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Title: Community Civics and Rural Life
Author: Arthur W. Dunn
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5088]
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMMUNITY CIVICS ***
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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 x3 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.]
[PM Note: Leave this page blank. Please do not delete this note]
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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