afford with other people. ASSOCIATION WITH OTHERS is a second great want which explains many of the things we do. Whatever may be our other reasons for going to school, it affords us the opportunity to meet and work and play with other boys and girls to our pleasure and profit. One of the objections often raised against life in the country is the lack of opportunity for association with other people. But life in the country is not so isolated as it once was; and one may be very much alone in a city crowd, where nearly all are strangers to one another, and where there is very little real association among individuals. City families often live in the same apartment house without knowing one another.

What are some things you do especially for the sake of companionship?

THE WANT FOR KNOWLEDGE

While going to school enables us to associate with others, the principal reason for going is to gain KNOWLEDGE. Whether we always like our studies or not, we certainly want knowledge, and seek it in many ways. We read the newspaper or magazine that comes to the home. We ask questions of parents and others who have had more experience than we. We may travel to see new sights. We examine with curiosity a new machine for the farm. The discoveries and inventions that mark man’s progress in civilization are the result of his unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

Mention some of the different ways in which you seek knowledge.

Mention some geographic and scientific discoveries that have been made through man’s search for knowledge.

What is science? Name some sciences.

THE WANT FOR BEAUTY

Besides health and knowledge and association with other people, we want surroundings that are pleasant and beautiful. The want for BEAUTY is sometimes more neglected than other wants, but it is important, and we all have it and seek to satisfy it in some way or other. It may be at one time by a walk in the woods or fields, or at other times by cultivating flowers, by keeping our room tidy, by looking at pictures, or by exercising good taste in clothing. We also enjoy beauty in sound, as the song of birds or music in the home or school.

In what ways do you provide for this want?

THE RELIGIOUS WANT

Very likely we go to church on Sunday. It affords opportunity to enjoy association with others, to add to our knowledge, and to hear beautiful music. But the church service is one of the chief means by which people satisfy another of the great wants of life —the RELIGIOUS want. Individuals differ in their religious ideas and in the depth of their religious feelings, but in every community there are certain things that men do because of it.

What are some of the great religions of the world?

Is religion a strong influence in your community?

Can you mention any great historical events that were due to religious causes?

THE WANT FOR WEALTH

Perhaps after school, or on Saturdays, or in vacation time, we work at tasks to earn money, or at least help in occupations that contribute to the “living” of the family. Doubtless we have thought more or less about what we are going to do for a living after we leave school. We all have a desire to own things, to have property, to accumulate WEALTH. This also is one of the great wants of life. We have perhaps already experienced the satisfaction of raising our own first crop of corn or potatoes, of acquiring our first livestock, of putting away or selling our first supply of canned fruits or vegetables, of buying a set of tools, a bicycle, or some books, of starting a bank account. But after all the chief reason why we want wealth, or to “make money,” is because of what we can do with it. It enables us to satisfy our wants. Earning a living simply means earning the things that satisfy our wants in life.

Make a blackboard list of the occupations by which the parents and other members of the families of the pupils in the class make a living.

Make a blackboard list of things done by members of the class to earn money.

What is your choice of occupation by which to make a living in the future? Why? Make a blackboard list for the whole class.

THESE WANTS GIVE PURPOSE TO COMMUNITY LIFE

The six kinds of wants that we have indicated clearly account for many of the things that we do. In fact, ALL of our wants are of one or another of these kinds and EVERYTHING we do is important because of its relation to them. We may not be ready, yet, to accept this statement. We may think of wants that seem at first not to fall under any of these six kinds. It will do no harm to add other kinds to the list if we think it necessary. But, at all events, the six kinds of wants mentioned are common to all of us. We live in communities in order to provide for them, and a community is good to live in proportion as it provides for all of them adequately. It is these wants that give COMMON PURPOSE to our community life.

Make as complete a list as possible of the things you did yesterday (outside of school as well as in school). Then extend the list to include the more important things done during the entire week.

Write the six wants across the top of a page of your notebook or a sheet of paper:

Health Knowledge Association Beauty Religion Wealth

Arrange the activities in your list in the six columns according to the wants which they satisfy. If any activity clearly satisfies more than one of the wants, write it down in EACH of the proper columns.

Which column is the longest? which comes next? which is the shortest?

Is your longest column also the longest in the lists made by other members of your class? Compare your other columns with those of your classmates. Which wants seem to keep you busiest?

Which do you think is most important? Why? Discuss this question in class. Do you all agree in regard to this point?

If any of the activities in your list are for the purpose of earning money, tell for what you expect to spend the money. Show how the things you expect to buy with your money will help to satisfy your other five wants.

For which of these six wants do you spend the most time in providing? your father? your mother? If there is a difference in the three answers, why is it?

Do you have difficulty in classifying any of the things you do, or that you see others do, under any of the six heads? Make note of these things and, as your study proceeds, see if the difficulty of classification is removed.

Suppose a boy is a BULLY: what wants does he satisfy by his bullying conduct? Suppose a boy or a girl is ambitious to become a LEADER, either among present companions or later in social life, business, or politics: under which head or heads would you place this ambition?

A boy wants to enlist in the army, or a girl as an army nurse: do these wants come under any of the six heads?

Would you, after your discussion of these topics, add any other group or kind of wants to the six mentioned? If so, what would you call it?

Every one wants HAPPINESS. Why is it not necessary to make a special group under this head?

Make a list of things done in your home to provide for each of the six wants.

What is done in your school to provide for the want for health? for beauty? for association with others? for the religious want? Has your school work any relation to your desire to make a living? Is it the business of the school to provide for all these things as well as for the want for knowledge?

Make a list of a few things done in your community outside of the home and school to provide for each of the six wants.

Think of something in which your entire community is deeply interested, such as the improvement of the roads, or the building of a new high school, or a county fair, and explain what wants it provides for.

What wants do the following things provide for: rural mail delivery; weather reports; a corn club (or a similar club); a school garden; a library; the telephone; a hospital; a parent- teacher association?

THE PURPOSE OF DEMOCRACY

We may often hear our common purposes as communities or as a nation stated in different terms than those suggested in the paragraphs above. For example, Franklin K. Lane, the Secretary of the Interior during the war, said, “Our national purpose is to transmute days of dreary work into happier lives—for ourselves first and for all others in their time.” Again, President Wilson said that our purpose in entering the world war was to help “make the world safe for democracy.” Although these two statements read differently, they mean very much the same thing; and they both refer in general terms to the things this chapter discusses in more familiar and express terms. For “happier lives” can only result from a more complete satisfaction of our common wants. Our own happiness comes from the satisfaction of our own wants AND FROM HELPING TO SATISFY THE WANTS OF OTHERS. And “democracy” means, in part, that the COMMON WANTS OF ALL shall be properly provided for.

In the Declaration of Independence we read:

WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

OUR UNALIENABLE RIGHTS

The statement that “all men are created equal” has troubled many people when they have thought of the obvious inequalities that exist in natural ability and opportunity. But whatever inequalities may exist, people are absolutely equal in their RIGHT to satisfy the wants described in this chapter. These are the “unalienable rights” which the Declaration of Independence sums up in the phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That community is best to live in that most nearly provides equal opportunity for all its citizens to enjoy these rights. From the Declaration of Independence to the present day, our great national purpose has been to increase this opportunity, even though at times we have apparently not been conscious of it, and even though we have fallen short of its fulfillment. One of the chief objects of our study is to find out how our communities are seeking to accomplish this purpose.

“The Declaration of Independence did not mention the questions of our day. It is of no consequence to us unless we can translate its general terms into examples of the present day and substitute them in some vital way for the examples it itself gives, so concrete, so intimately involved in the circumstances of the day in which it was conceived and written. It is an eminently practical document, meant for the use of practical men … Unless we can translate it into the questions of our own day, we are not worthy of it, we are not sons of the sires who acted in response to its challenge.”— Woodrow Wilson, in The New Freedom, pp. 48, 49.

A and B are two boys of the same age. One was born in a rich family, and one in a very poor family. So far as this accident of birth is concerned, have they equal OPPORTUNITY to satisfy the wants of life? Have they an equal RIGHT to health? to an education? to pleasant surroundings? to earn a good living?

Suppose A is a Native American boy, and B a foreign-born boy who speaks a foreign language: does this make any difference in their RIGHT to life and health, an education, etc.? Does it make any difference in their OPPORTUNITY to satisfy their wants in these directions?

Can you think of persons in your community who have less OPPORTUNITY to satisfy their wants than you have? Can you think of any persons who have less RIGHT to satisfy their wants than you have?

The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States comprise what is known as a “bill of rights.” Study together in class this bill of rights (see Appendix) to see how many of the wants described in this chapter are there, provided for directly and indirectly.

Has your state constitution a bill of rights? If so, read it together in class for the same purpose as suggested in the last question.

READINGS

Preamble of the Constitution of the United States (see Appendix).

The Declaration of Independence.

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, Chapters, i, iv. (Heath).

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living (Henry Holt & Co.), Chapter xxxix, (“Democracy as Equality”).

Van Dyke, Henry, “Equality of Opportunity,” in Long’s American Patriotic Prose, pp. 311, 312 (Heath).

See the note on reference materials in the Introduction to this book.

It should become a HABIT of both teacher and pupils to be on the constant lookout for news items and discussions in available newspapers and periodicals illustrative of the points made in each chapter or lesson. Individual scrapbooks may be made, but more important than this is the assembling of such material as a class enterprise, its classification under proper heads, and its preservation in scrapbooks or in files as working material for succeeding classes. There will always be enough for each class to do, while each class at the same time contributes to the success of the work of later classes. The idea of SERVICE should dominate such work.

CHAPTER II

HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER IN COMMUNITY LIFE

INTERDEPENDENCE AN IMPORTANT FACT

Nothing could be freer than air. But even as we sit in our schoolroom, whether or not we get all the pure air we need, depends upon how the schoolhouse was built for ventilation, the number of people who occupy the room, the care that is taken by others to keep the room free from dust, the health and cleanliness of those who sit in the room with us. If this dependence upon others is true in the case of the very air we breathe, how much more true it must be of other necessities of life that are not so abundant.

This dependence of people upon one another for the satisfaction of their wants is one of the most important facts about community life. It is not merely that A and B have the SAME wants, but that A is dependent upon B, and B upon A, for the satisfaction of their wants, that makes their wants COMMON.

Mention the people, both inside and outside of your home, who had a share in providing for you the food you had for breakfast or dinner.

Mention all the workers that occur to you who have been employed in producing the clothing you wear; the book you are reading; the materials of which your house is built.

Show how the people who produce these things are dependent upon your wants for their livelihood.

Show that you are dependent upon other people for your education; for recreation. Are other people dependent upon your education for their welfare? Are others dependent on you for their recreation?

INDEPENDENCE OF THE PIONEER

The farmer’s life is often spoken of as an independent life. His independence was certainly much more complete in pioneer days than it is now. In regard to the early days of Indiana, it has been said:

Give the pioneer farmer an axe and an auger, or in place of the last a burning iron, and he could make almost any machine that he was wont to work with. With his sharp axe he could not only cut the logs for his cabin and notch them down, but he could make a close-fitting door and supply it with wooden hinges and a neat latch. From the roots of an oak or ash he could fashion his hames and sled runners; he could make an axle-tree for his wagon, a rake, a flax brake, a barrow, a scythe-snath, a grain cradle a pitchfork, a loom, a reel, a washboard, a stool, a chair, a table, a bedstead, a dresser, and a cradle in which to rock the baby. If he was more than ordinarily clever, he repaired his own cooperage, and adding a drawing knife to his kit of tools, he even went so far as to make his own casks, tubs, and buckets. He made and mended his own shoes. [Footnote: Quoted in Pioneer Indianapolis, by Ida Stearns Stickney, p. 11 (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis).]

We also read that in early New England:

Every farmhouse was a manufactory, not of one kind of goods, but of many. All day long in the chamber or attic the sound of the spinning-wheel and loom could be heard. Carpets, shawls, bedspreads, tablecovers, towels, and cloth for garments were made from materials made on the farm. The kitchen of the house was a baker’s shop, a confectioner’s establishment, and a chemist’s laboratory. Every kind of food for immediate use was prepared there daily; and on special occasions sausages, head cheese, pickles, apple butter, and preserves were made. It was also the place where soap, candles, and vinegar were manufactured. Agricultural implements were then few and simple, and farmers made as many of them as they could. Every farmhouse was a creamery and cheese factory. As there were no sewing machines, the farmer’s wife and daughters had to ply the hand needle most of the time when they were not engaged in more laborious pursuits. During the long evenings they generally knit socks and mittens or made rag carpets. [Footnote: Nourse, Agricultural Economics, p 64, from “The Farmer’s Changed Conditions,” by Rodney Welsh, in the Forum, x, 689-92 (Feb., 1891).]

THE PRICE OF INDEPENDENCE

But even under such conditions as those described, the farmer and his family were not wholly independent. Even Robinson Crusoe on his lonely island was dependent upon the tools and equipment that he saved from shipwrecks, and that were the product of other men’s labor. So, also, the pioneer farmer had to maintain some kind of relation, however infrequent and slight, with the outside world. Moreover, he had to pay for his comparative independence by many privations. He had all the wants described in the preceding chapter, but he had to provide for them in the simplest way possible, and often they were hardly provided for at all.

THE GROWTH OF INTERDEPENDENCE

As soon as a number of people come to live together, even in a pioneer community, it is likely that some members will have a knack for doing certain things of use to the community better than others can do them. Thus one man may be especially skillful in making axe handles. In time, the entire community comes to depend upon him for its axe handles. In addition, he probably makes other tools and does repair work of all kinds. This requires so much of his time that he does little or no farming, and depends upon others for his food supply. So in a course of time the community has its blacksmiths, carpenters, shoe-makers, teachers, storekeepers and doctors upon whom it depends for their special kinds of service, while each of them depends upon others to supply the wants that he has neither the time nor the skill to supply for himself. Thus interdependence develops in the simplest communities.

THE DEPENDENCE ON OTHERS OF THE MODERN FARMER

The farmer still does many things on the farm that in the city would be done by special workers, such as repairing houses, barns, and tools. But he has become vastly more dependent upon others than formerly. This is due partly to improved farming methods, requiring the use of complicated machines and greater technical knowledge; and partly to improved means of transportation and communication which bring him in close touch with trade centers. If a farmer needs a new axe handle, he can get a better one with less expenditure of time and effort by going to town in his automobile than if he made it himself. His farm machinery is too complicated for him to repair except in small matters, and even then he must go or send to town for the necessary parts, which may be sent to him by parcel post. Not only does he get better tools and services generally through this reliance upon others who are specialists in their lines, but also on account of it has more time to give to the actual business of farming, for which others depend upon him, and leisure for thoughtful study of his problems, for social life, and for recreation.

THE VALUE OF SELF-RELIANCE

It must be acknowledged that reliance upon others may be carried so far as to result in loss or disadvantage. “Self-reliance” is one of the most admirable traits of character. The pioneer farmer possessed it from necessity to a remarkable extent. A habit of depending upon others may quickly cause a person to lose the “knack” of doing things for himself, to become less “handy about the place,” and less “thrifty” about keeping things in repair or installing small improvements—the casting of a cement trough, mending the harness or the fence or painting the barn.

WHO MAKES OUR SHOES

The interdependence of people in community life to-day may be illustrated by starting with some of our own needs, as was suggested in the topics on page 12. For example, if we need a pair of shoes, we must have money, which we will suppose that we earn by farming. In order to farm successfully we must have machinery. This we also buy in town; but it is manufactured for us in distant city factories from metals procured from mines and from wood from the forest. The shoes bought at the store were also made in a factory employing hundreds of men and women, perhaps in Massachusetts. They were made from leather from the hides of cattle raised in the far west, or perhaps even in the Argentine Republic. The leather is tanned by another industry, and tanning requires the use of an acid from the bark of certain trees from the forest. The making of the shoes also requires machinery which is made by still other machines, the necessary metals coming from mines. To smelt the metals and to run the factories there must be fuel from other mines. Meanwhile the workers in all these industries must be fed and clothed and housed. This means the work of farmers, food packers, millers and bakers, lumbermen, carpenters, cotton and woolen mills, clothing factories, and many others. At every stage transportation enters in,—by team and automobile truck, by railway, by water. These are only a part of the activities necessary in order that we may have a pair of shoes. It would seem that practically every kind of worker and industry in the world had something to do with it. People in communities today are indeed very interdependent.

The following item appeared in a newspaper:

HELD BACK BY NEIGHBORS

Farmer Is Limited by Conditions in Community

The average farmer is limited in the changes he can make in his farm business by the farm practices of the community in which he is living.

There are farmers in every community who would like to change their systems of agriculture but are restrained from doing so by the fact that their neighbors will not change. Many farmers have tried to change from one type of farming to another better suited to the region, but failed because the cost of running such an entirely independent business was too great.

A man owning an orchard in a locality where there are no other orchards has trouble getting rid of his crop. Even when the farmer is so fortunate as to get buyers, he generally receives a lower price for the same grade of fruit than would be received in a general apple-growing region.

If a man wants to buy several purebred Holstein cows, he generally goes to a locality where a large number of farmers keep that kind of stock. Often there is a man in his own community who has for sale Holsteins that are just as highly bred as those in other districts, but he either has no market for them or must sell them at a greatly reduced price.

The farmer ought not to think on account of these facts that he should not change his system of farming just because his neighbors do not do likewise.

Probably the best way for a farmer to start such a movement is to arouse the interest of his neighbors in his farming operations. As soon as this has been accomplished he can gradually bring about the change that he advocates. Farmers in a community profit from the experiences of other individuals.

WHAT GIVES VALUE TO LAND

The value of a man’s property is dependent not upon his efforts alone, but upon what his neighbors do. The land occupied by a pioneer increases in value as other people settle in the neighborhood, and BECAUSE they settle there. Men often buy land and then simply wait for it to increase in value because of improvements in the neighborhood. The property that we own may increase or decrease in value according to the care that neighbors take of their property. Even if we take good care of our property, it will be less valuable if the neighbors let their fences and buildings run down and the weeds grow than it will be if they keep their fences and buildings in good repair and their weeds cut.

INTERDEPENDENCE IN HEALTH

Malaria is carried by mosquitoes, and we know that mosquitoes breed in standing water, as in swamps and in old barrels or tin cans that hold rainwater until it becomes stagnant. Now we may endeavor to get rid of mosquitoes, and thus of malaria, by removing all open receptacles of water about our premises and by draining the marshes on our land; but unless our neighbors do the same, we are not much better off than we were before.

Give other illustrations to show the dependence of people upon one another in your community.

Compare the farmer of to-day in your neighborhood with the pioneer of Indiana described on page 14 with respect to his equipment, skill in making things and kinds of implements used.

Compare the average farmer’s home in your neighborhood to-day with that of the New England farmer described on page 14 with respect to household activities.

Are farmers in your neighborhood to-day more or less dependent upon others to supply their wants than they were when your parents were children? Why is it? Get all the information you can from your parents on this point.

Which is more dependent upon others for its daily wants: a family that lives on a farm in your neighborhood or one that lives in town? Give examples to prove your answer.

Do you know cases in your own community where land has increased in value while lying idle? What are the reasons?

Do you know of cases in your community where property has depreciated in value because of neighborhood influences such as suggested on page 18?

Do you know of cases in your community similar to the one described on page 17 under the heading “Held Back by Neighbors”? Explain. (Consult at home.)

UNEXPECTED RESULTS OF INTERDEPENDENCE

We do not always realize how dependent we are upon one another until something happens to disturb our accustomed relations. We best realize our dependence upon the telephone when it is out of order. The recent great war produced conditions that made us conscious of our interdependence in unexpected ways.

For example, if we had gone into a store to buy underwear in the early part of the war, we would have found that the price had greatly increased, and we might have been told, if the salesman were well informed, that the high price was due to the manufacture of airplanes! The explanation is that the wire stays used in the manufacture of airplanes are made of steel wire from which machine knitting needles are also made. In the early part of the war all of the available wire of this kind was taken for airplanes, thus limiting the supply of knitting needles and consequently of knit goods.

The manufacture of airplanes is also said to have affected the price of fish! The nets used for catching certain deep-sea fish, such as cod, must be made of linen, which is invisible in water. The linen which had been used for this purpose suddenly came into great demand for the manufacture of airplane wings. Since airplanes were necessary, linen fishing nets were sacrificed and the price of deep-sea fish went up. This, of course, created a demand for other kinds of fish, and the price of the latter also went up.

CONFLICTS DUE TO INTERDEPENDENCE

When people are so closely dependent upon one another conflicts are likely to occur. Sometimes they are due to selfish disregard by some persons of the rights and interests of others; but more often they are due simply to failure to see what the real results of a particular act may be and how it may affect other people. It was not dreamed that the building of airplanes would affect the price of underwear and fish, and it was only after careful investigation that the relation between these things was discovered. A family that is careless in the disposal of refuse from the household and stables may unconsciously poison the wells of neighbors half a mile away. Sometimes men oppose public improvements, such as better roads, or a new schoolhouse, because they see only the direct costs of the improvements, and fail to see the more important losses to themselves and to the community if the improvements are not made.

DANGER OF HASTY JUDGMENTS

One thing we may learn from such facts as these is the danger of forming hasty judgments about things that happen, or conditions that exist, or proposals that are made, in our community life. Even those conditions or events that are apparently most simple may be related to other conditions and events that are not at first apparent. Wise judgment and wise action are dependent upon the most complete knowledge obtainable.

We shall see, as we proceed with our study, how this fact of interdependence appears in every phase of our community life.

From observation in your own community, give illustrations to show how people, in attempting to satisfy their own wants, may interfere with the efforts of others to satisfy theirs. The following are given as suggestions:

An employer and those whom he employs.

A man who owns a house or farm and the tenant to whom he rents it.

A man who keeps a livery stable adjoining a schoolhouse.

A grocer who displays his goods on the sidewalk (especially food products).

Men who raise cattle and those who raise sheep on the western ranges.

A boy who raises chickens and one who has a garden adjoining.

Suppose a schoolmate comes to school with measles or some other contagious disease. How may this affect your schoolwork? your association with your friends? How may it even add to your father’s expenses?

Show that your schoolmates are as dependent upon you as you are upon them.

Is the community in which you live dependent upon you in any way? Give illustrations.

Taxpayers like to keep the tax rate as low as possible. In their interest in doing this, is it possible that they might interfere with your getting a good education in favorable surroundings? Explain. Who are the taxpayers?

We often hear of “self-made men.” What does it mean? Can a man be entirely “self-made”?

Does a child become more or less dependent upon others as he grows older? Explain your answer.

Show that as a person becomes more “self-dependent” other people become more dependent upon him; for example, in the home, and in school.

Watch the newspapers for items illustrating interdependence, or conflicts due to it.

READINGS

Lessons in Community and National Life (see note on reference materials in Introduction)

Series A: Lesson 1, Some fundamental aspects of social organization. Lesson 2, The western pioneer.

Series B: Lesson 1, The effect of the war on commerce in nitrate. Lesson 2, The varied occupations of a colonial farm. Lesson 12, Impersonality of modern life.

Series C: Lesson 1, The war and aeroplanes. Lesson 2, Spinning and dyeing in colonial times. Lesson 9, Inventions. Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life.

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, Chapters i, v.

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, Chapter xxxi (Problems of country life).

Earle, Alice Morse, Home Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan).

Finley, John H., “Paths of the Pioneers,” in Long’s American Patriotic Prose, pp. 1-4.

Pioneer stories from any available source, especially local history stories.

CHAPTER III

THE NEED FOR COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE

THE NEED FOR TEAMWORK

When people have common purposes and are dependent upon one another in accomplishing them, there must be COOPERATION, which is another name for “teamwork.” A team of horses that does not pull together can not haul a heavy load. A baseball team, though composed of good players, will seldom win games unless its teamwork is good. A few soldiers may easily disperse a large mob because they have teamwork, while a mob usually does not. This principle of “pulling together,” “teamwork,” or “cooperation,” is of the greatest importance in community life. There can be no real community life without it.

SIMPLE TYPES OF COOPERATION

In the early days there were “barn raisings,” when neighbors came together to help one of their number to “raise” his barn; and all the men of a pioneer community contributed their labor in building the community church or schoolhouse. This was a simple form of cooperation. It may be seen now at threshing time, when neighboring farmers combine to thresh the grain of each, the same group of men and the same threshing machine doing the work for all. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that:

In a group of 14 farmers situated in a community in one of the best farming regions in the corn belt, ... it was found that 5 men out of the 14 failed to get all their corn planted by the last week in May. They had worked as hard and as steadily at that operation as had their neighbors, but they were delayed by one cause or another, such as lack of labor or teams, or were handling a larger acreage than their equipment would allow them to handle satisfactorily. In this same community were 3 men who completed all their planting operations before the 20th of May, and 5 others who completed their work by the 25th of May. ... If all these men had considered that corn planting was a national necessity and had pooled their efforts, all of the corn on all the farms could have been planted within the most favorable time. [Footnote: The Farm Labor Problem, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary, Circular No. 112, p. 5.]

Give other illustrations of this sort of cooperation from the farm or community life of your neighborhood.

Give illustrations of such teamwork among boys and girls.

Give illustrations of the failure of enterprises in which you have been interested because of a lack of teamwork.

Why is it an advantage for the farmers to use one threshing machine for all the threshing of the neighborhood instead of each farmer having his own machine?

ORGANIZED COOPERATION AND LEADERSHIP

As communities grow and the people become more dependent upon one another, and especially when it becomes hard to see how one thing that happens may affect others, as shown in Chapter II, cooperation becomes more difficult, but it becomes even more necessary. It needs to be ORGANIZED, and it needs LEADERSHIP. The experience of fruit growers in California affords a good illustration of this. When they acted independently of one another, they often had difficulty in disposing of their product to advantage. Sometimes it rotted on the ground. As individuals they did not have the means of learning where the best markets were. They had to make their own terms separately with the railroads for transportation and since they shipped in small quantities, they paid high freight rates. They had no adequate means of storing fruit while it was awaiting shipment. They were dependent upon commission merchants in the cities for such prices as they could get, which were often practically nothing at all.

These and other difficulties that made fruit growing unprofitable were overcome by the organization of fruit growers’ associations, in which each grower may become a member by purchasing shares of stock. The members elect from their number a BOARD OF DIRECTORS, who in turn appoint a BUSINESS MANAGER who gives his entire attention to the association’s business. The association has central offices and storage and packing houses.

The manager keeps in close touch with market conditions,—where the demand for fruit is greatest, the kinds of fruit wanted, the best prices paid. He contracts for the sale of fruit at fair prices. Shipping in large quantities, he gets the advantage of low rates on fast freight trains with refrigerator cars. Uniform methods of packing fruit are adopted, sometimes the fruit being packed at the central packing house. Information is distributed as to the best methods of growing fruit, the best varieties to grow, and so on. On the other hand, supplies and provisions are bought in large quantities, securing the best quality at the lowest prices.

VOLUNTARY COOPERATION IN CITIES

In cities there are almost innumerable organizations by which groups of people cooperate for one purpose or another. Men in the same line of business or in the same profession organize to promote their common interests. There are boards of trade, chambers of commerce, merchants’ and manufacturers’ associations. Lawyers have their bar associations, physicians their medical associations. There are associations of teachers, and work men in the various trades have their unions. Besides such business and professional organizations, there are clubs and associations of all sorts for men, for women, and even for children, some of them educational, some social or recreational, some philanthropic, some religious. Where there are so many people interested in the same thing, where it is easy for them to meet together, and where competent leadership is forthcoming, it is quite the usual thing to organize for united action.

COOPERATION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

In agricultural communities cooperation has developed more slowly. Farmers have been too isolated from one another to make organization easy, they have not fully realized its advantages, and they have lacked leadership. This has been an obstacle to the fullest development of community life. The most backward communities are those where there is the least cooperation. In such communities “the farmer works single-handed, getting no strength from joint action or combined effort.”

But all this is changing. Organizations like the fruit growers’ associations are becoming common and are proving their value. The map on page 36 shows the distribution of organizations among farmers in the United States for cooperation in business enterprises of various kinds, though it shows only about half as many as actually exist. They include cooperative grain elevators and warehouses, creameries and cheese factories, cooperative stores, fruit and grain growers’ associations, livestock associations, cotton and tobacco associations, and many others.

Study the map on page 36 and indicate the region or regions where you think cooperative grain elevators and warehouses would be most numerous; livestock associations; dairies and creameries; fruit growers’ associations; cotton growers’ associations; tobacco growers’ associations.

Are there any organizations of farmers in your community similar to those in the list in the last paragraph above? Make a list of them. What are their purposes? What are their advantages? What obstacles have they encountered? Are all the farmers in the community members? If not, why? Describe their plans of organization—membership, officers, management, etc. (Discuss these questions at home and report results.)

Is there any organization of businessmen, or of workmen, in your town or neighboring town? If so, ascertain what advantages it seeks.

Show how an ordinary store, or a bank, or a grain elevator, is a means by which people cooperate.

Are there any boys’ or girls’ clubs in your community? Show how such clubs require and secure cooperation. How is leadership provided?

If there is a parents’ association connected with your school, show how it brings about cooperation among its members in the interest of the school.

Make a list of all the organizations you can think of in your community (such as clubs, societies, associations). Opposite the name of each write the chief purposes for which it exists.

Write the six great wants across the top of a page, as suggested in the fifth topic on page 6, and arrange the list of organizations suggested in the last question above in the proper columns according to the wants they provide for.

Discuss the importance of leadership in school activities. What are the qualities that make a good leader?

Who are some of the leaders in your community, both men and women?

THE FARM BUREAU

At the close of 1916 there were nearly three hundred “farm bureaus” in the northern and western states with a membership of nearly 100,000. A farm bureau is an organization to secure cooperation throughout an entire county for the promotion of agricultural interests. The members elect an executive committee to manage the affairs of the bureau. In each of the small communities of which the county is made up, there is a “community committee.” The chairmen of the several community committees constitute a county agricultural council. The chairmen and members of the various committees are chosen because of their interest in special lines of work and their fitness to direct such work. Various other organizations in the county, such as the fair association, breeders’ associations, the Grange, the schools, and others, are represented in the committees of the bureau, the purpose being to secure teamwork among them, as well as among the different communities of the county and among the individual farmers. The bureau also cooperates with the state and national governments in employing a COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AGENT, who is the bureau’s adviser, or leader. In short, the farm bureau represents the county working together in an organized way and under leadership for the improvement of community life.

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for the year 1915, the story is told of Christian County, Kentucky. [Footnote: “How the Whole County Demonstrated,” 1915 Year Book, U.S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 225-248.]

A CASE OF COUNTY COOPERATION

This county is almost wholly agricultural, but the county seat is a small city of 10,000. There had formerly been more or less jealousy between the city and county, as too frequently happens. But a businessmen’s association was organized in the city, which interested itself in bettering the agricultural conditions of the county, because the business of the city was very dependent upon the neighboring agriculture. A “crop improvement association” was formed, including farmers in its membership. A county agricultural agent was employed, and local community clubs were organized in different parts of the county, which held meetings attended by the farmers and their families, and by businessmen from the city. A good roads association was organized, and a “good roads day” was held on which businessmen turned out with the farmers, stores of the city were closed, and on one of the principal roads at least 90 per cent of the workmen were city men. Stone was contributed by contractors, concrete firms furnished men gratis to repair bridges, one company supplied outfits for trimming trees, and a large amount of work was done by the county and town working side by side … Such results could only be accomplished through unity of purpose and cooperation of all the people.

Among other things accomplished in this county, a fair association has been formed; medical instruction has been introduced into the schools; a public library and hospital have been built; the school system of the county has cooperated in all educational work; both town and county merchants have offered prizes to members of the boys’ clubs; also for cooking in the schools, and have put women’s restrooms in the stores for the use of the public.

There is now an active girls’ canning club in every community in the county, attended by the girls and also by their mothers. There are 12 social clubs which meet regularly; 15 parent-teachers’ and mothers’ clubs; and there is not a school in the county which does not have some form of community meeting. The schoolhouses are generally used for the meetings of the community clubs. In some instances farmers have given sufficient ground for amusement purposes at the schoolhouses. Here may be found the ball diamond, tennis court, and basketball courts.

It is said of this county that it “stands as a demonstration of the effect of education and organization under the proper leadership. THE TOWN AND THE COUNTY ARE ONE. The result is better agriculture, better business, and better living.” Write a brief theme on one of the following topics:

(a) The importance of the telephone as a means of cooperation in my community.

(b) Instances in my community where bad roads have caused a lack of cooperation.

(c) Instances in my community where improvement of roads has led to better cooperation.

In what ways do you think there is need for better cooperation in your community? Discuss this with your parents, and report in class the result of your talk with them.

Is there any organized cooperation in your community or county as a whole for the general improvement of the community or county?

Investigate the organization and work of a farm bureau. (If there is none in your county, write to your State Agricultural College or to the States Relations Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for information. See references at the end of this chapter.)

PUBLIC LIBRARY AS AN EXAMPLE

Cooperation is as necessary for the fullest satisfaction of our other wants as it is in the business of making a living. In one pioneer community there were few “books and papers and they were handed about from house to house.” There may be comparatively few people in a community who can afford to buy a hundred books each year; but there may easily be a hundred persons who could buy one book each, and by some arrangement exchange with one another, so that each could in the course of a year have the use of a hundred books. Neighborhood clubs are often organized to subscribe for magazines on this plan. A public library provides an arrangement by which a great variety of good reading matter can be enjoyed by the entire community at trifling cost to each member. In fact, we may be able to draw books from such a library without any cost to ourselves; but the books which we thus enjoy do cost the community a large sum of money, and our free enjoyment of them is one of the advantages of community cooperation. Our part in the cooperation is in using the books carefully and in returning them promptly, so that as many people as possible may have the use of them.

NATION-WIDE COOPERATION

The necessity for cooperation is by no means limited to our neighborhood or county or city. People with common purposes organize for cooperation on a state-wide or nation-wide scale. Following is a list of national organizations in the interest of agriculture. As our study proceeds, we shall have abundant illustration of the value of cooperation and of the disadvantages that follow from its absence.

FARMERS’ ORGANIZATIONS

American Cooperative Association (Cooperative League of America).

American Dairy Farmers’ Association.

American Federation of Organized Farmers.

American National Live Stock Association.

American Pomological Society.

American Poultry Association.

American Society of Equity.

Corn Belt Meat Producers’ Association,

Dairy Cattle Congress.

Farm Women’s National Congress.

Farmers’ Educational and Cooperative Union of America (The Farmers’ Union).

Farmers’ Equity Union.

Farmers’ National Congress.

Farmers’ Society of Equity.

Federation of Jewish Farmers of America.

Gleaners, The Ancient Order of.

Grange, National (Patrons of Husbandry).

National Agricultural Organization Society.

National Board of Farm Organizations.

National Council of Farmers’ Cooperative Associations.

National Dairy Council.

National Dairy Union.

National Farmers’ Associations.

National Farmers’ Cooperative Grain and Live Stock Associations.

National Nut Growers’ Association.

National Society of Record Associations.

National Swine Growers’ Association.

National Wool Growers’ Association.

National Women’s Farm and Garden Association.

Southern Rice Growers’ Association.

COOPERATION A MATTER OF HABIT

Cooperation is largely a matter of habit. Habits can be formed only by practice; and opportunity to practice cooperation is abundant if we are only on the lookout for it. We shall find that it not only secures better results in whatever we are doing, but that it also adds greatly to the enjoyment of life. Let us not forget that cooperation merely means “team work,” working together for the common good.

“They who cannot or will not work together are always in a weak position when brought into competition with those who can and do.” [Footnote: Carver, The Organization of a Rural Community, p. 5.]

If there is a public library in your community, what benefits do you get from it? About how many books do you draw from it in the course of a year? What would these books cost you if you bought them? What do they cost you when you draw them from the library?

Usually a fine is imposed for keeping a book from the library beyond a specified time. Show why this is proper.

Do you have the use of a “traveling library” in your school or community? If so, where do the books come from? Show how it secures cooperation.

Give examples of cooperation in your home, and show what is gained by it.

In what ways do you think that cooperation could be improved in your home? Work out a plan for it.

Give examples of cooperation in your school.

Suggest plans for more and better cooperation in your school.

In what ways have you cooperated with others during the last month for the good of the community in which you live?

Make a list in your notebook of ways in which you think you could cooperate with others to promote the welfare of your community, and add to the list from time to time as new opportunities for such cooperation occur to you.

Are any of the national organizations in the list on page 35 represented in your community? What are their purposes? (Consult parents and friends.)

READINGS

Lessons in Community and National Life

Series A: Lesson 1, Some fundamental aspects of social organization. Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. Lesson 7, Organization. Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry.

Series B: Lesson 4, Feeding a city. Lesson 25, Concentration of production in the meat packing industry. Lesson 26, Concentration in the marketing of citrus fruits

The publications of the United States Department of Agriculture have a wide range of material relating to practical cooperation. The following selected titles are illustrative.

The threshing ring in the corn belt, Year Book 1918, 247-268.

Boys’ Pig Club Work, Year Book 1915, 173-188.

Poultry Club Work in the South, Year Book 1915, 193-200.

How the whole county demonstrated, Year Book 1915, 225-248.

Organization of rural interests, Year Book 1913, 239-258.

Organization of a rural community, Year Book 1914, 89-138.

Cooperative purchasing and marketing organizations, Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 547.

Cooperative grain companies, Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 371.

Cooperative stores, Department of Agriculture Bulletin. No. 394.

County Organization, States Relations Service Document 65.

Farm Bureau Organization, States Relations Service Document 54.

See note on reference material in Introduction with regard to method of applying for this material. The assistance of the local county agent, the state agricultural college, or of the congressman, may be enlisted if necessary.

Cooperative enterprise in North Carolina, North Carolina Club Year Book, 1915-1916, pp. 47-49, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.

Publications of the State Agricultural College and Experiment Station of your own state, relating to cooperation.

Tufts, James H, The Real Business of Living, chaps ii, iii, viii, xv, xvi.

CHAPTER IV

WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT

GOVERNMENT A MEANS TO SECURE COOPERATION

We are now in a better position to understand why we have government. It is a means by which to secure cooperation, or team work.

IN EDUCATION

When a schoolhouse is built to-day, it is not done by combined manual labor, as in the pioneer community. As in all building, there is cooperation of a highly organized kind in the production and assembling of the materials and in the construction of the building by workmen of different kinds. But more than this, since the schoolhouse is a PUBLIC BUILDING, the community cooperates in paying for it. This is done by means of TAXES. The people pay taxes not only for the building, but also to meet the cost of operating the school, paying the teachers, buying equipment, and heating the building.

The community must know how much money is needed for the school, the taxes must be fairly apportioned and collected, and the school must be properly managed to perform the community’s work of education. In small communities the people may meet together to vote the taxes and to decide on other matters relating to education, as in New England towns. But there must be leadership, and there must be an organization to perform the work which the community wants done. Every community therefore has its board of education, or school committee, a superintendent, and other officials. Such organization corresponds to the board of directors and business manager of the fruit growers’ association, only it represents the entire community and attends to the community’s business of education. It is part of the community’s governing machinery.

Ascertain from your father how much school tax he pays each year. Who determines the amount of this tax? To whom does he pay it?

Could you employ a teacher at home for the amount your father pays as school tax? If you had a teacher at home, could you get as good an education as you can now get at school? Explain your answer.

In what ways do you cooperate with the community to make the school a success?

If there is a public library in your community, is it supported by taxation? Who manages the public library for the community?

IN FIRE PROTECTION

When a building takes fire in the country the neighbors gather as quickly as possible to fight the flames by such means as may be at hand, but seldom very effectively. In a small city or town, there may be a volunteer fire company composed of men who, when a fire breaks out, leave their usual occupations to save the property. In large cities, fully equipped and costly fire departments are maintained, with paid firemen who are always on duty. The police usually keep the crowd away from the burning building, not only for their own safety, but because they would hinder rather than help the trained and organized firemen. In each case there is cooperation for fire protection; the greater the common danger, the more perfect the organization and the more complete the control by government.

IN ROAD BUILDING

It was once the usual practice, as it still is in some localities, for each farmer to give a certain number of days each year to work on the roads. Now, in the most progressive communities, the roads are better and more uniformly built and kept in better repair because they are placed by the community in charge of skilled roadmakers paid for by taxation. But whether the farmer contributes money or labor, or both, cooperation is planned and directed by the government. (See Chapter XVII.)

IN HEALTH PROTECTION

In Benjamin Franklin’s time, each householder in Philadelphia swept the pavement in front of his home if he wanted it kept clean. Franklin, who was a splendid example of good citizenship in that he was always looking for opportunities to improve his community, tells what happened:

One day I found a poor industrious man, who was willing to undertake keeping the pavement clean by sweeping it twice a week, carrying off the dirt from before all the neighbors’ doors, for the sum of sixpence per month to be paid by each house. I then wrote and printed a paper setting forth the advantages to the neighborhood that might be obtained by this small expense. ... I sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went around to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these sixpences; it was unanimously signed, and for a time well executed. This raised a general desire to have all the streets paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a tax for that purpose.

This was community cooperation under simple conditions. A hundred years later, the one and a half million people living in Philadelphia were just as truly cooperating to keep their city clean by means of more than 1200 miles of sewers for which they had paid nearly 35 millions of dollars, and by means of a department of highways and street-cleaning which employed a contractor to clean the streets and to remove all ashes and garbage at an annual cost of more than a million and a half dollars. This is all under the direction of the city government.

IN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS

What is true of our local boards of education, road supervisors, fire and street-cleaning departments, and other departments of our local governments, is also true of state and national governments. We shall not stop for illustrations of this now, because they will be numerous in later chapters. (See, for example, Chapter XII.)

Is there a government in your home? If so, prove whether or not it is a means by which the members of the family cooperate.

Describe the government of your school and show how it secures cooperation.

If you can get a copy of Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, find in it further instances in which he improved the cooperation of his community, as for fire protection and street lighting.

Show how street lights in town represent community cooperation. For what purpose is this form of cooperation?

Give additional illustrations to prove that government in your community is a means of cooperation.

In what ways can you cooperate with the school board or trustees of your community, and thus with the community itself, for better schools?

GOVERNMENT TO HELP AND NOT TO REPRESS

A number of boys whose lives were spent mostly in the city streets were once asked what the word “government” suggested to them. Some of them at once answered, “The policeman!” And when they were asked “Why?” they replied, “He arrests people,” “He makes us keep off the grass in the parks,” “He drives us off when we play ball in vacant lots.” These answers represent a common idea about government, that it is something over us to restrict our freedom. Government does restrict the freedom of individuals at times; but one of the best illustrations of its real purpose is the traffic policeman in cities. He stands at the crossing of busy streets, regulating the movement of people and vehicles in such a way as to insure the safety of all and to keep the intersecting streams of traffic moving smoothly and with as little interruption as possible. Now and then he leaves his post to help a child or an aged person or a cripple across the street; or answers the inquiries of a stranger. If now and then he arrests a driver, it is because the latter disregards the rights or welfare of others.

LAWS AS SIGNALS OF COOPERATION

In small or thinly settled communities there may be no traffic policeman; but there may be signs at the intersection of highways to guide travelers, or warnings such as “Dangerous Curve!” or “School: Drive Slowly!” Such signs are usually posted by state or local authorities in accordance with LAW. And even where there are no signs, the laws themselves are supposed to regulate traffic. Some one has compared the laws in our country to the signals given to a football team by the quarterback. These signals are agreed upon in advance by the team, and tell each player not only what he himself, but also what every other player, is to do, and thus team work is secured. And so our laws are said to be “signals of cooperation,” just as much as the sign “Drive Slowly,” or as when the traffic policeman holds up his hand or blows his whistle.

LAWS AS RULES OF THE GAME

Laws, however, are more than “signals” of cooperation; they are also RULES by which cooperation is secured—“rules of the game.” Wherever people are dependent upon one another and work together there must be rules of conduct. One kind of rules consists of what we call “etiquette” or “good manners.” We have doubtless all observed how much better an athletic contest moves along, or even the ordinary sports of the playground, where good manners prevail. “Good manners” include more than the “party manners” that we put on and take off on special occasions, like “party clothes.” They consist of the accepted rules of behavior toward those with whom we associate. In the home, in school, in business, in public places, there are “good manners” that are recognized by custom and that make the wheels move smoothly and without jar. We do not need a law or a policeman to require a man to give way to a woman, or even to another man, in passing through a doorway; good manners provide for this. Even on the public street much confusion is avoided by an observance of good manners, or CUSTOM. Thoughtful people instinctively turn to the right in passing others (in England and Canada the custom is to turn to the left) without thinking whether there is a law on the subject or not.

LAW GIVES FREEDOM

Now most of our laws that regulate the conduct of individuals are simply rules that experience has proved to be of the greatest advantage to the greatest number, and that are necessary because SOME people have not “good manners.” Most people observe them, not because they are laws, but because they are reasonable and helpful in avoiding friction and in securing cooperation. If they are good laws, it is only the “ill-mannered” who are really conscious of their existence. Just laws restrict the freedom only of the “ill- mannered,” while they GIVE freedom to those who have “good manners.”

What street or highway signs are there in your community? Who placed them? Are they faithfully observed? If not, why?

What signals are there in your school? Discuss their usefulness.

What are some of the “rules” of your school? Are they good rules? Why? Are they an advantage or a disadvantage to yourself? If they did not exist, would your own conduct be different? Why?

What are some of the rules of good manners that are supposed to control conduct in your school? in your home? in the street? Discuss their reasonableness. Do they enlarge or restrict freedom?

Do the rules of football, or other games, increase or decrease the freedom of play?

What are some of the laws that control conduct in your community? Would most people observe the laws you mention even if they were not written laws, and if there were no penalty for failing to observe them? Why?

THE ORIGIN OF LAW

The following story illustrates the difference between law and custom, or “manners,” and how the former may develop out of the latter. [Footnote: “Rudimentary Society among Boys,” by John Johnson, in Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, vol. ii (1884). The story as here given is reproduced from Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C, p. 145, U. S. Bureau of Education (Lesson C-18, “Cooperation through Law,” by Arthur W. Dunn). ] There was once a boys’ school located in an 800-acre tract of land, in the fields and woods of which the boys, when free from their studies, gathered nuts, trapped small animals, and otherwise lived much like primitive hunters.

Just after midnight some morning early in October, when the first frosts of the season loosened the grasp of the nuts upon the limbs, parties of two or three boys might be seen rushing at full speed over the wet fields. When the swiftest party reached a walnut tree, one of the number climbed up rapidly, shook off half a bushel of nuts and scrambled down again. Then off the boys went to the next tree, where the process was repeated unless the tree was occupied by other boys doing likewise. Nut hunters coming to the tree after the first party had been there, and wishing to shake the tree some more, were required by custom to pile up all the nuts that lay under the tree. Until this was done, the unwritten law did not permit their shaking any more nuts on the ground.

So far this was a CUSTOM accepted by the boys because of its reasonableness. But after a while, some members of this boy community thought to get ahead of the other members. One night before frost came they secretly went to the woods and took possession of most of the nut trees by shaking them according to custom. When this was discovered, some of the leaders of the community CALLED A MEETING of all the boys. After discussing the matter thoroughly, they provided against a repetition of the trick by MAKING A RULE (passing a law) that thereafter the harvesting of nuts should not begin before A FIXED DATE in October.

These boys acted very much as men have often acted under simple conditions of community life. The New England “town meeting,” for example, is precisely the same thing as the boys’ meeting.

THE SECOND ELEMENT IN DEMOCRACY: CONTROL BY THE PEOPLE

We shall study the organization and methods of lawmaking in later chapters. At present we are merely noting WHY we have laws, and the fact that they are supposed to be made, directly or indirectly, by the people themselves. And right here we see the second thing necessary to make a DEMOCRACY. On page 9 we saw that in a democracy all people have certain equal and “unalienable” rights, and that that community is most democratic that affords its members most nearly equal opportunity to enjoy these rights. Now we see further that in a democracy the people make their own laws. Moreover, the laws of a democracy control, not only the conduct of the people, but also the government itself. The government of a democracy may do only those things, and use only those methods, for which the people give the authority. It is only when government exercises power without control by the people that it becomes autocratic.

TWO HISTORIC DOCUMENTS

The purpose of our government is clearly stated in two historic documents. One of these is the Declaration of Independence, which has already been quoted in Chapter I. The same quotation is given here with an additional sentence in italics:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, GOVERNMENTS ARE INSTITUTED AMONG MEN, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED...

The second great document is the Constitution of the United States, the preamble to which reads:

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

DEMOCRACY A GOAL STILL TO BE REACHED

It is not to be supposed that our government and our laws are perfect. They cannot be perfect as long as they are made and operated by imperfect people. It is possible, for example, that the boys of the city had a just complaint against the government for not permitting them to play ball in vacant lots, UNLESS THE COMMUNITY AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDED THEM WITH ANOTHER SUITABLE PLACE FOR THE GAME—for every community should protect the right of its boys and girls to play. We are far from having attained complete democracy. It is a goal toward which men are struggling, and have been struggling for centuries—since long before our Revolutionary War, and in other countries as well as in our own. The great world war which began in 1914, and which the United States entered in 1917, was a war to establish more firmly in the world the principles of democratic government. Whether these principles shall be carried out in practice, and whether our governments—local, state, and national—shall fulfill the purposes so clearly stated in the preamble to the Constitution, depends upon the extent to which each citizen understands these purposes, and cooperates with his fellow-citizens and with his governments in support of them.

THE “RIGHT IDEA OF IT”

It is said that in one of the training camps during the war an officer addressed a squad of new recruits as follows:

Boys, I want you to get the right idea of the salute. I do not want you to think that you are being compelled to salute me as an individual. No! When you salute me, you are simply rendering respect to the power I represent; AND THE POWER I REPRESENT IS YOU. Now let me explain. You elect the President of the United States, and the President of the United States grants me a commission to represent his authority in this army. His only authority is the authority that you vest in him when you elect him President. Now, when you salute an officer, you salute not the man, but the representative of your own authority. The salute is going to be rigidly enforced in this army, and I want you boys to get the right idea of it. I want you to know what you salute and why.

It is very important that we should “get the right idea” of what our government is. It is very much the idea that the officer gave his soldiers about the salute. It is the idea contained in this chapter: that government is our own organization for team work in community life. All through this book we shall be engaged in discovering how far this is true.

Do you know of instances in which the national government has helped to secure cooperation among the farmers of your locality?

Discuss the parcel post as a means of cooperation.

During the war with Germany the United States government assumed control of all the railroads of the country. Show how this was to secure better cooperation.

Is the government of your school democratic? Explain your answer. Do you think it should be made more democratic? Why?

Compare the purposes stated in the preamble to the Constitution with the common purposes stated on page 6 of Chapter I.

Show how the pupil who does as he pleases in school may interfere with the rights and liberties of other pupils. Is it right that his liberty should then be restricted? Why? Is liberty the right to do as one pleases? If not, what is it?

Read together in class the preamble to the Constitution and carefully discuss the meaning of each phrase.

READINGS

Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series B: Lesson 17, The development of a system of laws.

Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law. Lesson 18, Cooperation through law.

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose:

Lincoln, “Mob Law,” pp. 173-177.

Lincoln, “Back to the Declaration,” pp. 170-181.

McKinley, “Liberty is Responsibility, Not License,” pp. 254-255.

The Declaration of Independence, pp. 67-71.

Beard, Chas. A., American Citizenship, chap, i (“The Nature of Modern Government”).

Franklin, Benjamin, Autobiography.

CHAPTER V

WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP?

WHAT MEMBERSHIP MEANS

Before we go further, let us get a definite idea of what it means to be a citizen.

IN THE BODY

We have frequently referred to the fact that we are “members” of various communities. Our bodies have members, such as arms and hands. The tongue has been called an unruly member. “It is a little member and boasteth great things.” [Footnote: James iii: 5.]

There are two important facts about members of the body. One is THAT THEY GET THEIR LIFE FROM THE BODY. If the hand is cut off, it quickly ceases to be a hand because it is severed from the source of life. If the body is seriously ill, its members are unable to perform their proper work.

The second important fact is THAT THE BODY IS DEPENDENT UPON ITS MEMBERS FOR ITS LIFE. If the hand is cut off, or an eye put out, the body does not necessarily die, but it is seriously handicapped. If a member is paralyzed or diseased it may be a positive hindrance to the body, and the disease may spread to other members. The body may suffer merely because its members are poorly trained.

IN THE COMMUNITY

That is what it means to be a member of the body; and membership in a family, or a school, or a club, or a community, is just the same. We have already seen, and we shall see more fully as we go on with our study, how completely we are dependent upon our communities for food, for the protection of life, for education, and for all else that makes up our life. The community that does not provide for its members in these things is like a sick body. On the other hand, as members of a community we are always contributing something to its life—either to its advantage or disadvantage. Of course, each of us is only one of a great many members in a large community, and we may seem to be very unimportant. But each performs his part, whether it be great or small, and whether he does it well or poorly.

CITIZENSHIP MEANS MEMBERSHIP

Now we often speak of members of a community as CITIZENS of that community. CITIZENSHIP means practically the same thing as membership in the community. As a good community is one that provides well for its members, so the good citizen is the member who does well his part in the life of the community. A bad citizen is the member who hinders the progress of the community when he might be helping. A citizen has certain RIGHTS and certain DUTIES. His rights are what the community owes him; his duties are what he owes the community.

TRAINED AND UNTRAINED CITIZENS

There are many members of communities who are like the diseased or paralyzed hand, or like the hand that is untrained. A member of an athletic team who does not “train” will probably be dropped from the team—he fails to become an athlete. A member of a community, or a citizen, who does not “train” still remains a member, but an inefficient one. He is a handicap to his community and interferes with community team work. The part that a member plays in community life may be more important than he realizes. Even in small things, “the falling short of one may mean disaster to many.” Each member of a community, like each member of a body, must be not only in a healthy condition but also well trained.

WHO ARE CITIZENS

Let us not make the mistake of thinking that we are not yet citizens because we are young. The Constitution of the United States says that “ALL PERSONS born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” (that is, subject to its laws) “are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” Even persons born in foreign countries and who have not yet been naturalized [Footnote: “Naturalization” is the legal process by which persons of foreign birth renounce their allegiance to the land of their birth and pledge their allegiance to our government.] enjoy almost all the rights of native-born Americans, and therefore have much of the responsibility of citizenship. Until they are naturalized they are still considered members of the country from which they came, and therefore as owing certain duties to that country which would be inconsistent with their duties as members of our nation. Therefore they are denied certain POLITICAL rights, such as voting and holding office. [Footnote: In a few states even unnaturalized persons are allowed to vote after they have declared their intention of becoming citizens.] These same political rights are denied to native-born citizens until they have reached maturity. But we must not confuse this right to vote with citizenship.

Explain how the idea of membership as described in the text applies to your membership in the family; to membership in a club; in a church; in a farmers’ cooperative organization.

Can you be a member of your class or school without doing it either good or harm? Explain your answer.

Read Romans xii: 4-8 and James iii: 5-8.

Show how an injury or a benefit to one pupil in the school may be an injury or a benefit to the entire school. Give illustrations to prove this.

Show how a failure to save food, to buy savings stamps, or to perform other services that one is able to perform, weakened our nation and other nations who were her allies during the war with Germany.

Make a list of things you have done during the week for the benefit of your school; for the welfare of your neighborhood, town, or school district. Do you do as much for your family, school, or community as they do for you?

Turn to Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States (see Appendix), and read the entire first section containing the definition of a citizen. Discuss the meaning of the section.

At what age does the native-born citizen acquire the right to vote? Why is he not allowed to vote before that time?

What native-born citizens of the United States do not have the right to vote even after they are of voting age?

READINGS

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose:

Doane, “The Men to Make a State,” pp. 236-238.

Lane, “Makers of the Flag,” pp. 314-316.

Steiner, “On Becoming an American Citizen,” pp. 317-320.

Wilson, “To Newly-Made Citizens,” pp. 322-326.

CHAPTER VI

WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY?

ELEMENTS THAT MAKE A COMMUNITY

In the preceding chapters we have often spoken of “our community.” As a matter of fact, each of us is a member of a number of communities. It is time to consider just what they are

Every community, of course, consists of a GROUP OF PEOPLE who occupy a more or less DEFINITE LOCALITY. Much depends, in community life, upon the character of both the people and the locality they occupy. But the essential thing about a community is that the people who comprise it are WORKING TOGETHER (cooperating) under an ORGANIZATION (government) for the COMMON GOOD (common purposes).

LARGE AND SMALL COMMUNITIES

A neighborhood of farmers with their families may constitute a community. In this case the area occupied may be extensive while the people are few in number. Or the community may be a city with a population very large in proportion to area it occupies. There are villages, towns, and small cities of varying sizes both as to population and area. Each state in our Union is a community and so is the nation itself because each is composed of a group of people (very large in these cases), occupying a definite territory (also large), and having a government through which the people are working for common ends. There is a world community, but it is, as yet, very imperfect. The nations and peoples that comprise it have been slow to recognize their common purposes and have so far failed to develop adequate means of cooperation, (See Chapter VIII.)

Is your class a community? (Apply the definition given above.) What common interests does it have? Has it any government or laws? Is your school a community? Apply the same tests as above.

Is your home a community? What are some of its common interests? Are there laws in your family?

What are some of the things in which your family and your nearest neighbors have a common interest because of living close together? Do your family and your neighbors work together to provide for these interests?

What are some of the things in which all the people of your city or village (or the one nearest to you) have a common interest, and which the city, or village, government helps to provide for?

INTERDEPENDENCE OF RURAL AND CITY COMMUNITIES

A community of farmers has interests of its own, largely centering around farming activities, or the social life of the local neighborhood. A few miles away is a village or city whose people also have their own peculiar interests, such as the lighting of the streets at night, or the building of a new high school, or the election of a mayor. Yet there are interests common to both the farming community and the city community. The city is dependent upon the country for its food supply, and the farmers are dependent upon the city for their market. Probably some of the farmers send their children to the city schools. Thus city and rural communities are bound together into a larger community with interests common to both.

In the early days of western settlement a community was founded in Illinois. It was an agricultural community, but in the midst of it a village grew, which in the course of time became a small city. One of the first settlers was a young farmer with a mechanical turn of mind. He began experimenting to improve the methods of planting grain. The result was the invention of a corn planter, the manufacture of which became one of the chief industries of the growing city, employing hundreds of men and sending machines to all parts of the world. Another young farmer invented a better plow than those which had been in use, the manufacture of which became another of the city’s industries. In those pioneer days each family usually made its own brooms, but one young man in this community earned his way through the local college by making brooms from corn raised on the college farm. The college cornfield disappeared in the course of time, but on one part of it there grew up a broom factory employing a large number of workmen. These city industries were thus literally “children of the soil,” and the city’s prosperity depended upon the agriculture of the surrounding region. On the other hand, the city provided the farmers with improved plows and corn planters, furnished them an immediate market for their products, supplied them with goods through its shops and stores, and gave education to hundreds of farmers’ children in its schools and college.

NEED FOR RURAL AND CITY TEAMWORK

Sometimes jealousies and antagonisms arise between small neighboring communities, and especially between rural and city communities. This interferes with the progress of both communities, and of the larger community of which each is a part. It may be proposed to build a township high school. It is natural that the several communities that comprise the township should each want it. But the interest of the entire township should be considered in determining the location of the school, and not merely the advantage of one local district as against others. It sometimes happens that the people of a city are exempted from taxation for county purposes outside of the city, although the benefits would be almost, if not quite as great, for the city as for the country. This sort of thing serves to set off city and country against each other instead of binding them together to their mutual advantage. The case of Christian County, Kentucky, described in Chapter III, is an excellent illustration of teamwork between city and country in the interest of the entire county, and of the results achieved by it.

SMALL COMMUNITIES UNITE IN LARGE ONES

In this chapter there are three maps of Dane County, Wisconsin, which show how small communities, both rural and urban, are united into a large community, the county. Map I shows the school districts and the townships which comprise the county. The city of Madison occupies the center, and small towns and villages are scattered here and there. The country school is the chief center of interest in each school district. Here and there through the county are high schools. Each of these is a center of a larger irregular area, including a number of school districts and parts of several townships as shown in map 2. Map 3 shows TRADE AREAS. Trade and education are two of the chief interests that bind people into communities. But where these interests exist, there are likely to be other interests; the high school is likely to be a meeting place for social and recreational purposes.

The area and boundaries of a “farming” or “rural neighborhood” community are usually rather indefinite and changeable, depending upon surface features and upon transportation conditions, or the length of the “day’s haul.” With improved roads and better means of transportation, larger areas and more people are included. A “neighborhood” or “trade area” with automobiles is much larger than one where horses or ox carts are used exclusively. The consolidated school with transportation provided for pupils expands the rural neighborhood community.

COMMON INTERESTS OF THE LARGER COMMUNITY

Each of the small dots on map 3 represents a farm home. If we select one of these dots and imagine ourselves members of the family that lives there, we shall see that we are members of a certain school district, of a certain township, of a community that has grown up around a trade center and a high school, and of course of the county as a whole. No matter in what school district we live, we have an interest in some matters in common with the people of all other school districts in the county. For example, there is a state university at Madison, and connected with it is a training school for teachers. The work done here influences the teaching in all the schools of the county, and indeed of the whole state. There is also an agricultural college at the state university which serves the farmers throughout the entire county and state. If we look closely at map 3, we shall see how highways and railroads center at Madison, which is the county seat of Dane County and the capital of the state of Wisconsin.

Just as the many small communities that make up a county are dependent upon one another, requiring organized cooperation for the county welfare, so all the counties of a state, and all the people who live in all the counties, are interdependent in many ways. The people of the city of Madison, for example, depend for their food supply upon the farmers not only of Dane County but of the entire state. The university at Madison serves not Dane County alone, but the people of all the counties of the state. The public schools of the state should be equally good in all counties and managed by a uniform plan. Roads and other means of transportation are a matter of concern to the entire state. And so the state is a community, organized with a government, to secure cooperation among all the people and all the smaller communities that compose it. In fact, a large part of the business of the governments of the local communities, such as city and county and township, is to administer the laws of the central state government.

In a similar manner, the forty-eight states of the Union, with all the counties and smaller communities of which they consist, comprise our great national community, of which we are all members.

COMMUNITIES IN THE LARGER COMMUNITIES

When we speak of “our community” we are likely to think at once of the small community immediately around us—our neighborhood, village, or city. Our citizenship in these local communities is extremely important, and will demand no small part of our attention. But it is equally important to be fully alive to our citizenship in the larger communities. This is true wherever we live; but there is a sense in which our national community is peculiarly important to those of us who live in rural communities. The wants of people in cities are, as a rule, looked after more completely by their local governments than is the case in rural communities.

The people of rural communities, and especially farmers themselves, are directly served by the national government in a great variety of ways. In the next chapter we shall consider our nation as a community.

Show how the different classes of your school are bound together by interests common to the entire school. Compare this union of classes with the union of states into a nation. What constitutes the government of your school?

Mention some things in which all the people of your county have a special interest. Are these things of equal interest to farmers and townspeople?

Do the farmers and townspeople of your county work well together, or are there conflicts between them? If there are conflicts, what are the causes?

Point out some ways in which the prosperity and welfare of the farmers of your locality depend upon a neighboring city or town. Also some ways in which, the city or town depend upon the neighboring farmers.

If there is organized cooperation in your county, similar to that described on page 32, has it been brought about or encouraged by government, or solely by voluntary effort on the part of citizens? If the government had anything to do with it, was it the county government, state government, or national government?

Has farmland increased or decreased in value in your locality since your father was a boy? Can you show a relation between this change in value of farmland and the growth of nearby towns or cities?

What industries in your town (or a neighboring town) are dependent upon farming for their raw materials? for the sale of their product?

What is the cotton gin? the spinning jenny? Show how these inventions were a benefit to agriculture. How did they promote the growth of cities?

Make a map of your school district. Do the people of this district cooperate in matters other than those pertaining to the school?

On a map of your county, show approximately the “trade area” served by the “trade center” nearest you. For what other purposes besides trade do the farmers of this trade area come to the trade center?

On a map of your county, show the area from which pupils come to the high school nearest you.

On a map of your state, show the principle “railroad centers.” Show how these are the centers of larger trade areas corresponding to the small trade areas of your county. Show how the farmers and the residents of these railroad centers have common interests.

READINGS

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, Chapters, i-iii.

Galpin, C. J., “The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community,” Research Bulletin 34, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

Gillette, John M., Constructive Rural Sociology (Sturgis & Walton Co., New York), Chapter iv (“Types of Communities”).

Small and Vincent, An Introduction to the Study of Society (American Book Co.), Book II, Chapters i-iv.

CHAPTER VII

OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY

IMPERFECTIONS OF OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY

It is important to get in the habit of thinking of our nation as a community, just as we think of our school or town or rural neighborhood as one. This is not always easy to do because of its huge size and complicated character. It would be wrong, too, to get the idea that it is a perfect community—none of our communities is perfect. Conflicts of interest are often more apparent than community of interest. Teamwork among the different parts and groups that make up our nation is often very poor. Although our government is a wonderfully good one, it is still only an imperfect means of cooperation. Our nation is far from being a complete democracy, for there are many people in it who do not have the full enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and large numbers of our “self-governing” people really have little or no part in government.

LOYALTY TO IDEALS

It need not give us an unpatriotic feeling to acknowledge the imperfections of our nation or of our government; for communities GROW, not only in size, but also in ability to perform their proper work, just as individuals do. We call a person conceited who thinks that he is perfect, especially if he boasts of it. But his conceit is itself an imperfection and a hindrance to growth. So the patriotic citizen is not one who is unable to see defects in his community, or who refuses to acknowledge them, but one who has high CIVIC IDEALS and is loyal to them, who understands in what respects these ideals have not been reached, and who, as a member of the community, contributes everything he can to keep it growing in THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

“The problem of government is, after all, the problem of human growth. ... The one constant and inconstant quantity with which man must deal is man—changing, inert, impulsive, limited, sympathetic, selfish, aspiring man. His institutions, whether social or political, must come out of his wants and out of his capacities. Luther Burbank has not yet made grapes to grow on thorns or figs on thistles. Neither has any system of government made all men wise…”—FRANKLIN K. LANE.

Is it possible for a community to be 100 percent perfect? Why?

What people in your community take no part in government?

May people who cannot vote have any influence upon government? Explain.

Has a good citizen a right to criticize his government? What is the difference between helpful and harmful criticism?

What is an “ideal”? a “civic ideal”?

WELDING OF THE NATION BY WAR

It is easier now than usual to think of our nation as a community, because the war with Germany served to arouse our “national spirit,” and showed very clearly the importance in our national life of those elements which characterize all community life— common purpose, interdependence, and organized, cooperation (see Chapters I-III). The creation of a National Army did much to bring this about.

When the benefits which come to the nation through the creation of the National Army are catalogued, the fact that it has welded the country into a homogeneous society, [Footnote: “Homogeneous society”—a society or community all of whose parts and members have like purposes and interests.] seeking the same national ends and animated by the same national ideals, will overtop all other advantages. The organization of the selected Army fuses the thousand separate elements making up the United States into one steel-hard mass. Men of the North, South, East, and West meet and mingle, and on the anvil of war become citizens worthy of the liberty won by the first American armies. [Footnote: Major Granville R. Fortesque, in National Geographic Magazine, Dec., 1917]. How this welding of the parts of the nation together was brought about by the war is suggested by the words of an old Confederate soldier who wrote to a friend in the North:

“During the war between the states I was a rebel, and continued one in heart until this great war. But now I am a devoted follower of Uncle Sam and endorse him in every respect.”

