Dunn, Arthur W., "The Community and the Citizen," chaps, v, vi.
CHAPTER X
WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING
Our nation requires healthy citizens, intelligent citizens,
prosperous and happy citizens. The home can do more to produce
them than any other community agency. Therefore the nation is wise
to look after its homes.
RELATION OF HOME CONDITIONS TO INDUSTRY
People cannot do their work well if they live in unwholesome or
unpleasant homes. This was made clear during the recent war. The
lack of suitable living places for workmen and their families was
one of the chief obstacles to shipbuilding and munitions
manufacture during the early part of the war. England found this
out as well as the United States, and one of the first things both
countries had to do was to take measures to provide proper home
conditions for those who were engaged in supplying the nation's
needs. During the first year of the war our Congress appropriated
$200,000,000 to build houses for industrial workers.
The problem of securing good physical conditions of home life has
naturally been greatest in crowded industrial centers, but it is
by no means absent in small communities, or even in the open
country. One writer describes a certain farmhouse where five
people were accustomed to sleep in one not very large bedroom,
which had only one small window, and even that was nailed shut,
one of these five had incipient tuberculosis. These people were
well-to-do farmers, living in a large twelve-room, stone house and
simply crowded into one room for the sake of mistaken economy--
presumably to save coal and wood.
Many such cases could be described, not only in the more remote
and backward regions, but even in prosperous farming communities.
What is the result of this overcrowding and lack of proper housing
in the country? Just exactly the same as in the great cities--lack
of efficiency, disease, and premature death to many ... While the
great majority of people subjected to overcrowding and bad housing
conditions do not prematurely die, yet they have a lessened
physical and mental vigor, are less able to do properly their
daily work, and not only become a loss to themselves and their
families, but to the state ... [Footnote: Bashore, "Overcrowding
and defective housing in the rural districts," quoted in Nourse,
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, pp. 118, 119, 121.]
STRENGTH OF THE NATION DEPENDS ON THE HOME
Some of our states and many of our cities have laws to regulate
housing conditions, but such laws seldom apply to small
communities. In cities where people live crowded together in
closely built city blocks, unsanitary conditions in one home
endanger the health of the entire community. There is also danger
from fire, and vice and crime may breed and spread quickly and
unseen. The community is driven, therefore, in its own defense, to
regulate the people's housing. In small communities, and
especially in rural communities, where homes are more widely
separated and in some cases quite isolated, it has seemed of
little concern to others how one citizen builds his home and what
he does in it. Thoughtful consideration of such cases as that
described above, however, must convince us that it IS a matter of
national concern what happens even in remote homes. Both the
physical and the economic strength of the nation are undermined by
unwholesome conditions in the separate homes of the land.
COMMUNITY PLANNING
Economic loss to the community may result not merely from
UNWHOLESOME home conditions, but also from INCONVENIENCE of
location and arrangement of the homes. A good deal of attention is
being given to "community planning" in the United States and
especially in England and other European countries. Community
planning includes not only provision for the proper location and
construction of public buildings and streets, for water supply,
lights, parks, etc., but also for the convenient, as well as
wholesome and pleasant location of homes. Large cities, like
London, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, have spent enormous
sums of money in city planning after they have already grown up
without plan. It has necessitated destroying old structures and
widening streets. Villages and small towns are in a position to
introduce a plan for future growth without this needless expense.
Our beautiful capital city of Washington has grown according to a
plan that was carefully laid out before a building was erected.
But even in Washington one of the greatest problems the city had
to face during the war was that of providing homes for the
enormous number of workers who came to the city to do the work of
the government.
PLANNING THE FARMSTEAD
"The need of careful arrangement in country homes is much more
urgent than in city homes for the reason that country people use
their homes as the business center of their profession," says
Prof. R.J. Pearce, of Iowa State College. "The farmer in his
business center must not only produce enough raw material to
provide for him self and family, but he needs to produce enough to
feed and clothe the entire human race." "CONSERVATION OF SPACE
must be taken into consideration to obtain the greatest results
from our high-priced land; CONVENIENCE must be a prime factor when
expensive labor is at a premium; and ATTRACTIVENESS must be one of
the chief motives not only to make farm property more saleable but
to give greater enjoyment to the owner and his family..." "A
farmstead is, but a unit in a farming community, yet travelers
form an impression of the entire community by individual farm
homes which they see in passing. Therefore, not only financial
consideration but personal pride and a feeling of community spirit
and enterprise should urge the farm owner to develop his farmstead
according to the best of modern methods."
What facts can you find in regard to what the government did to
provide homes for workers in shipbuilding or munitions plants
during the war?
In many of the war industries preference was given to men with
families in employing workmen. Why was this?
In some rural communities in the United States a "teacherage"
(home for the teacher) is provided. Of what advantage to the
community is this?
Is there a "housing problem" in your community?
Are there any laws in your state regulating the building of homes?
If so, what are some of them? Do they apply in your community? Are
they carefully observed and enforced?
Make a study of the arrangement of the buildings on farms with
which you are familiar, drawing diagrams, and report whether or
not they are well planned with reference to ECONOMY OF SPACE
occupied, CONVENIENCE, and ATTRACTIVENESS. Consider
(a) Are they properly placed with reference to the highway?
(b) Are they conveniently placed in relation to one another?
(c) Are they suitably protected from the prevailing winds? How?
(d) What makes them attractive or unattractive?
(e) Are the stables properly situated to protect the health of the
family? How?
Must a home be large and costly to be attractive?
What impression would a stranger get in regard to the "community
spirit" of your community from the appearance of its homes? Would
he be right?
THE HOME AND COMMUNITY STABILITY
Home ownership is one of the strongest influences that give
permanence and stability to the community. The census taken by the
United States government every ten years shows that home ownership
has been decreasing throughout the country as a whole. The
decrease has been greatest in cities, but it is true also of
farmhome ownership. In 1880 only 25% of the farms of the United
States were occupied by tenants (renters); in 1910, 37% were so
occupied. It is true that in the ten years from 1900 to 1910 there
was a slight increase in the proportion of farms owned by their
occupants in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, and in a
large part of the West; but the increase in these parts was more
than overbalanced by the decrease in the South Atlantic and Gulf
states and in the Mississippi Valley. The smallest proportion of
farm tenancy is found in New England (8%), and the largest in the
southern states (45.9% in the South Atlantic states, and more than
50% in the South central states). A large part of the farming in
the South is done by negroes, most of whom are either laborers on
the farms of the white population or tenants on small farms which
they usually work on shares. And yet the number of negro farm
owners in the South has been rapidly increasing in the last few
years, though not so rapidly as the number of tenants. In 1910
negro farm owners cultivated nearly 16,000,000 acres of land in
the South, all of which they have acquired since the Civil War.
EFFECTS OF DECLINE OF HOME OWNERSHIP
The decline in home ownership both in the cities and in the rural
districts of the United States has been observed with considerable
anxiety because of the effect upon our national welfare and upon
the citizenship of the country. One writer says:
Farming is a permanent business; it is no "fly by night"
occupation. ... No man can pull up stakes and leave a farm at the
close of the year without sacrificing the results of labor which
he has done ... The renter who ends harvest knowing that he will
move in the spring, will not do as good a job of hauling manure
and fall plowing as he would were he to stay; nor does he take as
good care of the buildings and other improvements ...
The cost to the farming business of the country each year for this
annual farm moving-week mounts into the millions of dollars. And
the pity of it all is that practically no one is the winner
thereby ... The renter loses, the landlord loses, the general
community and the nation at large lose. [Footnote: W.D. Boyce, in
an editorial in THE FARMING BUSINESS, February 26, 1916, quoted in
Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, p. 651.]
Tenant farming also places obstacles in the way of community
progress in other ways.
The tenant takes little interest in community affairs. The
questions of schools, churches, or roads are of little moment to
him. He does not wish to invest in enterprises which will of
necessity be left wholly ... to his successor. In short, he is in
the community, but hardly of it. [Footnote: B.H. Hibbard, "Farm
Tenancy in the United States," in Annals of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science, March, 1912, p. 39.]
A family that owns its home feels a sense of proprietorship in a
part of the community land. The money value of a home increases in
proportion to the prosperity of the community as a whole; its
owner will therefore be inclined to do all he can to promote the
welfare of the community. A community that is made up largely of
homes owned by their occupants is likely to be more prosperous and
more progressive, and its citizens more loyal to it, than a
community whose families are tenants.
THE TENANT AS A CITIZEN
While all that has been said in the preceding paragraph is true,
it must not be thought that tenancy is necessarily a bad thing in
all cases, nor that a man who does not own his home cannot be a
thoroughly good citizen. There are circumstances that make it
necessary for many families to live in dwellings that they do not
own. Tenancy may be a step toward home ownership. A citizen may
have insufficient money to buy a farm, but enough to enable him to
rent one. By industry, economy, and intelligence, he may soon
accumulate means with which to buy the farm he occupies or some
other. The increase in the number of tenants in the Southern
States is due in large part to the breaking up of many larger
plantations into small farms which are occupied by tenants, many
of them negroes. That many of these tenants are on the road to
home ownership is indicated by the facts stated on page 117.
It is as much the duty of the home renter as it is of the home
owner to take an interest in the community life in which he and
his family share, and to cooperate with his neighbors for the
common good. While he lives in the community he is largely
dependent upon it, like any other citizen, for the satisfaction of
his wants. Its markets and its roads are his for the
transportation and disposal of his produce and stock. He gets the
benefit of its schools for the education of his children. He may
share in its social life if he cares to do so. His property is
protected by the same agencies that protect that of his neighbors.
He cannot, therefore, escape the responsibility of contributing to
the progress of his community to the extent of his ability.
TEAMWORK BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT
It is as much the duty of the man who rents a farm as it is of the
man who owns one to make his farm produce to its full capacity, to
protect the soil from exhaustion and the buildings and fences from
destruction. But on the other hand, it is the duty of the
landlord, both as a good business man and as a good citizen, to
make such terms with his tenant that the latter will take an
interest in the farm and will find it profitable to farm properly.
