URAL ^ COMMUNITY ■*> ORGANIZATION ornia lal y 1 -w.*-:-' §| V''. ii \f| ... ■<■;■::■:■■■■-:<:■:::■: 1 Composed and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. hi c & b /h> PREFACE This study is an attempt to arrive at the proper local unit which lends itself to compre- k hensive community organization. It is main- tained throughout the investigation that this unit should have a sufficient area of territory within which the farm population may have enough cohesion to work together, enough «c volume of numbers and of wealth for the crea- tion of necessary institutions, and sufficient concentration within the unit to allow for the distribution of needed public utilities. V There are many organizations and agencies, K today, looking for this proper unit. They - ; realize that basic, fundamental rural organiza- tion plans can be formulated only upon that unit which has all the qualifications necessary J to give social and economic success. National < and state aspects, whether political, economic, ^ or social, are of secondary importance to the definition of this unit. The goal of this investi- gation, therefore, is the determination of the local unit of rural organization, together with the forces to be organized and co-ordinated within the unit. vi PREFACE It is felt by the writer that a study of this sort should be prosecuted in full recognition of the changing psychology of the farmer; that, unless this phenomenon is kept in mind, the reasons for casting off the old methods and forms and taking on new ones will not become fully evident. He is convinced that, hereto- fore, not enough thought has been given to the determining factors underlying the farmers' reactions. The proper local unit must be conceived of in relation to the fundamental socio-economic conditions of the country and of country life. The writer wishes to acknowledge his obli- gations to Dr. Charles J. Galpin, his former instructor at the University of Wisconsin and now of the United States Department of Agriculture. It was under Dr. Galpin's di- rection that this work was undertaken; great credit is due him for his kindly suggestions and encouragement. Dr. E. C. Branson, of the department of rural social science of the University of North Carolina, has been a constant source of help in the studies relating to the North Carolina Incorporation Plan and features of the country community in various southern states. PREFACE vii President Kenyon L. Butterfield and Pro- fessor John Phelan, both of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, have aided very materially in my getting into touch with some of the most helpful sources of information. Superintendent 0. H. Greist, of Randolph County, Indiana, and Superintendent C. E. Shutt, of Marshall County, Iowa, have been very kind and help- ful in assisting the writer while he was in their counties. County Agricultural Agent A. L. Hodgson, formerly of Randolph County, Indiana, and now of Carroll County, Indiana, gave valuable assistance in the social study of Randolph County. CONTENTS PAGE I. The Need of a Rural Policy i II. The Significance of a Changing Rural Psychology 12 A^lll. The Trade Area 21 IV. The Small Rural School District ... 31 1. Fairview District 34 2. Big Springs School District .... 37 ^Y. The Rural Community Variously Con- sidered 43 1. The Rural Parish 43 2. The Township Unit 47 3. New England Towns 49 4. The Country Community of the South 52 5. The North Carolina Incorporation Plan 56 VI. The Consolidated School District ... 58 1. Randolph County, Indiana .... 59 2. Marshall County, Iowa 71 VII. The Consolidated School District — Con- tinued 81 1. Colorado 81 2. North Dakota 82 3. Iowa 85 4. Illinois 86 5. Oklahoma 87 6. Summary 89 VIII. Organization of Forces and Methods of Organization within the Local Unit . ' . 97 Bibliography 114 ix x CONTENTS PAGE Appendix A. An Act of the North Carolina Legislature to Provide for the Incorpora- tion of Rural Communities (Public Laws, 1919) 116 Appendix B. Map of Randolph County, Indiana, Showing Location of Consolidated and Rural Schools facing 124 Appendix C. Map of Marshall County, Iowa, Showing Location of Consolidated and Rural Schools facing 124 LIST OF MAPS AND TABLES PAGE Map i. Fairview School District, Sangamon County, Illinois 35 Map 2. Big Springs School District, Sullivan County, Indiana 38 Map 3. Big Springs Parish, Sullivan County, Indiana 45 Tables I-VI — Randolph County, Indiana I. Comparative Population Statistics .... 61 II. Some Results from School Consolidation . . 63 III. Name, Location, and Area of Consolidated Districts 68 IV. Area of Townships and Density of Population 68 V. Consolidated Districts, Their Urban Centers, and Chief Community Events 69 VI. Membership in Farmers' Federation and Aver- age Attendance at Farmers' Meetings in Con- solidated Districts 70 Tables VII-IX — Marshall County, Iowa VII. Population Statistics 73 VIII. General Survey 74 IX. Project Record 77, 78, 79 CHAPTER I THE NEED OF A RURAL POLICY In a discussion of rural organization and allied fields the lack of a central guiding policy becomes evident. The ideal of a common goal toward which all the various and numerous agencies in rural work are striving has not been formulated. Excellent as has been most of our rural investigation and teaching, even to profound achievement in some fields, there has been without doubt a great loss in effectiveness, in duplication, in useless controversy, in the lack of correlation, and in an understanding of fundamental rural psychology and rural rela- tions. Principles once discovered do not need to be discovered again and again; we find, how- ever, that there has been great waste in human and financial resources in that way. Proof of this is seen in the numerous duplicate inves- tigations and researches, accounts of which are published by the various state agricultural col- leges and experiment stations and the United States Department of Agriculture, dealing with 2 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION once proved, clear-cut, and definite principles. A further proof of the lack of a policy is seen in the numerous plans of our exten- sion divisions in trying to reckon with the farmer on the land. They know they are try- ing to help him, but just how, and why, and for what, there is no general agreement. A true policy must have a certain completeness about it. It can be rather definitely expressed and under- stood. It must be widely and generally accepted; it directs efforts and governs activities. Government, farmers' associations, and individuals will join in a common effort for one large end, intelligently, earnestly, co-operatively. This sort of policy we do not have in America today. 1 A true policy will recognize the inseparable interrelations existing between the social and the economic activities of farm life and not divorce them. It will seek to correlate all agencies so that the development of these activities will advance in proper degree and in proper relation to one another. Any other ideal must surely result in dwarfed and retarded development. The economic and the social are inseparably bound up in the farmer's life; in his thoughts and plans and activities he never clearly separates the one from the other. This 1 Kenyon L. Butterfield, The Farmer and the New Day, p. 85. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1919.) THE NEED OF A RURAL POLICY 3 trait of rural psychology must be kept always in mind in the formulation and execution of any policy. If we should attempt to designate a rural policy of the past we might say there has been more or less conscious effort in the nation at large to develop along the following lines: 1. To increase agricultural production, chiefly by open- ing for agricultural use as much land as possible and settling it as rapidly as possible; but also by education, exhortation, expert advice and government subsidies in special instances; 2. To encourage one-family farms owned by those who till them; 3. To increase as much as possible our exports of agricultural products, both new and manufactured. 1 As we look back upon our history, we find in this policy many things calling for com- mendation, and many calling for regret. This sort of ideal helped us subdue a wild, raw country, develop and bring it to a foremost place among the nations. It helped us rear upon this land the most virile and aggressive people, in the main, the world has ever seen. It has implanted strongly in the heart and mind of the American farmer the ideal of landowner- ship and all the strength of character and conservatism that go with it. *Ibid. 4 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION On the other hand, this sort of policy has revealed glaring weaknesses in its scope and aims. It has given us no definite land policy with proper plans for land settlement accord- ing to differences in productiveness of soil and human abilities. It offered no plans or policy relating to soil conservation, credit facilities, for community development, marketing and distribution of farm products. There are no plans for the co-ordination of the institutions of the farmers' local unit with those of the larger unit, such as county, state, and nation. There are no plans for co-operation between town and country. Probably most fundamen- tal of all, there is no policy relative to the development of local institutions of the farmer, no definition of their natural sphere, and no endeavor to assist him in and through their medium. As a consequence of these latter failures there have been countless attempts to connect the farmers in educational, co-operative, reli- gious, and political ways with general advance- ments in the world at large. We are now just beginning to locate our troubles. A policy framed upon an understanding of the farmer's psychology, upon a knowledge of his local THE NEED OF A RURAL POLICY 5 community and of his institutions, would have prevented very many conflicting aims, much resultless effort, and much misunderstanding of the conservatism of the farmer. A rural policy we should have which is broader than a mere statement of plans. It must be conceived in the light of the mistakes of the past, the developments of the present, and the needs of the future. A comprehensive rural policy will not consider agriculture and country life narrowly, as something to be fostered and aided for its own sake, but as a vital part of a great society, as one of the departments of American life the development and growth of which must, for the good of all, be co-ordinated and related to every other department. In this policy, rural organization will play a very large part. The day of the individualist farmer has passed. Farmers must co-operate as never before; co-operation takes its highest form through organization. Effective organi- zation must include persons of common inter- ests, common aims, and defmiteness of purpose. Conscientious, searching, painstaking effort must be made to locate the areas of natural, comprehensive rural communities, and to apply 6 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION the tenets of a policy upon such a basis, fitting all teaching, all plans and purposes to the particular local environment, both physical and human. The ultimate need of the open country is the develop- ment of community effort and of social resources There is a general lack of wholesome societies that are organized on a social basis There is need of the greatest diversity in country life affairs, but there is equal need of a social cohesion operating among all these affairs and tying them all together. 1 There must be a definition of aims, a set of principles, a proper representation of the separate forces working in the rural field. A program should be arranged reaching clearly from the highest and most complex rural governmental and state institution to the farmer on the land. This program will set the goals for the different fields of endeavor; it will outline methods of procedure. Selected representatives from all the different fields of work should help in framing this program. In such a way it will be based upon actual needs and definite information. Proper machinery must be erected for vitalizing the program, for its administration and perpetuation. 1 Report of the Commission on Country Life, p. 107. (New York: Sturgis and Walton Company, 1911.) THE NEED OF A RURAL POLICY 7 In the words of Professor E. L. Morgan, we find stated the following elements of a correct conception of a rural policy : .... The goal in country life organizations is such an understanding and relationship of persons, forces and agencies in a given area, whether community, county, state or nation, as accomplishes for that unit the most systematic and progressive correlation of those forces and agencies that make for the sound development of a satisfying life for rural people, and for the adjustment of their highest welfare to the common good. 1 Important contributions to the framing of a rural policy have been made by some of our leading rural thinkers of the day. Compre- hensive state policies have been worked out in certain fields, which, within themselves, are near models for the framing of a broader and all-inclusive policy. As an illustration the writer would refer to the "Illinois System of Permanent Agriculture," conceived of and developed by the late Dr. Cyril G. Hopkins, of the University of Illinois. Here is a true policy with respect to the maintenance of soil fertil- ity, a policy with a definite goal, e.g., a per- manent, satisfying, remunerative agriculture; 1 Proceedings, First National Country Life Conference, Balti- more, p. 138. (Ithaca, N.Y.: National Country Life Association, 1919.) 8 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION a policy with a specific program, namely, the education of all the people connected with the land to the needs of soil conservation and the ways and means of securing the same. Here is a policy, at the base an economic conception, but which recognizes that a people cannot progress, cannot build worthy institu- tions, cannot even hold their own status with ever declining soil fertility. The program of this policy involves the taking of the most complete inventory of the stock of fertility in soils ever undertaken by any institution. In carrying out this inventory, the soils of every nook and corner of the state of Illinois are mapped and shown in colors according to types. An analysis of the store of fertility in areas as small as 10 acres in extent is made, and accom- panies the map relating to the soils of any particular county. Thousands of samples of soil of every type and class in the state are carefully analyzed by trained chemists. Specific, definite recommendations for the building up and maintaining of the fertility of all soils are made, these being based upon the results of the analyses and the results of extensive and numerous field experiments gathered from local experiment stations scat- THE NEED OF A RURAL POLICY 9 tered throughout the state upon every impor- tant soil type. In this policy a decided stand is taken against the recommendation of the ordinary mixed, complete fertilizers as a means of soil improvement, against wasteful soil- management practices, and against useless ex- pensive methods of soil enrichment. Definite machinery is set up for carrying out this policy. Advisory committees of actual, wide-awake farmers constitute the guiding forces in directing the policy. A force of trained soil surveyors, soil chemists, and experiment-station men constitute a scientific body for gathering and elaborating facts. Bulletins, lectures, colored county-soil maps, short courses, field demonstrations, and per- sonal assistance, all form the means of dissemi- nating the information. This soil policy is given here at some length and detail in order to illustrate more completely what is meant by a policy, and that some hints might be dropped as to the fitness of a real rural policy which seeks to correlate all agencies and unite them in the attainment of definite rural life-ends. President Kenyon L. Butterfield, of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, has out- io RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION lined for us the elements of a true policy. He groups his discussion under four main heads, as follows : i. A body of principles. It is shown here that we must adopt certain principles as a nation relative to exporting or importing a part or a greater part of our food; whether we should work for family-sized farms or large holdings with tenants; whether each section of the country should be designated a zone for the production of certain fitting crops and animals; whether we wish to encourage the further extension of our system of distribution of food products or supplement it with govern- ment regulation or management, or ownership of the machinery of food distribution. We should establish principles relative to protection and insurance against drouth, hail, flood, tornado, insect pests, and diseases. We should take certain stands as to whether our educational system should be broad enough to reach every worker on the land and include economic and social problems, or whether it should be made wholly technical. 2. There should be a program based upon adequate knowledge, definite purposes, and effective methods. THE NEED OF A RURAL POLICY n 3. There should be machinery involving proper institutions, a proper division of labor, and constructive co-operation. 4. General needs such as allowing for a proper adjustment between policies and pro- grams, the utilization of the laws of progress, a proper discussion of the issues involved, and a discovery and training of leaders to carry out the policy; and, finally, President Butterfield emphasizes that due recognition must be given to the nation as a whole in any rural policy because of the fact that in a country like ours the success of any rural policy must depend upon the support of the whole people. 1 In conclusion, we may say that no scheme of rural organization can work fully and com- pletely without its proper articulation with each and every other force working in the rural field from the community outward to state and nation. The proper balancing and adjustment of forces and agencies will come through a clean-cut, definite policy. This chapter aims merely to point out in a general way the most outstanding reasons for a rural policy. For a proper treatment of the subject a treatise would be more appropriate ; such a treatment awaits the skill and training of one very specially qualified. 1 Kenyan L. Butterfield, op. cit., pp. 95-99, CHAPTER II THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A CHANGING RURAL PSYCHOLOGY An investigation of the sort attempted here would not have its proper setting, and could not show the relationships of one form of organization to another and to the rural popula- tion as a whole, without first making a con- structive analysis of the farmer's attitude of mind toward the old and the new in country life. That his psychology is undergoing a change there can be little doubt. That this change is reflecting itself in his mode of living, in his economic and social life, and in his insti- tutions, is of much significance to the student of rural life. The early type of farmer in America was an extreme individualist. This should be stated without reproach. Under the conditions of the times, and by force of circumstances beyond his control, he could not very well have been otherwise. It was this mental characteristic which gave him needed self-reliance, indomit- able perseverance, and a satisfaction with his. A CHANGING RURAL PSYCHOLOGY 13 lot, all of which were so necessary for the huge task of settling this country on the plans laid out by our American forefathers. With farm homes located at distances varying from rods to miles, with poor roads or none at all, no telephones, few conveniences of life as we know of them today, the typical American farmer soon learned to think of and interpret things in terms of his own individu- ality. This sort of psychology developed a resultant set of individualistic institutions, namely, the church, the district school, and the country store, all of which have served their day and age well. The farm home was also an expression of this individualism. Set in the midst of the toil and labors of the farmer, it partook of every activity of his isolated life. The whole fabric of farm-home life was intensi- fied, intimately woven into the business of the farmer, and highly individualized. Dr. Warren H. Wilson, in his admirable book, The Evolution of the Country Community, brings out the foregoing points. He says : .... The land farmer expected to live in his group. Secure in his own acres and believing himself "as good as anybody," he relied for his son and daughter not upon trained skill, but upon native abilities, sterling character, 14 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION independence and industry. Of all these the household, not the school, is the source. 