DIVERSE ELEMENTS IN OUR NATION

The fact that our nation contained in its population large numbers of people from practically every country of Europe caused no little anxiety when we entered the European war. Our population embraces a hundred different races and nationalities. Of these, ten million are negroes and three hundred thirty-six thousand are Indians. Thirty-three million are of foreign parentage, and of these, thirteen million are foreign-born. Five million do not speak English, and there are one thousand five hundred news papers in the United States printed in foreign languages. Five and one- half million above the age of ten years, including both foreign and native, cannot read or write in any language. New York City has a larger Hebrew population than any other city in the world, contains more Italians than Rome, and its German population is the fourth largest among the cities of the world. Pittsburgh has more Serbs than the capital of Serbia. It is said that there were more Greeks subject to draft in the American army than there were in the entire army of Greece. Would all these people be loyal to our nation, or would they divide it against itself?

LOYALTY OF DIVERSE ELEMENTS

The war, in fact, showed us that there were some among us who had never really become “members” of our nation and who were dangerous to our peace and safety. It also showed us the danger that comes from the presence of so many illiterates, or of those who cannot use the English language; for such people, even though loyal in spirit to the United States, cannot understand instructions either in the army or in industry, and otherwise prevent effective cooperation. And yet the most striking thing that the war showed us in regard to this mixed population is that the great mass of it, regardless of color or place of birth, is really American in spirit and loyal to our flag and the ideas which it represents.

NATIONAL SAFETY DEPENDS ON HARMONY

Another weakness within our nation that the war emphasized is the lack of harmony between wage earners and their employers. There were many sharp conflicts between them. Strikes occurred, or were threatened, in factories, shipyards, mines, and railroads, that blocked the wheels of industry at a time when the nation needed to strain every nerve to provide the materials of war. This lack of harmony between workmen and employers, which in war threatened our national safety, has existed for many years and has always been an obstacle to national progress. But the common purpose of winning the war caused employers and wage earners, in most cases, to adjust their differences. In nearly every case, one side or the other, or both sides, yielded certain points and agreed not to dispute over others, at least for the period of the war. The national government did much to bring this about by the creation of labor adjustment boards to hear complaints from either side and to settle disputes. If our national community life is to develop in a wholesome way, complete cooperation between workmen and employers must be secured and made permanent on the basis of interests that are common to both.

THE EFFECT OF A COMMON PURPOSE

Such facts as these show how easy it is, in a huge, complex community like our nation, for conflicts to arise among different sections and groups of the population; and how difficult it is always to see the common interests that exist. But they also show how such conflicts tend to disappear when a situation arises which forces us to think of the common interests instead of the differences. All else was forgotten in the common purpose to “win the war.” No sacrifice was too great on the part of any individual in order that this national purpose might be served. Everywhere throughout the country, in cities and in remote rural districts, service flags in the windows testified that the homes of the land were offering members that the nation and its ideals might live. Men, women, and even children contributed their work and their savings and denied themselves customary comforts to help win the war. THE ENTIRE NATION WAS WORKING TOGETHER FOR A COMMON PURPOSE.

OUR NATIONAL PURPOSE

We have said that this common purpose was to “win the war.” But there were purposes that lie much deeper than this, without which it would not have been worth while to enter the war at all. As we saw in Chapter I, our nation is founded on a belief in the right of every one to life and physical well-being; to be secure in one’s rightful possessions; to freedom of thought—education, free speech, a free press; to freedom of religion; to happiness in pleasant surroundings and a wholesome social life; and, above all, to a voice in the government which exists to protect these rights. It was to secure a larger freedom to enjoy these rights, “for ourselves first and for all others in their time,” that our nation was solidly united against the enemy that threatened it from without. But it was with this same purpose that the War of Independence was fought, that our Constitution was adopted, that slavery was abolished, that millions of people from foreign lands have come to our shores. It is this common purpose that makes the great mass of foreigners in our country Americans, ready to fight for America, if necessary even against the land of their birth. It is this for which the American flag stands at all times, whether in peace or in war.

What proof can you give of a “national spirit” in your locality during the war?

What evidence can you give to show that this national spirit is or is not as strong since the war closed?

What was the “National Army”? the “National Guard”? Which of these organizations was most likely to develop a “national spirit”? Why? What good reasons can you give for the action of the government in consolidating the Regular Army, the National Army, and the National Guard into a “United States Army”?

What arguments can you give in favor of requiring all instruction in the public schools to be given in the English language?

What arguments can you give in favor of teaching lessons in citizenship in foreign-language newspapers?

What foreign nationalities are represented in your locality?

Make a blackboard table showing the nationality of the parents and grandparents of each member of your class.

Give illustrations to show that “winning the war” was the controlling purpose in your community during the war.

In what way has the war made YOU think about the right-to-life and the need for physical well-being? about security in property? about freedom of thought? about the desirability of an education? about the right of people to pleasant surroundings? about self- government?

Show how the Spanish-American war was fought for the same purpose as that mentioned in the paragraph above.

Write a brief theme on “What the Flag Means to Me.”

NATIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE

The attempt to work together in the war made it very apparent how dependent the nation is upon all its parts, and how dependent each part is upon all the others. It was often said that “the farmers would win the war.” At other times it was said to be ships, or fuel, or airplanes, or railroad transportation, or trained scientists and technical workers. The truth is, of course, that all these things and many more were absolutely necessary, and that no one of them would have been of much value without all the others.

It is true that the winning of the war depended upon the farmers, because they are the producers of the food and of the raw materials for textiles without which the nation and every group and person in it would have been helpless. But the farmer could not supply food to the nation without machinery for its production, and without city markets and railroads and ships for its distribution. Machinery could not be made, nor ships and locomotives built, without steel. For the manufacture of steel there must be iron and fuel and tungsten and other materials. And for all these things there must be inventors and skilled mechanics, and to produce these there must be schools. And so we could go on indefinitely to show how the war made us feel our interdependence. What we need to understand, however, is that THIS INTERDEPENDENCE IS CHARACTERISTIC OF OUR NATIONAL LIFE AT ALL TIMES; the war only made us feel it more keenly.

NATION-BUILDING IN WAR TIME

During the war, strange as it may seem, while we were devoting our national energies to the work of destruction incident to war, we as a nation made astonishing progress in many ways other than in the art of war—in what we might call nation-building.

In some ways we made progress in a year or two that under ordinary circumstances might have required a generation. A striking illustration of this is in the development of a great fleet of merchant ships at a rate that would have been impossible before the war. Beginning with almost nothing when the war began, we had, in less than two years, a merchant fleet larger than that of any other nation, and that in spite of the constant destruction of ships by the enemy. The chairman of the shipping board of the United States government says that this is because the necessities of the war made the whole nation see how much it depends upon ships, and caused not only ship-builders, but also engineers and manufacturers and businessmen and the Navy department of the government, and many others, to concentrate upon this problem, with the result that we discovered methods of shipbuilding, and of loading and unloading and operating ships when they were built, that will probably enable us to maintain permanently a merchant marine, the lack of which we have deplored for many years.

In a similar way we discovered and brought into use valuable natural resources of whose existence we had largely been ignorant and for which we had been dependent upon other nations. We made astonishing progress in scientific knowledge, and especially in the application of this knowledge to invention and to industrial enterprises. We developed a new interest in agriculture, and learned the food values of many products that had formerly been neglected. We were led to attack seriously the great problem of suitable housing for workmen, and had an important lesson in the relation between wholesome home-life and industrial efficiency (see Chapter X, pp. 112-113). Foundations were laid for the adjustment of the unfortunate differences that have long existed between workmen and their employers. The war suggested changes in our educational methods, some of which will doubtless become effective, to the great improvement of our public schools, colleges, and technical schools.

We shall study some of these things more fully in later chapters. They are mentioned now to illustrate how OUR NATIONAL PROGRESS WAS STIMULATED WHEN THE WAR FORCED US TO SEE THE RELATION OF ALL THESE THINGS TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF OUR NATIONAL PURPOSE. On the other hand, failure to recognize this national interdependence means slow progress as a national community. When the war began, our nation was said to be “unprepared.” Insofar as this was true—and it was true in many particulars—it was because in the times of peace before the war we had not thought enough about the dependence of our national strength and safety upon all these factors in our national life WORKING TOGETHER. And so, in the times of peace AFTER THE WAR, if the purposes for which our nation fought are to be fulfilled, we must continue to profit by this lesson which the war has taught us.

Recall your discussion of national interdependence in connection with your study of Chapter II.

Report on some of the important scientific and commercial developments resulting from the war; as, for example:

The development of the commercial use of the airplane.

The development of new food supplies.

The production of fertilizer from the nitrogen of the air.

The development of new industries in the United States.

Changes in methods of farming.

What are some changes in education that are likely to result from the war?

Show how the strike of coal miners in 1919 affected the life of the nation.

THE “SUPREME TEST” OF THE NATION

The “working together” of all these interdependent parts is the important thing. “The supreme test of the nation has come,” said President Wilson. “We must all speak, act, and serve together.” [Footnote: Message to the American People, April 15, 1919].

1

It is not an army that we must shape and train for war … it is a Nation. To this end our people must draw close in one compact front against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursues a private purpose. The Nation needs all men, but it needs each man, not in the field that will most pleasure him, but in the endeavor that will best serve the common good. ... The whole Nation must be a team, in which each man must play the part for which he is best fitted. [Footnote: Conscription Proclamation, May 18, 1917.]

THE NATION AS A TEAM

We had some suggestion on page 72 of how such national team work became a fact. “Do your bit!” was the watch-word. It was splendid to see how personal interests gave way before the desire to serve the nation. It is a thrilling story how the racial elements in our population forgot their differences of race and language and remembered only that they were American; how employers and employees laid aside their differences; how farmers and businessmen, manufacturers and mechanics, miners and woodsmen, inventors and teachers, women in the home and children in the schools, doctors and nurses, and every other class and group subordinated their personal interests to the one national purpose of winning the war in order that “the world might become a decent place in which to live.”

As soon as the United States entered the war, Washington, the nation’s capital, became filled with people from all parts of the country who wanted to help in some way. Some were called there by the government; others came to volunteer their services and to offer ideas that they thought useful. Many came as representatives of organizations—business and industrial organizations, scientific associations, civic societies. New committees and associations were formed, until the number of voluntary citizen organizations eager to do “war work” became almost too numerous to remember. They were all an indication of the desire of the people to do their part in the national enterprise.

CONFUSION WITHOUT ORGANIZATION

But there followed a period of confusion. All these organizations and the people whom they represented wanted to help, but they did not always know just what to do nor how to do it. Each organization had its own ideas which it often magnified above all others. Different organizations wanted to accomplish the same purpose, but wanted to do it in different ways. Often they duplicated one another’s efforts. A war could not be won under such conditions. But out of all this confusion there finally developed order, and this was because the various organizations of people realized that if they were to accomplish anything they must work in cooperation with the national government, whose business it was, after all, to organize the nation for united action. In fact, it was for this reason that they came to Washington. Many of them sought to influence the government to adopt this or that plan, and sometimes succeeded; but it was the government that finally decided what plans were to be adopted, and all of the effort of the numerous organizations and of individuals must be brought into harmony with these.

NATIONAL TEAM WORK THROUGH GOVERNMENT

The period of the war afforded many striking examples of national cooperation secured by the government. It may have seemed sometimes that our government interfered with personal freedom to an unreasonable extent, as when it limited the amount of coal we could buy, fixed the prices of many articles, determined the wages that should be paid for labor, took over the management of the railroads and of the telegraph and telephone lines, and did many other things that it never had done in times of peace. We expected government to exercise powers in war time that it would not be permitted to exercise in times of peace. But it can be shown that even during the war, the government, with all its unusual powers, did not “ride roughshod” over the people, but sought to “make them partners in an enterprise which after all was their own.” The nation was fighting for its life and for the very principles upon which it was founded, and it was necessary that cooperation should be complete and effective. This was what the government sought, and it exercised its powers by inviting and obtaining national cooperation to a remarkable extent.

THE SELECTIVE DRAFT AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF TEAM WORK

Our national army was created by a “selective” draft, or conscription. Conscription had formerly been looked upon with disfavor as a form of forced military service. A volunteer army was thought to be more in harmony with a democratic form of government. But the draft is now seen to be far more democratic than a volunteer army because it treats all able-bodied men alike, instead of leaving the fighting to those who are most courageous and most patriotic, while those who are inclined to shirk may easily do so. Moreover, the SELECTIVE draft means the selection of men to serve in the capacity for which they are best fitted. In Great Britain, under a volunteer system, and in France, under a system of compulsory military service for all men, thousands of brave men went to the trenches in the early days of the war who, because of their training, should have been kept at home to perform the vast amount of skilled labor and scientific work which this war demanded. War industry, without which there could be no fighting, was thus greatly hampered.

By our selective draft, on the other hand, while every man was expected to do his share, each was selected as far as possible to do the thing which he could do best and therefore which would best serve the country. It also sought to prevent those who had families dependent upon them from going to war until they were absolutely needed. Thus the selective draft is an example of government organizing our national manpower for more effective teamwork and with less hardship than if it had been left to voluntary action.

TEAM WORK THROUGH THE FOOD ADMINISTRATION

The United States Food Administration was created by the President to carry out the provisions of a law passed by Congress”, to provide further for the national security and defense by encouraging the production, conserving the supply, and controlling the distribution of food products and fuel.” The President placed at its head a man in whom the people of the country had great confidence, because of his experience and success in organizing and managing the Belgian relief work, Mr. Herbert Hoover. He gathered around him men familiar with the problems relating to the food supply of the nation, and then proceeded to enlighten the country in regard to the nature of these problems and to seek for the cooperation of the people in solving them.

As soon as he was appointed, the food administrator issued a statement containing the following facts:

Whereas we exported before the war but 80,000,000 bushels of wheat per annum, this year we must find for all our allies 225,000,000 bushels, and this in the face of a short crop. ... France and Italy formerly produced their own sugar, while England and Ireland imported largely from Germany. Owing to the inability of the first-named to produce more than one third of their needs, and the necessity for the others to import from other markets, they must all come to the West Indies for their very large supplies, and therefore deplete our resources.

If we can reduce our consumption of wheat flour by 1 pound, our meat by 7 ounces, our sugar by 7 ounces, our fat by 7 ounces PER PERSON PER WEEK, these quantities, multiplied by 100,000,000 (the population of the United States) will immeasurably aid and encourage our allies, help our own growing armies, and so effectively serve the great and noble cause of humanity in which our nation has embarked.

DEMOCRACY A PARTNERSHIP

This illustrates how the Food Administration sought cooperation. It “made partners” of the people, explained to them the situation, and asked them to help as individuals. It showed the nation what it must do if it were to be successful in its undertaking. It is true that the President had large powers to enforce observance of the rules outlined by the Food Administration, but it was only in the exceptional case of the individual consumer and producer who refused to cooperate for the common good that it became necessary to use the power. The method of democracy is to point out clearly how the desired result may be obtained and to depend upon the people to govern themselves accordingly.

After a year of the war a member of the Food Administration is quoted as saying, [Footnote: In an article on “Your Wheatless Days,” by W. A. Wolff, in Collier’s Weekly, Aug. 17, 1918.] “There’s never been anything like it in history. ... We asked the American people to do voluntarily more than any other people has ever been asked to do under compulsion. And the American people made good!”

What was true in the unusual time of war is true to even a greater extent in the ordinary time of peace. We have little to fear from our national government as long as we and those to whom we entrust its management, always keep in mind its real purpose, which is to show us how to work together effectively as a nation and to help us do it.

EVERY MAN COUNTS

All through this study we are going to observe how in the ordinary affairs of life our national government serves us in this respect. One thing that we need especially to learn is that we have a great national purpose ALL THE TIME, in peace as well as in war. In fact, PEACE IS A PART OF THAT PURPOSE. We went to war because without it there could be no assurance of a lasting peace. While we fought to defend our national purpose and our national ideals against a powerful foe from without, this purpose and these ideals cannot be fully achieved by the war alone. They can be finally achieved only by ourselves as we develop, day by day, our national community life. To do this we must always keep in mind our great national purpose, we must realize our dependence upon one another in achieving this purpose, and we must make our national team work as perfect as it can be made. Above all, we must realize that, in peace as in war, EVERY MAN COUNTS in our national community life. As President Wilson said:

“THE NATION NEEDS ALL MEN, BUT IT NEEDS EACH MAN. ...” “THE WHOLE NATION MUST BE A TEAM, IN WHICH EACH MAN SHALL PLAY THE PART FOR WHICH HE IS BEST FITTED.”

Read and discuss President Wilson’s “Message to the American People,” of April 15, 1917.

What organizations existed in your community to secure teamwork for war purposes?

Show how boys’ and girls’ clubs, or the School Garden Army, made cooperation possible on a national scale. Is this true in peace times as well as in war time?

Is there greater or less need of national teamwork today than during the war? Explain your answer.

What evidences are there that the teamwork of our nation has not been as good since the war as during the war? Why is this?

Show how universal military training might increase the national spirit What arguments can you give against it?

Should or should not the food administration of wartime be continued in peace time? Why?

What does it mean to you to be an American?

READINGS

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose:

Van Dyke, “The Blending of Races,” p. 4.

De Crevecoeur, “The American,” p. 38.

Webster, “Imaginary Speech of John Adams,” p. 77.

Brooks, “The Fourth of July in Westminster Abbey,” p. 89.

Van Dyke, “The Americanism of Washington,” pp. 135-137.

Jay, “Unity as a Protection against Foreign Force and Influence,” p. 139.

Webster, “Liberty and Union Inseparable,” p. 158.

Lincoln, “Gettysburg Speech,” p. 181.

Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” p. 183.

Whitman, “Two Brothers, One North, One South,” p. 201.

Wilson, “Spirit of America,” p. 266.

Roosevelt, “True Americanism,” p. 270.

Wilson, “Conscription Proclamation,” p. 283.

Hughes, “What the Flag Means,” p. 288.

Eliot, “Five American Contributions to Civilization,” p. 310.

Lane, “Makers of the Flag,” p. 314.

McCall, “America the Melting Pot,” p. 320.

Wilson, “To Newly-Made Citizens,” p. 322.

Gibbons, “The Republic Will Endure,” p. 340.

Eliot, “What Americans Believe In,” p. 361.

Abbott, “Patriotism,” p. 362.

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals:

Wilson, “Conscription Proclamation,” p. 175.

Wilson, “Americanism and the Foreign-Born,” p. 178.

Alderman, “Can Democracy be Organized?” p. 158.

CHAPTER VIII

A WORLD COMMUNITY

Is there a world community? A world torn by war, as our world was from 1914 to 1918, may not seem to give much evidence of it, and many would at once answer “No” to our question. And yet such phrases as the “brotherhood of man” and the “cause of humanity” are familiar to us all. We may briefly discuss the question in this study, because if there is such a community, we are all members of it, and our membership in it affects our lives as individuals and as a nation.

WHAT THE WAR DISCLOSED WITH REGARD TO A WORLD COMMUNITY

The world community is certainly very imperfectly developed, but while the war emphasized its imperfections, it also furnished evidence if its reality. Its existence depends upon the presence of recognized common purposes and of organized teamwork in accomplishing these purposes, as in the case of any community. The war disclosed conflicting interests among the nations; but it united for a common purpose a larger part of the world’s population than had ever before acted together in a common cause. It disclosed an interdependence among the nations and the peoples of the world that we had not thought of. And while it disclosed the weakness of the world’s organization for teamwork, it aroused us to the possibilities of such organization, made us long for it, and brought us, as many believe, a step nearer to its accomplishment.

AMERICA’S DETACHMENT FROM THE WORLD

Separated by wide oceans, from the rest of the world, our nation grew and prospered with a sense of security from the conflicts that from time to time disturbed the Old World. We early adopted a policy of avoiding entanglements that might draw us into these conflicts. In his Farewell Address, Washington said:

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. ... Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and posterity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

A few years later, President Monroe issued his famous statement, known as the Monroe Doctrine, which, recognizing the principle that Washington had stated, also denied the right of European powers to interfere with the free growth of the republican nations of North and South America. The United States has steadfastly held to this doctrine from that day to this.

NATIONS HAVE BECOME CLOSE NEIGHBORS

But great changes have come to the world since the time of Washington. The use of steam in navigation, the submarine cable and wireless telegraphy have brought all the world into closer relations than existed between New England and the Southern States in the early days of our national life. Our government at Washington may send messages to European capitals and receive a reply within ten minutes. The Atlantic has been crossed by airplane. The nations of the world have become very close neighbors. The murder of a prince in a little city of central Europe drew from millions of homes in America their sons to fight on the soil of Europe. We entered the war because our interests were so closely bound up with those of the world that we could not keep out; because “what affects mankind is inevitably our affair, as well as the affair of the nations of Europe and Asia.”

The war did not create this interdependence; it only emphasized it. But now that we are aware of it, it will probably influence our lives to a much greater extent than before the war.

WHAT THE WORLD WAS FIGHTING FOR

The nations that were associated against Germany, occupy, with their dependencies, two-thirds of the earth’s surface and include more than four-fifths of its population. The governments of these nations declared that they were fighting primarily, not for selfish interests such as “ports and provinces and trade,” but “for the common interests of the whole family of civilized nations—for nothing less than the cause of mankind.” [Footnote: Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.] Even if some of the governments were influenced to a greater or lesser extent by selfish motives, they still recognized a common interest of the peoples of the world, a “cause of mankind,” and based their appeals upon it. The prime minister of England said, “We must not allow any sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping desire, to overcome the fundamental principles of righteousness.” Faraway Siam declared that she entered the war “to uphold the sanctity of international rights against nations showing a contempt for humanity.” And little Guatemala proclaimed that she had “from the first adhered to and supported the attitude of the United States in defense of the rights of nations, of liberty of the seas, and of international justice.” Our President said that “what we demand in this war is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in for every peace- loving nation. ... All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest.”

The avowed purpose for which the United States entered the war, and for which “all the peoples of the world are in effect partners,” is the same as that for which the American Revolutionary War was fought, which was proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence, and for which America has always stood—the equal right of all men to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and to self-government. Nearly the whole world was united against a few autocratic governments that denied these rights.

AMERICA HAS FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS

At the time of the American Revolution the colonists had no desire to fight the English PEOPLE, but revolted against the autocratic English GOVERNMENT of that time, which refused to recognize the rights of the people. The English people had many times fought for these rights, and many of them sympathized with the American colonists, The winning of American independence was a victory for free government in England as well as in America, and the government of England today is as democratic as our own. This understanding about the American Revolution throws light upon what the President of the United States meant when he said that we fought Germany for “the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, THE GERMAN PEOPLES INCLUDED.” Another writer said, “We are not fighting to put the Germans out but to get them in.”

THE GROWTH OF HUMAN SYMPATHY

It has taken a long time for the peoples of the world to develop a sense of their common wants and purposes. Differences in language, in race and color, in religious beliefs and observances, in forms of government, even in such matters as dress and other habits and customs, have tended to obscure the common feelings of all. This lack of sympathetic understanding is suggested by Shylock, in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice:

Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same Winter and Summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? if we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

Increased opportunity for travel, better means of communication, and more widespread education have greatly increased the understanding among peoples and nations, and have disclosed to view common purposes and ideals in spite of differences. The fact that large numbers of people from every part of the globe have come to the United States to live together as one nation has contributed to the same result.

Give illustrations from your own experience and reading to show that differences in dress, language, race, and customs make sympathetic understanding difficult.

What is meant by “America, the melting-pot”?

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As the peoples of the world have become better acquainted, individuals and groups have tended to associate themselves together, regardless of national boundaries, for the promotion of common interests.

One example of this is the common movement of organized labor which has overstepped national boundaries.

There is an International Institute of Agriculture, with headquarters at Rome, and representing 56 countries, the purpose of which is to promote better economic and social conditions among agricultural populations of the world. Some of its publications are published in five languages.

Literature and art bind all the world together, and science knows no national boundary lines. Christianity is one of the greatest influences for a “brotherhood of man.” Differences in religious belief have presented most difficult barriers to overcome, but there has been a steadily increasing tolerance of one religious faith toward others.

These are only a few of hundreds of illustrations that might be given.

SERVICE OF THE RED CROSS

We have all become familiar, during the war, with the work of the Red Cross. No other organization has done more to extend the feeling of common brotherhood in the world and the spirit of world service. During the war a Junior Department of the Red Cross was organized, enrolling in its membership about twelve million American boys and girls and organizing them for practical service to war-stricken Europe and Asia. Since the war, the Junior Red Cross, whose headquarters are at Washington, D. C., has undertaken to use its organization to promote correspondence among boys and girls of different lands, and an exchange of handiwork, pictures, and other things illustrative of their interests. The American School Citizenship League (405 Marlboro Street, Boston) is encouraging the same idea, and there is a Bureau of French- American Education Correspondence for a similar purpose, with headquarters at the George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn.

THE MOVEMENT FOR WORLD PEACE

Numerous INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONGRESSES have been held, the first one as early as 1843, and in the United States and other countries organizations exist for the promotion of friendly relations among the nations, and especially for the substitution of arbitration for war as a means of settling international disputes.

Among such organizations in the United States are the League to Enforce Peace, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the American Peace and Arbitration League, the American Peace Society, the World Peace Federation, the Church Peace Union.

What may be gained by correspondence between the young people of different lands?

Report on the following (see references):

The work of the Pan-American Union.

The work of the Red Cross in war and peace.

PAN-AMERICAN UNION

One of the most successful experiments in international cooperation is that of the North and South American republics. The first Pan-American Conference, attended by delegates from the twenty-one American republics, was held in Washington, D.C., in 1889. As a result of this Conference the Pan-American Union was established, with permanent headquarters in Washington. Its purpose is “the development of commerce, friendly intercourse, and good understanding among these countries.”

INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT

To secure anything like effective teamwork among the nations for the common interest and to substitute arbitration for war as a means of settling differences, there must be some kind of international organization, and rules to which the governments of the nations will agree. Civilized nations have always had their official means of dealing with one another through their governments, such as the diplomatic and consular services. Alliances have, from time immemorial, been made between nations, treaties have been solemnly agreed to, and a body of international law has gradually grown up. But treaties and international law have frequently been violated, and no international government has existed with sufficient authority or power to force nations to observe the law or to keep their agreements. As a result of two peace conferences held at The Hague in Holland, in 1899 and 1907, an international Court of Arbitration was established at The Hague (The Hague Tribunal), before which disputes might be brought by nations if they desired to do so. But there was no way by which a nation could be compelled to appeal to the court.

NATIONALITY AND SOVEREIGNTY

Nations have a strong sense of their NATIONALITY, and are extremely jealous of their SOVEREIGNTY, which is the supreme power claimed by every nation to form its own government and to manage its own affairs without interference by other nations. It is this that has prevented the development of anything like a real international government that could control the conduct of national governments, or that could require a nation to submit its grievances to any judge other than itself. This has perhaps been the chief weakness of the world community.

A LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Many people have long believed that the self-governing nations of the world must sooner or later unite, in the interest of world peace, in some kind of federation or league, with a central organization to which all would agree to submit their differences. The war made it seem even more necessary. Accordingly, the Peace Conference at Versailles at the close of the war included in the treaty of peace a Covenant (or constitution) for a League of Nations. The treaty, including the Covenant, has been ratified (March, 1920) by four of the five great nations associated against Germany (France, England, Italy, and Japan; the United States being the exception), besides several other nations. While the President of the United States strongly advocated the treaty with the Covenant, the Senate did not approve of its ratification. Those in our country who opposed the Covenant did so for a variety of reasons, but chief among them were: first, the fear that the Covenant would cause us to depart from the principles laid down by Washington and Monroe; and, second, the fear that the powers conferred upon the international government would deprive our national government of some of its sovereign powers. The friends of the Covenant denied that either of these things would be true.

Whether or not the United States should enter the League [Footnote: The Council of the new League of Nations held its first meeting January 16, 1920, the United States, of course, not being represented.] we shall have to leave for the statesmen to decide; and whether or not the League will accomplish the desired ends, time alone can prove. But two or three things may safely be said with regard to any really effective world government.

MIGHT DOES NOT MAKE RIGHT

When people live together in communities, each person has to sacrifice something of his personal freedom in order that all may enjoy the largest possible liberty. The same is true of families in a neighborhood, of communities in a state, of the states in our nation. There is no reason why it should not be true of nations which are neighbors to one another. No nation has any more right to do as it pleases than a person or a family has, IF WHAT IT PLEASES TO DO IS UNJUST TO ITS NEIGHBORS. The only thing, however, that a nation can properly be asked to give up IS BEING UNJUST TO ITS NEIGHBORS. We saw in Chapter IV that government and law increase rather than decrease the individual citizen’s freedom, and that it is only the “ill-mannered” who feel the restrictions of a wise government. So, when we finally get a world government that is good, it will be one that will increase the freedom of all “good-mannered” nations, restricting only those that are “ill- mannered.”

WHAT “AMERICA FIRST” MEANS

Moreover, when we finally get a league of nations that will really secure friendly cooperation among the nations for their common interests, it will be brought about, not by sacrificing nationality and national patriotism, but by STRENGTHENING them.

What is required is not less loyalty to one’s nationality, but more sympathetic understanding of nationalities and national ideals different from one’s own, combined with a recognition of the fundamental interests … which unite them to each other. [Footnote: “Thoughts on Nationalism and Internationalism,” in History Teachers’ Magazine, June 1918, p. 334.]

The only way to be sure of a perfect neighborhood is first to see to it that the homes of the neighborhood are strong and whole some. No person can really be loyal to his neighborhood who is not first of all loyal to his home. Thoroughly efficient townships and counties and cities are essential to a thoroughly efficient state; and no citizen is loyal to his state who is not loyal to his township, county, and city. The strength of our nation depends upon the strength of the states that compose it, and real national patriotism cannot well exist in the heart of a citizen who is disloyal to his state. The first essential step toward an effective WORLD government is to see that our national government is efficient and at the same time JUST. The first and best service that a citizen can perform for the world community is to be loyal to AMERICAN IDEALS, which are becoming the ideals of an ever- increasing part of the world’s population.

THE NEW TYPE OF PATRIOT NO LONGER CRIES, “MY COUNTRY AGAINST THE WORLD,” BUT “MY COUNTRY FOR THE WORLD.” [Footnote: Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.]

Topics for investigation:

The Hague Tribunal. Disputes that have been settled by it. Why the dispute that led to the recent war was not settled by it.

The meaning of “nationality.” Of “sovereignty.”

Has a government any more right to be dishonest than an individual?

Both sides of the argument over the ratification by the United States of the treaty of peace with the Covenant for the League of Nations (see references).

The truth of the statement that “the only way to be sure of a perfect neighborhood is first to see to it that the homes of the neighborhood are strong and wholesome.”

The meaning of the statement in the quotation at the end of the text above.

READINGS

In Long’s AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Washington, “Farewell Address,” pp. 105-124.

Washington, “Proclamation of Neutrality,” pp. 143-146.

“The Monroe Doctrine,” pp. 148-149.

John Quincy Adams, “The Mission of America,” pp. 149-150.

George F. Hoar, “A Warning Against the Spirit of Empire,” pp. 244-

247.

Woodrow Wilson, “Spirit of America,” pp. 266-268.

Franklin K. Lane, “Why We Are Fighting Germany,” pp. 282-283.

Carl Schurz, “The Rule of Honor for the Republic,” pp. 342-343.

Woodrow Wilson, “War Message of April 2, 1917,” pp. 351-361.

In Foerster and Pierson’s AMERICAN IDEALS:

Washington, “Counsel on Alliances” (Farewell Address), pp. 185-

189.

“The Monroe Doctrine,” pp. 190-193.

Henry Clay, “The Emancipation of South America,” pp. 194-199.

Robert E. Lansing, “Pan-Americanism,” pp. 200-296.

A. Lawrence Lowell, “A League to Enforce Peace,” pp. 207-223.

George G. Wilson, “The Monroe Doctrine and the League to Enforce Peace,” pp. 224-232.

Woodrow Wilson, “The Conditions of Peace,” pp. 233-241.

Woodrow Wilson, “War for Democracy and Peace,” pp. 242-256.

Various books and pamphlets have been written relating to the League of Nations and world relations following the war. Among these are:

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, edited by Henry E. Jackson (published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., 70 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1). “A document prepared to stimulate community discussion and promote organized public opinion.” This book contains, at the end, a list of titles of books and pamphlets on the subject.

The Lodge-Lowell DEBATE ON THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS (World Peace Foundation, Boston). President Lowell, of Harvard University, argued for, and Senator Lodge against, the Covenant as contained in the treaty of peace.

Taft, William Howard, WHY A LEAGUE OF NATIONS IS NECESSARY (League to Enforce Peace, New York).

Sherman, Stuart P., AMERICAN AND ALLIED IDEALS (World Peace Foundation, Boston).

The complete official record of the United States Senate debate on the treaty of peace is to be found in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, a file of which SHOULD be in your public library.

THE JUNIOR RED CROSS NEWS, American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.

For the work of the Pan American Union and the Red Cross, consult your public library; and write to the Pan American Union and the American Red Cross, both in Washington, D.C., for descriptive publications.

For the Hague Conferences and the Hague Tribunal, consult any good modern encyclopedia, and your public library. Write for materials to the American School Citizenship League, 405 Marlboro St., Boston, and the World Peace Foundation, Boston.

CHAPTER IX

THE HOME

“NO NATION CAN BE DESTROYED WHILE IT POSSESSES A GOOD HOME LIFE.”

The home is the smallest, the simplest, and the most familiar community of which we are members. In many respects it is also the most important. The quotation with which this chapter opens suggests this. It will appear at many points in our study.

What do you think that the quotation at the head of the chapter means? In what respects do you think it true?

Some cities take pride in the fact that they are “cities of homes.” What does this mean? Why is it a cause for pride?

Is your community (neighborhood or town) a community of homes? What is a “home”? When a person is “homesick” for what is he “sick”?

May a good home exist in a poor dwelling? A poor home in a fine dwelling?

Is a hotel a home? May a family living in a hotel have a home there?

Is an orphan asylum a home? Would you exchange life in your own home for life in an orphan asylum? Why? There are children who think an orphan asylum is a fine place to live; why is this?

The home is important (1) because of what it does for its own members, and (2) because of what it does for the larger community of which it is a part. We shall consider first what it does for its own members.

THE PIONEER FAMILY

Under the conditions of pioneer life the wants of the members of the family were provided for almost entirely by their own united efforts. They built their own dwelling from materials which they themselves procured from the forest. They made their living from the land which they occupied, with tools which were largely homemade. They provided their own defense against attack from without and against sickness within. Such education as the children obtained was of the most practical kind, and was obtained by actual experience in their daily work supplemented by such instruction as parents and older brothers and sisters could give. There was little social life except within the family circle.

EFFECT OF COMMUNITY GROWTH

When other homes were built in the neighborhood a larger community life began. The neighboring homes came to depend upon one another and to cooperate in many ways. The store at the crossroads provided for many wants that each home had formerly provided for itself. The doctor who came to live in the community relieved the home of much anxiety in case of sickness. The education of the children was in part, at least, turned over to the community school. And so, as a community grows, the home shifts much of the responsibility for providing for the wants of its members upon community agencies.

DEPENDENCE OF THE CITY HOME

This shifting of responsibility for the welfare of citizens from the home to the larger community is carried furthest in cities. Almost everything wanted in the home may be bought in the city shops, and work that is done in the home for the family, such as repair work, dressmaking, laundry work, and cooking, is likely to be done by people brought in from outside. Water is piped in from a public water supply and sewage is piped out through public sewers. Gas and electricity for lighting and heating are furnished by city plants. Since many city homes have not a spot of ground for a garden or for outdoor play, they depend upon public parks and playgrounds provided by the city. These are among the many so- called advantages of city life.

THE OBLIGATION OF THE HOME

When so much is done for the citizen by the larger community agencies, there is danger that the family may forget its own responsibility for the welfare of its members in connection with every want of life. For no matter how good the community’s arrangements for health protection may be, the health of every citizen depends more upon the home than upon any other agency (see Chapter XX). No matter how good the schools, the home always has great responsibility for the education of the children, both within the home itself and through cooperation with the schools (Chapter XIX). No matter how many social organizations and places of amusement the community may afford, the social and recreational life of the home is the most important of all and the most far- reaching in its influence (Chapter XXI). No matter how excellent the form of government in a community may be, its results will be very imperfect unless the government in each home is good.

IMPORTANCE OF THE HOME IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

The home has especial importance in the rural community of to-day. The rural home is no longer so isolated and self-dependent as the pioneer home, but the life of the rural citizen is much more dependent upon efforts within the home itself than the life of the city resident. The business of farming by which the family living is secured is carried on at home, and, as a rule, all the members of the family have some part in it. It is a cooperative family enterprise to a much greater extent than any other modern business.

In cities, in the great majority of cases, the work by which the family living is earned is done away from home, and very often no member of the family except the father has any direct part in it. There are numerous cases, however, where the mother and even the children go out to work, and in such cases the home life may be seriously interfered with.

It would be hard to find a rural home in the United States to-day that is not near enough to a schoolhouse to enable the children to attend it, at least for an elementary education. Unfortunately, high schools are not yet easily accessible in all rural communities (see Chapter XIX). But whether the education afforded by the rural school is of the best or not, the boy or girl on the farm gets in addition a kind of education through the varied occupations of the farm life that the city boy or girl does not get, and for which the city schools have tried in vain to find an adequate substitute. It is remarkable how many of the successful men and women of our country were raised on farms; and they almost always bear witness to the value of the training received there.

So in matters of health, of social life and recreation, of pleasant and beautiful surroundings, the rural home must depend very largely upon itself. The strength and happiness of the community, of our nation itself, depend largely upon the extent to which the homes perform their proper work in providing for the wants of their members.

Review what was said in Chapter II regarding the independence of the pioneer family.

Review also what was said in Chapter I regarding the growing dependence of the family upon the community.

Gather stories regarding pioneer home life (a) in your own locality, (b) in the settlement of the West; (c) in colonial times. Illustrate from these stories how the home provided for the wants of its members.

Show in detail how the various members of a farmer’s family take part in the business of farming. Compare with a family in town whose living is provided for by some other business.

Make a list of the different people who come to the home of a family in town to provide for its wants (such as the grocer’s boy, the milkman, the postman, etc.). Compare with a farmer’s home with respect to this service from outside.

LABOR SAVING IN THE HOME

We have read in an earlier chapter that “our national purpose is to transmute days of dreary work into happier lives—for ourselves first and for all others in their time.” This purpose cannot be fully achieved if it is not first of all achieved in the home. One of the objections often raised to life on the farm is that it is a life of drudgery, of few conveniences and comforts, of long hours, hard work, and little recreation. Happily this is not so true as it once was. Labor-saving machinery, better methods of transportation and communication, better schools, have done much to improve conditions of rural home life. But occasionally there still come statements like the following from some of the women in farm homes:

In many homes life on the farm is a somewhat one-sided affair. Many times the spare money above living expenses is expended on costly machinery and farm implements to make the farmer’s work lighter; on more land where there is already a sufficiency; on expensive horses and cattle and new out-buildings; while little or nothing is done for home improvement and no provision made for the comfort and convenience of the women of the family.

If a silo will help to reduce the man’s labor, a vacuum cleaner will do likewise for his wife. If the stock at the barn needs a good water system to help it grow, the stock in the house needs it too, and needs it warm for baths.

You see many a farm where there is a cement floor in the barn, while the cellar in the house is awful. A sheep dip, but no bathtub; a fine buggy and a poor baby carriage. On many farms a hundred dollars in cash are not spent in the home in a year.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE HOME

These are not meant as complaints about the purchase of labor- saving farm machinery. Such complaints would be short-sighted, for it is only by improved methods of farming that the means and the leisure can be found to enrich the home life in every way. But the advantages gained by improvements that increase the farmer’s returns are largely lost if they do not at the same time bring “happier lives” to the family as a whole. The farm home is not only the place where the family living is EARNED; it is also the place where the family life is LIVED. Democracy aims at EQUAL opportunity to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”; “days of dreary work” must be transmuted into “happier lives” for the women and children as well as for the men. Unless this is done in the home there is little chance of its being done at all.

A story is told of a housekeeper in a farm-home in the West who saw in the sacred rite of old-school housekeepers something more than scrubbing and polishing … When her housecleaning was over she knew just what linen she would need during the coming year, just how much fruits and vegetables she would need to can or preserve or dry, just what clothing must be replaced or repaired, and what dishes would be needed to keep her set complete. She not only made changes to improve the appearance of her house, but planned and made the changes in her workshop which would save steps and make her work as easy as possible. When her mind got to work, housekeeping became a game, the object being to eliminate all unnecessary labor. Her benches and tables and sinks were raised to the proper height and she became ashamed of the back- breaking energy she had wasted bending over them. A high stool, made by removing the back and arms from the baby’s outgrown high chair, made dishwashing and ironing much easier. She has been housekeeping intelligently a dozen years, yet each house-cleaning or stock-taking period she installs some new labor saver.

She not only makes her head save her heels, but she takes another kind of inventory which is as well worth while. It is the inventory which we all need to take of ourselves to be sure that we are making the best of our opportunities instead of drifting along day by day in a rut. She searches out the hidden places in her soul to see if she is just as patient, as thoughtful, as cheerful as she might be … [Footnote: RECLAMATION RECORD, Feb., 1918, p.55, “Project Women and Their Materials,” by Mrs. Louella Littlepage.]

COMMUNITY COOPERATION AND THE HOME

In some rural communities the home has been relieved of much of the household drudgery by the development of cooperative creameries, cooperative laundries, and other community institutions to do work that was formerly done entirely in the home. In such cooperative enterprises, citizens of the community buy shares of stock as in the case of the fruit growers’ association. In one community in Michigan “a vote was taken, the women voting as well as the men, to determine the sentiment of the community on the establishment of such a laundry, and the vote was so overwhelmingly in favor of the proposition that the Farmers’ Club promptly called a meeting to promote the enterprise.” An addition was built to the cooperative creamery, which the community already possessed, so that the same steam plant could be used for both. The farmers brought their laundry when they brought their cream, and carried it back on the next trip. “The laundry has been successful in relieving the hard life of a farmer’s wife, and in addition has been not only self-sustaining but a profitable institution.” One of the women of the community says,

It has lightened the work in the home to such an extent that one can manage the work without keeping help, which is very scarce and high priced, when it would be impossible to do so if the washing was included with our other duties.

And another writes,

This change gives me two days of recreation that I can call my own every week and also gives me more time in which to accomplish the household duties. [Footnote: “A Successful Rural Cooperative Laundry,” in the Year Book, Department of Agriculture, 1915, pp. 189-194.]

GOVERNMENT SERVES THE HOME

A great deal of help is now being given to the home by the government, and this is especially true in the case of the rural home. The public schools, both in city and country, now consider home making and “home economics” as worthy of a place in the course of study as geography and mathematics (see Chapter XIX). State agricultural colleges are beginning to give as much attention to these subjects as they do to soils and fertilizers and stock-breeding. Moreover, the colleges conduct “extension courses,” sending teachers trained in the art of home making to give instruction to women and girls in every part of the state. They assist in organizing clubs of girls and women to study various aspects of home making and housekeeping, and give demonstrations of the most successful methods of cooking, of canning, and of other activities connected with home life on the farm, as well as of labor-saving devices in the household. The state agricultural colleges have the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture of the national government in all this work.

WHAT ONE GIRL ACCOMPLISHED

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for 1916 there is an account of results derived from home demonstration work in the Southern States. The following story of what Ruth Anderson accomplished is a good illustration of the possibilities of this work.

Ruth Anderson, of Etowah County, Alabama, in her second year of club work, had an excellent plot of one tenth of an acre of beans and tomatoes. She is the second girl in a family of eleven, and takes a great interest in her club work. The family home was small, dark, and crowded, and somewhat unattractive. One day a carpenter friend of her father saw her one tenth of an acre and said he wished he had time to plant a garden. She told him she would furnish vegetables in exchange for some of his time. ... After a while a bargain was made by which the carpenter agreed to begin work on the remodeling of the house if Ruth would furnish him with fresh and canned vegetables for the season.

The other members of the family were soon interested in this undertaking and worked willingly to contribute their share to its success. When the house was partly finished Ruth won a canning- club prize given by a hardware merchant in Gadsden, the county seat. Silverware was offered her, but, intent upon completing the new house she asked the merchant how much a front door of glass would cost, and learned that she could get the door, side lights, and windows for the price of the silverware. In this way Ruth brought light and joy to her family with her windows and door. To- day they live in a pretty bungalow that she helped to build with her gardening and canning work. At the age of 14, in the second year of her work, Ruth put up 700 cans of tomatoes and 750 cans of beans. [Footnote: “Effect of Home Demonstration Work in the South,” in 1916 Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, p. 254.]

Ruth’s home before and after she began her work is shown in the accompanying illustrations.

NATIONAL AID TO THE HOME

The national government helps in home making in other ways than those suggested above, and through other departments than that of agriculture. In the Department of the Interior the General Land Office, the Bureau of Education, the Reclamation Service, the Office of Indian Affairs are all doing work to improve the homes of the land. So, also, is the Public Health Service of the Treasury Department; the Bureau of Standards in the Department of Commerce; the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Labor. We shall encounter some of this work as we proceed with our study.

In what ways has household work been relieved of its drudgery since your mothers were girls?

What labor-saving devices have been introduced in your home?

Make a report on labor-saving inventions for the household (see references at end of chapter).

What are some labor-saving household devices that could be made by boys and girls (such as fireless cookers, iceless refrigerators, etc.)? (See references below). Can your school help in such projects? To what extent could (or do) boys’ and girls’ clubs undertake such projects? Is there any leader in your community who could direct or advise in such projects?

Is the kitchen in your home properly arranged to save steps, labor, and time in doing kitchen work? Consider plans for improvement. Consult parents.

Does experience in your community confirm the feeling of the women quoted on page 104?

Are there any cooperative enterprises in your community that relieve the housekeeper of household labor, such as cooperative laundries, creameries, etc.? Are they a business success? Have they improved conditions of home life?

What is the difference between a “cooperative” laundry and an ordinary laundry such as may be found in most towns? Does one relieve the home more than the other?

What other business enterprises are carried on in towns that relieve the home of work? Why are such business enterprises not conducted in the same way in rural communities?

Is there any special interest in home improvement in your community? Who or what has brought it about? What can you do to encourage such interest?

READINGS

“Lessons in Community and National Life”: Series C, Lesson 20, “The Family and Social Control.”

For an extensive list of titles of publications relating to the home, send to the United States Bureau of Education for its Bulletin, 1919, No. 46, “Bibliography of Home Economics,” especially section VIII on “The Family,” and section X on “The House and Household Activities.” Among the many titles given in this are:

Earle, Alice Morse, “Home Life in Colonial Days” (Macmillan).

Gillette, J. M., “The Family and Society” (A. C. McClurg).

Thwing and Butler, “The Family” (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co.).

Gilman, Charlotte P., The Home (Doubleday, Page and Co.).

Talbot and Breckenridge, “The Modern Household” (Whitcomb and Barrows, Boston).

Addams, Jane, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (Macmillan).

Ellwood, Charles A., “Sociology and Modern Social Problems,” chapters on the family (American Book Co.).

Scott, Rhea, “Home Labor-Saving Devices” (Lippincott).

Foght, H. W., “The Rural Teacher and his Work,” Part I, chap. iii.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary, Reports

103, 104, 105, 106:

“Social and Labor Needs of Farm Women.” “Domestic Needs of Farm Women.” “Educational Needs of Farm Women.” “Economic Needs of Farm Women.”

These reports can be obtained only from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, 15 cents each.

“The American Farm Woman as She Sees Herself,” U. S. Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1914, pp. 311-318.

“Selection of Household Equipment,” Department of Agriculture Year Book 1914, pp. 330-362.

Dunn, Arthur W., “The Community and the Citizen,” chaps, v, vi.

CHAPTER X

WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING

Our nation requires healthy citizens, intelligent citizens, prosperous and happy citizens. The home can do more to produce them than any other community agency. Therefore the nation is wise to look after its homes.

RELATION OF HOME CONDITIONS TO INDUSTRY

People cannot do their work well if they live in unwholesome or unpleasant homes. This was made clear during the recent war. The lack of suitable living places for workmen and their families was one of the chief obstacles to shipbuilding and munitions manufacture during the early part of the war. England found this out as well as the United States, and one of the first things both countries had to do was to take measures to provide proper home conditions for those who were engaged in supplying the nation’s needs. During the first year of the war our Congress appropriated $200,000,000 to build houses for industrial workers.

The problem of securing good physical conditions of home life has naturally been greatest in crowded industrial centers, but it is by no means absent in small communities, or even in the open country. One writer describes a certain farmhouse where five people were accustomed to sleep in one not very large bedroom, which had only one small window, and even that was nailed shut, one of these five had incipient tuberculosis. These people were well-to-do farmers, living in a large twelve-room, stone house and simply crowded into one room for the sake of mistaken economy— presumably to save coal and wood.

Many such cases could be described, not only in the more remote and backward regions, but even in prosperous farming communities.

What is the result of this overcrowding and lack of proper housing in the country? Just exactly the same as in the great cities—lack of efficiency, disease, and premature death to many … While the great majority of people subjected to overcrowding and bad housing conditions do not prematurely die, yet they have a lessened physical and mental vigor, are less able to do properly their daily work, and not only become a loss to themselves and their families, but to the state … [Footnote: Bashore, “Overcrowding and defective housing in the rural districts,” quoted in Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, pp. 118, 119, 121.]

STRENGTH OF THE NATION DEPENDS ON THE HOME

Some of our states and many of our cities have laws to regulate housing conditions, but such laws seldom apply to small communities. In cities where people live crowded together in closely built city blocks, unsanitary conditions in one home endanger the health of the entire community. There is also danger from fire, and vice and crime may breed and spread quickly and unseen. The community is driven, therefore, in its own defense, to regulate the people’s housing. In small communities, and especially in rural communities, where homes are more widely separated and in some cases quite isolated, it has seemed of little concern to others how one citizen builds his home and what he does in it. Thoughtful consideration of such cases as that described above, however, must convince us that it IS a matter of national concern what happens even in remote homes. Both the physical and the economic strength of the nation are undermined by unwholesome conditions in the separate homes of the land.

COMMUNITY PLANNING

Economic loss to the community may result not merely from UNWHOLESOME home conditions, but also from INCONVENIENCE of location and arrangement of the homes. A good deal of attention is being given to “community planning” in the United States and especially in England and other European countries. Community planning includes not only provision for the proper location and construction of public buildings and streets, for water supply, lights, parks, etc., but also for the convenient, as well as wholesome and pleasant location of homes. Large cities, like London, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, have spent enormous sums of money in city planning after they have already grown up without plan. It has necessitated destroying old structures and widening streets. Villages and small towns are in a position to introduce a plan for future growth without this needless expense. Our beautiful capital city of Washington has grown according to a plan that was carefully laid out before a building was erected. But even in Washington one of the greatest problems the city had to face during the war was that of providing homes for the enormous number of workers who came to the city to do the work of the government.

PLANNING THE FARMSTEAD

“The need of careful arrangement in country homes is much more urgent than in city homes for the reason that country people use their homes as the business center of their profession,” says Prof. R.J. Pearce, of Iowa State College. “The farmer in his business center must not only produce enough raw material to provide for him self and family, but he needs to produce enough to feed and clothe the entire human race.” “CONSERVATION OF SPACE must be taken into consideration to obtain the greatest results from our high-priced land; CONVENIENCE must be a prime factor when expensive labor is at a premium; and ATTRACTIVENESS must be one of the chief motives not only to make farm property more saleable but to give greater enjoyment to the owner and his family…” “A farmstead is, but a unit in a farming community, yet travelers form an impression of the entire community by individual farm homes which they see in passing. Therefore, not only financial consideration but personal pride and a feeling of community spirit and enterprise should urge the farm owner to develop his farmstead according to the best of modern methods.”

What facts can you find in regard to what the government did to provide homes for workers in shipbuilding or munitions plants during the war?

In many of the war industries preference was given to men with families in employing workmen. Why was this?

In some rural communities in the United States a “teacherage” (home for the teacher) is provided. Of what advantage to the community is this?

Is there a “housing problem” in your community?

Are there any laws in your state regulating the building of homes? If so, what are some of them? Do they apply in your community? Are they carefully observed and enforced?

Make a study of the arrangement of the buildings on farms with which you are familiar, drawing diagrams, and report whether or not they are well planned with reference to ECONOMY OF SPACE occupied, CONVENIENCE, and ATTRACTIVENESS. Consider

(a) Are they properly placed with reference to the highway?

(b) Are they conveniently placed in relation to one another?

(c) Are they suitably protected from the prevailing winds? How?

(d) What makes them attractive or unattractive?

(e) Are the stables properly situated to protect the health of the family? How?

Must a home be large and costly to be attractive?

What impression would a stranger get in regard to the “community spirit” of your community from the appearance of its homes? Would he be right?

THE HOME AND COMMUNITY STABILITY

Home ownership is one of the strongest influences that give permanence and stability to the community. The census taken by the United States government every ten years shows that home ownership has been decreasing throughout the country as a whole. The decrease has been greatest in cities, but it is true also of farmhome ownership. In 1880 only 25% of the farms of the United States were occupied by tenants (renters); in 1910, 37% were so occupied. It is true that in the ten years from 1900 to 1910 there was a slight increase in the proportion of farms owned by their occupants in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, and in a large part of the West; but the increase in these parts was more than overbalanced by the decrease in the South Atlantic and Gulf states and in the Mississippi Valley. The smallest proportion of farm tenancy is found in New England (8%), and the largest in the southern states (45.9% in the South Atlantic states, and more than 50% in the South central states). A large part of the farming in the South is done by negroes, most of whom are either laborers on the farms of the white population or tenants on small farms which they usually work on shares. And yet the number of negro farm owners in the South has been rapidly increasing in the last few years, though not so rapidly as the number of tenants. In 1910 negro farm owners cultivated nearly 16,000,000 acres of land in the South, all of which they have acquired since the Civil War.

EFFECTS OF DECLINE OF HOME OWNERSHIP

The decline in home ownership both in the cities and in the rural districts of the United States has been observed with considerable anxiety because of the effect upon our national welfare and upon the citizenship of the country. One writer says:

Farming is a permanent business; it is no “fly by night” occupation. ... No man can pull up stakes and leave a farm at the close of the year without sacrificing the results of labor which he has done … The renter who ends harvest knowing that he will move in the spring, will not do as good a job of hauling manure and fall plowing as he would were he to stay; nor does he take as good care of the buildings and other improvements …

The cost to the farming business of the country each year for this annual farm moving-week mounts into the millions of dollars. And the pity of it all is that practically no one is the winner thereby … The renter loses, the landlord loses, the general community and the nation at large lose. [Footnote: W.D. Boyce, in an editorial in THE FARMING BUSINESS, February 26, 1916, quoted in Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, p. 651.]

Tenant farming also places obstacles in the way of community progress in other ways.

The tenant takes little interest in community affairs. The questions of schools, churches, or roads are of little moment to him. He does not wish to invest in enterprises which will of necessity be left wholly … to his successor. In short, he is in the community, but hardly of it. [Footnote: B.H. Hibbard, “Farm Tenancy in the United States,” in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 1912, p. 39.]

A family that owns its home feels a sense of proprietorship in a part of the community land. The money value of a home increases in proportion to the prosperity of the community as a whole; its owner will therefore be inclined to do all he can to promote the welfare of the community. A community that is made up largely of homes owned by their occupants is likely to be more prosperous and more progressive, and its citizens more loyal to it, than a community whose families are tenants.

THE TENANT AS A CITIZEN

While all that has been said in the preceding paragraph is true, it must not be thought that tenancy is necessarily a bad thing in all cases, nor that a man who does not own his home cannot be a thoroughly good citizen. There are circumstances that make it necessary for many families to live in dwellings that they do not own. Tenancy may be a step toward home ownership. A citizen may have insufficient money to buy a farm, but enough to enable him to rent one. By industry, economy, and intelligence, he may soon accumulate means with which to buy the farm he occupies or some other. The increase in the number of tenants in the Southern States is due in large part to the breaking up of many larger plantations into small farms which are occupied by tenants, many of them negroes. That many of these tenants are on the road to home ownership is indicated by the facts stated on page 117.

It is as much the duty of the home renter as it is of the home owner to take an interest in the community life in which he and his family share, and to cooperate with his neighbors for the common good. While he lives in the community he is largely dependent upon it, like any other citizen, for the satisfaction of his wants. Its markets and its roads are his for the transportation and disposal of his produce and stock. He gets the benefit of its schools for the education of his children. He may share in its social life if he cares to do so. His property is protected by the same agencies that protect that of his neighbors. He cannot, therefore, escape the responsibility of contributing to the progress of his community to the extent of his ability.

TEAMWORK BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT

It is as much the duty of the man who rents a farm as it is of the man who owns one to make his farm produce to its full capacity, to protect the soil from exhaustion and the buildings and fences from destruction. But on the other hand, it is the duty of the landlord, both as a good business man and as a good citizen, to make such terms with his tenant that the latter will take an interest in the farm and will find it profitable to farm properly. There must be team work.

The landlord must be interested not only in his land but in his tenant. The tenant must be interested not only in himself but in his landlord and his land. A system that favors the tenant to the injury of the land is bad. A system that favors the land to the injury of the tenant is equally harmful. Either system will result in the poverty of both the landlord and the tenant. [Footnote: Dr. Seaman A. Knapp, quoted by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones in “Negroes and the Census of 1910,” p 16. (Reprint from THE SOUTHERN WORKMAN for August, 1912.)]

The fact remains, however, that home ownership contributes to the permanence, the stability, and the progress of a community. It is also a fact that conditions have developed in our country, both in cities and in rural communities, which make home ownership increasingly difficult. In another chapter (Chapter XIV) we shall see what some of these conditions are, and what our government has done and may do to overcome them.

THE HOME A SCHOOL OF CITIZENSHIP

One of the most important services performed for the community by the home is that of training its members for citizenship. The family has been called “a school of all the virtues” that go to make good citizenship. It is a school in which not only the children, but also the parents, not only the boys and men, but also the girls and women, receive training by practice. In the home are developed thoughtfulness for others, a spirit of self- sacrifice for the common good, loyalty to the group of which the individual is a member, respect for the opinions of others of long experience, a spirit of teamwork, obedience to rules which exist for the welfare of all. If these and other qualities of good citizenship are not cultivated in the home, it is not in a healthy condition nor performing its proper service to the community.

Moreover, the exercise of these virtues in the home is not only training for good citizenship; it IS good citizenship. If the home is as important a factor in our national life as this chapter has indicated, then one of the greatest opportunities for good citizenship, and one of the greatest duties of good citizenship, is that of making the home what it should be; and in this each member of the family has his or her share.

Make a study of farm tenancy in your locality (neighborhood, township, or county).

How many of the farms of the locality are occupied and operated by their owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of tenancy?

To what extent are the tenants men who were formerly farm laborers, but who by renting farms are making a start on their own account? Is this a sign of progress?

What percentage of the tenants are white? negro?

To what extent are the tenants foreigners who have recently come to the locality?

Are the tenant farms usually rented for long periods or for short periods?

What is the system of tenancy in your locality (i.e. cash rental, working on shares, partnership with the owner, etc.)? If more than one exists, which seems to work best? Why?

Is tenancy increasing or decreasing in your locality? What reasons are given for this?

Does experience in your locality support the statement that tenant farmers are less likely than others to interest themselves in community progress?

If you live or go to school in town, make a study of home ownership in the town. (If a small community, the class may study the entire area; if large, different sections may be studied by different groups of pupils.) How many homes are occupied by their owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of tenancy? Is tenancy increasing or decreasing? For what reasons?

Is there some section of the community where most of the people own their homes, and another section where most of the people rent? If so, do you notice any difference in the general appearance of the two sections? Do you think that the difference, if any exists, is due in any part to the fact that some own and others rent their homes?

Is there a tendency for the farmers of your locality to move into town? If so, why? What becomes of their farms?

Review the points made in the discussion of topics 4 and 5 on page 38 (Chapter III). Continue to develop plans for cooperation in the home and school.

What does it mean to be “in training” for athletics? In the light of your answer to this question, what would it mean to be “in training” for citizen ship?

READINGS

See Readings for Chapter IX. Also:

“Housing the Worker on the Farm,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1918, pp. 347-356.

“What the Department of Agriculture is Doing for the Housekeeper,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1913, pp. 143-162.

“The Effect of Home Demonstration on the Community and the County,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1916, pp. 251-266.

“Farm Tenantry in the United States,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1916, pp. 321-346.

Lessons in Community and National Life: Series C, Lesson 32, “Housing for Workers.”

CHAPTER XI

EARNING A LIVING

LIVING, NOT EARNING, THE END IN VIEW

The most conspicuous activities that we see going on in the community are usually those that have to do with earning a living or the production of wealth. [Footnote: The activities by which we earn a living are also the activities by which wealth is produced. It is important to understand that when we speak of “wealth” we do not necessarily mean GREAT wealth. A boy who has a fifty-cent knife, or a girl who has a twenty-five-cent purse, has wealth as truly as the man who owns a well-stocked farm. The difference is merely in kind and amount. Food, clothing, houses, books, tools, cattle, are all forms of wealth. ANY material thing, for which we are willing to work and make sacrifices because it satisfies our wants, is wealth. Earning a living is merely earning or producing wealth to satisfy our wants and those of others.] Indeed, some people become so absorbed in the business of earning a living that they seem to be LIVING TO EARN rather than EARNING TO LIVE. It does not do to forget that not EARNING, but LIVING, is the real end in view. Unless we know how to use what we earn to provide properly for all of our normal wants, the effort we spend in earning is very largely wasted.

Nevertheless, before we can enjoy a living it has to be earned, by ourselves or by someone else; and the activities by which it is earned occupy so important a place in our lives, are so closely dependent upon the community, have so much to do with our citizenship, and receive so much attention from government, that we must give them some consideration in this chapter and several chapters following.

IMPORTANCE OF VOCATIONAL LIFE

While young people are spending most of their time at school or at play, their fathers and other grown people are usually chiefly occupied in the business of making a living or “earning money.”

[Footnote: Gold and silver and paper and wood are forms of wealth. Out of wood we make a yardstick or a peck measure with which TO MEASURE QUANTITIES of cloth or grain. In a similar manner, out of gold, silver, paper, and other materials, we make money, and for a similar reason, viz. to MEASURE THE VALUE of wealth. When we speak of a FIFTY-CENT KNIFE and a TWENTY-FIVE CENT PURSE, we measure the value of these articles. It would take thousands of DOLLARS to measure the value of a well-stocked farm.

When we say that a boy earns a dollar, or that a man earns $4.00 a day, we measure the value of his work or his service. If a man works for a farmer, he very likely receives his “board and lodging” in part payment for his services; he makes a direct exchange of his services for food and shelter. But he also probably receives in addition an amount of money, because with the money he can buy clothes and other things that the farmer cannot give. He takes the money and buys with it these other things that he needs to supply his wants. Thus money becomes something more than a measure of wealth or of services; it is also A MEANS OF EXCHANGING WEALTH OR SERVICES.

These are the two uses of money. Money has value only because of what it represents in wealth, and wealth is useful because it enables us to satisfy wants. These things are mentioned because it is quite important that we should never forget that “money” and “wealth” are worth working for only because of the “living,” or life, that they help us to attain.]

Children are, as a rule, wholly dependent upon their parents for their living. But during their period of dependence they are gaining skill and experience, in school and otherwise, that will later enable them to earn their own living and that of other people who may, in turn, become dependent upon them.

As adult life approaches, there comes an increasing desire for independence of others, to have possessions, own property, or accumulate wealth. Our VOCATIONS, or occupations, by which we earn a livelihood, come to occupy a prominent place in our thought, and to a large extent control our activity. Doubtless most of those who read this chapter have begun to think more or less seriously about what they are going to do for a living. Some may be already doing so, in part, or helping to earn that of their families. Boys and girls who live on farms are especially likely to have a share in the work by which the family living is provided; but most boys and girls have more or less regularly “earned money,” even if they have not considered it necessary for their living. An inquiry in a large, first-year high school class disclosed the fact that the girls of the class, quite as much as the boys, were thinking of their choice of vocation. More avenues are open to girls to-day than formerly by which to earn their living outside of the family; but even the management of a home is a business as truly as the management of a farm or factory, and is an exceedingly important factor in the earning of the family living.

What part, if any, do you have in helping to earn the family living?

What have you done during the past year to earn money (a) out of school hours on school days, (b) on Saturdays, (c) in vacation time? Tabulate the results for the entire class.

What vocation would you like to follow for life? Why?

If you have not decided upon some one vocation, name several that seem attractive to you. Why are they attractive?

What do you know about the opportunities and the qualifications necessary for success in the vocations you have named? How may you proceed to find out more about them?

What vocations offer special opportunities for girls and women to- day? How do these opportunities compare with those when your mothers were girls?

Make a list of the occupations of the fathers (or other members of the families) of the members of your class.

Make a list of as many occupations in your community (town or county) as you can think of.

DEPENDENCE OF THE PIONEER

Our dependence upon others for a living by no means ends with childhood. There is no such thing as an entirely “self-made man,” by which is meant a man who has been successful entirely by his own efforts. It is true that the primitive hunter and the pioneer farmer were independent of others to an unusual extent. But their living was a meager one, and they could not accumulate much wealth. The very land that a pioneer occupies, even though it is extensive and fertile, has little value as long as it is remote from centers of population.

Even if a pioneer laid claim to a large tract of land, he could produce little wealth from it in crops if he could get no help to cultivate it, or if he had no improved machinery (made by others); and whatever he produced, he and his family could eat but little of the product. He could feed some to his few animals, and he would save some for seed; but anything that he raised above what he could actually use would have no value unless he could get it to other people who wanted it. If he could not sell what he produced, neither could he buy from others what they produced to satisfy other wants than that for food. So the kind of living a person enjoys, and the amount of wealth he accumulates, depend largely upon other people, and upon the community in which he lives.

DEPENDENCE OF THE MODERN FARMER

Under present-day conditions, a farmer who raises wheat probably uses none of it himself. He sells his entire crop for the use of others, while to supply himself and his family with bread he goes to the store and buys flour that may have been milled in Minnesota from wheat raised by other farmers, perhaps in North Dakota or South Dakota. In exchange for his wheat he also gets clothing manufactured in New York or New England from cotton raised in Georgia or Texas, or from wool grown in Montana. He buys a wagon made in Indiana from lumber cut in the South and iron mined in Michigan and smelted in Ohio. Thus he earns his living by producing food for other people, while the things he uses in living are the product of labor expended by other people in the effort to earn THEIR living. We noticed in Chapter II how many people and occupations were concerned in producing a pair of shoes.