There must be team work.
The landlord must be interested not only in his land but in his
tenant. The tenant must be interested not only in himself but in
his landlord and his land. A system that favors the tenant to the
injury of the land is bad. A system that favors the land to the
injury of the tenant is equally harmful. Either system will result
in the poverty of both the landlord and the tenant. [Footnote: Dr.
Seaman A. Knapp, quoted by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones in "Negroes and
the Census of 1910," p 16. (Reprint from THE SOUTHERN WORKMAN for
August, 1912.)]
The fact remains, however, that home ownership contributes to the
permanence, the stability, and the progress of a community. It is
also a fact that conditions have developed in our country, both in
cities and in rural communities, which make home ownership
increasingly difficult. In another chapter (Chapter XIV) we shall
see what some of these conditions are, and what our government has
done and may do to overcome them.
THE HOME A SCHOOL OF CITIZENSHIP
One of the most important services performed for the community by
the home is that of training its members for citizenship. The
family has been called "a school of all the virtues" that go to
make good citizenship. It is a school in which not only the
children, but also the parents, not only the boys and men, but
also the girls and women, receive training by practice. In the
home are developed thoughtfulness for others, a spirit of self-
sacrifice for the common good, loyalty to the group of which the
individual is a member, respect for the opinions of others of long
experience, a spirit of teamwork, obedience to rules which exist
for the welfare of all. If these and other qualities of good
citizenship are not cultivated in the home, it is not in a healthy
condition nor performing its proper service to the community.
Moreover, the exercise of these virtues in the home is not only
training for good citizenship; it IS good citizenship. If the home
is as important a factor in our national life as this chapter has
indicated, then one of the greatest opportunities for good
citizenship, and one of the greatest duties of good citizenship,
is that of making the home what it should be; and in this each
member of the family has his or her share.
Make a study of farm tenancy in your locality (neighborhood,
township, or county).
How many of the farms of the locality are occupied and operated by
their owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of
tenancy?
To what extent are the tenants men who were formerly farm
laborers, but who by renting farms are making a start on their own
account? Is this a sign of progress?
What percentage of the tenants are white? negro?
To what extent are the tenants foreigners who have recently come
to the locality?
Are the tenant farms usually rented for long periods or for short
periods?
What is the system of tenancy in your locality (i.e. cash rental,
working on shares, partnership with the owner, etc.)? If more than
one exists, which seems to work best? Why?
Is tenancy increasing or decreasing in your locality? What reasons
are given for this?
Does experience in your locality support the statement that tenant
farmers are less likely than others to interest themselves in
community progress?
If you live or go to school in town, make a study of home
ownership in the town. (If a small community, the class may study
the entire area; if large, different sections may be studied by
different groups of pupils.) How many homes are occupied by their
owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of tenancy? Is
tenancy increasing or decreasing? For what reasons?
Is there some section of the community where most of the people
own their homes, and another section where most of the people
rent? If so, do you notice any difference in the general
appearance of the two sections? Do you think that the difference,
if any exists, is due in any part to the fact that some own and
others rent their homes?
Is there a tendency for the farmers of your locality to move into
town? If so, why? What becomes of their farms?
Review the points made in the discussion of topics 4 and 5 on page
38 (Chapter III). Continue to develop plans for cooperation in the
home and school.
What does it mean to be "in training" for athletics? In the light
of your answer to this question, what would it mean to be "in
training" for citizen ship?
READINGS
See Readings for Chapter IX. Also:
"Housing the Worker on the Farm," Department of Agriculture Year
Book, 1918, pp. 347-356.
"What the Department of Agriculture is Doing for the Housekeeper,"
Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1913, pp. 143-162.
"The Effect of Home Demonstration on the Community and the
County," Department of Agriculture Year Book, 1916, pp. 251-266.
"Farm Tenantry in the United States," Department of Agriculture
Year Book, 1916, pp. 321-346.
Lessons in Community and National Life: Series C, Lesson 32,
"Housing for Workers."
CHAPTER XI
EARNING A LIVING
LIVING, NOT EARNING, THE END IN VIEW
The most conspicuous activities that we see going on in the
community are usually those that have to do with earning a living
or the production of wealth. [Footnote: The activities by which we
earn a living are also the activities by which wealth is produced.
It is important to understand that when we speak of "wealth" we do
not necessarily mean GREAT wealth. A boy who has a fifty-cent
knife, or a girl who has a twenty-five-cent purse, has wealth as
truly as the man who owns a well-stocked farm. The difference is
merely in kind and amount. Food, clothing, houses, books, tools,
cattle, are all forms of wealth. ANY material thing, for which we
are willing to work and make sacrifices because it satisfies our
wants, is wealth. Earning a living is merely earning or producing
wealth to satisfy our wants and those of others.] Indeed, some
people become so absorbed in the business of earning a living that
they seem to be LIVING TO EARN rather than EARNING TO LIVE. It
does not do to forget that not EARNING, but LIVING, is the real
end in view. Unless we know how to use what we earn to provide
properly for all of our normal wants, the effort we spend in
earning is very largely wasted.
Nevertheless, before we can enjoy a living it has to be earned, by
ourselves or by someone else; and the activities by which it is
earned occupy so important a place in our lives, are so closely
dependent upon the community, have so much to do with our
citizenship, and receive so much attention from government, that
we must give them some consideration in this chapter and several
chapters following.
IMPORTANCE OF VOCATIONAL LIFE
While young people are spending most of their time at school or at
play, their fathers and other grown people are usually chiefly
occupied in the business of making a living or "earning money."
[Footnote: Gold and silver and paper and wood are forms of wealth.
Out of wood we make a yardstick or a peck measure with which TO
MEASURE QUANTITIES of cloth or grain. In a similar manner, out of
gold, silver, paper, and other materials, we make money, and for a
similar reason, viz. to MEASURE THE VALUE of wealth. When we speak
of a FIFTY-CENT KNIFE and a TWENTY-FIVE CENT PURSE, we measure the
value of these articles. It would take thousands of DOLLARS to
measure the value of a well-stocked farm.
When we say that a boy earns a dollar, or that a man earns $4.00 a
day, we measure the value of his work or his service. If a man
works for a farmer, he very likely receives his "board and
lodging" in part payment for his services; he makes a direct
exchange of his services for food and shelter. But he also
probably receives in addition an amount of money, because with the
money he can buy clothes and other things that the farmer cannot
give. He takes the money and buys with it these other things that
he needs to supply his wants. Thus money becomes something more
than a measure of wealth or of services; it is also A MEANS OF
EXCHANGING WEALTH OR SERVICES.
These are the two uses of money. Money has value only because of
what it represents in wealth, and wealth is useful because it
enables us to satisfy wants. These things are mentioned because it
is quite important that we should never forget that "money" and
"wealth" are worth working for only because of the "living," or
life, that they help us to attain.]
Children are, as a rule, wholly dependent upon their parents for
their living. But during their period of dependence they are
gaining skill and experience, in school and otherwise, that will
later enable them to earn their own living and that of other
people who may, in turn, become dependent upon them.
As adult life approaches, there comes an increasing desire for
independence of others, to have possessions, own property, or
accumulate wealth. Our VOCATIONS, or occupations, by which we earn
a livelihood, come to occupy a prominent place in our thought, and
to a large extent control our activity. Doubtless most of those
who read this chapter have begun to think more or less seriously
about what they are going to do for a living. Some may be already
doing so, in part, or helping to earn that of their families. Boys
and girls who live on farms are especially likely to have a share
in the work by which the family living is provided; but most boys
and girls have more or less regularly "earned money," even if they
have not considered it necessary for their living. An inquiry in a
large, first-year high school class disclosed the fact that the
girls of the class, quite as much as the boys, were thinking of
their choice of vocation. More avenues are open to girls to-day
than formerly by which to earn their living outside of the family;
but even the management of a home is a business as truly as the
management of a farm or factory, and is an exceedingly important
factor in the earning of the family living.
What part, if any, do you have in helping to earn the family
living?
What have you done during the past year to earn money (a) out of
school hours on school days, (b) on Saturdays, (c) in vacation
time? Tabulate the results for the entire class.
What vocation would you like to follow for life? Why?
If you have not decided upon some one vocation, name several that
seem attractive to you. Why are they attractive?
What do you know about the opportunities and the qualifications
necessary for success in the vocations you have named? How may you
proceed to find out more about them?
What vocations offer special opportunities for girls and women to-
day? How do these opportunities compare with those when your
mothers were girls?
Make a list of the occupations of the fathers (or other members of
the families) of the members of your class.
Make a list of as many occupations in your community (town or
county) as you can think of.
DEPENDENCE OF THE PIONEER
Our dependence upon others for a living by no means ends with
childhood. There is no such thing as an entirely "self-made man,"
by which is meant a man who has been successful entirely by his
own efforts. It is true that the primitive hunter and the pioneer
farmer were independent of others to an unusual extent. But their
living was a meager one, and they could not accumulate much
wealth. The very land that a pioneer occupies, even though it is
extensive and fertile, has little value as long as it is remote
from centers of population.
Even if a pioneer laid claim to a large tract of land, he could
produce little wealth from it in crops if he could get no help to
cultivate it, or if he had no improved machinery (made by others);
and whatever he produced, he and his family could eat but little
of the product. He could feed some to his few animals, and he
would save some for seed; but anything that he raised above what
he could actually use would have no value unless he could get it
to other people who wanted it. If he could not sell what he
produced, neither could he buy from others what they produced to
satisfy other wants than that for food. So the kind of living a
person enjoys, and the amount of wealth he accumulates, depend
largely upon other people, and upon the community in which he
lives.
DEPENDENCE OF THE MODERN FARMER
Under present-day conditions, a farmer who raises wheat probably
uses none of it himself. He sells his entire crop for the use of
others, while to supply himself and his family with bread he goes
to the store and buys flour that may have been milled in Minnesota
from wheat raised by other farmers, perhaps in North Dakota or
South Dakota. In exchange for his wheat he also gets clothing
manufactured in New York or New England from cotton raised in
Georgia or Texas, or from wool grown in Montana. He buys a wagon
made in Indiana from lumber cut in the South and iron mined in
Michigan and smelted in Ohio. Thus he earns his living by
producing food for other people, while the things he uses in
living are the product of labor expended by other people in the
effort to earn THEIR living. We noticed in Chapter II how many
people and occupations were concerned in producing a pair of
shoes.