1 Until recent years the farmer has not been brought into economic and social contact with the world in matters of the deepest concern to his success. He did not feel the need of co-operating with outsiders in establishing business relationships. His market was local and required little attention on his part; co- operative enterprises were of the simplest kind, legislation he left to the lawyers, most of his farm work he performed by himself with the aid of his family, the townsman meant little more to him than a necessary evil to be watched with the closest scrutiny. His daily and seasonal round of duties, civic, social, economic and religious, brought him very little into relation- ships to others where his conduct, his ability to please, and his agreeableness and person- ality meant success or failure to his enterprise. Until recent years the American farmer has been a free lance. Professor C. J. Galpin says of him: .... Organizing the duties of his land management without supervision, in general accordance with tradition and custom, the farmer, we have observed, is his own boss. 1 Warren H. Wilson, The Evolution of the Country Community, p. 24. (Boston, Mass.: The Pilgrim Press, 191 2.) A CHANGING RURAL PSYCHOLOGY 15 Not only is he in great measure a craftsman, but a crafts- man exempt from superior authority and without the influ- ence of competitors. This constant dependence upon his own judgment has wrought out the habit of self reliance. Moreover, his solitary mode of working in the fields, out in the environing spaces of silence, unbroken by the click of other human wills, where the tick, tick, tick of his own mental machinery is registering his own private judg- ments, has re-enforced the habit of self reliance. He works upon the soil; he works towards a product which is shaping up according to the will of God; he works under no man made specifications or man made patterns; he works under no pressure to please the human whim of the ultimate user of his product. 1 This sketch of influences and of their effect upon the farmer will serve as a basis upon which to develop the importance of the signifi- cant changes creeping into the rural life of today, and to show the reasons for their slow but steady advance. In considering rural organization plans and, especially, the deter- mination of the unit of population upon which to build plans, a knowledge of the psychology of farm folks is absolutely essential. Changes in attitudes are remarkably different in differ- ent parts of the country. Plans, therefore, must be made to fit conditions. Many of the schemes of the past have fallen to pieces because they Charles J. Galpin, Rural Life, pp. 43-44. (New York: The Century Company, 1918.) 1 6 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION were cut to a pattern and not to measure. Much ill-adapted work of county agents, exten- sion bureaus, state and national agencies is due to the projection of plans upon a basis not cog- nizant of the will of the farmer and his local group. The increasing commercialization of agri- culture, bringing the farmer into economic and social relations with men of various business groups, has been a dominant force in stimulat- ing him to a more cosmopolitan attitude of mind. With the concentration of industries and the building up of cities, agriculture has passed from a self-sufficing occupation to one dependent upon the outside world. This has brought about a great development and exten- sion of markets in food products and has thereby drawn the farmer into varied relationships. He finds it necessary now to look beyond his farm and neighborhood, to study the big question of supply and demand, to interpret economic changes, and to conduct his farming in ac- cordance with the new demands. With the increased specialization in agriculture and the development of sale by grades, classes, and standards, the farmer is being thrown more and more into contact with strong competitive A CHANGING RURAL PSYCHOLOGY 17 forces. By the operation of the law of the survival of the fittest, the farmer is forced out of his individualistic ways in such markets. As one illustration taken from among many, we find live-stock breeders nowadays very respon- sive to the increasing exactions of demand. The telephone and rural mail delivery have done much to break down rural individualism; these are necessary adjuncts to the enlarging business relations of the farmer. The auto- mobile and good roads have enlarged his neighborhood and community, brought him more into town, and, to a very great extent, have taken him out of his seclusion. The increasing use of machinery upon the farm has helped to free the farmer's mind for larger and broader questions than heretofore occupied it during his working hours. The deadening drudgery of hard work is being more and more replaced by complicated machines, which require greater skill and mental activity. The reflex of all this is more reserve power and alertness for associative activities. President Kenyon L. Butterfield says: All farmers may be divided into three classes. There is the "old" farmer, there is the "new" farmer, and there is the "moss-back." The old farmer represents the ancient 18 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION regime. The new farmer is the modern business agricul- turist. The moss-back is a medieval survival. The old farmer was in his day a new farmer; he was "up with the times" as the times then were. The new farmer is merely the worthy son of a noble sire; he is the modern embodi- ment of the old farmer's progressiveness The new farmer has his largest conquests yet to make. But he has put his faith in the strong arm of science ; he has at his hand the commercial mechanism of a world of business. He believes he will win because he is in league with the ongoing forces of civilization. 1 Scientific agriculture and its leaders of vision have taught a new concept of human relations to the farmer. A son or a daughter returning from an agricultural college has exercised untold influence in the role of a changing psychology. Co-operative enterprises in road-building, in the ownership of expensive machinery, in breed- ing associations have had unlimited value in teaching the farmer how to rub shoulders and get along with the other fellow. Consolida- tion of schools, federation of churches, build- ing and maintaining community centers have cut wider and deeper into the old individualistic state. The cultivation of the farmer by the townsman through chambers of commerce, community festivals, fairs, boys' and girls' 1 Kenyon L. Butterfield, Chapters in Rural Progress, PP- 53-54- (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1907.) A CHANGING RURAL PSYCHOLOGY 19 club prizes have all tended to break down suspicion and antagonism between townsman and farmer. At this point Professor Galpin 1 opens up a fertile vein of thought in showing that much of the former aloofness between townsman and countryman has been due to widely different standards of living. The farmer, who has a low standard of living compared with the city man, will tend to look with suspicion upon the latter, and as a con- sequence there is no common getting together. It is only as standards of living approach equalization that we get the co-operation between the two that rings true. One of the solutions, therefore, of this phase of the rural problem is a rising standard of living for the farmer where his present standard is too low. Dr. Paul L. Vogt states : The newspaper and the agricultural journal, together with the development of free public library systems, are tending toward a unity in mental content in the rural and the urban community. As rural reading matter becomes more abundant, the differences in types of thought between town and country will become less marked. 2 1 Charles J. Galpin, The Village in Relation to the Surrounding Country. A paper read before a conference on the village and the town school of the National Education Association, Cleveland, Ohio, February 26, 1920. 2 Paul L. Vogt, Introduction to Rural Sociology, p. 194. (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1917.) 20 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION In this connection it might be well to state that the spread of reading-matter among the farmers is of undoubted value and should become more universal. At the same time, however, we must not lose sight of the fact that many a city man is densely ignorant of the farmer and his true method of life, and that educative agencies are quite as necessary for him in order to bring about a proper adjust- ment between the two, resting upon a thorough understanding and appreciation of each for the other's business and mode of life. The discussion of the factors playing a part in shaping a new psychology for the farmer does not lead to the conclusion that the farmer, under the full influence of the new system, will have a city man's psychology, quite the con- trary. It simply means that we are taking cognizance of the changing psychology of the farmer as a correct basis upon which to con- struct organization plans. It shall be our endeavor to show the fitness or unfitness of different schemes of rural organization accord- ing to this new order. CHAPTER III THE TRADE AREA As a unit of rural organization the rural trade area of villages, towns, and cities offers an interesting field of investigation. That every trading-center has a land basis has long been known, but the significance and importance of the relationship of this land basis to the center has not until recent years been made a subject of study and thoughtful planning. This trade area, together with its center, has been proposed by some writers as an ideal unit for rural organi- zation. It is felt that here we find the most complete life of the farmer as well as of the townsman; that all the institutions of each are at hand. Before evaluating this plan and show- ing its limitations, it may be well first to analyze the structure of a trade area and study the reasons for its existence. About every village, town, or city containing a variety of institutions, one might, by careful survey, outline and define areas of patronage extending into the country at varying distances; the distance and direction depending upon the proximity of other trading-centers, conditions 22 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION of roads, presence or absence of natural barriers, the push, business ingenuity, and salesmanship of the trade center, and other like influences. One could in this manner discover banking zones, newspaper zones, dry-goods and grocery zones, high-school zones, library zones. One would find, in the main, the inner areas of these zones remaining quite stable and the outer areas fluctuating more or less. Along the outer areas there may also be found neutral areas where the farmers may go to one trade center for one line of goods and to another trade center for a different line. Such areas as these may be of considerable dimensions, depending upon the strategic location of the farmers as to trading-centers almost equally available. One can say that as a rule, however, around every trading-center of appreciable size can be found a compact definite group of farmers who do the great bulk of their trading at the center; who, because of these relations, feel toward that center a more or less common allegiance. The merchants and tradesmen of the center also recognize this land basis, court this trade (even though in all too many cases with an idea of exploitation), depend upon it, and seek to keep it satisfied. THE TRADE AREA 23 In theory, this population, bound together in the first instance by ties and obligations of business relations, constitutes an ideal area as to population, cohesion, variety of interest, variety of institutions, and business contacts upon which to build the superstructure of rural organization. In theory, the mingling of townsman and farmer in trade relations fur- nishes the avenue for the opening up of more definite economic and social relations, for the development of a concrete community con- sciousness. In theory, the farmer will recognize his obligations to the center and seek to fulfil them by co-operative effort, good will, and loyalty, and the townsman will recognize his dependence upon the farmer, wipe out in his own mind the idea of town or city limits, and add in its place a conception of the community, of the oneness of aims of farmer and townsman. He will include the farmer in public undertakings and institutions as an equal partner with himself. Now there is no question but that such a program as the foregoing will redound in much good to all. That it is an ideal toward which town and country should work should be taken for granted without argument. No good can come out of warfare between town and country, 24 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION the one needs the other, the one helps to build the other, and they should work together in harmony and co-operation. But that the trade area is not a unit of general and inclusive or- ganization covering every square mile of terri- tory in an effective way becomes evident upon closer study and analysis. There are localities so far removed from a trade center that trading alone is the only function that can reasonably be performed at the center. Trading relations will draw the farmers at stated periods to the center, but their social and religious and educa- tional attachments will not undergo such a strain from distance. Also, the trade area in many cases will be found to include too many of too diverse interests for them to become interested in one another; a certain diversity there should be. A group drawn together in the main because of trading at a center often does not hold in common enough vital interests touching deeply the lives of all alike to feel and act concertedly. The family to the north of town will only in rare cases come intimately to know the family to the south of town. The purely informal and casual meetings at the center are not enough to draw people together in the conduct of serious business. THE TRADE AREA 25 A study of a rather comprehensive trade area has been made in the hope of throwing light upon this problem by means of con- crete illustration. 1 Sullivan, Sullivan County, Indiana, has been taken as a typical rural county-seat town. It lies in the geographical center of a good agricultural county in west- central southern Indiana. Sullivan County stands high among the counties of southern Indiana in the production of corn, hogs, poultry, cattle, wheat, hay, and oats. The trade area of Sullivan represents the county well in all these products. Sullivan, according to the 19 10 census, had a population of 4,115; it stands very near the 5,000 mark now. There are very few foreign- born persons in the city or in the trade area; racial differences and class differences are of the smallest significance here. In the main, Sulli- van is a good county seat, farmers' town, and is dependent essentially upon the land basis round about it. There is one small automobile factory recently established, which, at present, employs only a few workmen. There is a small canning factory, which finds its supplies within 1 This study is based upon the author's three years' service as county agricultural agent in Sullivan County. 26 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION the trade area; it cans tomatoes chiefly, one of the minor crops of the area. There are two farmers' coal mines within the trade area, but the city handles considerable business of the Consolidated Coal Company which operates in the eastern half of the county. The electric current for the city and a few country homes is furnished by the interurban company with headquarters at Terre Haute, 26 miles north. Sullivan has its regular quota of professional men and merchants. It is not burdened with retired farmers, having only a fair scattering, many of whom are in small business concerns or still looking after their farms. There are six churches, three graded schools, and one high school in the city. There is also an excellent new county hospital of fifty beds. This is the only hospital in the county and is well patron- ized by town and country people. The high school is one of the best in the state, enrolling about 190 pupils; it is fairly well used by the farmer boys and girls. All the main streets of Sullivan are well paved, and the main roads leading out into the country and throughout the trade area are well graveled and improved. The business men of Sullivan are a good, hustling group and take the lead in public THE TRADE AREA 27 matters. They have in the past, through their Chamber of Commerce, aided, financially and morally, corn shows, poultry shows, live-stock exhibitions, and boys' and girls' club work. At the present time they have formed a commu- nity club, composed of town and farmer mem- bers, which has supplanted the Chamber of Commerce. This club has just completed arrangements for building a live-stock pavilion in Sullivan; this has been financed by selling shares to town and country people. It is to be used for agricultural meetings and for agricul- tural shows and exhibitions. The bankers quite generally encourage the farmers' co- operation. At present, the National Bank is encouraging a pure-bred-calf club among the boys' and girls' clubs by giving to certain mem- bers who fulfil certain requirements pure-bred Hereford calves; nine calves were placed in the spring of 1920. The Peoples' State Bank has been following a similar plan with pig-club work during the past three years. The farming land of the trade area is of good quality, although not the best in the county. The soil is a light gray, running into a dark gray silt loam of the lower Illinoisan Glaciation; it has all been rather heavily timbered. The 28 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION farms average about 140 acres in size, are, on the whole, well cultivated, but lacking in proper drainage in some areas. The farm homes are of a good, substantial type and usually conven- ient, but generally not modern. Tenancy is not a problem, ranging not more than from 28 to 30 per cent. The farmers are good, depend- able folk, almost entirely of American stock. The farm family averages about rive members. The density of population is somewhat greater in a section of the area to the east of Sullivan than it is in the remainder of the area. This is due to the fact that the farms here are smaller, although on the whole less productive. The rural population of the trade area is slightly under, in number, the population of the center. In a general way, the trade area extends outward from the center in the following distances: north, 3! miles; northeast, 8 miles; east, 5 miles; southeast, 7 miles; south, 5 miles; southwest, 8 miles; west, 5 miles; northwest, 8 miles. With this setting and knowledge of the people before us, we may now go more definitely into their social and economic life. The farmers are fair traders in town; they buy as economically as possible, but too frequently they THE TRADE AREA 29 are swayed or inclined to take an article because it is marked cheap, quite regardless of its quality. The farmer all too often feels he is in town to get all he can out of the town and to give as little as he can in return. He comes to town in great numbers on Saturdays, using a surprising array of automobiles nowadays, and buys his principal supplies of groceries and dry goods. During the remainder of the week he is seldom seen in the city; the ordinary course of events brings him to town primarily and principally for trade. On Saturdays, after trading is done, time is "killed" by loafing around the streets and the courthouse square. On Sundays, the six churches are found strik- ingly deficient in farm-family attendance. The farmer feels little affiliation with the town church; he has his own at the cross-roads a few miles out. The one theater of Sullivan seldom registers more than two dozen country folks in attendance at one time. The lodges, of which the Masonic, Woodmen, and Elks are the leaders, have done well in farmer membership, but in farmer attendance they are about on a par with the other institutions. There have been weak and spasmodic efforts at times for the ladies of town and country to get together 30 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION in home-economics clubs, but with no perma- nent success. The farmers' institutes held annually in Sullivan are the poorest in attend- ance of any in the county; an attendance of from thirty to fifty farmers is the rule for them. A business man seldom thinks it is his duty to attend any of the sessions. The corn, poultry, and live-stock shows are better patronized by the farmers, quite largely because of their county-wide nature and competitive character. The farmers in the north part of the trade area do not know the farmers to the south of the center, nor do those to the east know those to the west. The wholly informal, irresponsible method of relationships at this trade center are not a sufficient basis to draw the people together into a unified group. Thus it develops from this study that, under certain conditions, with a certain happy mixture of population relations, and a proper attitude of townsmen and farmers developed and maintained, the trade-area unit may, in pecu- liarly favored cases, be a good rural organiza- tion unit. But as a repeating socio-economic unit to be used to cover all the farm population it is not of sufficient universality. CHAPTER IV THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT The prominence held by the small rural school in the affairs of American farm life bids us look well into its structure for some clue to a fitting scheme for rural organization. Dr. Warren H. Wilson says: The farmers who out of a splendid idealism placed a schoolhouse at every cross-roads, on every hill-top and in every mountain valley, exact a tribute of praise from their successors. The unit of measurement of the school district, on which this system was based, was the day's journey of a child six years of age. Two miles must be its longest radius. The generation who spanned this continent with the measure of an infant's pace, mapped the land into districts, erected houses at the centers, and employed teachers as masters of learning for these little states, were men of statesman-like power. The country school is a nobler monument of the land farmer than anything else. 1 .... The rural-school district was first organized in colonial New England out of the needs of the time. It served as a link connecting the isolated home with the outside world through educational, social, and oftentimes religious 1 Warren H. Wilson, op. tit., p. 24. 