EARNING BY SERVICE

While the farmer or other worker may be interested primarily in providing for his own wants and those of his family, he can do this only by producing something or performing service for others; and while each worker may be most concerned about WHAT HE RECEIVES for his work, the community is most concerned about WHAT HE PRODUCES. Earning a living has two sides to it: rendering service to others and being paid for the service rendered. It is as if the community entered into a sort of agreement with the worker to the effect that it will provide him with a living in return for definite service to the community or for the product of his labor. What we call “business” is SELLING A SERVICE. It may be personal service, such as teaching, or prescribing medicine, or nursing, or giving legal advice, or cutting hair, or driving a team, or running an automobile. Or it may be purchasing, storing, retailing, and delivering things which have been produced perhaps many hundreds or thousands of miles away. Or it may be raising foodstuffs on the farm, or mining fuels and metals from the earth, or cutting timber from the forest. Or it may be manufacturing— buying materials and converting them into products serviceable to others. Whatever it is, every man’s business is also the community’s business, and the community has a right to expect industry and honest, efficient work from every worker.

Discuss the occupations named in answer to the two questions on page 26, from the point of view of their service to the community.

To what extent is your father’s business or occupation dependent upon the business or occupation of the fathers of other members of the class?

Show how your father’s business is also the community’s business.

What is the price of land in your neighborhood? Consult your father or friends in regard to the increase or decrease in price in recent years and in regard to the reasons for it.

LIVING WITHOUT EARNING

There are exceptional cases where people RECEIVE a living without EARNING it. One class of such people is represented by thieves, gamblers, swindlers, and persons engaged in occupations that are positively harmful to the community. Such people may be very skillful and they may work hard enough, but they take what others have earned without producing anything of value to the community.

Then there are those who are incapable of productive work because of physical defects, or through the feebleness of old age. It is the duty of every citizen to provide, as far as possible, during his productive years, for the “rainy day” of misfortune or advancing age. For those who cannot do so, the community must provide.

Very young children are users of wealth produced by others. It is expected, however, that children will in later years make return to the community for what they have received during their period of dependence.

INHERITED WEALTH

Some people inherit wealth, or otherwise come into possession of it without effort on their part. The wealth so received, however, has been earned by someone, or has come from the community in some way. If the person who so receives it uses it in a way that is highly useful to the community, he may in a sense earn it even after he receives it; but if he uses it solely for his own enjoyment, without effort to make it highly useful to the community, he does not in any sense earn it, and places himself in the class of those who are wholly dependent upon the community.

UNFAIR COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE

On the other hand, there are people who do not get for their work a living that fairly compensates them for the service they render by it to the community. If our community life were perfectly adjusted in all its parts; if all the people clearly recognized their common interests and their interdependence; if they had the spirit of cooperation and were wise enough to devise smoothly working machinery of cooperation;—then the returns that a worker received for his work would be closely proportionate to the service rendered by his work. That is, he would GET what he EARNED, so far as wages or profits were concerned. But this is one of the particulars in which our community life is still imperfect. Where so many different kinds of workers are engaged in producing shoes, for example, it is extremely difficult to determine how much each should be paid for his share of the work. What WAGES should be given to the different classes of workers who care for cattle, make the leather, manufacture the machines with which the shoes are made, operate the machines, mine the coal and iron for the production of the machines, and so on? What PROFITS shall be allowed to the men who raise the cattle, to the merchants who sell the shoes and the machines, and to the transportation companies that carry them from the factories to the dealers? What INTEREST shall be received by the men who furnish the CAPITAL necessary to run the factories and the farms? These questions relating to the DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH that men produce have proved very difficult to answer satisfactorily.

A very useful and interesting, but rather difficult, science has grown up to explain the PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE OF WEALTH. It is called the SCIENCE OF ECONOMICS. Of all the divisions of this science, that relating to the distribution of wealth is the most perplexing. It is the inequalities in the distribution of wealth, the sense of injustice produced by these inequalities, and sometimes a failure to understand what a fair distribution is, that have caused all the labor disputes referred to in Chapter VII (p. 71), and the discontent sometimes felt by farmers and other producers in regard to the prices of their products.

Have you ever heard any one say, “The world owes me a living”? Is this a true statement? If so, in what sense do you think it is true?

Which do you think is the truer statement: “I have a right to a living,” or “I have a right to earn a living”? Discuss the difference.

A thief has been known to say, “I was brought into the world without my own consent; therefore the world owes me a living, and I owe the world nothing.” Is this good argument? Did the people upon whom he depends for a living have any more to say about their being brought into the world than he had?

What things are you using to-day that were not provided for you by others?

If a stranger should come to your community to-day to live, what are some of the things that he would find already provided by the community for his use in making a living?

Name five important inventions and state what they have done for you.

Would you say that the world owes Thomas A. Edison and Luther Burbank a living? Why?

How are you indebted for your living to the pioneers who settled your state? to Robert Fulton? to the men who built the first transcontinental railroad?

Can you think of some way in which your family is indebted for its living to the British nation? to France? to ancient Greece? to the Phoenicians? to the people of Brazil?

Which is the greater, the debt of your family to the world or the debt of the world to your family?

What is a “parasite”? Could this term be appropriately applied to any of the people referred to in the last few paragraphs of the text above?

GOVERNMENT INTERESTED IN PRODUCTION

Each citizen has a right to feel that the government is interested in his individual prosperity and happiness; and it is, for unhappy and discontented citizens are seldom good citizens. But the government represents community as a whole, and has the interest of the community as a whole in its keeping rather than the interest of particular individuals. Its interest is primarily in what each citizen PRODUCES, for it is upon this that the strength. of the nation depends.

THE “NATIONAL SERVICE ARMY” OF PRODUCERS

A few days after war was declared against Germany, the President made an appeal to his fellow producers countrymen, in which he said:

It is evident to every thinking man that our industries on the farms, in the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be made more prolific and more efficient than ever and that they must be more economically managed and better adapted to the particular requirements of our task than they have been; and what I want to say is that the men and women who devote their thought and their energy to these things will be serving the country and conducting the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and just as effectively as the men on the battlefield or in the trenches. The industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a great national, a great international Service Army,—a notable and honored host engaged in the service of the nation and the world … Thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable to military service will of right and necessity be excused from that service and assigned to the fundamental, sustaining work of the fields and factories and mines, and they will be as much part of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under fire.

He then appealed directly to every kind of worker in the country, and to the farmers he said:

The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which we are cooperating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. ... Without abundant food … the whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail … Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure, rests the fate of the war and the fate of nations. Let me suggest, also, that every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations; and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself in the ranks of those who serve the nation.

The nation needs the productive work of each citizen in time of peace as truly as in time of war, although when it is not fighting for its very life it is more tolerant of those who do not contribute efficiently by their work to the common good. It carries them along somehow. But such members of the community are a burden and a source of weakness at all times. Therefore, for example, there are in most of our communities laws against vagrancy; that is, against willful and habitual idlers “without visible means of support,” such as beggars and tramps.

PROBLEM OF THE UNEMPLOYED

There are times when many men are “out of work.” In times of business depression the number may become very great, while in prosperous times the number dwindles; but always there are some. It is often through no fault of their own; it is another result of the imperfect adjustment of our community life. It often happens that while large numbers of men are unable to find work in industrial centers, the farmers may be suffering for want of help. This may be merely because there is no way by which to let workmen know where they are needed, or of distributing them to meet the need. Or, many of the unemployed may be unskilled, while the demand is for skilled workmen; or they may be skilled in one line, while the demand is in another line. Whatever the causes, the “problem of the unemployed” is one of the most serious that the community has to deal with. During the war the national government sought to overcome these difficulties by the organization of an employment service in the Department of Labor, and state and local communities established employment bureaus.

Who have been some of the builders of your own community by reason of their business life? Explain.

So far as you have observed, what boys have been most successful after leaving school—those who make it a practice to do all they can for their employers, or those who have tried to do the least possible?

Is it true in your community that the most useful citizens are those who care more about the excellence of their work than about what they receive for it?

Are there many vagrants in your community? Are there laws against vagrancy? If so, what are they?

Are there often many men out of work in your community? If so, why is it?

Is it ever difficult to get farm labor in your locality? If so, how do the farmers explain it?

What experience have the farmers of your locality had during and since the war in getting labor when it was needed? Did the government help them at that time? How?

It is of the greatest importance both to the individual and to the community that every citizen: (1) should be continuously employed in a useful occupation, (2) should be free and able to choose the occupation for which he is best fitted, and in which he will be happiest, and (3) should be thoroughly efficient in his work, whatever it is.

THE RIGHT OF THE COMMUNITY TO INDUSTRY

(1) The community has a right to expect every citizen to be industrious and productive, for only in this way can he be self- sustaining and at the same time contribute his share to the well- being of the community. Doubtless all who read this chapter are desirous of doing useful work. At the same time, it is easy for any of us to fall into the habit of thinking more about what we can GET than about what we can GIVE. There ARE people who habitually seek to do as little as possible for what they receive, or to get all they can for the least possible service. This applies not only to idlers who live entirely off the community without any service on their part, but also to those who have employment, but who seek to evade, by “time-serving” and otherwise “slacking,” the full responsibility of service. We sometimes hear complaint in regard to public officials who draw good salaries without rendering adequate or honest public service in return, and to such we frequently apply the term of “grafter.” But the principle is exactly the same when any person who has undertaken to do a piece of work fritters away his time or “loafs on the job.”

SATISFACTION IN SERVICE

After all, the chief return that we get for our work is not the wages or the profits, important as they are to us, but the satisfaction of doing something that is worthwhile. If this pleasure is absent from the work we do, no amount of money returns can compensate us for it. The happy man is a busy man, an industrious man; and his happiness is more in the doing than in the mere fact of money returns.

IMPORTANCE OF A RIGHT CHOICE

(2) The value of our work to the community and the pleasure that we derive from it both depend to a large extent upon our fitness for it. It is important to choose our work carefully. There are four important considerations in choosing a vocation: (a) its usefulness to the community, (b) one’s own fitness for it, (c) one’s happiness in it, and (d) whether it offers an adequate living to one’s self and dependents. The last of these is, of course, a most important consideration. What a person receives for his work ought to be determined by the first two considerations, i.e. the usefulness of the work to the community and one’s fitness for it. We have seen that this is not always true. In such cases it often becomes necessary to make a further choice—a choice between working primarily for one’s own profit and working primarily for the satisfaction that comes from important service well rendered. It is not always easy to make this choice; but there are many people who have sacrificed large incomes for the sake of doing work that the community needs and for which they consider themselves well fitted.

A CHOICE OF VOCATION IS INEVITABLE

Many people seem to have little choice in the matter of vocation. The farmer’s boy has to work on the farm whether he wants to or not; and many a man is a farmer apparently for no other reason than that he was raised on the farm and has seen no opportunity to do anything else. Other people seem to be forced into other occupations by circumstances or drift into them by chance. But even in these cases there is something of a choice. The farmer’s boy “chooses” to remain on the farm rather than to take the chances involved in running away, or because he would rather be at home than in a strange city. The discontented farmer might have chosen to be a lawyer if he had been willing to make enough sacrifices to get ready for it; and even now he “chooses” to remain on the farm in spite of his dislike for it because to do otherwise would mean sacrifice of some kind or other that he is unwilling to make.

THE MEANING OF OUR WORK TO THE COMMUNITY

The pleasure and effectiveness of ANY work, however, are increased if its importance to the community or to the world is clearly understood; for ALL productive work is important. There is no more terrible work than that of the soldier in the trenches. No man would voluntarily choose it for his own pleasure. But millions of men have gone into it joyfully because of the results to be attained for their country and the world. Other millions of men and women, and even children, on the farms, in the mines, in the shops, and in the homes, worked and sacrificed during the war with Germany as they had never worked and sacrificed before, produced results such as had never been produced before, and doubtless experienced a satisfaction in their toil that they had never experienced before, because each one saw more definitely than before the relation of his work to the great national and world purpose. An understanding of the meaning of our work in its relation to community welfare goes a long way toward “transmuting days of dreary work into happier lives.”

FREEDOM, EQUALITY AND JUSTICE

The opportunity to choose one’s calling, to decide what service one will fit himself for, the right of “self-determination” with regard to what one’s work shall be—this is what “freedom” means. This is why men are happier when they are free. The “equality” and “justice” that all men want mean EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE that which they like to do, and AN EQUAL CHANCE TO MAKE A LIVING, or to obtain compensation for their labor or enterprise. It is for these things more than for anything else that people have left old-world conditions and come to America. The ability to make a living under conditions of freedom and justice depends in part upon the common wants of the community, and upon the willingness of members of the community to pay for the satisfaction of their wants enough to enable those who perform service for them also to satisfy theirs. But it also depends upon the ability of the individual to make a choice, and upon his willingness to spend years in preparation, if need be, to enable him to offer a service of the kind he likes to render, and for which others are glad to pay well.

A DAY OF SPECIALISTS

We are living in a day of specialists. The very nature of our interdependent life makes it necessary for each worker to do one thing and to do it exceedingly well. Even farming is broken up to a considerable extent into special kinds of farming. Moreover, since the worker must be a specialist, requiring long, special training, it is more difficult than it used to be for him to change from one occupation to another after he has once started. Each person, therefore, owes it both to himself and to the community to choose his vocation carefully, so far as he has opportunity to make a choice. The schools are more and more making it their business to give boys and girls the knowledge and the experience that will enable them to choose wisely their mode of earning a living.

THE NECESSITY FOR TRAINING

(3) Whether a citizen follows a vocation of his own voluntary choice, or one into which he has fallen by chance or by force of circumstances, he is under obligation to the community as well as to himself to do his work well. In these days of specialization this inevitably means preparation, training. If the community expects the citizen to perform efficient service, it must afford him a fair opportunity for preparation. During the war the government made special provision for training, not only for military service, but also for the industrial occupations that the nation needed. Vocational training is now receiving great attention from the schools and from government.

HASTY ENTRANCE UPON VOCATIONAL LIFE

As in the choice of a vocation, so in preparation for it the individual has his share of responsibility. It is always a temptation for young people to get out into the active work of the world at the earliest possible moment. The desire to be independent, to earn one’s own living, to “make money,” is strong. It leads many boys and girls to leave school even before they have finished their elementary education. In the great majority of cases this results in serious economic loss both to the boy or girl and to the community. The charts on page 137 furnish evidence of this.

PATRIOTISM IN VOCATIONAL LIFE

We call it patriotism when a man gives all that he has, even his life if necessary, for the good of his country, without stopping to consider whether or not he will receive an equal benefit in return. There is no higher type of patriotism than that which prompts a citizen to perform his best service for the community in his daily calling, not for what he can get for it, but for what he can give. This patriotism is shared by the young citizen who is willing to defer an apparent immediate gain to himself in order to prepare himself thoroughly for more effective service later.

If your father had his life to live over again, would he choose the same vocation that he is now following? Consult him as to his reasons.

What special kinds of farming exist in your locality? Is there a tendency in your community toward specialization in farming, or toward general farming? Reasons?

To what extent is “scientific farming” practiced in your locality? What does it mean?

Make a study of the extent to which specialization is necessary in the industries of your town.

Does your school offer any vocational training or vocational guidance?

Is there a tendency in your school for boys and girls to quit before completing the course? At what grades do pupils begin to drop out in considerable numbers? Why do they leave? What sort of work do they do when they leave school?

At what ages does the law in your state permit boys and girls to go to work? Show how this restriction of freedom now increases freedom later on.

READINGS

In Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series A: Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. Lesson 5, The human resources of a community. Lesson 7, Organization. Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry. Lesson 9, Social control. Lesson 10, Indirect costs. Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry. Lesson 23, The services of money. Lesson 28, The worker in our society.

Series B: Lesson 8, Finding a job. Lesson 11, The work of women. Lesson 28, Women in industry.

Series C: Lesson 9, Inventions. Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life. Lesson 21, Before coins were made. Lesson 22, The minting of coins. Lesson 23, Paper money. Lesson 24, Money in the community and the home. Lesson 29, Child labor.

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose:

Frank A. Vanderlip, “Service Leads to Success,” pp. 347-348.

Charles M. Schwab, “Opportunity is Plentiful in America,” pp. 348-

350.

Tufts, The Real Business of Living, Chapters viii-x; xv-xxviii.

The following books relating to vocational life may be helpful and stimulating if available:

Gowin and Wheatley, Occupations (Ginn & Co.).

Giles, Vocational Civics (Macmillan).

Gulick, The Efficient Life (Doubleday, Page & Co.).

Reid and others, Careers for the Coming Men (Saalfield Pub Co., Akron, Ohio).

Marden, Choosing a Career (Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis).

Marden, Talks with Great Workers (Thos. Y. Crowell).

Bok, Successward (Doubleday, Page & Co.).

Williams, How it Is Made, How it Is Done, How it Works (Thos. Nelson & Sons).

Fowler, Starting in Life (Little, Brown & Co.).

Parsons, Choosing a Vocation (Houghton Mifflin Co.).

Carnegie, The Empire of Business, (Doubleday Page & Co.).

CHAPTER XII

GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE

GAINFUL OCCUPATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

According to the census of 1910, somewhat more than 38 million of the 92 million people of our country at that time were engaged in “gainful occupations”; that is, in earning their living and that of the remaining 54 million people who were dependent upon them. Of the 38 million, more than 13 1/2 million were producing wealth directly from the land, in agriculture, forest industries, mining industries, and fishing. About 10 1/2 million were engaged in manufacturing and mechanical trades, by which the materials extracted from the land are transformed into articles of use. The remainder of the “breadwinners” were engaged in trade and transportation, and in professional, personal, and public service.

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE

Of the 13 1/2 million people gaining their living directly from the land, more than 12 1/2 million were engaged in agricultural pursuits. At the present time (1919) probably one half of the population, including women and children, is directly dependent upon agriculture as a means of livelihood, while the other half, as well, is dependent upon it for food supply and the materials for clothing.

In view of the fact that agriculture is the source of the nation’s food supply and of a large part of the national wealth, and that so large a part of the people are engaged in it as a means of livelihood, it is not surprising to find our government deeply interested in it and performing a vast amount of service for its promotion.

STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE

The government of every state in the Union has an organization to protect and promote the farming industry and the welfare of the farmer. This organization differs in its form and in the extent of service performed in the several states, due partly to the varying importance of agriculture in the different states, and partly to the varying success with which the people and their representatives have dealt with the problem. In some of the states there are departments of agriculture, equal in dignity and power with the other main divisions of the government. In others agricultural interests are placed in the hands of subordinate boards, bureaus, or commissions. In some cases the officials in charge of the organization, such as the commissioner of agriculture, are elected directly by the people, while in others they are appointed by the governor of the state or by the legislature. Often the department is organized in numerous branches with specialists at the head of each. Thus, there are dairy commissioners, horticultural boards, livestock sanitary boards, foresters, entomologists (specialists in insect life in its relation to agriculture), and others, to look after every aspect of farming. In a constantly decreasing number of states the powers of the agricultural officers are slight and their work ineffectual; but in others the organization is thorough and the work efficiently done and of the greatest value to the state.

DUTIES OF STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE

In general, state departments of agriculture have had two kinds of duties: first, regulative and administrative duties, such as the enforcement of laws relating to agriculture passed by the state legislature, enforcing quarantine against diseased animals, establishing standards for the grading of grain, making and enforcing rules for the control of animal and plant diseases, and similar matters. Second, investigative and educational duties, such as the investigation of animal and plant diseases, crop conditions, and other agricultural problems; and the distribution of information to the farmers and to the people of the state generally, relating to agricultural matters. Reports and bulletins on special subjects are published and farmers’ institutes are conducted.

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS

The practice is growing, however, to transfer the work of investigation and education to the STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS which have been established and are conducted with the cooperation of the national Department of Agriculture. These institutions have a corps of highly trained specialists and educators and are equipped with laboratories and experimental farms where research may be carried on under the most favorable conditions. The agricultural colleges not only educate young men and women within their walls in agriculture and related subjects, but carry on EXTENSION WORK throughout the state for the benefit of the farmers and the people of rural communities. With the development of these institutions the state department of agriculture is left with almost purely administrative and regulative duties. This seems to be the wiser plan of organization.

Write to your state commissioner of agriculture or to the secretary of your state board of agriculture for a copy of the law, or other published document, containing a description of the organization of your state department of agriculture and its work. Also ask for, if available, a list of publications issued by the department, from which you may later select such as may seem to be useful.

Write to your state agricultural college, or to the experiment station, for its latest report showing the work that it has done, and for a list of available publications.

In writing to public officials for materials for class use, it is well to send but ONE letter for the class or school, and to request THE SMALLEST NUMBER OF COPIES that will serve the purposes of the class. Public officials are busy people, and the publications for which you ask cost the people of the community money.

The members of the class may compete, if desired, in formulating a suitable letter, and a class committee may select the best, or formulate one on the basis of suggestions from the class.

Materials collected in this way should become school property, and the class should be conscious that it is accumulating a library for later classes as well as for themselves. Study and report on the following:

The organization of your state department of agriculture, its officers and how chosen, its divisions and their work.

The work done at your state experiment station (individual reports may be made on the several important lines of work, or on particular investigations or discoveries of interest).

The character of the extension courses offered by your state agricultural college. Courses given in your own community.

Instances of regulative work done in your state and county by your state department of agriculture.

Instances in which your county or locality has been served by your state agricultural college or by the experiment station.

The difficulty of the farmer in coping with animal disease or plant disease by his own effort.

Facts to show that money has been saved to your community by the state agricultural department or experiment station.

Why the people of the cities of your state should pay taxes to support the department of agriculture.

Facts to show that your state department of agriculture and your experiment station are really “means of cooperation” in your state and county.

Extent to which the farmers of your locality actually cooperate through the governmental machinery of the department of agriculture.

Consult your parents or farmer friends as to ways in which the work of your state department of agriculture, agricultural college, or experiment station should be extended.

Sentiment among the people of your locality, especially the farmers, as to the usefulness of your department of agriculture, experiment station and agricultural college.

Get information from your county agent, or from your state agricultural college, as to the states having the best organized departments of agriculture, and then get information as to their points of excellence.

The advantage of a state fair (A) to the farmer, (B) to the state. The fair as a means of cooperation.

The management of your county fair (if any).

AGRICULTURE A NATIONAL ENTERPRISE

It does one state very little good to fight hog cholera or the boll weevil unless neighboring states do likewise. Inferior service in one state by its department of agriculture is a detriment not only to the farmers of that state, but to those of other states and of the country as a whole. States gradually learn from one another and frequently adopt from one another the best methods that are developed. This is a slow process. The agriculture of our nation must be considered as a great national enterprise, and not as forty-eight separate enterprises. This was made evident during the recent war. Hence the necessity for national control.

EARLY NATIONAL SUPPORT OF AGRICULTURE

Washington and Jefferson, like other founders of our nation, took the keenest interest in agriculture. But in the early years of our history little was done by the national government for its promotion, except by a rather generous policy of disposing of the public lands (see Chapter XIV). In 1820 a committee on agriculture was for the first time created in the House of Representatives, and in 1825 a similar committee in the Senate. In 1839 Congress made its first appropriation for agricultural purposes, $1000, to be spent in gathering information about crops and other agricultural matters. This was a small beginning when compared with the $37,000,000 appropriated by Congress for agricultural purposes in 1918.

CREATION OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The United States Department of Agriculture was created by Congress in 1862, though it was not placed on an equality with the other executive departments of the national government, with a member of the President’s cabinet at its head, until 1889. While it has some very important regulatory powers, that is, powers to enforce laws and otherwise to control the practice of the people, its service has been largely by way of scientific investigation of the problems of agriculture and the distribution of the information so acquired. Its policy has been one of cooperation with state authorities.

NATIONAL COOPERATION WITH THE STATES

In 1862 Congress gave to the several states portions of the public lands, the proceeds from which were to be used for the establishment and support of the agricultural colleges of which mention has been made. Again, in 1887, Congress made appropriations for the establishment of the agricultural experiment stations, which are conducted cooperatively by the state and national governments. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act was passed by Congress, making appropriations for agricultural extension work to be conducted by the state agricultural colleges with the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture. By the terms of this act each state must appropriate a sum of money for the extension work equal to that received from the national government.

THE STATES RELATIONS SERVICE of the Department of Agriculture supervises and administers these cooperative relations with the states under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act. In each state there is a director of extension work who represents both the United States Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural college. Under him there is usually a state agent or leader, district agents, county agents, and specialists of various kinds. The county agents conduct agricultural demonstration work in their counties and assist in organizing rural communities for cooperation. Women county agents, or home demonstration agents, are rapidly being installed also, to conduct extension work in home economics and organize cooperation among the women.

In the Southern States during 1915 about 110,000 farmers carried out demonstration work under the supervision of county agents. Each such farm demonstration serves as an object lesson for the entire community. These demonstrations included corn raising in 446,000 acres, cotton in 202,000 acres, tobacco in 2630 acres, small grains in 196,000 acres, and many other products in hundreds of thousands of acres. Stumps were removed from more than 70,000 acres, 220,000 acres were drained, and there were 29,000 demonstrations in home gardens. Sixty-four thousand improved implements were bought. Work was done with orchards involving more than 2,000,000 trees, 29,000 farmers were instructed in the care of manure with an estimated saving of more than 3,000,000 tons. Farmers in 678 cooperative community organizations were advised with regard to the purchase of fertilizers with a saving in cost of $125,000. One thousand six hundred fifty-four community organizations were formed to study local problems and to meet local business needs. Nearly 63,000 boys were enrolled in corn clubs.

There were also in the Southern States 368 counties with home demonstration agents, who gave instruction to 32,613 girls and 6871 women. Each of the girls produced a one tenth acre home garden of tomatoes and other vegetables. They put up more than 2,000,000 cans of fruit and vegetables worth $300,000. There were nearly 10,000 members in poultry clubs and 3000 in bread clubs. Two hundred fifty women’s community clubs were formed.

Similar work was done in the Northern States, where 209,000 boys and girls were enrolled in club work. Nearly 25,000 of these were engaged in profit-making enterprises in which they produced food worth more than $500,000. Reports from 3155 homes show 546,515 quarts of fruits and vegetables canned, about half of which consisted of vegetables, windfall apples, and other products that frequently go to waste.

How much money does your state receive from the national treasury under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act? (Discuss at home, consult your county agent.)

Find out from your county agent, and from your home demonstration agent (if there is one), what their work includes and how it is done. Invite them to speak to your school on the subject.

What demonstration work is being carried on in your county for men and women? Results achieved?

With the help of your county agent, make a map of your county showing the distribution of his demonstration work.

Report on boys’ and girls’ club work in your county. Describe particularly any such work in which you are engaged.

What are some of the problems in regard to which the farmers of your community need help?

Make a report on George Washington the Farmer; on Thomas Jefferson’s contributions to agriculture.

THE OFFICE OF MARKETS AND RURAL ORGANIZATION promotes the organization of rural communities for cooperation in buying and selling, in obtaining rural credits and insurance (see Chapter XIII), in developing means of communication (Chapter XVIII), and in providing for social needs. It investigates markets and methods of marketing, and transportation and storage facilities.

It seeks to establish standards for grading and packing fruits, vegetables, and other products.

THE OFFICE OF FARM MANAGEMENT investigates and promotes the application of business methods to farm management and farm practice. It studies the cost and profitableness of producing particular crops, livestock, and dairy products, the use of the woodlot, the most economic and effective farm equipment. It investigates the cost of the farmer’s living, methods of keeping accounts, the methods and results of tenantry.

THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY investigates the causes, prevention, and treatment of diseases of domestic animals, and has done much to eradicate them. It studies methods of dairying and dairy manufacturing, of breeding and feeding livestock, of producing wool and other animal fibers, of poultry raising. It cooperates with the States Relations Service and the state agricultural colleges in educational work, conducting livestock demonstration work and advising with regard to the establishment and management of creameries and cheese factories. It promotes the organization of pig clubs to stimulate interest in swine production.

THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY investigates the causes, prevention, and treatment of plant diseases, including those of fruit, shade, and forest trees. It has introduced over 43,000 varieties of foreign seeds and plants, from which many new industries have grown up amounting in value to many millions of dollars each year. Its explorers have brought new varieties of cereals from Russia and Siberia; alfalfas from Siberia; date palms from North Africa, Arabia, and Persia; the pistachio nut from Greece and Sicily; vanilla and peaches from Mexico; barleys and hops from Europe; rices and matting rushes from Japan; forage grasses from India; tropical fruits from South America. It experiments in the breeding of hardy and disease-resisting grains, fruits, and vegetables, studies soil fertility, investigates the medicinal qualities of plants, tests seeds, and improves agricultural implements. Its experiments are conducted in experimental gardens in Washington, D.C., at Arlington, Va., and at the experiment stations distributed widely over the United States.

This bureau does much educational work, instructing farmers how to control plant diseases and how to organize for cooperation in the breeding of disease-resisting plants, and conducting demonstrations on reclaimed lands in arid regions. During 1916 it distributed, through members of Congress, 356,000 tulip and narcissus bulbs, 96,000 strawberry plants of 15 varieties, 14,000 packages of lawn grass seed, and more than 16,000,000 packages of vegetable and flower seeds.

THE BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY studies the influence of environment on crops and plants; investigates the quality of mill products, the methods of bread making, of tanning leather, and of paper making. It tests the food values of all kinds of products, the keeping quality of poultry, eggs, and fish in the course of transportation, and the composition of drugs. It is called upon by other departments of government to make chemical analysis of many articles.

THE BUREAU OF SOILS investigates the quality of soils and their adaptation to different kinds of crops, and the fertilizer sources of the country.

THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY is concerned with the study of insects and their relation to agriculture, including those that are destructive to fruit, shade, and forest trees. Its work includes the study and promotion of bee culture. It has carried on a campaign for the eradication of such diseases as spotted fever, malaria, and typhoid which are carried by ticks, mosquitoes, flies, and other insects (see Chapter XX).

THE BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY maintains game, mammal, and bird reservations, including among others the Montana National Bison Range, the winter elk refuge in Wyoming, the Sully’s Hill National Game Preserve in South Dakota, and the Aleutian Islands Reservation in Alaska. It studies the food habits of North American birds and mammals in relation to agriculture, horticulture, and forestry, and the habits, geographical distribution, and migrations of animals and plants. It conducts experiments and demonstrations in destroying animals harmful to agriculture and animal husbandry and in connection with rearing fur-bearing animals. It cooperates with local authorities in the protection of migratory birds.

THE BUREAU OF CROP ESTIMATES gathers and publishes data regarding agriculture, and particularly estimates relating to crop and livestock, production.

THE WEATHER BUREAU is in charge of the forecasting of the weather, the issuing of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood signals for the benefit of commerce, agriculture, and navigation (see Chapter XVI).

THE FOREST SERVICE has in its keeping the great national forests (see Chapter XV).

THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS AND RURAL ENGINEERING administers the work of the federal government for road improvement, and studies farm engineering problems such as those relating to sanitation and water supply (see Chapters XVII and XX).

REGULATORY POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The Department of Agriculture has certain important powers of regulation and control. Animals are inspected at market centers to discover the presence of disease, and localities infected are quarantined.

In 1915 more than 15 million sheep were inspected and nearly 4 million dipped to cure scabies. As a result nearly one and one half million square miles of land were released from quarantine. In the same year more than a million square miles were released from quarantine against scabies in cattle.

In quarantining a state, or portion of a state, the Department acts by authority of laws passed by Congress under its power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce (Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 3). By the same authority, all cattle for export and all imported from foreign countries are inspected and those diseased excluded. Slaughter houses and meat-packing establishments where meat is packed for interstate or foreign commerce are inspected; meat that is unfit for use being condemned, while that which is good has the government stamp placed upon it. Such measures are primarily health measures (see Chapter XX), but they have great economic value.

In a similar manner imported seeds, plants, and plant products are inspected to prevent the importation of plant diseases and plant pests, and also to prevent adulteration of plant products. Warehouses are inspected and licenses granted to those that are suitable for the proper storage of cotton, grains, tobacco, flaxseed, and wool. The Department enforces the laws that fix the standards for grading cotton and grain, and licenses grain inspectors. It also enforces the Food and Drugs Act (see Chapter XX).

Topics for investigation:

Difficulties experienced by farmers in your locality in marketing produce or livestock.

Assistance received from the United States Department of Agriculture to overcome the difficulties.

Experiments in cooperative marketing in your locality.

Products of your locality that require storage facilities. Adequacy of storage facilities.

Transportation needs of your locality. Improvements in transportation facilities in recent years.

Consult your county agent, or write to the Office of Farm Management, for publications relating to farm management, farm accounting, etc.

Discuss with farmers of your acquaintance the extent to which they find farm accounts and farm records useful.

Diseases of livestock prevalent in your locality and state. Experiments in cooperation to eradicate these diseases. Assistance received from the Department of Agriculture.

Crops of foreign origin raised in your locality. Countries from which introduced.

Destructive plant diseases and plant pests of your locality. Efforts to combat them.

Importance of bird migrations to the farmers of your locality. Extent of protection afforded birds. How you cooperate in this matter.

Importance of these various farmers’ problems to the people in town—the housekeeper, the merchant, the manufacturer, the railroad companies.

Cases of animal quarantine occurring in your locality.

Why warehouses for food products, cotton, etc., should be licensed. What “licensing” means.

How grain, cotton, or other products are “graded.” The reason for grading. Why there needs to be a law on the subject.

SERVICE OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT

While the business interests of the farmer, and indeed many of his other interests, such as health, education, and social life, are especially looked after by the Department of Agriculture, he shares with all other citizens the services of all the other departments of government, each of which also has its elaborate organization (see Chapter XXVII). It is the Treasury Department, for example, acting under authority given to it by Congress, that provides the people with their system of money and with a banking system, both of which are great cooperative devices. The Department of Commerce serves the farmer directly by discovering markets for his products in every part of the world, and indirectly by everything it does to promote the country’s commerce. The rural mail delivery, the parcel post, and the motor truck service of the Post Office Department are of untold value to the farmer (see Chapter XVIII). The Department of the Interior has supervision over the public lands, the reclamation of arid lands, and the development of mineral resources (Chapters XIV, XV).

THE QUESTION OF LABOR SUPPLY

The question of labor supply is one of the most serious questions which the farmer has to face. It is one that he must help to solve for himself:

As soon as work on the farms is organized, and employment is made steady for all help, just so soon will a better class of laborers be attracted to the farm. As the farm-owner wishes life to be free from eternal drudgery for himself and family, yielding the fruits of happiness, leisure, and culture, he would do well to consent and arrange to give the farm hand who shares the shelter of his roof a fair chance at the same benefits. The laborer wants regular hours, a chance for recreation, a good place to live in, and enough wages to maintain a family according to American standards. [Footnote: W.J. Dougan and M.W. Leiserson in “Rural Social Problems,” Fourth Annual Report Wisconsin Country Life Conference, quoted in Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS pp. 258-260.]

But there are aspects of the labor problem over which the farmer by his own unaided efforts can have little control. One of these is the problem of bringing the laborer and the job together (see Chapter XI, p. 133). The work of the Employment Service in the Department of Labor during the recent war affords a striking illustration of cooperation secured through an agency of government.

THE UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

The Employment Service had been created in 1914, but was rapidly developed during the war to meet the demand for farm labor to provide a food supply adequate to war needs. The main offices of Employment Service were with the Department of Labor in Washington. But each state had a federal director of employment, and branch offices were established in local communities. The success of the whole scheme depended, first of all, upon cooperation between national, state, and local governments.

Thousands of county agents and local rural community organizations discovered and reported local needs to local employment offices, which in turn distributed the information by means of the district, state, and national organizations. Fifty-five thousand post offices became farm-labor employment agencies, postmasters and rural carriers acting as agents. Railroads cooperated both in reporting needs for the districts through which they run and in distributing labor to the points where needed. Newspaper offices served as employment bureaus. The operators of nearly 8000 rural telephone companies weekly called up the homes of two million farmers to inquire as to needs. State and county councils of defense, chambers of commerce, labor unions, farmers’ organizations, and other volunteer agencies afforded channels through which the farmer and the laborer were brought together.

From January to the end of October 1918, approximately 2,500,000 workers were directed to employment (not all farm workers). In that year the enormous wheat crop of the western states was entirely harvested by labor forces organized and moving northward as the harvest ripened. “Teamwork between the county agricultural agents and farm-help specialists of the Department of Agriculture and the harvest emergency force of the United States Employment Service is considered largely responsible for the excellent results.” In a similar manner assistance was given in harvesting the corn and cotton crops, the fruits of orchards and vineyards, and the vegetable crops of the country.

The Boys’ Working Reserve constituted one division of the Employment Service. In 1918, 210,000 boys between the ages of 16 and 20 were enrolled for work on the farms during the summer. The Reserve was responsible in 1917 and 1918 for saving millions of dollars worth of crops. It is estimated that in 1918 it raised enough food to feed a million soldiers for one year.

EMPLOYMENT SERVICE IN PEACE TIME

With the passing of the war emergency, the elaborate machinery of the Employment Service was in large measure allowed to fall to pieces through lack of appropriations for its maintenance. This is true of much of the emergency organization of government developed during the war period. It illustrates the tendency in our country to leave business control as fully as possible to individual initiative excepting in times of great emergency. So important is the problem of bringing the worker and the job together that many believe that the Employment Service organization should be revived and continued.

The central office at Washington is still maintained. In most states there are still (1919) state directors. The local machinery has been largely discontinued except in cities where volunteer agencies, such as the Red Cross and other welfare organizations, have taken over the work, chiefly to find employment for discharged soldiers and sailors. A few states have made appropriations to continue the Boys’ Working Reserve.

NATIONAL VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

One division of the Employment Service is the Junior Section, for the guidance of boys and girls from 16 to 21 years of age seeking employment. Local junior sections were organized as branches of local employment offices and in schools. A “junior counselor” was placed in charge of each local junior section to study the needs and qualifications of those who applied for employment, and to give them advice. The Junior Section is still maintained with a director in the Washington office. The duties of the junior counselor are stated as follows:

To influence boys and girls to remain in school as long as possible.

To give aid toward the right start for those who have to leave school to go to work.

To arouse the ambitions of the boys and girls to fit themselves for definite careers.

To direct youth who are employed toward some form of trade, technical, or business school for special training.

To promote the opportunities for vocational education.

To follow up all applicants in their training and at their work to see that they have the best available advantages of study and labor.

GOVERNMENT ALWAYS AT OUR SERVICE

The array of facts contained in the foregoing paragraphs is given, not with the expectation that those who read will memorize them, but to suggest the enormous amount of work that the United States government is doing in the interest of agriculture and the farmer, and the extensive machinery necessary to do it. The facts given are only a few of those that might be given. The detailed story of how much of this work is done is fascinating, and often of thrilling interest. All around us may be seen, if our eyes are open, the evidences of the work of our government. Always the governmental machinery is at hand to serve us in a thousand ways, if we are wise enough to use it. The more we study its work, the more we shall be impressed by the fact that its greatest service is in opening the way for cooperation, and in providing the organization and the leadership for such cooperation.

Topics for investigation:

How money serves as a means of cooperation.

How a bank serves as a means of cooperation.

The attractiveness of the conditions of living for farm laborers in your community. How they could be improved.

The farm labor supply in your locality and state.

The work of the United States Employment Service in your state and community.

Employment agencies in your community at the present time. By whom conducted. Are they free, or run for profit? Advantages and disadvantages of the two kinds.

Harvesting the wheat crop in war time.

The Boys’ Working Reserve in your locality. The experience of the farmers of your locality as to its value. Possible objections raised to it. Its continuance since the war.

The Junior Section of the Employment Service.

Junior counselors in your community.

READINGS

Procure from the State Department of Agriculture, the State Agricultural College, and the State Experiment Station, publications relating to their work.

Send to the U. S. Department of Agriculture for its List of Publications Available for Distribution; or for publications relating to particular topics. Among the useful publications of the Department are:

Farmers’ Bulletins (covering a wide variety of subjects).

States Relations Service Circulars.

The Year Book.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Program of Work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1917 or later years).

Report on Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative Agricultural Extension Work (1915 or later years).

A very useful publication is the “Guide to United States Government Publications,” published by the U.S. Bureau of Education as Bulletin, 1918, No. 2. It not only describes the publications of each department of government, but also the organization and work of each department and its subdivisions. (Government Printing Office, 20 cents.)

More recent and equally useful is “The Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information for Libraries,” also published by the Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74 (Government Printing Office, 25 cents). The work of each Department and its subdivisions is described in some detail.

In Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series B: Lesson 30, Employment agencies.

Series C: Lesson 12, Patents and inventions. Lesson 13, Market reports on fruits and vegetables.

CHAPTER XIII

THRIFT

“THRIFT IS GOOD MANAGEMENT OF THE BUSINESS OF LIVING.”

NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF THRIFT

This definition is taken from “Ten Lessons in Thrift,” issued by the Treasury Department of the United States Government (February, 1919). The United States Government sent out these lessons because “America to-day stands in the position in which all her economic problems must be solved through thrift … Unless our people gain a deep, sincere appreciation of the absolute necessity for thrift, we cannot hope to hold the proud position we occupy as the flag bearer of nations …” [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, President American Society for Thrift, in “The Patriotism of War Savings” (National Education Association pamphlet, THRIFT, 1918)]

LESSONS OF THE WAR

The great war taught us some lessons about the importance of thrift to the nation. The enormous expenses of the war were paid and the armies and the civilian populations of the countries at war were fed very largely by the combined small savings of our people. Nearly 20 million people contributed to the fourth liberty loan, by which almost seven billion dollars were raised, an average of about $350 for each contributor. Almost every one bought war savings stamps, by which about a billion dollars were raised in 1918. Practically all this money came from savings. Enormous sums were also given to the Red Cross and other causes. To do this people saved and sacrificed “until it hurt.” The provisioning of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was made possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of bread, of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and fats.

THRIFT AS PATRIOTISM

Thrift, however, is not merely a war necessity. “The time when thrift shall not be needed—needed as vitally as food itself—will never come … Through thrift alone can the rebuilding come—the rebuilding of America—the rebuilding of the world … Thrift is patriot ism because it is the elimination of every element that tends to retard…” [Footnote: S W Strauss, “The Patriotism of War Savings”]

Thrift is necessary both for individual success and for good citizenship. It is only by thrift that the individual may in some measure repay others for the care he himself received during dependent childhood, and provide, during his productive years, for the “rainy day” of sickness and old age. It is by thrift that CAPITAL is accumulated with which to carry on the world’s work. The citizen who saves and invests his savings in a home, in business enterprises, in bonds or savings stamps, not only makes his own future secure, but becomes identified with the community and takes a greater interest in it. The thrifty citizen inspires the confidence of the community, and acquires an influence in community affairs that the unthrifty citizen does not enjoy. Finnish farmers in a certain section of New England are said to be able to obtain credit from neighboring bankers and businessmen more easily than many of their neighbors, and to be considered as especially desirable citizens, because of their reputation for thrift and honesty. Thrift is often confused with stinginess and selfish ness. On the contrary it alone makes generosity and service possible.

THRIFT, “THE ESSENCE OF DEMOCRACY”

“Thrift is the very essence of democracy.” For democracy means freedom, equality of opportunity, “self-determination.” No man is a greater slave than one who is bound and driven by financial necessity. By thrift the mind is “unfettered by the petty annoyances that result from improvident ways.” Thrift means providing for the future. There is nothing in the world that will so establish one’s faith in the future and that will, therefore, give that freedom of spirit upon which democracy depends, as the wise use of to-day and of to-day’s resources.

THRIFT A RIGHT AS WELL AS A DUTY

“Every man must practice thrift and every man must have the CHANCE of practicing it.” It is a RIGHT as well as a duty. Before the war it was said that four fifths of the wage earners of our country received less than $750 a year for their labor. Studies in various cities also showed that an average family of five could not maintain health and efficiency on an income of less than from $750 to $1000. Under such circumstances thrift is the strictest necessity, but it is a thrift that means pinching economy and the sacrifice of health and efficiency. It is not the thrift that provides for the future and gives freedom to the individual, the thrift that is “the essence of democracy itself.” Every man should have an opportunity to earn a “living wage,” which includes an opportunity to provide for the future. Democracy is not complete until that opportunity is afforded.

Thrift, or the good management of the business of living, is shown (1) in earning, (2) in spending, (3) in saving, and (4) in investing.

THRIFT IN EARNING

(1) Since the earning of a living was the subject of Chapter XI, we need not dwell upon it now except to note that a thrifty person is an industrious person—he makes wise use of his time; and also to note that many of those who are now in want, or who, in advanced years, are receiving small wages, owe their condition to a failure at some time or other to make use of the opportunity for thrift. Many people do not recognize the opportunity when it is presented, or lack the wisdom or the courage to seize it. Thrift involves MAKING A CHOICE, and in many cases a wise choice requires courage as well as wisdom. It is a choice between the satisfaction of present wants and the sacrifice of present enjoyment for the sake of greater satisfaction and service in the future.

When a boy in school has a chance to take a job that will pay him wages, he has to make a choice between it and remaining in school. It may seem to be the thrifty thing to go to work; but real thrift is shown by careful choice of vocation, and by thorough preparation for it, even though it requires sacrifices that seem difficult (see pp. 137, 139).

We may note here, also, that physical fitness is essential if earning power, which means power to perform service, is to be fully developed. The “conservation” of health and life is so important that a chapter is devoted to it later (Chapter XX).

THRIFT IN SPENDING

(2) After money has been earned, thrift shows itself first of all in the way the money is spent; and many of us have the spending of the money that some one else has earned. Every time we spend a nickel or a dollar we make a choice—we choose to spend or not to spend, how much we shall spend, for what we shall spend.

A lawyer in a small town reports that in one month he made out the necessary papers to enable 75 men to mortgage their homes to buy automobiles.

Butchers say that during the war they more often sold expensive cuts of meat to wage earners who were by no means well-to-do, but who happened for the time to be getting good wages, than to people of larger means. One reason, perhaps, for extravagance in food and clothing on the part of unintelligent people who find themselves unusually prosperous, is that they see no better way to spend their money. Those who find pleasure in books, in education for their children, in travel, in investing money in serviceable enterprises, and in the higher things of life, have to make A CHOICE in regard to what they shall enjoy, and as a rule prefer to sacrifice the grosser pleasures.

CHOOSING WHAT TO SPEND

People, and especially young people, need a certain amount of sweets in their diet. But when we know that the candy bill of the people of the United States amounts to $400,000,000 a year, that this is almost as much as the total amount spent for public education, that it is about double the amount used to keep Belgium supplied with food for a year during the war, or that it will buy 234 million bushels of corn at $1.70 a bushel, we may well think twice before deciding to spend MUCH money for candy.

TESTS FOR SPENDING

The few cents difference in the price of two articles between which we must choose, and the nickels we spend for immediate enjoyment, may seem to amount to very little; but the New York City street railways collected in a year $95,000,000 in five-cent fares, and the Woolworth Building in New York, one of the largest office buildings in the United States, was built from the profits of “5 and 10 Cent Stores.” One thrift stamp a week amounts in five years to $65, and 14 cents a day at 4 per cent interest amounts in twenty years to more than $1500. In one of the “Ten Lesson in Thrift,” the following “tests in buying” are given:

Do I need it?

Do I need it now?

Do I need something else more?

Will it pay for itself in the end?

Do I help or injure the community in buying this?

Do you have instruction in your school in home economics that relates to wise spending or buying?

If you do not have such instruction, apply to the home demonstration agent in your county (if there is one), or write to your state agricultural college, or to the States Relations Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for circulars or bulletins relating to thrift in buying food, clothing, etc.

In writing for such material, why is it an example of thrift to ask for ONE copy of EACH publication for your CLASS or for your SCHOOL, rather than to ask for a copy for each pupil?

In what ways is thrift shown by having a class committee write one letter making the request for the class instead of having each member of the class write?

Has any home demonstration work relating to thrift been conducted in your community? What methods were employed, and what results achieved?

Who in your family makes most of the expenditures for the family living?

For what items in the family living is most of the money spent?

What are some of the things that have to be considered in buying food? clothing? house furnishings? books? amusements?

Discuss the topics mentioned in the following statement of “values in buying” (from “Ten Lessons in Thrift”):

Food: nutrition, healthfulness, cleanliness, attractiveness, flavor, quality, price, economy in preparation (of time, strength, fuel, utensils), buying from bulk or in package, buying in quantity or small unit, buying for the day or laying in stores, calculation of portions, calculation of meals, varied diet.

Clothing: design related to material, color, and becomingness; style, durability; adaptability to fine or rough wear, to repair and remaking; suitability to season, health, occupation, comfort; home-made VERSUS ready-made; conditions of manufacture, use of child labor, the sweat shop, the living wage, health.

Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles bought in small and large quantities: for example, laundry soap by the bar, by the quarter’s worth, by the box; canned goods by the can, by the dozen, and by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25- pound sack, 50-pound sack, by the barrel; etc.

Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in package; for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon; bacon in bulk and in jars, etc.

Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples.

Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by telephone or in person? To buy by mail order or at the store in town? Why?

At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington, D.C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in Maryland. The turkeys were brought by the producers to the schoolhouse of the rural neighborhood, taken by a postal service motor-truck to the schoolhouse of the Park View center in Washington, and from there distributed to the 140 families. The city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound less than the price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the producers received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were paying.

Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced?

What is the “middleman”? Does he perform a real service to the community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that the middleman should be “eliminated” by cooperative marketing and buying organizations? Why?

Is there any cooperative buying organization in your community? If so, how has it benefited the community? If not, why? (Consult your parents, your county agent, and others.)

Get publications from your state agricultural college relating to cooperative buying and selling.

THRIFT IN MANAGEMENT

Wise expenditures depend not only upon knowledge of prices and qualities, but also upon good management, as in planning ahead. One plan that has been the means of lifting many individuals and families out of financial difficulties and of enabling them to lay by as savings a portion of their income, however small the latter may be, is the BUDGET, which means the apportionment of expenditures according to a plan laid out in advance. No budget can apply to all families alike, but the following illustrates the principle:

House (rent, taxes, insurance, repairs)........................25%

Food (all expenditures for the table, ice, etc.)...............30%

Clothing (materials and making, repairing, cleaning, pressing, millinery, shoes)..............................................13%

Housekeeping (labor and materials for laundry, fuel and light, telephone, supplies, and furnishings)..........................12%

Educational (school and school books, club dues, church and charity contributions, gifts, books, magazines, newspapers, amusements, medical and dental treatment)...................................6%

Luxuries (all items not necessaries and not coming under “educational,” such as candies, etc.)...........................4%

Savings….....................................................10%

Total…......................................................100%

Before a budget can be planned, and in order to know whether it is being lived up to, it is necessary to keep accounts of receipts and expenditures. With such accounts, it is possible to determine where savings can be made under some heads and where, perhaps, it is necessary or advisable to spend more.

Is a budget used in your home? Find out from your parents their reason for using, or not using it.

Could you use a budget in your own personal affairs?

Find out whether a budget system is used by your local government and your state government in apportioning expenditures.

How may we “budget” our time? Is the time you spend in school “budgeted”? Make a daily time budget for yourself.

When is clothing a necessity and when a luxury? [Footnote: This and the following topics are adapted from “Ten Lessons in Thrift.”]

When is food a necessity and when an amusement?

When is amusement education and when a frivolity?

When is fuel an item in rent and when current housekeeping expense?

When are club dues education and when amusement?

When is vacation health and when amusement?

When is the theater amusement and when indulgence?

When is rent a necessity and when an extravagance?

[Footnote: From “Suggestion for Home Demonstration Agents regarding Methods of Teaching Thrift,” States Relations Service Circular, Dec. 27, 1918.]

THRIFT IN SAVING

(3) The object of thrift in spending is both to get the greatest value for our money now and to insure savings that will provide for the future. Every budget should make as definite provision for savings as for rent or clothing. The purpose of a budget and of accounts is to assure a surplus rather than a deficit. Successful men and women make it a practice always to spend less than they earn, no matter how little they earn, and they cannot be sure of this without planning ahead and keeping accounts. Saving in this way is largely a matter of habit; but it is astonishing how many fail to form the habit. Court records show that out of every 100 men who die, 82 leave no income-producing estates, or that about 85 per cent who reach the age of 65 are dependent upon relatives or upon the community. “Out of every 100 widows, only 18 are left in comfortable circumstances, while 47 are obliged to go to work and 35 are left in absolute want.” [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, “The Greater Thrift,” National Education Association PROCEEDINGS, 1916, p. 278.]

AMERICAN EXTRAVAGANCE

Wise buying means saving money; and so does the wise use of what we buy. It is said that an American ship can be distinguished from the ships of other nations in harbor by the flocks of gulls that hover around to feast on the food thrown overboard. Whether this is true or not, Americans have a reputation for wastefulness. It has been called our chief national sin. It is said that a family in France can live in comfort on what an American family in the same circumstances ordinarily throws away. An average load of garbage in New York City has been shown to contain fifty dollars’ worth of good food materials.

WHAT SMALL SAVINGS WILL DO

Investigations by the Food Administration showed that there is enough glycerine in a ton of garbage to make explosives for 14 shells, enough fat and acid to make 75 bars of soap, and enough fertilizer to grow 8 bushels of wheat. It is said that 24 cities wasted enough garbage to make 4 million pounds of nitroglycerine, 40 million cakes of soap, and fertilizer for 3 million bushels of wheat. On the other hand, 300 cities produced 52 million pounds of pork by feeding their garbage to hogs.

The Department of Agriculture has shown that the waste of a half- cup of milk daily by each of the 20 million families in the United States would equal in a year the total production of 400 thousand cows; that one ounce of meat or fat saved daily would in a year mean 875 thousand steers, or a million hogs; and that if 81 percent of the whole wheat were used in bread instead of 75 percent, the saving in a year would feed 12 million people. During the war our government organized a campaign for the salvage of “junk,” and the total amount collected had a value of 1 1/2 billion dollars. The school children of Des Moines, Iowa, are reported to have gathered and sold two thousand dollars’ worth of waste paper in one week, and those of many other communities obtained similar results.

VALUE OF BY-PRODUCTS

Every successful business man is constantly vigilant to discover and remedy waste in his business—waste of materials, time, and effort. Many of the most valuable products in certain industries are “by-products,”—that is, products produced as an incident to the main industry and from materials that otherwise would have been wasted. In the manufacture of gas from coal, for example, important by-products are coke, tar, and ammonia. There has been great waste in the lumber industry, but now practically every scrap from the tree may be used. In the Forestry Products Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, a process has been discovered of producing from 15 to 25 gallons of wood alcohol from a ton of sawdust—and sawdust has many other uses. These are only illustrations. Scientists and inventors, many of them employed by the government, are constantly at work finding uses for waste products.

WASTEFULNESS IN FARMING

Wastefulness is found in great variety in farming activities. For example:

Why plant seed only 60 or 70 per cent of which will germinate when, for a few dollars extra and a little work, seed may be procured that will average 90 to 95 per cent in the germination test? Why purchase or cultivate a worthless crab apple tree or a hybrid when Rome Beauty, Northern Spy, or Grimes Golden, and other standard varieties of apples may be secured for a few additional cents? Why feed and care for a “scrub” pig, calf, or colt when it will bring at maturity only half or two thirds the price of a thoroughbred? ... It is not thrift to invest money in second-rate products.

Some farmers are so careless … that they do not husk their corn in the fall but leave it standing in the field until late winter or early spring. By this time the fodder is somewhat decayed and unfit for feeding purposes. Possibly a third of the corn has been eaten by the birds, a third of it has rotted, and a third of it remains in a damp and moldy condition. ... Many boys could make good wages by going over the corn field at cutting time and collecting the ears lying on the ground. ... Often a farmer will cut down his hay, paying no attention whatever to the reports of the weather bureau … Apples shaken from the trees by the wind decay on the ground …

The bearings of mowing machines and reapers often suffer excessive wear because the owner neglects to keep them properly oiled. Often a wheat drill, a mowing machine, a threshing machine, or an engine is left out of doors for a whole year, or for several months after the farmer has ceased to use it. A good piece of machinery, if judiciously used, properly lubricated, and put away in a dry place, may last from ten to twenty years, while the life of such machinery will only be about half as long without proper care. If a wooden handle rots loose from its fastenings it is an indication that the handle has not been thoroughly dried after it has been used. Tools rust out very readily if they are not kept dry and thoroughly oiled … So careless are some farmers that hoes, shovels, mattocks, wrenches, saws, and axes are thrown down in the field or woods to lie there until it is again necessary to use them. It often takes hours to find an article thus misplaced or thrown aside. It is economy of time to know just where to find everything on the farm. [Footnote: The Teaching of Thrift, by H. R. Bonner, Assistant State Superintendent of Schools, West Virginia, pp. 22, 23.]

The topics on page 180 from publications of the States Relations Service of the Department of Agriculture are suggestive:

Preventing loss of food in the home: Suitable food storage places and equipment. Essentials of a good refrigerator. The care of winter vegetables and fruit. The care of perishable vegetables and fruit. Prevention of spoilage of milk, meat, and fish. Preservation of eggs. Care of bread and other baked products. What should not go into the garbage pail. Good cooking and attractive serving. Failure to use perishable food promptly. Failure to use left-overs completely. Failure to use all food materials (fats, meat and fish bones, etc.). Leaving small portions of food in mixing and cooking dishes. Lack of accurate measuring and mixing, so that food is not palatable. Allowing food to be scorched or otherwise spoiled in preparation. Providing over-generous portions in serving. Failure to eat all food served. Preventing loss of food in the market: Sanitary display cases for food. Prevention of “sampling” and handling of food. Food protection in food carts and delivery wagons. Proper care of milk. Proper care of meat and fish. Prevention of cereal products from deterioration. Protection of fruits and vegetables. The care of bread and bakery products. Careful selection of food. Following are special points which might be discussed: The well-planned house. Saving steps by better arrangement of equipment. Lessening work by systematizing it. Menu-planning for lessened work in preparation. Household lighting. Labor-saving equipment in the laundry, the kitchen, and the sewing room. Labor-saving devices for house cleaning. Leading a simple life.

Apply to your home demonstration agent, or write to States Relations Service, for publications relating to thrift in food, clothing, fuel, etc.

THRIFT IN INVESTMENT

(4) Thrift involves a wise use of savings. They may be invested in a home, a wise use because of the satisfaction that a home produces. If the home is well located, well built, and well kept up, it will probably also increase in money value. Savings may be invested in machinery for farming, manufacturing, or mining; in a stock of goods to be sold at a profit; in houses or office buildings to be rented to others; or they may be lent to others who pay interest for their use. In all these cases money represents CAPITAL—capital being the machinery or tools and other equipment with which wealth is produced.

Capital is brought into existence in only one way—that is, by consuming less than is produced. If one has a dollar one can spend it either for an article of consumption, say confectionery, or for an article of production, say a spade. He who buys a spade becomes a capitalist to the amount of a dollar—that is, he becomes the owner of tools. The process is precisely the same whether the amount in question is a dollar or a million dollars. [Footnote: T.N. Carver, “How to Use Farm Credit,” FARMERS’ BULLETIN 593, U.S. Department of Agriculture, p. 2.]

BORROWING

Every business requires capital, some more than others. Farming requires more capital to-day than formerly because of the increased use of machinery. The necessary capital must either be saved by the person who wants to use it, or borrowed from others who have saved it.

The advantage of borrowing is that one does not have to wait so long to get possession of the tools and equipment. One can get them at once and make them produce the means of paying for themselves. Without them the farmer’s production might be so low as to make it difficult ever to accumulate enough with which to buy them. With their help he may be able to pay for them—that is, to pay off the debt—in a shorter time than it would take to accumulate the purchase price without them. That is the only advantage of credit in any business, but it is a great advantage to those who know how to use it. [Footnote 2: T.N. Carver, “How to Use Farm Credit,” FARMERS’ BULLETIN, 593, U.S. Department of Agriculture, p. 2.]

CREDIT

Credit is simply a person’s ability to borrow and depends upon the confidence that others place in him. This confidence depends on his reputation for honesty and his known ability to repay. A man, as a rule, has to HAVE something—land or property of other kind— that he can offer as security before he can borrow much. It is for this reason that thrift is essential to a man’s credit—thrift and honesty.

There is no magic about credit. It is a powerful agency for good in the hands of those who know how to use it. So is a buzz saw. They are about equally dangerous in the hands of those who do not understand them. ... Many a farmer would be better off to-day if he had never had a chance to borrow money at all, or go into debt for the things which he bought. However, there is no reason why those farmers who do know how to use credit should not have it.

Shortsighted people, however, who do not realize how inexorably the time of payment arrives, who do not know how rapidly tools wear out and have to be replaced, or do not keep accounts in order that they may tell exactly where they stand financially, will do well to avoid borrowing. Debts have to be paid with deadly certainty, and they who do not have the wherewithal when the day of reckoning arrives become bankrupt with equal certainty.

On the other hand there is nothing disgraceful in borrowing for productive purposes. The feeling that it is not quite respectable to go into debt has grown out of the old habit of borrowing to pay living expenses. That was regarded, perhaps rightly, as a sign of incompetency. ... But to borrow for a genuinely productive purpose, for a purpose that will bring you in more than enough to pay off your debt, principal and interest, is a profitable enterprise. It shows business sagacity and courage, and is not a thing to be ashamed of. But it cannot be too much emphasized that the would-be borrower must calculate very carefully and be sure that it is a productive enterprise before he goes into debt. [Footnote: T. N. Carver, “How to Use Farm Credit,” p. 2.]

COOPERATION FOR CREDIT

Even though a farmer be thrifty, industrious, and honest, the conditions of farm business are such that it has not always been easy for him to borrow capital. Here again cooperation helps. In some of our states the law permits the organization of CREDIT UNIONS. The members are farmers of a neighborhood or district and, therefore, are acquainted with one another. Each member must buy shares of stock, which provides a certain amount of funds. The union may also receive deposits of money, paying interest on them as a savings bank would do. This increases the funds and also encourages thrift on the part of the farmer. Idle money, or money that might otherwise be spent unwisely, is thus made productive. In some unions, as in Massachusetts, children are encouraged to deposit their small savings, and in some cases half the capital of the union is made up of such small savings deposits. From these funds loans are made to members of the union on reasonable terms, provided they are to be used for productive purposes. The union may also borrow money from the bank in town on the COLLECTIVE CREDIT of its members for the improvement of agricultural conditions in the neighborhood.

NATIONAL AID TO THE FARMERS’ CREDIT

Similar aid to the farmers’ credit has been given by the national government through the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916. This Act created a Federal Farm Loan Board in the Treasury Department, and twelve Federal Land Banks, one in each of twelve districts into which the United States was divided for that purpose. Through the organization provided by the board and the banks, a farmer may now borrow money on more favorable terms, but only on condition that he agrees to use the money for the purchase and improvement of land or for equipment, and to engage in the actual cultivation of the farm for the development of which he desired the money.

The provisions of the Federal Farm Loan Act afford an excellent illustration of how government promotes citizen cooperation. The government does not lend the money to the farmers; it merely provides the machinery by which the farmers may cooperate among themselves, and also secure the cooperation of investors in all parts of the country, to obtain capital necessary for the proper development of the land. As a rule the farmer can borrow money from the land bank only by being a member of a local “national farm loan association.” His dealings with the bank are through this association. His membership in the association gives him better standing and secures for him better terms than he could get if acting separately. Moreover, the money that the bank lends to the farmer comes from the farmers who belong to the association, and from investors in all parts of the country, who buy shares of stock in the bank and bonds issued by the bank on the security of the farmers’ land and equipment. The whole scheme is one of cooperation which would be impossible but for the legislation, financial support, and supervision of the government at Washington.

PARTNERSHIP IN THE NATION’S BUSINESS

It will be seen then that much of the capital that a farmer uses is borrowed, and is made up of small savings of other people—some of them his neighbors, others in distant places. The same is true with respect to the capital used in all other businesses. The enormous capital of railroads is derived chiefly from the savings of millions of people, some of whom buy shares of railroad stock directly, but most of whom deposit their savings in banks or other institutions which, in turn, lend it to the railroads or invest it in their stock. The farmer or the school boy who has a savings account in a neighboring bank thus may become a partner in various business enterprises of the country. His dollars or dimes, added to the dollars and dimes of many other people, are used to buy machinery and tools and materials, and to pay labor. Because of the service performed by his savings he receives interest on his money.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTMENT

There are many opportunities for young people to invest savings in productive enterprises,—perhaps more in rural communities than elsewhere. The different kinds of boys’ and girls’ clubs illustrate the variety of channels through which money may be both earned and invested. As soon as a boy invests a little money in a pig, or a calf, or garden tools, he becomes a capitalist to that extent. It is to be hoped that not many have the experience of the boy described in the following lines: [Footnote: Read by R.H. Wilson, in an address before the National Council of Education, N.E.A. PROCEEDINGS, 1917, p. 133.]

Johnnie bought a little pig with money he had earned, He named her Nell and fed her well, and lots of tricks she learned. But Nellie grew to be a sow, had piggies quite a few, Then father up and sold them, and kept the money, too.

Johnnie took a little calf as pay for hoeing corn, He loved the calf and the calf loved him as sure as you are born. The calfie grew to be a cow, as all good calfies do, Then father up and sold her, and kept the money, too.

Now, Johnnie loved his little pets, but father loved the pelf, So Johnnie left his father’s farm and struck out for himself. Said Johnnie’s pa, one summer day, “I often wonder why Boys don’t like life upon the farm, ‘the city’ is their cry.”

“It always will be strange to me,” continued Johnnie’s pa, “It only goes to prove, though, how ungrateful children are.” When Johnnie heard what father said, he gave a bitter laugh, And thought of his empty childhood and of his pig and calf.

Savings may be deposited in savings banks, which accept small deposits and pay compound interest, usually at a rate of 3 per cent or 3 1/2 per cent. Such banks operate in accordance with state or national laws to protect the depositor against loss. Many schools conduct school savings banks. The pupils bring their small amounts to the teacher or to some pupil acting as “teller,” the collected funds then being deposited in some bank in the community. These school banks promote habits of thrift and afford experience in business methods, besides bringing into use in the world’s work many small amounts of money that would otherwise be lying idle or spent unwisely.

POSTAL SAVINGS SYSTEM

In 1910 Congress established the Postal Savings System under which any post office may be a savings bank. Any person over ten years of age may deposit money at the postal savings bank in amounts of from $1.00 to $25.00, receiving from the postmaster POSTAL SAVINGS CERTIFICATES as evidence of the deposit. Provision is made for savings accounts of less than a dollar by selling POSTAL SAVINGS STAMPS at ten cents each, ten of which may be exchanged for a dollar certificate. Two per cent interest is paid on postal savings, but savings certificates may be exchanged for POSTAL SAVINGS BONDS, bearing interest at the rate of 2 1/2 per cent.

LENDING TO THE GOVERNMENT

The purchase of Liberty Bonds or Savings Stamps and Thrift Stamps is a good investment and a patriotic act. The money raised in this way is used for the national defense and for reconstruction after the war. The Savings Division of the United States Treasury Department carries on a campaign of thrift education. Among other things, it promotes the organization of savings societies and thrift clubs, because thrift is a habit which is encouraged by the example and cooperation of others. In Randolph County, Indiana, for example, each consolidated school has its thrift club, and over 75 per cent of the pupils are members. One of these schools sold over $11,000 worth of thrift stamps, and others sold from $1500 to $3500 worth. Savings societies exist among the workmen of many industries, and employers report that these have increased the purchase of homes, and have resulted in a saving of materials and tools because of the habits of thrift established.

