The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1912-04-09

NASHVILLE, Tenn, April "a plea
for rejuvenation of the agricultural
districts and development of the
rural school as the social, political
and educational center of the COM
munity was made by President Chas.
William Dabney of the University of
Cincinnati Friday in an address be-
fore the Conference for Education in
the South.
Speaking to the subject The Rural
School as a Center of Country Life"
President Dabney called attention to
the dwindling of the rural population
and advanced his contention that a
remedy lies in increasing the useful
ness of the schools.
He said in part:
Everywhere the urban population
is increasing ahead of the rural, and
in most of the old states the total
rural population is steadily decreas-
ing, More ominous than the trust
menace, the currency question, or the
labor problem, is this drift of the peo-
pie away from the farm; for, as Mr.
James ]. Hill puts it, Land without
population is wilderness, and popu-
lation without land is a mob"
"The resources of our soil and eli
mate are limitless, and the country is
from every point of view far better
place to live in than ever before: yet
for some reason, the young people in
all the older states are escaping from
the farms. Why? Because the at
fractions of the town are greater than
those of the country. How to change
this condition is the question of the
hour
Heretofore, in our civilization, the
farmer, the descendant of the pioneer
the finest representative of the indi
vidualistic class the world has eve
seen, has steadily developed the great
; est power, and has, therefore, main
! tanned his own in the republic.
\ "The relative loss of population b,
the country threatens every bushes
4 and every interest. Land values dc
Y crease, farmers move away, the youn
people drift to the cities, stores an
n dwellings become vacant school an
n churches dwindle, until finally all lif
and enterprise drop into decay.
Il This, ! say, is the question of tn
q hour. How shall we restore the ba
n ance between the urban and the rur;
forces? Why have men nowheI
worked out a perfect relation betwee
4 town and country? A fair adjustmei
n must be found before We can have
4 permanent, happy civilization"
Referring to the needs of the cou
e try, the speaker said:
"The educational and social como
lions in the country must be impro
ed if we are to keep the young poop
on the farms. The physical discor
forts of farm life have now been larg
ly ameliorated in the central state
h AS the farm houses are rebuilt, mo
ern comforts and conveniences are
troduced.
"The farmers who desert the cou
try, often the very best of them,
so in search of the higher things
D life for their families. They tear I
their homes and make great sacrific
- that they may provide better trainil
mn in mind and in spirit for their childr
4 and better social privileges for the
n wives. So long as there are bett
r schools, better churches, and bett
Il social opportunities in the cities,
II long will men flock into them.
u long as practically no literature, a
n and music are to be had in the cou
4 try, so long will men and women Sc
them where they are to be found.
Neither the state nor the chur
has done its full duty by the farm,