31 32 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION channels. The pioneers of the West planted it everywhere they went, until it has become one of the most widely disseminated of rural institutions. The common size of the rural-school district is 4 square miles, the area varying according to topographical and local conditions. Impas- sable streams, hills, lakes, and the like, cause irregularity in size and shape. In a prairie country where there are no natural obstacles one finds them laid out with the regularity of spots on a checker board. The point to be brought out here is that the later development of the district seems to favor regularity and uniformity which militates against natural, vol- untary community life. The number of families within small rural districts will vary more than will the size of the district. The type of farming, determining the size of the farms, the character of the country, the degree of settlement, are all factors having an influence. One usually finds from a dozen or fifteen to thirty or forty families. This little district with its population drawn together in the formal support of their one common institution constitutes America's smallest democracy. In this rural state, some- THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 33 times called a neighborhood, sometimes a com- munity, we may find potent forces making for great strength and character. The intimacy with which the children of the various families come into contact and thereby draw the elders into closer relationships makes for under- standing and co-operation. The closeness of the school to the lives of the people has a tend- ency to lift them along and to cement their interests. This has been proved time and again in a live, progressive district school. The close, personal supervision and instruction given the pupil throughout his attendance allows for most rapid progress and advance- ment. Thus we find that this, the smallest common unit of rural organization, has been a great force for good in its time and place. That it still has an influence in many sections of the country cannot be doubted. The writer in four years' work in extension activities has come into close relationship with many school districts in our central states which are real, effective socio-economic units. Boys' and girls' clubs, silo meetings, home-economics demon- strations, and better-farming meetings have all been staged successfully upon this basis. Some of the most effective work among farmers 34 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION in getting instruction to them and results out of it is done through such a homogeneous group. There is little doubt that the small school district unit of country life will continue in some areas, especially of an isolated, thinly settled type, to be a real force and as effective a unit for such areas as can be found. A closer analysis of the common type of district made in the light of the needs of the present and in view of the more cosmopolitan character of the farmers' life will show glaring deficiencies. A careful study of the socio-economic features has been made of two rather typical small rural-school districts. One, the Fairview school district, of Sangamon County, Illinois, is representative of large areas of that section of the state. The other, the Big Springs dis- trict, of Sullivan County, Indiana, well repre- sents most of the conditions of a more thickly settled section in central and southern Indiana. I. FAIRVIEW DISTRICT 1 Reference to the accompanying map shows this district to be 2 miles long and \\ miles wide, thus containing 3 square miles of terri- tory. This district lies in the northwestern 1 This district has long been the author's family residence. THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 35 part of Sangamon County in central Illinois. It is in a prairie country of rich black to brown silt-loam soil. There are no natural barriers in the area; only two small creeks pass through it. All of the land is in a high state of cultivation, If Scale I Inch I Mile Map 1. — Fairview School District, Sangamon County, Illinois being devoted to general grain and live- stock raising. The farmers are prosperous and have their farms highly improved. The value of the land here in this area has been between $200 and $300 per acre for the past eight or ten years. The roads in the area are well-graded and -dragged dirt roads which, 36 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION nevertheless, become very bad at times during the winter and spring. The farms average 1 80 acres in size. There are eleven families within the district; the majority are Ameri- cans; two are tenants and two hired laborers. In 1900, when the school stood about its best, the population of the district was fifty-six persons; it has dwindled to thirty-five at present. This decrease is not due to enlarge- ment or abandonment of farms, but to the fact that several large families have grown up and scattered, and to a change from large to small families in the tenant and hired group. The Fairview school has always been one of smaller good schools of the county. While its attendance has fluctuated from about seven to thirty or more, it has always ranked high in educational and moral standards. Now, when we come to consider the district as an organized rural unit sufficient for the needs of the farmers from a socio-economic standpoint, we find serious deficiencies. The people here feel themselves one in the support of the school, but, aside from that, there is no bond that holds them; a general community spirit does not exist. The school brings the young folks together and fosters a local interest in them THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 37 which extends to a slight degree to the parents, but which, on the whole, is so weak as to be of little value in rural organization. No adult gatherings of any sort take place at the school; no public lectures, farmers' meetings, and the like. In fact, very little neighborhood or community life of any sort is exhibited within the district. These things may be due in part to the fact that the trade village is ij miles distant from the school, and that the farmers prefer to find their community life within the larger circle. It becomes plainly evident in this study that there is something lacking to make the school district an effective unit. The most serious deficiency in this case is a lack of sufficient area and population to give variety of interests and of social contacts; a lack of institutions numerous enough to satisfy all the needs of the people; such as these can seldom be found in the ordinary rural-school district. 2. BIG SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT 1 The map on page 38 shows this district to be larger and more populous than the 1 The facts were gathered from first-hand information and careful survey. 47T 38 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Fairview district. It embraces about 5 square miles of territory and has a present population of about no persons. Nearly 2 square miles of this district lie in the Wabash River bottoms, Le s e n d : • Hones /?«• C veek "~~- Stfeap bcaie h Inch 1 Mile Map 2. — Big Springs School District, Sullivan County, Indiana which are farmed from homes situated along the higher land just out of the bottom. This condition gives a somewhat closer settlement around and near a center than is often found in the country. Big Springs district is in the western part of Sullivan County, Indiana, a THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 39 south-central Indiana county, bordering on the Wabash River on the west. This is a good agricultural section, the soil varying from a deep, rich, black silt and clay loam in the bottoms to a sandy and yellow clayey upland in the rolling areas. The upland is not rugged in nature, but varies from gently undulating to small broken areas along streams. Com- munication facilities are excellent throughout the area, as good gravel roads are found and the telephone is in general use. The common- sized farm is about 140 acres. There are two large landholders in the district who each have over 1,000 acres; this gives a somewhat greater number of tenants than is common. The chief agricultural productions are corn, wheat, oats, hay, pure-bred cattle, and hogs. This is one of the best farming sections of the county, and the landowners, as well as the tenants, show their success. Their homes are well improved, the farms well kept, and their families are being well educated. Some of the hired laborers and a few tenants, however, are being poorly provided for, a condition some- times hard to explain. The school and the district have always been considered one of the best in the county. 40 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION The people here have always leagued together upon a district basis better than have those in the Fairview district. There are now forty- three families living within the district, fourteen of whom are families of hired laborers, five tenant families, and twenty-four are families of owners. In 1900, when the school was flourish- ing, there was a population of one hundred and seventy-five persons in the area. The diminu- tion from one hundred and seventy-five in 1900 to about one hundred and ten at the present time is due to the phenomenon seen in the case of the Fairview district, namely, smaller fami- lies and not larger farms or farm abandon- ment. Naturally we may be led to conclude that in this district we have a better rural organiza- tion unit than in the case of the one first discussed, and so we have, on the whole. There has been more neighborhood and com- munity life and more co-operation. The school, however, has been used very little more as a focus for the socio-economic relations of the adults; no farmers' meetings have been held in it. The people themselves within the district have not felt the incentive of organized life, and it was not until 1907, when this district consolidated with several others, at a small THE SMALL RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 41 hamlet one mile away, that the people developed a real community spirit, based upon the enlarged community. In the former case we had more of the neighborhood group, not feeling in any way the formality of a concrete and organized life. In these two studies we have covered two representative examples of small, rural school district units. Each represents its particular section of the country very well. In neither case have we found the proper combination of factors to give success in rural organization plans. The small school unit is too small. It does not embrace a sufficient land area to give us the size of population, together with proper cohesion and density, to allow for sufficient variety in human interests and con- tacts. The chances for obtaining real leaders in such a small area are much reduced. The social contacts are too limited in number and too much of the same sort to arouse much indi- vidual initiative. The farmer of today, with his good roads, automobile, and telephone, demands a variety of interests and contacts; his organized life must be constructed upon a broader basis than the district-school neighborhood. 42 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Professor Galpin says: ". . . . All the farmers' psychologic handicaps, concentrated and symbolized in the little school itself, are perpetuated apparently by the smallness of the school." 1 1 Charles J. Galpin, Rural Life, p. 125. CHAPTER V THE RURAL COMMUNITY VARIOUSLY CONSIDERED I. THE RURAL PARISH Recognizing the undoubted relation of the rural church to the life and welfare of a country community, the rural parish will here be con- sidered as a possible unit of rural organization. The parish is found to vary greatly in size, shape, and compactness, depending upon the number of the prevailing denominations and the strength of each. Parishes may be found overlapping one another for considerable dis- tances, and, again, some rural districts may be found outside the realm of any parish. A personal study has been made of the Big Springs parish, Sullivan County, Indiana. For a description of the character of the country, type of farming, character of the inhabitants, and like factors, the reader is referred to the discussion of the same in chapter iv, in connec- tion with the Big Springs school district. The parish is somewhat larger than the district, 43 44 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION but the general physical and human factors are practically the same. The denomination of the Big Springs church is called "The New Light Christian." The church house is a modest, but convenient, frame structure capable of seating two hundred and fifty persons. It is centrally located rela- tive to the area served and is easily accessible over well-improved roads. The parish can be rated as high as any in the county. The parish- ioners are loyal supporters of their church and hold it high in their thoughts and lives. The church membership is fifty persons, all of whom are quite faithful in service attendance and church support. Sunday school is very regu- larly attended ; it has a membership of fifty-five and meets every Sunday. Preaching services are held once a month by a non-resident pastor. There is a ladies' aid society of twenty members, which meets regularly every week at one of the homes in the parish. This society is a live organization and functions continuously. The social activities of the parish are regular and rather varied. On a certain day each October, an annual home-coming is staged at the church. This is the biggest event of the year, and the average attendance for the THE RURAL COMMUNITY 45 past four years has been about two hundred persons. All persons who have ever been Big Springs people are welcome guests at this Legend X Homes Of /V\E!A6£r.s O/The Chutch • Homes Of Non-Membecs •^IfWProveo RoADs(GrAVEL) = Dirt Roads Scale \ Inch 1 Mile Map 3. — Big Springs Parish, Sullivan County, Indiana home-coming. Services are held and the audi- ence is addressed by some speaker of note. A big picnic dinner also features the day. The 46 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Sunday school holds two picnics a year: one in the spring and the other in the fall of the year. These picnics usually occur at some interesting point outside the area. Rather elaborate children's exercises are held every June. Every Easter the Sunday school holds an egg roast. On the whole, this parish is above the average in community spirit and progressive- ness. It will be observed, however, by studying the map on page 45 that there are em- braced within the limits of the parish many homes which are not functioning, which are not receiving the benefits of this co-operation. For one reason or another, they are not drawn into the organization. Some owe allegiance to other parishes, which cross lines with the Big Springs parish. Many of these homes, however, do not feel the necessary spur to align them- selves with an informal church organization, but a more universal organization, including a varied group of activities, economic as well as social in character, would catch them. At this point a school district is a more effective unit than a parish, because all residents of a school dis- trict, by virtue of their residence, are a part of the district and contribute to its support. THE RURAL COMMUNITY 47 As valuable as may be a parish unit, its structure may possess inherent weaknesses which render it unsatisfactory as a unit of general application. One of these is the same as that charged against the small rural school district, namely, it is not sufficiently compre- hensive in size of actual membership. It oftentimes embraces considerable territory, in which case the membership will lack compact- ness and cohesion. The crossing and recross- ing of parish lines gives a disgression of aims and interests which does not lend itself well to solidarity of community plans. The parish does not cover every square mile of rural terri- tory and is, therefore, not of universal appli- cation. 2. THE TOWNSHIP UNIT In the west-central states the geographical or congressional township, which is generally 6 miles square, is usually taken as the civil township. In some cases, however, the latter may include one and parts of several geographi- cal or congressional townships. In this dis- cussion, we shall refer entirely to the civil township. On the whole, the boundaries of this area are straight lines and have no refer- ence whatever to social features. 48 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION It has been proposed by some students of rural life to use the civil township as a basis for rural-organization plans. The National Grange has copied this plan as have also the Farm Bureau associations. In both of these organizations evidences are apparent that this base is artificially created; such a community does not always show effective co-operation. One side of a township often will pull in one way while another part is pulling in an oppo- site direction. Sometimes a natural barrier, like a large river or lake, separates the town- ship into two or more distinct communities. A careful social survey of a rural township in Indiana, made by the author and submitted as a Master's thesis in the University of Wisconsin, revealed the fact that portions of that township along the northern, eastern, and southern boundaries did not maintain any social and but little economic relations with the main portion of the township. It also was found that an adjacent, irregular area out of another township had both social and economic relations with the main group of the first township. Professor Fairlie, in Local Government in Counties, Towns and Villages, shows that the THE RURAL COMMUNITY 49 " artificial form of the township in the Middle West has been of no little influence." 1 He further states concerning this matter: .... Certainly in these states the township often lacks the social unity of the New England town. A village may develop in one corner of a township, and become the local market for two or three adjacent townships, while the distant farmers of its own township trade in the village of another. In other cases, a village may grow up across a township line, and the political line of demarcation must be followed, although there is no separation of real interests between those who live on either side. 2 Only in rare cases, where community boundary lines happen to coincide with civil township lines, will there be a truly effective socio-economic unit of farm population within the civil township. The boundaries of this legal unit, therefore, are of too great an arti- ficiality, from the standpoint of social rela- tions, to be of the most effective service in defining a proper rural unit. 3. NEW ENGLAND TOWNS Professor Fairlie says: New England towns, for the most part, are irregular in form and usually contain from twenty to forty square miles. In the northern part of Maine the rectangular 1 John A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns and Villages, p. 173. (New York: The Century Company, 1914.) 