INSURANCE

Among the many other agencies to promote thrift we shall only mention BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS and INSURANCE. The purpose of building and loan associations is to help people of small means to purchase or build homes. Insurance affords a particularly good illustration of organized cooperation. The PREMIUMS paid by thousands of policy holders produce a large sum of money, part of which goes to pay the expenses of the insurance company, but most of which is invested in enterprises that cause the amount rapidly to increase. Out of this fund the occasional losses of individuals are paid. Life insurance is a good form of investment. It provides for the future of the family of the insured in case of his death. By the ENDOWMENT plan the insured may himself receive, at the end of a specified number of years, all that he has paid in premiums together with interest.

During the war our national government itself insured the soldiers against death or injury. This was known as WAR RISK INSURANCE. At the end of the war the soldier had the privilege of converting the war risk insurance into a regular form of insurance, still provided, however, by the government itself. One of our states also, Wisconsin, sells life insurance to its citizens.

As we proceed with our study we shall encounter other aspects of thrift in various chapters. As a nation we may be thrifty or unthrifty in the use of our resources (see Chapters XIV and XV). Thrift is as essential in our “community housekeeping,” which is carried on by government, as in our homes and business. But we can hardly expect thrift to become a national characteristic unless it first becomes a personal habit.

Are you a capitalist? If so, explain in what way.

What forms does the capital take with which your father does business?

What capital does an Eskimo have? the American Indians when the country was first settled?

Do you belong to a thrift club? Would it be desirable to organize one in your school? Confer with your teacher and principal about it. Write to the Savings Division, U.S. Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., for literature regarding organization.

Is there a credit union, or a savings association, or other organization to promote thrift in your community? If so, find out how it operates.

Write a story on the subject, “What my five dollars may accomplish after I put it in the savings bank, before it comes back to me with interest.”

Why are people willing to accept a lower rate of interest from a postal savings bank than from an ordinary savings bank?

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 6, Capital. Lesson 13, U.S. Food Administration. Lesson 14, Substitute foods. Lesson 15, Woman as the family purchaser. Lesson 21, Borrowing capital for modern business. Lesson 22, The commercial bank and modern business.

Series B: Lesson 7, An intelligently selected diet. Lesson 22, Financing the war. Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings.

Series C: Lesson 7, Preserving foods. Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. Lesson 14, The U.S. Fuel Administration. Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council of National Defense.

Write Savings Division, U.S. Treasury Department, for materials; especially “Ten Lessons in Thrift,” and “Teaching Thrift in Elementary Schools.” Both of these contain lists of readings.

The Post-Office Department has publications descriptive of the postal savings service.

Farmers’ Bulletins, U.S. Department of Agriculture, relating to thrift.

Federal Farm Loan Act, How It Benefits the Farmer, Farmers’ Bulletin 792.

See references in footnotes in this chapter.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, Chapter XIV, “Waste and Saving.”

The local public library, the State Library, and the State Agricultural College, will doubtless furnish lists of references and perhaps provide materials.

The United States Bureau of Education will send list of references.

CHAPTER XIV

THE RELATION BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

“NATURE WAS MUCH BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN MAN. SHE WOULD SUFFER NO SUDDEN HIGHWAYS TO BE THROWN ACROSS HER SPACES; SHE ABATED NOT AN INCH OF HER MOUNTAINS, COMPROMISED NOT A FOOT OF HER FORESTS. ... FOR THE CREATION OF THE NATION THE CONQUEST OF HER PROPER TERRITORY FROM NATURE WAS FIRST NECESSARY ... A BOLD RACE HAS DERIVED INSPIRATION FROM THE SIZE, THE DIFFICULTY, THE DANGER OF THE TASK.”

If you wanted to buy a farm, what facts would you investigate in regard to land and location?

What farm in your neighborhood comes nearest to meeting your requirements in these matters? Explain fully why.

Make a sketch map of a farm in your neighborhood, preferably one upon which you have lived, showing as nearly as you can the boundaries, the position of highlands and lowlands, marshes, timber, streams, etc. Also the position of house, barns, bridges, roads, and other important features.

Did the features of the land indicated on your map determine the location of the buildings? of the roads and bridges? the kinds of crops raised on different parts of the farm?

Should the surface features of the land be taken into account in determining the position of the house and barns in relation to each other? Why?

Has the character of the land influenced the life of the farmer’s family in any way? Explain.

IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

Directly or indirectly, geographical conditions affect every aspect of community life and help or hinder us in satisfying all of our wants (see Chapter I). Their influence is chiefly felt, however, in their relation to the economic interest of the people; that is, in relation to earning a living and the production of wealth.

ESTABLISHING RELATIONS WITH THE LAND

Every step that man has taken to make his relations with the land permanent and definite has been a step of progress in civilization, as when, for example, the savage hunter became a herdsman, or the herdsman an agriculturist. We live to-day in an age of machinery, which is a result of turning to our use the metals from the depths of the earth and the power derived from the forces of nature, as in the application of steam, electricity, and the explosive force of gasoline. Many have had a part in this work of establishing relations with the land: explorers; scientists who have discovered the uses of our varied mineral and vegetable resources and how to make the forces of nature serve us; engineers who have built our railroads and bridges and tunneled our mountains. A most important part has been taken by those who win their living directly from nature’s resources—the woodsman, the miner, the farmer; and the service of the farmer has been especially great in giving stability to our community life.

AGRICULTURE MEANS A SETTLED LIFE

Those American Indians were most civilized who had developed agriculture to the highest point, because this meant a settled life. If we recall the story of the colonization of America we shall remember that it was not successfully accomplished by the gold hunters and fur traders who came first, but only when those came who, as farmers, began to cultivate the soil. Later, as the population moved westward across the Alleghenies into the Mississippi Valley and on to the Pacific Coast, the hunters and trappers were the scouts who found the way, while the real army that took possession of the land was an army of farmers.

Did the American Indians who formerly lived in your locality lead a settled life? Why? Were they agriculturists to any extent? If so, what do you know of their method of agriculture?

Of what pastoral peoples have you read? Why was their life more settled than that of hunting peoples? Why less settled than that of farmers?

Why were settlements by gold hunters and fur traders likely not to be permanent?

Do you know of important mining towns that have had a brief life?

PROTECTING OWNERSHIP OF LAND

The story of how individuals acquired the right to own land is an interesting one, but too long to be told here. The right has long been recognized and protected by government. If your father owns a piece of land he doubtless has a DEED for it, containing an accurate description of the land and giving him title to ownership. In each county there is an office of government where all deeds are recorded—the office of the recorder or register of deeds.

The record of every piece of land is thus kept and is open to examination by any one. If a man wishes to buy a piece of land he will go to the office of the recorder and find out whether the title to the land is clear. Only by so doing may he be protected against error or fraud.

TRANSFERS OF LAND

Since lands are likely to change hands a number of times, and since men frequently MORTGAGE their lands as security for loans or other indebtedness, thus giving to others a claim to their land, it is sometimes a tedious and difficult task for a buyer to trace the record back and to be sure that the title to the land is clear. It sometimes requires months. There are lawyers who make a business of examining the records and making ABSTRACTS OF TITLES. This involves expense. Besides, there is always the chance that a mistake may be made somewhere. For this reason some states have adopted a plan known as the TORRENS SYSTEM of land transfer, from the name of the man who devised it in Australia.

Under the Torrens System the government itself, through its proper officer, may examine the title to any piece of land. The land is then REGISTERED, and the owner is given a certificate as evidence. If a mortgage is placed on the land or if it changes hands the transaction is recorded on the certificate and in the office records. A mere glance at the record of registry or at the certificate is sufficient to ascertain the title to the land. Thus time and expense are saved; and moreover the government gives its absolute guarantee to the owner or buyer as to his rights in the land.

The Torrens System is in use in some form in fourteen states of the Union, in the Philippines and Hawaii, and in various other countries of the world.

THE SURVEY OF THE PUBLIC LANDS

When settlers began to occupy the lands west of the Alleghenies, many of them laid claim to tracts without much regard for the claims of others. Boundary lines were indefinite. Where surveys were made they were often inaccurate. Much confusion resulted. Disputes arose that frequently found their way into the courts and dragged on for many years. The government sought to put an end to this state of affairs, and in Thomas Jefferson’s administration a survey was begun to establish lines by which any piece of land might be located and defined with exactness.

The government survey was begun by establishing certain north and south lines known as PRINCIPAL MERIDIANS. There are twenty-four of these, the first being the meridian that separates Indiana from Ohio, while the last runs through the state of Oregon. At intervals of six miles east and west of the principal meridians were established other meridians called RANGE LINES. A parallel of latitude was then chosen as a BASE LINE, and at intervals of six miles north and south of the base line were established TOWNSHIP LINES. These township lines with the range lines divide the country into areas six miles square called TOWNSHIPS. A township may thus be located with reference to its nearest base line and principal meridian (see diagram I).

Since meridians converge as we go north (look at a globe), the townships are not exactly square, and become slightly smaller toward the north. To correct this, certain parallels north and south of the base line were chosen as CORRECTION LINES, from which the survey began again as from the original base line.

Each township is divided into SECTIONS one mile square, and therefore containing 640 acres each. These sections are numbered in each township from 1 to 36 as indicated in diagram III. Each section is further subdivided into halves and quarters, which are designated as in diagram IV.

This government survey has been made only in the “public lands” (see below, p. 197). It is still being carried on by the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior. In 1917 more than 10,000,000 acres, or nearly 16,000 square miles, were surveyed. In that year there still remained unsurveyed more than 900,000 square miles of public land, 590,000 of which were in Alaska and 320,000 in the United States proper. In the original thirteen states along the Atlantic seaboard a similar survey has been made, but either by private enterprise or under the authority of the state or county governments. Massachusetts has recently spent a large sum of money in a new survey of the state for the purpose of verifying and correcting doubtful boundaries.

Has your father a deed to the land you live on? If so, ask him to show it to you and explain it. How is the land described?

At the first convenient time, make a visit to the office of the recorder of deeds in your county, and ask to have some of the records shown and explained to you, preferably the record of the property you occupy. Where is the office of the recorder? (A visit of this sort should be in company with the teacher or parent. A class excursion for this and other purposes may well be arranged for.)

What is a MORTGAGE? An ABSTRACT OF TITLE? (Consult parents.)

Is the Torrens System in use in your state?

Is your state a “public land state”?

From the deed to your father’s land, or from the records in the recorder’s office, or from a map of your county showing the survey lines, locate the land you live on, as indicated in the accompanying diagrams.

In what section and township is your schoolhouse?

Are there still any “public lands” in your state?

Are the boundary lines of farms in your neighborhood regular or irregular? How does this happen?

Do you know of any boundary disputes between farmers or other citizens in your community? What machinery of government exists to settle such disputes?

THE PUBLIC LANDS

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the territory of the United States extended west as far as the Mississippi River. That part of this territory which lay west of the Allegheny Mountains had been claimed by seven of the thirteen states that formed the Union; but soon after the war they ceded these western possessions to the United States, having received a promise from Congress that these lands, which were largely unoccupied at the time, should be disposed of “FOR THE COMMON BENEFIT OF THE UNITED STATES.” They thus became PUBLIC LANDS; that is, they belonged to the people of the nation as a whole. The common interest in these public lands was one of the chief influences that kept the thirteen states united under one government during the troubled times between the close of the Revolution and the adoption of the Constitution in 1789. As time went on, the public lands of the nation were increased by the acquisition of new territory, [Footnote: Louisiana Territory was acquired in 1803, Oregon in 1805, Florida in 1812 and 1819, Texas in 1845, California and New Mexico in 1846-48, the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, Alaska in 1867.] Of the 3,600,000 square miles comprising the United States and Alaska more than three fourths has at some time been public land; but of this there now remain, exclusive of Alaska, only about 360,000 square miles, much of which is forest and mineral land, unsuitable for agriculture.

DISPOSAL OF THE PUBLIC LANDS

To turn this great domain with all its resources to the fullest service of the nation has been one of the greatest problems with which our government has had to deal. In the early part of our history various plans were tried by which to secure the occupancy and development of the agricultural lands by farmers, until in 1862 the first Homestead Act was passed by Congress.

About 10,000,000 acres of the public land were given to soldiers who fought in the Revolution and in the War of 1812 in recognition of then-service to their country. About 60,000,000 acres were later given to veterans of the Mexican War.

Until the year 1800 the plan in use for the disposition of the public lands was to sell large areas to colonizing companies, with the expectation that these companies would find settlers to whom they would sell the land in small quantities at a profit. This was not successful, as actual settlers found it difficult to get land they wanted at prices they could afford.

From 1800 to 1820 lands were sold in small areas ON CREDIT. Many bought more than they were able to pay for, and much land so disposed of had to be taken back by the government.

In 1820 a third plan was adopted: That of selling land for cash in any quantity to any purchaser. This led to speculation, individuals and companies of individuals buying recklessly, without intention of actual settlement, but with the purpose of selling again at a profit. This brought on a financial panic in

1837.

Then followed the “PREEMPTION” plan, by which actual settlers could “preempt” land (get the first right to it) by merely taking possession and paying a cash price of $1.25 an acre.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was an extension of the preemption plan; but instead of paying a cash price, the settler could acquire the land merely by living on it for a period of five years (now three) and paying fees of about $40.00.

HOMESTEAD ACTS

The Homestead Act, like earlier laws, made a direct appeal to men’s desire to earn a living, to acquire property, and especially to own homes. It has been modified from time to time, but in all essentials it still remains in force and provides that any citizen of the United States who has reached the age of twenty-one, or who is the head of a family, may acquire a farm on condition of living upon it for a period of three years, cultivating the land and erecting a dwelling, and paying to the government a small fee. The size of the farm that he may so acquire varies according to the nature of the land, but the usual homestead on good agricultural land is limited to 160 acres.

The purpose of the government has been to encourage ACTUAL SETTLEMENT in order to secure the development of the nation’s resources, and for this purpose to allow each settler enough land to enable him to support a family in comfort. It was decided that 160 acres of GOOD FARM LAND was enough.

Some portions of the public land, however, are less productive than others. Where the rainfall is slight and where irrigation is impracticable, and yet where crops can be raised by the “dry farming” process, the law allows a settler to take 320 acres.

A settler may also obtain 320 acres in the “desert lands” of some of the western states. These lands may be made productive by irrigation, but the settler must construct his own irrigation system. Originally 640 acres were allowed in such lands, but the amount has been reduced to 320 acres, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office now recommends (1916) that it be further reduced to 160 acres.

In those parts of the desert region which the government has already reclaimed by irrigation, thus making the land extremely fruitful, the amount usually allowed a settler is from 40 to 80 acres.

There are regions where the land is suitable only for stock raising and for forage crops. Here Congress has decided that 640 acres is a fair amount for the support of a family.

Lands that are valuable for their timber and mineral resources are disposed of on different terms, but on somewhat the same principle.

RECLAMATION OF LANDS BY SOLDIERS

At the close of the war in 1918 a plan was proposed by the Secretary of the Interior to secure the occupation of land by returning soldiers. Since the lands suitable for farming in their natural state have practically all been disposed of; the plan contemplates the reclamation of arid and swamp lands, and of land from which the forests have been cut but which are still covered with stumps. It is proposed that returned soldiers shall be employed by the government in the work of reclaiming the land, and that those who desire to become farmers may buy their farms in the reclaimed lands at a reasonable price, and with a period of thirty or forty years in which to pay for them. The Secretary of the Interior said: “This plan does not contemplate anything like charity to the soldier … He is not to be made to feel that he is a dependent. On the contrary, he is to continue in a sense in the service of the Government. Instead of destroying our enemies he is to develop our resources.” Much of the land whose reclamation by and for returning soldiers is thus contemplated is not now public land, but is lying idle in the hands of private owners.

LAND SETTLEMENT IN CALIFORNIA

The state of California has recently enacted a law known as the Land Settlement Act, which provides for “a demonstration in planned rural development.” “Its first idea is educational, to show what democracy in action can accomplish.” Under the terms of this act the state acting through a Land Settlement Board and with the cooperation of experts from the University of California, has purchased several thousand acres of land at Durham, in Butte County, which it sells to settlers on easy terms. It also lends money to settlers for improvement and equipment for the farmers.

The California Land Settlement Act is significant, because it eliminates speculation, it aims to create fixed communities by anticipating and providing those things essential to early and enduring success.

Another feature is the use it makes of cooperation. The settlers are at the outset brought into close business and social relations. It reproduces the best feature of the New England town meeting, as every member of the community has a share in the discussions and planning for the general welfare. This influence in rural life has been lacking in new communities in recent years. In the great movement of people westward with its profligate disposal of public land, settlement became migratory and speculative. Every man was expected to look out for himself. Rural neighborhoods became separated into social and economic strata. There was the nonresident landowner; the influential resident landowner; the tenant, aloof and indifferent to community improvements; and, below that, the farm laborer who had no social status and who in recent years, because of lack of opportunity and social recognition, has migrated into the cities where he could have independence and self-respect, or has degenerated into a hobo.

At Durham, for the first time in American land settlement, the farm laborer who works for wages is recognized as having as useful and valuable a part in rural economy as the farm owner. The provisions made for his home are intended to give to his wife and children comfort, independence, and self-respect; in other words, the things that help create character and sustain patriotism. The farm laborers’ homes already built are one of the most attractive features of the settlement; and when the community members gather together, as they do, to discuss matters that affect the progress of the settlement, or to arrange for cooperative buying and selling, the farm laborer and his family are active and respected members of the meetings.

From maps in school histories study the claims of the seven states to western lands.

What is the Ordinance of 1787?

Make reports on the circumstances connected with our various territorial acquisitions.

From whom did the colonists get the right to the land in the original thirteen colonies?

Do you know anyone who has ever taken up a “homestead claim”? If so, learn how it was done.

If possible, get a description of a “land lottery” and a “land rush” in newly opened public lands.

Get all the information you can about the plan to provide land for the soldiers, referred to above. Do you think this is a better plan than that of giving land to soldiers outright? Why? Is your state likely to cooperate with the national government in carrying out this plan? How?

THE NATION’S INTERESTS ARE FIRST

The policy of the government of disposing of the public lands to individuals has of course been of great benefit to the latter; but we should not lose sight of the fact that the national well-being is the first consideration. As the Commissioner of the General Land Office said in a recent report (1916), “Every acre of public land disposed of under this line of legislation is AN INVESTMENT, the profits to be found in the general development of the welfare of the nation at large.”

SAFEGUARDING THE INTERESTS OF INDIVIDUALS

It has been no simple matter to administer our public lands, and mistakes have been made. Sometimes the interests of individuals have not been sufficiently safeguarded. Many settlers have suffered serious loss, and many promising communities have failed, through the taking of homesteads in regions of little rainfall, as in western Kansas and Nebraska. The government now seeks to protect homesteaders against such errors by distinguishing carefully between lands suitable for ordinary agriculture and those suitable only for dry-farming and stock-raising, by informing prospective settlers in regard to the facts, and by allowing larger entries in lands of the latter classes. Another mistake was made in allowing many of the first claimants to stock- raising lands so to locate their claims as to acquire the exclusive use of the only available water supply for miles around, thus making useless other large tracts. This might have been avoided by a little foresight.

ABUSE OF LAND LAWS

On the other hand, the land laws have sometimes been abused. Large quantities of public land have fallen into the hands of speculators whose purpose is not to develop its resources, but to make a profit from the increased value of the land due to the efforts of others. Immense areas of land have thus been withheld from production, or have been made to produce to a limited extent only, to the great loss of the nation.

RAILROAD LANDS

In the days of transcontinental railroad building, large tracts of land were given to the railroad companies by the government, with the expectation that they would dispose of it at reasonable prices to settlers attracted by the new transportation facilities, and would use the proceeds in railway development. In fact, however, large quantities of this land have been held in an unproductive state for speculative purposes.

An illustration of this is the case of the Oregon and California Railroad land grant, made by Congress in 1869 and 1870, and comprising more than 4,200,000 acres, most of which bore a heavy growth of valuable timber. “This railroad grant … contained a special provision to the effect that the railroad company should sell the land it received to actual settlers only, in quantities not greater than one-quarter section to one purchaser and at a price not exceeding $2.50 an acre. By this precaution it was intended that in aiding the construction of the railroad an immediate impetus should also be given to the settlement and development of the country through which the road was to be constructed.”

After selling some of the lands according to the terms of the agreement, the railroad company ceased to live up to these terms and sold large bodies of the land to lumber interests, thus putting a stop to the development of the region in the way intended by the government. The government brought action against the railroad company, the outcome of which is that the government has bought back from the company at $2.50 an acre all of the lands of the grant which remained unsold, amounting to about 2,300,000 acres and valued at from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000.

These lands are being classified “in accordance with their chief value, either in power-site lands, timber lands, or agricultural lands,” and are to be disposed of accordingly. The timber will be sold separately from the land, and the land will then be opened to homestead entry.

By this arrangement the railroad company gets for the land all that it was entitled to under the terms of the original grant. In addition, provision is made for the payment to the counties in which the land lies of the taxes which the railroad company has not paid. As the lands are sold, the proceeds are to be divided between the state and the United States, the state receiving 50 percent, 40 percent being paid into the general reclamation fund of the United States (see Chapter XIV, p. 213), and 10 per cent into the general funds of the United States Treasury.

(From the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1916, pp. 46-49).

This is a striking illustration of how our government, acting through Congress, the Courts, and the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior, has sought to obtain justice for all parties concerned, and to fulfill the original purpose of securing the development of the land in the interest of the state and the nation.

LANDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Something like 133,000,000 acres of our public lands have from time to time been turned over to the states, the proceeds to be used for the promotion of public education, for the construction of roads, and for other purposes (see Chapters XVII and XIX). In some cases these lands have not been used altogether for the purposes for which they were granted. School lands have sometimes been sold at a nominal price to individuals who have reaped the profit, whereas the lands might have been so administered by the states as to have brought large returns for educational purposes. In some cases, state officials have made unwise investments of the funds derived from the sale of the lands, thereby losing them for the use of the state.

LAND MONOPOLY AND TENANTRY

The control, or “monopolizing,” of the public land by large holders is said to be one of the causes of increasing tenantry (Chapter X, p. 116); for as the available supply of desirable farming land is diminished, the actual home-seeker is driven to take less productive lands, or to purchase from the large holders at a higher price. The more recent land laws limit the amount of public land that an individual may acquire to an area sufficient to enable him to make a comfortable living for a family (see above, p. 199). They also exact from the homesteader an agreement that he will actually occupy and cultivate the land.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR LAND FRAUDS

The responsibility for the defects in our methods of administering the public lands rests in part upon our governmental representatives, who have not always dealt wisely with the extremely difficult problem. But it rests also upon each individual citizen. There are those, be it said to our shame, who deliberately seek to defeat the purpose of the laws and to appropriate to their own selfish uses the lands which belong to the nation as a whole. There is one division of the General Land Office in Washington known as the Contest Division. Before it come, not only the ordinary disputes that are likely to arise between rival claimants, but also cases of alleged fraud and violation of the land laws. In the year 1916 MORE THAN 12,000 CASES OF ALLEGED FRAUD WERE ACTED UPON, AND NEARLY 12,000 OTHER CASES AWAITED ACTION AT THE END OF THE YEAR! But the responsibility comes much closer home than this. Many of us who would not think of violating the law have failed to appreciate the value of the gifts that nature has given us, and have apparently been “too busy” to inform ourselves as to whether or not our public lands have been administered solely for the purpose to which Congress devoted them just after the Revolution. This, like every other matter of community interest, requires team work.

The community has certain rights to a citizen’s land that are clearly recognized as superior to the citizen’s rights. Acting through its government, it may take a part of a citizen’s property by taxation (see Chapter XXIII). Taxes are paid in money; but if a citizen does not pay the tax upon his land, the government may sell the land for enough to cover the obligation.

THE RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN

Again, the government may take a citizen’s land for public uses, if the interests of the community demand it, by what is called the RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN. For example, if the interests of the community demand that a new road be built, the government will seek to buy the necessary land from the farmers along the line of the proposed highway. Some farmer may say that he does not want the road to run through his farm, or he may try to get a price beyond what his land is worth. The government may then CONDEMN the required land and fix a price despite the farmer’s objections. The citizen whose land is taken must, however, be paid for it; the Constitution of the United States protects him by the provision, “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation” (Amendment V, last clause).

The right of eminent domain may be exercised to secure a site for a schoolhouse, a post-office, an army post, or courthouse, or for any other public purpose. The government also authorizes corporations that perform a public service to exercise the right, as in the case of railroads which must obtain a right of way for their tracks, and sites for their yards and stations.

THE POLICE POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT

Finally, by the exercise of what is known as the POLICE POWER, the government may control the use to which a citizen may put his land. Occasion for the exercise of the police power arises most frequently in cities, where it is necessary to control the construction of buildings for fire protection, and to regulate the kinds of business that may be conducted. In country districts it does not usually make so much difference what a man does on his own land; but even there the police power may be exercised, as when the state of Idaho passed a law forbidding the herding of sheep within a certain distance of towns.

POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THE LAND

There is another way in which government establishes relations between the people and the land. Citizens of the United States have certain political rights and duties, such as voting, holding office, and paying taxes. These rights may be enjoyed and the duties performed only within certain districts which the government creates for this purpose. Thus, a citizen has a right to vote within the state where he lives, but not in any other state. He must cast his vote within his own county, township, and precinct. The boundaries of the states are established by the national government (except the original thirteen states of the Union, whose boundaries were fixed before the national government was organized); but they may not be changed afterward without the consent of the states affected. The states organize their own counties and townships [Footnote: In the public land states the political township usually, but not always, corresponds with the township surveyed by the national government. See pp. 194-196.] and other districts. Villages and cities are granted definite boundaries by the state, and organize themselves into wards and precincts. There are legislative, congressional, judicial, and revenue districts, the boundaries of which are fixed by state and national governments. Locally, there are school districts. The boundaries which separate one nation from another are determined by agreement, or treaty, between the nations concerned. Uncertainty or indefiniteness in regard to national boundary lines has been the cause of much international strife, and was an important factor in the European war begun by Germany in 1914.

If you live in a “public land” state, for what uses have public lands been given to the state? Have the school lands in your state been wisely used?

Is it easy for a young man to acquire a farm in your locality? to keep up improvements on a farm that he owns? Has it been easy for a farmer in your locality to borrow money? (Consult parents and friends.)

Have the farmers of your locality made much use of the Federal Farm Loan Act? Do they think it is a good law?

Have you heard of forced sales of land in your community to pay taxes?

Do you know of cases of the exercise of the right of eminent domain in your community? For what purposes? Was it exercised by local, state, or national government?

In what ways does government control the use to which you may put the land on which you live?

In what township do you live? school district? congressional district? state legislative district? revenue district?

READINGS

Annual reports of the Secretary of the Interior.

Annual reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, Department of the Interior, Washington.

The General Land Office has published a large wall map showing the land surveys, the national forests, and many other important items. It may be secured from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, for $1.

See the New International Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Americana on public lands, national forests, and other topics referred to in this chapter.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 4, What nature has done for a typical city.

CHAPTER XV

CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES

RESOURCES OF THE SOIL

In the preceding chapter we learned that as a nation we have not been altogether thrifty in the disposal and use of our public lands. The same thing will have to be said regarding the use of the resources of the land, of which the soil is by far the most valuable.

It is said that 1200 boys in Ohio, organized in clubs, increased the average yield of corn from 35 bushels to 81 bushels per acre. The average returns per acre from the soil of the United States were lower before the war than in any European country, except Russia. The following table gives the production per acre of four cereals in the United States and five European countries in 1913. The same relative position of the United States would be shown if we took the average production of these countries for a series of years.

PRODUCTION IN BUSHELS PER ACRE UNDER CULTIVATION IN 1913

ABILITY OF THE AMERICAN FARMER

The low position of the United States in agriculture is by no means due to inferior ability on the part of the American farmer. The Secretary of Agriculture says that

Even now no farmer in the world can compare with the American farmer in agricultural efficiency. His adaptability to new and changing conditions, to the use of improved machinery and processes, coupled with the great natural resources with which the nation is endowed, make him far superior to any of his competitors. It is true that he does not produce more per acre than the farmers of some other nations. Production per acre, however, is not the American standard. The standard is the amount of production for each person engaged in agriculture, and by this test the American farmer appears to be from two to six times as efficient as most of his competitors.

WASTEFULNESS OF EARLY FARMING

As long as we had a great abundance of unoccupied land it would perhaps have been uneconomic to increase the production of that which was occupied by the costly methods of agriculture used in Belgium, Germany, and other thickly settled countries. But the old methods of farming not only failed to get from the soil all that it was then capable of producing, they also robbed it of fertility without restoring to it what was taken from it. Thus the loss caused by wasteful methods was passed on to future generations. To continue such methods in the light of our present knowledge and with our growing population is thriftless in the extreme. Methods of preserving and restoring the fertility of the soil and of obtaining the largest returns from it are now receiving the most careful attention from both state and national governments.

IDLE LANDS

A great deal of land lies idle that might be productive of food— not only arid, swamp, and cut-over lands, mentioned in later paragraphs, and land held for speculation, but also vacant lots and unused back yards in cities and villages, and waste or unused portions of cultivated farms. It is largely from city and village lots that the School Garden Army obtained its remarkable results. It is astonishing how many farmers buy instead of raising their vegetables for the table, as well as feed for their stock.

Texas, for instance, has purchased $200,000,000 worth of food products yearly from northern markets which might have been produced more cheaply at home. It takes 15 to 20 acres of land in Texas to grow cotton enough to buy 160 bushels of canned sweet potatoes, while one acre of Texas soil would produce the same quantity, and uncanned. [Footnote: THRIFT, a monograph published by the National Education Association, 1918.]

Such topics as the following should be studied, consulting parents, farmers of the locality, and such printed sources of information as are available.

The important cereal crops of your state. The average yield per acre of each. Increase or decrease in yield in recent years.

The work of corn clubs and other boys’ and girls’ clubs to increase the yield of crops in your state.

The difference between “production per acre” and “production per person engaged in agriculture.”

The difference between “intensive” and “extensive” agriculture.

“Single crop” and “diversified crop” types of agriculture in your locality. Advantages of each.

Extent to which farmers of your locality raise their own table vegetables and stock feed.

Evidence furnished by your town, or neighboring towns, during the war, of the wealth-producing power of vacant lots or unused backyards.

RECLAMATION OF ARID LANDS

Much of our public land has been nonproductive solely because of the lack of moisture. In 1902 a law known as the Reclamation Act was passed by Congress, providing that the proceeds from the sale of public lands in states containing arid regions,[Footnote: The states to which this law applies are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. See map.] except such as were already devoted to educational and other public purposes, should be used for the construction and maintenance of irrigation works. This reclamation work is in charge of the Reclamation Service of the Department of the Interior, whose engineers have built great dams and reservoirs from which the water has been led by canals and ditches into the desert. By 1916 more than 1,000,000 acres had been irrigated under this act, the crop value in that year reaching $35,000,000. The reclaimed land is disposed of to actual settlers in accordance with the homestead laws, each homesteader repaying the government in annual installments the cost of reclaiming the land he occupies. The fund so created is used by the government for further reclamation projects. The Department of Agriculture sends its experts to advise with the farmers in regard to the problems peculiar to the reclaimed regions. “Every effort should be and is, therefore, being made to promote the success of the farmer, and on the basis of his success to increase the prosperity of the country.” [Footnote 2: Report of the Reclamation Service, 1912- 1913, p. 4.]

The Yuma project in Arizona opened a new Valley of the Nile where four crops of alfalfa are now raised on what once were arid lands. The streets of Yuma and Somerton are crowded with the automobiles of farmers, enriched by thousands of acres of splendid long-staple cotton, alfalfa, corn, and feterita. Another irrigated valley in Arizona, that of the Salt River, has few superiors in the world and has come in three years into great prosperity. Arizona planted to cotton last year 92,000 acres. Its crop was 96 per cent perfect, the best record in the United States. [Footnote: Arthur D. Little, “Developing the Estate,” ATLANTIC MONTHLY, March, 1919.]

The principal irrigation projects of the Reclamation Service are shown on the accompanying map.

RECLAMATION BY STATES AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

Five or six times as much arid land has been reclaimed by private enterprise as by the Reclamation Service. The first extensive irrigation project in the West was a cooperative enterprise by the Mormon colonists in Utah. It is said that about two fifths of the land irrigated in the United States is supplied with water by works built and controlled by individual farmers or by a few neighbors, while another one third is supplied by stock companies. As early as 1877 Congress passed “a desert land law,” by which homesteads were granted in the arid lands on condition that the settlers should irrigate the land. In 1894 the Carey Act was passed by Congress under which the national government may give to a state as much as a million acres of arid public land within its borders, on condition that the state provides for its irrigation. The work is done by private stock companies, with whom the state makes a contract for the purpose. The most extensive irrigation project undertaken by private enterprise is that of the Imperial Valley in California, which derives its water from the Colorado River. Under the laws of California the Imperial Valley region has been organized as an “irrigation district,” with power to levy taxes for the development and support of the irrigation work. Each state in which irrigation is practiced has its own laws regulating the use of water by farmers and other consumers.

The theory is that the state regulates the appropriation of the water, exercising this power and holding the land in trust for the public … It is the duty of every state to which the Reclamation Act is applicable to assist with every resource under its control.[Footnote: Water Supply Paper, 234, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, p. 66.]

Reference has been made in Chapter XIV to the proposed plan for the reclamation and settlement of new areas of arid land by returning soldiers.

SWAMP LANDS

There are probably 80,000,000 acres of swamp lands in the United States which could be made productive by drainage. Farmers themselves could reclaim much of this land at comparatively small cost, greatly increasing their own profit and the wealth of the country.

One farm in Wisconsin has 40 acres of poorly drained land that in its present condition is practically worthless. $25.00 per acre spent in drainage will make this 40-acre tract the equal of any in the district, and good land is selling there at $150.00 per acre. [Footnote 2: “Unprofitable Acres,” in YEAR BOOK, Department of Agriculture, 1915, P. 147.]

The national government has at various times granted to the states swamp lands aggregating 60,000,000 acres, with the expectation that the states would reclaim them. The states have, however, done very little to fulfill the expectation. These swamp lands are among those whose reclamation by returning soldiers is proposed by the government.

Investigate and report on the following topics:

The work of the Reclamation Service of the national government.

If you live in one of the states to which the Reclamation Act applies, report on what has been accomplished by it in your state.

The development of one of the irrigation projects shown on the map.

Irrigation by private or state enterprise in your state (if any), and what it has accomplished.

The reclamation of Utah by the Mormons.

The development of the Imperial Valley of California.

The laws regulating the use of water for irrigation in your state (if an irrigated state).

The swamp areas in your locality or state. Progress made in their reclamation.

The reclamation of swamp or marshy land on particular farms of your locality.

The extent of idle cut-over land in your locality, why it is idle, the uses to which it could be put if reclaimed.

CONSERVATION OF WATER POWER

By the construction of dams, reservoirs, and canals the waters of a few of our streams are turned to the work of reclaiming land. Our unused water resources are very great. Niagara Falls have been harnessed for industrial uses, and with only a small part of their power in use they light the streets and houses, run the street cars, and turn the wheels of industry in Buffalo and Toronto and the neighboring region. But so far we are making use of less than 10 per cent of the power easily available from our streams. “The water now flowing idly from our hills to the sea could turn every factory wheel and every electric generator, operate our railroads, and still leave much energy to spare for new developments.” [Footnote: Arthur D. Little, “Developing the Estate,” ATLANTIC MONTHLY, March, 1919, p. 388.] It is probably not too much to expect that when our undeveloped water power is utilized it will provide electric light and power for every farm in the land. Our nation has allowed many of the best water power sites of the country to fall into the hands of private speculators who hold them undeveloped, as in the case of farmlands, forests, and other resources.

CONSERVATION OF FLOOD WATERS

Floods are not only immensely destructive of property, causing a loss of $100,000,000 along the Mississippi River alone in a single year, but they carry to the sea water that might be used for irrigation and for industry. Reservoirs, such as are built for irrigating projects, regulate the flow of water in streams and prevent floods. In New England and New York reservoirs have been built for this very purpose, and probably 10 per cent of the flood waters that originate in these states is saved in this way and turned to industrial uses. Similar conservation of flood waters occurs in Minnesota, but it is estimated that for the country as a whole not more than one per cent of the flood waters is saved. [Footnote: “Conservation of Water Resources,” Water Supply Paper 234, U.S. Geological Survey, 1919.] There are areas in which the reservoir system is impracticable, as in the lower Mississippi Valley. Here all that can be done is to protect the adjacent land by means of levees while controlling the floods farther up the valley.

FUEL RESOURCES

Larger use of water power would conserve another valuable resource—coal. Of this fuel we have vast resources—“in West Virginia alone more than Great Britain and Germany combined.” But the supply is not inexhaustible and we are mining it and using it in an extravagant manner. The loss here is not merely of heat and power and light, but of many valuable products of coal, including dyes, ammonia, vaseline, and many others.

DESTRUCTION BY FLOODS

Floods are increasing in the United States. This is due chiefly to the destruction of our forests by wasteful lumbering and by fire. In forested areas the ground absorbs the rainfall more easily, while in areas barren of trees and other vegetation it runs off the surface. The destruction of the forests, therefore, involves not only the loss of the timber, but also the loss caused by the floods, including the washing away of the soil.

THE FOREST RESERVES

In 1891 Congress authorized the President to establish “forest reserves,” the first to be created being the “Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve.” From time to time new reserves were established, and in 1907 the name was changed to the National Forests. In 1917, more than 176 million acres were included within the National Forest boundaries, 21 million acres of which, however, belonged to private owners. They are administered by the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, at the head of which is the Chief Forester. They are grouped in seven districts with a district forester in charge of each. Over each of the 150 forests in the seven districts there is a forest supervisor; and each forest is further subdivided into ranger districts under district rangers who not only look after timber sales and the use of the forests generally, but also “help build roads, trails, bridges, telephone lines, and other permanent improvements.”

A ranger must naturally be sound in body, for he is called upon to work for long periods in all kinds of weather. He must also know how to pack supplies and find food for himself and his horse in a country where it is often scarce. Besides a written test, prospective rangers are examined in compass surveying, timber work, and the handling of horses. [Footnote: “Government Forest Work,” Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, p. 15.]

There are also employed in the Forests great numbers of logging engineers, lumbermen, scalers, planting assistants, guards, and others. In the great war, the Forest Service raised two regiments of men who went to France to assist in the various kinds of forestry work necessitated by the war.

WORK OF THE FOREST SERVICE

The purpose of the Forest Service is to secure the use of the forests “in such a way that they will yield all their resources to the fullest extent without exhausting them, for the benefit primarily of the home builder. The controlling policy is serving the public while conserving the forests.” [Footnote: “The Status of Forestry in the United States,” Forest Service Circular 167, 1909, p. 5.] Timber is cut and sold, but always with a view to developing future growth. The forests are protected against fire. Burned-over areas are reforested by planting. Water power sites are protected. The freest possible use of forest pasture land is permitted, but under such regulations as to prevent injury to the forests and the denudation of the land by overgrazing. In 1915, nine million cattle, horses, sheep, and goats were pastured in the forests. In 1916 it was said that “more than 20 million dollars will probably be spent in the next ten years in building good roads in the National Forests.” [Footnote 2: “Opening up the National Forests by Road Building,” YEAR BOOK of the Department of Agriculture, 1916. Also reprinted in separate Leaflet No. 696.]

WASTE OF TIMBER RESOURCES

But our timber resources are not all in the National Forests, and the waste continues to an appalling extent.

With a total annual cut of 40,000,000,000 feet, board-measure, of merchantable lumber, another 70,000,000,000 feet are wasted in the field and at the mill. In the yellow-pine belt the values in rosin, turpentine, ethyl alcohol, pine oil, tar, charcoal, and paper stock lost in the waste are three or four times the value of the lumber produced. Enough yellow-pine pulp-wood is consumed in burners, or left to rot, to make double the total tonnage of paper produced in the United States.

But the wastes in lumbering, colossal though they are in absolute amount, are trivial compared to the losses which our estate has suffered, and still endures, from forest fires. The French properly regard as a national calamity the destruction of perhaps a thousand square miles of their fine forests by German shells. And yet the photographs that they show of this wreck and utter demolition may be reproduced indefinitely on 10,000,000 acres of our forest lands swept each year by equally devastating fire for which our own people are responsible. You have doubtless already forgotten that forest fire which last autumn, in Minnesota, burned over an area half as large again as Massachusetts, destroying more than twenty-five towns, killing 400 people, and leaving 13,000 homeless. [Footnote: “Developing the Estate,” ATLANTIC MONTHLY, March, 1919, pp. 384-385.]

The nation has been defrauded of a great deal of wealth in timber by speculators who have taken advantage of the homestead laws.

Single tracts of 160 acres often have a value for the timber alone of $20,000 … Lands acquired … under the guise of the homestead law are to-day in the hands of lumber companies who promptly purchased them from the settlers as soon as the title passed, and are either reserving them for later cutting or are holding the land itself after cutting for from $40 to $60 an acre, or even more—a speculative process which effectively prevents the possibility of men of small means acquiring and establishing homes there. [Footnote 2: “The National Forests and the Farmer,” in YEAR BOOK, Department of Agriculture, 1914, p. 70.]

To prevent this sort of thing, the government now sells the timber and the land separately, withholding from agricultural entry heavily timbered land until the timber is cut off.

In the Kaniksy National Forest, in Idaho and Washington, timber sales have been made to include much of the remaining agricultural timberland. Within eight years fully 10,000 acres of land will be made available for settlement. Permanent homes will be established and there will be available for the use of the communities approximately $225,000 for roads and schools, their share of the proceeds from the sale of the timber. [Footnote 3: IBID., p. 71.]

STATE FORESTS

Besides the National Forests, there are more than 4,000,000 acres of STATE FORESTS.

Twenty-four states have forestry departments, sometimes under a state board or a commission, sometimes under the control of a single state forester, as in Massachusetts and Virginia. In New York, New Jersey, and Wisconsin the state forestry is a part of the work of a general “conservation commission.” In Connecticut it is centered in the state agricultural experiment station, and in Texas in the agricultural college. In South Dakota the state forester is under the “commissioner of schools and public lands.” So there is great variety in the organization of forestry work, and great variation in the amount and kind of attention given to it.

PRIVATELY OWNED TIMBERLANDS

The difference between the number of states having state forests and the number having forestry departments is due to the fact that the public forests embrace only a small part of the timbered land of a state. It will be noted from the table on page 225 that only one southern state (North Carolina; two if Maryland is counted) has state forests. Six of them (eight with Maryland and Virginia) have state forestry departments. More attention is now being given to forest preservation and use in the South than these facts indicate, because of cooperation between state and national governments, chiefly through the county agents. Such cooperation also exists in the northern states. The map on page 242 shows cooperation for fire protection in New Hampshire.

VOLUNTARY PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS

The conservation of our forest resources requires cooperation on the part of citizens. In many states there are “timberland owners’ fire protective associations,” in 1917 about fifty of them. There is an American Forestry Association that publishes a magazine devoted to forestry, AMERICAN FORESTRY; a Society of American Foresters; The Camp Fire Club of America, with a committee on conservation of forests and wild life. Besides, there is a considerable number of local associations with similar purposes.

EROSION

It is not always realized how important to our welfare the forests are, especially from the point of view of agricultural production. A very large part of the timbered area of the United States is in small woodlands on privately owned farms. Not only are the timber resources themselves of great value, but the relation of woodland to agriculture is very close, especially in its effect upon soil erosion.

Altogether it has been estimated that erosion is responsible for an annual loss in this country of approximately $100,000,000. To the farmer it means money out of pocket from start to finish. It impairs the fertility and decreases the productivity of his land, and may even ruin it altogether; it renders irrigation more difficult and more costly; by reducing the possibilities of cheap water power development it tends to keep up the price and check the more extended use of electricity; and by interfering with navigation it helps to prevent the development of a comprehensive system of cheap inland water transportation. But the farmer is not the only sufferer. The entire community is directly affected by the loss and is justified in taking heroic measures to remedy the evil.

If the problem is to be solved we must cease to accelerate surface run-off by burning the forests and brush fields, overgrazing the range, clearing steep slopes for agriculture, and practicing antiquated methods of cultivation. On the contrary, the farmer, the forester, and the stockman must cooperate in seeing that the land is so used that surface run-off, particularly at the higher elevations, is reduced to a minimum.

Children in particular should have their interest actively aroused and their support enlisted. In one state, “gully clubs” have been organized by the state forester. These are composed largely of school children who take an active part in the work of gully reclamation and particularly in finding and checking incipient gullies before it is too late. Why could not such organizations as boy scouts, girl scouts, and campfire girls be used in the same way? [Footnote: “Farms, Forests, and Erosion,” YEAR BOOK of the Department of Agriculture, 1916, pp. 107-134.]

MINERAL RESOURCES

Soil, water, and forests are only a few of the rich natural resources of our country, although they are among the most important. Great as the mineral production of our country now is, we have only begun to open the mineral storehouse. On the other hand, we have been extremely wasteful of some of our minerals, as in the case of natural gas, oil, and coal. The war has done more, perhaps, than anything else to open our eyes to our mineral wealth and to convict us of our wastefulness in the past. In the light of what it has shown us we should redouble our efforts to conserve our resources. Our government has been gradually developing a program of conservation which we should help to make effective. At the end of this chapter will be found references to interesting accounts of our national wealth, and of what the government is doing to conserve it in other directions than those described in this chapter. Many of these references are to publications issued by the government itself, which can be obtained for the asking.

Investigate and report on.

Losses in your state from periodic floods. Measures adopted or proposed to control them.

The by products of coal and of petroleum.

The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture.

A description of your state forests (if any).

Forestry in your own state, public and private.

Losses from forest fires in your state.

The life of a forest ranger.

The use of the farm woodlot in your locality.

The extent and effects of soil erosion in your locality or state. Measures taken to prevent it.

The feasibility of “gully clubs” in your locality.

The mineral resources of your state. Uses in war and peace.

Game laws of your state.

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 13, The United States Food Administration. Lesson 14, Substitute Foods.

Series B: Lesson 5, Saving the soil. Lesson 6, Making dyes from coal tar. Lesson 9, How men made heat to work. Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior.

Series C: Lesson 4, Petroleum and its uses. Lesson 5, Conservation as exemplified by irrigation projects. Lesson 6, Checking waste in the production and use of coal. Lesson 10, Iron and steel. Lesson 14, The United States Fuel Administration. Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council of National Defense.

Reports of your State Agricultural College and Experiment Station, and of your State Geologist and other officers having to do with the natural resources of your state.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Interior. That for 1915 (pp. 1-30) contains an interesting review of our natural resources and their use; also (pp. 151-209) a comprehensive and interesting discussion of our mineral resources and their development. That for 1918 contains an account of the plan for land reclamation by and for soldiers.

Publications of the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, and the Reclamation Service (all in the Department of the Interior), and of the Bureau of Fisheries (Department of Commerce).

Publications of the Forestry Service (Department of Agriculture).

Among the numerous publications of the Department of Agriculture may be mentioned:

Farmers’ Bulletin 340(Declaration of Governors for the conservation of natural resources).

The National Forests and the farmer, YEAR BOOK 1914, 65-88.

Importance of developing our natural resources of potash, YEAR BOOK 1916, pp. 301-310.

Agriculture and Government reclamation projects, YEAR BOOK 1916,

177-198.

Farms, forests, and erosion, YEAR BOOK 1916, 107-134.

The farm woodlot problem, YEAR BOOK 1914, 439-456.

Economy of farm drainage, YEAR BOOK 1914, 245-256.

Economic waste from soil erosion, YEAR BOOK 1913, 207-220.

Unprofitable acres, YEAR BOOK 1915, 147-154.

Consult “Guide to United States Government Publications,” U.S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. 2; also, “The Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information,” U.S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 74.

Report of the National Conservation Commission (1909), Senate Document 676, 60th Congress, 2nd Session.

CHAPTER XVI

PROTECTION OF PROPERTY AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY

There is nothing more discouraging than to have the product of one’s labor swept away by disaster. The farmer who has every prospect of a bumper crop after a hard season’s work may have his hope dashed by smut in his grain, or by a visitation of grasshoppers, or by storm and flood. Cholera may carry off his hogs, or hoof-and-mouth disease his cattle. Rats and other rodents may eat his grain. Fire may destroy his barn or his home. The thief may steal his pocketbook or his automobile. His investments may prove unfortunate, or be swept away by somebody’s bad management or fraud. Some thoughtless boys or deliberate vandals may ruin in a few minutes a beautiful lawn or trees that have taken years to grow and have involved great expense and effort.

THE NATIONAL LOSS FROM PROPERTY DESTRUCTION

The individual’s loss is also a loss to the community. It is reported by the Department of Agriculture that nearly $800,000,000 damage was done to crops by insects in a single year. Animal diseases cause a direct loss to our country estimated at $212,000,000 annually. Hog cholera alone costs $75,000,000 a year. Smut destroys more than $50,000,000 a year in cereals. Food and feed products to the value of $150,000,000 a year are destroyed by prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and other rodents. It is said that prairie dogs often take half the pasturage of western cattle ranges. It is estimated that the killing of wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, and lynxes saved more than $2,000,000 worth of livestock in 1918. Floods have destroyed $100,000,000 in property in the Mississippi Valley alone.

The loss from fire in the United States is said to equal the value of our total product of gold, silver, copper, and petroleum.

The buildings consumed by fire in 1914, if placed on lots of 65 feet frontage, would line both sides of a street extending from New York to Chicago. A person journeying along this street of desolation would pass in every thousand feet a ruin from which an injured person was taken. At every three fourths of a mile in this journey he would encounter the charred remains of a human being who has been burned to death. [Footnote: “The Fire Tax and Waste of Structural Materials in the United States,” Bulletin 814, U. S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior.]

THE SERVICE OF GOVERMENT

Protection against loss of property is one of the chief services performed for us by our government. We have already noted in Chapter XII what a great deal of work both the national and state governments are doing to prevent loss of crops and of livestock from disease, insects, and other causes. What this may mean to the individual farmer and to the country is suggested by the case of a farmer who had hundreds of acres of corn destroyed in some manner unknown to him. A single visit from a representative of the Department of Agriculture showed him the cause of the trouble, the corn rootworm, and how it could be eradicated by a simple rotation of crops. The farmer said that this knowledge would save him $10,000 a year.

LEADERSHIP AND COOPERATION

The state and national governments spend a great deal of money in equipping experimental laboratories and employing scientists to seek out these enemies of the farmer and of the nation, to find methods of destroying them or counteracting their effects, and to advise the farmer how he may protect himself and his neighbors. While the government provides leadership in these matters, it depends upon the cooperation of the people to get results, as we have seen in so many cases. A farmer may destroy all the rats, or ground squirrels, or prairie dogs on his place, but the trouble will be repeated unless there is community cooperation. The same thing is true of animal and plant diseases, insect enemies, and so on.

Investigate and report on:

Further facts regarding losses to farmers of the United States due to insect and bird enemies, predatory animals, animal and plant diseases.

Similar losses in your own state.

Estimated losses of individual farmers in your locality from any of these causes.

The value of insect-eating birds as property savers.

Campaigns against rabbits and prairie dogs in the West.

Bounties on wolves and other predatory animals in your state.

The work of your state experiment station to prevent loss of property.

NATIONAL COOPERATION FOR FLOOD PREVENTION

Some kinds of protection require effort beyond the powers of individual citizens, or even of combined citizen action. This is the case with flood protection. Millions of dollars in property have been destroyed, thousands of lives lost, and untold suffering caused by the periodic recurrence of floods in certain sections of the country, as in the lower Mississippi Valley, or as in Ohio, a few years ago. The individual farmer has some responsibility for such floods, because by looking after his own drainage and preserving his own timberland he may help decrease the amount of water that flows into the streams and ultimately causes such havoc farther down the valley. But such efforts are helpful only in connection, with the larger efforts of the government. Even state governments cannot alone control the floods, because the waters that cause damage in Louisiana and Mississippi come from the states along the entire course of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Moreover, the destruction caused in Louisiana or any other state is a loss to the entire nation. The control of floods requires the combined efforts of national and state governments, as well as of local communities and individuals.

Levees have been built along some of our rivers that are subject to flood, notably the lower Mississippi, where the work has been done by the joint action of the states affected, through their local levee boards and their state boards of engineers, and the United States Mississippi River Commission. The United States government has spent large sums for river improvements, but there is a general feeling that the money has not always been wisely spent. At all events the work has been restricted to navigable streams under the power of the national government to regulate interstate commerce. Recently, however, the President has approved a law passed by Congress appropriating $45,000,000 for the control of the floods of the Mississippi by improvements from the headwaters of the river to the mouth of the Ohio. The law also includes the appropriation of $5,000,000 for the protection of the Sacramento Valley in California. This law was passed under the power given to Congress by the Constitution “to lay and collect taxes…for the common defense and general welfare of the United States” (Art. I, sec. 8, clause i).

WORK OF THE UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU

Great saving of property has been effected by the United States Weather Bureau. The work of this Bureau is wonderful, but it is not mysterious. Just as the movements of a ship or of a railroad train may be reported day by day, and hour by hour, by telegraph, so the appearance and movement of a storm center or of a cold wave or of a flood are reported from a multitude of observing stations. There are central weather-forecasting stations at Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C. Weather forecasts are made up at these points from observations telegraphed in from observing stations, and within two hours are telegraphed to about 1600 distributing stations, from which they are further distributed to about 90,000 mail addresses daily, to all newspapers, and are made available to 5,500,00 ×3 telephone subscribers. A farmer may call central by telephone and learn with remarkable certainty what the weather for twenty-four hours will be, except in the case of local thunder showers which may drench his fields while passing by those of his neighbor.

“It may be said without exaggeration that the San Francisco office of the Weather Bureau has saved to the citrus fruit growers of California more money within the last five years than the annual appropriation for the entire Bureau during a period of twenty years.” “In the citrus fruit districts of California it is reported that fruit to the value of $14,000,000 was saved… during one cold wave.” “The value of the orange bloom, vegetables, and strawberries protected and saved on a single night in a limited district in Florida…was reported at over $100,000.” “The warnings issued for a single cold wave… resulted in saving over $3,500,000 through the protection of property.” “Signals displayed for a single hurricane are known to have detained in port on our Atlantic coast vessels valued with their cargoes at over $30,000,000.” Flood warnings are sent in from about 60 centers along our rivers, enabling farmers to remove their cattle from bottom lands, to save their crops when they are ready for cutting, and otherwise to determine their farming operations. They are also of the greatest service to railroads, business men, and home owners, in cities. These are but a few illustrations of the services performed by the Weather Bureau.

Investigate and report on:

The building of levees in your state. Where, by whom, their value.

The amount of money spent in your state for river improvement (or harbor improvement).

How the Weather Bureau forecasts the weather, storms, floods.

How to read a weather map.

Experiences of individual farmers of their locality with regard to benefits derived from the Weather Bureau.

How a merchant in your town may be benefited by the Weather Bureau.

The losses in your state and locale from frost.

Preventable Losses

A great deal of the property loss referred to is due to causes for which we are not responsible, such as storms, the depredations of insects, and epidemics of animal disease. But some of it is due to our own carelessness. It was said on page 176 that wastefulness is our chief national sin. Carelessness is the twin sister of wastefulness; they go hand in hand. Enormous waste is caused by fire, and most fires are due to carelessness—carelessness in handling matches, in the use of oil stoves, in accumulations of rubbish, in disposing of hot ashes, in smoking where there are inflammable materials.

Fire Protection in Cities

In cities and towns the safety of our own property from fire is largely dependent upon the care of others. If our neighbor is careless, our property as well as his may be destroyed. Under such circumstances it is necessary to have rules to regulate conduct for the common safety. The materials with which we may build, the thickness of our walls, the construction of our flues, the storage of explosive or inflammable materials, the disposal of rubbish and ashes, and many other things, are regulated by law. This is cooperation for fire prevention. Much money is also spent by cities for fire protection, including water supply and organized fire departments.

FIRE PROTECTION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Where people live widely separated from one another, as in rural communities, such regulations are less necessary and organized fire protection is less easy to afford. A farmer’s property may be destroyed by fire from a spark from a passing locomotive, or from the camp of a careless hunter in the adjoining woods. There may be state laws to control such cases. But in the main, if his property burns it is due to the carelessness of some one who lives on the premises, and he is dependent upon his own efforts to control the fire. Improved farm water supply with adequate pumping facilities, the telephone by which neighbors may be summoned, and the automobile by which help may quickly be brought, have increased the farmer’s safety; but his chief safeguard is the exercise of care by all who live on the farm at every point where a fire might possibly be started.

FIRE INSURANCE

Fire insurance is a means of reducing the fire loss of individual property owners by a form of cooperation. Insurance companies, operating under state laws, sell insurance to property owners. The latter pay a small premium for the protection afforded. From the funds produced by the premiums and the interest on their investment, the occasional losses of individuals are paid. This does not prevent the destruction of the property, but it distributes the loss among thousands of people, perhaps in all parts of the country.

FARMERS’ COOPERATIVE INSURANCE

There are in the United States about 2000 FARMERS’ COOPERATIVE FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES, carrying insurance amounting to more than 5 billion dollars. These companies are associations of farmers who elect their own directors and manage their own insurance business. They provide insurance at a much lower rate than the ordinary commercial insurance companies. A usual provision of the laws under which these cooperative companies operate is that no member may insure his property for its full value. His neighbors will help him bear his loss, but will not bear it all. This has the effect of causing him to exercise greater care to prevent fire on his premises. For this reason insurance does reduce the actual fire loss to some extent. Property may also be insured against loss from storm and flood.

Investigate and report on:

Fire losses in your community in a year.

Causes of fires in your community last year. Number that were preventable.

Precautions against fire in your home and school.

Fire preventive regulations in your community.

Cost of fire prevention in your community.

Improved means of fire prevention in country districts.

How fire insurance works.

Cooperative fire insurance companies in your state.

Storm insurance in your locality.

POLICE PROTECTION

All states have laws to protect their citizens against the “ill- mannered” who do not respect property rights—thieves, burglars, highwaymen, vandals, sharpers, and others. The enforcement of these laws is left largely in the hands of local community officers. Cities have police departments, with large numbers of patrolmen and detectives whose business it is not only to arrest violators of the law after the violation has taken place, but also by their vigilance to prevent the violation from occurring.

RURAL POLICE PROTECTION

The state laws against the violation of property rights apply to rural communities as well as to cities, and rural communities have officers for their enforcement—the constable in townships, the sheriff and his deputies in counties. Where the population is small and widely scattered, as in a rural township or county, about all the officers can do is to arrest law violators after the commission of the unlawful act, if they can be found. The officers are too few to watch isolated and remote property, and in case of serious disturbance, such as a riot, they are too few to handle the situation effectively. Rural communities and many small industrial or mining communities do not always have the protection they need against lawlessness. In such cases the tendency is sometimes for the people to “take the law in their own hands.” In times of labor trouble mining companies and other industrial corporations have sometimes organized their own police. Such practice is dangerous, for the enforcement of law should be in the hands of the state, and not in the hands of an interested party. In early days on the frontier, in mining and lumber camps, “vigilance committees” were common; and even now, in various localities, we hear too frequently of “lynching parties,” which are as lawless as the original offenders against the law, and tend to create a disrespect for law.

And yet disrespect for law may also result from failure on the part of the community to enforce the law through regular agencies, from failure of officers to apprehend offenders promptly, or of courts to mete out justice promptly and impartially.

STATE POLICE Canada has been more efficient than the United States in affording protection to remote and rural communities, by means of her national mounted police. “The isolated farmer and his wife slept securely in their sod hovel beyond the frontier, because they knew that a brave and swift corps of vigilant young athletes … kept sleepless vigil. Life and property were secure … .” [Footnote: C.R. Henderson, “Rural Police,” ANNALS American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1912, p. 228.] In our own country Texas has her “rangers” who protect her borders against raids; but the best example of rural policing in the United States is in Pennsylvania, where there is a well-organized state police, or “constabulary,” which has many times proved its efficiency in protecting remote rural communities and homes, in bringing criminals to justice, and in quelling riots in mining centers.

VANDALISM

A great deal of property is destroyed or injured by VANDALS. The original Vandals were a tribe of Germanic peoples who invaded southern and western Europe in the Middle Ages, and who were noted for their destructiveness of the beautiful buildings and other evidences of Roman civilization. There seem to be vandals in almost every community, and sometimes they seem to be especially numerous in small communities, perhaps because of the lack of police protection. Sometimes vandalism is wanton,—that is, it results from an apparent love of being destructive. Most often it is purely thoughtless. Few people would knowingly injure the property of another if they would stop to think of their feelings if another should injure THEIR property. It is a case of “bad manners.” Moreover, it is not a “square deal” to injure another’s property while expecting one’s own property to be secure. When vandalism occurs in a community it creates a general feeling of insecurity and destroys the sense of freedom.

PUBLIC PROPERTY is often more likely to suffer from vandalism than private property. Some people will mar the walls of public buildings, or make their floors filthy with expectoration, when they would not think of doing so in private buildings. They will break shrubbery in public parks, or despoil public flower beds, when they would not think of entering private premises for such purpose. There seems to be a feeling that public property belongs to no one, or else that, since it is public, any one is at liberty to do as he pleases with it. This, of course, is foolish. It is as if a stockholder in a business corporation should injure or destroy the corporation property, forgetting that he owned a share in it and suffered a share of the loss.

Investigate and report on:

Organization of police protection in your community.

Organization of a police department in a large city.

The Mounted Police of Canada and their work.

The Texas rangers.

The state police of Pennsylvania.

Vigilance committees in frontier towns of former times.

Why lynching is wrong.

The promptness with which justice is meted out in the courts of your state.

The extent and causes of vandalism in your community.

Is vandalism justifiable on Halloween?

Inspect the courthouse and other public buildings in your community and report as to whether they are disfigured in any way.

THE SACREDNESS OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

When a thief or vandal takes or destroys another person’s property, the loss of the property is not the worst thing that happens, but the attack upon PROPERTY RIGHTS. The right to security in one’s possessions is among the most sacred rights of a free people, being classed with the right to life, the right of free speech, the right of petition, the right to freedom of religion. It is by securing these rights that the law makes us free. The sacred right to property is as truly violated by one who steals a nickel as by one who robs a bank of a thousand dollars, by one who ruins our flower bed as well as by one who burns our house. The amount has nothing to do with it. The tax which the English government imposed on tea imported by the American colonists was not a heavy tax, but the colonists objected because it was imposed without their consent.

CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

The citizens of a free country require protection of their property rights against infringement by their government as well as by one another. The Revolutionary War was fought in defense of this and other rights against violation by the English government. When the Constitution of the United States was framed, the people refused to ratify it unless amendments were added guaranteeing these rights. Thus it was provided that “no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law” (Amendment III); that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated …” (Amendment IV); that “no persons shall be … deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation” (Amendment V. See also Chapter XIV, p. 207). The Constitution also provides that “no state shall … pass any … law impairing the obligation of contracts” (Art. I, sec. 10, clause I), and in various other ways protects our property rights. Our state constitutions contain many similar provisions. Our governments have the power to take property in the form of taxes, but under certain restrictions imposed by our constitutions to safeguard the rights of the people (see Chapter XXIII).

OUR NATIONAL ARMY

It is to protect these RIGHTS, rather than property itself, that communities have their police, that states have their militia, and that the nation has its army and its navy. Among the chief causes that led us into war with Germany was the fact that Germany was violating the property rights of our citizens. While our Constitution provides for state militia and a national army for the defense of our rights, property rights included, it has always been our national policy to maintain as small a standing army as is consistent with the national safety; and this for the very reason that a large standing army and a large navy are not only a great burden of expense, but also, as the founders of our nation believed, a menace to the liberties of the people and to the peace of the world.

THE SERVICE OF THE COURTS

We have seen that no person may be deprived of property by the government “without due process of law.” This means that the procedure provided by law must be followed, and that the citizen whose property is taken may have his side of the case presented, the value of the property in question appraised by impartial judges, and so on. It is the business of THE COURTS to see that justice is done. They inquire into the facts in the case, and interpret the law bearing on it. The courts are the final safeguard to our liberties. Our government comprises, therefore, not only a law-making branch and a law-enforcing branch, but also a LAW-INTERPRETING, OR JUDICIAL, branch—the courts.

THE RIGHTS OF ACCUSED PERSONS

The Constitution guarantees justice to persons accused of violating the property rights, or other rights of citizens, by theft, fraud, or otherwise, as well as to the citizen who has been wronged. “In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed … and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense” (Amendment VI). “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Amendment VIII).

Investigate and report on:

How are property rights guaranteed in your state constitution? in the national Constitution?

Read the charges made in the Declaration of Independence against the King of England with respect to the violation of property rights.

“Due process of law.”

The violation of property rights by Germany as a cause for war.

Are property rights as sacred in time of war as in time of peace?

What property rights has an American in Mexico?

What property rights has a Mexican in the United States?

What became of German property in the United States during the war?

The purpose of the courts.

What courts exist in your community?

The rights of a person accused of crime.

READINGS

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture:

1910, pp. 413-424, Fire prevention and control on the national forests.

1913, pp. 75-92, Bringing applied entomology to the farmer.

1915, pp. 159-172, Animal disease and our food supply.

1915, pp. 263-272, Recent grasshopper outbreaks and methods of control.

1916, pp. 217-226, Suppression of gypsy and brown-tailed moths.

1916, pp. 267-272, Cooperative work for eradicating citrus canker.

1916, pp. 381-398, Destroying rodent pests on the farm.

1918, pp. 303-316, Federal protection of migratory birds.

Farmers’ mutual fire insurance, U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 530; also, Year Book, 1916, pp. 421-434.

The Weather Bureau (a pamphlet), Government Printing Office, Washington. Send to the Weather Bureau for list of publications.

How the Weather Bureau forecasts storms, frosts, and floods, Office of Information, U.S. Department of Agriculture; reprinted in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT, March 14, 1914.

Forecasting storms: the Weather Bureau’s helpfulness, SUNSET MAGAZINE, vol. 25, pp. 529-532 (Nov., 1910).

The Farmer and the Weather Bureau, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Feb. 18,

1911.

Doing business by the weather map, WORLD’S WORK, June, 1914.

Flood control:

Water Supply Paper 234, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, 1919. Write for other publications on this subject. Also, the Office of the Chief of Engineers, War Department.

There has been much magazine literature on this subject.

War and Navy Departments, in the Federal Executive Departments, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, chap. X.

Hart, ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, pp. 573-582.

CHAPTER XVII

ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

STUDIES OF THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS

During the years 1910-1915 the Office of Public Roads of the United States Department of Agriculture made a continuous study, year by year, of the methods and results of road improvement in eight selected counties of the United States. [Footnote: Spotsylvania, Dinwiddie, Lee, and Wise counties in Virginia; Franklyn County in New York; Dallas County in Alabama; Lauderdale County in Mississippi; and Manatee County in Florida.] The results of the investigation are described in Bulletin No. 393 (1916) of the Department of Agriculture, which is worth sending for and studying by any school that is interested in the improvement of the community.