EARNING BY SERVICE
While the farmer or other worker may be interested primarily in
providing for his own wants and those of his family, he can do
this only by producing something or performing service for others;
and while each worker may be most concerned about WHAT HE RECEIVES
for his work, the community is most concerned about WHAT HE
PRODUCES. Earning a living has two sides to it: rendering service
to others and being paid for the service rendered. It is as if the
community entered into a sort of agreement with the worker to the
effect that it will provide him with a living in return for
definite service to the community or for the product of his labor.
What we call "business" is SELLING A SERVICE. It may be personal
service, such as teaching, or prescribing medicine, or nursing, or
giving legal advice, or cutting hair, or driving a team, or
running an automobile. Or it may be purchasing, storing,
retailing, and delivering things which have been produced perhaps
many hundreds or thousands of miles away. Or it may be raising
foodstuffs on the farm, or mining fuels and metals from the earth,
or cutting timber from the forest. Or it may be manufacturing--
buying materials and converting them into products serviceable to
others. Whatever it is, every man's business is also the
community's business, and the community has a right to expect
industry and honest, efficient work from every worker.
Discuss the occupations named in answer to the two questions on
page 26, from the point of view of their service to the community.
To what extent is your father's business or occupation dependent
upon the business or occupation of the fathers of other members of
the class?
Show how your father's business is also the community's business.
What is the price of land in your neighborhood? Consult your
father or friends in regard to the increase or decrease in price
in recent years and in regard to the reasons for it.
LIVING WITHOUT EARNING
There are exceptional cases where people RECEIVE a living without
EARNING it. One class of such people is represented by thieves,
gamblers, swindlers, and persons engaged in occupations that are
positively harmful to the community. Such people may be very
skillful and they may work hard enough, but they take what others
have earned without producing anything of value to the community.
Then there are those who are incapable of productive work because
of physical defects, or through the feebleness of old age. It is
the duty of every citizen to provide, as far as possible, during
his productive years, for the "rainy day" of misfortune or
advancing age. For those who cannot do so, the community must
provide.
Very young children are users of wealth produced by others. It is
expected, however, that children will in later years make return
to the community for what they have received during their period
of dependence.
INHERITED WEALTH
Some people inherit wealth, or otherwise come into possession of
it without effort on their part. The wealth so received, however,
has been earned by someone, or has come from the community in some
way. If the person who so receives it uses it in a way that is
highly useful to the community, he may in a sense earn it even
after he receives it; but if he uses it solely for his own
enjoyment, without effort to make it highly useful to the
community, he does not in any sense earn it, and places himself in
the class of those who are wholly dependent upon the community.
UNFAIR COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE
On the other hand, there are people who do not get for their work
a living that fairly compensates them for the service they render
by it to the community. If our community life were perfectly
adjusted in all its parts; if all the people clearly recognized
their common interests and their interdependence; if they had the
spirit of cooperation and were wise enough to devise smoothly
working machinery of cooperation;--then the returns that a worker
received for his work would be closely proportionate to the
service rendered by his work. That is, he would GET what he
EARNED, so far as wages or profits were concerned. But this is one
of the particulars in which our community life is still imperfect.
Where so many different kinds of workers are engaged in producing
shoes, for example, it is extremely difficult to determine how
much each should be paid for his share of the work. What WAGES
should be given to the different classes of workers who care for
cattle, make the leather, manufacture the machines with which the
shoes are made, operate the machines, mine the coal and iron for
the production of the machines, and so on? What PROFITS shall be
allowed to the men who raise the cattle, to the merchants who sell
the shoes and the machines, and to the transportation companies
that carry them from the factories to the dealers? What INTEREST
shall be received by the men who furnish the CAPITAL necessary to
run the factories and the farms? These questions relating to the
DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH that men produce have proved very difficult
to answer satisfactorily.
A very useful and interesting, but rather difficult, science has
grown up to explain the PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND USE OF
WEALTH. It is called the SCIENCE OF ECONOMICS. Of all the
divisions of this science, that relating to the distribution of
wealth is the most perplexing. It is the inequalities in the
distribution of wealth, the sense of injustice produced by these
inequalities, and sometimes a failure to understand what a fair
distribution is, that have caused all the labor disputes referred
to in Chapter VII (p. 71), and the discontent sometimes felt by
farmers and other producers in regard to the prices of their
products.
Have you ever heard any one say, "The world owes me a living"? Is
this a true statement? If so, in what sense do you think it is
true?
Which do you think is the truer statement: "I have a right to a
living," or "I have a right to earn a living"? Discuss the
difference.
A thief has been known to say, "I was brought into the world
without my own consent; therefore the world owes me a living, and
I owe the world nothing." Is this good argument? Did the people
upon whom he depends for a living have any more to say about their
being brought into the world than he had?
What things are you using to-day that were not provided for you by
others?
If a stranger should come to your community to-day to live, what
are some of the things that he would find already provided by the
community for his use in making a living?
Name five important inventions and state what they have done for
you.
Would you say that the world owes Thomas A. Edison and Luther
Burbank a living? Why?
How are you indebted for your living to the pioneers who settled
your state? to Robert Fulton? to the men who built the first
transcontinental railroad?
Can you think of some way in which your family is indebted for its
living to the British nation? to France? to ancient Greece? to the
Phoenicians? to the people of Brazil?
Which is the greater, the debt of your family to the world or the
debt of the world to your family?
What is a "parasite"? Could this term be appropriately applied to
any of the people referred to in the last few paragraphs of the
text above?
GOVERNMENT INTERESTED IN PRODUCTION
Each citizen has a right to feel that the government is interested
in his individual prosperity and happiness; and it is, for unhappy
and discontented citizens are seldom good citizens. But the
government represents community as a whole, and has the interest
of the community as a whole in its keeping rather than the
interest of particular individuals. Its interest is primarily in
what each citizen PRODUCES, for it is upon this that the strength.
of the nation depends.
THE "NATIONAL SERVICE ARMY" OF PRODUCERS
A few days after war was declared against Germany, the President
made an appeal to his fellow producers countrymen, in which he
said:
It is evident to every thinking man that our industries on the
farms, in the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be
made more prolific and more efficient than ever and that they must
be more economically managed and better adapted to the particular
requirements of our task than they have been; and what I want to
say is that the men and women who devote their thought and their
energy to these things will be serving the country and conducting
the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and just as
effectively as the men on the battlefield or in the trenches. The
industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a
great national, a great international Service Army,--a notable and
honored host engaged in the service of the nation and the world ...
Thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable
to military service will of right and necessity be excused from
that service and assigned to the fundamental, sustaining work of
the fields and factories and mines, and they will be as much part
of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under fire.
He then appealed directly to every kind of worker in the country,
and to the farmers he said:
The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which
we are cooperating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of
foodstuffs. ... Without abundant food ... the whole great
enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail ...
Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure,
rests the fate of the war and the fate of nations. Let me suggest,
also, that every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and
helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations;
and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself
in the ranks of those who serve the nation.
The nation needs the productive work of each citizen in time of
peace as truly as in time of war, although when it is not fighting
for its very life it is more tolerant of those who do not
contribute efficiently by their work to the common good. It
carries them along somehow. But such members of the community are
a burden and a source of weakness at all times. Therefore, for
example, there are in most of our communities laws against
vagrancy; that is, against willful and habitual idlers "without
visible means of support," such as beggars and tramps.
PROBLEM OF THE UNEMPLOYED
There are times when many men are "out of work." In times of
business depression the number may become very great, while in
prosperous times the number dwindles; but always there are some.
It is often through no fault of their own; it is another result of
the imperfect adjustment of our community life. It often happens
that while large numbers of men are unable to find work in
industrial centers, the farmers may be suffering for want of help.
This may be merely because there is no way by which to let workmen
know where they are needed, or of distributing them to meet the
need. Or, many of the unemployed may be unskilled, while the
demand is for skilled workmen; or they may be skilled in one line,
while the demand is in another line. Whatever the causes, the
"problem of the unemployed" is one of the most serious that the
community has to deal with. During the war the national government
sought to overcome these difficulties by the organization of an
employment service in the Department of Labor, and state and local
communities established employment bureaus.
Who have been some of the builders of your own community by reason
of their business life? Explain.
So far as you have observed, what boys have been most successful
after leaving school--those who make it a practice to do all they
can for their employers, or those who have tried to do the least
possible?
Is it true in your community that the most useful citizens are
those who care more about the excellence of their work than about
what they receive for it?
Are there many vagrants in your community? Are there laws against
vagrancy? If so, what are they?
Are there often many men out of work in your community? If so, why
is it?
Is it ever difficult to get farm labor in your locality? If so,
how do the farmers explain it?
What experience have the farmers of your locality had during and
since the war in getting labor when it was needed? Did the
government help them at that time? How?
It is of the greatest importance both to the individual and to the
community that every citizen: (1) should be continuously employed
in a useful occupation, (2) should be free and able to choose the
occupation for which he is best fitted, and in which he will be
happiest, and (3) should be thoroughly efficient in his work,
whatever it is.
THE RIGHT OF THE COMMUNITY TO INDUSTRY
(1) The community has a right to expect every citizen to be
industrious and productive, for only in this way can he be self-
sustaining and at the same time contribute his share to the well-
being of the community. Doubtless all who read this chapter are
desirous of doing useful work. At the same time, it is easy for
any of us to fall into the habit of thinking more about what we
can GET than about what we can GIVE. There ARE people who
habitually seek to do as little as possible for what they receive,
or to get all they can for the least possible service. This
applies not only to idlers who live entirely off the community
without any service on their part, but also to those who have
employment, but who seek to evade, by "time-serving" and otherwise
"slacking," the full responsibility of service. We sometimes hear
complaint in regard to public officials who draw good salaries
without rendering adequate or honest public service in return, and
to such we frequently apply the term of "grafter." But the
principle is exactly the same when any person who has undertaken
to do a piece of work fritters away his time or "loafs on the
job."