3 Ibid., pp. 173-74- 50 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION survey into townships six miles square has been followed, but this is distinctly different from other parts of New Eng- land. Most of the towns are predominantly rural in char- acter, but all have one or more "villages" where houses are more compactly built, and in many cases towns are at least semi-urban and some can be classed as small urban communities. 1 Probably no unit of rural life has been of greater prominence in the life of the nation than the rural New England town with its open forum and democratic form of govern- ment. Here is where the principles of liberty and free speech have held forth in all their power and influence. For New England conditions, the town seems to furnish the proper clue to rural- organization plans. President Butterneld, of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, says: In this work of community mobilization, Massachusetts, in common with the other New England states, has a distinct advantage in possessing the town system of government. The town as a rule is a natural community. Outside of New England, community areas often have to be arbi- trarily denned by some agreement. 2 1 John A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages, p. 144. 2 Kenyon L. Butterneld, in E. L. Morgan, Mobilizing the Rural Community, Massachusetts Agricultural College, Extension Bulletin No. 23, Introduction, p. 9. (Amherst, Mass.: Massa- chusetts Agricultural College, 1918.) THE RURAL COMMUNITY 51 Professor Morgan shows that in Massachusetts the township is the natural local unit. Things are done as a town. It is the form of local govern- ment. There may be a number of neighborhoods within a township [town] but in most cases their interests blend into the larger community interest. The person living in the most remote section of the town has as much interest in public affairs and is as much a part of them as those living at the center. This being true, the natural group unit for the larger interests is usually the town. In this bulletin the terms "community" and "town" are used inter- changeably. 1 The fact that many New England towns recognize their unity and make effective use of it in bringing about thorough organization with a policy and plans for their entire life as it touches all interests is further shown in Professor Morgan's bulletin. Among several reports of Massachusetts towns, given in this bulletin, the following report of Walpole Town will illustrate the range and scope of their organization: The exchange of plans and projects between the large number of organizations in the town has been of very great value in avoiding over-lapping and stimulating co-operation. A committee after working a year and a half with the assistance of a landscape architect reported a plan for the physical development of the town which was adopted at the town meeting. J E. L. Morgan, op. cit., p. 11. 52 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Special attention has been given to boys' and girls' home garden work, the result being the interesting of a large number of children. An agricultural development plan which included co-operation between farmers and manufacturers has resulted in an increased acreage of crops. A public market was established which has brought the producer and consumer together to the advantage of both. A committee reported a town finance plan which was adopted by the town at its regular town meeting. A rural development plan was adopted which provided for the opening of some new roads, the closing of others and the care and maintenance of all. 1 It becomes evident from this brief study of the rural New England town that, as a general proposition for New England conditions, the problem of the local rural unit seems to be solved; that the next step, where such is true, is the framing of policies and plans for con- structive organization and unification of all agencies relating to rural affairs. 4. THE COUNTRY COMMUNITY OF THE SOUTH In the southern states we find a great lack of plans for community life. There are no organized forms of any significance, as community life in the South is made up of almost purely country units apart from the 1 E. L. Morgan, op. cit., p. 17. THE RURAL COMMUNITY 53 general trading-centers. The individuals of these country communities trade more or less in the trading- towns, but spend a great deal of their day at the crossroads stores. Their social activities are very little connected with the towns or villages. Professor Galpin in a discussion of this phase says : The infrequent wants from a low standard population — so infrequent that the crossroads store cannot afford the goods to supply them — will be satisfied at a larger trade center to which the people from a far wider area may come for such goods. In many farming regions on a low standard plane, the county-seat functions as the supply center for the infrequent or special demands of the farm population of the whole county. 1 The fact that the South, as a general rule, possesses no unit of comprehensive size or of a true community significance is rather thor- oughly brought out by Dr. E. C. Branson, of the rural social science department of the University of North Carolina. In a letter to the author, under date of June 8, 1920, he states, in part, as follows : In the country regions of the South there is rarely ever a social or economic group that could be fairly called a community. We have settlements and neighborhoods in 1 Charles J. Galpin, The Village in Relation to the Surrounding Country, a paper read before a conference on the village and the town school of the National Education Association, Cleveland, Ohio, February 26, 1920. 54 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION abundance, but we have almost no country communities beyond the cross-roads aggregations or the scattered homes around the country church or the country school, or the score or two of dwellings around a railway station, or the factory villages, which, as a rule, in North Carolina, are country affairs — our mills for the most part being located outside our incorporated towns or cities. Which is to say, the country civilization of the South is settled in solitary farmsteads, scattered — a few to the square mile — throughout vast wilderness spaces; fewer than eight families to the square mile in North Carolina, both races counted — fewer than four families per square mile in ten counties, and fewer than seventeen families per square mile in our most populous country county. And so it is for the most part throughout the entire South, from North Carolina to Texas. Virginia has more country communities than North Carolina, and so of Tennessee and Kentucky — little half- awake, half-asleep, half-alive, half-dead communities. North Carolina has had an immense increase in small towns and villages since 1900. They are little trading centers, mill and factory centers, and railway stations. I estimate that at present about one-fourth of our entire population is gathered into sub-census-sized towns of this sort. Frequently they are not incorporated, and usually they have a feeble sense of common necessities and lack the impulse to organize for community expression, self- protection, self-rule and regulation. That a movement for effectively organized rural life in the South may find a way to over- come many of the handicaps enumerated by Dr. Branson is suggested in the advent of the THE RURAL COMMUNITY 55 consolidated school district unit. A thorough discussion of this unit as of general applica- tion will appear in a later chapter. Mention will be made here of an interesting southern example. Five Points, Chambers County, Alabama, was a typical post-office village, common in the South, before any community spirit was developed through school consolidation. In March, 1916, through constructive local leader- ship, plans began to crystallize for new life. Five small school districts were consolidated at Five Points, and because of "the failure of the State Constitution to recognize a school district as a political or tax unit" were incor- porated as a town. The incorporation covers a territory of sixteen square miles, embracing all or a part of each of five school dis- tricts, with a total population of 1,053 people. The specific purpose of effecting this incorporation was to give a consoli- dated school district an opportunity to vote bonds with which to construct a building, thereby placing the burden of financing the enterprise on the wealth of the new district. 1 A full discussion of the complete change in the community life of these districts and the success of the organization plans is found in 1 Consolidation of Schools and Transportation of Pupils, p. 65. Bulletin No. 56, Alabama Department of Education, Mont- gomery, Alabama. 56 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION the bulletin referred to above. The following quotations will be given here to show the trend of the movement: The Five Point Community Association is an organiza- tion in which young and old alike are eligible to member- ship. It seeks neighborhood betterment along definite lines. It holds bi-weekly meetings at the school build- ings on Friday nights for the discussion of plans of general interest, and to enlist the number of helpers needed in any determined undertaking. The work is carried on under the committee system. The several committees and their duties 1 are as follows: i. A Committee on Public Schools. 2. A Committee on Health and Community Sanitation. 3. A Committee on Literary, Musical and Social Culture. 4. A Committee on Agriculture and Home Economics. 5. A Committee on Finances. 2 5. THE NORTH CAROLINA INCORPORATION PLAN This plan, a copy of the law relating to which is here given, 3 is a conscious movement on the part of rural communities compris- ing whole school districts to find expression in a legalized manner. It is a significant movement and contains many possibilities. 1 For duties, see the bulletin. 2 Ibid., pp. 70-71. 3 See Appendix A. THE RURAL COMMUNITY 57 Dr. Branson says it is a tardy recognition of Thomas Jefferson's wisdom. In a letter, under date of June 8, 1920, Dr. Branson says: Only six genuine communities have ever been organized under our community incorporation law, and these are organized on paper only. One or two of them have levied a local tax for schools, but nothing more so far as I can learn. The chief criticism of this plan may be found, perhaps, in the fact that its application is restricted to the small area of a country- school district; that it follows the district boundaries as they have been either naturally or artificially laid out with regard or disregard to whole communities. Matters will be helped very little, on the whole, until there has been introduced into the plans sufficient flexibility for comprehensive community life, which allows for the free and unhampered self-determina- tion of communities; previously established artificial lines should not be allowed to inter- fere. Provision should be made for setting them aside where they do not serve as bounda- ries of social and economic cleavage. CHAPTER VI THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT Inasmuch as the idea of the consolidation of schools is spreading very rapidly into every state in the Union, it becomes evident at once that the community value of the consolidated school district is a subject demanding our closest attention. The connection between a district and the full and complete life of rural neighborhoods appears quite marked as a study of the district progresses. Much has been written, and is being written, extolling the virtues of the consolidated school from an educational and pedagogical standpoint, but information which develops the district as a unit of rural life is very limited. In this chapter the results of a first-hand study of two sections of the country will be given. Randolph County, Indiana, and Mar- shall County, Iowa, have both been visited and studied closely relative to the community value of the consolidated school district. 58 THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 59 I. RANDOLPH COUNTY, INDIANA Randolph County is situated in east-central Indiana, bordering upon the Indiana-Ohio state line. It contains 460 square miles, is almost square in outline, and is a purely agricultural county. A system of finely improved highways of crushed rock, gravel, and concrete construc- tion traverses the county thoroughly, and one seldom sees a dirt road in this county. The land is level to undulating in typography; almost every acre of it is tillable. The county is covered with well-improved farms. There are many up-to-date farm homes in the county; the general type of home is comfortable, neat, and well kept. The agriculture throughout the county is much the same in all sections and consists of general grain and live-stock raising. The soil varies from a dark brown or black silty clay loam to light gray silt loams. All the land is fairly well tilled and is, on the whole, productive. Randolph County, agriculturally, ranks as one of the better counties of Indiana. The county is composed of twelve civil town- ships which range in area from 24 to 74 square miles. The assessed valuations of these town- ships range from $1,000,000 to $3, 500,000. x 1 Data obtained from Report of the county superintendent. 60 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION According to the figures for the Federal Census for 1920, the population of the townships ranges from 815 inhabitants in Green, a rural township, to 6,029 in White River, a township of 72 square miles, containing the city of Winchester, the county seat. In Table I will be found the latest Federal Census figures, giving, also, the returns for 19 10 and 1900. A comparison of these figures reveals a slight decline in popula- tion, in both incorporated places and in rural areas, between the years 19 10 and 1920. There is an 8.7 per cent decline for the county as a whole. There was a slight increase, 1.3 per cent, for the decade between 1900 and 19 10. Of the total population for 1920, 11,846 live in incorporated places, and 14,638 live in the country. The smallest incorporated place re- corded in this census is one of 256 inhabitants. Two townships, Green and Jackson, are entirely rural. Former County Superintendent of Schools, Lee Driver, stated in a recent address that the population of the county is at least 99 per cent American-born. The rural homes throughout the county average about five to six persons per family; the farms average from 100 to 160 acres in size. There is a somewhat closer settlement of families THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 61 TABLE I Comparative Population Statistics of Randolph County, Indiana* Minor Civil Division Randolph County Franklin Township, including Ridge- ville town Green Township Greensfork Township Jackson Township Monroe Township, including Farmland and Parker City towns Nettle Creek Township, including Bronson town and part of Modoc town Stony Creek Township Ward Township, including Saratoga town Washington Township, including Lynn town Wayne Township, including Union City West River Township, including part of Modoc town White River Township, including Win Chester City Incorporated Place 1920 26,484 1,675 815 1,690 1,116 2,414 I,3lo 940 1,608 2,353 4,837 i,397 6,329 1920 29,013 1,987 985 1,746 !,205 2,669 1,542 1,114 1,875 2,562 4,772 i,557 6,999 1910 1900 28,653 1,867 i,095 2,086 1,323 2,792 i,475 1,116 i,835 2,560 4,372 1,670 6,462 1900 Bronson town (Losantville post-office) . Farmland town Lynn town Modoc town Parker City town Ridgeville town Saratoga town Union Cityf Winchester City 321 878 898 256 697 1,042 327 3,4o6 4,021 300 907 917 261 800 1,302 410 3,209 4,266 177 870 705 221 909 1,098 2,716 3,705 * Fourteenth Census: Preliminary Announcement of Population. Subject to correction. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. t Joint population of Union City, Indiana, and Union City village, Ohio: 1920, 4,940; 1910, 4,804; 1900, 3,998. 62 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION in the northeastern and eastern portions of the county than in the southwestern and western. Five railroads and one interurban line serve the county thoroughly. Two small rivers cross it from east to west; 1 both are easily bridged. With this introduction and setting, we shall now proceed to a discussion of the movement leading to the unique position of the county in consolidation experience. Randolph County ranks among the first in Indiana in point of con- solidation. It is now over 95 per cent consoli- dated. So far as the author is aware, it now stands ahead of any other county in the country. About 1890, before consolidation commenced, there were 131 rural schools of the small-scale type in Randolph County. At the present writ- ing (June, 1920) there are only 3 left; word from the county superintendent of schools, Mr. 0. H. Greist, is that measures are being taken to add 2 of these to adjoining consolidated districts by fall. In place of the 131 abandoned one-room schools, there are 21 consolidated schools, 5 of which are graded schools only and 16 of which have both graded and high-school departments. Six of the latter are located in the open country. 1 See map, Appendix B. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 63 The success of these schools is shown in part at least by the following data issued from the county superintendent's office, April 12, 1920. TABLE 11 Some Results from School Consolidation Number of Schools Schools, Teachers, and Pupils Before Con- solidation After Con- solidation April, 1920 One-room schools 131 1 61 148 21-50 4 16 718 Commissioned high schools High-school pupils Teachers in graded schools Percentage of eighth-grade graduates in high school 86 96 In 191 5 of 240 eighth-grade graduates, 230 entered high school. In 1916 of 242 eighth-grade graduates, 230 entered high school. In 191 7 of 253 eighth-grade graduates, 243 entered high school. In 19 1 8 of 232 eighth-grade graduates, 227 entered high school. From an educational and social standpoint, among the young folks alone, these schools have vast possibilities. As they come to touch more and more closely the lives of all young people within their districts, they will to that degree grow more efficient as builders of a community 64 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION consciousness. When the young folks now in these schools become active in the business affairs of the district, they are going to have a greater sense of the community significance of the district than will their elders. The training together at their educational center develops in the boys and girls of the consolidated district a relationship to the district as a whole; a community sense grows up out of acquaintance- ship with boys and girls from all parts of the district. In an undated report of an address given by Lee L. Driver, former county superintendent of schools of Randolph County, we have the following view concerning community activities of the consolidated school: No school is at its best unless it functions as a com- munity center, neither is a community at its best unless its interests center in and around its school. For this reason the school as a community center has been employed very largely. The school buildings are used for all kinds of legitimate community meetings. During this past winter, they have been used for Farmers' Institutes, which have been attended by more than four thousand people. Com- munity Clubs, Parent-Teachers' Associations, Farmers' Clubs, Sunday School Conventions, Community Socials, Lecture Courses, School Plays, Concerts and nearly every commencement will be held in a consolidated school. When a meeting is announced, it is understood that it will be held in the school building. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 6 This has brought people together who otherwise would have been almost unknown to each other, and whose influ- ence upon the community would have been lost. The consolidated school in this way serves as the greatest socializer that a community can possibly have. In a case of such complete consolidation as given in Randolph County, it is of much interest from a community-study standpoint to see how the various consolidated schools have divided the area among themselves. The question arises, Have they followed what seems to be the outline of natural communities, or is there a tendency to adhere to the straight and pre- viously established township and other civil boundaries ? An inspection of the map of Randolph County (Appendix B), giving the outlines of the districts and the location of the consolidated schools, shows that, in some cases, township lines have been disregarded. Illustration is found in Monroe Township, where between its two schools and Stony Creek Township on the south a river is used as the dividing line. Also, on the west, the county line is disregarded and, on the east, the school district in Monroe Township extends beyond the township line into White River Township. In the case be- tween Nettle Creek and West River townships, 66 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION we find a school located on the line and a consolidated district carved out of portions of the two areas. Small village and town centers have been utilized to a considerable extent and a consolidated district thrown around them. On the whole, it seems that the people have done well in outlining their consolidated districts in comformity with natural, socio- economic units of population. There are a few instances where the former boundaries of civil areas seem to have had undue influence. One of the most striking of these is the long, narrow consolidated district in the eastern part of Washington Township, with the school located very near the township line; another case might be that of the consolidated graded district adjoining this one on the east. A study of the various consolidated school districts of Randolph County shows that, in the main, the farmers and their families do recognize their district as their community for the major portion, at least, of their social, economic, and religious activities. Besides co-operating upon this basis in the support of their school, they co-operate also in the support of their farmers' clubs, meetings, picnics, and THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 67 the like, as pointed out in the previously men- tioned address of the former county superin- tendent. These facts are well shown by Tables III, IV, and V. The census figures here given are taken from the 1920 Federal Census. The data relating to the areas of the school districts were obtained with the aid of school trustees, who assisted in the construction of the accom- panying map. All other data were given by County Agricultural Agent Hodgson, formerly of Randolph County; some of these data are a matter of record in the office of the county agricultural agent at Winchester. There are four consolidated graded schools which are not included in the table; they have small districts, are generally two-room schools, and their districts are not social and economic units. Many interesting facts may be observed by a study of the tables, which reflect, however, only a portion of the social and economic activities of the people. These tables are not intended to be complete, but to represent the general tendencies of movements in the county. The districts containing no town or village show less variety and less leadership in community life. Storekeepers, bankers, and other business 68 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION TABLE III Name, Location, and Area of Consolidated Districts Area of Dis- Consolidated District Location of District trict in Square Miles Saragota East part of Ward Township I4-50 Jefferson West part of Ward Township 21.50 Jackson Jackson Township 30.00 Ridgeville. . . . Franklin Township 24.00 Green Green Township 29.25 Parker West part of Monroe Township 19.00 Farmland. . . . East part of Monroe Township 27.50 Stony Creek . . Stony Creek Township 23.00 McKinley .... West part of White River Township 32.50 Lincoln East part of White River Township 37-50 Wayne South part of Wayne Township 26.50 Spartanburg. . East part of Greensfork Township 30.00 Lynn East part of Washington Township 21 .OO Beech Grove. . West part of Washington Township 16.OO Huntsville. . . . West River Township 27.OO Modoc Between Nettle Creek and West River townships 29.OO Losantville. . . West part of Nettle Creek Township 20.00 TABLE IV Area of Townships and Density of Population Township Franklin. . . . Green Greensfork. . Jackson Monroe Nettle Creek Stony Creek. Ward Wayne Washington . West River . . White River. Area in Square Persons Per Miles Square Mile* 24 26.3 29\ 27.8 50+ 36.O 30 37-2 2 9 i 28.6 31* 27-3 26^ 35-4 36 35-5 40+ 35-7 44 33-o 40 31.0 72 32.4 * Data here relate to the open country exclusive of all villages and towns as listed in 1020 Census, Table I. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 69 TABLE V Consolidated Districts, Their Urban Centers and Chief Community Events Name of Consoli- dated District Name of Town or Village Population of Town or Village Churches In Center Country 327 No census data 2 1 1 4 I 1,042 3 5 No data 697 3 878 3 2 3 2 4,021 No data 2 3 2 No census data 1 898 2 1 2 No census data 1 No data 256 321 2 2 No data No data Outstanding Community Activities Saratoga . . Jefferson . . Jackson . . Ridgeville Green. Parker Farmland. . . Stony Creek McKinley . . Lincoln South part of Wayne . Spartanburg.. Lynn .... Beech Grove. Huntsville . Modoc .... Losantville. Saratoga Deerfield No town in area Ridgeville No town in area Parker Farmland Very small hamlet in edge of area At edge of Winchester Winchester No town in area Spartanburg Lynn No town in area Huntsville Modoc Losantville Farmers' Institute association meets monthly Community meet- ing monthly at school Annual Old Set- tlers' picnic Community fair in October Plays and enter- tainments at school Social, Lyceum, school plays Annual fall com- munity fair, an- nual corn show Lacks leadership School center to certain extent; proximity to city detracts Chief events at Winchester Annual Farmers' Institute, School Socials Lyceum, annual spring opening of store Community fair Interest declining Farmers' Institute association meets monthly School lyceum Lacks leadership 70 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION men in some of the small towns of this county are great assets to their communities. They TABLE VI Membership in Farmers' Federation and Average Attendance at Farmers' Meetings in Consolidated Districts Name of Consoli- dated District Mem- bers of County Farm- ers' Federa- tion Attendance At Annual Farmers' Institute 1915 Farm Club Meetings Other Farmers' Meetings Saratoga \ Jefferson y" Jackson Ridgeville. . . . Green Parker \ Farmland / ' * 70 94 93 32 87 3i 29 68 153 88 /130 I194 55° 130 45o f200 \200 120; 45; 120 118; 100; 75; 4°; 45 75 ; 90; 60; 10; 30 120 45; 65; 100; 100 Horse meeting, 45 Orchard meeting, 25 Oat-smut meeting, 38 Horse meeting, 65 Oat-smut meeting, 52 Parent-teachers, 125 Oat-smut meeting, 9 Oat-smut meeting, 38 150; 25; 25 (70; 64; 49; 15 [120; 45; 120 68 47; 45; 25; 20 Arbor Day, 200 McKinley ] Lincoln J Wayne Spartanburg. . Lynn Farmers' In- stitute held in Winchester 35o 500 3 So Oat-smut meeting, 18 Oat-smut meeting, 25 Horse meeting, 20 Oat-smut meeting, 40 Horse meeting, 72 Oat-smut meeting, 89 65; 65; 54; 60; 100; 49; 30 42;47; 75 65; 35; 130; 90 Huntsville .... Modoc Losantvillej no 32 124 J310 Oat-smut meeting, 52 Parent-teachers, 85 Oat-smut meeting, 88 Oat-smut meeting, 35 help with corn shows, fairs, institutes, and the like. It seems that Randolph County, on the THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 71 whole, has been right in forming her consoli- dated districts, whenever possible, around the local town or village. 2. MARSHALL COUNTY, IOWA Marshall County is situated near the central part of the state; it is square in outline and contains 576 square miles, the greater part of which is well-improved farming land. This is strictly an agricultural county, producing corn, oats, wheat, hay, and live stock. It is one of the good agricultural counties of Iowa. The soil consists chiefly of a black to brown silt loam, except along the Iowa River and some of the larger streams where, because of heavy timber- ing, it is of a lighter character. The topog- raphy is chiefly undulating to rolling. The Iowa River flows from the north to the southeast through the upper half of the county; it, together with its larger tributaries, gives adjacent timbered and broken areas. Mar- shalltown is the county seat and only city in the area. All the other towns and villages in the county are farmers' small trading-centers. Marshalltown is a good farmers' county-seat city and draws much of its resources from the surrounding country. According to the 19 10 72 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Federal Census, it had a population of 13,374; its population at present comes close to 16,000. The 1920 Federal Census for Marshall County is not available at this writing, but the follow- ing table (VII) of the 19 10 Census will give a fair indication of the distribution of the population. Data obtained in the office of the county agricultural agent at Marshalltown show that there are 2,200 farm homes in Marshall County, and that they average about five persons per home and four homes per section of land. This gives the farms an average size of 160 acres. This density of population on the farm is quite uniform throughout the county, varying a little here and there. In some of the timbered areas settlement may be found somewhat closer, and in a few prairie areas somewhat more diffused. The farms and farm homes in Marshall County show thrift and indicate a progressive people. The roads are dirt, but well built, and placed, as a general rule, on section lines. Communication is good throughout the county. Considerable complaint is made of the roads during portions of the winter and spring when they may become difficult of passage. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 73 TABLE VII Population Statistics for Marshall County, Iowa* Marshall County, Iowa 30,279 Bangor Township 537 Eden Township, including Edenville town 968 Edenville town 448 Greencastle Township, including Ferguson and Gilman 1,362 Ferguson town 127 Gilman town 430 Iowa Township, including Albion town 771 Albion town 457 Jefferson Township, including Laurel town 952 Laurel town 179 Le Grand Township, including Le Grand town . . 1,385 Le Grand town 338 Liberty Township, including St. Anthony town. . 879 St. Anthony town 199 Linn Township 976 Liscomb Township, including Liscomb town .... 944 Liscomb town 354 Logan Township, including Melbourne town 1,079 Melbourne town 423 Marietta Township 732 Marion Township 971 Marshall Township, co-extensive with Marshall- town City 13,374 Marshalltown City 13, 374 Minerva Township, including Clemons town .... 927 demons town 213 State Center Township, including State Center town 1,537 State Center town 898 Taylor Township 446 Timber Creek Township 976 Vienna Township 675 Washington Township 787 * Taken from iqio Federal Census, Report on Population. 74 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION As close a study has not been made of Marshall County as was made of Randolph County because of the newness of consolidation TABLE VIII General Survey of Marshall County* Township Tenancy, High or Low Chief Nation- ality Topog- raphy Prevailing Type of Farming Other Farmers' Organizations t Present English German Irish Rough General Live stock General Live stock General Live stock Live stock General Grain General General General Truck Live stock General Live stock General General General Friends' church Eden Green Castle Middle- low Middle- high Low Community club, con- solidated school Consolidated school Consolidated school German English Co-operative elevator Co-operative elevator, parochial school Friends' church club, Liberty Low Co-operative elevato , consolidated school - Rough live-stock shipping association, Friends' church, creamery and elevators Middle- high Middle- low Middle- high High High Consolidated school (2), Marietta . . . Marion Subject to over- flow Hilly community club Farmers' club Co-operative elevator, lumber yard, com- munity club State Center Taylor German Co-operative creamery Middle- high German Rough Creek Vienna Farmers' community club Consolidated school, community club * Data furnished by Murl McDonald, state leader of county agricultural agents, Ames, Iowa. t Reference here is probably to the Farm Bureau Association. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 75 to this section and to Iowa. It is thought, however, that the trend of the movement in this county and the policy being adopted make it worth while to look into the situation. There are fourteen consolidated school dis- tricts in the county, and six consolidations partly within the county and partly within adjoining counties. The size of the districts ranges from 12 to 28 square miles and in all except two cases the districts are formed around town and village centers. County Superintend- ent of Schools C. E. Shutt, of Marshalltown, writing under date of April 2, 1920, makes the following statements concerning the community value and general aspects of the consolidated school district: The consolidated schools of this county contain on an average about twenty sections. It would be better if they had a greater acreage, and they would be larger if it were not for the fear, which I think is largely unfounded, that the increased size would augment the difficulties of transpor- tation. Township and even county lines are disregarded in the formation of them. The idea governing them is that of efficient community service rather than that of con- formity to established lines of previous organizations. The territory included in them forms a unit for social, educa- tional and sometimes religious centers. The school build- ing is constructed usually with a gymnasium which can be used for games, lectures and other purposes where the 76 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION people of the community meet. The domestic science equipment, installed for school purposes, is convenient when it is desired to serve lunch on these public occasions. The data relating to the project record for the year ending December 31, 1918, represent attendance of farmers in the various townships at meetings held by the county agricultural agent. In conversation with the agent, he stated that these data represent, in the main, attendance from consolidated school districts, where they are found in the township, because most of his meetings are staged at the school. The county home demonstration agent and county agricultural agent both state that the consolidated school district as a unit of rural life greatly facilitates their work; that the people in these districts act more unitedly and more effectively than do those in the other areas of the county. The county home demonstration agent has, within the county, about fifteen ladies' organi- zations which recognize, to a very large extent, the consolidated school district as the unit in the formation of their organizations. Although the methods of organization of both farm- bureau and home-demonstration work is based, in accordance with uniform state plans, upon THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 77 TABLE IX Project Record for Marshall County, Iowa* (For year ending December 31, 1918) Township Bangor, Eden. Green Castle . . . Iowa Jefferson . Le Grand. Nature of Work. Done Number of Meet- ings Held Dual demonstration: wheat diseases Cow-test association Seed corn Liming demonstration Junior club Seed corn Swine production Liming demonstration Soy beans Cow-test association Hog cholera Swine production Liming demonstration Cow-test association Junior club Seed corn Dual demonstration: wheat diseases Seed corn Swine production Dual demonstration Poultry Junior club Seed corn Swine production Attend- ance t *5 30 30 4 60 25 20 25 30 20 20 60 25 30 * Data here furnished by Murl McDonald, state leader of county agri- cultural agents, Ames, Iowa. t The data relating to attendance at meetings are evidently approxima- tions in many cases. Their value lies in showing the general trend of interest in such activities in rural communities. 78 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION TABLE IX— Continued Township Nature of Work Done Number of Meet- ings Held Attend- ance Liberty. . Linn. . . . Liscomb . Logan . . Marietta Marion . Marshall Minerva State Center. Junior club Farmers' Institute Dual demonstration: wheat diseases Liming demonstration Cow- test association Dual demonstration Dual demonstration: wheat diseases Cow-test association Junior club Junior club Seed corn Swine production Seed corn Orchard spraying Seed corn Egg candling Hog cholera Bee meeting Dual demonstration: wheat diseases Cow-test association Seed corn Co-operative creamery meeting Co-operative creamery picnic [Dual demonstration: diseases I Junior club ] Hog cholera Seed corn Swine production wheat 60 45 4 60 25 30 25 25 25 40 25 26 20 4 25 40 300 20 60 25 25 30 THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 79 TABLE IX— Continued Township Taylor. Timber Creek ViennaJ Washington . County-wide projects. . . Nature of Work Done Number of Meet- ings Held Cow-test association Community club Community club Swine production Cane meeting 'Dual demonstration Soy beans Cow-test association Junior club Seed corn Swine production 'Seed corn Swine congress Soil survey Exchange farm labor- placed Wheat acreage Cane mill Barberry eradication Threshers' association Fall wheat survey Fall seed-corn survey Stock-judging contest County fair State fair exhibit Swine congress -420 Attend- ance 4 60 60 30 IS 5 60 25 30 33 i,i37 20 60 300 34 500 % Farmers in southern part of Vienna Township attend community meet- ings in Marion Township. the township as the unit, both agents in Marshall County look forward to the time when it may be changed and based, instead, upon the consolidated school district unit. 80 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION One of the interesting features of the study of the Marshall County consolidated school districts is the disregard the people show for formerly established county, township, and the district-school boundary lines. The accom- panying county map, 1 showing the outlines of the consolidated districts, illustrates this point. They bound the consolidated district as accu- rately as possible by the limits of their natural community, all having equal opportunity to say whether or not they wish to affiliate with the new unit. The only limitation the law imposes is that the district lines must follow either quarter-section or section lines. 1 See Appendix C. CHAPTER VII THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT— Continued (Views from Various Sources) There will be brought together in this chapter the results of correspondence with educators in different states relative to the community value of the consolidated school district. Newspaper articles, various educa- tional reports, and bulletins have also been used in presenting the general trend of the consolidation movement as it relates itself to our special line of investigation. Most of the material will be presented as it came to the writer, using direct quotations in large part. The aim is to show, in the words of leaders themselves, the feeling held toward this new district unit and the direction of the movement. I. COLORADO Consolidation of schools is progressing rather rapidly in some sections of this state. The state superintendent of public instruction in 81 82 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION a letter under date of March 23, 1920, writes as follows: The state has many fine consolidations. One of the very best is the Sargent consolidation. This is a typical rural consolidation and embraces at least eight ordinary school districts. They have a large auditorium to accom- modate the community and where all the community services are held. Nearly all of Rio Grande County is now made up of consolidated districts. There are four in the entire county with four small outlying school districts, which in time will join one of the consolidations. Miss Carrie Dietrich, county superintend- ent of schools of Rio Grande County, has the following to say concerning the consolidations above referred to : .... The valuations in the consolidated districts are all over $3,000,000. This has made it possible to get enough money to run a good school. I have found that there is no organization as successful as the rural consolidated school to reach the farmers. 2. NORTH DAKOTA Under date of March 29, 1920, the state superintendent of public instruction says in a letter to the author : For twelve years I was County Superintendent of Barnes County, North Dakota, and worked directly with the rural districts. I can testify to the facts that the Civic-Social activities of these rural neighborhoods center about the consolidated THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 83 school and I only wish you might visit some of them to see their activity. We had a County Lyceum Course, a County Debating League and a County Athletic League. The county superintendent of schools of McHenry County, North Dakota, writes on April 5, 1920: About two-thirds of the children in the county are now in consolidated schools. There are no towns in the county that have over 1,000 inhabitants so that this means that it is the country children who are in the consolidated schools. There are twenty-three in the county, four of which are open-country schools. The others are all located in small villages or towns, and my experience has been that the schools located in the towns and villages are the most successful. Some of the main reasons for this are: better roads to the villages, especially during winter; better accommodations for teachers, better care of school buildings and property during vacations and easier to get janitors. None of the consolidated districts are less than eighteen [square] miles, most of them include thirty-six square miles, and we have a few that embrace as much territory as forty- five square miles. Where no natural obstacles like rivers or waste land intervene, the township of thirty-six square miles seems to be about the most suitable sized district. There is no doubt but that the consolidated school is the natural center for community activities and in all my schools some work along these lines is being done. Com- munity meetings, lecture courses, entertainments, political meetings, Red Cross meetings, are some of the various things carried on. This fact was not realized so fully when we first begun consolidating our schools, but every consoli- dated school that is built now is equipped with a good auditorium or gathering place. 