ey must be adapted to country
needs. This applies to organizations, schools, libraries, social
settlements. And the adaptation must be one not only of form but of
spirit. In other words, the farm problem is a peculiar problem,
demanding special study, a new point of view, and sometimes unique
institutions.

Those accustomed to large cities make a pretty broad classification of
"country." A town of five thousand people is to them "country." But it
is not country. The problem of the village and the small town is not the
rural problem, take it the nation over. The smaller the town, the more
nearly it approaches to rural conditions, but its essential problem is
not that of the farm.

And, finally, let no one suppose that philanthropy is the chief medicine
for the social ill-health of the country. The intelligent student who
possesses the true spirit of helpfulness may find in the rural problem
ample scope for both his brain and his heart. But he will make a
fundamental and irreparable error if he starts out with the notion that
pity, charity, and direct gifts will win the day. You may flatter the
American farmer; you cannot patronize him. He demands and needs, not
philanthropy, but simple justice, equal opportunity, and better
facilities for education. He is neither slave nor pauper.

To conclude: There is a farm problem, and it is worth solving. But it
differs from the city problem. And if, as is to be hoped, the recently
renewed interest in this question is to be permanent, we trust that
those who desire to make it a special study, as well as those whose
interest in it is general and widely human, may from the start avoid the
errors that are likely to obscure rural conditions when viewed through
city eyes.

CHAPTER II

THE PROBLEMS OF PROGRESS[1]

It is impossible to acquire a keen and permanent interest in the rural
problem unless one first of all is cognizant of its significance. And
lack of knowledge at this point may in part account for the fact already
alluded to that in America the farm problem has not been adequately
studied. So stupendous has been the development of our manufacturing
industries, so marvelous the growth of our urban population, so pressing
the questions raised by modern city life, that the social and economic
interests of the American farmer have, as a rule, received minor
consideration. We are impressed with the rise of cities like Chicago,
forgetting for the moment that half of th