SATISFACTION IN SERVICE
After all, the chief return that we get for our work is not the
wages or the profits, important as they are to us, but the
satisfaction of doing something that is worthwhile. If this
pleasure is absent from the work we do, no amount of money returns
can compensate us for it. The happy man is a busy man, an
industrious man; and his happiness is more in the doing than in
the mere fact of money returns.
IMPORTANCE OF A RIGHT CHOICE
(2) The value of our work to the community and the pleasure that
we derive from it both depend to a large extent upon our fitness
for it. It is important to choose our work carefully. There are
four important considerations in choosing a vocation: (a) its
usefulness to the community, (b) one's own fitness for it, (c)
one's happiness in it, and (d) whether it offers an adequate
living to one's self and dependents. The last of these is, of
course, a most important consideration. What a person receives for
his work ought to be determined by the first two considerations,
i.e. the usefulness of the work to the community and one's fitness
for it. We have seen that this is not always true. In such cases
it often becomes necessary to make a further choice--a choice
between working primarily for one's own profit and working
primarily for the satisfaction that comes from important service
well rendered. It is not always easy to make this choice; but
there are many people who have sacrificed large incomes for the
sake of doing work that the community needs and for which they
consider themselves well fitted.
A CHOICE OF VOCATION IS INEVITABLE
Many people seem to have little choice in the matter of vocation.
The farmer's boy has to work on the farm whether he wants to or
not; and many a man is a farmer apparently for no other reason
than that he was raised on the farm and has seen no opportunity to
do anything else. Other people seem to be forced into other
occupations by circumstances or drift into them by chance. But
even in these cases there is something of a choice. The farmer's
boy "chooses" to remain on the farm rather than to take the
chances involved in running away, or because he would rather be at
home than in a strange city. The discontented farmer might have
chosen to be a lawyer if he had been willing to make enough
sacrifices to get ready for it; and even now he "chooses" to
remain on the farm in spite of his dislike for it because to do
otherwise would mean sacrifice of some kind or other that he is
unwilling to make.
THE MEANING OF OUR WORK TO THE COMMUNITY
The pleasure and effectiveness of ANY work, however, are increased
if its importance to the community or to the world is clearly
understood; for ALL productive work is important. There is no more
terrible work than that of the soldier in the trenches. No man
would voluntarily choose it for his own pleasure. But millions of
men have gone into it joyfully because of the results to be
attained for their country and the world. Other millions of men
and women, and even children, on the farms, in the mines, in the
shops, and in the homes, worked and sacrificed during the war with
Germany as they had never worked and sacrificed before, produced
results such as had never been produced before, and doubtless
experienced a satisfaction in their toil that they had never
experienced before, because each one saw more definitely than
before the relation of his work to the great national and world
purpose. An understanding of the meaning of our work in its
relation to community welfare goes a long way toward "transmuting
days of dreary work into happier lives."
FREEDOM, EQUALITY AND JUSTICE
The opportunity to choose one's calling, to decide what service
one will fit himself for, the right of "self-determination" with
regard to what one's work shall be--this is what "freedom" means.
This is why men are happier when they are free. The "equality" and
"justice" that all men want mean EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE
that which they like to do, and AN EQUAL CHANCE TO MAKE A LIVING,
or to obtain compensation for their labor or enterprise. It is for
these things more than for anything else that people have left
old-world conditions and come to America. The ability to make a
living under conditions of freedom and justice depends in part
upon the common wants of the community, and upon the willingness
of members of the community to pay for the satisfaction of their
wants enough to enable those who perform service for them also to
satisfy theirs. But it also depends upon the ability of the
individual to make a choice, and upon his willingness to spend
years in preparation, if need be, to enable him to offer a service
of the kind he likes to render, and for which others are glad to
pay well.
A DAY OF SPECIALISTS
We are living in a day of specialists. The very nature of our
interdependent life makes it necessary for each worker to do one
thing and to do it exceedingly well. Even farming is broken up to
a considerable extent into special kinds of farming. Moreover,
since the worker must be a specialist, requiring long, special
training, it is more difficult than it used to be for him to
change from one occupation to another after he has once started.
Each person, therefore, owes it both to himself and to the
community to choose his vocation carefully, so far as he has
opportunity to make a choice. The schools are more and more making
it their business to give boys and girls the knowledge and the
experience that will enable them to choose wisely their mode of
earning a living.
THE NECESSITY FOR TRAINING
(3) Whether a citizen follows a vocation of his own voluntary
choice, or one into which he has fallen by chance or by force of
circumstances, he is under obligation to the community as well as
to himself to do his work well. In these days of specialization
this inevitably means preparation, training. If the community
expects the citizen to perform efficient service, it must afford
him a fair opportunity for preparation. During the war the
government made special provision for training, not only for
military service, but also for the industrial occupations that the
nation needed. Vocational training is now receiving great
attention from the schools and from government.
HASTY ENTRANCE UPON VOCATIONAL LIFE
As in the choice of a vocation, so in preparation for it the
individual has his share of responsibility. It is always a
temptation for young people to get out into the active work of the
world at the earliest possible moment. The desire to be
independent, to earn one's own living, to "make money," is strong.
It leads many boys and girls to leave school even before they have
finished their elementary education. In the great majority of
cases this results in serious economic loss both to the boy or
girl and to the community. The charts on page 137 furnish evidence
of this.
PATRIOTISM IN VOCATIONAL LIFE
We call it patriotism when a man gives all that he has, even his
life if necessary, for the good of his country, without stopping
to consider whether or not he will receive an equal benefit in
return. There is no higher type of patriotism than that which
prompts a citizen to perform his best service for the community in
his daily calling, not for what he can get for it, but for what he
can give. This patriotism is shared by the young citizen who is
willing to defer an apparent immediate gain to himself in order to
prepare himself thoroughly for more effective service later.
If your father had his life to live over again, would he choose
the same vocation that he is now following? Consult him as to his
reasons.
What special kinds of farming exist in your locality? Is there a
tendency in your community toward specialization in farming, or
toward general farming? Reasons?
To what extent is "scientific farming" practiced in your locality?
What does it mean?
Make a study of the extent to which specialization is necessary in
the industries of your town.
Does your school offer any vocational training or vocational
guidance?
Is there a tendency in your school for boys and girls to quit
before completing the course? At what grades do pupils begin to
drop out in considerable numbers? Why do they leave? What sort of
work do they do when they leave school?
At what ages does the law in your state permit boys and girls to
go to work? Show how this restriction of freedom now increases
freedom later on.
READINGS
In Lessons in Community and National Life:
Series A: Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society.
Lesson 5, The human resources of a community.
Lesson 7, Organization.
Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry.
Lesson 9, Social control.
Lesson 10, Indirect costs.
Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry.
Lesson 23, The services of money.
Lesson 28, The worker in our society.
Series B: Lesson 8, Finding a job.
Lesson 11, The work of women.
Lesson 28, Women in industry.
Series C: Lesson 9, Inventions.
Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life.
Lesson 21, Before coins were made.
Lesson 22, The minting of coins.
Lesson 23, Paper money.
Lesson 24, Money in the community and the home.
Lesson 29, Child labor.
In Long's American Patriotic Prose:
Frank A. Vanderlip, "Service Leads to Success," pp. 347-348.
Charles M. Schwab, "Opportunity is Plentiful in America," pp. 348-
350.
Tufts, The Real Business of Living, Chapters viii-x; xv-xxviii.
The following books relating to vocational life may be helpful and
stimulating if available:
Gowin and Wheatley, Occupations (Ginn & Co.).
Giles, Vocational Civics (Macmillan).
Gulick, The Efficient Life (Doubleday, Page & Co.).
Reid and others, Careers for the Coming Men (Saalfield Pub Co.,
Akron, Ohio).
Marden, Choosing a Career (Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis).
Marden, Talks with Great Workers (Thos. Y. Crowell).
Bok, Successward (Doubleday, Page & Co.).
Williams, How it Is Made, How it Is Done, How it Works (Thos.
Nelson & Sons).
Fowler, Starting in Life (Little, Brown & Co.).
Parsons, Choosing a Vocation (Houghton Mifflin Co.).
Carnegie, The Empire of Business, (Doubleday Page & Co.).
CHAPTER XII
GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE
GAINFUL OCCUPATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
According to the census of 1910, somewhat more than 38 million of
the 92 million people of our country at that time were engaged in
"gainful occupations"; that is, in earning their living and that
of the remaining 54 million people who were dependent upon them.
Of the 38 million, more than 13 1/2 million were producing wealth
directly from the land, in agriculture, forest industries, mining
industries, and fishing. About 10 1/2 million were engaged in
manufacturing and mechanical trades, by which the materials
extracted from the land are transformed into articles of use. The
remainder of the "breadwinners" were engaged in trade and
transportation, and in professional, personal, and public service.
IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE
Of the 13 1/2 million people gaining their living directly from
the land, more than 12 1/2 million were engaged in agricultural
pursuits. At the present time (1919) probably one half of the
population, including women and children, is directly dependent
upon agriculture as a means of livelihood, while the other half,
as well, is dependent upon it for food supply and the materials
for clothing.
In view of the fact that agriculture is the source of the nation's
food supply and of a large part of the national wealth, and that
so large a part of the people are engaged in it as a means of
livelihood, it is not surprising to find our government deeply
interested in it and performing a vast amount of service for its
promotion.
STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE
The government of every state in the Union has an organization to
protect and promote the farming industry and the welfare of the
farmer. This organization differs in its form and in the extent of
service performed in the several states, due partly to the varying
importance of agriculture in the different states, and partly to
the varying success with which the people and their
representatives have dealt with the problem. In some of the states
there are departments of agriculture, equal in dignity and power
with the other main divisions of the government. In others
agricultural interests are placed in the hands of subordinate
boards, bureaus, or commissions. In some cases the officials in
charge of the organization, such as the commissioner of
agriculture, are elected directly by the people, while in others
they are appointed by the governor of the state or by the
legislature. Often the department is organized in numerous
branches with specialists at the head of each. Thus, there are
dairy commissioners, horticultural boards, livestock sanitary
boards, foresters, entomologists (specialists in insect life in
its relation to agriculture), and others, to look after every
aspect of farming. In a constantly decreasing number of states the
powers of the agricultural officers are slight and their work
ineffectual; but in others the organization is thorough and the
work efficiently done and of the greatest value to the state.
DUTIES OF STATE DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE
In general, state departments of agriculture have had two kinds of
duties: first, regulative and administrative duties, such as the
enforcement of laws relating to agriculture passed by the state
legislature, enforcing quarantine against diseased animals,
establishing standards for the grading of grain, making and
enforcing rules for the control of animal and plant diseases, and
similar matters. Second, investigative and educational duties,
such as the investigation of animal and plant diseases, crop
conditions, and other agricultural problems; and the distribution
of information to the farmers and to the people of the state
generally, relating to agricultural matters. Reports and bulletins
on special subjects are published and farmers' institutes are
conducted.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS
The practice is growing, however, to transfer the work of
investigation and education to the STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND
EXPERIMENT STATIONS which have been established and are conducted
with the cooperation of the national Department of Agriculture.
These institutions have a corps of highly trained specialists and
educators and are equipped with laboratories and experimental
farms where research may be carried on under the most favorable
conditions. The agricultural colleges not only educate young men
and women within their walls in agriculture and related subjects,
but carry on EXTENSION WORK throughout the state for the benefit
of the farmers and the people of rural communities. With the
development of these institutions the state department of
agriculture is left with almost purely administrative and
regulative duties. This seems to be the wiser plan of
organization.
Write to your state commissioner of agriculture or to the
secretary of your state board of agriculture for a copy of the
law, or other published document, containing a description of the
organization of your state department of agriculture and its work.
Also ask for, if available, a list of publications issued by the
department, from which you may later select such as may seem to be
useful.
Write to your state agricultural college, or to the experiment
station, for its latest report showing the work that it has done,
and for a list of available publications.
In writing to public officials for materials for class use, it is
well to send but ONE letter for the class or school, and to
request THE SMALLEST NUMBER OF COPIES that will serve the purposes
of the class. Public officials are busy people, and the
publications for which you ask cost the people of the community
money.
The members of the class may compete, if desired, in formulating a
suitable letter, and a class committee may select the best, or
formulate one on the basis of suggestions from the class.
Materials collected in this way should become school property, and
the class should be conscious that it is accumulating a library
for later classes as well as for themselves. Study and report on
the following:
The organization of your state department of agriculture, its
officers and how chosen, its divisions and their work.
The work done at your state experiment station (individual reports
may be made on the several important lines of work, or on
particular investigations or discoveries of interest).
The character of the extension courses offered by your state
agricultural college. Courses given in your own community.
Instances of regulative work done in your state and county by your
state department of agriculture.
Instances in which your county or locality has been served by your
state agricultural college or by the experiment station.
The difficulty of the farmer in coping with animal disease or
plant disease by his own effort.
Facts to show that money has been saved to your community by the
state agricultural department or experiment station.
Why the people of the cities of your state should pay taxes to
support the department of agriculture.
Facts to show that your state department of agriculture and your
experiment station are really "means of cooperation" in your state
and county.
Extent to which the farmers of your locality actually cooperate
through the governmental machinery of the department of
agriculture.
Consult your parents or farmer friends as to ways in which the
work of your state department of agriculture, agricultural
college, or experiment station should be extended.
Sentiment among the people of your locality, especially the
farmers, as to the usefulness of your department of agriculture,
experiment station and agricultural college.
Get information from your county agent, or from your state
agricultural college, as to the states having the best organized
departments of agriculture, and then get information as to their
points of excellence.
The advantage of a state fair (A) to the farmer, (B) to the state.
The fair as a means of cooperation.
The management of your county fair (if any).
AGRICULTURE A NATIONAL ENTERPRISE
It does one state very little good to fight hog cholera or the
boll weevil unless neighboring states do likewise. Inferior
service in one state by its department of agriculture is a
detriment not only to the farmers of that state, but to those of
other states and of the country as a whole. States gradually learn
from one another and frequently adopt from one another the best
methods that are developed. This is a slow process. The
agriculture of our nation must be considered as a great national
enterprise, and not as forty-eight separate enterprises. This was
made evident during the recent war. Hence the necessity for
national control.
EARLY NATIONAL SUPPORT OF AGRICULTURE
Washington and Jefferson, like other founders of our nation, took
the keenest interest in agriculture. But in the early years of our
history little was done by the national government for its
promotion, except by a rather generous policy of disposing of the
public lands (see Chapter XIV). In 1820 a committee on agriculture
was for the first time created in the House of Representatives,
and in 1825 a similar committee in the Senate. In 1839 Congress
made its first appropriation for agricultural purposes, $1000, to
be spent in gathering information about crops and other
agricultural matters. This was a small beginning when compared
with the $37,000,000 appropriated by Congress for agricultural
purposes in 1918.
CREATION OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
The United States Department of Agriculture was created by
Congress in 1862, though it was not placed on an equality with the
other executive departments of the national government, with a
member of the President's cabinet at its head, until 1889. While
it has some very important regulatory powers, that is, powers to
enforce laws and otherwise to control the practice of the people,
its service has been largely by way of scientific investigation of
the problems of agriculture and the distribution of the
information so acquired. Its policy has been one of cooperation
with state authorities.
NATIONAL COOPERATION WITH THE STATES
In 1862 Congress gave to the several states portions of the public
lands, the proceeds from which were to be used for the
establishment and support of the agricultural colleges of which
mention has been made. Again, in 1887, Congress made
appropriations for the establishment of the agricultural
experiment stations, which are conducted cooperatively by the
state and national governments. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act was
passed by Congress, making appropriations for agricultural
extension work to be conducted by the state agricultural colleges
with the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture. By the
terms of this act each state must appropriate a sum of money for
the extension work equal to that received from the national
government.
THE STATES RELATIONS SERVICE of the Department of Agriculture
supervises and administers these cooperative relations with the
states under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act. In each state there
is a director of extension work who represents both the United
States Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural
college. Under him there is usually a state agent or leader,
district agents, county agents, and specialists of various kinds.
The county agents conduct agricultural demonstration work in their
counties and assist in organizing rural communities for
cooperation. Women county agents, or home demonstration agents,
are rapidly being installed also, to conduct extension work in
home economics and organize cooperation among the women.
In the Southern States during 1915 about 110,000 farmers carried
out demonstration work under the supervision of county agents.
Each such farm demonstration serves as an object lesson for the
entire community. These demonstrations included corn raising in
446,000 acres, cotton in 202,000 acres, tobacco in 2630 acres,
small grains in 196,000 acres, and many other products in hundreds
of thousands of acres. Stumps were removed from more than 70,000
acres, 220,000 acres were drained, and there were 29,000
demonstrations in home gardens. Sixty-four thousand improved
implements were bought. Work was done with orchards involving more
than 2,000,000 trees, 29,000 farmers were instructed in the care
of manure with an estimated saving of more than 3,000,000 tons.
Farmers in 678 cooperative community organizations were advised
with regard to the purchase of fertilizers with a saving in cost
of $125,000. One thousand six hundred fifty-four community
organizations were formed to study local problems and to meet
local business needs. Nearly 63,000 boys were enrolled in corn
clubs.
There were also in the Southern States 368 counties with home
demonstration agents, who gave instruction to 32,613 girls and
6871 women. Each of the girls produced a one tenth acre home
garden of tomatoes and other vegetables. They put up more than
2,000,000 cans of fruit and vegetables worth $300,000. There were
nearly 10,000 members in poultry clubs and 3000 in bread clubs.
Two hundred fifty women's community clubs were formed.
Similar work was done in the Northern States, where 209,000 boys
and girls were enrolled in club work. Nearly 25,000 of these were
engaged in profit-making enterprises in which they produced food
worth more than $500,000. Reports from 3155 homes show 546,515
quarts of fruits and vegetables canned, about half of which
consisted of vegetables, windfall apples, and other products that
frequently go to waste.
How much money does your state receive from the national treasury
under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act? (Discuss at home, consult
your county agent.)
Find out from your county agent, and from your home demonstration
agent (if there is one), what their work includes and how it is
done. Invite them to speak to your school on the subject.
What demonstration work is being carried on in your county for men
and women? Results achieved?
With the help of your county agent, make a map of your county
showing the distribution of his demonstration work.
Report on boys' and girls' club work in your county. Describe
particularly any such work in which you are engaged.
What are some of the problems in regard to which the farmers of
your community need help?
Make a report on George Washington the Farmer; on Thomas
Jefferson's contributions to agriculture.
THE OFFICE OF MARKETS AND RURAL ORGANIZATION promotes the
organization of rural communities for cooperation in buying and
selling, in obtaining rural credits and insurance (see Chapter
XIII), in developing means of communication (Chapter XVIII), and
in providing for social needs. It investigates markets and methods
of marketing, and transportation and storage facilities.
It seeks to establish standards for grading and packing fruits,
vegetables, and other products.
THE OFFICE OF FARM MANAGEMENT investigates and promotes the
application of business methods to farm management and farm
practice. It studies the cost and profitableness of producing
particular crops, livestock, and dairy products, the use of the
woodlot, the most economic and effective farm equipment. It
investigates the cost of the farmer's living, methods of keeping
accounts, the methods and results of tenantry.
THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY investigates the causes, prevention,
and treatment of diseases of domestic animals, and has done much
to eradicate them. It studies methods of dairying and dairy
manufacturing, of breeding and feeding livestock, of producing
wool and other animal fibers, of poultry raising. It cooperates
with the States Relations Service and the state agricultural
colleges in educational work, conducting livestock demonstration
work and advising with regard to the establishment and management
of creameries and cheese factories. It promotes the organization
of pig clubs to stimulate interest in swine production.
THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY investigates the causes, prevention,
and treatment of plant diseases, including those of fruit, shade,
and forest trees. It has introduced over 43,000 varieties of
foreign seeds and plants, from which many new industries have
grown up amounting in value to many millions of dollars each year.
Its explorers have brought new varieties of cereals from Russia
and Siberia; alfalfas from Siberia; date palms from North Africa,
Arabia, and Persia; the pistachio nut from Greece and Sicily;
vanilla and peaches from Mexico; barleys and hops from Europe;
rices and matting rushes from Japan; forage grasses from India;
tropical fruits from South America. It experiments in the breeding
of hardy and disease-resisting grains, fruits, and vegetables,
studies soil fertility, investigates the medicinal qualities of
plants, tests seeds, and improves agricultural implements. Its
experiments are conducted in experimental gardens in Washington,
D.C., at Arlington, Va., and at the experiment stations
distributed widely over the United States.
This bureau does much educational work, instructing farmers how to
control plant diseases and how to organize for cooperation in the
breeding of disease-resisting plants, and conducting
demonstrations on reclaimed lands in arid regions. During 1916 it
distributed, through members of Congress, 356,000 tulip and
narcissus bulbs, 96,000 strawberry plants of 15 varieties, 14,000
packages of lawn grass seed, and more than 16,000,000 packages of
vegetable and flower seeds.
THE BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY studies the influence of environment on
crops and plants; investigates the quality of mill products, the
methods of bread making, of tanning leather, and of paper making.
It tests the food values of all kinds of products, the keeping
quality of poultry, eggs, and fish in the course of
transportation, and the composition of drugs. It is called upon by
other departments of government to make chemical analysis of many
articles.
THE BUREAU OF SOILS investigates the quality of soils and their
adaptation to different kinds of crops, and the fertilizer sources
of the country.
THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY is concerned with the study of insects
and their relation to agriculture, including those that are
destructive to fruit, shade, and forest trees. Its work includes
the study and promotion of bee culture. It has carried on a
campaign for the eradication of such diseases as spotted fever,
malaria, and typhoid which are carried by ticks, mosquitoes,
flies, and other insects (see Chapter XX).
THE BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY maintains game, mammal, and bird
reservations, including among others the Montana National Bison
Range, the winter elk refuge in Wyoming, the Sully's Hill National
Game Preserve in South Dakota, and the Aleutian Islands
Reservation in Alaska. It studies the food habits of North
American birds and mammals in relation to agriculture,
horticulture, and forestry, and the habits, geographical
distribution, and migrations of animals and plants. It conducts
experiments and demonstrations in destroying animals harmful to
agriculture and animal husbandry and in connection with rearing
fur-bearing animals. It cooperates with local authorities in the
protection of migratory birds.
THE BUREAU OF CROP ESTIMATES gathers and publishes data regarding
agriculture, and particularly estimates relating to crop and
livestock, production.
THE WEATHER BUREAU is in charge of the forecasting of the weather,
the issuing of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood
signals for the benefit of commerce, agriculture, and navigation
(see Chapter XVI).
THE FOREST SERVICE has in its keeping the great national forests
(see Chapter XV).
THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS AND RURAL ENGINEERING administers the
work of the federal government for road improvement, and studies
farm engineering problems such as those relating to sanitation and
water supply (see Chapters XVII and XX).
REGULATORY POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
The Department of Agriculture has certain important powers of
regulation and control. Animals are inspected at market centers to
discover the presence of disease, and localities infected are
quarantined.
In 1915 more than 15 million sheep were inspected and nearly 4
million dipped to cure scabies. As a result nearly one and one
half million square miles of land were released from quarantine.
In the same year more than a million square miles were released
from quarantine against scabies in cattle.
In quarantining a state, or portion of a state, the Department
acts by authority of laws passed by Congress under its power to
regulate interstate and foreign commerce (Constitution, Art. I,
Sec. 8, cl. 3). By the same authority, all cattle for export and
all imported from foreign countries are inspected and those
diseased excluded. Slaughter houses and meat-packing
establishments where meat is packed for interstate or foreign
commerce are inspected; meat that is unfit for use being
condemned, while that which is good has the government stamp
placed upon it. Such measures are primarily health measures (see
Chapter XX), but they have great economic value.
In a similar manner imported seeds, plants, and plant products are
inspected to prevent the importation of plant diseases and plant
pests, and also to prevent adulteration of plant products.
Warehouses are inspected and licenses granted to those that are
suitable for the proper storage of cotton, grains, tobacco,
flaxseed, and wool. The Department enforces the laws that fix the
standards for grading cotton and grain, and licenses grain
inspectors. It also enforces the Food and Drugs Act (see Chapter
XX).
Topics for investigation:
Difficulties experienced by farmers in your locality in marketing
produce or livestock.
Assistance received from the United States Department of
Agriculture to overcome the difficulties.
Experiments in cooperative marketing in your locality.
Products of your locality that require storage facilities.
Adequacy of storage facilities.
Transportation needs of your locality. Improvements in
transportation facilities in recent years.
Consult your county agent, or write to the Office of Farm
Management, for publications relating to farm management, farm
accounting, etc.
Discuss with farmers of your acquaintance the extent to which they
find farm accounts and farm records useful.
Diseases of livestock prevalent in your locality and state.
Experiments in cooperation to eradicate these diseases. Assistance
received from the Department of Agriculture.
Crops of foreign origin raised in your locality. Countries from
which introduced.
Destructive plant diseases and plant pests of your locality.
Efforts to combat them.
Importance of bird migrations to the farmers of your locality.
Extent of protection afforded birds. How you cooperate in this
matter.
Importance of these various farmers' problems to the people in
town--the housekeeper, the merchant, the manufacturer, the
railroad companies.
Cases of animal quarantine occurring in your locality.
Why warehouses for food products, cotton, etc., should be
licensed. What "licensing" means.
How grain, cotton, or other products are "graded." The reason for
grading. Why there needs to be a law on the subject.
SERVICE OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT
While the business interests of the farmer, and indeed many of his
other interests, such as health, education, and social life, are
especially looked after by the Department of Agriculture, he
shares with all other citizens the services of all the other
departments of government, each of which also has its elaborate
organization (see Chapter XXVII). It is the Treasury Department,
for example, acting under authority given to it by Congress, that
provides the people with their system of money and with a banking
system, both of which are great cooperative devices. The
Department of Commerce serves the farmer directly by discovering
markets for his products in every part of the world, and
indirectly by everything it does to promote the country's
commerce. The rural mail delivery, the parcel post, and the motor
truck service of the Post Office Department are of untold value to
the farmer (see Chapter XVIII). The Department of the Interior has
supervision over the public lands, the reclamation of arid lands,
and the development of mineral resources (Chapters XIV, XV).
THE QUESTION OF LABOR SUPPLY
The question of labor supply is one of the most serious questions
which the farmer has to face. It is one that he must help to solve
for himself:
As soon as work on the farms is organized, and employment is made
steady for all help, just so soon will a better class of laborers
be attracted to the farm. As the farm-owner wishes life to be free
from eternal drudgery for himself and family, yielding the fruits
of happiness, leisure, and culture, he would do well to consent
and arrange to give the farm hand who shares the shelter of his
roof a fair chance at the same benefits. The laborer wants regular
hours, a chance for recreation, a good place to live in, and
enough wages to maintain a family according to American standards.
[Footnote: W.J. Dougan and M.W. Leiserson in "Rural Social
Problems," Fourth Annual Report Wisconsin Country Life Conference,
quoted in Nourse, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS pp. 258-260.]
But there are aspects of the labor problem over which the farmer
by his own unaided efforts can have little control. One of these
is the problem of bringing the laborer and the job together (see
Chapter XI, p. 133). The work of the Employment Service in the
Department of Labor during the recent war affords a striking
illustration of cooperation secured through an agency of
government.
THE UNITED STATES EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
The Employment Service had been created in 1914, but was rapidly
developed during the war to meet the demand for farm labor to
provide a food supply adequate to war needs. The main offices of
Employment Service were with the Department of Labor in
Washington. But each state had a federal director of employment,
and branch offices were established in local communities. The
success of the whole scheme depended, first of all, upon
cooperation between national, state, and local governments.
Thousands of county agents and local rural community organizations
discovered and reported local needs to local employment offices,
which in turn distributed the information by means of the
district, state, and national organizations. Fifty-five thousand
post offices became farm-labor employment agencies, postmasters
and rural carriers acting as agents. Railroads cooperated both in
reporting needs for the districts through which they run and in
distributing labor to the points where needed. Newspaper offices
served as employment bureaus. The operators of nearly 8000 rural
telephone companies weekly called up the homes of two million
farmers to inquire as to needs. State and county councils of
defense, chambers of commerce, labor unions, farmers'
organizations, and other volunteer agencies afforded channels
through which the farmer and the laborer were brought together.
From January to the end of October 1918, approximately 2,500,000
workers were directed to employment (not all farm workers). In
that year the enormous wheat crop of the western states was
entirely harvested by labor forces organized and moving northward
as the harvest ripened. "Teamwork between the county agricultural
agents and farm-help specialists of the Department of Agriculture
and the harvest emergency force of the United States Employment
Service is considered largely responsible for the excellent
results." In a similar manner assistance was given in harvesting
the corn and cotton crops, the fruits of orchards and vineyards,
and the vegetable crops of the country.
The Boys' Working Reserve constituted one division of the
Employment Service. In 1918, 210,000 boys between the ages of 16
and 20 were enrolled for work on the farms during the summer. The
Reserve was responsible in 1917 and 1918 for saving millions of
dollars worth of crops. It is estimated that in 1918 it raised
enough food to feed a million soldiers for one year.