84 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Professor Charles G. Carlson, of the depart- ment of agricultural education of the North Dakota Agricultural College, writes as follows, under date of April 12, 1920: Replying to your letter of March 30th relative to the proper local unit upon which to build our rural organizations, it is my opinion that the "township" is the unit on which such work must rest. Here in this state there are smaller units than the township and even larger units in consolidated areas. Considering the population, the amount of wealth and the ordinary cohesion within townships together with the fact that the consolidated school is usually in the center or section sixteen, I can not see how any other unit has more advantages than the township. In the case of the Noltimier district where I spent three years as principal, I found that buying, selling, school work and even road-building were done better on the township basis than on the district basis. Our townships in this state average possibly two hundred and ninety people in the eastern part, but have often not more than fifteen or twenty in the western part. The amount of wealth in the eastern part of the state is large enough to support town- ship high schools, but this is not true of the western part of the state, so that the statements made, you will see, apply only to the eastern half of the state. Writing again on May 6, 1920, Professor Carlson further states : The organizations that use the schoolhouse for their meetings are as follows: The Society of Equity, the Non- partisan League and various local clubs and churches. All elections are usually held in the consolidated school. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 85 3. IOWA Professor Macy Campbell, head of the de- partment of rural education of Iowa State Teachers' College, Cedar Falls, Iowa, states in a letter dated April 5, 1920, that Iowa consolidated schools are developed around natural community centers, quite often a town and its trade terri- tory, and pay no attention to township or county lines. The school district lines are often followed in establishing the boundaries of consolidated school districts. We believe every rural school district in Iowa is so situated that it can be satisfactorily taken into a consoli- dated school organization; this has already been done with more than 2,500 districts. On March 9, Professor Campbell wrote that there were more than 340 consolidated schools in Iowa. He further states: The tendency in Iowa now is to organize consolidated districts of from thirty to fifty square miles. Improvement in transportation through better roads and better motor vehicles makes the fifty square mile district more satis- factory as a unit than the smaller ones. The well developed consolidated school becomes the center of social and economic life in the community and is the most effective force in Iowa at the present time in rural community leadership and development. I have detected no tendency so far in this state to make the consolidated school district the political unit. In The Iowa Homestead, published at Des Moines, Iowa, issue of February 26, 1920, 86 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Professor Campbell discussed "The New Rural School in Orange Township," located in Butler County. He stated in part, relative to this very successful consolidated school: The new school brings all the children of the community together to become acquainted with each other and learn to work together more successfully in a co-operative way in developing the possibilities of the community. The success of the remarkable community church, the co- operative egg selling association, co-operative creamery, co-operative telephone organization, co-operative cow test- ing association, co-operative threshing and silo filling associations in Orange township testifies to the value of such community co-operation. 4. ILLINOIS This state we find has two good legislative enactments of recent establishment (19 19) look- ing to the formation of schools upon the community basis, namely, community high schools and community consolidated district schools. Township high schools have also been in operation in this state, there being some notable outstanding examples from the com- munity point of view. The community high schools which are being organized under the law of 1 91 9 are practically the same kind of school as are the township high schools. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 87 County Superintendent B. C. Moore, of McLean County, writing April 29, 1920, says of these districts in his county: The high-school districts are large and over-lie from twelve to fifteen elementary schools districts. All of these communities are looking forward to community and civic life in their new building. A community consolidated district located near Funk's Grove, Superintendent Moore says, is very prosperous. It embraces 27 sections of land and leads in organized life in the way of lectures, entertainments, programs of various kinds, and festivals. In the Bloomington, Illinois, Daily Panta- graph of April 6, 1920, Superintendent Moore, in an article on township and community high schools, states: Township and community high schools are being organized in every county of the state. In addition to the school facilities that will come to these communities it is believed that such school buildings will be made social and library centers. 5. OKLAHOMA E. A. Duke, rural-school supervisor, states that there are a large number of successful consolidated schools in Oklahoma. He feels that the size of the population and the amount of wealth is about right for the most successful 8>S RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION unit in a district of 36 square miles. In his Report on Rural Centralized Graded and Model Schools, issued by the state superintendent of public instruction, in 1918, Supervisor Duke enumerates twenty-two advantages of the consolidated school to the community. A few of them are as follows : Consolidation leads to better roads, better homes, increased land values, pride in community and civic improve- ment. The consolidated school becomes the community center and leads to improvement through lectures, debates and other forms of entertainment. Leads to co-operation along all lines. When the people realize that they are providing advan- tages for their children equal to those of any other district, self respect and respect for the community increases many- fold. Has a broadening influence on the people, as they become accustomed to thinking in terms larger than the one-room school. A more exhaustive study covering the con- solidated school district as found in every state in the Union would be valuable. There are many states where the educators in charge of the movement have vision and foresight relative to the community value of the district, and are embodying this in their plans for consolidation. This matter was brought out clearly at the last National Conference on THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 89 School Consolidation which was held at Cedar Falls, Iowa, during the third week in February, 1920. A partial report of this conference is found in The Iowa Homestead of February 26, 1920, from which the following quotation is taken : Consolidated schools are not only educational centers, but social and community centers as well. Consolidation is a form of organization that is dovetailing itself into the great organized farmer movement all over the country and we cannot afford to neglect to fairly study its possibilities with immediate cost as of secondary importance. 6. SUMMARY Some important details have been brought out in the last two chapters which will receive emphasis and summation at this point. In choosing the consolidated school district as the best unit of rural organization of general application, there are a number of rather specific factors which should be clearly kept in mind if proper values are to come from it. The first of these is that provision must be made for a good, effective high-school depart- ment in connection with the consolidation. No farm boy and girl nowadays should be without the opportunity to obtain close at hand as good a high-school education as any other 90 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION boy or girl. Arguments pro and con a high- school education are not necessary in this study, but suffice it to say at this point that farmers themselves are becoming fully awake to the advantages of having high-school facili- ties for their children. As a witness to this, we found in our study in chapter vi that sixteen of the consolidated districts of Randolph County, Indiana, have provided good high- school departments, all of which are listed as commissioned high schools by the state of Indiana. We also saw that every consolidated school in Marshall County, Iowa, either now has, or is providing for, a four-year high-school department. Granted that the consolidated district must support a good high school as well as the graded departments, the next important fea- ture is the size of the high school that should be considered as a minimum standard. In an endeavor to arrive at a minimum figure in enrolment below which a high school should not sink, the author realizes full well that there will be exceptions. These need not blind one, however, to the generally prevailing facts. A close study of the situation shows that there are vast numbers of consolidations which, in THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 91 the beginning, were not projected upon a large enough basis, and that these, in many instances, after the first flush of newness and novelty wore off, have become burdensome; especially so when the opportunities were not at hand for enlarging the consolidated area. A consoli- dated district projected on too small a basis does not give sufficient numbers of pupils to maintain a first-class high school and does not furnish an effective, varied, and diversified community life. There also must be enough wealth included to give the proper financial support to local institutions. The enrolment of some of the successful consolidated schools studied in these two chap- ters may be taken as a clue in arriving at a minimum. The Melbourne consolidated dis- trict, which is a very successful one in Marshall County, Iowa, has a high-school enrolment of sixty. The Orange Township consolidated school reported in this chapter has an enrol- ment of sixty-nine. The schools in Randolph County, Indiana, which show the greatest suc- cess, all have enrolments of sixty and above, and, generally, not less than four teachers in high-school work. The author, out of his own experience as a high-school teacher and 92 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION principal, has been thoroughly impressed with the fact that an enrolment of seventy-five to one hundred furnishes a better working group than one below seventy-five. An enrolment of fifty is reaching a point of doubtful efficiency, as a general proposition. As a minimum figure to be held in mind in forming a con- solidated district with a good four-year high- school department, sixty pupils will insure greater success than fifty. In close connection with the minimum high-school enrolment comes the minimum size of district. Many of the states studied make no recommendations on this matter, which it seems to the writer is a mistake. Some low- water mark should be set by the law to insure greater stability and success to the movement and to furnish a guidepost. Some states have specified a minimum size of district as well as taxable wealth, and then generally encourage consolidation on a more extensive scale. The Iowa school law states that not less than 16 sections of adjoining land shall constitute a consolidated district; but we note in Professor Macy Campbell's letter of March 9, given above, that the tendency in Iowa is to organize con- solidated districts of from 30 to 50 square miles. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 93 In Oklahoma, the minimum area specified by the law is 25 sections of contiguous land and a taxable valuation of $200,000. An exception is made in case of taxable valuations of $500,000 or over, when districts of less than 25 square miles may be formed. E. A. Duke, the rural- school inspector, however, in his correspondence and reports states that the size of population and the amount of wealth are in better relation for a successful district with a land area of 36 square miles. In North Dakota, the minimum size of district is placed at 18 sections of contiguous land. Here again we find that the successful consolidations embrace about 36 or more square miles, because size of population and wealth are more satisfactory. In Randolph County, Indiana, we find a number of small districts, which are, even with their density of population, on the border lines of efficiency. Some of these will doubtless be enlarged by further consolidations of adjoin- ing territory now included in consolidated grade areas. A study of Table I, page 61, Tables III, IV, V, and VI, pages 68, 68, 69, and 70, respectively, giving density of population, size of areas, social and economic features, and 94 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION other like matters, shows that such districts as Spartanburg, Wayne, Jackson, Farmland, and Lincoln, with a density of population ranging around and above thirty-two per square mile and a size of district ranging around and above 30 square miles, give the greatest diversity of interests and of activities. The larger popula- tion in these districts finds more to arouse interest. The density of population is such as to promote neighborly feeling and commonness of purpose. Of course, such districts cannot be held as models in the case of a sparsely settled country like North Dakota, but they show rather valuable features for a moderately settled, general-farming region. In Marshall County, Iowa, the smaller districts ranging around 12 and 14 square miles were formed under an old law. Informa- tion given the author was that some of these will be enlarged by additions of unconsolidated territory and others may be split up to form larger districts. The size of the district and its population and the amount of wealth will be variable matters in different parts of the country. The figures here given point to what seem to be the tendencies in these factors. Whatever the THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT 95 location of the district, its size, its wealth, and the amount of its population should be enough to maintain a first-class four-year high school and a graded school, the former having a mini- mum enrolment of about sixty pupils. When this requirement is met, a really effective socio-economic unit will have been formed, which will give volume of population enough, sufficient diversity of interests, and wealth enough to provide most of the institutions and interests of the farm groups. One last important factor, often mentioned in the foregoing chapters, which must not be lost sight of in the carving out of consolidated districts, is the attainment of proper cohesion and social relationship within the newly formed district. This is a subtle matter difficult to meet and yet of prime importance. This feature, as often pointed out, has all too frequently been disregarded, or militated against, especially in the formation of rubber- stamped areas, like the township and many small school district systems. Great care must be exercised in the placing of consolidated school district lines to see that they throw together groups which want to be and should be together. 96 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION This cohesion will find expression in various ways. The historical development of the area or community may play a big part in determining what groups cling to one another and work for their common interests. Some- times kindred ties extending over an appreciable territory will help in determining cohesive groups. Sometimes trade relations at a com- mon center have built up an acquaintanceship and fellow-feeling which can be definitely out- lined and followed as a guide in placing a con- solidated district. Topographical features have often caused certain areas to be very definitely marked out and these frequently have been real, effective communities. In the construction of this new socio- economic unit (the consolidated school district), therefore, all these factors should be used as guides, to be supplemented by the free choice of the people themselves as exercised by the ballot. Facilities for intercourse, condition of roads, density of population, are all factors aiding or retarding cohesion and playing a great part in the regulation of the size of the district. CHAPTER VIII ORGANIZATION OF FORCES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT In our study of the local unit we found many forces and agencies at work in rural life. They seemed, in some cases, to be developing around certain plans or in accordance with certain policies. In other cases there did not appear to be any plans or any policies, just forces and institutions, developing or existing in their own individualistic manner. We have seen also that, in rural communities, there are latent forces, awaiting development and the life-giving power of organization and leadership. Some of the forces and institutions that have been met may be mentioned here as fol- lows: churches, granges, farm-bureau organiza- tions, home-economics associations, schools, co- operative organizations, fairs, clubs, institutes, parent-teachers' associations, and neighborhood and community consciousness. The organiza- tion of these and others which helps give expres- sion to rural life, and fitting them, one with 97 98 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION another, into a general scheme of things for the complete development of the community in the interests of the common welfare, is the problem of next importance. This phase of our study, like that of the de- termination of the local unit, is still in its infancy throughout the country. Only rather general deductions can be made here, but these will be drawn as closely as possible from good sources. There are several groups and individuals working out, in their own manner, systems and plans for rural organization. Politicians, econo- mists, and social workers are all seeking a workable plan. The Farm Bureau is endeavor- ing to find the best organization, as well as the best local unit of rural life, upon which to base its great work which pertains, in the main, to production and marketing. The Home Bureau is an expression of the organization of farm women along similar lines. The American Red Cross is another agency trying to work out the organization of rural life, especially along the physical and health side. The National Con- ference of Social Work is trying to find itself in a program of organization of rural social forces. A plan has been outlined by the Massachusetts Agricultural College of forming in a rural ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 99 community a council of all the agencies working for rural life. In North Carolina we have a quite different plan (referred to in chap, v, pp. 56 and 57, and in Appendix A), which is interested in overhauling county government in the interests of both economic and social agen- cies for the benefit of the farm population. A complete study of each one of these plans, were it possible, would be valuable at this point. We shall attempt here to bring together some of the main features only of the sugges- tions of leaders along these lines and discuss them in the light of the general conclusions which have been reached. That no one plan of organization will suit all communities alike is a commonplace. Flexi- bility must be allowed in any scheme so that it may fit local variations. That there must be a need for organization before it will succeed is also a commonplace. Such a thing cannot be forced upon a people, but must await proper growth in powers to appreciate. The idea of community organization, also, as a general proposition, is a new idea in most rural communities. The communities must first be convinced that it is needed and that it will accomplish what the community desires. ioo RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Professor T. N. Carver says : Not only must there be a distinct need for organization, but each committee should be constructed to deal with one specific need. The first thing to decide, therefore, is what are the principal needs of the community in question in order that the proper committee may be constituted. 