Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1909-02-11
Necessity sor ce-operssien.

n. cooperative plan is the h~-r plan
cf organization wherever men have thu
rfrht spirit 70 carry II out. Under this
plan any business Undertaking - man
aged by a committee. every man has
ono vote. ard only one vote. and every
ono gets profits according 20 what h>
sells or buys or supplies II develops In
diNtduai responsibility and has moral
a. well as financial value over any
oth.r plan
I desir. only 10 take counsel with the
farmers a. feliow-citizens II IL not the
problem Of the farmers alone that 7 arm
discussing with them. but a problem
which affects every city ss well as every
farm in the country.
From all that has been done and
learned three great general and immedi-
ate needs OF country life stand out:
First. effective cooperation among
farmers. 10 put them on a level with the
organized interests with which they do
business
Second. a new kind OF schools in tn.
country. which shall teach the children
as much outdoors indoors and per
country life. and not at present. main
ly for life In town
Third. better means OF communication.
Including good roads and a parcels post.
which the country p~op'e are sverywh-re.
and rightly. unanimous In demanding
To these may veil b. added better ssn-
tfatons for easily pr~ventabie diseases
hold several million country people In the
slavery Of continuous VI health 4.
To os~slop Country Community.
To improve our system Of Agriculture
seems to me the most urgent OF the tasks
which lie before But IL cannot In
my Judgment. he effected by measures
which touch only the material and tech
nical side Of the subject: the whole bust
~ he sn .f.
BE- taken into account. Such cousid.ra-
tons led me TO appoint the commission
on country life Our object should b.
TO help develop In the country comru-
nifty the great Ideals OF the community
life as we'll as Of personal character One
Of the most important adiuncts to this
end must h> the country church. and
invite your attention TO what the com
mission says Of the country church and
Of the need Of an extension Of such work
as that Of tn. Young Mems Christian as
sociation In country communities Let
me lay special emphasis upon what the
commission says At the very end OF its
report on personal ideas and local leader
ship Everything resolves itself In the
end into the question OF personality
Neither society r-or government can do
much for country life unless there fs vol
untary response In the personal ideals
OF the men and women who live in the
country. In the development Of chsrac-
ter. the home should b. more important
than the school. than society at large.
When once the basic material needs have
been met. high ideats may be quite in
dependent of income. but they cannot be
realized without sufficient income TO pro-
vide adequate foundation. and where the
community at large 10 not financially
prosperous IL 10 impossible TO develop a
high average personal and community
ideal In short. the fundamental facts
OF human nature apply to men and wom-
en- who live in the country Just as they
apply TO men and women who live in the
towns. Given a SUFFICIENT foundation os
material well being. the Influence of the
farmers wives on their children be-
comes the factor of FIRST Importance in
determining the attitude of the next gen.
Grafton toward farm life The farmer
should realize that the person who most
needs consideration on the farm is his
wife. | do not in the least mean that she
should purchase ease at the expense Of
duty. Neither man nor woman 1. really
happy or really useful save on condition
Of doing his - her duty II the worn-
an shirks her duty housewife as
home keeper. the mother whose prime
function IL 20 bear and rear sufficient
number Of healthy children. then she Is
not entitled to our regard. But II she
does her duty she is more entitled to our
regard even than the man who does
his duty. and the man should show spe-
ciaI consideration for her needs
Ax.H.-- - A~Sf~- - cal.