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA

One of these counties was Spotsylvania County, Virginia, a map of which is shown on the opposite page. Since the Civil War the farmland in this county had gradually declined from its prosperous condition before the war until it was little better than a wilderness of second-growth timber, valued at from $5 to $15 an acre. For many months of the year the roads were well-nigh impassable. There was much wealth in timber, but it could not be marketed to advantage. The soil was very little cultivated. More farm products were shipped into Fredericksburg, the only city in the county, by rail from outside than were shipped out from the farms of the county.

MOVEMENT FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT

Nearly one third of the population of the county lived in Fredericksburg; but under the law of the state of Virginia the people of the city could not be taxed for county purposes outside of the city. Moreover, two of the four districts of the county at first took little interest in the matter of road improvement, although they had to use the roads in going to market at Fredericksburg. Courtland and Chancellor districts, however, were determined to have better roads, and voted to raise the necessary money by selling bonds to the amount of $100,000. Three years later the other two districts, inspired by the success of Courtland and Chancellor districts, also voted bonds for road improvement to the amount of $73,000. This debt would of course have to be paid off by levying taxes upon the people of the districts. With a tax rate of $1.70 on every hundred dollars’ worth of property, a farmer with a farm assessed at $3000 would pay a total tax of $51, of which $19.48 would be for the roads.

COST MUST BE JUSTIFIED

It is not always easy to convince the people of a community that it is worth while to spend so much money on their roads. They have to be shown that the expenditure will in due time pay for itself, as well as add to the convenience and pleasure of the community. Too much money spent in costly improvements on roads that are little used, or in construction that does not stand the traffic and soon wears out, is of course a bad investment. But the results in Spotsylvania County, as well as in the seven other counties studied by the Office of Public Roads, justified the cost.

STATE AND LOCAL COOPERATION

The law of Virginia provided that all highway construction in the state must be supervised by the STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSIONER. He accordingly appointed an engineer to supervise the work in Spotsylvania County, the engineer’s salary being paid by the state. The work of construction, however, was under the direction of a COUNTY BOARD OF PUBLIC ROADS. The board appointed a superintendent who hired all labor and teams and purchased all equipment and materials. Three main highways in Courtland and Chancellor districts, and leading into Fredericksburg, were chosen for improvement. Within two years more than forty miles of road were completed, or about 10 per cent of all the roads in the entire county.

MONEY FOR REPAIRS

Roads have to be kept in repair after they are constructed. By 1914 money was needed for this purpose. The farmers objected to further increase of the tax rate, so it was decided to charge TOLLS for the use of the improved highways—5 cents for a single horse and vehicle, 10 cents for two horses and a buggy, 15 cents for two horses and a wagon, 25 cents for four horses and a wagon, and from 20 cents to 35 cents for automobiles. More money than was needed was raised in this way in the first month, and the tolls were therefore reduced one half. One advantage to the county of the toll system was that automobilists and others from other districts, counties, and states would contribute to the upkeep of the roads.

EFFECT OF IMPROVEMENTS ON LAND VALUES

On the roads selected for improvement there were 35 farms including 5518 acres. In 1910, the average value of these farms, including buildings, was $14 per acre, and seldom did any one want to buy land in the neighborhood. But within two years after the road improvement seven of the 35 farms had been sold, and a large part of another, as shown in the following:

In the next two or three years a number of other farms were sold at similar increased prices, and some farms that had been abandoned were reoccupied. Large areas of land were cultivated for the first time since the Civil War. The farmers were, however, most interested for the time being in their timber wealth, and between 1909 and 1913 the shipments of forest products from Fredericksburg increased 78.2 per cent.

THE AVERAGE HAUL

Before the improvement of the roads, the average weight of load for a two-horse team in the winter and spring, when the roads were bad, was about 1200 pounds; when the roads were dry, about 2400 pounds. The cost for hauling at this rate averaged, for the year round, about 30 cents per ton per mile. After the roads were improved, the average load the year round was 4000 pounds, and the cost for hauling only 15 cents per ton per mile.

Investigate and report on:

Results of road improvement in others of the eight counties referred to on page 248 (see Bulletin 393, 1916, Department of Agriculture).

Procure or make a map of your county showing road improvement. Is your county well provided with improved roads?

Do the cities and towns in your county contribute to the improvement of the country roads?

Do the people of the rural districts of your county contribute to the improvement of the streets of the cities and towns?

Bond issues in your county for road improvement. Meaning of “bond issues.”

Tax rate in your county for road improvement.

How is road improvement managed in your county?

What help does your county get from your state for road improvement?

What supervision does your state exercise over road improvement?

Are there toll roads in your county or state?

Toll roads were once common in this country. Why have tolls been generally abandoned?

Who has charge of bridge construction in your county?

From what sources does the money come for road repair in your county?

What is the cost of hauling on the roads of your county? How does this cost compare with the cost in neighboring counties and states?

Relation of land values in your county to the character of the roads.

MONEY VALUE OF GOOD ROADS

Good roads pay, in dollars and cents, provided they are made of suitable materials and with due regard to the kind and amount of traffic they are to carry. They permit of larger loads, and more loads in a given time; they save wear and tear on horses, harness, wagons, and automobiles; in the case of automobiles they save gasoline; they save the time of the farmer; they make possible a more varied agriculture by making marketing easier; they add to the value of the land.

GOOD ROADS AND COMMUNITY LIFE

But good roads pay in many other ways than in dollars and cents. In Spotsylvania County, as in other counties investigated at the same time, the improvement of the roads was followed by a decided improvement in school attendance. In more than one case it led to the improvement of the quality of the schools by the consolidation of a number of poor, one-room schoolhouses into a single larger school with better equipment and better teachers (see Chapter XIX). The relation between good roads and good schools is clearly suggested in one of the illustrations in this chapter. So, also, good roads increase the ease with which the people of the community may associate with one another, attend church or community meetings at the schoolhouse, and enjoy the social life and entertainment of the neighboring city or village. When the road is improved, the farmers along the way are more likely to keep the weeds cut, to repair broken fences or build new ones, and otherwise to beautify the adjoining premises, which adds both to the money value of property and to the enjoyment of life.

ROAD MAKING A COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE

Road making is necessarily a cooperative enterprise. In the first place, a public road serves the common interest of the entire community. The community may, through its government, exercise the RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN, taking land from adjacent farms for the purpose of laying out a new road, provided, of course, that the farmers are paid for it. In the second place, the making of a road is far too costly and difficult for an individual farmer to undertake for the benefit he himself would derive from it. It requires a great deal of labor and a high degree of technical skill.

ROAD MAKING A JOB FOR EXPERTS

It has been quite common for farmers themselves to work on the roads of their locality—“working out” their road taxes. But roads so made are seldom very good, unless the work is supervised by someone trained in the business. Whether a farmer works on the roads himself or merely pays for having it done, it is to his advantage to know something about road making. The Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural colleges now give extension courses in road making for the benefit of the farmers. It is reported that in one county of Oklahoma the pupils of forty different school districts have built more than forty miles of good roads, of course working under supervision.

VALUE OF COUNTRY ROADS TO CITIES

Good country roads are of the greatest importance, not only to the farmers and rural communities, but also to the people of cities. The road improvement in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, was of as much benefit to the people and the business of Fredericksburg as to the farmers. An excellent illustration of the recognition of the common interest of city and country in the public roads, and of effective cooperation in improving them, was given in Chapter III, page 32, in the case of Christian County, Kentucky. The wide use of the automobile has done a great deal to awaken the people of cities to their interest in country roads, and associations and journals devoted to the interests of automobilists have been active in advocating the improvement of the public highways.

GOOD ROADS NOT MERELY OF LOCAL CONCERN

In Spotsylvania County we saw, also, that the improvement of roads in two districts was a direct advantage to the farmers of the other two districts. Carrying this idea further, we shall see that the roads of one county may be of the greatest importance to other counties in the state; and those of one state of importance to other states. The crossties produced from the timber of Spotsylvania County may be wanted for railroad building in a distant state. The cotton from the plantations of Tennessee or Texas is needed at the mills in New England. The wheat of the great farms of the northwest supplies the whole nation. Most of the freight carried on the railroads and steamships has at some time and in some form been hauled in wagons and trucks over country roads. It is clear, then, that the character of the highways in any locality is a matter of national interest, and even of world-wide interest.

EARLY NATIONAL INTEREST IN ROAD BUILDING

When our nation was created, the question of highways at once became very important. The states needed to be bound together, and the public lands must be settled. The Constitution gave Congress the power “to establish post offices and post roads,” and “to regulate commerce … among the several states”; but it was not clear how far these powers could be exercised for “internal improvements.” Roads and canals were proposed in great numbers. In 1806 Congress authorized the building of the Cumberland Road, which began at Cumberland, Md., and was finally completed as far west as Illinois. Road building was, however, left chiefly to the states and to private enterprise. The Cumberland Road finally passed under the control of the states through which it ran, and by them was given into the management of the counties. Many “turnpikes” were built by private companies, which charged tolls for their use.

POOR ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES

The building of many canals and, later, the coming of railroads caused interest in public highways to decline, and their building was left almost wholly to local initiative, where it remained until very recently. The result is that the United States has had the poorest roads in the civilized world. Under local management the cost of public roads fell chiefly upon the farmers, cities escaping taxation for this purpose, except for their own streets. A road running across a state might be well kept in some localities while allowed to run down in others. A community was reluctant to spend money on a highway only to have the improvements destroyed by through traffic from neighboring communities who had no responsibility for maintaining the road. Local communities could not afford to employ expert officials to plan and supervise road construction.

STATE CONTROL OF HIGHWAYS

Under these conditions the road situation became so bad that public sentiment was gradually aroused on the subject, and it was seen that a road was of more than merely local importance. State control was agitated. New Jersey was the first state to pass a law placing the highways within the state under state regulation. This was in 1891. Other states followed New Jersey’s example, until by 1914 forty-two states had state highway departments. These differ greatly from one another in organization, powers, and efficiency. Unfortunately, “political influence” has entered into road building and management in many states in such a way as to interfere with efficiency;—that is, those in charge of roads have often been chosen for political reasons rather than for their fitness for the work, and large sums of money have been spent unwisely, if not dishonestly in some cases.

RECENT PROGRESS UNDER STATE CONTROL

In a number of states, STATE HIGHWAYS have been built. These are wholly state enterprises, paid for and managed by the state. California has two trunk lines running the entire length of the state, with branch lines connecting them with the county seats. To January 1, 1914, Massachusetts had completed more than 1000 miles of state highways. New York has an extensive system, and Maryland is another example. But the plan most commonly in use is state aid and supervision in the construction of roads by counties. This was the New Jersey plan of 1891. By it, plans for road improvement with state aid in any county must be approved by the state highway department, and construction is supervised by state engineers. The cost is divided between the state and the local community.

In New Jersey the property owners along the highway, who of course are most directly benefited, were to pay one-tenth of the cost, the state one-third, and the county the remainder. In Wisconsin, the board of county commissioners in each county is required to plan a “county system” of highways to be a part of the state system. The cost of each county system is divided equally among township, county, and state. The work is directed by a county highway commissioner, but in accordance with plans and specifications of the state highway commission. In Ohio, a system of “intercounty highways” is being built, connecting all the county seats of the state. Counties, towns, and property owners along the highway must provide an amount equal to that provided by the state, and the work is under the direction of the state highway department.

In Virginia the cost of highway construction is divided equally between state and local communities; but the counties often accept from the state the labor of prison convicts instead of money. Convict labor on the roads is quite common in southern states.

The money for state aid in highway building is commonly raised by the sale of bonds by the state. For the maintenance of the roads after they are built, the proceeds from automobile licenses are applied.

Our roads, even in remote rural districts, are of national importance for the reasons stated on page 259. Moreover, they are becoming more and more used for the transportation of freight and passengers over long distances, for which the introduction of the automobile and the motor truck is responsible. Therefore, national cooperation is necessary for adequate road improvement.

WORK OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR ROAD IMPROVEMENT

The work of the national government on behalf of good roads has heretofore been largely educational and advisory. In 1893 the Office of Road Inquiry (now the Office of Public Roads) was created in the United States Department of Agriculture to investigate methods of road making and management. The results of its investigations have been published for the benefit of the country. Advice was given when asked for. Instruction was given through extension courses (p. 257). Here and there model or experimental roads were constructed to test new methods or to serve as object lessons to the localities where they were built. Good road building has also been greatly stimulated by the extension of the rural free mail delivery, routes not being established unless the roads are in reasonably good condition. The national government has also given to many states public lands within their borders, the proceeds from which were to be used for road construction; and a part of the proceeds from the sale of timber in the national forests is devoted to road building in the locality.

FEDERAL AID ROAD ACT

In 1916, however, Congress passed the law known as the Federal Aid Road Act. This law places the national government in the same relation to the states, in the matter of road building, that the state governments have borne to the counties in granting state aid.

The Federal Aid Road Act appropriated 75 million dollars to aid states in improving their “rural post roads,” and 10 million dollars for the construction and maintenance of roads in the national forests. Of the 75 million dollars for state aid in building post roads, 5 million dollars were to be available the first year, 10 million the second, 15 million the third, and so on for five years, when the total amount will have been used. The money is given to the states only on their request, and on condition that each state shall provide an amount equal to that received from the national treasury. The money is apportioned among the states on the basis of area, population, and the extent of post roads in the state.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE

The administration of the law is in the hands of the Office of Public Roads. The entire country is divided into ten districts, over each of which is a district engineer. When a state desires aid from the national government, its highway department must draw up plans for the improvements proposed and submit them to the district engineer, who in turn submits them with recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture, whose approval they must have. Having obtained this approval, the work is carried on by the state as in the case of other roads entirely under state control.

RESULTS OF FEDERAL AID

It is too soon yet to tell what the results of this new cooperative enterprise of the national government will be. But the first important effect has been to cause the organization of state highway departments in the few states that did not already have them, and the reorganization of such departments in the states where they were weak; for the Federal Aid Road Act provides that aid may be given to the states only on condition that they have effective highway departments. The result is that every state in the Union now has an active highway department, and road improvement is going on at a rate never before known.

Investigate and report on:

The amount of time saved in a year by a farmer in your locality because of good roads; or lost because of unimproved roads.

The wear and tear on vehicles and equipment because of unimproved roads.

Effect of improved or unimproved roads in your county on school and church attendance, social life, etc.

Instances of the exercise of the right of eminent domain in your county for road improvement.

Materials used in road making in your county. Relative merits of different materials as shown by experience in your county.

Methods of road construction in your county.

Extension courses in road making by your state agricultural college.

The amount of traffic on the roads of your community by non- residents.

The sentiment of farmers of your locality with regard to road improvement.

Organization of the state highway commission of your state.

The state highway system of your state.

History and use of canals in your state (if any).

Influence of rural mail delivery upon road improvement in your county.

The extent to which federal aid for road improvement has been taken advantage of by your state.

THE NATION’S INTEREST IN TRANSPORTATION

Those who live in the most remote rural communities have a vital interest in the nation’s transportation system, including railways and steamship lines. As we have seen (p. 203), there was the closest relation between the building of railroads and the opening of the public lands. The market of the farmer and the source of his supplies are not merely the neighboring trading center, but in far distant parts of the country and of the world. Without railroads, the farmer, the manufacturer, and the city merchant would alike be helpless.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF RAILROADS

While our government has at times given direct aid to encourage the building of railroads, as by the gift of public lands, they have been developed chiefly by private enterprise. They are owned by private corporations which do business under charters granted by the state governments (rarely by the national government) and regulated by law. Control over them has been exercised chiefly by the state governments, except in matters affecting interstate commerce, which falls under the control of Congress. As the parts of our country have become more closely bound together and interdependent, largely by the influence of the railroads themselves, an increasingly large part of commerce has become “interstate” in character, and railway transportation has become more and more a national concern. The result is an increasing control by the national government

INTERSTATE COMMERCE

In 1887, Congress created an Interstate Commerce Commission with power to inquire into the management of the business of “common carriers,” such as railroads, steamship lines, and express companies. It was later given power to fix rates which such carriers could charge. Other laws were passed, such as the Sherman Act, or “Anti-Trust Law,” of 1890, which made unlawful any “contract, combination … or conspiracy in restraint of trade.” These and other laws checked abuses that characterized railroad management at that time, but, on the other hand, they are said in some respects to have hampered the economic and efficient development of the country’s transportation system. The Sherman Law, for example, absolutely forbade the consolidation of competing railroad lines under one management, although such consolidation often makes for efficiency and economy.

GOVERNMENT RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION IN WAR

When the United States entered the recent war, the weakness of our transportation system quickly became apparent, and the need for the most effective transportation service led the government to take unusual steps to secure it. The President issued a proclamation by which, in the exercise of his WAR POWERS, he “took possession and assumed control of each and every system of transportation in the United States and the appurtenances thereof.” This meant assuming control over 397,000 miles of railways owned by 2905 corporations and employing more than 1,700,000 persons. The management of this great transportation system was intrusted to a Railroad Administration with a Director General of Railroads at its head. The ownership of these railroads, however, remained with the private companies, which were to receive compensation for the use of their property, and were to receive back the railroads after the war was over.

ADVANTAGES OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT

The whole purpose of the government in its management of the railroads was to win the war, the convenience of the public being a minor consideration. The people cheerfully put up with inconveniences of travel and with rates that they had not experienced while the roads were under private management. On the other hand, there were certain decided advantages in the management of all railroads as one great system. It meant the consolidation of competing lines that the law itself prevented the railway companies from effecting, it meant shortening routes in many cases, the use of common freight terminals by different lines, the increase of track facilities and storage areas at seaport terminals, the selling of passenger tickets good over any one of several roads running between two points.

There are those who believe that the railroads should be managed, or even owned, by the government in time of peace as well as during war. There are others who believe as strongly in private ownership and direction. Many of the latter believe, however, that a more perfect control should be exercised over the privately owned roads by the government under laws that protect the interests of the public and that at the same time permit, or even require, greater cooperation among the roads than has heretofore existed. Since the war, bills have been introduced in Congress looking to these ends, and doubtless the experience of the war will result in an appreciable improvement in our country’s railway transportation system.

WATER TRANSPORTATION

In the early days of our nation, rivers were used for transportation to a large extent, and canals were proposed in great numbers, some of them being built and carrying a large amount of traffic. The coming of the railroads caused water transportation to decline, to the nation’s great loss. The war stimulated the use of our waterways to a considerable extent, and any scheme for transportation control in the future should provide for their fullest development as a means of marketing the products of our farms, forests, mines, and factories.

There was also a time, in the early part of our history, when our seaports swarmed with American ships that sailed every sea. Our shipping afterward declined because other nations built and manned ships more cheaply than we could do. We allowed these other nations to carry our commerce. We deplored the fact that our merchant marine had disappeared and discussed ways and means to restore it. But all to no purpose, until the great war came; then we HAD to have ships.

EFFECT OF WAR UPON OUR MERCHANT MARINE

When we entered the war we had almost no ships. Congress created the United States Shipping Board and its Emergency Fleet Corporation. As a result, and within a year’s time, the United States took rank as the leading shipbuilding nation in the world. It has more shipyards, more shipways, more ship workers, more ships under construction, and is building more ships every month during the war than any other country. Prior to the war the United States stood a poor third among the shipbuilding nations. Since August, 1917, more seagoing tonnage has been launched from American shipyards than was ever launched before in a similar period anywhere. [Footnote: “Shipping Facts,” issued by the U.S. Shipping Board, September, 1918.]

Moreover, under the stress of necessity methods of shipbuilding and operation were developed that ought to make it possible for the United States to compete successfully in the future with other nations, even though our workmen and sailors are paid more than those of other nations.

The chairman of the shipping board said, “The American community must think of ships as a local improvement.” This means that the business and welfare of every American community, whether a seaport or a remote farming community, are dependent upon ships. By our merchant marine the American farmer and the American businessman are brought into touch with the remotest parts of the earth.

Investigate and report on:

The service of the railroads to the farmers of your county. To the merchants of your town.

The story of the building of the first transcontinental railway.

State control of railroads in your state.

Experiences of your community with respect to railroad rate discrimination.

The work of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The work of the United States Railway Administration during the war.

Advantages and disadvantages of government control of railroads during the war.

The war powers of the President.

Arguments for and against government ownership of railroads.

Electric interurban railways in your county and state. What they mean to the farmer and to the city resident.

The work of the United States Coast Survey.

The history of the American merchant marine.

The development of the American merchant marine during the recent war.

The building of “fabricated ships.”

The life of a sailor to-day, as compared with that of 100 years ago.

The dependence of the American farmer upon the merchant marine.

READINGS

County reports relating to road construction and improvement.

Reports of State Highway Commission.

State management of public roads, YEAR BOOK, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1914, pp. 211-226.

Publications of Office of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Write also to Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, for price list of documents relating to the subject of roads.

Farmers’ Bulletins relating to marketing and transportation facilities, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 26, Concentration of control in the railroad industry.

Series B: Lesson 27, Good roads.

Series C: Lesson 25, A seaport as a center of concentration of population and wealth.

Lesson 27, Early transportation in the Far West.

Lesson 28, The first railway across the continent.

Consult the public library for magazine literature on the subject of roads, railroads, river transportation, etc. For example, in the REVIEW OF REVIEWS, February, 1918, there are the following articles:

“Uncle Sam Takes the Railroads.”

“The World’s Greatest Port” (New York).

“New York Canals a Transportation Resource.”

“River Navigation—a War Measure.”

Hart, ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, chap. XXVII.

CHAPTER XVIII

COMMUNICATION

Roads and other means of transportation are important not only as a means of transporting products, but also as a means of communication among the members of the community. Team work is impossible without prompt and effective means of communication.

Tell what you know about the value of signals in getting team work in a football or baseball team.

Discuss the importance of means of communication in conducting military operations. What means were used for this purpose in our Army in France?

How were military movements reported and directed in the Revolutionary War?

Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans was won a month after the War of 1812 was officially ended. How did this happen?

What were some of the methods used by the American Indians to convey information between distant points?

LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

One of the most interesting chapters in history is that relating to the development of means of communication. Language itself is the most important of these means. It is not altogether clear what the first steps were in the development of spoken language; but we know that among uncivilized peoples conversation is aided, and often largely carried on, by signs made with the hands. Written language certainly developed from the use of pictures, which were gradually curtailed into HIEROGLYPHICS, such as were used by the ancient Egyptians, and finally developed into the ALPHABET, each letter of which was originally a picture.

A story is told of a group of American Indians who some years ago visited an eastern city. They could not make themselves understood, nor could they understand others, and became very lonely. They were taken to visit a deaf-and-dumb institution, where they were quite delighted to find that they could converse freely by the use of a natural sign language.

Uncivilized peoples are in the habit of conveying ideas in the most astonishing ways. For example, among a certain African tribe the gift of a tooth brush carries a message of affection. These Africans take great pride in their white teeth, and the tooth brush carries the message, “As I think of my teeth morning, noon, and night, so I think often of you.”

To illustrate the development of the alphabet from pictures, our letter M represents the ears of an owl, which in Egypt was called MU, and the picture of which, later reduced to the ears, came to represent the sound of M..

EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY AND INABILITY TO USE ENGLISH

The fascinating story of the development of language cannot be told here. It is referred to because we are likely to forget what an important factor it is in making community life possible. Inability to use a common language prevents intercourse and team work. Large numbers of men drafted in the American Army were unable to understand the English language. Between 30,000 and 40,000 illiterates were taken in the first draft and it is said that there were nearly 700,000 men of draft age in the United States who could neither read nor write. They could not sign their names, nor read orders or instructions. They had to be separated and taught, thus greatly delaying the complete organization of our available fighting forces. Inability to use a common language is equally an obstacle in industrial life, for non-English speaking workmen are unable to understand instructions, or to read signs and warnings. Many accidents are due to this cause. It is said that approximately 5 1/2 million of our population above ten years of age cannot read or write in any language, and that 5 million of our foreign population cannot use English. An active campaign is now being conducted to teach English to foreigners and to eradicate illiteracy. A bill has recently been introduced in Congress to provide Federal aid for this purpose.

If the productive labor value of an illiterate is less by only 50 cents a day than that of an educated man or woman, the country is losing $825,000,000 a year through illiteracy … The Federal Government and the States spend millions of dollars in trying to give information to the people in rural districts about farming and home making. Yet 3,700,000, or 10 per cent, of our country folk can not read or write a word. They can not read a bulletin on agriculture, a farm paper, a food-pledge card, a liberty-loan appeal, a newspaper, the Constitution of the United States, or their Bibles, nor can they keep personal or business accounts. An uninformed democracy is not a democracy. A people who cannot have means of access to the mediums of public opinion and to the messages of the President and the acts of Congress can hardly be expected to understand the full meaning of this war, to which they all must contribute in life or property or labor.—SECRETARY LANE, Annual Report, 1918, p. 30. From letter to the President.

Ask at home: What is “illiteracy”? What is the difference between an “illiterate” and a non-English speaking person?

Debate (or discuss):

RESOLVED, That ALL persons of sound mind in the United States should be required by law to attend school until they are able to speak, read, and write English fluently.

RESOLVED, That the elimination of illiteracy and the teaching of English to foreigners should be left wholly to the states without interference or aid from the national government.

Why are foreigners required to read sections from the Constitution of the United States before they receive their “naturalization” papers?

What does “knowing how to read” mean?

Debate:

RESOLVED, That no native-born American should be permitted to vote who cannot read intelligently.

What is being done in your community and in your state to eradicate illiteracy and to teach English to foreigners?

THE PRINTING PRESS AND NEWSPAPERS

Next to language itself, the most important invention for the communication of ideas is the art of printing. It made possible the book, the magazine, the newspaper. The writer of this book is enabled to communicate with boys and girls whom he will never see by means of the printed page and the pictures which the book contains. By the same means the ideas of people who lived long ago have been handed down to us, and the ideas of to-day will be passed on to later generations. Most wonderful is the modern newspaper, which daily carries into almost every home of the land the important happenings in the world during the preceding twenty- four hours. In cities several editions are printed during the day. The newspaper enables the merchant to communicate, through advertisements, with possible buyers, and the farmer and business man to keep posted regarding crop conditions and market prices. Most newspapers have special departments for different classes of readers—a woman’s page, a children’s column, a page devoted to sports, another to market conditions. Most of them also have a department in which individuals may ask questions or express their own opinions regarding questions of the day. The “local newspaper,” with a circulation that seldom extends far beyond the county in which it is published, is of the greatest value in stimulating a community spirit.

THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH

The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that:

Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…

The right of free speech and of a free press is a very sacred one, and its maintenance is one of the chief safeguards of democracy. It is the means by which PUBLIC OPINION is formed and made known; and public opinion is one of the chief means of control in a democracy. It controls the conduct of individuals, and it controls the actions of government. The representatives and leaders of the people in the government seek constantly to know what public opinion is, and the public press is one of the chief channels through which they may find out. On the other hand, leaders and parties seek to FORM public opinion, to lead the people to think in certain ways and to support certain ideas. The press affords an effective means for doing this.

PROPAGANDA

It is easy to see that both good leaders and bad leaders may thus create public opinion, that both good and bad ideas may be spread through the press. During the war we heard much about German PROPAGANDA. This means that ideas were systematically spread to create a public opinion favorable to the German cause. It was done largely by rumors, springing from no one knows where, and spreading by word of mouth. But it was also accomplished through the newspapers, by news items and stories that appeared to be true and that were published innocently enough in most cases, but that afterward were found to be false.

THE DEVELOMENT OF PUBLIC OPINION

It is not to be supposed that all propaganda is harmful or dangerous. There is propaganda in good causes, or on both sides of a disputed question. By this means public opinion is educated. When the peace conference at Paris proposed a plan for a League of Nations, it was at once taken up for discussion through the newspapers and magazines. People who believed in the idea organized a campaign of PUBLICITY to support the plan and to create a public opinion for it, while those opposed to it were equally active in their attempt to create a public opinion against it. In this way the people became informed regarding the question, provided they read both sides of the discussion and not one only. Leaders in the community may conduct propaganda through the newspapers in behalf of better schools, better roads, woman suffrage, prohibition, or any other cause.

The good citizen cannot well get along without the newspaper and magazine. But he needs to keep in mind the fact that news items may be in error, and that the opinions expressed by editors and other writers usually represent the opinions of but a single group of people, which may be large or small, right or wrong. In most cases these writers are sincere, but there is always the chance for error. The intelligent citizen will not base his own opinions and actions solely on what he reads in ONE paper or magazine or book, but will seek to understand ALL sides of a question. He is helped to do this by the great variety of publications available representing every shade of belief, and by the freedom of speech and of the press under our system of government.

THE CONTROL OF FREE SPEECH AND A FREE PRESS

Freedom of speech and of the press does not mean that a citizen may always say anything he pleases in public. At no time has one the right to attack the character of another by false or malicious statements. This constitutes slander, or libel, and may be punished by the courts. In time of war freedom of speech and of the press may be restricted to an extent that would not be tolerated in time of peace, because if absolute freedom were permitted information might be made public that would be helpful to the enemy, and propaganda started that would be dangerous to the public safety. But even in war time, the people of a democracy chafe under restrictions upon free speech and a free press, and it is often a delicate question to determine how far such restriction is justifiable or wise.

Make a report on the invention of the printing press.

Is there more than one “local paper” in your town or county? Do these local papers take the same position in regard to public questions? Do you read more than one?

What is the most influential newspaper in your state (ask at home)? Why is it so influential?

What is the difference between a news story and an editorial?

Ask at home what newspaper editor it was who said, “Go West, young man.” Also find out what you can about his influence as an editor.

Examine with care the newspapers you take at home and make a list of their different “departments” or “sections.”

What do you first look for in the newspaper when you read it? Ask your father and mother and other members of the family what they first look for.

What is the value of CARTOONS in the newspaper? Do you study them? Do they convey a story to you? Make a collection of cartoons that you think are particularly good, and explain what each means.

Is any propaganda being conducted now in the newspapers you read? If so, explain what it is.

To what extent are newspaper and magazine advertisements useful in your home?

POST-OFFICES AND POST-ROADS

Congress was given power by the Constitution “to establish post- offices and post-roads.” There had been a postal service in the colonies before the Revolution. During the Revolution Benjamin Franklin was made Postmaster General, and he made the service as effective as it could well be made under the conditions that existed in those times. The plan that he devised was continued after the Constitution was adopted. In those days mails were sent from New York to Boston and to Philadelphia two or three times a week. They were carried on horseback or by stage and by boat. Sometimes a month was consumed by a trip that can now be made in a half-day. Postage cost from six cents to twenty-five cents for each letter, according to the distance it was carried, and had to be paid in cash in advance. Postage stamps were not introduced until 1847. Often mail was allowed to accumulate until there was enough to pay for the trip. The isolation of a remote rural community can well be imagined where the difficulties of communication were so great, and where the scarcity of money made postage an important item.

RURAL MAIL ROUTES

In 1918 there were 54,345 post-offices in the United States managed by the Post-Office Department at Washington, besides nearly 600 in the Philippines managed by the war Department, and a few in the Panama Canal Zone. Of the 3030 counties in the United States, 3008 had rural mail routes aggregating more than a million miles in extent, serving more than 6 million families, and costing for operation more than 53 million dollars. This cost, however amounts to only about $1.90 for each person served, or a little more than one cent for each piece of mail handled. The aim is to make the postal service pay for itself, and in 1918 the receipts exceeded the expenditures by more than 60 million dollars.

SPECIAL SERVICES OF THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT

The Post-Office Department not only provides for the transportation of ordinary mail, but through its post-offices it sells money orders for the transmission of money safely through the mails; it operates the parcel post by which merchandise may be transported, including farm produce of many kinds; it administers the postal savings system. One of the interesting divisions of the Post-Office Department is the Division of Dead Letters, to which is returned all mail that fails to reach its destination. In 1918 there were returned to the Dead-Letter Division 14,451,953 pieces of mail. In these “dead letters” there were drafts, checks, money orders, and loose money, amounting to $4,194,839.68. The failure of this mail to reach its proper destination is due in very large measure to carelessness in addressing and to failure to place on the envelope or package a return address. A great deal of loss and inconvenience could be avoided, and much labor and expense saved for the postal service, if every one would see that every piece of mail sent out is properly addressed and stamped, and has a return address in the upper left-hand corner.

TRANSPORTATION OF THE MAILS

The efficiency of the postal service depends very largely upon the means of transportation, from steamship and railway lines down to the country roads. Nothing else, perhaps, has stimulated the improvement of roads so much as the rural mail service. It is the power granted by the Constitution to Congress to establish POST- roads that enables the Federal government to aid the states in road improvement. The development of fast mail trains and the introduction of motor-truck service have been important steps in the improvement of the postal service in city and country. The latest development is the transportation of mail by airplane. An aerial mail route between Washington, D. C., and New York City was established May 15, 1918, and a round trip daily is now made over this route, regardless of weather conditions. The flying time from Washington to New York, with a stop at Philadelphia, averages two hours and thirty minutes, or one half the time of the fastest trains. The Post-Office Department is planning an extensive airplane mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with various side lines; also to the West Indies, Panama, and South America. The routes are partially worked out, and trial trips have been made in some cases, as between New York and Chicago.

THE TELEGRAPH

We need only mention the important part played by the telegraph, the submarine cable, and RADIO-COMMUNICATION, in binding together our nation and the world as a whole. Without them the modern newspaper, with its daily news from every corner of the globe, would be impossible, our cooperation in the great World War would have been extremely difficult, and the President probably would not have left the United States to participate in the peace negotiations at Paris. Although the first telegraph line in the United States was owned and operated by the government as a part of the postal service, the telegraph service of the country has since been in the hands of private corporations; except that during the war the Post-Office Department took over the management of the telegraph and the telephone, as the Railroad Administration took over the transportation lines.

THE TELEPHONE

As this chapter is being written, word has come that the Secretary of the Navy has talked by WIRELESS TELEPHONE with the President of the United States while the latter was 800 miles out at sea on his return from France. At the close of the war American aviators were talking with one another from airplane to airplane, and receiving orders from the ground, by wireless telephone. These instances suggest new possibilities of communication in the near future. Already the ordinary telephone has practically made over our community life in many particulars. We can hardly estimate its value in business and home life, in the city or on the farm. There are about 8000 rural telephone systems in the United States serving the homes of two million farmers. In 1912, out of seven hundred and eighteen telephone systems in North Carolina, about six hundred and fifty were country telephone systems owned and operated privately by groups of farmers. These included about 20,000 telephones and used approximately 35,000 miles of wire.

SERVICE OF THE RURAL TELEPHONE To call a neighbor and ask for the exchange of labor on certain work, as threshing, haying, etc., is only the work of a moment. To have a definite answer immediately is often worth much. To be able to ‘phone the village storekeeper, who runs a country delivery, and ask that supplies be sent out is a great convenience to the housewife. To ‘phone the implement dealer and learn whether he has needed repairs in stock and, if so, to have them sent out on the next trolley car, if not to ask him to telegraph the factory to forward them immediately by express, is a saving of time that often amounts to a large saving when the planting or harvesting of crops is delayed because of needed repairs.

... farm homes have been saved from destruction by fire because of prompt help secured by word over the telephone; ... valuable animals have been saved through the early arrival of the veterinarian who was summoned by ‘phone. ... Many an itinerant sharper’s plans have been frustrated. ... The sharper in disgust turns to other fields where there are no telephones over which to notify his prospective victims of his game.

Business appointments, social appointments, discussions of social and church plans, to say nothing of the mere friendly exchange of greeting over the telephone have probably compensated every owner of a rural telephone many times over for the expense of it, if all business advantages were ignored.

... At some seasons of the year the general summons to the ‘phone gives notice that central is ready to report the weather bureau’s prognostication for the following day. ...

[Footnote: “Rural Conveniences,” by H. E. Van Norman, in the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 1912]

The cost of this important aid to community life has been reduced to a small amount in many rural districts by the organization of local cooperative telephone companies.

Ask at home, or have committee interview postmaster:

How is the postmaster in your post-office chosen? Are all postmasters chosen in the same way?

What are first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class post-offices?

How are rural mail-carriers chosen?

What is a “star mail route,” and how does it differ from an ordinary rural route? Are there any “star routes” in your county?

What constitute first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class mail? What is the rate of postage on each?

Has rural mail delivery had the effect of causing road improvement in your county? If so, give instances.

From the office of a local newspaper find out about the work of the Associated Press or similar news agency.

Why does the work of a newspaper reporter carry with it great responsibility?

Who was Samuel F. B. Morse? Who is Alexander Graham Bell? Marconi?

What particular advantages has the telephone brought to your community? to your home?

Is there a cooperative telephone company in your community? If so, how is it organized?

If possible, visit a telephone exchange and report on what you see.

Write a theme on “Modern means of communication and the growth of a world community.”

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 10, Telephone and telegraph.

Series C: Lesson 1, The war and aeroplanes. Lesson 9, Inventions.

The development of writing:

Picture Writing of the American Indians, 10th Annual Report of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-1889. This is profusely illustrated and very interesting.

The volume may be in the public library. It may be difficult to obtain, otherwise, unless through a representative in Congress.

Tylor, E. B., ANTHROPOLOGY, chaps. IV-VII (D. Appleton & Co.), and EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND, chaps. II-V (Henry Holt & Co.).

Given, J. L., THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER (Henry Holt & Co.).

Annual Reports of the Postmaster General of the United States.

Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1918, pp. 13-24, 29-31, for a discussion of the necessity of eliminating illiteracy and teaching English to foreigners.

There is much magazine literature on this subject. AMERICANIZATION, a publication issued regularly by the United States Bureau of Education, is useful in this connection.

CHAPTER XIX

EDUCATION

DEMOCRACY DEPENDS UPON EDUCATION

Both the efficiency and the democracy of a community depend upon the extent and the kind of education it affords to its people. Autocratic Germany had a most thorough-going system of education, but a system that made autocracy possible. The common people were trained to be efficient workers, and thus to contribute to the national strength; but they were trained TO SUBMIT to authority, and not to exercise control over it. The kind of education that develops leaders was given only to the few. The leaders of the German people were imposed upon them from above; in the United States we are supposed to CHOOSE our leaders. In a nation whose aim is to afford to every citizen an equal opportunity to make the most of himself and whose people are self-governing, education must be widespread, it must develop the power of self-direction, it must train leaders, and it must enable the people to choose their leaders intelligently. When Governor Berkeley of Virginia reported to the king of England in 1671, “I thank God there are no free schools nor printing; and I hope we shall not have these hundred years,” he spoke for the autocratic form of government which a hundred years later led the colonies to revolt, and which in 1917 forced the United Stares into a world war.

GOVERNMENT BY MEANS OF EDUCATION

In a democracy government must be carried on largely BY MEANS OF education. There must be trained leadership. And since the aim of democratic government is to secure team work in public affairs, the people must have the tools of team work, such as a common language and other knowledge that makes living and working together possible; they must have training that will enable them to contribute effectively to the community’s work, and an intelligent understanding of the community’s aims and ideals. And since government is controlled largely by public opinion, the people must have an intelligent understanding of the community’s problems. We had abundant illustration during the recent war of the extent to which our government not only depended upon highly educated men and women for leadership, but also used educational methods to secure its ends.

THE COST OF EDUCATION

These facts explain why public education is the largest single item of expense in our government (except in time of war). In 1914 nearly 600 million dollars were spent for public elementary and high schools. Some 200 million dollars more were spent for private elementary and high schools, and for universities, colleges, and normal schools, some of which are public and some private.

INEQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL REQIUIREMENTS

If democracy is to be safe and efficient, every member must have a reasonable education. Every state now has a compulsory education law, though these laws vary greatly. In some states every child must attend school for seven years (7 to 14, or 8 to 15), and in one state (Maryland) for eight years. In other states the period is less, sometimes as little as four years. In most of the states there is an additional period, usually of two years (14 to 16), during which children must remain in school unless they go to work. As a rule there are laws that forbid the employment of children in industry before the age of 14. In some states they may go to work as soon as they reach the age limit regardless of what their educational qualifications are; in others they must have completed the eight grades of the elementary school; in others

[Editor’s Note: Missing text.]

laws are not well enforced in some states. The facing table shows the number of children of school age in and out of school in the several states in 1915-1916. For the country as a whole, 17.4 per cent of the children of school age were not in school.

“School terms are so short in many states and compulsory attendance is so badly enforced that THE SCHOOL LIFE OF THE AVERAGE PERSON GROWING UP IN RURAL SECTIONS IS ONLY 4.5 SCHOOL YEARS OF 140 DAYS EACH. In urban communities conditions are better, but far from satisfactory.” [Footnote: Bulletin, 1919, No. 4, U. S. Bureau of Education, “A Manual of Educational Legislation,” p. 6.]

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The facing table shows the number of days the public schools were open, the average number of days of attendance by each pupil enrolled, and the rank of the state in each case, for each state in the school year 1915-1916.

Why would it not be more democratic to permit children to attend school or not as they or their parents wish?

Discuss the statement that “education makes people free.” Compare this statement with a somewhat similar statement made on page 136, Chapter XI.

What is the compulsory school age in your state?

Is wide variation in the compulsory school age among the different states a good thing? Why?

Is the compulsory school law rigidly enforced in your state? How is it enforced?

How much of each year must a child spend in school during the compulsory period in your state?

Investigate the reasons given by pupils in your community for leaving school before completing the course, and report.

What rank does your state hold with respect to length of term? to average daily attendance of pupils? (See table.)

What rank does your state hold with respect to number of children of school age in and out of school? (See table.)

What is the length of your own school year? Do you think it should be lengthened? Why?

Get from your teacher or principal the average daily attendance for each pupil enrolled in your school; in your county. Do you think this record could be improved?

Is there any good reason why the school year should be shorter in rural communities than in cities?

It is advocated by many that schools should be open the year round. What advantages can you see in the plan? Debate the question.

THE DISTRICT SCHOOL

The pioneer family was dependent at first upon its own efforts for the education of its children. When other families came, a schoolhouse was built, a teacher employed and the work of teaching the elements of knowledge was handed over to the school. This was the origin of the “district school,” which is characteristic of pioneer conditions. As the population grew and local government was organized, the unit of local government tended to become the unit for school administration. In New England this was the “town” or township; in the South it was the county; in the West it was sometimes the township and sometimes the county, or else a combination of the two. In a large number of the western states, however, and in a few of the eastern states, the district school persists in many rural communities, a relic of pioneer conditions. It is often felt that it is more democratic for each district to administer its own school, subject only to the laws of the state.

Under the district system there is an annual school meeting of the voters of the district, who vote the school taxes, determine the length of the school year, and elect a board of education or school trustees. The trustees look after the school property, choose the teacher and fix his salary, and in a general way manage the school business. Each school is independent of all other schools.

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION

Under the township system all of the schools of the township are administered by a township board or committee (or by a single trustee in Indiana) elected by the people of the township. The chief advantages over the district system are that all the schools of the township are administered by a single plan, the taxes are apportioned to the schools according to needs, and pupils may be transferred from one school to another at convenience. In New England two or three townships are sometimes united into a “union district” supervised by a single superintendent.

COUNTY ORGANIZATION

Under the county system all the schools of the county are under the management of a county board and, usually, a county superintendent. In 29 of the 39 states that have county superintendents they are elected by the people, in 8 states they are appointed by the county board, in Delaware they are appointed by the governor, and in New Jersey by the state commissioner of education. Election of the county superintendent is losing favor on the ground that there is less assurance of securing a highly trained man. The chart on page 293 shows a plan of organization for county schools proposed to the legislature of South Dakota by the United States Bureau of Education.

ADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION

Among the advantages of the county system are greater economy, more nearly equal educational opportunity for all children of the county, and better supervision because of the larger funds available for this purpose. It is under the county system of organization that the movement for SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION is progressing most rapidly. By this is meant the union of a number of small, poorly equipped schools into a larger, well-graded, and well equipped school. Its advantages may best be suggested by an example.

In Randolph County, Indiana, there were, in 1908, 128 one-room schools in the open country, with an attendance of from 12 to 60 pupils doing grade work only, 6 two-room schools in hamlets, with grade work only; 2 three room schools in villages, with grade work and two years of high school work with a six months’ term; 3 four- room village schools, with grade work and three years of high school work with a six months’ term; 1 six-room school in a town, with grade work and four years of high school work with an eight months’ term.

By consolidation, 113 one-room schools and 4 two-room schools were supplanted by 20 consolidated schools with two grade teachers; 6 with four grade teachers, 6 with five grade teachers; 2 with six grade teachers; and 1 with eight grade teachers—a total of 86 grade teachers doing the work formerly done by 148 teachers, and doing it better. Fifteen of the schools have a four-year high school course with an eight months’ term. For the five-year period preceding consolidation not more than half of the eighth-grade pupils attended high school; after consolidation, an average of 96 per cent of the eighth-grade pupils went to high school.

The pupils are transported to and from school in hacks or motor- busses heated in winter. The school buildings are equipped with running water, modern heating and sanitation, telephone, restrooms for pupils and teachers, gymnasiums and outdoor physical apparatus, physical training and athletic competition being carried on under supervision. The courses of study have been enriched, increased attention is given to vocational work, and music and art receive attention impossible in the district schools. Eleven of the schools have orchestras, and concerts are held which the community as well as the schools attend. There are auditoriums used for community lectures and concerts, Sunday- school conventions, community sings, parent-teachers’ meetings, and exhibits of various kinds.

Report on the following:

School life in colonial New England; in colonial Virginia.

The first schools in your own community—length of school term, attendance, whether private or public, qualifications of teachers, methods of teaching.

What the family does for the education of the children that the school cannot do. What the school does that the family cannot do.

Organization of the schools in your district, township, county, or city.

Advantages of graded schools over ungraded schools.

Consolidation of schools in your county or state.

Debate the question: The district school is more democratic than the county organization.

Method of selection of the superintendent of your county and town. Length of term of office.

Organization, powers, mode of election, etc., of your local board of education.

Authority, or lack of authority, of your county superintendent over the schools of cities and large towns in the county.

Qualifications prescribed for teachers in your county or town. How selected.

How are school books selected? Are they free to pupils? Advantages and disadvantages of free textbooks.

Evidence that public education is or is not a matter of common interest to the people of your community.

Examples of team work, or lack of it, in your community in the interest of the schools.

Are the methods by which school authorities are chosen in your community calculated to secure the best leadership?

How the duties relating to the schools are divided between your school board and the superintendent. Does your board perform any duties that should be performed by the superintendent, or VICE VERSA? Explain.

Parent-teacher organizations in your community and their service.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL

Public education was long restricted to the elementary school. High schools were at first private academies designed to prepare for college the few who wished to continue their education. While they still continue to give preparation for college, their development in recent years has been largely for the benefit of the greater number of boys and girls who do not expect to go to college. The high school naturally made its first appearance in cities. It requires more elaborate equipment and more highly trained teachers, and its cost is at least twice that of elementary schools. These facts, together with the small and scattered population of rural communities, have been obstacles to the development of rural high schools. The consolidated school has in large measure removed these obstacles, and a high school education is rapidly becoming as available for rural boys and girls as for those who live in cities.

Report on:

The history of high school development in your community.

The percentage of pupils in your community who go to high school after completing the elementary school.

“What the high school does for my community.”

“My reasons for going (or not going) to high school.”

The cost per pupil in the high school in your community as compared with that in the elementary school.

Education must not only be within the reach of every citizen of a democracy, but it must be of a kind that will fit him to play well his part as a member of the community.

EDUCATION FOR PHYSICAL FITNESS

The public schools now give more attention than formerly to the physical education and welfare of the pupils (see Chapter XX, pp. 314, 315). The wide prevalence of physical defects disclosed in the effort to raise an army during the recent war will doubtless cause still greater emphasis to be placed on this aspect of education. Physical fitness is the foundation of good citizenship. Provision for physical education and welfare has found its way into rural schools more slowly than in city schools, as the following table shows. But our nation can be neither efficient nor fully democratic until the physical well-being of all its citizens is provided for, and the responsibility rests largely with the public school.

HEALTH WORK IN CITY AND RURAL SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES

[Footnote: Adapted from Dr. Thomas D. Wood, in New York TIMES Magazine, April 2, 1916.]

EDUCATION FOR VOCATIONAL FITNESS

It is a part of the business of education to fit every citizen to earn a living, for every efficient citizen must be self-supporting and able to contribute effectively to the productive work of the community. The interdependence of all occupations in modern industry and the necessity for every worker to be a specialist make training essential for every worker who is to attain success for himself and contribute his full share to the community’s work. The war emphasized strongly the nation’s dependence upon trained workers in every field of industry.

NATIONAL AID FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

One of the direct results of war needs was the passage by Congress, in 1917, of the Smith-Hughes Act, providing for national aid for vocational instruction for persons over 14 years of age who have already entered upon, or are preparing to enter, some trade. The instruction given under the terms of this act must be of less than college grade. Every state in the Union has met the conditions imposed by this law.

The Smith-Hughes Act created a Federal Board for Vocational Education to consist of the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Labor, the United States Commissioner of Education, and three citizens appointed by the President, one to represent labor interests, one commercial and manufacturing interests, and the third agricultural interests. The law appropriates national funds to be given to the state for the establishment of vocational schools and for the training of teachers for these schools; but each state must appropriate an amount equal to that received from the national government. Each state must also have a board for vocational education, through which the national board has its dealings with the state.

BREADTH OF PREPARATION FOR VOCATIONAL LIFE

The duty of the regular elementary and high schools is not to cultivate special vocational skills; not to turn out trained farmers, or mechanics, and so on. But the work of these schools should be such that their graduates will be better farmers, or mechanics, or lawyers, or doctors, or engineers, or teachers, than they would be without it. First of all these schools should produce workers who are physically fit for the work they enter. They should educate the hand and the eye along with the brain. They should cultivate habits of working together, give instruction regarding the significance of all work in community and national life, and by every means possible prepare the pupil to make a wise choice of vocation. Moreover, the schools should provide a breadth of education that will “transmute days of dreary work into happier lives.”

MAKING LIFE EDUCATIONAL

Mr. Herbert Quick in his story of “The Brown Mouse,” which is a plea for better rural schools, says:

Let us cease thinking so much of agricultural education, and devote ourselves to educational agriculture. So will the nation be made strong.

The life we live, even on the farm, is full of science and history, civics and economics, arithmetic and geography, poetry and art. The modern school helps the pupil to find these things in his daily life and, having found them, to apply them to living for his profit and enjoyment. For this reason it works largely through the “home project,” boys’ and girls’ clubs, gardening, and many other activities.

A recent writer has said,

What is the true end of American education? Is it life or a living? ... Education finds itself face to face with a bigger thing than life or the getting of a living. It is face to face with a big enough thing to die for in France, a big enough thing to go to school for in America … Neither life nor the getting of a living, but LIVING TOGETHER, this must be the single PUBLIC end of a common public education hereafter. [Footnote: D. R. Sharp, “Patrons of Democracy,” in ATLANTIC MONTHLY, November, 1919, p. 650.]

EDUCATION FOR LIVING TOGETHER

The more nearly the conditions of living in the school community correspond to the conditions of living in the community outside of school, the better the training afforded for living together. In many schools the spirit and methods of community life prevail, even to the extent of school government in which the pupils participate.

Of this community pupils and teachers are members with certain common interests. Cooperation is the keynote of the community life. The realization of this cooperation is seen in the classrooms, in study halls, in the assembly room, in the corridors, on the playground. It manifests itself in the method of preparing and conducting recitations; in the care of school property; in protecting the rights of younger children; in maintaining the sanitary conditions of the building and grounds; in the elimination of cases of “discipline” and of irregularity of attendance; in the preparation and conduct of opening exercises, school entertainments, and graduating exercises; in beautifying the school grounds; in the making of repairs and equipment for “our school”; in fact, in every aspect of the school life.

[Footnote: “Civic Education in Elementary Schools,” p. 31, United States Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 17.]

THE SCHOOL AS A COMMUNITY CENTER

The schoolhouse is becoming more and more the center of community life. We have noticed how, in Randolph County, Indiana, the consolidated school building affords a meeting place for all sorts of community activities. The school law of California provides that:

There is hereby established a civic center at each and every public schoolhouse within the State of California, where the citizens of the respective public school districts … may engage in supervised recreational activities, and where they may meet and discuss … any and all subjects and questions which in their judgment may appertain to the educational, political, economic, artistic, and moral interests of the respective communities in which they may reside; Provided, that such use of said public schoolhouse and grounds for said meetings shall in no wise interfere with such use and occupancy of said public schoolhouse and grounds as is now, or hereafter may be, required for the purpose of said public schools of the State of California. Investigate and report on the following:

Provision in your school and in the schools of your state for health work suggested in the table on page 299.

Other provisions in your school for the physical well-being of pupils.

The work of your school that relates directly to preparation for earning a living.

The extent to which a high school can make a farmer.

The operation of the Smith-Hughes Act in your state and in your county or town.

The meaning of the quotation from “The Brown Mouse” on page 301.

The use of “home projects” by your school.

The meaning of the statement that the end of public education is “neither life nor the getting of a living, but living together.”

Differences and similarities between the government of your school and that of the community in which you live. The wisdom of making them more alike.

Different plans of “pupil self-government.” (See references.)

Uses to which the schoolhouses of your community are, or might be, put.

Hours per week and weeks per year during which your schoolhouse is used.

Economy (or lack of it) in allowing schoolhouses to stand idle most of the time.

The community center idea. (See references.)

Educational work for adults in your community.

Educational agencies in your community besides schools.

STATE ORGANIZATION FOR EDUCATION

The schools of the local community are a part of the state school system. Education is considered a duty of the state, though it is performed largely by local agencies. The constitutions of all states make provision for it. State control and support of education are necessary if there is to be equality of educational opportunity for all children of the state. Every state has a department of education, and in most states each local community receives a portion of a general state tax for school purposes. The state departments of education differ widely from one another both in organization and in the effectiveness of their work. In most states there is a state board of education, composed sometimes of certain state officials, including the governor and the state superintendent of education, sometimes of citizens appointed for this purpose alone by the governor or (in four states) by the legislature. In only one state is it elected by popular vote. In all states there is also a chief educational officer, usually called state superintendent or commissioner of education or of public instruction. In several states women hold this position. The state superintendent is sometimes elected by popular vote, sometimes appointed by the state board of education or by the governor. Under the state superintendent there are deputy superintendents, heads of departments, and supervisors of the various branches of educational work. The diagram on page 293 shows a plan of organization proposed for one state by the United States Bureau of Education.

RELATION OF STATE TO LOCAL ORGANIZATION

The extent of the supervision and control exercised by the state department of education over the schools of the state varies within wide limits. In some cases it is very little. In many states there are state courses of study that are followed more or less closely by local communities. In a number of states the textbooks used by all schools are selected either by the state board of education or by a special state textbook commission. In New York State the examination questions used in all schools are prepared by the state educational authorities. Some states furnish text books free, and in a very few the state even prints all textbooks. It has not been easy to work out a well-balanced plan of state administration of schools that would ensure a thoroughgoing education for the entire state, and that would at the same time leave sufficient freedom to local school authorities to adjust the work to local needs.

HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Many of the states support higher educational institutions, such as state universities and state agricultural colleges, at which attendance is free for citizens of the state. There are also special state schools for defectives, such as the blind and the deaf.

POLICY OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TOWARD EDUCATION

The national government gave its first support to public education by the Ordinance of 1787 under which the Northwest Territory was organized. It provided that “religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary government to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.” As new states were organized, sections of the public lands were to be reserved for school purposes. Grants of public land were also made for the establishment of agricultural colleges and experiment stations.

THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION

We have also noted the national cooperation with the states for agricultural extension work and for vocational education. The United States Bureau of Education is under the direction of the United States Commissioner of Education. It has exerted its chief influence through its investigations of educational methods and its numerous reports and other publications. It serves as a sort of educational “clearing house” for local and state school authorities. One of its chief endeavors has been to increase the educational opportunities in rural communities.

Report on the following:

Provisions of your state constitution with regard to education.

Cost of public schools per year to your community; your county; your state.

How this cost is met in your town or county. Portion paid by the state.

Organization of your state department of education. Compare with the organization of state departments in neighboring states.

Arguments for and against the method of choosing your state board of education and your state superintendent.

Do the rural schools and city schools of your state operate under the same state supervision? Why?

Use of state course of study in your school and community.

Selection of textbooks for your school.

Advantages and disadvantages of uniform textbooks and course of study. Of uniform examinations throughout the state.

Management and support of your state university.

Qualifications for admission to the state university and state agricultural college.

Why you are (or not) going to college.

The value of the state university or agricultural college to your state.

State educational institutions for the blind, the deaf, etc.

Arguments for and against national control of education.

Chief provisions of any bill now before Congress for a national Department of Education.

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry.

Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings.

In Long’s AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Educated men in politics (Grover Cleveland), pp. 255-257.

The educated man and democratic ideals (Charles E. Hughes), pp.

286-288.

In Foerster and Pierson’s AMERICAN IDEALS:

The American scholar (R. W. Emerson), pp. 133-155.

Democracy in education (P. P. Claxton), pp. 156-157.

Reports of local and state departments of education.

Publications of the United States Bureau of Education.

Latest annual report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education. These annual reports contain excellent summaries of every phase of education in the United States and in many foreign countries.

Bulletins. Send to the Bureau for List of Available Publications. These bulletins relate to every important aspect of education, school organization and administration, etc. Many of them are of special application to rural education.

Teachers of civics will find the following helpful:

1915, No. 17, Civic education in elementary schools as illustrated in Indianapolis (Government Printing Office, 5 cents).

1915, No. 23, The teaching of community civics (Government Printing Office, 10 cents).

1916, No. 28, The social studies in secondary education (Government Printing Office, 10 cents).

1917, No. 46, The public school system of San Francisco, chapter on civic education.

1917, No. 51, Moral values in secondary education.

1918, No. 15, Educational survey of Elyria, Ohio, chapter on civic education (Government Printing Office, 30 cents).

1919, No. 50, Part 3, Civic education in the public school system of Memphis. Write to the U.S. Bureau of Education for list of references on pupil self-government. Also write to the School Citizens’ Committee, 2 Wall St., New York City, for material on the same subject.

Earle, Alice Morse, CHILD LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS (Macmillan).

Dewey, John, THE SCHOOL AND SOCIETY and SCHOOLS OF TO-MORROW.

Quick, Herbert, THE BROWN MOUSE (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis).

Foght, H. W., THE RURAL TEACHER AND HIS WORK.

Jackson, Henry E., A COMMUNITY CENTER—WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO ORGANIZE IT. Bulletin, 1918, No. 11, U. S. Bureau of Education.

CHAPTER XX

THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH

PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND THE NATIONAL DEFENSE

There is nothing else that concerns the community or the nation so much as the health of its citizens. Of more than three million men between the ages of 21 and 31 examined for military service in 1918, only about 65 per cent were passed as physically fit to fight for their country. [Footnote: Public Health Reports, U. S. Public Health Service, vol. 34, No. 13, p. 633 (March 28, 1919).]

The remaining 35 per cent were either totally unfit for any kind of service, or were capable only of the less strenuous activities connected with warfare. Most of the defects found could have been remedied, or prevented altogether, if proper care had been taken in earlier years.

PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND THE NATION’S INDUSTRY

The nation loses by this physical unfitness in other ways than in fighting power. Investigations have shown that wage earners lose from their work an average of from six to nine days each year on account of sickness.

[Footnote 2: Public Health Reports, U. S. Public Health Service, vol. 34, No. 16, pp. 777-782 (April 18, 1919).]

The cost to the individual in loss of wages, doctors’ bills, and otherwise, is a serious matter, to say nothing of the absolute want to which it reduces many families and the suffering entailed. In addition to this, the country loses the wage earner’s production. Sometimes death brings to the family permanent loss of income, and to the nation complete loss of the product of the wage earner’s work. The nation spends large sums of money every year in providing for dependent families and individuals.

If each of the 38 million wage earners in the United States in 1910 lost 6 days from work in a year, how many days’ work would the nation lose? How many years of work would this amount to?

At $2.50 a day (is this a high wage?) how much would be lost in wages in a year?

Get information regarding the cost of a long case of sickness, such as typhoid fever, in some family of your acquaintance (perhaps your own), including doctor’s bills, medicines, time lost from work, etc.

What would such expense mean to a family living on as low wages as those mentioned on page 167?

EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL DEFECTS

Moreover, the nation loses a great deal (how much cannot be calculated) from the physical unfitness of many who keep on working, but who are not fully efficient because of bodily defects or ailments. We see the results of this even in school. Pupils who lag behind their mates in their studies are often suffering from physical defects of which their teachers, and even they themselves, may be unaware. It may be that they are ill-nourished, or that they have defective vision, or hearing, or teeth, or that they sleep in poorly ventilated rooms. The community does not get its money’s worth from its schools if its children are not in physical condition to profit by them. In a similar manner earning and productive power are reduced.

PHYSICAL UNFITNESS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

It has usually been assumed that the people in rural districts are more healthy than those who live in cities; but it has been found that there is as much physical unfitness there as elsewhere. It is true that the records of the war department seem to show fewer men rejected in rural districts as totally unfit for any kind of military service; but evidence of other kinds has been collected that indicates that some kinds of disease, at least, and many physical defects are more prevalent in the country than in the city. In THE LURE OF THE LAND, Dr. Harvey Wiley makes a comparison of the death rate from certain diseases in a few states where the figures are available for both city and country.

[Footnote: Dr. Harvey Wiley, THE LURE OF THE LAND, Chapter VIII, “Health on the Farm,” pp. 53-60.]

RURAL AND CITY SCHOOL CHILDREN COMPARED

Studies have been made of the comparative health of city and rural school children, which show results in favor of the former. Of 330,179 children examined in New York City 70 percent were found defective, while of 294,427 examined in 1831 rural districts of Pennsylvania 75 per cent were defective. The preceding chart shows the comparative prevalence of health defects among city and country children.

Investigate the following:

Meaning of “vital statistics.” Importance of vital statistics to your community. Where recorded for your county or town. What the vital statistics of your community for the last year show.

Causes of deaths in your community for the last year. The percentage of these deaths that were “preventable.” Increase or decrease of death rate in your community during recent years, in your state.

The nature of the prevailing sicknesses in your community during the last year. Per cent of these that were contagious. List of contagious diseases in the order of their prevalence.

Quarantine regulations in your community against contagious diseases. Extent to which they are observed. Who is responsible for their observance? For their enforcement?

Observe condition of sidewalks and other public places with respect to expectoration. Is there a law on the subject in your community’? Is it observed or enforced? Who is responsible? Dangers from expectoration.

Medical inspection in the schools of your county, town, and state. If any, its results. Kinds of defects most commonly found. How is it conducted? Who sends the inspectors? To what extent the homes of the community cooperate with the schools in getting results from medical inspection.

BETTER CONDITIONS IN CITIES DUE TO ORGANIZED TEAM WORK

We may well ask why ill health and physical defects seem to be more prevalent in rural communities than in cities. The answer probably is, simply, that in cities they are PREVENTED more effectively. The chart on page 313 shows that while the death rate in New York City was 20.6 per thousand in 1900, it had declined to 14 per thousand in 1914; while that in the rural districts of New York State remained practically the same during these years (15.5 per thousand in 1900, 15.3 in 1914).

This indicates that health conditions in the city were originally much worse than in the country. They were rapidly improved by organization for health protection. There is not the occasion, in rural communities, for the elaborate health-protecting organization that is now found in all large cities, because the people in rural communities are not so completely dependent upon one another nor at the mercy of conditions over which, as individuals, they have no control. And yet even in rural communities physical well-being depends largely upon organized team work.

SCHOOLS AS AN AGENCY FOR HEALTH CONSERVATION

Cities have used their school organization to combat physical defects and weaknesses of pupils, and that is why they make a better showing than rural communities in such matters as those shown in the table on page 312. Removing such defects from young people means a stronger and more efficient adult population ten or twenty years from now; for these defects are often the causes of more serious illness in later years. The table on page 299, Chapter XIX, shows how much behind cities rural communities have been in the use of their school organization for this purpose. The encouraging thing is, however, that rural communities are beginning to find the means to use their schools in this way. The way has been opened by school consolidation (p. 295), by the grouping of all the small and isolated schools of a county under a central county administration (p. 294), by aid from the state, both in money and in supervision, and by cooperation from the national government.

HEALTH EDUCATION FOR ADULTS IN CITIES

Cities have extended their health-educational work to the adult population. This takes place in part through the schools also. Instruction given to children is of course taken home by them. Visiting nurses employed by the schools visit the homes. Classes for mothers are conducted at the school in the afternoon or evening. But more than this, city boards of health, often in cooperation with the school authorities, conduct educational campaigns by means of literature distributed to the homes through school children, by means of evening lectures and moving pictures, and through the newspapers.

AGENCIES FOR HEALTH EDUCATION IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Means are not wanting for similar work in rural communities. The homes may be reached by the right kind of instruction in the schools. The classes or clubs for women conducted by women county agents may be, and often are, used as means of health instruction. Public meetings at the “community center” at the schoolhouse may be devoted at times to public health problems, with lectures, moving pictures, and discussions. The local newspapers always afford a channel through which to get matters of this kind before the people. Local and state boards of health, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Public Health Service may and do use these and other agencies to reach the people.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE HOME

No matter how much machinery for cooperation we may have in our community, like that described above, it cannot help much unless every family and every citizen cooperates intelligently.

In a large city, a small group of men, constituting the city council, may inaugurate measures which will accomplish sanitary improvements at thousands of homes; but for the accomplishment of sanitary improvements at 1000 farm homes at least 1000 persons … must be convinced that the sanitary measures are needed, become informed how to apply them, and be willing to put them into operation.

[Footnote: RURAL SANITATION, by L. L. Lumsden, Public Health Bulletin No. 94, United States Public Health Service, p. 10.]

THE IMPORTANCE OF PURE AIR

Pure air is essential to good health. It is not always easy to get in the crowded living and working conditions of cities. There it is necessary to regulate these conditions by law, and factories and tenements are inspected to see that they are properly ventilated and not overcrowded. In rural communities there is less excuse for bad air, and the responsibility for it rests more directly upon the individual, as illustrated on page 112, Chapter X.

BAD AIR AND THE SPREAD OF DISEASE

It might seem that it is nobody’s business but our own how we live in our homes or at our work. But bad air lessens vitality and nurtures disease. This reduces productive power. Moreover, colds, influenza, and tuberculosis (of which more than a million people are constantly sick in the United States), all of which are nourished in bad air, may be spread by contact, or by food handled by those who are sick. People who live in bad air at home mingle with others at church, in moving picture theaters, at school, in the courtroom, and in other public meeting places, which are themselves often poorly ventilated. It is strange that court rooms, where justice is administered, schools where children are prepared for life, and churches where people worship, are so often badly ventilated.

Report on the following:

Is your schoolroom well ventilated? How do you know? What effect does poor ventilation have upon your feelings and your work?

If the law requires school attendance, why should it also require good ventilation of the school?

If the ventilation of your school is not good, what may you do about it? Who is responsible for it?

Observe and report upon the ventilation of the court rooms, moving picture theaters, churches, and other meeting places in your community.

PURE WATER AND HEALTH

Cities go to great expense to get an abundant pure-water supply. It is of the greatest importance in community sanitation Impure water is one of the chief sources of typhoid fever and other diseases of the intestines. About 400,000 persons have typhoid fever every year in the United States, and 30,000 are killed by it; and it is unnecessary. We have from three to five times as much typhoid as many European countries have, and for no other reason than that we are negligent.

