and in other cases in the habit of an occasional
spree in a near-by town, when reason abdicates to appetite. Lumbermen
and miners, whose work is especially hard and isolation from good
society complete, have been notorious for their lapses into
intemperance, but it is not a serious problem in three out of four
communities the country over, and a wave of temperance sentiment has
swept strongly over rural districts. Gambling is a diversion that
appeals to those who have few mental and pecuniary resources as an
offset to the daily monotony, but this habit is not typical of rural
communities.

Investigations of the Rural Life Commission showed that sexual
immorality prevails in ten to fifteen per cent of the rural
communities, and they trace much of it to late evening drives and
dances and unchaperoned calls, but on the whole the perversion of the
sex instinct is less common than in the cities. The young are
generally trained in moral principles, the religious sanctions are
more strongly operative, and the conduct and character of every
individual is constantly under the public eye. Young people in the
country marry at an earlier age than in the city, and husband and wife
are normally faithful. Crime in the country is peculiar to degenerate
communities, elsewhere it is rare. Juvenile delinquency occurs, and
there are not such helpful influences as the juvenile court of the
city; on the other hand, most boys are in touch with home influences,
feel the restraint of a law-abiding community, and know that
lawbreaking is almost certain to be found out and punished.

161. =Community Obligation.=--Moral delinquency in the rural community
lies in the failure to provide social stimulus to individual members.
The farmer has as good reason to be ambitious for success and to feel
pride in it as has the city merchant, but he has small local
encouragement to develop better agriculture on his own farm. He has as
much right to the benefits of association in toil and co-operation in
effecting economies and disposing of his products as the employer or
working man in town. He is equally entitled to good government, to
wholesome recreation, to a suitable and efficient education, and to
the spiritual leadership of a progressive church. Without the spur of
community fellowship his life narrows and his abilities are not
developed. With the help of community stimulus the individual may
develop capacity for individual achievement and social lead