1 He reaches the conclusion that there are ten principal or leading needs in the average rural community in the United States. He divides them into two groups, namely, business and social, placing rive needs in each group. The ten needs are represented by separate commit- tees from the community. A central committee is formed by the chairmen of the subcommittees (each of the ten) and officers of the organization, who represent the entire number, and who act for the community at large, in the way of shaping policies and the control of business affairs of the organization. The following is Professor Carver's outline: NEEDS OF RURAL COMMUNITIES WHICH REQUIRE ORGANIZATION I. Business Needs: i. Better farm production 2. Better marketing facilities 1 T. N. Carver, The Organization of a Rural Community, p. 4. United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook, separate. (Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, I9I5-) ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 101 3. Better means of securing farm supplies 4. Better credit facilities 5. Better means of communication: a) Roads b) Telephones II. Social Needs: 1. Better educational facilities 2. Better sanitation 3. Better opportunities for recreation 4. Beautification of the country-side 5. Better home economics After outlining in the foregoing way what the author conceives to be of application to the average community, he goes into considerable detail in a discussion of duties, aims, and functions of the various communities. 1 In the main, this is a good plan; it is broad and can be made to cover a wide range. There are many valuable suggestions contained in it. The most serious trouble to be met in placing such a plan in the average community, how- ever, is to be found in the great dearth of proper leadership to execute it. The plan is also defi- cient in necessary machinery, and the com- mittees may find no dynamic action following their well-laid recommendations. It does not represent or include organizations which might well play a large part in molding action. 1 Ibid., pp. 11-53. 102 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION The Massachusetts plan of a council of the forces working in a community is quite a different scheme from the foregoing. It seeks to pull together all the organizations and forces through a general council. This is a compre- hensive plan and will be given here only in part as follows: i. Conference of a Few. [This is a general or preliminary get-together by representatives of each local organiza- tion to consider what can be done.] 2. Organization Representatives. [Here is a council which represents the co-ordination of all local interests for initial action.] 3. The First Work. a) Bring about a thorough understanding among the various local organizations as to just what each is doing b) Take up any specific items of community interest which should receive immediate attention. c) Call in representatives of county organizations and ascertain in what work they are prepared to co- operate in for your town. 4. The First Community Meeting. [Elect chairman and secretary and discuss improvements needed.] 5. Committees. [Appointed if action in foregoing dis- cussion is favorable and may be as follows:] a) Farm production. b) Farm business. c) Conservation. d) Boys' and girls' interests. e) Community life. 6. The Second Community Meeting. [It will be an unoffi- cial community gathering to give anyone a chance to object or to offer plans.] ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 103 7. Community Plan or Program. 8. Getting Results. 9. Council Meetings. 10. The Annual Community Meeting: a) Reports should be made of work done by any organi- zation or group during the past year. b) The council committees should report the working plans for the coming year. c) The chairman, secretary, and committees for the ensuing year should be chosen. 1 The chief criticism that can be offered con- cerning this plan is its great range. It is too broad to fit most communities. It would be better to concentrate on one or two projects in which the community is interested and gradu- ally work up to a complete organization, a thing which will take time and education. A plan too broad in its scope is likely to result in a great many things started and dropped, or only developed to mediocrity. There are other proposals for the organiza- tion of the community which are not as compre- hensive or complete as the foregoing. Judge Frank T. Wilson presents a plan in a University of Minnesota bulletin, entitled Community Service. He shows how a community may be organized on lines similar to those followed by 1 E. L. Morgan, Mobilizing the Rural Community, Massachu- setts Agricultural College Extension Bulletin No. 23, pp. 20-25. (Amherst, Mass.: Massachusetts Agricultural College, 19 18.) 104 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION boys in organizing a ball club. 1 First by getting together a few fans, then a selection of players or team-leaders for each interest as the boys select catcher, pitcher, back stop, and other players. He states that "of course there will be provided a captain and a board of managers." In discussing another plan, he says : .... Invite each church, lodge, club, society or like organization to furnish a delegate to a community council. Let the council select the service leader, a managing board, and the various team leaders. Then get busy and serve. All these schemes for the organization of the forces and institutions within a community have much to recommend them. They assume, however, a rather well-developed organization spirit and more leadership than is generally found in the average community. In many rural sections of the country we may find some rather worthy organizations, but a great ina- bility in the co-ordination of their efforts and work toward a common goal. Again, we may find a total inability on the part of the people to form any worth-while organizations, because of lack of leadership and the proper conception of ideals in community life. 1 Frank T. Wilson, Community Service, pp. 7, 8. (Minne- apolis, Minn.: The University of Minnesota Extension Service, 1920.) ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 105 Inasmuch as the findings of this investiga- tion have singled out the consolidated school district as the best unit of population, territory, wealth, and the like upon which to place rural organization plans, if becomes very evident that there is no better place to commence the formation of organized life and the co-ordination of the forces of that life than with the con- solidated school itself. If the community is adverse to organized effort (as many communi- ties are), then we have at first hand the best of tools, in the school and its officers, to teach the community ideals and aims and to develop policies and goals. If the community is pro- gressive, all well and good, its progress will be accelerated by the aid and influence of the school. No other institution reaches the lives of all in a community as effectively as the school. There is no other institution around which all will rally more quickly, because it stands as their one common institution, main- tained and supported by the whole people. The common support of a consolidated school has in countless cases been the one means of uniting the small town and the country community adjacent. The writer had this fact very strongly pointed out to him in the 106 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION investigation of the Melbourne consolidated school district in Marshall County, Iowa. Mr. N. B. Nason, president of the school board and a retired farmer, stated that, before consolidation, the people of Melbourne town and the country people were more or less estranged, often unfriendly, and were non-co-operative. Since consolidation, with the new school built within the town limits and the old town school merged with the consolidated one, a most surprising co-operative spirit has developed. He stated that many town and country women get acquainted at the school, either in visits during regular sessions, or at festivals and dinners. The town merchants all have acquired a sense of their partnership with the farmer. The farmer to the farthermost corner of the district feels his allegiance to the school, community, and town. Mr. Nason said the townspeople do not think about having a town boundary, they think in terms of the school district. The very fact that the people of a commu- nity have got together successfully enough to build and equip a consolidated school also gives them confidence in themselves and in their ability to do things. Great is the pride that many communities take in their consolidated ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 107 school and its system of education. At this point in community consciousness, which often- times is the first glimpse a community gets of itself, is where real organization plans may be initiated, and where constructive policies and ideals may be laid. Here an excellent frame- work has been erected which connects the com- munity with every other community and with the state and nation at large. An organization of first rank has been created around which all can gather, regardless of church, lodge, grange, society, or other affiliations. In the common moral and financial support of the consolidated school, therefore, we have our first commu- nity organization and our chief agency for co- ordination of agencies, forces, and institutions. Plays, athletic games, and luncheons held at the school will draw the community together in an informal way, produce acquaintanceship extending throughout the district, and will arouse a community pride. The spirit of team work grows up, co- operation between individuals and groups develops, all in a most informal way, but all of which, by proper direction and guidance, will lead to more formal relationships and more significant lines of endeavor. 108 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION For laying and developing plans for the com- munity, the consolidated school board members, the principal of the school, the county demon- stration agents, and the county superintendent of schools are all properly authorized parties and should co-operate in such work. The school board members and the principal are pivotal in this, and proper public opinion will demand that such positions be filled by people who have the newer vision in school affairs. The selection of men and women for these capacities should be made carefully, and that such is the case in many consolidated districts is evidenced by their rapid growth and out- standing community consciousness. There is no good reason why the consolidated school should not help foster and develop the farmers' institute; both school and institute are educational and social in character. The boys' and girls' club work may also develop in the school. The agricultural agent and home demonstration agent work can most effectively spread out through the school into the homes and on to the farms; the school may well be head- quarters in the community for these agencies. The public library may also be under the charge of the school. Organized play for the community ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 109 in the form of pageants, various games, picture shows, and athletic contests will find able leader- ship in the school. In this connection it will be interesting to review in brief some of the work of the State Community Service Bureau of North Carolina. This bureau works with and through both large and small rural schools. Its various activities illustrate what can be done for the community and neighborhood life with the school as the agency, co-ordinating state, county, and local agencies. The consolidated school, by reason of its greater size and diversity of interests, will be able to make much more of this outside help than will the small one-room school. A. E. Howell, superintendent of public wel- fare of Wayne County, North Carolina, in a report just issued dealing with the Community Service Bureau in that county, states: In each county where the service is operative, the State Bureau places an automobile truck with a portable electric lighting system and moving picture machine. A woman director and a mechanic are employed and ten school centers are selected to constitute the circuit or field of activities in the county. Each of these centers is visited by the outfit once every two weeks. The director arrives at the school before the children are dismissed (when school is in session) and conducts games, athletics, no RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION story-telling, and other recreational and educational activi- ties. Clubs for women, boys and girls are organized, and any possible service for the advancement of the community is rendered by the director and mechanic. Often, between school sessions (in the summer time), recreational and educational activities are promoted in the afternoon for children and adults. In the evening a moving picture entertainment, usually consisting of six reels, is given to the general community meeting. At this meeting the county agents, such as the Superintendent of Schools, Superintendent of Public Wel- fare, Health Officer, Home Demonstrator, Farm Demon- strator or other invited speakers help the community with community betterment organization, recreational activities or educational features. As a result the school in many localities is rapidly becoming the center of social and community life. In considering the success of this new move- ment in North Carolina, Mr. Howell further states : The first county circuit was organized in 191 7 in Sampson County. Six counties were organized the first year in spite of war conditions. Now there are seventeen counties operating regularly, and many have made applica- tion. For lack of funds these latter counties cannot now be given the service. In some of the most aggressive communities in various parts of the country we find many of the things which are given by state and county help in North Carolina being taken over by the consolidated school systems. In McHenry ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 1 1 1 County, Illinois, a decided drift in such direc- tion is shown. Here we find ten community schools: one a consolidated school composed of nine small one-room school districts, and nine community high schools. The latter have districts ranging from 36 to 48 square miles in size. The county superintendent states that these school districts divide the county into natural communities. Relative to the work of the schools in community activities, he writes under date of April 30, 1920, as follows: I believe that the community high school will ultimately absorb the county Y.M.C.A., athletic work, etc., that is now attempted by one man in the county, that is, rural or semi-rural work. In like manner it may absorb even the better farming movement through the community high school agricultural teacher; the county domestic science movement also. The consolidated school organization, there- fore, furnishes the machinery or framework upon which to erect the first rural organization plans. It may, in fact, be thought of as a type of local government for the farmer based upon his community. It is limited, perhaps, in its scope, but nevertheless it is a government with specific aims and duties. As far as its powers go in school and educational affairs, it is a highly effective form. 112 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION As community development takes place, leading to the need of more powers in the hands of the local community, the limitations of the consolidated school organization as a govern- mental agency may be enlarged by legislative enactment, as far as such changes do not encroach upon the constitutional authority already granted to previously existing units such as civil townships and magisterial districts. In these latter cases, we find, tightly knotted into many of our state constitutions, certain governmental powers which are hard to break out and redistribute, even though it has been plainly proved that such units are misfits and ill adapted to the social groupings of the people. Given the consolidated school district and an expansion of its functions up to the limits allowed by constitutional provisions to other conflicting units, the farmer, it will be found, will have a most useful legalized community. The articulation of district with district throughout the county and state will furnish the avenues necessary to connect the farmer with wide governmental, social, and educational contact with the nation at large. A more comprehensive system of rural local government must await the more advanced development of ORGANIZATION WITHIN THE LOCAL UNIT 1 1 3 public opinion relative to the need of same, and systematic studies in political science bearing directly upon the problem. This discussion of the growing and enlarging influence and powers of the consolidated school organization is not to be understood as meaning that the school organization as such is to absorb or even dwarf such institutions as the church, grange, or lodge, but quite the contrary. It simply means that through the school organiza- tion as a piece of local machinery owned and controlled by one and all in the community, we have a permanent, universal force, which is to be utilized in helping co-ordinate the work and aims of the other institutions of less universality. It is the one institution which may take the leading role in shaping plans and policies to fit the community and to co-ordinate it with the county, state, and nation. Upon the basis of the consolidated school district as a unit of organization, which can well cover every part of the farm population, the farmer may easily find himself and identify his relationships to every other group in the state and country at large. The farmer's changing psychology, his enlarged outlook, and his new local unit will all have a logical consistency one with another. BIBLIOGRAPHY Butterfield, Kenyon L. Chapters in Rural Progress. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1907. . Introduction to Extension Bulletin No. 23, Mobilizing the Rural Community. Extension Bulletin No. 23, Amherst, Mass.: Massachusetts Agricultural College, 191 8. . The Farmer and the New Day. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1919. Carver, T. N. The Organization of a Rural Community. United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook; separate. Washington, D.C.: United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, 1915. Fairlie, John A. Local Government in Counties, Towns and Villages. New York: The Century Company, 1914. Galpin, Charles J. Rural Life. New York: The Century Company, 1918. . The Village in Relation to the Surrounding Country. A paper read before a conference on the village and the town school of the National Education Association, Cleveland, Ohio, February 26, 1920. Morgan, E. L. Mobilizing the Rural Community. Exten- sion Bulletin No. 23. Amherst, Mass.: Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1918. Vogt, Paul L. Introduction to Rural Sociology. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 191 7. Wilson, Frank T. Community Service. Minneapolis, Minn.: The University of Minnesota Extension Service, 1920. Wilson, Warren H. The Evolution of the Country Com- munity. Boston, Mass.: The Pilgrim Press, 191 2. 