PURE FOOD AND HEALTH

Pure, clean, wholesome food is equally essential. We need not dwell upon the importance of the right kinds of food and well- cooked food. Much illness is caused by “spoiled” foods. Disease germs may be carried by food as well as by water. Tuberculosis may be carried by milk, either from diseased cattle, or from victims of the disease who handle the milk at some point in its progress from the dairy farm to the home. The death rate among babies is appalling, especially in cities, because of the use of milk containing germs of intestinal diseases. Typhoid fever may be contracted from milk, green vegetables, and oysters from beds contaminated with sewage.

The food supply of cities passes through many hands before it reaches the consumer. At almost every point it is protected by regulations and inspection. Most of it, however, comes originally from the farm which is beyond the control of the city authorities. The producers and handlers of food products in rural districts therefore owe it not only to themselves but also to their city neighbors to exercise every possible precaution against the spread of disease. Such precautions consist in cleanliness in handling and storing milk, butter, and meats; in the cleansing of milk receptacles with pure water; in the proper location and construction of wells; in protecting springs from surface drainage; in sanitary disposal of sewage and other wastes from the household; in protection of food against flies.

SANITATION IN CITIES

In cities a great deal of attention is given to sanitation. Sewage is carried off by public sewers. Householders are required to place garbage in sanitary cans, whence it is collected and disposed of in such a way as not to pollute the soil. Ashes and refuse are carried away from homes and shops, and the streets are cleaned daily. In rural communities such matters are left almost entirely to the householder.

FLIES AS DISEASE CARRIERS

Exposed garbage, improperly built outdoor toilets, and stable manure are breeding places of flies; and flies are notorious carriers of disease. Yet, out of more than 3000 homes in one county in Indiana only 31 made provision to prevent stable manure from breeding flies, and the same was true of only 1 out of more than 2000 homes in a county in North Carolina, and only 86 out of nearly 5000 homes in an Alabama county.

DANGER FROM MOSQUITOES

Malaria is widespread in the United States and imposes a heavy toll upon the nation’s health. It is carried from one victim to another by a certain kind of mosquito, of which it is comparatively easy to get rid by proper drainage of breeding places, by treating the surface of pools with kerosene, by screening, and by seeing to it that rain barrels are covered and that tin cans and other receptacles of water are not left lying around. But flies and mosquitoes do not stop with fences, nor do they recognize city or county boundaries. Hence, individual effort without community cooperation is likely to be useless.

POLLUTED SOIL AND HOOKWORM DISEASE

The terrible hookworm disease so prevalent in our southern states is caused by a minute worm that infests soil polluted with sewage. It penetrates the soles of the feet of those who go barefoot and the palms of the hands of those who work in the soils, finds its way through the blood to the intestines, and thence to the soil again. An investigation in 770 counties in 11 states where hookworm disease is prevalent showed that out of 287,606 farm homes only six tenths of one per cent disposed of their sewage in such a way as to prevent soil pollution.

Out of 305 homes in a little community in Mississippi, only 4 properly disposed of sewage. When the first investigations were made, there were 407 cases of hookworm disease out of 1002 residents. Besides, there had been recently 12 cases of tuberculosis, 47 of typhoid fever, 184 of malaria, and 384 of dysentery.

Safe methods of disposing of sewage were introduced, houses were screened, an artesian well was bored for a public water supply, and the community cleaned up generally. After these improvements the various diseases almost entirely disappeared. Similar results were obtained in 99 other communities in the southern states.

[Footnote: Report of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1917, pp. 136- 138.]

Topics for investigation:

The water supply of farms in your locality. Any recent improvements.

The public water supply (if any) of your community. Its sources. Method of purification. Quality of water. How the people know it is pure or impure. Public or private ownership of the supply. Cost to the householder.

Extent to which the families represented in your class depend upon private wells. How many have had their well water examined to test its purity. How to proceed to have water tested. Who tests it? Who pays for the test? (If possible, visit the laboratory where the tests are made.)

Number of cases of typhoid fever in your community, now or during last year. How the information can be obtained. Is the information likely to be accurate? Whose business is it to keep a record? Why should a record be kept? Why should it be made public?

Causes of typhoid in your community. Are they preventable? How? Observance of quarantine against typhoid.

How may wells become polluted? Give cases of which you may know. Study diagram on page 314.

Methods of sewage disposal in your community. Laws on the subject. Can you suggest improvements?

Regulation of milk production and handling in your community: on the farms where it is produced; in the hands of dealers and distributors; in the home. Who make these regulations?

Outline on a map the area from which your community is supplied with milk. Show on a map cities that are supplied by your county with dairy products, garden vegetables, meats, etc.

Clean-up campaigns in your community.

Progress and methods of fly and mosquito extermination in your community.

The work of the Rockefeller Foundation for the extermination of hookworm disease (see references).

Hospitals that serve your community. Where located. By whom supported (private, city or town, county, state).

NATIONAL CONTROL OF HEALTH CONSERVATION

Health protection, like education, has been considered primarily the duty of the state. But many conditions affecting health have arisen that the state cannot completely control. Chiefly under the power given to it by the Constitution to regulate foreign and interstate commerce (p. 451), Congress has passed many laws that protect health, placing their enforcement in the hands of the several departments of the national government.

HEALTH WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The Department of Agriculture conducts much public health work, through its home demonstration agents, its Office of Rural Engineering, which deals with problems of farm water supply and rural sanitation, its Bureau of Entomology which wages war against flies and other disease-carrying insects, and its Bureau of Animal Industry which inspects cattle, meats, and dairy products. The Department of Agriculture also administers the Food and Drugs Act, the purpose of which is to secure purity of food products and to require that they and medicinal drugs shall be labeled in such a way as to show what they contain. Fraudulent and harmful “cures” and “patent medicines” may thus be exposed.

THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

The United States Public Health Service investigates diseases and health conditions and the means of controlling them. It has given considerable attention to rural sanitation. It issues reports and other publications of great value to the citizen, some of them being listed at the end of this chapter. It has representatives in all important foreign ports, inspects all ships that enter American harbors, and holds them in quarantine until they and their passengers are given a clean bill of health. Cholera and other dangerous diseases have thus been prevented from gaining a foothold on American soil.

HEALTH WORK OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS

The War Department has also waged a relentless warfare against disease, not only in the army itself, but also in the Panama Canal Zone, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and other regions occupied by the army. The Department of Labor seeks to improve the physical conditions of labor for both men and women, and its Children’s Bureau is charged with a study of all matters pertaining to the welfare of children. In the Department of the Interior the Census Bureau collects national vital statistics; the Bureau of Mines has done valuable work for the prevention of accidents in mines and mining industries; and the Bureau of Education seeks to promote physical education, instruction in home economics, and education in the home relating to the care of children.

STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HEALTH PROTECTION

A very large part of the duty of health protection must, however, remain with the states. Every state has its department of health, headed by a state board of health, or a commissioner of health, or both. These departments differ greatly in their organization and in the extent and effectiveness of their work.

NEW YORK STATE ORGANIZATION

One of the best organized state departments of health is that of New York. Among its most important features are (1) a PUBLIC HEALTH COUNCIL which has power to establish a state-wide SANITARY CODE; (2) the concentration of all administrative power in the hands of a single state COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, who has a staff of experts to direct special lines of health work; and (3) a well- organized scheme of cooperation between the state department and local health authorities.

LOCAL ORGANIZATION FOR HEALTH PROTECTION

The absence or weakness of local organization for health protection has been one of the obstacles to progress in physical well-being in the United States. Driven by an appalling death rate and frequent epidemics, our large cities have developed health departments which in many cases have proved very effective. But in smaller communities, while health departments or health officers usually exist, the organization has for the most part been very ineffective. The people themselves have not been sufficiently aroused to their needs and to methods of meeting them. New York and Massachusetts are among the most progressive states in this matter. Each local community in these states (town, village, or small city) has its board of health and health officer; but these communities are grouped into HEALTH DISTRICTS (8 in Massachusetts, 20 in New York), each district being in charge of a health officer appointed by the state commissioner or board of health. In New York the district health officer, who is there called the SANITARY SUPERVISOR, has the following duties:

To keep informed regarding the work of each local health officer within his sanitary district.

To aid the local health officers in making health surveys of the community under their control.

To aid each local health officer in the performance of his duties, particularly on the appearance of contagious diseases.

To hold conferences of local health officers.

To study the causes of excessive death rates.

To promote efficient registration of births and deaths.

To inspect all labor camps and to enforce in them all public health regulations.

To inspect Indian reservations and to enforce all provisions of the sanitary code in them.

To secure the cooperation of medical organizations for the improvement of the public health.

To promote the information of the public in matters pertaining to the public health.

EXAMPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA

Another type of local health organization and of cooperation between local and state authorities for health protection and promotion has been developed in North Carolina, where 85 per cent of the population is rural. Here the county has been taken as the unit of local organization. Health conditions had been very bad in this state, hookworm disease, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases being prevalent. The state board of health, assisted by the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission (see above, page 320, and references below), began an investigation and an educational campaign among the people, with the result that many of the counties of the state now have an organization for health cooperation unsurpassed, perhaps, in any other state. Each county has a health department, which is controlled jointly by the state board of health and a county board of health. The county board of health consists of the mayor of the county seat, the chairman of the board of county commissioners, the county superintendent of schools, and two physicians of the county elected by the other three members. The work of the health department is directed by a county health officer, who is appointed by the state board of health of which he is also a member. He has a staff of trained assistants.

In this plan note the cooperation between state and local communities, between town and county officials, and between the school authorities and the health organization. Note, also, the leadership of specialists in health matters.

Topics for investigation:

Organization of the department of health in your community (both county and town): the board of health; the executive health officer or officers; the kinds of work done.

Amount of money spent by your local health department for all purposes and for each purpose separately. Compare with the amounts spent for roads, for schools, and for other work of the local government.

The interest shown by the people in your community in public health matters.

Some of the more important health problems of your community.

The leadership in your community in health matters.

Cooperation between the state government and your local government in health matters.

The more important local and state laws relating to health in your community.

Organization of your state department of health.

Local health problems that need state control.

State health problems that need local cooperation.

The operation of the Food and Drugs Act in your community.

The work of the Public Health Service.

The extermination of yellow fever in the United States.

The fight against the bubonic plague in California.

The work of the War Department to maintain the health of the soldiers during the recent war. Volunteer agencies that cooperated in this work.

Work done in your community for the promotion of health by the Department of Agriculture and the United States Public Health Service.

The work of the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Labor.

The inspection of immigrants.

READINGS

Reports of local and state boards of health.

Publications of state agricultural college relating to public health.

Publications of the United States Public Health Service, Washington. The following are illustrative:

Federal Public Health Administration: Its Development and Present Status. Reprint No. 112, U. S. Pub. Health Reports, 1913.

Public Health Reports. Issued weekly.

Rural Sanitation, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 94, 1918.

Health Insurance, Pub. Health Reports, vol, 34, No. 16, 1919.

The Nation’s Physical Fitness, Pub. Health Reports, vol. 34, No.

13, 1919.

Good Water for Farm Homes, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 70, 1915.

Typhoid Fever: Its Causation and Prevention, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 69, 1915.

Public Health Almanac (for current year).

What the Farmer Can Do to Prevent Malaria, Pub. Health Reports, No. 11, Supplement, 1914.

Fighting Trim: The Importance of Right Living. Supplement No. 5, Pub. Health Reports, 1913.

The Transmission of Disease by Flies, Supplement No. 29, Pub. Health Reports, 1916.

The Citizen and Public Health, Supplement No. 4, Pub. Health Reports, 1913.

The Department of Agriculture publications contain material relating to public health. For example:

Health Laws, Year Book, 1913, pp. 125-134.

Animal Disease and Our Food Supply, Year Book, 1915, pp. 159-172.

Public Abattoirs in New Zealand and Australia, Year Book, 1914, pp. 433-436.

Meat Inspection Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Year Book 1916, pp. 77-98.

Sewage Disposal on the Farm, Year Book, 1916, pp. 347-374.

Clean Water and How to Get It on the Farm, Year Book, 1914, pp.

139-156.

Dunn, THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN, Chapter IX.

Beard, C. A., AMERICAN CITY GOVERNMENT, pp. 261-282.

Among the Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Education treating of health matters are the following:

1910, No. 5, American schoolhouses.

1913. No. 44, Organized health work in schools. No. 48, School hygiene. No. 52, Sanitary schoolhouses.

1914, No. 10, Physical growth and school progress. No. 17, Sanitary survey of the schools of Orange County, Va. No. 20, The rural school and hookworm disease.

1915, No. 4, The health of school children. No. 21, Schoolhouse sanitation. No. 50, Health of school children.

1917, No. 50, Physical education in secondary schools.

1919, No. 2, Standardization of medical inspection facilities. No. 65, The eyesight of school children.

Publications of the Children’s Bureau, Department of Labor.

See, for example, Rural Children in Selected Counties of North Carolina, Rural Child Welfare Series No. 2, and Baby-Saving Campaigns. A Preliminary Report on What American Cities are Doing to Prevent Infant Mortality, Bureau Publication No. 3. See list of publications issued by the Bureau.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service.

Series C: Lesson 19, How the city cares for health.

Reports of the Rockefeller Foundation, 61 Broadway, New York City.

CHAPTER XXI

SOCIAL, AESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS

HAPPINESS THROUGH SERVICE

Several times in the preceding chapters reference has been made to our national purpose “to transmute days of dreary work into happier lives.” This does not mean to get rid of work; for happiness can be attained only IN work and THROUGH work. Happiness IN work depends largely upon our freedom and ability to choose the kind of service for which we are best fitted, and upon the extent to which we prepare ourselves for it. It also depends to a large extent upon good health (p. 309).

SATISFACTION OF HIGHER WANTS

But there never was a truer statement than that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” In return for his work every citizen is entitled to enough compensation to enable him to provide not only for the bare necessities of life, such as food and shelter, but also for the pleasure that he derives from the satisfaction of his higher wants, such as social life and recreation, an education that will give him a richer enjoyment of life, pleasant surroundings, religious advantages.

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY LIFE

All these things have much to do with our national well-being and our citizenship. Our nation is democratic only in proportion to the equality of opportunity enjoyed by all citizens to satisfy these wants. Moreover, the efficiency of each citizen in productive work and as a participator in self-government depends more than we sometimes think upon his opportunity to “enjoy life” in pleasant surroundings and in wholesome social relations. In the past the citizen has been left largely to his own resources and to purely voluntary cooperation to provide for these wants. Government has not even adequately PROTECTED his rights of this kind, to say nothing of positively PROMOTING them. At present, however, community team work through government is being organized as never before both to promote and to protect the interests of all citizens in the fullest possible enjoyment of life.

RECREATION AND SOCIAL LIFE

THE VALUE OF PLAY

Children enjoy play because it satisfies physical, mental, and social wants. But it is also the principal means by which they prepare for the more serious duties of later life. It builds up health, trains the muscles and the senses, and sharpens the wits. It gives practice in team work, develops leadership, and teaches the value of “rules of the game.” Every child is entitled to an abundant opportunity to play, both because of the happiness it affords him and because by it he is trained for membership in the community. It is to the interest of the community to afford him the opportunity. It is largely for this reason that most of the states protect children by law from being put to work for a living at too early an age.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAY IN CITIES

In large cities thousands of children live in crowded districts where there is no place to play except in the public streets. So little appreciative have we been of the importance of play in the development of young citizens that great numbers of city schools have been built with no provision whatever for playgrounds. This mistake is slowly being corrected, often at great expense. No city school is now considered first-class if it does not have an ample and well-equipped playground, with competent directors to teach children how to get the most out of their play. Most cities are also establishing public playgrounds apart from the schools, sometimes under the management of the school board, but often under that of a special playground or recreation commission.

PLAY IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Play for the children of rural communities is as important as for those of cities, but even less attention has been given to it. Many a country school has no playground, and if it has one it is likely to be small and not equipped with play apparatus. Why should there be playgrounds when there is all outdoors in which to play? Why should there be expensive play apparatus and play directors when boys and girls can get all the “exercise” they need at home or on the farm? “Play” means more than mere physical exercise, and must be pleasurable if it is to have value. Organized play is as truly a means of education as any school instruction, and must have competent leadership or direction. In rural districts, where the children live far apart, there is particular need for a common meeting place for organized group play, and the school is the most appropriate place for it.

ARGUMENT FOR SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION

The need for organized play in rural communities is one of the best arguments for school consolidation, for it brings together larger numbers and makes possible the employment of a competent play director and the proper equipment of the playground. Teacher- training schools now make a point of training play leaders as well as teachers of arithmetic and geography.

MEANING OF RECREATION

As children grow older, an increasing part of their time must be given to work—school work, tasks at home, remunerative employment outside of the home. After leaving school and throughout adult life, work absorbs the major part of one’s time and attention. But even then, “all work and no play” will continue to “make Jack a dull boy.” We now call play “recreation,” for by it body and mind and spirit are refreshed, renewed, RE-CREATED, after close application to work. That is why school work is broken by “recesses.” Recreation is necessary as a means of providing for physical, mental, and social wants; for the pleasure that it affords. But it is also important in its relation to work, for without it body and mind become “fagged,” people grow “stale” at their work, producing power and power of service are reduced.

THE HABIT OF PLAY

It is very easy to get out of the habit of play, and especially difficult to form the habit in adult life if it has not been done in youth. People often become so absorbed in work that there seems to be no time for recreation. In such cases not only is the enjoyment of life narrowed, but there is a risk of damaging the quality of one’s work and even of shortening one’s life of productive activity, or of service.

LEISURE A REQUIREMENT

Every worker is entitled to opportunity for recreation, both for his own sake and for the well-being of the community. This means, first of all, that he must have LEISURE for it. When people have to work hard for ten or twelve or more hours a day, year in and year out, as was once customary in industry, there is neither time nor energy for wholesome recreation. That such conditions existed, and still exist to a considerable extent, is due to gross imperfections in the industrial organization of the community. One of the evidences of progress toward “transmuting days of dreary work into happier lives” is the reduction in the hours of toil in many industries, and the consequent increase of leisure for the enjoyment of life and for self-improvement.

One of the things for which labor unions have struggled is the shortening of the working day. Through their efforts, and through the awakening of public interest and knowledge in regard to the matter, the working day is now fixed by law at eight hours in most industries, often with a half holiday on Saturdays. Experience has shown that this change has in no way reduced the product of industry. There are still some industries, however, in which men toil at the hardest kind of labor for twelve or more hours a day, sometimes even including Sundays.

A LIVING WAGE A NECESSITY

A second thing necessary to afford opportunity for recreation is an income from one’s work sufficient to provide more than the bare necessities of life. Before the war, it is said, more than five million families, or about one fourth of the families in the United States, were trying to live on a wage of $50 a month, or less. During the war, wages of skilled and unskilled labor shot upward; but so, also, did the cost of living. It is not easy to determine just what share of the proceeds of industry should, in justice, go to the laborer in wages. But it should be enough to provide not only for food and clothing and shelter, but also for decent family life, for healthful surroundings, for education for the children, and for wholesome recreation.

Labor unions and others interested in a fairer distribution of the proceeds of industry have long been working for the enactment of “minimum wage laws,” that is, laws fixing the least wage that may be paid for each class of labor, this to be enough to provide a reasonable satisfaction of all the wants of life. Some states have already enacted such laws, and during the recent war the federal government in some cases fixed rates of wages, and appointed labor boards to adjust wages to the rising cost of living.

THE WISE USE OF LEISURE

Neither leisure nor income, however, suffice for recreation unless they are wisely used. Mere idleness is not recreation; and many people use their leisure in DISSIPATION instead of in recreation. “Dissipation” is the opposite of thrift. It means to “throw away,” or to be wasteful. A person may “dissipate” his income. We have come to understand the word “dissipation,” however, to mean excessive indulgence in pleasures or amusements that are wasteful of time, energy, or health, or all three, and we call the person “dissipated” who is addicted to such indulgence. Any amusement, even though harmless in itself, may become dissipation if indulged in to excess, or at the sacrifice of other things that are better.

RURAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR RECREATION

One of the principal disadvantages often put forward against life in rural communities is the lack of opportunity for recreation. It partly explains the difficulty of obtaining an abundance of farm labor, and is one of the obstacles to inducing young people to remain on the farm. Unfortunately, too, the women on the farm have often been the chief sufferers from close confinement to the drudgery of housework, with little opportunity for recreation and less chance than the men have to enjoy the companionship of other people.

The very nature of farming entails hard work and long hours, especially at certain seasons. Under existing conditions it is hard to see how the farmer’s working day could be limited to eight hours as in most other occupations.

The citizen farmer who lives in the same community with the miner … must invest in land and buildings, tools and livestock. He must pay taxes and insurance and repairs and veterinary fees. He must work often sixteen hours, seldom less than ten, and he must be on duty day and night, ready always to care for his independent plant—all this, and yet in order to receive a labor income equal to that of the soft coal miner … the farmer must not only work himself as no professional laborer ever works, but he must also work his children without pay.

[Footnote: E. Davenport, Dean of the College of Agriculture, University of Illinois, in “Proceedings of the First National Country Life Conference,” Baltimore, 1919. p. 183.]

IMPROVED CONDITIONS ON THE FARM

Although this only too faithfully describes living conditions on the farm as they have been in the past and still are in many cases, much improvement has taken place. Improvement of agricultural machinery and methods has brought a greater measure of leisure to the farmer, while better means of transportation and communication have both saved him time and made easier for him and his family association with other people and the enjoyment of entertainment in the neighboring village or city. The farm woman has benefited by the introduction of labor-saving devices and better management in the household, and by the development of community cooperation in such matters as dairying and laundry work (see pp. 106, 107). In fact, better team work in every phase of the business of agriculture means greater opportunity for the enjoyment of living, and the efforts of the national and state governments to encourage such team work and to improve the methods of agriculture have for their purpose not merely the increase of the agricultural product, but also the greater happiness of the rural citizen.

FACILITIES FOR DISSIPATION

When leisure may be found for recreation, the facilities for it are often inadequate. The city, and even the village, affords facilities for amusement and social enjoyment that good roads, automobiles, and trolley lines have made more accessible than formerly to the country round about. While the urban community naturally affords greater opportunity than the rural community for social recreation, its opportunities for dissipation are equally great. “Going to the movies” may be a real recreation, or it may become a dissipation when indulged in to excess without discrimination as to the merit of the performance. Almost every village has its well-known “loafing places,” and the saloon used to be a favorite meeting place for certain classes of people. Amusements that are especially harmful are more or less regulated by law. Even moving pictures are “censored.” Saloons have now been totally abolished.

FACILITIES FOR RECREATION

The most effective preventive of dissipation is ample provision for wholesome recreation. Various agencies in urban communities seek to supply this need, both for their own residents and for visitors from outside. Men’s clubs, such as chambers of commerce, afford social and amusement advantages for the business men of the town, and for visiting farmers who formerly met only at the store or courthouse, in the saloon or on the street corner. Public libraries, often with the cooperation of women’s clubs, provide “rest rooms,” arranged for the comfort and entertainment of visiting women, and afford means of profitable and enjoyable recreation for young people. Town churches sometimes maintain social rooms, open during the week for similar purposes. The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations have performed a great service by providing entertainment and social life for young people. One of the more recent developments is the “community center,” usually at the schoolhouse, where there are offered lectures and concerts, social entertainments, dances, games, and sports. In some large cities such “recreation centers” are of the greatest value in the crowded districts.

OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED BY THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL

Rural communities have suffered from a dearth of recreational facilities of their own, especially of a SOCIAL type. One of the most promising influences to supply this deficiency is the CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, which makes provision for assembly halls, social gatherings, and recreation grounds for young and old alike. An illustration of this is given in Chapter XIX (p. 296). Development of community recreation centers at consolidated rural schools is going on rapidly in many parts of the country.

Iowa affords a striking example of this. In that state more than 2000 one-room country schools have been consolidated into something more than 300, and consolidation is still going on. Some of these consolidated schools have five acres of land, where provision is made, not only for gardening and farming activities, but also for picnic grounds and for fields for athletic sports and contests. The buildings contain assembly halls, gymnasiums, and kitchens where food is prepared for social entertainments as well as for school lunches and for the teaching of cooking.

NEED FOR LEADERSHIP

One of the chief obstacles to the development of rural community recreation has been the absence of leadership. The consolidated school helps to remedy this. Other agencies, however, are doing something to provide such leadership, among the most active of which is the county work department of the Young Men’s Christian Association, which has organized county-wide athletic associations and rural play festivals and field days in many localities.

KNOWING HOW TO USE OPPORTUNITIES

There are agencies, or organizations, in almost every community that could and should serve recreational ends. The trouble with many of us is not so much the lack of time or of the means for recreation, but a lack of knowledge of how to get the most out of our recreational opportunities. Hence the need for leadership. Hence, also, the need for an education that will open up to us new avenues of enjoyment. Recreation may be obtained not only from athletic sports and social entertainments, but from the fields and woods, from books and music and pictures, even from VARIETY IN OUR WORK, if we only knew how to find it. The school is under as great obligation to provide us with an education that will teach us this as it is to equip us to earn a living.

Investigate and report on:

The opportunities for play in your community.

The forms of play most prevalent in your community.

The extent to which play in your community develops team work and leadership.

How your school playground could be improved.

Play as a means of education in your school.

Agencies besides the school that afford opportunity for play in your community.

Leisure on the farms of your locality: for men; for women; for children.

Could an eight-hour day be applied to farming in your locality? Why?

Length of the working day for different employments in your town or neighboring city.

Minimum wage laws in your state.

Recreational facilities and agencies in your community.

Community centers in your community and their activities.

The value of a county field day in your community.

Meaning of the statement that “the boy without a playground is father to the man without a job.”

ATTRACTIVE SURROUNDINGS

APPRECIATION OF THAT WHICH IS BEAUTIFUL

Beauty in one’s surroundings adds much to the enjoyment of life, and therefore, also, to one’s efficiency in work and as a citizen.

People are often apparently blind to the beauty that is around them. “Having eyes, they see not; and ears, they hear not.” Those who live in the open country are surrounded by natural beauties of which city dwellers are largely deprived. Too often, however, they are unconscious of them or indifferent to them. To the hard- working farmer a gorgeous sunset may be little more than a sign of the weather on the morrow, and the beauty of a field of wheat or corn may be lost in the thought of the toil that has gone into it, or of the dollars that may come out of it. Fortunate is the rural dweller whose toil and isolation are tempered by an appreciation of the beauties of the natural world about him!

ITS CULTIVATION

Love for and appreciation of that which is beautiful may be cultivated. It is a part of one’s education. The schools now give more attention to it than formerly; but many of them do not yet give enough. Appreciation of beauty is cultivated not merely by instruction in “art,” but also by those studies that increase one’s knowledge of the common things about us. The teaching of agriculture and of science has a very practical purpose; but its purpose is only partly accomplished if it teaches us how to raise corn or cotton without opening our eyes to the wonders of nature involved in the process.

An appreciation of beauty may be cultivated, also, by association with it, as it may be destroyed by constant association with that which is ugly. People who live in unkempt and slovenly surroundings are likely to become indifferent to them. It is the duty of every one to have a care for the appearance of his surroundings both because of its effect upon himself and its influence upon others.

IMPORTANCE OF APPEARANCES

A stranger who visits our school is likely to judge it, first of all, by its appearance. He will note whether or not the building is in good repair, the condition of the grounds and fences, the presence or absence of flower beds, shrubs, and trees. Inside, he will observe the cleanliness and orderliness of the room, the decorations on the walls, the presence or absence of pictures and flowers and plants; yes, and also the care the pupils and teacher take of their personal appearance. These things are signs to the visitor of the interest taken by pupils, school authorities, and the community in their school. They are also signs of the character of the work done in the school, and of the happiness of the pupils.

A COMMUNITY JUDGED BY APPEARANCES

In a similar manner, the visitor to your community will form his first opinion of it by its appearance. He will note, first of all the appearance of the homes, and then, probably, the cleanliness and state of repair of the streets or roads. He will observe the condition of the fences, and whether or not the weeds are cut along the roads. He will notice, also, the extent to which the people love flowers, and care for trees and vacant lots. All of these things will be signs to him of the prosperity, the happiness, the “community spirit,” of the citizens. They will doubtless enter into his decision as to whether or not he cares to live, or establish a business, or educate his children, in that community.

COMMUNITY INTEREST IN BEAUTY

In cities a good deal of attention is usually given to such matters, and laws exist, with government officers to administer them, for the protection and promotion of community beauty. In rural communities these matters are left more largely to individual initiative and voluntary cooperation. It becomes a matter of public interest and spirit on the part of the individual and the family. It is true that some things are done through government authorities, as in the improvement of the roads and the building of bridges and culverts that are of pleasing design as well as serviceable. In some New England “towns” there are “town planning” boards, which carefully plan for the laying out of streets and their improvement, the proper location of public buildings and the style of architecture to be used, the location and development of parks and playgrounds, the enactment of suitable housing laws, and other matters pertaining to the beauty of the community as well as to the well-being of its citizens.

COMMUNITY PLANNING

Systematic planning of rural communities with a view to making them beautiful has not been carried very far in this country. In fact, as one travels over a large part of the United States one is impressed by the monotonous and unattractive character of the towns and villages. This is not true everywhere, for in some parts of the country, usually those that have been settled longest, one sees beautiful villages that fit harmoniously into the landscape. But over large areas of the country it seems that wherever man has gone he has marred the beauty of nature.

INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE

There is nothing in which the influence of example is so quickly seen as in matters relating to appearance. People are prone to copy their neighbors in matters of style, whether it be in dress or in architecture.

In one rather wretched community a few boys who were studying civics sought permission to lay sod in the dooryard of a tenement house. Having obtained permission and laid the sod, it was not long before some one else in the neighborhood did likewise, and soon people all around were sodding their yards or sowing grass seed. Then they began to repair and paint their fences and otherwise “tidy up” their places, until the whole neighborhood was transformed in appearance. It is interesting to note, also, that as the community improved in appearance, it also became less lawless than it had been.

This is one phase of community life in which it is easy to establish leadership, and in which young people can perform valuable civic service and contribute materially toward “transmuting days of dreary work into happier lives.”

Investigate and report on:

The natural beauty of your community.

How natural beauty has been destroyed in your community.

How natural beauty has been preserved in your community.

Our national parks.

How your school promotes the love for beauty.

How your school could be made more beautiful.

How you and your schoolmates could make your school more beautiful.

What impression a stranger would get of your community from its appearance.

The features in the appearance of your community of which you are proud. Those of which you are ashamed.

Agencies that exist in your community to promote its beauty

Ways in which you can participate in making your community more beautiful.

RELIGIOUS LIFE AND AGENCIES

GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION

In some countries church and state are inseparably bound together. Before the recent war the Russian Czar was also the head of the Russian church. In our own country in colonial times, no citizen was permitted to vote in the New England town meeting who did not belong to the Puritan church of the community. This religious qualification for participation in government was in the course of time dispensed with, and one of the fundamental principles of our democracy is that every citizen shall have complete liberty of religious belief. Our government exercises no control over the religious life of the people other than to guarantee this liberty. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (United States Constitution, Amendment I). State constitutions contain similar guarantees. To prevent government interference with religion, religious institutions are exempt from taxation.

RELIGION A MEANS OF CONTROL

On the other hand, the church and other religious institutions are an important means of community control. They do not exercise this control through government, but through the influence of their own beliefs and organization upon the conduct of their members. If everybody should live in accordance with the Golden Rule, there would be no need for government as a means of repression, but only as a means of performing service.

RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES AN OBSTACLE TO TEAM WORK

One of the unfortunate things about the church has been the fact that more or less important differences in religious belief have tended to break up the community into numerous religious groups, or churches. This may be necessary in purely religious matters, but it has too often happened that the people have allowed their religious differences to prevent united action in other matters of common interest to the entire community. In some cases communities have been broken up into rival, or even hostile, factions because of this. There is, however, a growing tolerance of one religious sect or denomination by others, which is in accord with the Christian spirit, and is necessary if community life is to be well developed. It often happens that there are more churches of the same denomination in a community than it can support. In such cases, at least, there is need for church consolidation similar to the consolidation of schools, and for the same reason.

SOCIAL SERVICE OF THE CHURCH

The church may be, and often is, an important agency in the community for the performance of services other than that of ministering to the religious wants of the people. Or, to speak more correctly, it has realized more or less fully that the religious wants of the people are closely bound up with their other wants, and seeks to minister to these other wants as a part of its religious duty. Thus, we find the church growing more active in looking after the health interests, educational interests, and social and recreational interests of its members and others.

Investigate and report on:

The number of religious denominations having churches in your community.

The number of churches in each denomination.

Membership and attendance in the churches of your community.

Arguments for and against church consolidation in your community.

Activities of churches in your community, other than religious.

Religious organizations other than churches in your community.

READINGS

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 27, Concentration of social institutions (including the school and the church).

Series B: Lesson 12, Impersonality of modern life. Lesson 20, The church as a social institution. Lesson 29, Labor organizations.

Series C: Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life. Lesson 29, Child labor. Lesson 32, Housing for workers.

“Sources of Information on Play and Recreation,” by Lee F. Hanmer and Howard W. Knight; Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation, New York (1915).

THE PLAYGROUND. A monthly publication of the Playground and Recreation Association of America, 1 Madison Ave., New York ($2 a year).

NEIGHBORHOOD PLAY. A manual of rural recreation (The Youth’s Companion, Boston).

McCready, S. B., Rural Science Reader. In “Rural Education Series,” H. W. Foght, general editor (Heath).

Write the County Work Department, International Committee of the Y. M. C. A. for material.

Foght, H. W., THE RURAL TEACHER AND HIS WORK, Chapter VI (The rural school and community recreation).

Jackson, Henry E., A COMMUNITY Center—WHAT IT IS AND HOW TO ORGANIZE IT, U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. 11.

Quick, Herbert, “The rural awakening in its relation to civic and social center development.” Bulletin No. 474, University of Wisconsin.

“Beautifying the Farmstead,” Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1087, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Proceedings First National Country Life Conference (address Dwight Sanderson, Secretary, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.); “Play and recreation in rural life,” p. 95; “Religious forces for country life,” p. 83.

Jackson, Henry E., THE COMMUNITY CHURCH (Macmillan).

Numerous “surveys” of rural communities have been made by various agencies. Among them are those made by the Department of Church and Country Life of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, 156 Fifth Ave., New York. Extensive surveys are being made by the Inter-Church World Movement, 45 West 18th St., New York.

Bulletin No. 184 of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Iowa State Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa, contains a social survey of Orange Township, Blackhawk County, Iowa.

Write your State Agricultural College or State University for possible materials of a local character.

CHAPTER XXII

DEPENDENT, DEFECTIVE, AND DELINQUENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY

In every community there are some members who are not self- supporting and who do not contribute materially to the community’s progress (see Chapter V and Chapter XI).

WHO CONSTITUTE DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS

The very young and the very aged come within this group. Both are peculiarly dependent upon others, though the aged may, by thrift in earlier years, have acquired a competence with which to meet the needs of old age; and the young are expected, in later years, to compensate the community for the care they have received from others during childhood.

There are those, also, of all ages, who are incapacitated for self-support and for service by disease, or by physical or mental defects such as bodily deformities, blindness, or feeble- mindedness. In addition, there are some who, though physically able to perform service, deliberately prey upon the community in one manner or another without giving anything in return. The latter constitute the DELINQUENT class, and include criminals.

RELATION OF THE FAMILY TO THE PROBLEM

Normally, the needs of those who are unable to support themselves, whether because of extreme youth or old age or because of physical or mental defects, are provided for by the family. It frequently happens, however, that the family is unable to perform this service. It may be entirely broken up. Children may be left without parents, and the aged without children. The natural supporters of the family may be stricken by disease, or by accident, or by financial misfortune. Moreover, the proper care and treatment of many defectives require better facilities and greater skill than can be provided even by well-to-do families. Thus a class of DEPENDENTS is produced—dependents upon the community as a whole. They may or may not be DEFECTIVES, physical or mental. Dissipation and thriftlessness are two of the chief causes of dependency.

TREATMENT IN EARLY TIMES

In the lower stages of civilization it was not uncommon for the feeble and the helpless to be put to death, even sickly children and persons infirm from old age. This was done in the name of community interest. The struggle for existence was so severe that the presence of non-producing or non-fighting members endangered the entire group. Besides, it was the belief in most cases that the sacrifice of the helpless simply hastened their passage into a happier life.

REDUCING THE WASTAGE OF HUMAN LIFE

Humane considerations now prevent such treatment of the helpless. Moreover, with our increased skill in medicine and surgery and education, the diseased and defective may often be restored to health or fitted for some form of self-support that makes them happier and of use to the community. The wastage of human life has been greatly reduced in recent years. Many of the soldiers who returned from the war in Europe so broken in body or mind that in former times they would have dragged out the remainder of their lives a burden to themselves and to others have, by surgical skill and special forms of education, been restored wholly or partially to the ranks of the self-supporting and useful members of the community. This REHABILITATION of the dependent and defective members of the community, whether their misfortune is due to war or other causes, is the chief aim of the treatment given them by the community at the present time.

RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH COMMUNITY

It is an accepted principle that each community should, so far as possible, care for its own unfortunates, and the effectiveness with which it is done varies. But everywhere it has taken a long time to change from the old policy of mere RELIEF to the new policy of REHABILITATION (see above).

THE LOCAL ALMSHOUSE AND ITS DEFECTS

In New England and in a few other states the town, or township, is the unit for administering “poor relief,” but elsewhere it is the county. The “almshouse,” or “poor farm,” or “county infirmary” is the usual local institution for this purpose. Unfortunately it has been, as a rule, badly managed. Men and women, old people and children, healthy and diseased, blind and crippled, moral and immoral, even the insane, have been housed together, often mingling with one another with little restriction. The evils of such a system are apparent.

SHORT-SIGHTED POLICY

Moreover, the policy of the typical almshouse has been merely to give shelter and food and clothing to those who appeal for it, rather than to remedy the causes of dependency or to restore the unfortunate to a basis of self-support and usefulness. Medical treatment is of course given, but the means do not exist to give special expert treatment to particular classes of defectives. Little educational opportunity worthy of the name is afforded. While able-bodied inmates usually have some work to do, it is seldom of a character to train for self-support or to create habits of industry.

REMEDIES PROPOSED

To provide this special treatment requires elaborate equipment and expert service, which cost a great deal of money, more than most counties or towns feel that they can afford. Communities must come to realize that they cannot afford to neglect their unfortunate members, no matter what it costs to care for them. But the cost need not be so great as it seems. A great deal of money is now WASTED on almshouses without adequate results. This can largely be remedied by insisting upon more expert supervision in such institutions, and by a system of regular inspection by expert state officers. Greater care should be exercised with respect to those who are admitted to the institutions. Only the deserving should be allowed to live on the public funds. It is not uncommon for some classes of shiftless people to make a practice of seeking shelter in the almshouse during the winter, where they live in comparative comfort and idleness at the public expense, only to leave in the spring for a life of aimless indolence, imposing as beggars upon kind-hearted people.

PURPOSE OF STATE INSTITUTIONS

Moreover, the county almshouse should be only a temporary place of detention for many of the people who now are kept there permanently. Those who need special treatment or training should be passed on as quickly as possible to special institutions that are equipped to care for them. Since most local communities could not well afford to maintain such special institutions for the comparatively few who would need them, the state should maintain enough of them at central points to provide for the needs of all local communities.

The states do maintain such institutions—hospitals and sanitariums for various types of mental disease, homes for orphans and for the aged, and for persons with incurable diseases, asylums and schools for the blind and the deaf-and-dumb, industrial schools for boys and girls. The problem of the state is, first, to develop such institutions to the highest possible degree of efficiency for the REHABILITATION of their patients or inmates, and, second, to secure effective cooperation on the part of local authorities and institutions in transferring those, and only those, who are entitled to state assistance.

COOPERATION FOR “OUTDOOR” RELIEF

When dependents are cared for in institutions, it is called INDOOR RELIEF; when they are cared for outside of institutions, in their homes, it is called OUTDOOR RELIEF. Outdoor relief requires community organization and cooperation and expert leadership quite as much as indoor relief. The lack of these has often resulted in great harm both to the community and to the needy person. Promiscuous giving of charity by well-intentioned persons often results in giving to the undeserving as well as to the deserving. There are lazy and shiftless individuals who find it easier to live on charity than by honest work, and whose lack of self- respect permits them to do so. Sometimes they do so by fraudulent methods. Giving to such persons encourages pauperism and fraud instead of curing it. Kind-hearted people often say that they would rather be cheated occasionally by dishonest applicants for charity than to fail to help the really needy by too great caution. The answer to this is that by proper community organization and cooperation the needy will be found with much greater certainty, the fraudulent will be detected, and the aid given to those who should have it will be much more effective. The citizen who turns an applicant for aid over to an effective organization in a great majority of cases performs a much greater service both to the applicant and to the community than by attempting to give aid directly. A few pennies or a few dollars given even to a worthy applicant may not reach the root of the trouble at all, and may be the innocent cause of perpetuating the trouble.

VOLUNTARY AGENCIES

Many voluntary organizations exist for charitable and philanthropic purposes. The church has always been one of the chief agencies to care for the poor and unfortunate; but there are many others, especially in our large cities. Sometimes they maintain hospitals and other institutions for the treatment of those who need indoor relief. They have done a great deal of good. But they are subject to the same difficulties that individuals encounter in dealing wisely with particular cases. They have often devoted themselves too exclusively to giving temporary relief instead of seeking to cure causes and to rehabilitate the unfortunate. They are frequently deceived by impostors. Seldom do they have expert investigators to follow up individual cases and to prescribe the most effective remedy. They frequently duplicate one another’s work in a wasteful manner.

CHARITY ORGANIZATION

This lack of team work has been in large measure remedied, especially in city communities, by the establishment of CHARITY ORGANIZATION SOCIETIES. Such societies do not as a rule give direct relief, but act as a “clearing house” for existing charitable agencies in the community. That is, they organize the effort of the various existing agencies. They have a corps of trained investigators who look into each case reported by any individual or charitable agency in the community, make a careful record of it, and prescribe the proper treatment. The case is usually turned over to one of the existing agencies that is properly equipped to handle it. Philanthropic persons may turn to the charity organization society for advice as to purposes for which money is most needed. The aim of charity organization is to remedy causes of dependency and to restore dependents to a self- sustaining basis so far as that is possible.

GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION FOR POOR RELIEF

Charity organization societies are wholly voluntary organizations; and there is need for such voluntary cooperation to care for the community’s unfortunate and to root out the causes of dependency. Such organizations should, however, work in cooperation with governmental agencies. There are state boards of charities which usually have supervision over the various state institutions for dependents and defectives. Every large city government has its department of charities, sometimes combined with the department of health. The “overseer of the poor” is one of the oldest of town officers. The care of dependents and defectives in small, or rural, communities has, however, been very poorly organized.

RELATION BETWEEN STATE AND LOCAL ORGANIZATION

An effective attack upon the public welfare problems of a state is twofold: (1) by a state welfare board and state welfare institutions, and (2) by town and county welfare boards and institutions… .

Public welfare work calls for a state board of public welfare, statewide in authority … and for state institutions that are large enough to care for the delinquents, the dependents, the defectives, and the neglected who cannot be better cared for by local authority and institutions. ...

But, on the other hand, it calls for county boards of public welfare with county-wide authority and trained executive secretaries. ... Many of our ills bulk up so big that they can be successfully attacked only in detail by local interest, local effort, and local institutions. Tuberculosis and poverty are capital instances of social problems that are beyond the possibilities of state institutions, and that necessarily wait upon organized county efforts of effective sort. ... We do not know the deaf, the blind, the feeble-minded, the epileptic, the crippled, and the neglected or wayward boys and girls—their number, their names, and their residences in any county of the state … because there is at present no local organization charged with the responsibility of accounting for such unfortunates. ...

[Footnote: E. C. Branson, “County responsibility for public welfare,” in the North Carolina Club YEAR BOOK, 1917-1918, pp. 161, 162 (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.).]

CAUSES OF DEPENDENCY MUST BE REMOVED

There will doubtless always be some dependent and defective members of the community for whom the community must care. Their number, however, may be greatly reduced by creating conditions that will remove their causes. It has been reported from many localities, for example, that the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors has resulted in the emptying of the “work houses” which communities have sustained for the confinement of vagrants and persons convicted of petty misdemeanors. Much dependency has resulted from the crippling of wage earners by industrial accidents and from “industrial diseases” arising from work in unwholesome conditions. These causes may be removed by the maintenance of wholesome working conditions, by the installation of safety devices, and by the exercise of greater care by workers and employers. The “safety first” movement strikes at the root of much dependency. Inability to read signs and to understand instructions on the part of illiterate and foreign workers is the cause of many accidents.

SOCIAL INSURANCE

Some states have passed “employers’ liability laws,” designed to hold employers responsible for accidents resulting from failure to provide safe working conditions. Others have “workmen’s compensation laws” which provide that an injured workman shall receive a portion of his wages during incapacity from accident or illness. In some countries various forms of COMPULSORY STATE INSURANCE have been adopted. Germany, for example, has long had laws requiring employees to take out accident insurance and insurance against sickness, both employees and employers contributing to the insurance fund. Pensions for the aged and for widows are also provided for, the government itself contributing to the fund for this purpose. At the close of the year 1919, 39 of our 48 states had laws providing for aid by the state to mothers who were unable to provide properly for their children.

The aim in our community life should be as far as possible to PREVENT dependency and not merely to relieve suffering after it occurs. We shall find that the problem will tend to disappear in proportion as we develop in our communities adequate provision for health protection and physical development (Chapter XX), for vocational and general education (Chapter XIX), for wholesome recreation (Chapter XXI), for the cultivation of habits of thrift (Chapter XIII); and as we are successful in producing a right attitude toward the problem of earning a living and wholesome relations between employer and employee (Chapter XI).

Investigate and report on:

The rehabilitation of crippled soldiers after the war.

Your county or town almshouse or poor farm: The kinds of cases sheltered there; its cost to the community; the methods of treatment employed.

Other local institutions for indoor relief in your community.

State institutions for the care of dependents and defectives in your state. Their kinds and location.

The difference between “poverty” and “pauperism.”

The extent and kind of “charity work” done by the church which you attend (get accurate information).

The voluntary organizations of your community that give “poor relief.” The kind of charitable work done by each.

Charity organization in your community. Its results and the need for it.

The causes of dependence in your community.

The extent to which voluntary charitable work in your community is directed to removing the causes of dependency.

The organization of your county or town government for the care of dependents and defectives.

Employers’ liability laws, workmen’s compensation laws, mothers’ pension laws, in your state.

THE CRIMINAL CLASS

It is said that there are at least 250,000 people in the United States who make their living by crime, and there are many more who commit crime on occasion. It is said, also, that to support and control this criminal class costs the people of the United States not less than $600,000,000 per annum, or as much as is expended for the entire educational system of the country.

WHAT CRIME IS

Crime is the violation of law. The criminal is a member of the community who refuses to cooperate with others in accordance with the law. The conduct of an individual may be wrong and harmful to the community without being criminal; it becomes criminal only when the law actually forbids it. A given act may be a crime in one state and not in another state, because the laws of the states differ in their definition of crimes. They also differ in the penalties imposed for the same crime.

EARLY METHODS OF TREATING CRIMINALS

The methods of dealing with criminals have changed greatly with the progress of civilization, and especially in recent years since the causes of crime have become better understood. In the earlier methods two ideas were prominent: the infliction of punishment, and the deterrence of others from committing the same offense. The penalties inflicted were therefore very severe. The death penalty was inflicted not only for taking human life but also for minor offenses, such as stealing. Even in our own country in colonial times bodily mutilation was not uncommon, such as branding with a hot iron, or cutting off the ears. Prisons were vile and loathsome places.

REHABILITATION OF CRIMINALS

Humane feelings have caused the abandonment of such treatment. The death penalty still remains for the worst of crimes; but even it has become more humane in its methods. Many believe that it should be entirely abandoned. The eighth amendment to the Constitution of the United States says that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Moreover, a new idea has entered into the matter. It is the same idea that controls the modern treatment of dependents, namely, that of REHABILITATING the criminal. It is now recognized that crime results in most cases from diseased conditions either in the individual or in the community. Some individuals commit crime merely because it seems to them the easiest way to make a living or to gain some other end; but even such individuals are MORALLY diseased. Much crime is due to temporary mental disturbance, as from the use of intoxicants or other drugs. Sometimes it is the act of persons who are actually insane or feeble-minded. Very often it is committed under pressure of poverty.

In view of these facts, while the deliberate violator of law should doubtless be punished, it is even more important that the causes of crime should be removed, and that the criminal should, in as many cases as possible, be restored to a useful and an honest manner of life. The proper treatment of dependents and defectives, and the removal of causes of dependency and defectiveness, are essential steps toward the lessening of crime.

THE LOCAL JAIL

The county jail and the town “lock-up” are the usual local institutions where persons suspected of having violated the law are detained while awaiting trial in the courts, and also where those convicted of petty misdemeanors are imprisoned for punishment. The jail and the “lock-up” are as notorious as the almshouse for unwholesome conditions and mismanagement, though conditions have greatly improved under the influence of an awakened public opinion. They have often, been unsanitary in the extreme. Prisoners have often been treated more like cattle than like human beings. Young and old are thrown together, the hardened criminal with the youthful “first offender,” and with those merely suspected of crime, many of whom will be proved to be innocent. The result is demoralizing. Our jails have sometimes been said to be “schools of vice and crime.”

NEEDED REFORM OF THE JAIL

Two reforms, at least, are needed in local jails. First, they should be made as wholesome as possible, both physically and morally. They should be perfectly sanitary, and the food should at least be clean and nourishing. Arrangements should be made to keep the different classes of inmates separate, especially the hardened and vicious criminals from youthful transgressors and suspects. In the second place, the local jail should be merely a place of detention for those awaiting trial or, after trial, transfer to other institutions. Those found guilty by the courts should be transferred as quickly as possible to institutions where they may receive treatment fitted to their needs.

FITTING THE TREATMENT TO THE OFFENDER

Of three persons who steal ten dollars, one may be a deliberate thief who prefers to make his living this way; another may be driven by hunger; and the third may be mentally unbalanced. It is obvious that the treatment accorded to each should be determined by these facts rather than by the mere amount of the theft. The first doubtless needs punishment; but he should also have treatment designed to change his attitude toward the community and to fit him to make an honest living. The second needs to be relieved of his want and to be given an opportunity for self- support. The third needs hospital treatment. We are only beginning to see that punishment is only a part of the treatment necessary, and that the treatment should be made to fit the criminal fully as much as to fit the crime.

STATE INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENTS

Proper treatment for all the various classes of cases cannot well be given in the county jail; nor can the local community as a rule afford to maintain separate institutions for them, as the number in each class is very small in a given community. Hence the necessity for state institutions to which those convicted in the local courts may be sent. Such institutions exist, although not always adequate to the needs of the state. They include state penitentiaries, reform and industrial schools, hospitals for the insane, special schools for the feeble-minded, and others. These institutions have been steadily improving in their efficiency. The greater difficulty seems to be in the local communities, in securing the assignment of offenders to the proper institutions.

ADMINISTRATION OF STATE PRISONS

Great changes have occurred in recent years in the methods of administering state penitentiaries, especially in some states. Under old conditions convicts were either confined in isolation and idleness or condemned to hard labor, punishment being the sole idea in both cases. The most rigid and arbitrary discipline was enforced. Modern penitentiaries keep prisoners employed in occupations that are of use to the state, that are designed to train the prisoner for useful service, and that yield him some compensation that will help to make him self-supporting when he leaves. They also maintain schools for the instruction of prisoners in at least the common branches of knowledge and in vocational subjects. Great care is taken of the health. In some cases the prisoners are graded according to their conduct and their ability to assume responsibility, certain privileges and freedom and participation in the administration of the prison being bestowed upon them so long as they show a sense of their responsibility. The period of imprisonment may be shortened as a reward for good conduct.

JUVENILE OFFENDERS

One of the most important reforms that have been made is that in the treatment of juvenile offenders. The main feature of this is the establishment of a JUVENILE COURT, where the usual procedure and publicity of a criminal court are avoided, and where the judge takes a fatherly attitude toward the accused. Each case is carefully investigated to discover the cause of trouble and to arrive at a wise conclusion as to the treatment to be given. In the case of first offenders, or where other conditions justify it, the prisoner is released ON PROBATION. That is, he is given his freedom on his honor, but under the supervision of a PROBATION OFFICER to whom he must report at regular intervals. In the case of more serious offenses, or of repeated wrong-doing, or of violation of parole, offenders are sent to reform schools or industrial schools. The entire effort is to set the young offender on the right road to honest self-support and good citizenship. Unfortunately, however, this machinery for the treatment of juvenile delinquency is so far found almost exclusively in cities. The problem of juvenile delinquency in rural communities is one that requires more attention than has been given to it. It is a problem that the young citizen himself can greatly help to solve by the cultivation, in himself and in his friends, of right conceptions of citizenship.

Investigate and report on the following:

The organization of your county and town governments to protect persons and property against criminals, to apprehend law violators, and to bring them to justice.

The cost to your county or town of this organization.

The desirability or undesirability of differing definitions of crime in different states, and of different punishments for the same crime.

The efficacy of severe punishments in preventing crime.

Should capital punishment be abolished?

The meaning of “bail,” and why it is provided for.

The effect of prohibition upon the amount of crime in your community.

The number of prisoners confined in your county jail during the past year, why they were there, and what it cost to keep them.

The meaning of “fitting punishment to the criminal rather than to the crime.”

The treatment of prisoners in your state penitentiary.

The method of dealing with juvenile offenders in your community.

The meaning of “probation”; of “parole”; of an “indeterminate sentence.”

The extent of juvenile delinquency in your community; its causes.

The use of convict labor outside of prisons.

READINGS

Reports of county and town authorities.

Reports of state board of charities and of administrative boards of state institutions.

Publications of the Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor. Send for list from which to select. Two valuable publications of this Bureau are:

Bureau Publication No. 32, “Juvenile Delinquency in Rural New York.”

Bureau Publication. No. 60, “Standards of Child Welfare.” This contains among other valuable material, discussions of child labor and legislation relating to it, of the care of dependent and defective children, and of juvenile delinquency.

In Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series A: Lesson 5, The human resources of a community. Lesson 28, The worker in our society.

Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. Lesson 20, The family and social control. Lesson 30, Social insurance.

The following are a few good books relating to the topics of this chapter:

Burch, H. R, and Patterson, S. H., American Social Problems, chaps, xvi-xx (Macmillan).

Henderson, C. R., Dependents, Defectives, and Delinquents.

Warner, A. G., American Charities.

Devine, E. T., Principles of Relief.

Addams, Jane, Twenty Years at Hull House, and The House on Henry Street.

Ellwood, C. A., Sociology and Modern Social Problems.

CHAPTER XXIII

TEAM WORK IN TAXATION

THE DISLIKE OF THE PEOPLE FOR TAXATION

People have never liked to pay taxes. Their repugnance to it is largely a survival of the times when an autocratic ruling class imposed taxes upon the people for its own selfish purposes. Struggling for the bare necessities of life, the people had to pay the bills of the ruling class who lived in luxury. The long struggle for liberty in England and in the English colonies was a struggle against the power of rulers to impose taxes without the consent of the people. The habit of mind with respect to taxation formed under such conditions has to a considerable extent persisted into the present, when conditions are very different.

WHAT TAXATION MEANS IN A DEMOCRACY

The change to government “of the people, by the people, for the people” should put the paying of taxes in a very different light. We decide upon a service we want performed for us, we provide the governing machinery to perform the service, and the service must be paid for. We do not object to paying for having our house built, our food provided, our clothes made, and our goods hauled. Why should we object to paying for the service of schools, roads, protection of health and property, the defense of our liberties?

THE RETURNS FROM TAXATION

Such objection seems especially unreasonable when we consider that the value of the service rendered by government is, as a rule, far in excess of what it costs the individual citizen. In Chapter XVII we saw that a Virginia farmer, the value of whose farm was assessed at $3000, was taxed $19.48 for road improvements. In return for this he acquired the use of a system of roads throughout the county that cost at least $173,000. This local system connected him with the transportation system of the entire country, gave him a market for his produce, greatly increased the value of his land, brought better school facilities, and enriched his life in many ways.

The recent war imposed an unusually heavy burden of taxation upon us. But when we think of the millions of people who paid for the war with their LIVES, and of the fact that the war was fought for the most precious of all things,—human liberty,—the money tax that each citizen had to pay in some form or other seems very insignificant.

BENEFITS OF TEAM WORK IN TAXATION

In Chapter IV we read how Benjamin Franklin secured the services of a man to keep the pavements of the neighborhood clean “for the sum of sixpence per month to be paid by each house.” By this bit of cooperation, each householder was relieved of a burden, and had the benefit not only of having his own pavement cleaned, but also of knowing that those of all his neighbors would be equally clean, and thus of having a pleasanter neighborhood, and the cost was insignificant. This incident illustrates the underlying principle of taxation in a self-governing community. The poorest citizen is made rich in the benefits that he may enjoy, while the cost is made proportional to his ability to pay.

MISUSE OF TAXES

Like the rest of our governing machinery, however, our system of levying, collecting, and paying taxes does not always work perfectly, and there is more or less ground for dissatisfaction with it. In the first place, the people do not always get full value for their taxes. While it is true that the farmer receives, in return for his road tax, vastly more than he could purchase privately with the same amount of money, yet, if the road improvements are poorly made, he gets less than he should. It usually costs as much to employ an inefficient road supervisor, or school teacher or superintendent, or sheriff, as to employ an efficient one—in fact, in the long run it costs more. Sometimes more persons are employed in government offices than there is any need for, or some of those employed are shirkers, or otherwise inefficient. There is wastefulness in the methods by which appropriations are made for the expenses of government. Sometimes there is “graft,” by which public money is diverted to the private uses of officials, contractors, or others.

A CAUSE OF DISSATISFACTION

Such abuses as these are, of course, not faults of the TAXING system, but they naturally make citizens reluctant to pay taxes. People want to know that their money is spent for the purposes for which it was paid, and that it is used economically and effectively for these purposes. Nothing else will do so much to remove the dislike of taxation as assurance on these points. As Franklin said with reference to his successful experiment in street cleaning, it “raised a general desire to have all the streets paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a tax for that purpose.”

TAXATION MUST BE JUST

A system of taxation must be JUST if it is to meet with popular approval. It is not easy, nor indeed possible, to devise a system that works with absolute justice in every case; for the assessment of taxes is a complicated process, and reliance must be placed to a considerable extent upon the honesty and conscientiousness of individual citizens. The people are satisfied, however, if they see that every reasonable effort is made to secure justice.

The first essential in a just system is that EVERY CITIZEN SHALL BEAR HIS SHARE of the burden. Therefore the paying of taxes is compulsory by law. It is also just that each citizen shall pay only IN PROPORTION TO HIS ABILITY. These two principles of taxation are similar to those applied in the selective draft for war service. It is in assessing taxes according to ability to pay that one of the principal difficulties appears. But an effort has been made to do this by the following procedure.

HOW THE AMOUNT TO BE RAISED IS DETERMINED

It is first necessary to know how much money will be needed by the government. Each year, therefore, the heads of the various branches and departments of government make an estimate for the coming year, based on their knowledge of past expenditures and present and future needs. Such estimate can be made intelligently only when there is an accurate and businesslike system of keeping accounts and records, and a well-planned BUDGET SYSTEM. Unbusinesslike methods of keeping accounts and the lack of a budget system have been among the chief weaknesses of our governments, equally characteristic of local, state, and national governments. Efforts are being made to remedy these defects and are described in Chapters XXV, XXVI, and XXVII.

TAXES ON PERSONS, PROPERTY, AND PRIVILEGES

The second thing to be ascertained is the ability of each citizen to pay. In some states a uniform POLL TAX is assessed upon every adult citizen. This is a tax upon the PERSON and usually amounts to about two dollars. Only those are exempt who are incapable of self-support. But the chief reliance is upon a property tax. State and local governments depend principally upon a GENERAL PROPERTY TAX, for which purpose property is divided into two kinds: REAL ESTATE, which includes land and buildings, and PERSONAL PROPERTY, which includes furniture, tools, livestock, money, and valuables of various kinds. In addition to the general property tax there may be taxes upon INCOMES and upon INHERITANCES. There are also LICENSE TAXES, such as dog and automobile licenses. Finally there are taxes upon certain PRIVILEGES which are bestowed upon the individual by the community and have a money value. Of such a nature is the license tax imposed upon a peddler or upon a person who maintains a market stand on the public street. Such, also, are the taxes placed upon corporations for the privilege of using the public highways for car tracks, water mains, or telephone poles.

It is necessary, therefore, for the government to ASSESS THE VALUE of the property (or privilege) of each citizen, and it has its organization for this purpose. Each local community The assessment of (township, county, or city) has one or more TAX ASESSORS, who endeavor to ascertain by inquiry values or inspection the value of each citizen’s property. The sum of the individual assessments constitutes the assessment valuation for the town, or county, or city; and the sum of the valuations of these local communities constitutes the valuation for the entire state.

THE RATE OF TAXATION

The third step is to ascertain the RATE of taxation. This is found by dividing the total amount to be raised by taxation The rate of by the total property valuation of the county or taxation state, as the case may be. If the amount to be raised is $500,000, and the property valuation is $10,000,000, the rate would be 5 per cent, and the tax is levied against each citizen at this rate. A citizen who owns twice as much property as another should pay twice as much tax. Each should pay according to his ability.

DIFFICULTY OF JUST ASSESSMENT

This seems like a simple procedure; but it is very difficult to get a just result. The difficulty lies chiefly in the assessment It requires a good deal of intelligence to assess property fairly, even with the best of intentions. Assessors are not always competent. Two assessors may differ in their judgment, so that assessments in one part of the community may run at a lower level than in another part. Thus assessments vary in their fairness in different townships of the same county, and in different counties of the same state. An attempt is made to avoid this by means of county and state TAX EQUALIZATION BOARDS, which seek to adjust differences of this sort. But their efforts are only partially successful.

RESPONSIBILITY OF PROPERTY OWNERS

Property owners are themselves, however, more responsible than anyone else for the inequities of taxation in our country. It is a common practice of tax assessors to accept the property owner’s own statement of the valuation of his property. In an astonishingly large proportion of cases he gives a valuation far below the real one. Even when the assessor inspects the property, it is easy to conceal from his eyes certain forms of personal property, such as money, stocks and bonds, and jewelry. Land and livestock cannot be concealed; and for this reason farmers are likely to pay a heavier share of taxes than others whose property is in less conspicuous forms. But they may make false valuations.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF UNJUST ASSESSMENTS

In one state, where the law requires the assessment of real estate “at its true value in money when sold in the ordinary manner of sale,” a study in one township showed that “the average TAX value of farm land in the open country … is $7.89, while the average MARKET value runs around $20. The 73 largest taxpayers give in their farm holdings at values ranging from $6 to $20 an acre. Thus the burden of state and county support falls three or four times as heavily on one acre of farm land as on another—on farms lying side by side.

“When we look at suburban farm land the tax values range from $17 to $2220 an acre.

“But the most amazing ‘jokes’ appear in the values put by their owners on improved town lots. In the same end of the town we found three handsome town properties worth around $15,000 each, the tax values were $550, $4400, $4950. In another neighborhood, two adjoining homes about equal in value were listed at $500 and $3400; one at about 50 per cent and the other at about 8 per cent of the actual value.”

With regard to personal property in the same township, the wealthiest private taxpayer in the township lists household goods and utensils, work-stock, vehicles, money, jewelry … at $216. The next wealthiest private taxpayer covers all these properties with $105. He’s a farmer and well-to-do, but his household furniture, farm animals, vehicles, implements, and the like, are worth only $105—on the tax list.

“Another large landowner covers his household goods, farm animals, vehicles, and the like, with $82; another with $457, and another with $2272. The differences lie not so much in the properties as in the consciences of these big landlords.”[Footnote: 1 E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study; in North Carolina Club Year Book, 1917-1918, pp. 66, 67 (The University of North Carolina Extension Series No. 30).]

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HONESTY

Such inequalities as these may be found in almost every tax list in any community. One of the strange things about it is that citizens evade taxation who would not think of being dishonest or unfair in a private business transaction. The reason is not easy to understand. Doubtless it is partly due to the feeling that as long as “everybody does it” it is justifiable. Of course this is not true. One taxpayer is reported as saying, “I feel dog-mean whenever I give in my taxes; but I’m doing as well as the rest and a little better than most.”

GOOD SENSE AND GOOD BUSINESS

Dishonest returns by one taxpayer defraud the citizen who is honest, because they place a heavier burden of taxation upon the latter. Moreover, the dishonest taxpayer and good cheats himself along with others, for the lower the business valuation of property, the higher the rate of taxation, or the poorer the service received from the government. “It is good sense and good business for a state to show up with large tax values and low tax rates. It shows a brisk and lively prosperity that is attractive to outside capital and enterprise.” [Footnote: E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study]

INTELLIGENCE AND PUBLICITY NEEDED

To secure fairer taxation and better returns from taxation there is need of improvement in the organization for tax assessment and tax equalization. It is especially important to make it more difficult for the “tax dodger” to evade his responsibility. It would seem, however, that there would be fewer “tax dodgers” if the people once got “the right idea” of what taxation really means in a democracy. Great improvement would doubtless result, even under present conditions, if honest citizens would take more interest in the results of assessments as shown in the tax lists. The writer quoted in the paragraphs above asserts that, next to the Bible, “the most important book in any county is the Tax List, and it is the one book that the people in general know least about.”

Everybody knows in a vague, general way that something is wrong with our tax system … but what everybody does not know is what the facts are in concrete, accurate detail. There is no cure like publicity for wrongs in a democracy. Give the folks the facts, whatever they are, and the folks will do the rest. ... But at present nobody knows the facts. That is to say, nobody but the tax listers, the registers, and the sheriffs. And they are dumb because their official lives depend on silence. [Footnote:. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study.]

Investigate and report on the following:

Do people of your acquaintance like to pay taxes? What reasons do they give?

The cost of your town government, your county government, and your state government per year.

The purposes for which most money is spent by your town government, your county government, and your state government.

The assessed valuation of property in your town, county, state.

Does the law in your state require that property shall be assessed at its full market value? If not, at what part of its market value?

The tax rate in your county. Is it high or low? Reasons why it is high or low.

The tax list of your town.

The sources of revenue in your county and state, and the amount raised from each source.

The work of a tax assessor in your town.

Where taxes are paid in your community.

Who has charge of tax collections in your community?

What happens to a citizen in your community who fails to pay his taxes?

The difference between “assessing” and “levying” taxes.

Who levies the taxes in your town? county? state?

Explain the statement that “large tax values and low tax rates attract outside capital and enterprise”.