EMPLOYMENT SERVICE IN PEACE TIME
With the passing of the war emergency, the elaborate machinery of
the Employment Service was in large measure allowed to fall to
pieces through lack of appropriations for its maintenance. This is
true of much of the emergency organization of government developed
during the war period. It illustrates the tendency in our country
to leave business control as fully as possible to individual
initiative excepting in times of great emergency. So important is
the problem of bringing the worker and the job together that many
believe that the Employment Service organization should be revived
and continued.
The central office at Washington is still maintained. In most
states there are still (1919) state directors. The local machinery
has been largely discontinued except in cities where volunteer
agencies, such as the Red Cross and other welfare organizations,
have taken over the work, chiefly to find employment for
discharged soldiers and sailors. A few states have made
appropriations to continue the Boys' Working Reserve.
NATIONAL VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
One division of the Employment Service is the Junior Section, for
the guidance of boys and girls from 16 to 21 years of age seeking
employment. Local junior sections were organized as branches of
local employment offices and in schools. A "junior counselor" was
placed in charge of each local junior section to study the needs
and qualifications of those who applied for employment, and to
give them advice. The Junior Section is still maintained with a
director in the Washington office. The duties of the junior
counselor are stated as follows:
To influence boys and girls to remain in school as long as
possible.
To give aid toward the right start for those who have to leave
school to go to work.
To arouse the ambitions of the boys and girls to fit themselves
for definite careers.
To direct youth who are employed toward some form of trade,
technical, or business school for special training.
To promote the opportunities for vocational education.
To follow up all applicants in their training and at their work to
see that they have the best available advantages of study and
labor.
GOVERNMENT ALWAYS AT OUR SERVICE
The array of facts contained in the foregoing paragraphs is given,
not with the expectation that those who read will memorize them,
but to suggest the enormous amount of work that the United States
government is doing in the interest of agriculture and the farmer,
and the extensive machinery necessary to do it. The facts given
are only a few of those that might be given. The detailed story of
how much of this work is done is fascinating, and often of
thrilling interest. All around us may be seen, if our eyes are
open, the evidences of the work of our government. Always the
governmental machinery is at hand to serve us in a thousand ways,
if we are wise enough to use it. The more we study its work, the
more we shall be impressed by the fact that its greatest service
is in opening the way for cooperation, and in providing the
organization and the leadership for such cooperation.
Topics for investigation:
How money serves as a means of cooperation.
How a bank serves as a means of cooperation.
The attractiveness of the conditions of living for farm laborers
in your community. How they could be improved.
The farm labor supply in your locality and state.
The work of the United States Employment Service in your state and
community.
Employment agencies in your community at the present time. By whom
conducted. Are they free, or run for profit? Advantages and
disadvantages of the two kinds.
Harvesting the wheat crop in war time.
The Boys' Working Reserve in your locality. The experience of the
farmers of your locality as to its value. Possible objections
raised to it. Its continuance since the war.
The Junior Section of the Employment Service.
Junior counselors in your community.
READINGS
Procure from the State Department of Agriculture, the State
Agricultural College, and the State Experiment Station,
publications relating to their work.
Send to the U. S. Department of Agriculture for its List of
Publications Available for Distribution; or for publications
relating to particular topics. Among the useful publications of
the Department are:
Farmers' Bulletins (covering a wide variety of subjects).
States Relations Service Circulars.
The Year Book.
Annual Reports of the Secretary of Agriculture.
Program of Work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1917 or
later years).
Report on Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative
Agricultural Extension Work (1915 or later years).
A very useful publication is the "Guide to United States
Government Publications," published by the U.S. Bureau of
Education as Bulletin, 1918, No. 2. It not only describes the
publications of each department of government, but also the
organization and work of each department and its subdivisions.
(Government Printing Office, 20 cents.)
More recent and equally useful is "The Federal Executive
Departments as Sources of Information for Libraries," also
published by the Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74
(Government Printing Office, 25 cents). The work of each
Department and its subdivisions is described in some detail.
In Lessons in Community and National Life:
Series B: Lesson 30, Employment agencies.
Series C: Lesson 12, Patents and inventions.
Lesson 13, Market reports on fruits and vegetables.
CHAPTER XIII
THRIFT
"THRIFT IS GOOD MANAGEMENT OF THE BUSINESS OF LIVING."
NATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF THRIFT
This definition is taken from "Ten Lessons in Thrift," issued by
the Treasury Department of the United States Government (February,
1919). The United States Government sent out these lessons because
"America to-day stands in the position in which all her economic
problems must be solved through thrift ... Unless our people gain
a deep, sincere appreciation of the absolute necessity for thrift,
we cannot hope to hold the proud position we occupy as the flag
bearer of nations ..." [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, President American
Society for Thrift, in "The Patriotism of War Savings" (National
Education Association pamphlet, THRIFT, 1918)]
LESSONS OF THE WAR
The great war taught us some lessons about the importance of
thrift to the nation. The enormous expenses of the war were paid
and the armies and the civilian populations of the countries at
war were fed very largely by the combined small savings of our
people. Nearly 20 million people contributed to the fourth liberty
loan, by which almost seven billion dollars were raised, an
average of about $350 for each contributor. Almost every one
bought war savings stamps, by which about a billion dollars were
raised in 1918. Practically all this money came from savings.
Enormous sums were also given to the Red Cross and other causes.
To do this people saved and sacrificed "until it hurt." The
provisioning of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was
made possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of
bread, of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and
fats.
THRIFT AS PATRIOTISM
Thrift, however, is not merely a war necessity. "The time when
thrift shall not be needed--needed as vitally as food itself--will
never come ... Through thrift alone can the rebuilding come--the
rebuilding of America--the rebuilding of the world ... Thrift is
patriot ism because it is the elimination of every element that
tends to retard..." [Footnote: S W Strauss, "The Patriotism of War
Savings"]
Thrift is necessary both for individual success and for good
citizenship. It is only by thrift that the individual may in some
measure repay others for the care he himself received during
dependent childhood, and provide, during his productive years, for
the "rainy day" of sickness and old age. It is by thrift that
CAPITAL is accumulated with which to carry on the world's work.
The citizen who saves and invests his savings in a home, in
business enterprises, in bonds or savings stamps, not only makes
his own future secure, but becomes identified with the community
and takes a greater interest in it. The thrifty citizen inspires
the confidence of the community, and acquires an influence in
community affairs that the unthrifty citizen does not enjoy.
Finnish farmers in a certain section of New England are said to be
able to obtain credit from neighboring bankers and businessmen
more easily than many of their neighbors, and to be considered as
especially desirable citizens, because of their reputation for
thrift and honesty. Thrift is often confused with stinginess and
selfish ness. On the contrary it alone makes generosity and
service possible.
THRIFT, "THE ESSENCE OF DEMOCRACY"
"Thrift is the very essence of democracy." For democracy means
freedom, equality of opportunity, "self-determination." No man is
a greater slave than one who is bound and driven by financial
necessity. By thrift the mind is "unfettered by the petty
annoyances that result from improvident ways." Thrift means
providing for the future. There is nothing in the world that will
so establish one's faith in the future and that will, therefore,
give that freedom of spirit upon which democracy depends, as the
wise use of to-day and of to-day's resources.
THRIFT A RIGHT AS WELL AS A DUTY
"Every man must practice thrift and every man must have the CHANCE
of practicing it." It is a RIGHT as well as a duty. Before the war
it was said that four fifths of the wage earners of our country
received less than $750 a year for their labor. Studies in various
cities also showed that an average family of five could not
maintain health and efficiency on an income of less than from $750
to $1000. Under such circumstances thrift is the strictest
necessity, but it is a thrift that means pinching economy and the
sacrifice of health and efficiency. It is not the thrift that
provides for the future and gives freedom to the individual, the
thrift that is "the essence of democracy itself." Every man should
have an opportunity to earn a "living wage," which includes an
opportunity to provide for the future. Democracy is not complete
until that opportunity is afforded.
Thrift, or the good management of the business of living, is shown
(1) in earning, (2) in spending, (3) in saving, and (4) in
investing.
THRIFT IN EARNING
(1) Since the earning of a living was the subject of Chapter XI,
we need not dwell upon it now except to note that a thrifty person
is an industrious person--he makes wise use of his time; and also
to note that many of those who are now in want, or who, in
advanced years, are receiving small wages, owe their condition to
a failure at some time or other to make use of the opportunity for
thrift. Many people do not recognize the opportunity when it is
presented, or lack the wisdom or the courage to seize it. Thrift
involves MAKING A CHOICE, and in many cases a wise choice requires
courage as well as wisdom. It is a choice between the satisfaction
of present wants and the sacrifice of present enjoyment for the
sake of greater satisfaction and service in the future.
When a boy in school has a chance to take a job that will pay him
wages, he has to make a choice between it and remaining in school.
It may seem to be the thrifty thing to go to work; but real thrift
is shown by careful choice of vocation, and by thorough
preparation for it, even though it requires sacrifices that seem
difficult (see pp. 137, 139).
We may note here, also, that physical fitness is essential if
earning power, which means power to perform service, is to be
fully developed. The "conservation" of health and life is so
important that a chapter is devoted to it later (Chapter XX).
THRIFT IN SPENDING
(2) After money has been earned, thrift shows itself first of all
in the way the money is spent; and many of us have the spending of
the money that some one else has earned. Every time we spend a
nickel or a dollar we make a choice--we choose to spend or not to
spend, how much we shall spend, for what we shall spend.
A lawyer in a small town reports that in one month he made out the
necessary papers to enable 75 men to mortgage their homes to buy
automobiles.
Butchers say that during the war they more often sold expensive
cuts of meat to wage earners who were by no means well-to-do, but
who happened for the time to be getting good wages, than to people
of larger means. One reason, perhaps, for extravagance in food and
clothing on the part of unintelligent people who find themselves
unusually prosperous, is that they see no better way to spend
their money. Those who find pleasure in books, in education for
their children, in travel, in investing money in serviceable
enterprises, and in the higher things of life, have to make A
CHOICE in regard to what they shall enjoy, and as a rule prefer to
sacrifice the grosser pleasures.