114 BIBLIOGRAPHY 115 DOCUMENTS Consolidation of Schools and Transportation of Pupils. Bulletin No. 56, Department of Education, Mont- gomery, Alabama. Proceedings, First National Country Life Conference, Balti- more. Ithaca, N.Y.: National Country Life Associa- tion, 1919. Report of the Commission on Country Life. New York: Sturgis and Walton Company, 1919. APPENDIX A (Public Laws 191 9) AN ACT TO REPEAL CHAPTER 128 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1917, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE INCORPORATION OF RURAL COM- MUNITIES The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: Section i. That the people of any rural community in North Carolina, upon petition signed by a majority of the registered voters of such community, embracing in area one entire school district, may be incorporated under the pro- visions of this act, the title of such corporate body being "The Community of County" (or counties), the name of community and county (or counties) to be supplied in the petition for incorporation: Provided, that no part of such community shall be nearer than two miles to the nearest boundary of any incorporated town or city of five thousand or more inhabitants, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the extension of the limits of any town or city regularly incorporated so as to include territory incorporated under this act. After any school district has been incorporated under the provisions of this act, the boundaries of said school district and incorporated rural community may be changed only in the manner prescribed in section four thousand one hundred and fifteen, Revisal of one thousand nine hundred and five, for changing the lines of a special-tax school district, except that the county board of education shall proceed to enlarge such boundaries in accordance with said section upon the written 116 APPENDIX A 117 request of a majority of the school committeemen or trustees of said school district and a written request of a majority of the board of directors of the incorporated rural community. Sec. 2. The petition for incorporation shall be addressed to the Secretary of State at his office in Raleigh, who, if such petition is in due form, shall then issue the certificate of incorporation without charge therefor. Sec. 3. The registered voters of each community incor- porated under the provisions of this act shall hold a public community meeting on the first Saturday in January of each year, or on such other day as may be specified in the petition for incorporation. The place of such meeting shall also be designated in the petition for incorporation, but the time or place, or both, may be changed at any annual meeting to take effect at the following annual meeting, notice of such change to be posted in three public places in such community. At such annual community meeting the voters may adjourn to meet at some other specified date, and other meetings may be held upon petition signed by ten per cent of the registered voters of the community, provided notice of such meeting is posted at three public places in such community at least two weeks prior to such meeting. Questions involving the levy of any tax, however, shall be decided only at the regular annual community meeting. Sec. 4. At each annual community meeting, as pro- vided in section three of this act, the voters shall elect three persons to be known as the "Board of Directors of Community," one of whom shall be designated as chairman and another as secretary- treasurer, each performing the duties suggested by his title. Sec. 5. The said board of directors of such community shall be charged with the duty of enforcing and executing n8 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION such ordinances as the community meetings may adopt, and performing such other functions not inconsistent with the laws of North Carolina or the United States as the community meetings may direct. The annual compensa- tion, if any, of such board of directors, or any member thereof, shall be fixed at each annual meeting. Sec. 6. At each meeting of the registered voters of a community they shall have the right to adopt, amend, or repeal ordinances, provided such action is not inconsistent with the laws of North Carolina or the United States, con- cerning the following subjects: the public roads of the community; the public schools of the community; regula- tions intended to promote the public health; the police protection; the abatement of nuisances; the care of paupers, aged or infirm persons; to encourage the coming of new settlers; the regulation of vagrancy; aids to the enforce- ment of State and National laws; the collection of com- munity taxes; the establishment and support of public libraries, parks, halls, playgrounds, fairs, arid other agencies of recreation, education, health, music, art, and morals: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to mean that any community incorporated under the pro- visions of this act shall lose its identity as a part of the road and school systems of the county or counties in which it is located, nor lose its right to participate the same as before incorporation in the benefits to be derived from county or township funds raised by taxation or otherwise for building or maintaining the public roads, for the public schools, for public health, or for other public uses. Sec. 7. That for the promotion of any of the objects mentioned in section six of this act the registered voters of any incorporated community, in annual community meeting assembled, shall have the right to levy taxes or issue bonds upon the property of the community, within APPENDIX A 119 limits hereinafter set forth, either for specific purposes or for the general use of the community upon a method of tax division among varying objects as agreed upon by such annual community meeting: Provided, that the aggregate of taxes levied for such community purposes shall not exceed five mills annually on each dollar of taxable property: Provided, that the aggregate amount of the bonds issued shall at no time exceed ten per cent of the total property valuation of the community: Provided, that any tax imposed or levied under the provisions of this act may be revoked only in the manner prescribed in section four thousand one hundred and fifteen, Revisal of one thousand nine hundred and five, for revoking special taxes in a special- tax school district. Sec. 8. No community meeting may levy a tax unless a majority of the registered voters of the community are present at such meeting and vote by ballot for such tax; but at any annual community meeting a majority of the voters present, whatever their number, may vote to submit the question of levying such a tax to the qualified voters of the community at an election to be held not earlier than thirty days subsequent to such meeting. If the community meeting shall desire to submit separately the question of tax levy for different purposes, it shall mention a name of not more than six words by which each such tax shall be designated, as for example, "Road Tax," "Public Library Tax"; or such community meeting may submit the ques- tion of a tax levy for various purposes under the title "For Community Tax." At the election herein provided for, each voter may deposit a ballot marked "For Tax" or "Against Tax"; and if a majority of the qualified voters of the community at such election, shall vote for such tax, then the proposed tax levy shall be enforced and the tax collected at the same time and in 120 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION the same manner as State and county taxes are now collected, or such incorporated community, through its board of directors, may name a collector of community taxes and fix his compensation, requiring both tax collector and treasurer to give bond for proper amounts. Sec. q. At any election herein provided for, the board of directors may act as election officers, judges of election, etc., and the ballots shall be counted, compared, canvassed and returned in the same manner as is now provided for general elections in the various counties of the State. The result of any such election shall be certified by the secre- tary of the board of directors of the community to the clerk of the board of county commissioners who shall record the same in the minutes of the said board of county commissioners, and no further recording or declaring of the result shall be necessary. Sec. 10. The Bureau of Community Service now directed by the State Departments of Education, Agri- culture, and Health, the State College of Agriculture and Engineering, and the State Normal and Industrial College is hereby charged with the duty of securing from the com- munities of the State incorporated under this act reports as to what each community is doing for the promotion of the purposes mentioned in section six of this act, and the aforesaid Bureau of Community Service shall furnish the officers of such incorporated communities forms for keeping records, accounts, etc., and for making reports. Said bureau shall also provide forms and instructions to citizens of the State desiring to petition for incorporation under the provisions of this act, and shall publish annually a summary of the work accomplished by incorporated communities. The members of the board of directors of such incorporated communities are required to render such reports to the Bureau of Community Service, and to post APPENDIX A 121 copies of same, together with an itemized statement of receipts, disbursements, and balances for the year, in three public places in the community, under the penalty, upon conviction of a fine of ten dollars each: Provided, that all printing required under this act shall be paid for by the State Department of Education. Sec. ii. Said board of directors may adopt standards for the production and marketing of produce, canned vegetables, etc., and may adopt labels, trade names, and brands for the same, and regulate their use, requiring the inhabitants of said community to comply with the standards set and adopted by the directors before they can use the brand, trade name, or labels for said community; and said board of directors may adopt such regulations as may be necessary to protect said brands, trade names, etc., may have an inspection of the goods sold thereunder, and may take any and all necessary steps looking to a system of community standard production, and of co-operative community marketing. Sec. 12. Any person violating any ordinances adopted under the provisions of this act or any rule made by the board of directors or other governing authority authorized by any of the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of a mis- demeanor and upon conviction shall be imprisoned not exceeding thirty days or fined not exceeding fifty dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court. Any magistrate residing within the boundaries of a community incorporated under this act shall have the power to hear and try all cases arising from violation of ordinances adopted by such community: Provided, that if there is no magistrate residing within the boundaries of the community, or if the com- munity shall desire an additional magistrate, there shall be nominated at each annual meeting some suitable person living within the confines of the community who shall, 122 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION upon proper certification of nomination, be appointed community magistrate by the Governor of the State, with all the powers of a magistrate within the bounds of said community. Sec. 13. The board of directors of any community organized under the provisions of this act are authorized and empowered to employ one or more policemen for the community, whose duties and powers shall be those pre- scribed by law for constables for the townships in the various counties of the State; and the said policemen shall receive as compensation the same fees that are now prescribed by law for constables. Sec. 14. That each person charged with the duty of registering voters in an election precinct embraced in whole or in part in any incorporated community shall furnish the chairman of the board of directors of such incorporated community a complete list of the registered voters in his precinct at the preceding State election, and from such list the board of directors shall compile an official list of registered voters residing in the community for use in connection with the enforcement of this act, such registrar receiving one-half cent for each name so furnished, to be paid for by the community. Sec. 15. That all laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act, and especially chapter one hundred and twenty-eight of the Public Laws of one thou- sand nine hundred and seventeen, are hereby repealed. Sec. 16. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratification. Ratified this 10th day of March, a.d. 1919. EXPLANATION Under this act rural communities may be incorporated and chartered in the same general way as cities and towns APPENDIX A 123 are incorporated and chartered. Though this has not heretofore been allowed in our State, there is no good reason why fifty families scattered over a rural school district are not just as important as so many families huddled together in a town — and just as deserving of the privilege of local self-government. Because the law has not been tried in North Carolina and in the consequent absence of recorded ruling of courts relative to it, there seemed to be a chance for doubts to arise as to the exact legal effect such incorporation would have upon a community. With a view to setting clearly before the people the intentions and actual effects of the measure, Governor Bickett recently asked the Attorney- General, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and others to confer with him. After thorough discussion of the act in this conference a committee was appointed to prepare this statement of PURPOSES AND EFFECTS The committee finds that the incorporation of a com- munity under this act 1. Will not change the standing of the community in relation to the county school and road systems, or other- wise, nor destroy any advantage the community had before incorporation. 2. It simply gives to rural communities the same machinery of progress that is given to towns and cities by incorporation, only more modern and extensive, affording practical means for giving effect to the finest aspirations of the people. 3. It will enable country people to act quickly in matters of vital importance to community progress which might otherwise be injuriously delayed for months and years. 124 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION 4. It will enable the majority of a community, when in a progressive mind, to compel the co-operation of an indiffer- ent minority and the observance of ordinances approved by the majority. 5. It will give a name, a form, and definite boundaries to the rural community and will steadily develop among the inhabitants a feeling of local patriotism, pride, and ambition that it is impossible to develop otherwise. 6. It will make the school and the schoolhouse the center and rallying point for all activities, agencies, and plans for the improvement of community life and the advancement of community progress and prosperity. 7. It is applied democracy, and in accordance with the traditions and genius of our race. Our earliest Saxon fore- fathers had their "folk moot," and the "town meeting" of colonial days was but an expression of the same feelings. Thomas Jefferson declared that, next to public educa- tion, America's greatest need was provision for giving every rural community just such facilities for local self- government. 8. In short, it makes progress legal and binding when favored by a majority of the community instead of its being probably only an ineffectual, effervescent mass- sentiment. APPENDIX B MAP OF RANDOLPH COUNTY, INDIANA APPENDIX C MAP OF MARSHALL COUNY, IOWA INDEX Acquaintance, forming, 24, 33, 64, 65, 86, 96, 106. Agriculture: commercialization of, 16; scientific, 18. Allegiance: to center, 21-24, 106, 107; to district, 63, 64-67, 106, 107. American Red Cross, 98. Antagonism of farmer and townsman, 19, 106. Area: of consolidated school district, 68, 75, 76, 83, 85, 87, 88, 92-94; of Marshall County, Iowa, 71; of Randolph County, Indiana, 59; rubber stamped, 95; of small rural- school district, 32, 34, 38; trade, 21, 22, 28, 30. Banker and farmer co-operation, 27, 67, 70. Big Springs: church parish, 43-47; map of, 45; school district, 37-41; map of, 38. Bloomington Pantagraph, 87. Branson, E. C, 53, 54, 57- Butterfield, K. L., 2, 3, 9-11, 17, 18, 50. Campbell, Macy, 85, 86. Carlson, Charles G., 84. Carver, T. N., 100, 101. Chamber of commerce, 18, 27. Changes in rural life, 15-20. Character of farmer trade, 28, 29. Choice of people in forming community boundaries, 95, 96. Church parish, 43-48; compared with school district, 46. City man understanding the farmer, 19, 20, 23, 53. Cohesion of population, 41, 84, 95, 96. Colorado consolidated school district, 81, 82. Community: boundaries of, 57, 65, 66, 95, 96; consciousness, 23, 63, 64; consolidated school district, 58, 63, 64, 75, 76, 82-96; high school, 86, 87; legal rural, 56, 57, 111-13, 116-24; local, 4, 5, 112, 113; size of, 32, 3$, 37, 94, 955 of the South, 52-55; spirit, 36, 41, 55, 64, 94, 107. Consistency of local unit, 113. 125 126 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Consolidated school: educational value of, 63, 64, 88, 89, 105; high-school department in, 89-92, 95, 106; social or com- munity value of, 56, 57, 63-66, 86, 88, 89, 105-13. Consolidated school district: amount of wealth, 82, 84, 91, 94, 95; area of, see Area; farmer meetings in, see Farmer meetings; as a unit for rural organization, 58-113. Contacts, social, 14, 17, 18, 37, 41. Co-operation: banker farmer, 27, 67, 70; of farmer today, 15-18, 41; through organization, 5; town and country, 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 67, 70, 71. Co-ordination, of forces and institutions, 4, 5, n, 107, 108, 112, 113. Decrease, of population, 36, 40, 60. Deitrich, Carrie, 82. Density, of population, 54, 68, 84, 93, 94, 95. District, of consolidated school, see Consolidated school district. Driver, Lee, 60, 64, 65. Duke, E. A., 87, 88. Duplication of experiments, 1. Fairlie, John A., 48-50. Fairview school district, 34-37; map of, 35. Farm: bureau, 98; home, 13. Farmer: banker co-operation, see Banker; boy and girl high- school education, 89, 90; co-operator of today, see Co- operation; early individualistic type, 12-15; meetings in consolidated school districts, 64, 69, 70, 74, 77-79, 83; standard of living, 19, 53. Five Points, Alabama, 55, 56. Forces in rural life, n, 97, 104. Galpin, Charles J., 14, 15, 19, 42, 53. Government, local, 99, 112, 116-24. Grades, classes and standards, 16, 17. Griest, O. H., 62. High school: education for farmer boy and girl, see Farmer; size of, 90-92, 95, 106. Hodgson, county agricultural agent, 67. Hopkins, Cyril G., 7. INDEX 127 Illinois: community high school, 86, 87; consolidated school, 86, 87. Incorporation, North Carolina community plan of, 56, 57; law concerning the plan, 116-24. Individualism, of farmer, 12-14, 17. Institutions: organization of, 98, 107; of rural life, 13, 97. Iowa: consolidated school, 85, 86; Marshall County, 71-80. Iowa Homestead, 85, 86, 89. Land: basis of town or city, 21, 22, 28; lack of policy concern- ing, 4; ownership in, 3. Leadership, rural, 41, 104, 105. Legalized rural community, 56, 57, 111-13, 116-24. McHenry County, North Dakota, 83. Machinery of a policy, 6, 9, n, 107, in, 113. McLean County, Illinois, 87. Marshall County, Iowa, 71-80; map of, Appendix C. Massachusetts plan, 98, 99, 102, 103. Meetings of farmers in consolidated school districts, see Farmer. Melbourne consolidated school, 91, 106. Moore, B. C, 87. Morgan, E. L., 7, 51, 103. National Conference: of School Consolidation, 88, 89; of Social Work, 98. New England town, as an organization unit, 49-52. North Carolina: Community Incorporation Plan, 56, 57; Com- munity Service Bureau, 109; law relating to the incorpora- tion plan, 116-24. North Dakota consolidated school districts, 82, 83. Obligations of farmer and townsman, 23, 29, 3c, 67, 70, 106. Oklahoma consolidated school districts, 87, 88. Orange Township consolidated school and district, 86, 91. Organization: of institutions, 98-107; machinery for, 107, in, 113; need of, 99, 100, 105; plans for, 100-105. Organized play, 108, 109, no. Ownership in land, 3. Policy: lack of, 4; land, 3; machinery of, see Machinery; soil, 7-9; reasons for, 1-11. 128 RURAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION Population: cohesion of, see Cohesion; decreasing, see Decrease; density of, see Density; farm, 36, 38; size of for community life, 37, 55, 60, 61, 72, 73; town, 61. Principal of consolidated school, importance of position, 108. Randolph County, Indiana, 59-71; map of, Appendix B. Reading matter, on the farm, 19. School: consolidated, see Consolidated school; small scale, see Fairview and Big Springs. School officers of consolidated district, 98. Shutt, C. E., 75, 76. Social and economic activities, related, 2, 3. Social group boundaries, 47, 49, 57, 65, 66, 80, 85, 95, Appendix B and C. Social value of the consolidated school district, see Consolidated school. South, community of, 52-55. Standard of living, town and country, 19, 53. Sullivan, Indiana, trade area of, 25-30. Team work, 107. Town and country co-operation, see Co-operation. Town, New England, see New England. Township: area and density of population, 68; unit of organi- zation, 47-49, 84; weakness of the unit, 48, 49. Trade area: structure of, 21-23; of Sullivan, Indiana, 25-30. Trade area unit, weakness of, 24, 29, 30. Trade of farmer, 28, 29. Units of rural community organization, see Chaps., iii, iv, v, vi, vii. Vogt, Paul, 19. Wilson, Frank T., 103. Wilson, Warren H., 13, 14, 31. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. NOV 1 2005 UC SOUTH A 000 473 329 1 h4GH, FORNIX LIF.