TAXATION BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

We have been speaking so far of taxation, for the purposes of state and local governments. But Congress also has power by “to lay and collect taxes … to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States” (Constitution, Art. I, sec. 8, clause i). State and local governments raise most of their revenues by DIRECT taxation upon the property of citizens. The national government, on the other hand, has always relied chiefly upon INDIRECT taxation. Congress levies DUTIES ON IMPORTS. These duties are paid in the first instance by the importer. The latter, however, adds the tax to the price of the goods, so that it is paid finally by the consumers and not by the importer. In a similar manner Congress levies EXCISE TAXES, which are taxes upon products manufactured in this country. The principal excise taxes have been those levied on alcoholic liquors and tobacco. But here again the tax is paid by the consumer in the price which he pays for the liquor or tobacco.

ADVANTAGES OF INDIRECT TAXATION

The chief advantage of indirect taxes is the ease and certainty with which they may be collected by the government. the citizen pays them whenever he buys the articles on which the tax is levied. The retail dealer passes them on to the wholesaler, and so finally the importer is reimbursed. The government collects the taxes at customs houses at ports of entry, or at the tobacco factories and, formerly, at distilleries. Prohibition has deprived the government of one of its chief sources of revenue. Indirect taxes are also less objectionable to the people, for they are seldom conscious of paying them when they buy goods upon which they are levied.

FEDERAL INCOME TAX

Congress has the power to levy direct as well as indirect taxes, but it has usually avoided direct taxation, partly for the reasons stated above, and partly because the Constitution provides that “no capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken”; that is, in proportion to population. It has been found difficult in practice to make such apportionment. Various attempts by Congress to levy a direct tax on incomes have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because it was not so apportioned. The Constitution has now been amended, however, to give Congress the power “to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration” (Amendment XVI).

A large revenue is now derived from the national income tax. The law at first exempted from it single persons whose income was less than $3000, and married persons whose income was less than $4000. As a result of the war, only those are now exempt whose incomes are less than $1000, if single, and $2000 if married, with an additional exemption for each dependent child. The tax is PROGRESSIVE: that is, the larger one’s income, the higher RATE one pays.

WAR TAXES

In ordinary times of peace, state and local governments together spend much more money than the national government. In war time the reverse is true. Enormous sums of money were required for the conduct of the recent war. As a result the rates of import, excise, and income taxes were greatly increased, and unusual forms of taxation were adopted. A war tax was placed upon many articles of common use, an inheritance tax was imposed similar to that in some of the states, and the EXCESS PROFITS of businesses which the war made unusually prosperous were taxed heavily. The effort in every case was to distribute the tax so that every one should do his share, while the burden should rest most heavily upon those who could best bear it.

GOVERNMENT LOANS

A large part of the money necessary for war purposes, and for permanent improvements in time of peace, is raised by borrowing. Governments, whether national, state, or local, borrow money by the sale of BONDS, the purchase price with interest being returned to the purchaser after a stated period of years. The national government borrowed more than 22 billion dollars during the war by the sale of “liberty bonds,” and an additional large sum by the sale of “war savings stamps”. These loans made by the people are ultimately paid off with funds raised by taxation. The people to- day advance money to the government, which the people of to-morrow pay back by taxation. This is justifiable because the war was fought for the benefit of future generations as well as of the people to-day. For the same reason, the cost of permanent improvements, such as roads and public buildings, is distributed over a period of years.

Investigate and report on:

The full meaning of Article I, section 8, clause i, and section 7, clause I, of the Constitution.

The loss to the nation of revenue as a result of the prohibition of the liquor traffic.

Compensating financial gains to the nation through prohibition of the liquor traffic.

Why an income tax is a good form of taxation. Why it should be “progressive”.

The justice of an inheritance tax. Of a tax on excess profits.

Articles upon which you pay an import duty.

Why government is justified in using force to compel the payment of taxes.

READINGS

County and state reports. Local tax lists.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 22, Financing the war. Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings.

The United States Treasury Department; in Federal Executive Departments,

Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education.

In Long’s AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Taxation and Government (John Fiske), pp. 249-254.

North Carolina Club YEAR BOOK, 1917-1918, pp. 49-68 (University of North Carolina Record, Extension Series No. 30, Chapel Hill, N.C.).

Tufts, Jas. H., THE REAL BUSINESS OF LIVING, pp. 52-54; 242-246 (Henry Holt Co.).

Hart, A.B., ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, pp. 381-429 (Longmans, Green & Co.).

Reed, T.H., FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, pp. 468-481 (World Book Co.).

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, under “Tax” and “Taxation.”

Plehn, C.C., INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC FINANCE (Macmillan).

CHAPTER XXIV

HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES

Early in our study we considered the question WHY we have government (Chapter IV). We saw then that it is the people’s organization for teamwork in protecting and promoting their common interests. Succeeding chapters contain evidence that this is so, although they also show that the results achieved by government are by no means perfect. Now we are to consider HOW we have organized to get teamwork and how well our organization is suited to its purpose.

GOVERNMENT AS A PROTECTOR OF INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE

“American experience indicates that what men do for themselves, on their own initiative, is better done than what paternalistic government attempts to do for them.” [Footnote: Editorial, SATURDAY EVENING POST, February 12, 1921.] Americans have always disliked PATERNALISM in government, which means an attempt on the part of government to control the personal affairs of the people as a father (Latin, PATER) controls the affairs of a small child. Democracy is founded on faith in the ability of the people to manage their own affairs with due regard for the equal rights of other people. We look upon our government chiefly as an instrument to ensure an equal opportunity to all to exercise initiative and to manage their own affairs; or, to use the terms we have used before, not so much to do things for us, as to secure teamwork in doing things for ourselves. We have had numerous examples of this principle in preceding chapters, one of which was the extent to which private initiative and enterprise were depended upon for the development of our public lands.

GOVERNMENT AS A PERFORMER OF SERVICE

As our community life has become more complex, and as our dependence upon one another has become greater, we have gradually come to expect government to do many things for us, and to control our individual conduct in many ways, that were not thought of at an earlier time. We have had illustrations of this, also, in foregoing chapters. For example, whereas roads were at first built and controlled almost entirely by private enterprise, now they are mostly PUBLIC highways, maintained by state and local governments with the cooperation of the national government. Proposals to place railroads under government management have always met, and still meet, with opposition; but government exercises a much greater control over them than formerly. Even education has only gradually become compulsory by law, and the “public” high school is of recent origin. Until quite recently the people have been left largely to their own resources for the protection of health, and for recreation and social life.

VIEWS OF THE SOCIALISTS

There are those who take the extreme position that government should manage practically everything for us. Such are the Socialists, who believe that the unequal distribution of wealth and the resulting inequalities in opportunity to satisfy wants are due to the control of industry by a small and essentially selfish capitalistic class. They believe that all natural resources and all capital should belong to the people jointly, and that the people’s government should control both the production and the distribution of wealth.

It has been objected to the socialist scheme that, since government would still be in the hands of imperfect human beings, it would not be wise enough to accomplish the desired result; that political motives would enter into government management, as they do in government enterprises to-day, and would prevent the achievement of the desired results; and that, the opportunity for private initiative and enterprise having been removed, there would be lacking one of the chief inducements to human progress.

Socialism has made considerable progress in some nations of the world, but it is by no means popular in the United States, although it has many advocates. We adhere in the main to the principle that government should do things for us only when they could not be so well done by private enterprise, and should control our conduct only so far as to secure equality of personal freedom. The fact remains, however, that an increasing amount of service is being performed for us by government, and an increasing control exercised by it over private enterprise.

ORGANIZATION FOR SERVICE AND FOR CONTROL

Insofar as government performs service for us, it must have an organization for that purpose, with competent leadership. And if it is not to interfere unduly with freedom of action or personal liberty, the people must have an organization by which to maintain control over it. Thus there must be an organization to ensure efficient SERVICE, and there must be an organization to ensure democracy, or POPULAR CONTROL. If both organizations are effective, we have an EFFICIENT DEMOCRACY, toward which we have been striving through all our history, but which we have not yet completely attained.

A government may be efficient in performing service for the people without being democratic. In fact, it may be easier to get efficient service under an autocratic government. Germany before the war illustrated this. But we believe that a government may be both efficient and democratic. This depends upon competent leadership and popular control; and both of these depend upon education (Chapter XIX).

In the remaining pages of this book we shall consider both the organization of our government for service and that for popular control. In this chapter we shall examine some of the methods by which we seek to control government, or to be SELF-governing.

DIRECT SELF-GOVERNMENT

The people of a community may govern themselves by direct action or indirectly through representatives, just as a group of farmers may build their own schoolhouse or church, or employ someone to do it for them. When English colonists settled New England, geographical conditions and other reasons led them to form small, compact communities, in which it was easy to assemble frequently at the meetinghouse to discuss matters of community concern and to agree upon, rules, or laws, to regulate them. This local government by “town meeting” has persisted in many New England “towns,” or “townships,” to the present day.

REPRESENTATIVE SELF-GOVERNMENT

This direct action of the people in the New England town is for the purpose of MAKING the laws only. When it comes to the enforcement of these laws, it is necessary to delegate the authority to someone. The town meeting could make a law against permitting hogs to run at large, but it chose someone, a “hog reeve,” to see that the law was observed. When the community is large it is found more convenient to choose representatives also to make the laws. Thus each Massachusetts town had its representative in the lawmaking assembly of the colony as a whole. This representative system of government now prevails in our cities, counties, states, and nation.

DIRECT SELF-GOVERNMENT THROUGH CONSTITUTIONS

Even in the larger communities, however, such as cities, states, and the nation itself, the people have sought to retain more or less direct control over lawmaking. In the first place, the “fundamental law” of the states and nation found in their constitutions, which determine what the form and powers of government shall be, has been adopted by more direct action of the people than most other laws. The Preamble to the federal Constitution asserts that “We, the people of the United States…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Neither state nor national constitutions can be altered except by special action by the people themselves, either by direct vote at the polls or by conventions of representatives chosen especially for the purpose.

DIRECT LAWMAKING: INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM

It has long been the practice in many communities to submit important local questions to popular vote for decision, such as the question of issuing bonds for public improvements, or of licensing saloons. Within recent years in a number of states the people have gained direct control over lawmaking in regard to any subject whatever, both in local and state affairs, by means of the “initiative and referendum.” The “initiative” is the right of the voters themselves to “initiate,” or propose, legislation. This is done by means of a petition signed by a specified number of voters. The legislature may then act upon the proposed law; but if it does not do so, the law is submitted to the people for their vote at the next election. On the other hand, if the legislature passes a law that is objectionable to some of the voters a petition signed by a specified number of voters requires the law to be REFERRED to the people for their approval or rejection. This is the “referendum.”

DEMOCRACY OF THE WEST

Of the 21 states that had adopted the initiative and referendum (to 1917) only four were east of the Mississippi River (Maine, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio). [Footnote: “The Initiative and Referendum,” Bulletin No. 6, submitted to the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts (1917) by the Commission to Compile Information and Data, p. 10.] The movement to increase popular control over government has always been stronger in the West, as we shall see in other connections.

For the most part, however, our laws are made by our representatives, over whom we exercise more or less control. Some of the more important means by which this control is exercised are described in following chapters; but first of all we exercise control by CHOOSING our representatives at frequent intervals. Let us inquire to what extent the people have a voice in this choice.

THE SUFFRAGE

It is not true that all citizens have a voice in choosing their representatives, though it is more nearly true today than ever before. The right to a voice in this choice is called the SUFFRAGE. It is bestowed only on those citizens who possess certain qualifications. The constitution of each state fixes the qualifications for those who live within the boundaries of the state, the national government having exercised no control over the matter except in two cases. After the Civil War, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution was adopted, providing that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”; and recently Congress has enacted another amendment to the federal Constitution which, when approved by a sufficient number of states, will bestow the suffrage upon all women of the nation who possess the other necessary qualifications.

EARLY DISTRUST OF THE PEOPLE

The founders of our nation were far from democratic as we now understand the term. They believed that the government should be controlled by the educated and propertied class, which was small. The lack of confidence in the people was shown in various ways, but among others by the restriction of the suffrage. This was true even in the New England town meeting, which we are in the habit of considering as the most democratic of institutions. For instance, no one could vote in colonial times who did not belong to the church. Religious qualifications were soon abolished however, and property qualifications have almost completely disappeared, though in some states voters must be taxpayers.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE SUFFRAGE

Today no citizen may vote in any state who has not reached the age of 21. The reason for this is clear and just, but it excludes from the suffrage about 30 million young citizens. Persons of unsound mind are denied the suffrage, and citizens may be disqualified by crime. In some states illiterates are denied the right to vote. In most states foreigners must have completed the process of naturalization, which requires five years before they may vote. All states require residence in the state and in their local districts for specified periods prior to voting. But with these exceptions, the suffrage is now possessed by practically all male citizens who are 21 years of age or over, and is rapidly being extended to women on equal terms with the men.

WOMAN SUFFRAGE

There are instances in our early history where women were permitted to vote—in New Jersey, for example, prior to 1807. In 1869, Wyoming, while still a territory, extended full suffrage to women, and has been an equal suffrage state since her admission to the Union in 1890. Woman suffrage has rapidly gained ground in recent years, most rapidly in the West, and at the present writing (1919) 15 states have granted women equal suffrage with men, all but two of these states being west of the Mississippi River. The women of Alaska also have this right. In many other states they have the suffrage at certain elections. Moreover, nearly all of the 36 required states have ratified the suffrage amendment to the federal Constitution.

Why may an autocratic government perform more efficient service than a democratic government?

What is a “benevolent despotism”? What is a “paternalistic government”?

Why do we consider an imperfect democracy better than an efficient autocracy?

Do you have direct or representative self-government in your community? Explain.

What voluntary organizations are there in your community (such as farmers’ cooperative organizations, business corporations, churches, clubs, etc.) that have direct self-government? Representative self-government?

Does your county or town have representatives in state and national governments? What are their names? How long will they be your representatives?

Does your state have the initiative and referendum? If so, explain in detail how they are used. Give instances of the use of either.

Give instances (if any) of the use of the referendum in your community to settle a local question.

From your state constitution ascertain the exact qualifications for the suffrage in your state.

Report on the history of woman suffrage in your state.

Do you think any of the restrictions now existing on the suffrage in your state should be removed? Why?

Do you think any further restrictions should be placed on the suffrage in your state? Why?

MAJORITY AND MINORITY RULE

One of the important principles upon which democratic government rests is that the will of the majority should control. It is the only arrangement that can be made with justice. It often happens, however, that a minority, and sometimes a very small minority, gains control. It also sometimes happens that the party in power in government, whether it is a majority or a minority, governs without full consideration for the interests of other parties or of the community as a whole. We shall try to get some idea of how this happens, and also of methods proposed to prevent it; for as long as it happens we cannot lay claim to a full measure of democracy in our government.

If the pupils of your class or school are voting on the kind of entertainment to be given, and a difference of opinion arises, can you think of a fairer way to decide than by a vote of the majority? How else might the matter be decided?

If the majority decides the question, should the minority yield gracefully to the decision? Why?

After the majority plan has been adopted, have the minority any rights in the matter?

Is the majority always right in its decisions? Give illustrations to prove your answer.

If your community takes a vote on the question of road improvement, or of school consolidation, is it right that the majority should decide?

If the majority rules in such a case, is it right that the citizens of the minority party should be taxed for the improvement as well as those of the majority? Why?

If your class president is elected by a majority of the class, or a county supervisor by a majority of the voters of the county, to what extent is it the duty of this officer to consider the interests of the minority which voted against him?

POLITICAL PARTIES

Our government is a government by political parties. That is, political parties control the government. Voters acting independently of one another cannot exercise much influence. There must be teamwork in political matters as in everything else. A political party consists of those voters who think alike and act together on questions of government policy, or in electing their representatives in government. It is a voluntary organization, entirely outside of the government and not recognized in our constitutions, but exercising very great influence upon government.

In his Farewell Address to the people, Washington said:

The spirit [of party] unfortunately is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissensions…is a frightful despotism… The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

MISCHIEFS OF THE PARTY SPIRIT

As long as people differ on questions of public policy there are bound to be political parties, as Washington knew, and they have always played an important part in our government. But necessary and useful as parties have been, the events of our history have shown that Washington’s warning was exceedingly wise, the “party spirit” having often proved the “worst enemy” of our democratic government.

VALUE OF MINORITY OPPOSITION

When some great question is before the country, like that of the adoption of the Constitution, or that of slavery, the people are usually divided into two great parties. The party that marshals the greater number of votes constitutes a majority and gains control of the government. The defeated minority usually accepts its defeat in a sportsmanlike manner and loyally supports the government. Nevertheless it does not cease its opposition to the principles of the party in power. One of the chief values of the party system is that it keeps important questions in constant discussion. The opposition of the minority serves as a check upon the acts of the party in power, which is anxious to avoid arousing too much opposition. This is one means of control over the government enjoyed by the minority party. A defeated minority at one election may become a victorious majority at the next. The fact that a party is in the minority does not necessarily mean that it is in the wrong.

HOW MINORITIES MAY GAIN CONTROL

Minorities, however, sometimes win elections. If more than two parties are contesting the election, which often happens, that one wins which has the greatest number of votes, though this number may be less than the combined votes of the opposing parties. No other arrangement seems possible. President Wilson won his first election by a minority vote, the opposition being divided between Taft and Roosevelt.

A minority may win through better teamwork. There are always some voters who, through indifference or other causes, do not cast their vote. This is especially likely to happen in local elections, in which there is almost never as large a vote cast as in the same district at a general election. It is one of the chief objects of a party organization to keep its members informed and interested and to see that they cast their votes. The party that is best organized for these purposes is very likely to win over its opponents even though the latter are more numerous.

ORGANIZATION OF PARTIES AND ITS CONTROL

The organization of the national political parties is very thorough. Each party has a managing committee in every local district, the local organizations are united in a state organization, and the several state organizations in a national organization. The shrewdest men the party affords are made chairmen of committees and chosen for other positions of leadership. Such organization is necessary and proper; it is only commonsense teamwork. But unfortunately it has frequently fallen into the hands of designing men who have used it to promote private interests rather than those of the public. A political “boss,” who is at the head of an inner “ring” of politicians, often decides who shall be nominated for the various offices of government, leaving no choice to the voters themselves. This makes of our government a real autocracy, and the worst kind of autocracy, because the autocrat (the “boss”) acts in secret, and is in no way responsible to the people. It is the “frightful despotism” of which Washington warned his countrymen (p. 385).

CAUSES OF SOCIAL UNREST

Political “bosses” are often allied with powerful business interests which seek legislation and governmental administration favorable to themselves. This has given rise to the charge sometimes made that our government is a “plutocracy,” a government of the people by a small wealthy class. It is the feeling that this is so that has caused much of the social unrest at the present time, and that explains in part the growth of the socialists, and of other groups that would go much further than the socialists in their proposed changes, such as the I.W.W. (Independent Workers of the World) in our country, the Bolshevists in Russia, and anarchists everywhere.

GOVERNMENT IN THE INTEREST OF ALL CLASSES

Unquestionably selfish groups representing great wealth have often exerted undue influence in governmental affairs without regard for the public welfare. We have seen how the public lands and the nation’s natural resources have in some cases fallen into the hands of wealthy individuals and corporations to the injury of the nation and of those who want to use them for productive purposes. On the other hand, it is natural that men who have been successful in managing their private business affairs should also be influential in managing public affairs without necessarily having unworthy motives. Nevertheless, when government falls under the control of ANY particular class or group, whether it represents wealth, or labor, or any other interest, if it has not due regard for all classes, and if it denies to the members of other groups the voice in government to which they are entitled, it establishes a despotism and overthrows democracy.

WHY THE PEOPLE SUBMIT TO “BOSS RULE”

Why do the people submit to “boss rule”? In the first place, they do not always submit to it. Occasionally, when the “bosses” go to unusual extremes, the people give way to “fits of public rage,” to use the words of former Senator Elihu Root, “in which the people rouse up and tear down the political leader, first of one party and then of the other party.” It is thus possible for the people to escape the despotism of “boss rule.” But two things seem to be necessary to bring it about: first, the people must be sufficiently INTERESTED in the management of their public affairs; and, second, they require LEADERSHIP. It takes close attention to public affairs to enable a citizen to make wise decisions for himself; and the average citizen looks around for guidance. The absence of RESPONSIBLE leadership gives the irresponsible “boss” his chance.

THE SHORT BALLOT

One difficulty encountered by the citizen who wishes to vote intelligently is the large number of persons to be chosen. There have been cases where the names of several hundred candidates appeared on the same ticket. In a small community a voter may know personally all the candidates, but in larger communities this is not so. It was once thought that to make as many of the government offices as possible elective was a step in the direction of democracy, and that it gave the people direct control over them. But it has not worked out this way. It is impossible for the average voter to choose wisely among so many candidates, and he therefore falls an easy prey to “boss rule.” The SHORT BALLOT is now quite generally advocated to meet this situation. By this plan the number of officers to be elected is reduced, and includes only those who are responsible for determining the policies of government, such as members of legislatures and the chief executive officers. These few important officers and representatives are then made responsible for the appointment of all other subordinate officers whose business is to carry policies into effect. This really gives the people better control over their government by fixing responsibility in a few places, and is therefore no less democratic than the older plan.

Do you have a long ballot or a short ballot in your county or town? In your state?

How many offices in your county government are elective? How many of the men holding these offices do you know? Consult your parents as to the number of these officers they know personally. How many does your teacher know?

At the next election, get a copy of the ballot used in your community and ascertain the number of candidates for all offices, including local, state, and national.

What national political parties exist at present?

Are the voters of your local community divided into parties on local questions? If so, what are some of these questions?

Investigate the organization in your county (or town) of the political party of which your father is a member. Who is chairman of its local committee?

Investigate the work that a party organization does in your community during an election campaign; on election day; in the time between elections.

Why is secret control over government dangerous?

What is meant by “social unrest”?

Are all men of your acquaintance equally capable of directing the affairs Of government in office? Why?

What is meant by “responsible” and “irresponsible” leadership?

What does it mean to say that a leader must be “responsive as well as responsible” to the people?

THE SECRET BALLOT

Various schemes have been adopted to ensure to every voter a free expression of his choice for representatives, and to the majority their right to govern. One of these is the SECRET BALLOT. At the polls each voter enters a booth by himself to mark his ballot, or to operate the voting machine, and need have no fear that a possible “watcher” may cause him to lose his job or otherwise suffer for voting as he thinks best. The secret ballot also reduces the likelihood that votes will be bought, for there is no way of telling whether the man who sells his vote will vote as he has agreed; and the man who sells his vote is not to be trusted. The only voters who are embarrassed by the secret ballot are those who cannot read their ballots. These have to seek help, and are thus open to influence by agents of the “boss.”

THE DIRECT PRIMARY

Another device to ensure to the voter a voice in his government is the DIRECT PRIMARY for the nomination of candidates for office. By the older method candidates were nominated by party conventions; but under “boss rule” they were in reality determined upon in advance by the “boss,” the nomination by the convention being largely a matter of form, the delegates voting according to instructions. The ordinary voter had nothing to say about it. Under the direct primary plan any voter possessing the necessary qualifications for holding office may become a candidate by merely securing the signatures of a specified number of voters to a petition. Then a PRIMARY ELECTION is held at which the voters of each party go to the polls to express their choice for one among the several candidates who have been announced for each office to be filled. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes become the nominees of their party. The direct primary is now used quite widely throughout the United States and is believed to be a great improvement over the old method, though it does not always work as well as was expected of it. The truth is that ANY organization is open to abuse by clever people who wish to abuse it, and NO political organization will work effectively unless the voters are intelligent and eternally vigilant.

PREFERENTIAL PRIMARIES

The President and Vice President of the United States are still nominated by national party conventions. But in some states there are PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENTIAL PRIMARIES. These are direct primaries at which the voters ex press their PREFERENCE for the presidential candidates. This is intended to be a guide to the nominating convention, but there is nothing to compel the convention to follow the guidance.

THE RIGHTS OF MINORITIES

Democratic government demands certain rights for minorities. We have seen how a minority party may exercise a wholesome check upon the party in power by constant opposition. We never have a Congress or a state legislature in which the members are all of one party. This is a good thing, for it results in discussion and debate in the legislative body by which the people are kept informed.

The initiative and referendum (p. 380) are also weapons in the hands of a minority; for, as we have seen, a small number of voters may compel the legislature to consider, or reconsider, any piece of legislation, or to submit it to the people for their decision. Minority parties may thus keep prominently before the people measures that have been adversely acted upon by the majority.

THE RECALL

Another device that has been introduced in some states and local communities is the RECALL of officials. By means of this a specified number of voters may demand that an officer of government who is displeasing to them be brought before the people for their vote as to whether he shall be removed from office or not. A small minority may thus call an elected officer to account.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION OF PARTIES

One plan strongly advocated by some students of government to insure to minorities an actual voice in government is that of PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION of parties in legislative bodies. By this plan each party would be represented in proportion to its strength. If two parties were of about equal strength they would be represented equally; if one were twice as strong as another, it would have twice the representation. The plan is actually in use in very few localities. In Illinois, however, the CUMULATIVE-VOTE plan is in use, by which each voter is permitted as many votes as there are places to be filled, and to distribute these votes among the several candidates or to cast them all for one candidate. Thus, if there are three representatives to be elected from his district, he may give one vote to each of the three, or he may give three votes to one of them. A minority may thus, by concentrating all of their votes upon a single candidate, be reasonably sure of representation. But it requires good team work to get this result.

DIFFERENT BASES OF REPRESENTATION

Representation in our government is on a TERRITORIAL, OR GEOGRAPHICAL, BASIS. That is, each representative represents the people in a given territory or district. Thus, in many counties the board of supervisors is composed of representatives from each township, the members of state legislatures represent districts of the state, members of the United States House of Representatives represent congressional districts in each state, and United States Senators represent states.

In each district under our present system, however, the representatives are ELECTED BY A MAJORITY, though they are supposed to REPRESENT ALL the people when elected. If proportional representation were adopted, it would be necessary to increase the number of representatives from each district, in order that each party should have at least one. Then we should have REPRESENTATION BY PARTIES, as well as by districts.

We now hear a good deal about SOVIET GOVERNMENT in Russia. The “soviet” is a representative body with a different basis of representation than either of the above. Soviet government is government by “workers” and each representative represents a TRADE OR OCCUPATION. It is as if, in our country, all the farmers in a county, as a group, should elect their representatives to the board of county supervisors, all the carpenters their representatives, all the merchants theirs, and so on. It would be, as it is in Russia, REPRESENTATION BY OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS, instead of by geographical districts as now. It would differ from proportional representation by parties, as described above, because each political party is made up of representatives of all occupations. Only in a few cases have political parties in our country tended to become identified with occupational interests, as in the case of “labor parties,” and the old “greenback party,” which was largely made up of farmers.

At election time visit the nearest polling place, observe the procedure of voting, and report. Get sample copies of the ballot used.

Who are the different persons on duty at the polling place, and what are their duties?

Why and how do voters “register” before an election?

Describe a primary election in your community.

How do discussion and debate protect the rights of minorities?

Is the “recall” used in your state? If so, what instances of its exercise do you know, and what were the circumstances?

What advantages and disadvantages can you see in representation by occupational groups as compared with representation by geographical districts?

READINGS

In Foerster and Pierson’s AMERICAN IDEALS:

Contributions of the west to democracy (F.J. Turner), pp. 72-97. A charter of democracy (Theodore Roosevelt), pp. 114-132. Can democracy be organized? (E.A. Alderman), pp. 158-174. The sovereignty of the people (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 257-260. General tendency of the laws (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 261-266. The activity of the body politic (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 267-272. The German and the American temper (Kuno Francke), pp. 273-281. The “Divine Average” (G. Lowes Dickinson), pp 282-284.

In Long’s AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Farewell Address (Washington), pp. 105-123. The independent in politics (James Russell Lowell), pp. 241-243. Liberty is responsibility, not license (McKinley), pp. 254-255. The right of the people to rule (Roosevelt), pp. 272-273.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series A: Lesson 16, Caste in India. Lesson 19, Active citizenship.

Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law. Lesson 18, Cooperation through law.

Hart, A.B., ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, Chapters IV, V.

Ashley, R.L., THE NEW CIVICS (Macmillan), Chapters, VI, VII.

Reed, T.H., FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, Chapters V- VIII, (World Book Co.).

Bryce, James, THE AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH, Vol. II, Part III, The party system; and Part V, Chapters, XCVII-XCIX, The faults and strength of democracy.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, under the several topics referred to in this chapter.

Teachable Facts about Bolshevism and Sovietism, Institute for Public Service, 51 Chambers St., New York City.

CHAPTER XXV

OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

When the first colonists of America undertook to organize governments for their local settlements, they naturally adopted forms with which they had been familiar in England. There were two such forms which met their needs, the TOWN, OR TOWNSHIP, AND THE COUNTY. These have remained to this day the chief units of our local government.

THE NEW ENGLAND TOWN

Geographical conditions were such in New England that the colonists settled in compact communities. There the township, or town, was adopted as the more convenient unit. It included a central village and the neighboring farming region with irregular boundaries. It is still the unit of local government throughout rural New England, and in many communities that have grown to the proportion of cities. It has been said of the New England town government that it is “the fullest and most perfect example of local self-government either then or now in existence … . The state might fall to pieces, and the town would still supply all the wants of everyday government.” [Footnote: Henry Cabot Lodge, A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA, p. 414.]

THE TOWN MEETING

The chief feature of the New England town government is the TOWN MEETING, which is an assemblage of the voters of the town at the town hall (formerly often at the church), the regular annual town meeting being held in the spring or autumn, and special meetings as necessary. These meetings are called by the SELECTMEN (see below) by means of a WARRANT which contains a statement of the business to be transacted. At the annual meeting, reports are heard from the officers of the preceding year, officers for the new year are elected, by-laws (town laws) are enacted, taxes are levied and appropriations made for the various purposes of government. It is direct self-government.

NEW ENGLAND TOWN OFFICERS

Among the officers elected by the town meeting are the selectmen, varying in number from three to nine, who have charge of the town property and are responsible to the town meeting for the conduct of the town’s business; a town clerk, who keeps the town records, issues marriage licenses, registers births and deaths, and performs other clerical services; an assessor of taxes; a treasurer; several constables, who have police duties, execute warrants issued by the selectmen and by the justices of the peace, and sometimes act as tax collectors; school committeemen; overseers of the poor; members of the board of health and of other boards for public service. In some of the New England states the justices of the peace, who are not strictly town officers, are elected by the town meeting.

THE TOWN WARRANT

There is here given a copy of portions of a warrant for a special town meeting. This warrant is very brief as compared with those issued for a regular annual meeting; but it gives an idea of the variety of business transacted.

Town Warrant

MIDDLESEX, SS.

To Henry Atchison, one of the constables of the Town of Framingham or to either of them,

GREETING:

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Framingham, qualified to vote in elections, and Town affairs, to meet at the Casino in said Framingham, on WEDNESDAY, JULY 16TH, A.D. 1919 at eight o’clock P.M. Then and there to act on the following articles, viz.: Article I. To hear and act upon such reports of any of the officers of the Town or Committees of the Town as may be then and there presented, appropriate money to carry out the recommendations thereof, or any of them, pass any vote or take any action relative to any of said reports, or any part thereof.

Art. 2. To hear and act on the report of the Committee directed to investigate school needs in the Apple Street District. ...

Art. 3. To see if the Town will vote to instruct the Town Treasurer to place to the credit of the Park Department … for the care and maintenance of parks and playgrounds, any and all sums of money which may be received by him … on account of said Department, and authorize the use of the same by said Department. ...

Art. 4. To see if the Town will grant or appropriate a sum not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars ($2500) for the purchase by the tree warden of a new tree spraying machine. ...

Art. 5. To see if the Town will authorize its Board of Park Commissioners to sell and dispose of two of the unused schoolhouses placed in charge of the Park Commission some years ago. ...

Art. 6. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of fifty-five hundred dollars … to be expended under the direction of the following committee … for the purpose of selecting a site, location and erection of a temporary memorial tablet, and cause to be inscribed thereon the names of the Framingham soldiers, sailors, marines … and nurses, who gave their lives in the late war. ...

Art. 8. To see if the Town will vote to install and maintain incandescent electric lights on following named streets … .

Art. 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise the pay of its Police Officers fifty cents a day. ...

Art. 10. To see if the Town will vote to appoint and instruct a committee to petition the County Commissioners to relocate Marble Street. ...

Art. 12. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum … to reimburse Wellington H. Pratt for expenses incurred in the construction of a sewer and laying of water pipes. ...

And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting an attested copy of the same at each of the Meeting Houses and Post-Offices in said Town, eight days at least, including two Sundays, before the time of holding said meeting.

Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your doing thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of said meeting.

Given under our hands this first day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen.

(Signed by the Selectmen)

It has been said that

THE VALUE OF THE TOWN MEETING

The thing most characteristic of a town meeting is the lively and educating debate; for attendants on town meeting from year to year become skilled in parliamentary law, and effective in sharp, quick argument on their feet. Children and others than voters are allowed to be present as spectators. In every such assembly, four or five men ordinarily do half the talking; but anybody has a right to make suggestions or propose amendments, and occasionally even a non-voter is allowed to make a statement; and the debate is often very effective. [Footnote: Albert Bushnell Hart, ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, p. 171.]

Another writer says,

The retiring officers present their reports, which in the larger towns have been previously printed and distributed. Any citizen present is free to express any criticism or ask any question. No better method of checking the conduct of public officers has ever been discovered than this system of report in open meeting. Keen questions and sharp comment rip open and expose to view the true inwardness of the officers’ behavior.

At its best, the New England town meeting has never been equaled as a mechanism for local government. No mere representative system can give the opportunity for real participation in government which a town meeting affords. Even the small boys who come to enjoy the fun from the gallery are taught that government is a living reality. By grappling first-hand with their own small local problems, men are trained to take part wisely in the bigger affairs of state and nation. [Footnote: Thomas H. Reed, FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, pp. 218, 220.]

WEAKENING OF GOVERNMENT BY TOWN MEETING

Changing conditions, however, have tended to bring about changes in town government. In the early days the town meeting was a matter of great interest, and everybody attended, including the women and children. Many of the towns have now acquired large populations, the people are no longer acquainted with one another, and interest has declined. A few years ago it was reported that

In Brookline, Mass., with about 2500 votes cast, there are from 300 to 500 at the business sessions. In Hyde Park, Mass., with 2500 voters… from 500 to 600 attended the annual appropriation meeting. In Leominster, Mass., with 1400 voting, the normal attendance is about 800.

The same writer says that:

In many places the town meeting is being undermined by the caucus, held beforehand, to nominate candidates for office. Here a small group of persons not only narrow the choice for officers, but often arrange the other business to be determined at the town meeting. Sometimes every thing is “cut and dried” before it comes up for popular discussion; and that discussion thus becomes a mere formality. [J.A. Fairlie, LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COUNTIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES, p. 148.]

INFLUENCES LEADING TO DECLINE

This illustrates what was said in the preceding chapter (p. 388) about the necessity for leadership and the tendency of the people, under certain conditions, to accept self-appointed leaders, sometimes not of the best, outside of the government. Conditions in large towns are likely to favor this. The questions that have to be acted upon are more complicated than formerly, and often involve the expenditure of large sums of money. The candidates for office are not known to many of the voters. There may be a considerable number of uneducated people in the town, and perhaps a foreign population that is unfamiliar with the English language and with American methods. These things make intelligent self- government by direct methods difficult.

THE FINANCE COMMITTEE: A MEANS OF BETTER SERVICE

Various means have been adopted to meet these changing conditions. One of these is the creation of a FINANCE COMMITTEE, before which are brought for consideration questions involving the expenditure of money. This committee holds hearings, at which citizens may present arguments for and against proposed measures. Thus important matters are sifted out by the committee which then reports to the town meeting. The town meeting usually votes in accordance with the recommendations of the committee. While this arrangement tends to secure careful consideration of financial measures, and to result in wise decisions, provided the committee is composed of reliable men, it tends, on the other hand, to prevent discussion in open town meeting, to make the vote in the latter a mere matter of form, and to destroy interest in it. In other words, while it tends to better SERVICE, it reduces the value of the town meeting as a means of EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY.

TOWN PLANNING

Another arrangement that has been adopted in a good many towns is the TOWN PLANNING BOARD. This is a committee which, after careful study of existing conditions and tendencies of community growth, formulates a definite PLAN for the promotion of the community’s interests during a period of years. It considers such matters as the laying out of new roads and streets and the improvement of old ones, the location of parks, playgrounds, and public buildings, the construction of sewers, water works, and lighting systems, the style of architecture for public buildings, the enactment of housing laws. While town planning boards usually deal primarily with matters pertaining to the physical development of the town, they may also plan with reference to the improvement of the educational system, the promotion of public health, and of social needs generally.

The town planning board is usually composed of trained men, such as engineers, architects, and physicians, and it may call in expert advisers from other communities or from the state government. The advantage of having such a board is that it provides the town with a program of action carefully worked out from the point of view both of continuous community needs and of economy. It affords expert leadership.

NEED FOR CITIZEN COOPERATION

As has been said many times in these pages, government is the community’s official organization to secure cooperation; but it is effective only to the extent that the people COOPERATE. It is a machine that is valuable as the people USE it. The weakening of town, government, or of any other government, is due largely to a lack of interest and of actual participation by the people. Many people think they have done their share toward good government when they have helped elect their officers and have paid their taxes. But when they take this view they are likely to lose both interest in their government and control over it.

VOLUNTARY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

In many New England towns the decline in popular control of town government has been largely counterbalanced by COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION FOR VOLUNTARY COOPERATION. Much community service is, and probably always will be, performed by private enterprise and initiative rather than by government; and the efficiency of government depends to a considerable extent upon the efficiency of voluntary enterprise. Government must have the cooperation of the latter, and to some extent work through it. In practically every community there are groups of people organized to cooperate for one purpose or another; but they are often self-centered and act independently of one another, if not actually at cross purposes. The situation that exists in many communities is illustrated by the chart on page 402. [Footnote: This chart and the one on page 403 are taken from Extension Bulletin No. 23, Massachusetts Agricultural College, by E.L. Morgan.]

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION IN MASSACHUSETTS

In a good many Massachusetts towns this situation has been very largely remedied by means of community organization for which the leadership has been provided in many cases by the Community Organization Department of the Extension Service of the State Agricultural College. The organization varies in detail in different communities to meet local needs, but the main features are the following:

First: a COMMUNITY COUNCIL, consisting of representatives of the various community interests and organizations including the town officials. This council serves at first as a sort of “steering committee” to bring the various interests together and to plan the organization and the work to be done.

Second: a COMMUNITY MEETING, the first one of which is called by the community council to consider the questions: Is it possible for a community to plan for its future development? Do we care to do it? Is it worthwhile? How can it be done? The community meeting becomes a sort of UNOFFICIAL TOWN MEETING, and is often more largely attended than the official town meeting, partly because it is attended by the women of the community.

Third: a number of WORKING COMMITTEES, appointed as a result of the first community meeting. They may include:

A committee on farm production.

A committee on conservation.

A committee on boys’ and girls’ interests.

A committee on farm business.

A committee on community life (education, health, recreation, etc.)

These committees make a study of the conditions and needs of the community in their respective fields, and prepare plans and projects, which are submitted to the community meeting in due time.

Fourth: a COMMUNITY PROGRAM, which has been agreed upon by the community meeting, is supervised by the community council, and is carried out by the various community organizations represented, including the public officials.

OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL TEAMWORK

This organization is entirely outside of the official govern mental organization. It may be asked why it is necessary to have a “community meeting” when the official town meeting already exists. The answer is that the official town meeting has its work pretty definitely cut out for it. It meets for a half-day or a day at a time, and its time is occupied BY THE VOTERS in passing laws, electing officials, levying taxes, making appropriations, and doing other official business. The “community meeting,” on the other hand, is attended by non-voters as well as voters, the women taking an active part, and the young people being represented. Many matters are discussed that could not properly be taken up in town meeting.

A large part of the program of the community organization is carried out by the voluntary agencies of the community. But a great many of its proposals must have the approval of the official town meeting, require appropriations which can only be made by the town meeting, and are finally executed by the public officials of the town. The organization naturally stimulates interest in the official government, and brings to its support all the organized agencies of the community working together.

TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT OUTSIDE OF NEW ENGLAND

The township is found as a unit of local government in many states outside of New England, but in most of these cases its government is entirely representative in form. While the town meeting is found in a few of these states, [Footnote: As in New York and New Jersey; and farther west in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Illinois, and Nebraska.] it nowhere holds the important place that it does in New England. One reason for this is the larger size and more scattered population of the township. In the public land states the congressional township, six miles square, is also the political township. At the head of the township government in its representative form are TRUSTEES (sometimes three, sometimes only one) who, with the town clerk, the constables, the tax assessor, the treasurer, the justices of the peace, and such other officers as may be required, are elected by the people. The powers of the township government outside of New England vary in different states, but are always quite limited, relating most commonly to the maintenance of roads, school administration, and the care of the poor. In these circumstances there is at least as great need for community organization to support and supplement the work of government as in the New England towns.

Investigate and report on the following:

The services performed by your township government.

A complete list of your township officers, and the duties of each. (Committees of pupils may interview some of the more important officers to get a description of their daily routine, kinds of service performed, etc. Also discuss with parents.)

Officers of the colonial New England town that do not exist now, and their duties.

What is parliamentary law? (Valuable training may be secured by conducting school meetings, club meetings, or occasional regular class exercises, in accordance with parliamentary procedure.)

Why public discussion is a check upon the conduct of persons holding responsible positions.

The popular interest in public questions in your township.

If there is a finance committee in your township (p. 399), how does it serve the community? Does it hold hearings? (Attend and report upon some such hearing.)

Town planning in your community (what has been, or what might be, done).

The value of having a plan.

Is your community more like that represented by the chart on page 402, or by that on page 403?

The extent to which voluntary organizations in your community co operate with and through the local government.

The extent to which your state agricultural college promotes community organization.

The feasibility of organizing your town (or community) by some such plan as that outlined on page 402.

The value of a community “forum” as a means to good government.

Why the official town meeting should (or should not) be encouraged in your state.

Procure and examine recently published official reports of your township government. What do these reports tell you? What is the value of such reports? Are the reports of your township generally read by the people of the township? Why? Discuss ways in which your township reports could be made more useful.

THE COUNTY

The other unit of local government with which the colonists were familiar was the county, which in England embraced a number of townships. In the colonies of New York and Pennsylvania the county and the town ship were developed together as in England; in the southern colonies the county was organized without the township. Today the county exists in every state of the Union, including the New England states. In Louisiana it is called the PARISH.

TYPES OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT

There are two main types of county government. According to one plan, as in New York, each township elects a representative to a county BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, which is sometimes quite large. According to the other plan, as in Pennsylvania, the people of the county as a whole elect a small BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, the townships not being represented as such even when they exist. The board of supervisors or commissioners levies taxes and makes appropriations for various county purposes, such as constructing and maintaining roads, bridges, and county buildings, paying the salaries of county officers, caring for the county poor, and conducting the county schools. It is sometimes spoken of as the county legislative body, but it is rather an administrative body, its lawmaking powers being very slight.

COUNTY OFFICERS

Among the important county officers are the sheriff, who is chief guardian of the peace in the county, has charge of the jail, is the chief executive officer of the county court (see p. 439), and sometimes acts as tax collector; the county prosecutor (also called the prosecuting attorney, the district attorney, or the state’s attorney), who prosecutes all criminal cases in the county and represents the public authorities in civil suits; the county clerk, who keeps the county records; the register of deeds, who records all transfers of property; the coroner, who investigates the cause of violent and mysterious deaths; the tax assessor; the treasurer; the auditor, who examines the accounts of county officers; the surveyor; the school superintendent; the health officer. Some times there are others.

LACK OF INTEREST IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT

Although practically every citizen of the United States is also a citizen of a county, the people have as a rule shown surprisingly little interest in county government. As generally found it affords a striking example of poor service resulting from a lack of teamwork. County government has the reputation of being one of the weakest spots in our whole system of government.

WILL COUNTY GOVERNMENT SURVIVE?

We seem to have gotten into the habit of not expecting much service from the county government. Where the township government is strong, as in New England, it takes the place of county government. Where people live in cities, they look to the city government to serve them rather than to the county government. In rural districts the people have come more and more to look to the state and national governments for such service as they expect government to give. These facts might suggest the question whether or not we really need county government.

One recent writer says,

There are some parts of the country where I can see that the county will pass out of existence entirely in a very short time, unless it does adjust itself to the new conditions. [Footnote: H.S. Gilbertson, in the University of North Carolina RECORD, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 37.]

The same writer says,

Unless the county does measure up in this way, the powers of government and the services which it renders will have to drift away from local control and be placed in the hands of some government more fit and which will probably be further away from home.

EFFECTS OF THE LONG BALLOT

Students of county government attribute many of its defects to the “long ballot.” In one county in North Carolina, at a recent election, there were twenty-five different candidates for county offices on each of three party tickets, making seventy-five candidates among whom each voter had to choose. Township and state officers were also elected at the same election, bringing the number of persons to be voted for up to about fifty out of 150 candidates. It is apparent that the average voter would have difficulty in voting intelligently.

GOVERNMENT WITHOUT A HEAD

The long ballot has other results than the mere difficulty of intelligent voting. One of these is a GOVERNMENT WITHOUT A HEAD. While the board of supervisors or commissioners is nominally at the head of the county government, it has to work through the various administrative officers. These are also elected by the people, and may be of the opposite political party. At all events, they are independent of the board, not responsible to it, and may or may not work in harmony with it. A former member of a county board in North Carolina says,

Most persons are under the impression that the board of commissioners, with its chairman, is at the head of the county government. ... The board does have authority to say how about 19 cents of the entire tax levy may be spent, but its authority over the balance of the levy, over any county official, such as the sheriff, clerk of the court, coroner, constable, county judge, or recorder, is nil. The chairman of the board does have the honor … of smiling and trying to look pleasant when complaints are made about bad roads, excessive tax assessments, or the delinquency of some county subordinate, over whom neither he nor the board has any control.[Footnote: M. S. Willard, North Carolina Club Year Book, 1918, p. 87.]

THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE “BOSS”

Another result of the long ballot is the opportunity it gives the political “boss” to control the selection of officers. It is not uncommon to hear rural citizens ask such questions as, “What’s the use of farmers taking off time for politics when the whole thing is run by political bosses anyway?”[Footnote: Graham Taylor, in Rural Manhood, October, 1914, p. 328.] “In such counties office- seeking has become not the means to the end of performing service, but exists for the immediate reward, and whatever service is rendered to the people is incidental to that other object. “[Footnote: H. S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 37.]

BAD BUSINESS METHODS

Along with these defects, and largely because of them, bad business methods have characterized county government, resulting in poor service and wastefulness of the people’s money. A faulty system of keeping accounts is as unbusinesslike and disastrous in public business as in private business.

OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

When I was first connected with the government of my own county, I became very much interested to know whether we were doing better or worse in the management of our road finances; in the cost of maintaining our county prisoners; in the maintenance of our county home and numerous other county institutions, than were other counties. I was anxious to find out what was being done in other counties in the way of appropriations for hospitals and I selected twelve or fifteen counties and wrote letters to the county officials asking for information. In answer to probably two of my letters I received intelligent and satisfactory replies. Probably half a dozen more gave me some figures which were of very little use for purposes of comparison, and to my other letters I received no replies, although the first request was followed up by a second and a third letter. I then began an effort to secure copies of the newspapers in which had been printed the financial statements of the counties. I succeeded in securing probably ten statements and, after a fruitless attempt to coordinate these statements so that I might secure information which would enable me to know whether we were doing better or worse than our neighbors, I became hopelessly lost in a jungle of statistics and reluctantly gave it up as useless, and turned my attention to doing what I could to place our own county affairs in such condition that they could be understood by those of our taxpayers who might be inquisitive enough to want to know how the money was handled which they paid for taxes. [Footnote: M. S. Willard, County Finances in North Carolina, in the University of North Carolina RECORD, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 80.]

THE FEE SYSTEM

The practice of compensating county officers from FEES received for special services and of allowing them to retain the interest on public money is one illustration of extravagant business methods.

For many of the services performed by county officers fees are charged, on the principle that the person served should pay for the service. It did not occur to the people to inquire how much their officers were getting in this way. In one county, in which there was a large city, investigation showed that the sheriff had a net income from fees and commissions of $15,000, the county treasurer $23,000, and the county auditor over $50,000.

From the point of view of economy and efficiency it is better to pay all officers an adequate salary and to require that all fees, commissions, and interest on public money be returned to the county treasury. It keeps the tax rate down and makes possible an increase of service.

The county office fees and commissions in North Carolina amount to something like one and a quarter million dollars a year, if they are collected according to law. The total is large enough to pay all salaries in at least 58 counties of the state, and leave large balances to apply to schools, roads, jail expenses, interest, and sinking funds. These large surpluses are being wasted in most of the salary counties. [Footnote: E.C. Branson, The Fee System in North Carolina, in the University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 69.]

Such faulty business methods are gradually being corrected by the introduction of the short ballot, as in California and elsewhere, by businesslike methods of keeping accounts, by the appointment of county and state auditors, and by giving full publicity to reports of county business.

THE FAULT WITH THE CITIZEN

“But after all,” says the county official quoted above, “a great part of the shortcomings of county officials and a great deal of the looseness which prevails in the management of county affairs can be charged to the citizen people themselves.” Another student of the situation says,

Among the country people themselves there is no demand for better local government or almost none; they are satisfied or content themselves with grumbling about taxes and in fierce partisan politics. ... The country people of America lack an adequate sense of civic and social responsibility, and the deficiency is rising into critical, national importance. [Footnote 2: E.C. Branson, Report of subcommittee on local government, National Country Life Conference, Baltimore Proceedings, 1919, pp. 68, 69.]

Another says,

The first thing to be reformed in county government is not the officers down at the courthouse, but our own attitude toward the county, and particularly toward public office. For, after all, public officers in this country are just what the people make them … [Footnote 3: H.S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 38.]

There are those who advocate breaking up the county into smaller units for purposes of local self-government, as in New England. Thomas Jefferson, living in Virginia where the county was the sole unit of local government, was a great admirer of the New England town meeting, and said that “public education and the subdivision of the counties into wards,” or townships, were the “two hooks” upon which republican government must hang. On the other hand, we have observed an opposite tendency to concentrate the administration of schools, roads, health, and other matters, in the county government (see pp. 294,325). The fact is that both the organization for centralized, county-wide government, and that for the government of local communities within the county, have their uses. Neither can do its best work without the other. The problem is to deter mine what the business of each should be and to establish a proper balance between them. One thing is sure, namely, that the government of the county cannot be effective unless the people of the various communities within the county are organized to cooperate both for their local interests and for the interests of the county as a whole. This may be provided for in part through township governments, where they exist, and in part through such unofficial organization as that described for the New England town (p. 402), or as that furnished by the farm bureau with its local community committees (p. 30).

One of the most progressive states in the matter of county government is North Carolina. One of the chief instruments by which this progress has been made is the NORTH CAROLINA CLUB, organized by the University of North Carolina for the study and promotion of the interests of the state. The North Carolina Club has affiliated with it COUNTY CLUBS, each of which studies its own county and promotes its interests. In North Carolina they are working in both directions suggested above: in the direction of an effective central county government, and in the direction of organization of all local communities for the study of needs and for teamwork in providing for them. See references.

THE COUNTY AS A SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE

Another important factor in county government is the control exercised over it by the state. The county is not only a local self-governing unit, but it is also a division of the state for the administration of state laws. Its powers of self-government are given to it by the state, and along with these powers it has imposed upon it certain duties for the state. First of all, the county is a STATE JUDICIAL DISTRICT. The most important building at the county seat is the courthouse. The COUNTY COURT is one of the state courts described in the next chapter. The county judge is sometimes chosen by the people of the county, but he is really a state officer. In New England the county is almost solely a judicial district, and in all states its judicial purposes are of supreme importance.

But more than this, the county schools are a part of the state school system and must be administered in accordance with state laws, though by county and township officers. County officers must enforce the health laws of the state. County authorities not only levy and collect county taxes, but also collect state taxes from residents of the county.

THE NECESSITY FOR STATE CONTROL

Here again we have an illustration of the necessity for a careful balance between matters properly subject to local self-government and those properly subject to state control. Counties have suffered both from too much state control in some respects, and from too little in others.

The whole state is injured … if one township lets its citizenship deteriorate through ignorance or drunkenness, and so the state has a right to say that at least six months school term must be given in every township and that no whiskey-selling shall be permitted. Or if one township is infested with cattle ticks, other townships are injured, and so the state may set a minimum standard here …

It often happens that the citizens of one county pay more than their share of the state taxes because it has better methods of assessing and collecting taxes and of keeping accounts than other counties in the state. One of the greatest needs of counties, and one least provided for, is uniformity among the counties of a state in methods of keeping accounts (see example on page 410). Some states have established state systems of auditing county finances.

“HOME RULE” FOR COUNTIES

On the other hand, state governments often interfere in matters that might better be left to local determination. Usually all the counties of a state have exactly the same form of government, with exactly the same officers who exercise exactly the same duties. Yet some counties within a state are almost wholly rural, some are almost wholly urban, others are mixed in character. A form of government adapted to one may not be suited to another. So there has arisen a demand for a larger degree of “home rule” in counties. In Illinois, counties have had the right to determine for themselves whether the township should or should not be given prominence in local government, and whether the “supervisor” or the “commissioner” plan of government should be used. California now has a law which provides that counties may apply for “charters” in the same way that cities do in all states. The “charter,” like a constitution, determines the form and powers of the government, and is framed by the people of the county themselves, though it must then have the approval of the state legislature.

THE GROWTH OF URBAN COMMUNITIES

We have noted how the growth of cities with their elaborate organization for service tends to divert attention from the less conspicuous county government. While probably half the counties of the United States contain no city, or “town,” or village of 2500 people, there is in almost every township at least one compact settlement that has grown up around the trading center. Sometimes there are several of them in a township and many in a county. In such compact communities cooperation becomes necessary to provide for needs that are not felt in more rural districts, such as paved streets, sewers, public water supply, fire and police protection, and so on. A separate government becomes necessary. The people of such communities may appeal to the authorities of township, county, or state, for incorporation as a village, borough, town, or city. “Village” and “borough” are simply two names used in different localities for the same thing. The difference between them and an incorporated town or city is principally one of size and corresponding complexity of organization.

GOVERNMENT OF VILLAGES AND INCORPORATED TOWNS

The chief governing body of a village, or borough, or incorporated town, is a small council, or board, elected by the people. It has legislative powers in a small way, enacting ORDINANCES for the regulation of local officers and in the public interest.

In Michigan … they may prescribe the terms and conditions for licensing taverns, peddlers, and public vehicles. They have control of streets, bridges and public grounds; and have authority to construct bridges and pavements, and to regulate the use and prevent the obstruction of the highways. They may establish and maintain sewers and drains. They may construct and control public wharves, and regulate and license ferries. They may establish and regulate markets. They may provide a police force and a fire department. They may construct or purchase and operate water works and lighting plants. They may own cemeteries, public pounds, public buildings and parks.[Footnote: John A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages, pp. 207, 208.]

The council also has limited power to levy taxes and to borrow money for public purposes.

There is a chief executive officer, sometimes called MAYOR, sometimes president, or by other names. Subordinate to him are various other officers, such as the police marshal, the street commissioner, fire marshal, tax assessor, treasurer, clerk, and so on. In larger villages boards of health and other boards and commissions exist to administer various forms of public service. The village may also have its minor court presided over by a justice of the peace.

CITY GOVERNMENT

When villages or towns reach a certain population usually fixed by state law, they may be incorporated as cities. The change that takes place is simply one of elaborating the governing machinery and giving to it larger powers to correspond with the larger needs of city life. The complex problems of city government we shall not attempt to study in this book.

CHANGES IN URBAN GOVERNMENT FOR BETTER SERVICE AND BETTER CONTROL

Great improvement in the government of towns and cities has been made in recent years. The latest plan of government to be adopted, and it has spread to a considerable number of towns and cities in the United States, is the CITY MANAGER, or TOWN MANAGER, form of government. By this plan the voters elect a small council, or board of directors, who in turn appoint a MANAGER who serves as a superintendent over the affairs of the city or town. He is a trained specialist, often an engineer, and cities and towns sometimes search the country over for the best man available for the place. The manager appoints the heads of the various departments of government, such as health, police, public works, etc., and is responsible to the council for their work. It is the application to town government of methods long used by successful business corporations.

Investigate and report upon:

How the county in Louisiana came to be called a “parish.”

Organization and powers of your county board.

A list of your county officers and their duties.

The sentiment in your county with regard to the efficiency of your county government. Is the sentiment justified?

Recognized defects in your county government.

The long (or short) ballot in your county.

Extent to which the people of your county study the reports of your county government (consult at home and with older friends).

What do you find of interest in your county reports?

Are reports of your county published in the newspapers? Do you understand them? Ask your father to explain them to you.

Extent to which your county board exercises control over other county officers.

Extent to which the farmers of your county interest themselves in politics.

Whether or not the experience of the officer quoted on page 410 could be duplicated in your state.

The fee system in your county.

How and why public officers “are just what the people make them.”

The meaning of Jefferson’s remark that “public education and the subdivision of counties into wards are the two hooks upon which republican government must hang”.

The feasibility of a “county club” in your county similar to those in North Carolina.

The balance between county government and township government in your county.

State control of your county government—too much, or too little? Explain.

Difference between a charter and a constitution.

Number of incorporated towns and cities in your county.

Cooperation (or friction) between urban and rural districts in your county.

Organization of village, borough, or town government in your county.

Difference between the “town” as referred to in the last part of this chapter and the “town” as described in the first part.

Services in incorporated towns and villages in your county that are not performed by the county or township governments for rural residents.

How a village or town is incorporated in your state.

Town manager form of government in your state. Its advantages.

READINGS

State Constitution.

County Government and County Affairs in North Carolina, North Carolina Club Year Book 1917-1918 (The University of North Carolina Record, Extension Series No 30, Chapel Hill, N.C. ).

County Government, ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol XLVII, May, 1913. (36th and Woodland Ave, Philadelphia.)

Publications of the New York Short Ballot Association, 381 Fourth Ave, New York City.

Fairlie, J.A., Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages (The Century Co.).

Mobilizing the Rural Community, by E.L. Morgan, Extension Bulletin No. 23, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE:

Series B: Lesson 19, The commission form of government and the city manager.

Hart, A.B., Actual Government, Part IV, Local government in action.

Reed, T.H., Form and Functions of American Government, Part iv, Local government.

CHAPTER XXVI

OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS

SOURCE OF GOVERNING POWER

When the thirteen original states were colonies, they derived their governing powers from CHARTERS granted to them by the king, as cities and some counties are granted charters by the state. When they won their independence the people of each state substituted a CONSTITUTION for the charter; the difference between a charter and a constitution being that the former is given TO the people by some higher authority, while the latter is adopted BY the people themselves. All of our states alike, whether created before or after the Union was formed, are self-governing under constitutions of their own making.

Counties and towns, cities and villages, have no powers of self- government except those granted to them BY THE STATE. The national government, also, may exercise only such powers as are given to it by the people VOTING AS STATES. Each state, on the other hand, is self-governing in its own right, and may exercise through its government any power whatever, excepting only those which it voluntarily surrendered upon entering the Union. (See pp. 94, 449; also Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 10 and Art. IV.)

THE STATE CONSTITUTION

The state constitution is the supreme law of the state and is supposed to represent the direct voice of the people. Since the Union was formed, state constitutions have been framed by conventions of delegates elected especially for the purpose, and in most cases have been submitted to the people for their ratification. Amendments may be proposed either by such conventions or by the state legislatures, but they must also be ratified by the people. Some of the states have completely revised their constitutions several times, and amendments have been very numerous.

CAUSE OF LENGTH OF STATE CONSTITUTIONS

State constitutions are long documents, containing a great deal of detail regarding the organization and powers of government. In this respect they differ from the national Constitution, which is brief and speaks in broad, general terms. Recent constitutions are longer than earlier ones, partly because there is a greater variety of problems to be dealt with, but also because of a growing tendency to limit the powers of legislatures and administrative officers.

A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT

After a DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, which all state constitutions contain, the constitution is concerned chiefly with the organization, powers and duties of the government. Each state may organize its government as it sees fit, provided only that it is “republican” in form as required by the federal Constitution (Art. IV, sec. 4). This means that it must be a form of representative self-government.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

While the state governments differ from one another in matters of detail, the general plan is the same in all. Each consists of three branches: the legislative branch for lawmaking; the executive branch for law enforcement and administration; and the judicial branch for the interpretation of the laws and for the administration of justice in accordance with the law. These three branches are organized on the principle of a SEPARATION OF POWERS, to prevent encroachment by one upon the powers of the others, and to make each a check upon the powers of the others.

In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them; the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them; to the end it may be a government of laws, and not of men. [Footnote: Constitution of Massachusetts, Part I, Art. XXX.]

Investigate and report on:

The meaning of “a government of laws, and not of men.”

The entrance of your state into the Union.

The history of your present state constitution.

The powers surrendered by your state when it entered the Union.

Compare the length of your state constitution with that of the federal Constitution.

The principal parts of which your constitution is composed.

Number of amendments to your state constitution. When the latest amendments were adopted and why.

The declaration of rights in your state constitution.

Checks exercised by the legislature upon the executive and judicial branches; by the executive upon the legislative and judicial branches; by the judicial upon the legislative and executive branches.

THE GOVERNOR

The chief executive officer of the state is the governor, who is elected by the people for a term which varies, in the different states, from one to four years. It is his duty to see that the laws of the state are faithfully executed. The constitution makes him the commander-in-chief of the state militia, which he may call upon to enforce the laws or to quell disorders. It also gives him the power to pardon persons convicted of crime, in the exercise of which power he is sometimes assisted by a special board of pardons and sometimes by the legislature; but the consideration of the pleas of such persons and their friends for pardon often consumes much of his time.

THE GOVERNOR’S VARIED DUTIES

A great deal of the governor’s time is also taken up with duties devolving upon him as the official representative of the state on ceremonial occasions, as in the laying of corner-stones of public buildings, attending state fairs, and making speeches at public meetings of all kinds. By virtue of his office he is also a member of many boards and commissions whose meetings he must attend.

THE GOVERNOR’S PART IN LAWMAKING

The governor also has some part in lawmaking. In all states except North Carolina he has the power to VETO bills passed by the legislature. This check upon the legislature is not absolute, for the legislature may overcome the governor’s veto by again passing the bill, usually by a two-thirds vote. The governor may also influence legislation by means of his messages to the legislature in which he recommends measures which he believes should be enacted into law. In case of opposition by the legislature, the governor often carries his proposals directly to the people, who quickly make known whether or not they support him. The governor may call special sessions of the legislature to consider measures of especial importance.

GROWING INFLUENCE OF THE GOVERNOR

The governor is a more influential officer today than he was in the early part of our history. In colonial times he was the direct representative of the king, or of the colonial proprietor, and the people sought in every way to limit his powers. After the colonies became states this habitual fear of the governor continued, and he was placed under the control of the legislature. As time went on, however, the legislature fell under the suspicion of the people, while the governor was more and more looked to as their leader. Thus, for example, the veto power was given to him, increasing his influence while it curbed that of the legislature.

WEAKNESS OF THE STATE EXECUTIVE

But the power and influence of the governor are by no means as great in relation to state government as are the powers of the President in relation to the national government. In fact, the executive branch of our state governments has been notoriously weak, and its weakness is of the same kind as that noted in county government: the lack of an effective, responsible head.

COMPARISON OF STATE WITH NATIONAL EXECUTIVE

In our national government the executive power is concentrated in the hands of one man. State constitutions seem to confer the same powers upon the governor. The constitution of Indiana says, “The executive powers of the State shall be vested in a Governor”; and that of Pennsylvania says, “The supreme executive power shall be vested in the Governor.” But the Pennsylvania constitution also says, “The executive department shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs and a Superintendent of Public Instruction” (Art. IV, Sec. I). Four of these officers besides the governor are elected by the people.

BEWILDERING COMPLEXITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

In all states the governor “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed” (Pennsylvania constitution). For the execution of the laws, however, he is dependent not only upon a number of principal executive officers such as those named above, but also upon a large number of less important administrative officers. Governor Lowden, of Illinois, a few years ago said:

Administrative agencies have been multiplied in bewildering confusion. They have been created without reference to their ability economically and effectively to administer the laws. Separate boards govern the penitentiaries, the reformatories, and the educational institutions. Several boards and commissions have charge of matters affecting the agricultural interests. Administration of laws affecting labor is parceled out among numerous agencies, including several boards having jurisdiction of mining problems and several free employment agencies, each independent of the other. Our finance administration is chaotic, illogical and confused.

The administration of the health laws is divided between boards and commissions, with no effective means of coordination. Our educational agencies are not harmonious. Over one hundred officers, boards, agencies, commissions, institutions and departments are charged with the administration of our laws. No systematic organization exists, and no adequate control can be exercised … Under the present system the governor cannot exercise the supervision and control which the people have a right to demand. [Footnote: Charles E. Woodward, “The Illinois Civil Administrative Code,” reprinted from Proceedings, Academy of Political Science, July, 1918.]

GOVERNOR LACKS POWER TO MEET HIS RESPONSIBILITY

This condition of affairs is characteristic of state governments generally. Some of the numerous officers are appointed by the governor, but many of them are elected by the people or appointed by the legislature. Their terms of office do not coincide with that of the governor, so that he finds in office many persons whom he did not appoint, and whom he cannot remove. Often they may be of an opposite political party. Thus the very organization of the state executive department is such as to make it impossible for the governor to perform the duty, imposed upon him by the constitution, of seeing to it that the laws are faithfully executed. It must be remembered, moreover, that the execution of the laws is also dependent largely upon a multitude of local officers over whom the state exercises little control. It is apparent how imperfect must be the teamwork of the people through this organization.

UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS AT POPULAR CONTROL

Why have the people put up with this sort of thing? For one thing, they have not understood where the trouble lies. There is also seen the influence of the political “boss,” who thrives under this confusion. But among the causes is the desire of the people to maintain control over government. They have attempted, in their constitutions, not only to say just what services should be performed for them, but also to specify just what machinery should be used for their performance. For every new service, they have created a new and independent piece of machinery. Then, to make their control complete, as they thought, they have made most of their new officers elective. Experience has shown that control of this kind has been gained only at the sacrifice of efficient service, through failure to provide trained leadership and effective organization. Moreover, experience has also shown that control of this kind is largely a delusion; for the people cannot keep in touch with their multitude of officers, and in many cases yield their control, often unknowingly, to the political “boss.”

EXPERIMENT NECESSARY TO PROGRESS

In noting these defects, it is not to be concluded that our state governments have been a failure in all respects. Far from it. Notable progress has been made toward the ideals toward which we have been striving. We have tried one experiment after another, some of which have been highly successful, but others of which have not met the test of new conditions. It is important, however, that we should face our failures squarely and profit by them.

REORGANIZATION OF EXECUTIVE

At the present time there is a marked effort to overcome the defects that we have just noted, and a good deal of progress toward it has been made in some states. One of the most progressive states in this particular is Illinois, which has recently enacted a law for the reorganization of its executive branch of government.

