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THE CHALLENGE OF THE COUNTRY
[Illustration: THE COUNTRY BOY
Why does he want to leave his father's farm to go to the city? He ought to
be able to find his highest happiness and usefulness in the country, his
native environment, where he is sadly needed. Can we make it worth while
for this boy to invest his life in rural leadership?]
THE CHALLENGE OF
THE COUNTRY
_A Study of Country Life Opportunity_
GEORGE WALTER FISKE
JUNIOR DEAN, OBERLIN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
OBERLIN, OHIO
Association Press
NEW YORK: 124 East 28th Street
LONDON: 47 Paternoster Row, E. C.
1912
COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS
TO THE COLLEGE MEN AND WOMEN
WHO LOVE COUNTRY LIFE
ENOUGH TO RESIST THE LURE OF THE CITY
AND INVEST THEIR TALENTS IN
RURAL CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
WE OFFER THIS
CHALLENGE OF THE COUNTRY
PREFACE
This study of country life opportunity and analysis of various phases of
the rural problems in America has been written at the request of the
International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations,
particularly for their County Work and Student departments. The former
desired a handbook for the training of leaders in rural Christian work and
the latter a textbook for the use of college students in Christian
Associations wishing to study the fundamentals of rural social service and
rural progress. It is the sincere hope of those who have asked for this
book that it may bring to very many earnest young men and women, and
especially in the colleges of the United States and Canada, a challenging
vision of the need of trained leadership in every phase of rural life, as
well as a real opportunity for life investment.
Being the first book in the field which makes available the results of the
Thirteenth U. S. Census, it is hoped that its fresh treatment of the
latest aspects of the rural problems will commend itself to general
readers who are interested in the Rural Life Movement and the welfare of
the rural three-fifths of America.
The author acknowledges with thanks the courtesy of the Presbyterian Board
of Home Missions, the Macmillan Company and _Rural Manhood_, in granting
the use of the cuts appearing in this volume.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION xi
Country Life Opportunity.
CHAPTER I.
THE RURAL PROBLEM 1
Its Development and Present Urgency.