CHOOSING WHAT TO SPEND
People, and especially young people, need a certain amount of
sweets in their diet. But when we know that the candy bill of the
people of the United States amounts to $400,000,000 a year, that
this is almost as much as the total amount spent for public
education, that it is about double the amount used to keep Belgium
supplied with food for a year during the war, or that it will buy
234 million bushels of corn at $1.70 a bushel, we may well think
twice before deciding to spend MUCH money for candy.
TESTS FOR SPENDING
The few cents difference in the price of two articles between
which we must choose, and the nickels we spend for immediate
enjoyment, may seem to amount to very little; but the New York
City street railways collected in a year $95,000,000 in five-cent
fares, and the Woolworth Building in New York, one of the largest
office buildings in the United States, was built from the profits
of "5 and 10 Cent Stores." One thrift stamp a week amounts in five
years to $65, and 14 cents a day at 4 per cent interest amounts in
twenty years to more than $1500. In one of the "Ten Lesson in
Thrift," the following "tests in buying" are given:
Do I need it?
Do I need it now?
Do I need something else more?
Will it pay for itself in the end?
Do I help or injure the community in buying this?
Do you have instruction in your school in home economics that
relates to wise spending or buying?
If you do not have such instruction, apply to the home
demonstration agent in your county (if there is one), or write to
your state agricultural college, or to the States Relations
Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for
circulars or bulletins relating to thrift in buying food,
clothing, etc.
In writing for such material, why is it an example of thrift to
ask for ONE copy of EACH publication for your CLASS or for your
SCHOOL, rather than to ask for a copy for each pupil?
In what ways is thrift shown by having a class committee write one
letter making the request for the class instead of having each
member of the class write?
Has any home demonstration work relating to thrift been conducted
in your community? What methods were employed, and what results
achieved?
Who in your family makes most of the expenditures for the family
living?
For what items in the family living is most of the money spent?
What are some of the things that have to be considered in buying
food? clothing? house furnishings? books? amusements?
Discuss the topics mentioned in the following statement of "values
in buying" (from "Ten Lessons in Thrift"):
Food: nutrition, healthfulness, cleanliness, attractiveness,
flavor, quality, price, economy in preparation (of time, strength,
fuel, utensils), buying from bulk or in package, buying in
quantity or small unit, buying for the day or laying in stores,
calculation of portions, calculation of meals, varied diet.
Clothing: design related to material, color, and becomingness;
style, durability; adaptability to fine or rough wear, to repair
and remaking; suitability to season, health, occupation, comfort;
home-made VERSUS ready-made; conditions of manufacture, use of
child labor, the sweat shop, the living wage, health.
Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles
bought in small and large quantities: for example, laundry soap by
the bar, by the quarter's worth, by the box; canned goods by the
can, by the dozen, and by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25-
pound sack, 50-pound sack, by the barrel; etc.
Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in
package; for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon;
bacon in bulk and in jars, etc.
Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather
than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples.
Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by
telephone or in person? To buy by mail order or at the store in
town? Why?
At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington,
D.C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in
Maryland. The turkeys were brought by the producers to the
schoolhouse of the rural neighborhood, taken by a postal service
motor-truck to the schoolhouse of the Park View center in
Washington, and from there distributed to the 140 families. The
city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound less than the
price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the producers
received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were
paying.
Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above
case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced?
What is the "middleman"? Does he perform a real service to the
community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that
the middleman should be "eliminated" by cooperative marketing and
buying organizations? Why?
Is there any cooperative buying organization in your community? If
so, how has it benefited the community? If not, why? (Consult your
parents, your county agent, and others.)
Get publications from your state agricultural college relating to
cooperative buying and selling.
THRIFT IN MANAGEMENT
Wise expenditures depend not only upon knowledge of prices and
qualities, but also upon good management, as in planning ahead.
One plan that has been the means of lifting many individuals and
families out of financial difficulties and of enabling them to lay
by as savings a portion of their income, however small the latter
may be, is the BUDGET, which means the apportionment of
expenditures according to a plan laid out in advance. No budget
can apply to all families alike, but the following illustrates the
principle:
House (rent, taxes, insurance, repairs)........................25%
Food (all expenditures for the table, ice, etc.)...............30%
Clothing (materials and making, repairing, cleaning, pressing,
millinery, shoes)..............................................13%
Housekeeping (labor and materials for laundry, fuel and light,
telephone, supplies, and furnishings)..........................12%
Educational (school and school books, club dues, church and charity
contributions, gifts, books, magazines, newspapers, amusements,
medical and dental treatment)...................................6%
Luxuries (all items not necessaries and not coming under
"educational," such as candies, etc.)...........................4%
Savings........................................................10%
Total.........................................................100%
Before a budget can be planned, and in order to know whether it is
being lived up to, it is necessary to keep accounts of receipts
and expenditures. With such accounts, it is possible to determine
where savings can be made under some heads and where, perhaps, it
is necessary or advisable to spend more.
Is a budget used in your home? Find out from your parents their
reason for using, or not using it.
Could you use a budget in your own personal affairs?
Find out whether a budget system is used by your local government
and your state government in apportioning expenditures.
How may we "budget" our time? Is the time you spend in school
"budgeted"? Make a daily time budget for yourself.
When is clothing a necessity and when a luxury? [Footnote: This
and the following topics are adapted from "Ten Lessons in
Thrift."]
When is food a necessity and when an amusement?
When is amusement education and when a frivolity?
When is fuel an item in rent and when current housekeeping
expense?
When are club dues education and when amusement?
When is vacation health and when amusement?
When is the theater amusement and when indulgence?
When is rent a necessity and when an extravagance?
[Footnote: From "Suggestion for Home Demonstration Agents
regarding Methods of Teaching Thrift," States Relations Service
Circular, Dec. 27, 1918.]
THRIFT IN SAVING
(3) The object of thrift in spending is both to get the greatest
value for our money now and to insure savings that will provide
for the future. Every budget should make as definite provision for
savings as for rent or clothing. The purpose of a budget and of
accounts is to assure a surplus rather than a deficit. Successful
men and women make it a practice always to spend less than they
earn, no matter how little they earn, and they cannot be sure of
this without planning ahead and keeping accounts. Saving in this
way is largely a matter of habit; but it is astonishing how many
fail to form the habit. Court records show that out of every 100
men who die, 82 leave no income-producing estates, or that about
85 per cent who reach the age of 65 are dependent upon relatives
or upon the community. "Out of every 100 widows, only 18 are left
in comfortable circumstances, while 47 are obliged to go to work
and 35 are left in absolute want." [Footnote: S.W. Strauss, "The
Greater Thrift," National Education Association PROCEEDINGS, 1916,
p. 278.]
AMERICAN EXTRAVAGANCE
Wise buying means saving money; and so does the wise use of what
we buy. It is said that an American ship can be distinguished from
the ships of other nations in harbor by the flocks of gulls that
hover around to feast on the food thrown overboard. Whether this
is true or not, Americans have a reputation for wastefulness. It
has been called our chief national sin. It is said that a family
in France can live in comfort on what an American family in the
same circumstances ordinarily throws away. An average load of
garbage in New York City has been shown to contain fifty dollars'
worth of good food materials.
WHAT SMALL SAVINGS WILL DO
Investigations by the Food Administration showed that there is
enough glycerine in a ton of garbage to make explosives for 14
shells, enough fat and acid to make 75 bars of soap, and enough
fertilizer to grow 8 bushels of wheat. It is said that 24 cities
wasted enough garbage to make 4 million pounds of nitroglycerine,
40 million cakes of soap, and fertilizer for 3 million bushels of
wheat. On the other hand, 300 cities produced 52 million pounds of
pork by feeding their garbage to hogs.
The Department of Agriculture has shown that the waste of a half-
cup of milk daily by each of the 20 million families in the United
States would equal in a year the total production of 400 thousand
cows; that one ounce of meat or fat saved daily would in a year
mean 875 thousand steers, or a million hogs; and that if 81
percent of the whole wheat were used in bread instead of 75
percent, the saving in a year would feed 12 million people. During
the war our government organized a campaign for the salvage of
"junk," and the total amount collected had a value of 1 1/2
billion dollars. The school children of Des Moines, Iowa, are
reported to have gathered and sold two thousand dollars' worth of
waste paper in one week, and those of many other communities
obtained similar results.
VALUE OF BY-PRODUCTS
Every successful business man is constantly vigilant to discover
and remedy waste in his business--waste of materials, time, and
effort. Many of the most valuable products in certain industries
are "by-products,"--that is, products produced as an incident to
the main industry and from materials that otherwise would have
been wasted. In the manufacture of gas from coal, for example,
important by-products are coke, tar, and ammonia. There has been
great waste in the lumber industry, but now practically every
scrap from the tree may be used. In the Forestry Products
Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, a process has been
discovered of producing from 15 to 25 gallons of wood alcohol from
a ton of sawdust--and sawdust has many other uses. These are only
illustrations. Scientists and inventors, many of them employed by
the government, are constantly at work finding uses for waste
products.
WASTEFULNESS IN FARMING
Wastefulness is found in great variety in farming activities. For
example:
Why plant seed only 60 or 70 per cent of which will germinate
when, for a few dollars extra and a little work, seed may be
procured that will average 90 to 95 per cent in the germination
test? Why purchase or cultivate a worthless crab apple tree or a
hybrid when Rome Beauty, Northern Spy, or Grimes Golden, and other
standard varieties of apples may be secured for a few additional
cents? Why feed and care for a "scrub" pig, calf, or colt when it
will bring at maturity only half or two thirds the price of a
thoroughbred? ... It is not thrift to invest money in second-rate
products.
Some farmers are so careless ... that they do not husk their corn
in the fall but leave it standing in the field until late winter
or early spring. By this time the fodder is somewhat decayed and
unfit for feeding purposes. Possibly a third of the corn has been
eaten by the birds, a third of it has rotted, and a third of it
remains in a damp and moldy condition. ... Many boys could make
good wages by going over the corn field at cutting time and
collecting the ears lying on the ground. ... Often a farmer will
cut down his hay, paying no attention whatever to the reports of
the weather bureau ... Apples shaken from the trees by the wind
decay on the ground ...