Under the new “Civil Administrative Code” of Illinois, the executive branch of government is organized in nine departments: the departments of finance, of agriculture, of labor, of mines and minerals, of public works and buildings, of public welfare, of public health, of trade and commerce, and of registration and education.

At the head of each department is a director, who is appointed by the governor, is responsible to him, and whose term of office is the same as that of the governor.

Each department is organized into various bureaus, or other subdivisions, with officers in charge who are directly responsible to the director of the department. Thus, in the department of agriculture there is an assistant director, a general manager of the state fair, a superintendent of foods and dairies, a superintendent of animal industry, a superintendent of plant industry, a chief veterinarian, a chief game and fish warden, and a food standard commission of three members.

All subordinate employees in all departments are appointed under a civil service law which requires competitive examinations.

Associated with most of the departments are “advisory boards” consisting of citizens who serve without pay. Thus, the department of agriculture has a board of agricultural advisers composed of fifteen persons, and a board of state fair advisers of nine persons, not more than three of whom shall be appointed from any one county.

The things aimed at in this reorganization are: (I) fixing responsibility for the entire service-organization in one place— with the governor; (2) responsible, trained leadership in each department of service; (3) responsiveness of leadership to the people’s wants, as provided for by the advisory boards; (4) a system of accounting and records that will make for efficiency and economy, and that will inform the people as well as the officers of government.

Investigate and report on:

The name of the governor of your state, his political party, when elected, for how long a term.

Advantages and disadvantages of a long term for the governor.

The constitutional powers of the governor of your state.

The influence of the governor of your state with the people.

The principal executive and administrative officers of your state. Those that are elective and those that are appointive.

A complete list of the administrative bureaus, boards, commissions, and other state agencies, with their duties.

The application of Governor Lowden’s statement regarding Illinois to your state.

Any proposed reorganization of the executive branch of your state government.

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The legislative branch of government consists, in all states, of a legislature (“general assembly,” “legislative assembly,” or “general court”) composed of two “houses” or “chambers,” the house of representatives and the senate. The senate is the “upper house,” and is usually from one-third to one-half the size of the “lower house”; in Massachusetts only one-sixth the size.

THE TWO HOUSES

A bill to become a law must pass both houses separately, each house acting as a check upon the other, thus securing greater deliberation in lawmaking. The senate is supposed to be, and usually is, a more conservative, or cautious, body than the house of representatives, partly because of its smaller size which makes possible a more careful consideration of business. Its members are elected from larger districts, thus increasing the opportunity to select able men. A higher age qualification is required for membership in the senate than in the house of representatives; and only a part of the senate is elected at each election, so that it is a continuing body, always containing members of experience, while the lower house may be almost entirely changed at each election.

DEFECTS IN DISTRIBUTION OF REPRESENTATION

It is a theory of our representative government that representation should be proportional to population. To secure this result, each state is divided into election districts presumably of as nearly equal population as possible, the senatorial districts being the larger. In practice, however, these districts do not always have representation proportional to their population. The county is often the unit of representation, or in New England the town, and these districts vary greatly in population. An attempt is made to equalize the difference by providing that no district shall have less than one representative, and often that none shall have more than a certain number. Inequalities nevertheless exist. In Connecticut, thirty- four of the most populous towns and cities have sixty-eight members in the lower house, whereas if the distribution were made on the basis of population they would be entitled to 186 members. Again, four of the smallest Connecticut towns, with a total population of 1567, have five members; four of the most populous cities, containing 309,982 inhabitants, have only eight members, whereas on the basis of population they would be entitled to eighty-seven. [Footnote: C.A., Beard, America Government and Politics, p. 521.]

Partisan influences often enter into the districting of states for representation, the party in power trying to fix boundaries so as to ensure keeping their majority in the legislature.

Investigate and report on the following:

Number of members in the lower and upper houses of your legislature.

Qualifications for membership and term of office in each house.

Names of your own representative and senator.

Secure a map showing legislative districts of your state. Locate your own.

Whether representation in your legislature is proportional to population.

The “gerrymander”: what is it, and has it been used in your state?

The legislature controls our lives at almost every turn.

It has control over the whole domain of civil law; [Footnote 2: See below, p. 437.] that is, it lays down the rules governing contracts, real and personal property, inheritance, corporations, mortgages, marriage and divorce, and other civil matters. It defines crime; that is, it prescribes those actions of the citizen which are to be punished by fine or imprisonment or death. It touches the property of the citizen not only by regulating its use, but also by imposing upon it a burden of taxation. Finally, it has control over the vast domain known as the police power, under which it makes regulations concerning public health, morals, and welfare, devises rules for the conduct of business and professions, and in other ways restrains the liberty of the citizen to do as he pleases. [Footnote 3: C.A. Beard, America Government and Politics,, p. 516.]

ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE TOWARD THEIR LEGISLATURES

In view of this importance, it would seem that the people would have the keenest interest in their state legislatures and the greatest respect for them. This has not always been the case. As one writer says, “it has become almost fashionable” to speak slightingly of legislatures and their members, and to talk of them as if they were wholly corrupt and dishonorable. If the very best men the community affords are not always chosen for the difficult and responsible work of lawmaking, the people have no one to blame but themselves. Moreover, the members of our legislatures average up very much like their neighbors, and most of them are sincerely desirous of serving their state and do so to the fullest extent possible under the conditions that exist.

It is indeed time that a different attitude should be assumed toward these bodies. ... Acquaintance with actual legislatures will immediately reveal the fact that they are fairly representative of the American people, and that there is in them, a great deal of honest effort to grapple with the difficult problems of legislation. ... Before all, there ought to be a sustained effort to support the men who are with honest purpose struggling for equitable and effective legislation. ...[Footnote: Paul S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods, p. 126.]

DIFFICULTIES OF WISE LEGISLATION

Most of the unwise and harmful legislation has been due, not to wrong intentions on the part of legislators, but to the difficulty encountered by a body of men of average intelligence and of little experience in dealing with public questions, in getting information necessary to enable them to decide wisely with respect to the multitude of complicated problems that come before them during the brief session of the legislature.

In the lower house of one typical legislature only 19 out of the 252 members had ever been members of a legislature before, 123 were farmers, 6 lawyers, 10 physicians, 48 merchants and manufacturers, 3 bankers, 5 preachers, 6 insurance men, 2 hotel proprietors, 3 liverymen, 14 laborers or artisans, 6 “apparently with no occupation except that of general politician and office- seeker.”

Of the thirty members of the senate of the same legislature, 9 were farmers, 4 lawyers, 4 physicians, and 13 merchants. Seven of these had completed their education in “academies,” while 13 had never got beyond the public schools.

These men had to decide, in the course of a few weeks, upon an astonishing variety of problems, some of them of the greatest complexity, and all of them affecting the lives of the citizens of the state in a multitude of ways. It is not surprising that serious mistakes are sometimes made. [Footnote: C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 525 (from S. P. Orth, “Our State Legislatures,” Atlantic Monthly, vol. xciv, pp. 728 ff.)]

The mere writing of a bill in language that will convey the exact meaning intended, and that will not involve undesirable and unexpected results, is a difficult matter that requires the skill of men trained for it.

LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAUS

In a number of states an attempt has been made to meet these natural difficulties by the establishment of legislative reference libraries, or bureaus, in charge of highly trained students who collect all available information relating to every possible subject of legislation, keep records of legislation in other states, and place the material in convenient form at the disposal of the legislators. Sometimes they provide expert service in the writing of bills in the proper form. It is said that such legislative reference bureaus have already greatly improved the quality of legislation in some of the states.

It would be impossible for a legislature, acting as a body, to give consideration to more than a small fraction of the bills that come before it.

It is said that it is not unusual for more than 2500 bills to be introduced at a single session. Legislatures are in session from 40 to 90 days. If the session were 60 days, and the working day 10 hours, there would be but 15 minutes for each of 2500 bills. This time would be divided between the two houses. Besides, a great deal of business must be transacted other than the consideration and passage of bills.

THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM OF LEGISLATION

To make possible the handling of all this work, each house is organized in standing committees. As bills are introduced, they are referred to their appropriate committees, in which most of the work of lawmaking is done. Most of the bills so referred are never reported back to the legislature at all, and those that are reported are in most cases acted upon by the legislature in accordance with the committees’ reports, with little general discussion. The procedure followed in referring bills to committees and in considering them when they are reported back is determined by a complexity of rules that are confusing to the outsider and that cannot be explained in detail here. But their declared purpose is to save time and to enable the legislative business to move smoothly. The small committees can work to better advantage than the large body of men in either chamber. The work is divided up so that the few members of each committee can concentrate their attention upon a few subjects and gain experience in handling special kinds of problems.

INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT

On the other hand, it is to this organization that we owe some of the bad lawmaking for which our legislatures are blamed. It tends to remove legislation from the control of the people, and results in what is often called “invisible government,” government that is carried on out of sight of the people. It opens a door to partisan influences and to control by political “bosses” and self-seeking “interests.” In the lower house the committees are appointed by the speaker, who is the presiding officer, and who is always chosen by the members of the majority party in the house from their own number. The senate committees are sometimes appointed by the presiding officer of the senate, who is often the lieutenant- governor, and sometimes elected by the senate itself. But the chairmen and the majority of the members of all committees in both houses belong to the majority party, which is thus enabled to control legislation for partisan ends if it so desires, and it often does so.

EVILS OF THE SYSTEM

Bills may be “killed” in committee, or reported unfavorably, or so amended as to change their meaning entirely, merely at the will of the party leaders, or of “bosses” and interests outside of the legislature. A large part of the work of the committees is carried on in secret. Although “hearings” may be held at which citizens may present arguments for and against proposed measures, these may be mere matters of form. Influential interests may maintain a lobby at the legislature, which means that they are represented there by agents who seek to influence the members of the legislature, and especially of the committees, sometimes by corrupt methods. The lobby often works by secret methods, whereas the “hearings” are public.

The party leaders in control, of whom the most important are the speaker of the house, the rules committee, the chairmen of committees, and the “floor manager,” by dictating the procedure to be followed, may at times make it practically impossible for a member of the minority party, or one who has incurred the displeasure of the leaders, to gain a hearing. The following description gives an idea of what may happen: [Footnote: From a pamphlet issued by the Illinois Legislative Voters’ League in 1903, and quoted by C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp 539, 540.]

Consider the petty annoyances to which a decent member outside the “organization” may be subjected, and the methods by which legitimate legislation, backed by him, may be blocked. The bill goes to an unfriendly committee. The chairman refuses to call the committee together, or when forced to call it, a quorum does not attend. ... Action may be postponed on various pretexts, or the bill may be referred to a sub-committee. The committee may kill the bill by laying it on the table. On the other hand, the committee may decide that the bill be reported to the house to pass. Then a common practice is for the chairman to pocket the bill, delaying to report it to the house till too late to pass it. When finally reported to the house, it goes on the calendar to be read a first time in its order. Then begins the advancing of bills by unanimous consent, without waiting to reach them in order. Here is where the organization has absolute control. Unanimous consent is subject to the speaker’s acuteness of hearing. His hearing is sharpened or dulled according to the good standing of the objector or of the member pushing the bill. If one not friendly to the house “organization” wants to have his bill considered over an objection, he must move to suspend the rules. The speaker may refuse to recognize him, or may put his motion and declare it carried or not carried as suits his and the organization’s desires. So the pet bills are jumped over others ahead of them on the calendar, while

[Footnote: From a pamphlet issued by the Illinois Legislative Voters’ League in 1903, and quoted by C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp 539, 540.] the ones not having the backing of the house “organization” are retired farther and farther down until their ultimate passage becomes hopeless. If the bill of the independent member reaches a second reading, it may be killed by striking out the enacting clause or by tacking on an obnoxious amendment that makes it repulsive to its former friends. ... To carry out the will of the organization, the speaker declares amendments carried or the contrary by a viva voce vote. Demands for roll-calls are ignored by him in violation of the members’ constitutional rights. ...

EFFORTS TO CURB POWER OF LEGISLATURES

It is such practices as these that have brought state legislatures into bad repute, and that have resulted in measures to curb their power. Instead of leaving it entirely to them to make their own rules of procedure, many of these rules are now prescribed by the state constitutions. It was in order to restrain the legislatures that the veto power has been given to the governors of all states but one, and that sessions of legislatures have been limited to brief periods of from forty to ninety days, and then only once in two years. For the same reason state constitutions have taken away powers that legislatures once commonly abused, as in running the state deeply into debt, or in legislating in the interest of particular localities or particular groups; and have provided in great detail for many things that were formerly left to the discretion of the legislatures. For the same reason some states have adopted the initiative and referendum.

Investigate and report on:

Powers possessed by either house of your legislature not possessed by the other.

Powers denied your legislature by the federal Constitution.

Powers denied your legislature by your state constitution. Reasons.

Attitude of the people of your community toward your legislature.

Why service in the legislature does not attract more of the most capable men of the state.

The vocations of the members of your legislature.

Number of bills introduced, and the number passed, at the last session of your legislature.

The purpose of some of the most important laws enacted by your legislature at its last session.

Why it is difficult to write a bill correctly.

The legislative reference library, or bureau, of your state (if any).

The committees in each house of your legislature.

Procedure by which a bill becomes a law in your state.

The speaker of the House of Representatives in your state.

“Invisible government” in your state.

Laws regulating the “lobby” in your state. Frequency and length of legislative sessions in your state.

INEFFICIENT BUSINESS METHODS OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

Some of the greatest abuses of governing power have been in connection with the appropriation of money. They have been due not so much to dishonesty as to bad organization and loose business methods, both in the executive and legislative branches of government. When the executive branch consists of a large number of more or less independent parts, each trying to make the best showing possible, it is quite to be expected that each will seek to get from the public treasury all the money possible without reference to the needs of other parts or to the resources of the state. When, in addition, there is no central executive authority with power to hold the heads of the various parts responsible for their acts, and no uniform or businesslike system of keeping accounts, either of money expended or of work accomplished, it is easy to see the opportunity for wastefulness and inefficiency.

WASTEFUL METHODS OF MAKING APPROPRIATIONS

On the other hand, the methods of making appropriations in the legislature have been equally conducive to wastefulness. Appropriation bills pass through the same legislative machinery as all other bills and are subject to the same dangers. Moreover, they are handled by different committees that act as independently of one another as do the various executive departments. In Illinois, for example, until recently “requests for appropriations were submitted informally by each office, department, or board; and separate bills were prepared by the several departments and institutions, and introduced by individual members of the General Assembly,” l[Footnote: John A. Fairlie, Budget Methods in Illinois, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November, 1915; quoted by W. F. Willoughby, in The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 45.] then being referred to different committees according to the subjects to which they related. At the session of 1913, 94 separate appropriation acts were passed.

THE BUDGET SYSTEM

A number of the states have sought to remedy this defect in government by the adoption of a budget system (see Chapter XIII). Illinois has perhaps made the complete reform in this matter. We have already seen how that state has reorganized its executive branch of government, which is the first necessary step. In this reorganization there was created a finance department, to which all the administrative departments submit a careful estimate of the money needed for their various lines of work, together with a detailed statement of work done and money spent during the two preceding years. The finance department considers all these statements and estimates in their relation to one another and to the financial resources available for the next two years, and submits to the governor a comprehensive and detailed budget. On the basis of this, a single appropriation bill is prepared by a single committee of the legislature. Public hearings are held, the people are given opportunity to know just what the government has done and intends to do, and the governor and his finance department may be held responsible.

No single change would add so largely to both democracy and efficiency as the introduction of proper budget methods. [Footnote: Foreword to Public Budgets, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November, 1915; quoted by W. F. Willoughby, The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 2.]

Investigate and report on:

Method of making appropriations in your state.

Movement for a budget system in your state.

Why a budget system tends toward (1) economy, (2) efficiency, (3) democracy.

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

Questions are continually arising as to the meaning of laws, or as to how they apply in particular cases. To answer these questions the judicial branch of government exists, comprising a system of courts. The courts are sometimes called upon to decide whether a law passed by the legislature, or an act of an administrative officer, is in harmony with the constitution, and if not, to declare such law or act invalid. The judicial branch of government is therefore the people’s organization to keep the other branches of government within their constitutional powers.

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES

In most cases that come before the courts, however, the law is perfectly clear when once the facts in the case are known. It is therefore the business of the courts also to ascertain the facts. There are two classes of cases that come before the courts, civil cases and criminal cases; and the law that applies to the two classes is known as civil law and criminal law. A civil case is one that involves a dispute between individuals, or an injury done by one individual to another. Such would be a dispute over a boundary line between the properties of two individuals, or over the payment of a debt; or a personal injury due to the carelessness of some one, or an injury to property or to health through maintaining a nuisance of some kind. In such cases the court, after ascertaining the facts, merely sees that justice is done, as by the payment of damages to the injured party by the one doing the injury. A criminal case is one in which a person is charged with having violated a law of the community. The injury is one against the community as a whole, and not merely against an individual. It is the community that appears in court against the accused person, and not merely one of his neighbors. In such cases the court first ascertains the guilt or innocence of the accused person; and if he is guilty, imposes a PUNISHMENT upon him, such as a fine, or imprisonment, or even death, according to the nature of the crime.

The judicial branch of government, then, is that part of the governmental organization that seeks to adjust, by peaceful and just means, the inevitable conflicts that arise in community life.

JUSTICES’ COURTS

The lowest in the series of state courts are the JUSTICES’ COURTS, of which there is at least one in every township. They are presided over by justices of the peace. Only cases of small moment come before justices’ courts: civil cases involving very small amounts, and cases of minor infractions of the law punishable by small fines or by short terms in jail. Persons accused of more serious crimes may have a preliminary examination in a justice’s court and, if the evidence warrants it, be committed to jail to await the action of the grand jury (see below). Most cases in a justice’s court are disposed of by the justice of the peace alone; but a jury trial may be demanded in all criminal cases, and in civil suits “where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars” (Const., Amendments VI, VII).

COUNTY COURTS

More serious cases, civil or criminal, are tried in the COUNTY, or DISTRICT, courts before a judge and a JURY. Cases that have been tried in a justice’s court may be APPEALED to the county or district court, where there is sure to be a jury trial, and where the judge is more learned in the law than is a justice of the peace. It is the business of the jury to decide on the facts in the case on the evidence furnished in the trial, and in civil cases to award the amount of damages, if any, to be paid; while the judge sees that the procedure is in accordance with the law, instructs the jury as to the law in the case, and in criminal cases fixes the penalty within the limits permitted by the law.

THE COMMUNITY IN COURT

It was stated above that in criminal cases it is the COMMUNITY that appears against the accused. The community appears in the person of the district attorney, otherwise called the prosecuting attorney, state’s attorney, or county solicitor. It is the business of this officer to gather evidence of crimes committed in the community and, in most cases, to submit it to the GRAND JURY, which is a body of citizens carefully chosen to consider such evidence. If the grand jury considers the evidence against the accused sufficient to warrant bringing him to trial, it brings in an INDICTMENT against him. The prosecuting attorney then prosecutes the case for the community against the accused. It is of course his duty to secure exact justice; sometimes, however, he seems interested only in securing the CONVICTION of the accused.

RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED

Our state and national constitutions seek to protect carefully the rights of a person accused of crime. He is assumed to be innocent until he has been proved otherwise. He is guaranteed a “speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” He must be “confronted with witnesses against him,” and have “compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,” and “assistance of counsel for his defense” (Const., Amendment VI). He cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without “due process of law” (Amendment V). “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” (Amendment VIII).

CIRCUIT OR SUPERIOR COURTS

In some states there is another set of courts immediately above the county courts, known as CIRCUIT, DISTRICT, or SUPERIOR, courts. The districts in which these courts have jurisdiction include several counties. The cases courts handled by them are either cases of appeal from the lower courts, or cases of greater importance than those over which the lower courts have jurisdiction.

THE STATE SUPREME COURT

The highest court in the state is the SUPREME COURT, sometimes called the COURT OF APPEALS, or the COURT OF ERRORS. In the supreme court several judges sit together, and there is no jury. The cases that come before it are for the most part cases of appeal from the lower courts, although there are certain classes of cases that come before it in the first instance. The supreme court is the final judge as to whether acts of the legislature are in conformity with the state constitution.

OTHER COURTS

In addition to the courts named above there are sometimes others to deal with special classes of cases. In cities there are MUNICIPAL COURTS and POLICE COURTS, both in the same class with justices’ courts. There are JUVENILE COURTS to deal with juvenile offenders; PROBATE, or SURROGATE, COURTS to settle the estates of persons who have died; COURTS OF CLAIMS to settle claims against the state; and CHANCERY COURTS, or courts of EQUITY, which administer justice in cases that the ordinary law will not reach.

For example, the LAW will permit a man’s property to be taken to satisfy a mortgage; EQUITY requires that the property be sold and the surplus over the amount of the mortgage returned to the owner. The LAW will grant damages for any injury inflicted; EQUITY will, by an injunction, forbid a repetition of the injury.

SELECTION OF JUDGES

The judges of the state courts were originally appointed by the governors, or by the legislatures. With the movement toward more democratic forms of government, the states began to introduce provisions in their constitutions for the election of judges by the people, and they are now so chosen in most states, though in a number they are appointed by the governor, and in a few by the legislature. It is highly important that judges should be controlled in their decisions solely by the desire to render justice, and that they should be removed as far as possible from partisan influences. Popular election of judges is most prevalent because it seems to give to the people the most direct control over their courts. On the other hand, it is opposed by many because it makes possible the election of incompetent judges, and because it does not necessarily remove the matter from partisan influences. In three states (California, Oregon and Arizona) the judges are subject to recall by the people.

The terms during which judges hold office also vary greatly among the states. In three states they hold office for life (Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire). In the other states their terms vary from two to twenty-one years.

It seems to be the opinion of most students that the state courts would be improved if their judges were appointed by the chief executive and should hold office for life, or during good behavior, as is the case in the federal courts.

Investigate and report on:

Civil law and criminal law.

What makes an act a “crime.”

Difference between a “crime” and a “misdemeanor.”

Justices’ courts in your community.

Procedure in a justice’s court.

The organization of your county court.

Who is your county (or district) judge.

Procedure in your county court, and how it differs from that in the justice’s court.

Organization and work of the grand jury.

How a trial jury is selected.

The citizen’s duty to serve on the jury.

Rights of an accused person.

Meaning of “bail,” “indictment,” “due process of law,” “counsel for defense,” “subpoena,” “true bill.”

Circumstances under which an appeal may be made.

The supreme court of your state.

The work of a juvenile court.

READINGS

State Constitution.

Reports of the several departments of the state government.

In LESSONS IN COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL LIFE: Series B: Lesson 18, How state laws are made and enforced.

The Civil Administrative Code of the State of Illinois, compiled by Louis L. Emmerson. Secretary of State, Springfield, Ill.

The Illinois Civil Administrative Code, by Charles E. Woodward, The Academy of Political Science, Columbia University, New York City.

Beard, Chas. A., AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS, Part iii, State government.

Hart, A. B., ACTUAL GOVERNMENT, Part iii, State governments in action.

Reed, T. H., FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, Part iii, State government.

Bryce, James, THE AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH, vol. i, Part ii, The State governments.

In Long’s AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE: Invisible government (Elihu Root), pp. 261-264.

In Foerster and Pierson’s AMERICAN IDEALS: How to Preserve the Local Self-Government of the States (Elihu Root), pp. 48-55

CHAPTER XXVII

OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT

It was the necessity for team work in carrying on the War for Independence that led the thirteen American colonies for the first time to unite under a common government. They had revolted to escape from an autocratic government, and they sought to avoid setting up another in its place. Since it had been the king whom they distrusted most, they endeavored to get along without any executive head at all. Their new government consisted solely of a Congress of delegates from the thirteen states.

THE CRITICAL PERIOD

This form of government was continued for several years after the Revolution under a constitution known as the Articles of Confederation. It was, however, unsuccessful in securing anything like real national cooperation. The Congress had no power to levy and collect taxes, it had little power to make laws, and it was without means to execute the laws that it did make. The real governing power during this period was with the several states. The result was a period of unutterable confusion which has been called “the critical period of American history.” The question at stake was whether a number of self-governing state communities with a multitude of apparently conflicting interests could really become a nation.

THE NEW CONSTITUTION

During the war Benjamin Franklin had said, “We must all hang together or we shall all hang separately.” The states had “hung together” sufficiently to win the war; but the wise men of the time now saw the need for a government so organized and with such powers as to secure effective cooperation among all the states and all the people at all times for the welfare of the entire Union, while leaving each state free to manage its own local affairs. Therefore a convention of delegates from all the states was called together at Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. The result was our present Constitution under which our present national government went into effect in 1789.

Investigate and report:

The nature and causes of the confusion during “the critical period” of American history.

The leading men of the Constitutional Convention.

How the states ratified the Constitution.

Which of the original thirteen states did not ratify the Constitution until after it had gone into effect.

The number of states required to ratify before the Constitution went into effect (Constitution, Art. VII).

POPULAR CONTROL THROUGH THE CONSTITUTION

“We, the people of the United States” “ordained and established” the Constitution (see the Preamble). It was also “ordained” in the Constitution (Art. V) that it could be amended only by methods designed to give the people control over the matter—greater control than they have over ordinary lawmaking. A great many amendments have been proposed in the course of time, but only eighteen have so far been adopted,[Footnote: A nineteenth amendment is at this writing before the states for ratification— the woman suffrage amendment.] ten of these having been adopted in the very beginning as a condition on which the states would accept the Constitution at all. None of these amendments changed the form of our government except with respect to the methods of electing the President and United States senators (Amendments XII and XVII).

Explain the two methods of proposing, and the two methods of ratifying, amendments (Constitution, Art. VII).

Has there ever been a national constitutional convention called by the states?

Which of the two methods of ratifying was used in the case of the last amendment adopted? [Footnote: Ohio by a referendum in 1919 submitted the eighteenth amendment to the people of the state for their vote, after it had been ratified by the legislature. This was the first time in our history that an amendment to the Constitution was submitted to popular vote for ratification.]

Did your state vote to ratify or to reject the last amendment?

If any amendment is now before the states for ratification, watch the newspapers for the action of the various states.

OUR GOVERNMENT A GROWING THING

The Constitution adopted in 1787 has met the needs of our growing nation in a most remarkable way. It would be a mistake, however, to think that it has always met new conditions perfectly, or that we are governed to-day exactly as was intended by the framers of the Constitution. Although few amendments have been made, INTERPRETATIONS have been placed on the Constitution that were probably unthought of by the framers or by the people who ratified it; and PRACTICES have grown up in our government that have made it quite a different government from that which was anticipated. Our government is a GROWING thing, and one of the chief merits of our Constitution is the fact that it speaks in such general terms that it has been possible, under it, to adapt our government to new and unexpected conditions. In this respect it differs from the detailed state constitutions.

DEFECTS INEVITABLE

On the other hand, conditions have arisen with the growth of our nation that our Constitution has not enabled us to meet with the greatest success, and that we have not yet met by amendment. In some cases we have tried to get around the difficulties by devices not provided for in the Constitution, sometimes with unfortunate results. But a recognition of defects in our government should not cause us to lose respect for the Constitution. They are due not to positive blunders on the part of the framers, but to the mere absence of provision for conditions that did not exist when the Constitution was framed and that could not be foreseen by the wisest men of that time. The wise course for all good citizens is to seek to understand clearly wherein our government fails to meet our needs, if it does fail, and then to seek to correct the difficulty, under the existing terms of the Constitution if possible, or by amendment of the Constitution if that becomes clearly necessary. Amendment of the Constitution was purposely made difficult, and this was doubtless wise, for it tends to prevent changes without full consideration of their needs and probable effects. Radical changes in our form of government and in our established laws are always fraught with danger. Because of the extreme complexity of community life a change effected at one point to meet a particular evil may have consequences of the most far-reaching kind and in the most unexpected directions. A change that corrects one evil may produce conditions resulting in evils even worse than the first. Changes are necessary at times, but they should be made only after the most careful consideration by men of the widest possible experience.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

One thing that stood out clearly after the Revolution was the fear of a strong national government. Some of the states refused to ratify the Constitution unless amendments were added at once guaranteeing the liberties of the people. The first ten amendments, known as the “bill of rights,” were the result. To make sure that no important rights were left unguarded, the ninth amendment provides that “the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

Read the first ten amendments and discuss the meaning of each.

A GOVERNMENT OF DELEGATED POWERS

It was clearly expected that most of the governing powers to which the people were subject should be exercised by the states, and not by the national government. The national government was to exercise no powers except such as were DELEGATED to it in the Constitution. These powers are important ones, but few in number, and are listed in section 8 of Article I. In order to make this limitation of powers perfectly clear, the tenth amendment declares that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people.” Certain powers were also expressly denied to the national government in section 9 of Article I.

Discuss the meaning of each clause in Article I, section 8.

Discuss the meaning of each clause in Article I, section 9.

THE SCOPE OF NATIONAL POWERS

The powers of the national government relate to interstate and foreign affairs, or to matters that the several states could not well regulate without confusion or injustice. For example, it was chiefly the confusion in matters pertaining to trade in the period following the Revolution that made the new government necessary. Therefore power was given to it “to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.” So, also, it was given power “to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures,” for varying systems of coinage and of weights and measures would be inconvenient. For similar reasons it was empowered “to establish post-offices and post-roads,” “to establish an uniform rule of naturalization” for immigrants, and “to promote the progress of science and useful arts” by giving copyrights and patents to authors and inventors. The states, on the other hand, were expressly forbidden to exercise any control over some such matters of national and international concern in section 10 of Article I.

Read section 10, Art I, and discuss the reasons why the powers there mentioned should have been denied to the states.

THE SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES

Not only did the framers of the Constitution carefully limit the powers that the national government might exercise, but they also introduced into the organization of the government various devices to control it and to prevent any of its parts from assuming too much power. The most important of these is the system of CHECKS AND BALANCES. In our national government, as in the state governments, the legislative, executive, and judicial powers are SEPARATED. In early times in England, the king could make any laws he wished, he could enforce them as he pleased, and he controlled the courts of justice. In our government the legislature, composed of representatives of the people, makes the laws; the executive branch of government sees to their enforcement; and the courts, which are responsible neither to the legislature nor to the executive, interpret the laws and administer justice in accordance with the laws. This separation of powers is to prevent any one person or group of persons from exercising too much power, as the king did, and is a safeguard to the liberty of the people. But the separation of powers IS NOT COMPLETE. Each branch of government has A LIMITED CONTROL over the others. This constitutes THE SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES, which still further protects the people’s liberties.

While the President cannot make the laws, he is given a check upon the lawmaking power of Congress by his veto power. On the other hand, he cannot, by an excessive use of his veto power, destroy the lawmaking power of Congress, because Congress may pass laws over the President’s veto by means of a two-thirds vote.

The President cannot make a treaty, nor appoint men to office, without the consent of the senate; neither can he exercise his executive powers until Congress votes him the necessary money.

If Congress passes a law that is contrary to the Constitution the courts may declare the law void, and the executive cannot enforce it. The courts, on the other hand, are in a measure under the control of both Congress and the President, for Congress may create and destroy courts (except those created by the Constitution), and the President, with the consent of the senate, appoints the judges.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CHECKS AND BALANCES

The “checks and balances” in the organization of our government have been very effective in accomplishing the purpose for which they were intended, namely, to protect the liberties of the people against despotic government. But they have also, at times, been an obstacle to team work and to effective service. It sometimes happens, for example, that the President represents one political party, while the majority of one or both houses of Congress are of the opposing party. The two branches of government may then enter into a struggle on partisan grounds, each trying to defeat the program of the other. Such a situation was probably unforeseen by the framers of the Constitution, although it again reminds us of Washington’s warning with regard to the dangers of the party spirit.

THE IMPLIED POWERS OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

With the growth of our nation, the national government has come to perform a vast amount of service, as we have seen in earlier chapters, and to regulate the lives of the people in a multitude of ways little dreamed of by the makers of the Constitution. This has been possible because of the principle of IMPLIED POWERS in the Constitution. This means that some of the powers expressly granted in the Constitution have been broadly interpreted to IMPLY powers not expressly stated. There are certain clauses in the Constitution that especially lend themselves to such broad interpretation. For example, after the enumeration of the powers which Congress may exercise, in section 8 of Article I, clause 18 of that section gives Congress power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers …” Another clause whose liberal interpretation has been responsible for much of the service performed by the national government is that giving it the power to regulate interstate commerce (Art. I, sec. 8, clause 3).

In the early days of our government the Federalist party, under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton, proposed the creation of a NATIONAL BANK. The Republican party under Jefferson opposed this because the Constitution did not expressly provide for it, and because it was feared that it would give the national government too much power. But the “broad constructionists” argued that a national bank was a “necessary and proper” means to enable the national government “to borrow money on the credit of the United States” and to exercise other financial powers expressly granted in the Constitution. The supreme court of the United States supported the latter view, and the national bank became a fact.

The building of roads and other internal improvements by the national government have always been opposed by the “strict constructionists,” except where roads were clearly “post-roads” (Article 1, section.8, clause 7). But the “broad constructionists” argued that roads were “necessary and proper” to provide “for the common defense,” and also as a means “to regulate commerce among the several states.”

Most of the work that the national government has done for the promotion of the public health, such as the passage and enforcement of the “pure food and drugs act,” the inspection of livestock and of slaughterhouses, and the attempt to regulate child labor, has been done under the authority of the clause giving Congress power to regulate interstate commerce.

EXPANSION OF POWERS BY JUDICIAL DECISION

It has been the duty of the Supreme Court of the United States to decide finally whether much of the new service undertaken by the national government is in accordance with the Constitution or not, and this court has been responsible for most of the expansion of the service rendered, because of its liberal interpretation of the Constitution.

Why should the power to regulate interstate commerce also give Congress the power to require the inspection of cattle in your neighborhood? or to forbid the use of harmful substances in patent medicines? or to forbid the employment in factories of children?

Find out what you can about the influence of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in extending the powers of the national government.

THE EXECUTIVE CENTRALIZED AND CONTROLLED

The Constitution vests the executive power in the President of the United States (Art. II, sec. I), and he alone is responsible to the people for the execution of the laws. The people are protected against abuse of this power in the hands of one man by various constitutional provisions. The President’s term of office is limited to four years, though he may be reelected. In case of improper conduct in office, he may be removed by IMPEACHMENT. The impeachment charges must be brought against him by the House of Representatives, and the Senate, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, must act as a court to try the case. Moreover, even the President must act according to law, and in so far as his duties are not prescribed by the Constitution they are prescribed by Congress. Congress must also create the machinery by which the President executes the laws, and it must appropriate the necessary money. The Senate exercises a further control over the President in that it must approve all appointments and all treaties made by him.

METHOD OF ELECTING THE PRESIDENT

The method of electing the President provided in the Constitution was intended to insure a wise choice, and also shows a lack of complete confidence in the people on the part of the framers of the Constitution. He was to be elected by a body of ELECTORS, chosen by the several states “in such manner as the legislatures thereof may direct,” the number of electors from each state to equal the whole number of senators and representatives from that state (Art. II, sec. 2). These electors were originally chosen by the legislatures of the states, but are now elected by the people. When voters “vote for the President” every four years, they in reality only vote for these electors who, in turn, cast their votes for the President.

DEPARTURE FROM THE INTENTION OF THE CONSTITUTION

In the method of electing the President we find one of the points where the intention of the framers of the Constitution has clearly been thwarted. It was obviously the intention that the electors chosen by the states should use their own discretion in the choice of the President. But in practice to-day, the entire body of electors from each state always represents the victorious political party, and casts its vote invariably for the presidential candidate already nominated by the party machinery. We still elect the electors, and the electors go through the form of electing the President; but their part in the procedure is now entirely useless.

THE VICE-PRESIDENT

The Vice-President of the United States is elected at the same time and by the same method as the President. But he has no executive duties whatever so long as the President is capable of performing his duties. In order that he might have something to do, he was made presiding officer of the Senate, but even there he has no vote.

Investigate and report:

The qualifications necessary to hold the office of President (Const., Art. II, sec. I, cl. 5).

How the electors elect the President (Const., Amend. XII).

Who would become President if both the President and the Vice- President should die.

The salary of the President.

The oath taken by the President on assuming office. The difference between an oath and an affirmation (Art. II, sec. i, cl. 8).

The powers of the President (Art. II, sec. 2).

A President who was impeached.

Why no President has been elected for a third term.

Advantages and disadvantages of a longer term for the President.

GROWTH OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION

The President is at the head of a stupendous service organization which was not ready-made by the Constitution, but which has been gradually created by acts of Congress under its express and implied powers. The Constitution did not even create the great administrative departments through which the President works, although it implied that such departments should be created: “The President … may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices” (Art. II, sec. 2, cl. i). The heads of these departments are appointed by the President, are responsible to him, and may be removed by him. Together they constitute the President’s CABINET, meeting with him frequently to discuss the affairs of their departments and matters of public policy.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS

Five of these administrative departments were created during Washington’s administration. These five have grown to cover a multitude of activities that were not at first contemplated, and five other great departments have since been created.

The DEPARTMENT OF STATE maintains relations between the United States and foreign powers. The Secretary of State, acting for the President, negotiates treaties with foreign governments, and is in constant communication with the ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and other representatives of our government in foreign countries, and with similar representatives of foreign governments in this country. This department is the medium of communication between the President and the governors of the several states. The Secretary of State has in his keeping the treaties and laws of the United States, and also the Great Seal of the United States, which he affixes to proclamations, commissions, and other official papers. Through him the rights of American citizens in foreign countries are looked after. He is first in rank among the members of the cabinet, and by law would succeed to the Presidency in case of the death or disability of both the President and the Vice- President.

The DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY has at its head the Secretary of the Treasury, who is the financial manager of the national government. He prepares plans for, and superintends the collection of, the public revenues; determines the manner of keeping the public accounts; directs the coinage and printing of money. He also controls the construction and maintenance of public buildings, and administers the public health service and the life- saving service.

The DEPARTMENT OF WAR is directed by the Secretary of War, who, under the President, controls the military establishment and superintends the national defense. He also administers river and harbor improvements, the prevention of obstruction to navigation, and the building of bridges over navigable rivers when authorized by Congress. He also has direction of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, which supervises the government of Porto Rico and the Philippines.

The DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE has at its head the Attorney General, who is the chief law officer of the government, and represents it in all matters of a legal nature. He is the legal adviser of the President and of the several executive departments, and supervises all United States attorneys and marshals in the judicial districts into which the country is divided.

The POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT is administered by the Postmaster General.

The DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, under the Secretary of the Navy, has charge of the “construction, manning, equipment, and employment of vessels of war.”

The DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR was created to relieve the Department of State of work relating to internal affairs, and now embraces a wide variety of duties. At its head is the Secretary of the Interior. Through many bureaus and divisions it administers the public lands, the national parks, the giving of patents for inventions, the pensioning of soldiers, Indian affairs, education, the reclamation service, the geological survey, the improvement of mining methods for the safety of miners, certain matters pertaining to the territories of the United States, and certain institutions in the District of Columbia.

The DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE is directed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Its work is described in Chapter XII.

The DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, under the Secretary of Commerce, promotes the commercial interests of the country in many ways. It includes in its organization the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the Bureau of Corporations, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Bureau of Standards.

The DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, under the Secretary of Labor, has for its purpose “fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, improving their working conditions, and advancing their opportunities for profitable employment.” Among its important bureaus are those of Immigration and of Naturalization, and the Children’s Bureau, which investigates and reports upon “all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people.”

OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES

In addition to these great administrative departments with their numerous bureaus and subdivisions, there are various boards, commissions and establishments that are independent of the departments.

Some of the most important of these are the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Service Commission (see below), the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Tariff Commission, the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, the United States Bureau of Efficiency, the Federal Board of Vocational Education, the Panama Canal.

Of another kind are the Library of Congress which includes the Copyright Office; the Government Printing Office; the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum and the National Zoological Park.

There are many others. During the recent war a great variety of new administrative commissions and boards were created for the emergency. Most of these have been, or are to be, discontinued, though some of them may survive. Such were the Council of National Defense, the Committee on Public Information, the Food Administration, the Fuel Administration, the United States Shipping Board, the War Trade Board, the Director General of Railroads.

THE CIVIL SERVICE

The detailed work of this vast service organization is carried on by about 400,000 employees (not counting the army and the navy). These constitute the CIVIL SERVICE. The quality of service depends largely upon the efficiency of these employees. The task of filling all these places is a large one. In Andrew Jackson’s administration (1829-1837) the “spoils system” was introduced, which means that government positions were treated by the victorious party as “the spoils of victory,” to be given to members of the victorious party as rewards for party service without much regard to fitness for the work to be done. Whenever the administration passed from one party to another, the army of civil service employees was displaced by another of new employees. Not only did this result in inefficient service, but the time of the President and the heads of the departments was largely consumed in considering the claims of those seeking appointment.

Moreover, since appointments could be made only “with the advice and consent” of the Senate, senators were besieged by applicants for positions and their friends. The President, overwhelmed by the multitude of appointments to be made, came to rely almost wholly upon the advice of the senators, and even of members of the House of Representatives, for appointments in their states and districts. Thus, in effect, appointments were made by members of Congress rather than by the President who was really responsible. No system could have been devised more wasteful of the time of the executive and legislative branches of the government, or more conducive to inefficiency.

REFORM OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

The spoils system became a great offense to the nation, but it was not until President Garfield was murdered by a disappointed office seeker that Congress, in 1883, passed a law for the reform of the civil service. Candidates for many positions in the civil service were required to pass an examination designed to prove their fitness for the work to be done, and a CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION was created to administer the law and to conduct the examinations, which are held at stated intervals in different parts of the country. Those appointed under this system cannot be removed except for cause. Even at the present time, however, only about half of the civil service is subject to this MERIT SYSTEM. From the above description of the work of the several executive departments select topics for special investigation and report; such as:

The work of United States Consuls. Coining money; the United States Bureau of Engraving.

The life-saving service of the United States.

The United States Army in war and peace.

The United States Army as an organization to save life, especially in its work of sanitation in territories occupied.

Representatives of the United States Department of Justice in your community, and examples of their work.

Building a battleship. Training for the navy.

Exploits of the navy in war. The work of the navy in time of peace.

The work of the patent office; of the bureau of Indian affairs; of the geological survey; of the bureau of mines.

Taking the United States census.

The work of the bureau of fisheries.

Marvels of the bureau of standards.

The immigration bureau.

Work of the children’s bureau.

How an immigrant is naturalized.

The Government Printing Office.

The Congressional Library.

The spoils system in Andrew Jackson’s administration.

How would you go about it to take an examination for the civil service?

Is there any reason why a mail carrier or a clerk in a government office should be a Republican or a Democrat?

What employees of the United States civil service are there in your community?

RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP

Efficient government requires strong, clearly recognized leadership. Democratic government requires that its leadership shall be responsive to the needs of the people and under their control. The problem of how to secure strong leadership and controlled leadership at one and the same time is a difficult one. So far as the executive branch of government alone is concerned, the framers of the Constitution secured strength by concentrating full responsibility in the President. But did they expect him to be their leader in the government as a whole; that is, in formulating the policies of government that should serve as the basis for legislation? We are in the habit of thinking of him as our national leader, but was he made so in fact?

LEADERSHIP OF THE PRESIDENT

In fact, the framers of the Constitution were apparently more concerned about maintaining control over the President than about clearly making him the nation’s leader. About the only indication the Constitution contains that he was to be such a leader is the statement that he “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” (Art. II, sec.3). He does submit recommendations to Congress at the opening of each of its terms and often at other times. If the President and the majority in Congress are of the same political party, Congress is pretty likely to follow the President’s lead; or, if the President has a commanding personality and is clearly popular with the people, he may force measures through even an unwilling Congress. But if differences arise between the President and Congress, especially when one or both houses of Congress are of the opposite party from the President, his recommendations may be entirely ignored. By our system of “checks and balances” the President is “controlled,” but he ceases to be a leader when he does not have the “following” of Congress, or of the majority of the people.

President Wilson began his second administration with a majority in both houses of Congress of his political party, and apparently in popular favor. He was clearly accepted as leader and practically all of his proposed measures were favorably acted upon by Congress. In the middle of this administration a congressional election occurred which resulted in a majority in both houses of the opposing party. This result might be considered as a popular vote against the leadership of the President, and his opponents did consider it so. It cannot be absolutely certain that this was intended, for the people were not voting directly on this question. Whether this was true or not, Congress refused to follow his leadership in many important questions, including the treaty of peace with Germany.

CONTROL OF LEADERSHIP IN ENGLAND

It will be helpful to compare this situation with the method by which England has worked out the problem of leadership and control of leadership.

The real executive head in the English government is the prime minister. The king appoints the prime minister, but he always chooses for the position THE RECOGNIZED LEADER OF THE POLITICAL PARTY THAT IS IN THE MAJORITY in the House of Commons (which corresponds to our House of Representatives).

The prime minister having been appointed, he then selects the other members of his cabinet, who are to be the heads of the executive departments, and WHO ARE ALSO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

The prime minister and the other members of the cabinet have seats in the House of Commons, contrary to the practice in our country. THEY ALSO TAKE THE LEAD IN LEGISLATION, for most of the important bills considered in the House of Commons are planned and introduced by the cabinet. So the executive and legislative branches of the English government are not separated as in our country. The same group of men manage the service organization and lead in planning the legislation that makes the service possible.

It sometimes happens, however, that the cabinet introduces a measure which, after discussion, a majority of the House of Commons rejects. This means that on this question the cabinet no longer represents the majority in the House. Then one of two things happens. EITHER THE CABINET RESIGNS in a body to make way for a new cabinet that does represent the majority; OR THE PRIME MINISTER ASKS FOR A GENERAL ELECTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. If at this election a majority is again returned that is opposed to the cabinet, it means that the cabinet no longer leads the people, and it resigns. If a majority is returned in support of the cabinet, it means that the old House was no longer representative of the people, and the old cabinet retains its leadership.

This system gives the English people MORE DIRECT CONTROL over their government than we have in our country; it is very much like the method of RECALL that is used in some of our states. At the same time, it assures a real executive leadership WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT, a leadership that is both responsive and responsible to the people.

GROWTH OF IRRESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP

Not only does our Constitution fail to provide clearly for responsible leadership within the government, but our system of “checks and balances,” our party system of government, and the organization and rules of Congress, all taken together, have tended to confuse our leadership, and to impose upon us an irresponsible leadership, OUTSIDE of the government as outlined by the Constitution. To understand this it will first be necessary to examine the organization of Congress.

THE CONGRESS

Congress, like the state legislatures, consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate; this being another instance of “checks and balances.”

The creation of two chambers in the Congress made possible a satisfactory settlement of a dispute in the Constitutional Convention with regard to the basis of representation. The larger states wanted representation proportional to their population, while the smaller states, insisted upon EQUAL representation for all the states. It was settled that there should be equal representation in the Senate, and proportional representation in the House of Representatives. This is one of a series of compromises that had to be made between the two parties in the convention. In fact, the Constitution is a series of compromises from beginning to end. Only thirty-nine of the fifty-five delegates in the convention signed the Constitution, and it is probable that no one even of the thirty-nine was wholly pleased with it.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The number of representatives in the first Congress from each state was fixed in the Constitution, and provision made for a census in 1790 and every ten years thereafter, on the basis of which a reapportionment should be made. At present there are 435 members of the House, one for about every 212,000 of the population. They are elected by direct vote of the people, one from each of the CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS into which each state is divided, and for a term of two years.

THE SENATE

There are two senators from each state. The Constitution provided that they were to be elected by the state legislatures, another evidence of distrust of the people. In 1913, the seventeenth amendment to the Constitution was enacted, providing for the election of senators by popular vote, showing the growing spirit of democracy and the distrust of the state legislatures. Senators are elected for six years, but the term of only one third of them expires at the same time, so that at least two thirds of the Senate have always had at least two years’ experience. No citizen may become a senator until he is thirty years of age, while one may become a member of the lower house at twenty-five.

EXCLUSIVE POWERS OF EACH HOUSE

The House of Representatives has one important power not possessed by the Senate: it alone can originate bills for raising revenue. This is because the representatives were supposed to be more directly representative of the people than the senators. However, the Senate may amend such bills, and often succeeds in forcing the House to accept such radical amendments as practically to destroy the advantage possessed by the latter in its power to originate the bills.

In addition to its lawmaking powers, the Senate was intended to be an advisory council to the President. Only with its “advice and consent” may the President make appointments and treaties.

Investigate and report on the following:

The compromises of the Constitution.

The census of 1920.

The number of congressional districts in your state, and the number of the one you live in.

The names of your representative and senators.

The qualifications for election to the House of Representatives and to the Senate (Art. I, secs. 2 and 3). Compare with the qualifications for election to the two houses of your legislature.

The characteristics of the Senate that make it more conservative than the House of Representatives. The meaning of “conservatism.”

Why the Senate should be more conservative than the House.

The “long” and “short” sessions of Congress.

How vacancies in Congress are filled between elections.

Legislation in which the representative from your district has been especially interested during the last session of Congress.

In England a member of the House of Commons is not required to be a resident of the district which he represents. Arguments for and against this plan.

Debate the question: RESOLVED, that our Constitution should be amended to provide for a “responsible cabinet government” as in England.

ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS

The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States, while that of the House of Representatives is a SPEAKER elected by the House. The Vice-President has no vote in the Senate except in case of a tie, when he may cast the deciding vote. The Speaker, on the other hand, has all the rights of any other member and has large powers by virtue of his position. He is always elected by a strictly party vote, and therefore represents the majority party in the House.

THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM

As in the state legislatures, and for the same reason, most of the work of legislation in Congress is done by standing committees, of which there are about sixty in the House and about seventy-five in the Senate. As in the state legislatures, these committees are chosen on party lines, the chairmen and the majority of the members always being of the majority party. The procedure by which legislation is carried on in Congress is very much the same as that in the state legislatures, and has the same advantages and disadvantages. There is even greater necessity for the committee organization and for rules because of the vastly greater number of bills introduced. In a recent Congress more than 33,000 bills were introduced in the House of Representatives alone. Whereas in the state legislatures some of the rules of procedure are fixed by the state constitutions, the rules of Congress are determined entirely by each house for itself. The committee on rules in each house, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairmen of the committees in both houses, may run things as they see fit. That this is done there is plenty of evidence, such as the following words of a member of Congress:

You send important questions to a committee, you put into the hands of a few men the power to bring in bills, and then they are brought in with an ironclad rule, and rammed down the throats of members; and then those measures are sent out as being the deliberate judgment of the Congress of the United States when no deliberate judgment has been expressed by any man.

DIFFUSED LEADERSHIP IN CONGRESS

It is this procedure in Congress that causes leadership to become diffused, hidden, and often to pass outside of the government altogether into the hands of “bosses” and special “interests.” There can be no well-conceived PLAN worked out by responsible leaders and approved by Congress as a whole. There may be “plans,” worked out by leaders in Congress, but they are likely to be plans designed to serve party ends rather than to promote a well- thought-out program of national development. Thousands of bills of the greatest variety are introduced by individual members and handled by different committees acting independently of one another and often at cross purposes.

RELATION BETWEEN EXECUTIVE AND LEGISTLATIVE BRANCHES

The legislative and executive branches of government are each extremely jealous of any encroachment upon its powers by the other. It is not always easy to decide just where the dividing line lies between the powers properly exercised by each. It is maintained on the one hand that Congress is encroaching on the rightful domain of the executive; and at least it is true that while it denies the President responsible leadership in determining the policies of the government, it has failed to substitute any other responsible leadership, and has even made leadership obscure. On the other hand, it is maintained that the executive encroaches upon the powers of Congress. While this chapter was being written a member of the House of Representatives made a speech in which he said:

This bill presents a fine specimen of bureaucratic legislation. [Footnote: “Bureaucratic legislation” here means lawmaking by bureaus in the executive branch of the government.] If the Congress ever intends, as it surely does, to regain the powers granted it by the fathers, of which it is now temporarily deprived by bureaucratic encroachment, now is the time to start upon such a campaign by defeating by a decisive majority the bill now offered for your consideration … Every time you weaken Congress by the establishment of a bureau in which the authority of Congress is lessened, you lay one more stone in the erection of the temple of autocracy … These bureaus are not only legislating by administrative processes but are usurping the power and prerogatives of the people’s courts …

THE DUTY OF CONGRESS TO WATCH THE EXECUTIVE

It is the business of the people’s representatives in the law- making branch of government not merely to make laws, but also to watch and control the executive. The great English philosopher, John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), thus stated the purpose of the English House of Commons:

To watch and control the government; [Footnote: “Government” here refers to the executive branch.] to throw the light of publicity on its acts; to compel a full explanation and justification of all of them which any one considers questionable; to censure them if found condemnable; to be at once the nation’s committee on grievances; an arena in which not only the opinion of the nation, but that of every section of it, and as far as possible, of every eminent individual that it contains, can produce itself in full sight and challenge full discussion.

As we have seen, the English House of Commons has a way to control executive leadership without destroying it. Even if we desired to do so, we could not adopt the English plan without changing our Constitution. But there are ways in which the same result could in a measure be accomplished without such change. One of these is by a well-organized BUDGET SYSTEM.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR APPROPRIATIONS

The methods of making appropriations for the purposes of our national government have been as unbusinesslike as in the states. Charges of extravagance and inefficiency have been made freely, the blame being placed sometimes upon Congress and sometimes upon the executive departments. Both are at fault; and the difficulty is that it is almost impossible to fix the responsibility anywhere.

DUPLICATION AND CONFUSION IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Although the national government, unlike the states, has a single- headed executive, the executive departments are composed of a multitude of bureaus and other subdivisions that are not well organized in their relations to one another. There is overlapping, duplication, and even conflict of work. The director of finance of the War Department said that in the recent war,

The War Department entered this war without any fixed or carefully digested and prepared financial system. There were at the beginning of the war five … bureaus each independent of the others, each making its own contracts, doing its own purchasing, doing its own accounting, with as many different methods as there were bureaus. As a result they were competing with each other in a market where the supplies in many cases for which they were competing were restricted in amount … There was no central authority to prune, revise, or compare estimates submitted and to coordinate expenditures, and that naturally resulted in overlappings and duplications, and some of them of a large amount. [Footnote: Testimony before Budget Committee, quoted by Will Payne, “Your Budget,” Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 32.]

The responsibility is partly in the executive department; but it is also partly in Congress, for it creates bureaus, defines their duties, appropriates money for them. And in Congress the responsibility is divided among various committees.

One committee or subcommittee has supervision of building the barracks at a given army post while another committee or subcommittee has supervision of building the hospital at the same post. One committee has jurisdiction of the guns, another committee has jurisdiction of the emplacement of the guns. All committees are jealous of their own prerogatives and sometimes more or less jealous of other committees. [Footnote: Will Payne, “Your Budget,” SATURDAY EVENING POST, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 166.]

APPROPRIATIONS MADE MORE OR LESS BLINDLY

Each year the executive departments submit to the Secretary of the Treasury an estimate of the amount of money they think they will need. The Secretary of the Treasury puts these estimates together without revision and without criticism and submits them to Congress, together with an estimate of the probable revenues available. While there is a committee on appropriations in each house of Congress,

... one class of appropriations after another has been taken away from this committee and intrusted to other committees until, as a result, the work of preparing appropriations in the House of Representatives is broken up so that there are now no less than fourteen general appropriation bills prepared by seven different committees … In the preparation of their bills the committee on appropriations and the other committees in charge of appropriations are really compelled to work more or less blindly. Sometimes they hold extensive hearings endeavoring to get a complete grasp of the multitudinous detailed expenditures for which they must provide. But, of course, it is impossible for the several committees, in the time at their disposal, to give even minor matters the amount of attention demanded by sound public economy. [Footnote: C. A. Beard, AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS, pp. 366, 367.]

THE PRINCIPLES OF A BUDGET SYSTEM

The first principles of a budget, according to students of government, are that it should be prepared by the executive branch of the government, which is responsible for spending the money; that it should be prepared by an agency responsible directly to the President, and with authority to revise and adjust the estimates of the several departments in the light of the needs and resources of the government as a whole; and that it should be based upon an accounting system that will show clearly how efficiently each department and minor subdivision is doing its work. As this chapter is being written, a bill is before Congress which, if passed, will more or less completely accomplish these results.

THE NEED FOR CENTRALIZING APPROPRIATIONS

It remains for Congress, however, to make the appropriations requested in the budget, with such modifications as may be shown to be wise. It is generally accepted that appropriations cannot be wisely made under the present system, and that responsibility for them must be centered in one committee in each house.

This change will necessitate a change in the rules which can only be made by each house for itself. A resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives recommending this change, but it has not at this writing been acted upon.

In the English House of Commons, when the appropriation bill is introduced, the House becomes in effect a court before which the prime minister and his cabinet are placed on trial to defend their budget. The whole House is in session. The minority party, which conducts the opposition, employs counsel, and by its searching inquiries compels the cabinet to explain and defend the budget at every point. By this procedure the public is informed as to the work and program of the government, and the executive leaders held strictly to account.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITIZEN

A budget system, however good it may be, like all other governmental machinery is merely an organization for team work, and will do very little good unless the team work is forthcoming, not only among the various branches and departments of government, but also on the part of the citizens.

If there is a real budget it has got to be your budget. It will be good, bad or indifferent finally just in proportion to your interest in it and your expression of that interest at the polls and elsewhere. If there is a good budget system—not on paper, but in actual practice—you’ve got to make it. If, when a budget bill is finally enacted you say, “Well, that job is done,” and dismiss it from your mind there will be no lasting gain … [Footnote: Will Payne, “Your Budget,” SATURDAY EVENING POST January 3, 1920, p. 30.]

Effective control over government can be exercised only by PUBLIC OPINION and PUBLIC INTEREST. We may have any kind of government we want, if we only want it badly enough, and only when we want it badly enough. The blame for inefficiency and wastefulness on the part of government at Washington, or at the state capital, or at the county seat, rests largely with the people back home, who are either selfish or blind to the fact that the interests of the nation are larger than their own or those of their own little community. The very people who talk most loudly about the extravagance of government, or about the burden of taxes, are likely to be the ones who expect most from their congressmen for purely personal or local advantage. They are likely to judge their representative’s fitness for his position more by his ability to get funds from the public treasury for local gratification than by his attitude toward great national questions.

Investigate and report on the following:

The present Speaker of the House of Representatives, and some of the more important members.

Leaders in the Senate at the present time.

A list of some of the more important committees in each House of Congress.

The procedure by which a bill becomes a law, from the time when it is introduced to the time it goes into effect as a law of the land.

Bills introduced in Congress by the representative from your district. The purposes of these bills. (Consult at home, at your public library, at your newspaper office.)

Follow the course of debate on some measure in the House of Representatives or the Senate in the files of the Congressional Record (files may be found at your public library, or at the newspaper offices, if not in your school).

Conflict of opinion regarding the powers of the President and of the Senate in connection with the discussion of the treaty of peace with Germany.

“Filibustering” in Congress.

Clause 2 of section 6 of Article I of the Constitution says, “No person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office.” Why is this?

The privileges of members of Congress under clause I of section 6 of Article I of the Constitution. Reasons for these privileges.

“Log-rolling” in Congress, what it is and why so called.

The details of the budget system of the national government if one has been created by the time you study this chapter.

Any change in the rules of Congress relating to appropriations.

The desirability of introducing in our government a plan similar to that used by the House of Commons.

THE NATIONAL JUDICIARY

The judicial power of the United States government is vested by the Constitution “in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish” (Art. III, sec. I). The number of judges in the Supreme Court is determined by Congress, and they are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. At present the Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Its sessions are held in the Capitol building at Washington. Congress has created circuit courts of appeals, of which there are now nine, each “circuit” including several states; and district courts, of which there is at least one in every state, and sometimes several. In addition to these there is a court of customs appeals and a court of claims, for special classes of cases. The courts of the District of Columbia are also United States courts, inasmuch as the District is governed entirely by the national government. The judges of all United States courts are appointed by the President and hold office for life.

POWERS OF THE FEDERAL COURTS

The powers of the federal courts are stated in Article III, section 2, of the Constitution. In general, they have jurisdiction over cases of a national or interstate character. Most cases that come in the first instance before the federal courts are tried in the United States district courts, going to the higher courts only on appeal; but there are certain classes of cases that go to the Supreme Court at once (Art. III, sec. 2, cl. 2). A case brought to trial before a state court may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States when the Constitution, the laws, or the treaties of the United States are involved, and its decision is final. The Supreme Court may declare a law passed by Congress or an act of the President null and void if, in its opinion, such law or act is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution. It has been questioned whether the framers of the Constitution intended the Supreme Court to have this power, but it exercises the power on the ground that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land to which even Congress and the President are subject, and that it is the sacred duty of the courts to preserve it from violation. We have noted the influence exercised by the Supreme Court in extending the activities of the United States government by its broad interpretations of the Constitution.

Study the powers of the federal courts in Article III, sections 1 and 2.

What is treason? (Art. III, sec. 3, cl. I.)

What is meant by the second clause in section 3 of Article III?

READINGS

Guerrier, Edith, The Federal Executive Departments, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U. S. Bureau of Education. Swanton, W. I., Guide to United States Government Publications; Bulletin, 1918, No. 2, U. S. Bureau of Education.

In Lessons in Community and National Life:

Series A: Lesson 12, History of the federal departments. Lesson 18, Local and national governments.

Series B: Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior. Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service. Lesson 21, National standards and the Bureau of Standards.

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals: The nature of the Union (Daniel Webster), pp. 17-26. The nature of the Union (John C. Calhoun), pp. 27-44. Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address, pp 59- 64. The frame of the national government (Bryce), pp. 285-300. Criticism of the federal system (Bryce), pp. 301-311. Merits of the federal system (Bryce), pp. 312-321.

Beard, C. A., American Government and Politics, Part ii, especially chaps, xi and xiv Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part v, The National Government in Action. Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. I, Part i. Wilson, Woodrow, Congressional Government (Houghton Mifflin Co.). Haskin, F. J., The American Government (Lippincott). Young, The New American Government (Macmillan).

APPENDIX

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

PREAMBLE

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I. THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

SECTION I. CONGRESS IN GENERAL

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

SECTION II. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

1st Clause. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature.

2nd Clause. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

3rd Clause. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and, excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

4TH CLAUSE. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

5TH CLAUSE. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECTION III. THE SENATE.

1ST CLAUSE. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.

2nd CLAUSE. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

3rd CLAUSE. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4TH CLAUSE. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

5TH CLAUSE. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

6TH CLAUSE. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall all be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

7TH CLAUSE. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.

SECTION IV. BOTH HOUSES.

1ST CLAUSE. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.

2nd CLAUSE. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

SECTION V. THE HOUSES SEPARATELY.

1ST CLAUSE. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide.

2nd CLAUSE. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.

3rd CLAUSE. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.

4TH CLAUSE. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.

SECTION VI. PRIVILEGES AND DISABILITIES OF MEMBERS.

1ST CLAUSE. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

2nd CLAUSE. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office.

SECTION VII. MODE OF PASSING LAWS

1ST CLAUSE. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.

2nd CLAUSE. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

3rd CLAUSE. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

SECTION VIII. POWERS GRANTED TO CONGRESS.

The Congress shall have power—

1ST CLAUSE. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

2nd CLAUSE. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

3rd CLAUSE. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;

4TH CLAUSE. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

5TH CLAUSE. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

6TH CLAUSE. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

7TH CLAUSE. To establish post-offices and post-roads;

8TH CLAUSE. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

9TH CLAUSE. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

10TH CLAUSE. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations;

11TH CLAUSE. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

12TH CLAUSE. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

13TH CLAUSE. To provide and maintain a navy;

14TH CLAUSE. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

15TH CLAUSE. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;

16TH CLAUSE. To provide for organising, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

17TH CLAUSE. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States; and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings;—and

18TH CLAUSE. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

SECTION IX. POWERS DENIED TO THE UNITED STATES.

1ST CLAUSE. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

2nd CLAUSE. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

3rd CLAUSE. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.

4TH CLAUSE. No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.

5TH CLAUSE. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.

6TH CLAUSE. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.

7TH CLAUSE. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

8TH CLAUSE. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.

SECTION X. POWERS DENIED TO THE STATES.

1ST CLAUSE. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, EX POST FACTO law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

2nd CLAUSE. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.

3rd CLAUSE. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

ARTICLE II. THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

SECTION I. PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT.

1ST CLAUSE. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:

2nd CLAUSE. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. But no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

[The 3rd clause has been superseded by the 12th article of Amendments. See page xix.]

4TH CLAUSE. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

5TH CLAUSE. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.

6TH CLAUSE. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice- President; and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

7TH CLAUSE. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

8TH CLAUSE. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:—“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

SECTION II. POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT.

1ST CLAUSE. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

3rd CLAUSE. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

3rd CLAUSE. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of their next session.

SECTION III. DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions convene both houses or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

SECTION IV. Impeachment of the President.

The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

ARTICLE III. THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.

SECTION I. The United States Courts.

The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.

SECTION II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts.

1st Clause. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority, to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.

2nd Clause. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

3rd Clause. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

SECTION III. TREASON.

1ST CLAUSE. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

2nd CLAUSE. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.

ARTICLE IV. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

SECTION I. STATE RECORDS.

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which, such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

SECTION II. PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENS.

1ST CLAUSE. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.

2nd CLAUSE. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

3rd CLAUSE. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.

SECTION III. NEW STATES AND TERRITORIES.

1ST CLAUSE. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

2nd CLAUSE. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular State.

SECTION IV. Guarantees to the States.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.

ARTICLE V. POWERS OP AMENDMENT.

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three- fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress: provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

ARTICLE VI. PUBLIC DEBT, SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION, OATH OF OFFICE, RELIGIOUS TEST.

1st Clause. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

2nd Clause. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

3rd Clause. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.

AMENDMENTS

PROPOSED BY CONGRESS AND RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE I. FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

ARTICLE II. RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS.

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

ARTICLE III. QUARTERING SOLDIERS ON CITIZENS.

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE IV. SEARCH WARRANTS.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

ARTICLE V. TRIAL FOR CRIME.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

ARTICLE VI. RIGHTS OF ACCUSED PERSONS.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

ARTICLE VII. SUITS AT COMMON LAW.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.

ARTICLE VIII. EXCESSIVE BAIL.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

ARTICLE IX. RIGHTS RETAINED BY THE PEOPLE.

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

ARTICLE X. RESERVED RIGHTS OF THE STATES.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

ARTICLE XI.

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit, in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.

ARTICLE XII.

1ST CLAUSE. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice- President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.

2nd CLAUSE. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

3rd CLAUSE. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

ARTICLE XIII.

SECTION I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

SEC. II. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

ARTICLE XIV.

SECTION I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

SEC. II. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. SEC. III. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.

SEC. IV. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

SEC. V. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE XV.

SECTION I. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

SEC. II. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

ARTICLE XVI.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

ARTICLE XVII.

SECTION I. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures.

SEC. II. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided that the Legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct.

SEC. III. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

ARTICLE XVIII.

SECTION I. After one year from the ratification of this article, the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from, the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof, for beverage purposes, is hereby prohibited.

SEC. II. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

SEC. III. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission thereof to the States by the Congress.

ARTICLE XIX.

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

SECT. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

End of Project Gutenberg’s Community Civics and Rural Life, by Arthur W. Dunn

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