The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-04
BETTER RURAL SCHOOLSAD
CHURCHES THE SOUTH'S NEED
Conditions Cry Aloud for Speedy
First of All Economic-lncreased Agricultural FRO
duction a Necessity.

Conference for Education and lnous-
fry. at a session of the conference IN
Chattanooga. Tuesday, April 10
This Southern Conference for Eou-
cation and Industry is the union OF the
two organizations that nave peen at
work longest, and perhaps most sue
cessfully, for the advancement OF ed
ucation and industry Of the Sou.h.
The ultimate aims and objects OF the
separate organizations were 50 Silli,
lar and so many of the members ana
active workers of one were
and active workers of the other that
it was deemed wise in the interest," OF
economy of time, effort and money,
and for increase Of influence and
power to merge the two.
The principal purpose OF this con-
ference is to bring together repre-.
sentative groups Of active leaders OF
workers, and thinkers. educational,
agricultural. industrial and religious
from the several Southern States
where the conditions are very SINH
lar. for a diagnosis Of existing con-
ditions, a discussion of their causes
and remedies. and the
and inauguration of plans and pro-
grams Of cooperative work for their
improvement.
The organization itself, therefore,
furnishes an excellent example of my
subject. which is "Cooperation"-co-
operation for the improvement OF
rural civilization in the South.
South Rural Section.
The South is a rural section of large
area and sparse population. 1t con-
tains about 20 IL per cent Of the
land area Of the United States, and
only about 80 per cent Of the popu-
lation. Its average population per
~ = n q 4 q N-1- n. ona
third of its land is under cultivation
About eight-tenths of the population
of the Southern group Of States is
rural. The problem Of the South,
therefore. is distinctly a rural prob
lem. These conditions are naturally
conducive to individualisln, isolation
ignorance, provincialism, and restrict
ed vision, and are in themselves seri'
Gus obstacles to the cooperation nee
essary for community building fol
meeting the demands of modern civ.
ilization. They make cooperation
however, all the more imperative be
cause in cooperation is to be found
the only hope for widely separated in
dividuals to protect themselves againS
ruinous competition along all line
with combination, which simpl,
means cooperation, in all the center
of population.
Majority Will Kule.
The eight-tenths of the population
Of the Southern group Of States, no
the t~wO-tenthS, will ultimately deter
mine the civilization and the destin
Of the whole. The task and the op
portunity of this Conference is t
bring our Southern people to tn
realization Of existing rural condi
lions, to arouse them to a sense G
their duty and obligation, and to OF
ganize them under wise leadershi
for cooperative and effective actio
finite plans for the accomplishment {
the common purpose Of improvin
these conditions.
There is a mysterious unity and il
terdependence in all the upliftin
forces Of life and civilization. I'll
Creator seems to have i~nterlinked h
forces in a sort Of divine unity an
correlation. Who can separate tt
physical, the intellectual, the spiritu
act n react upon each other? WI
does not know that one cannot say
the other, II have no need of thee"-
that each contributes to the well-b
ing OF the other and to the well-bi1
of the whole. So runs like a gold,
thread through all His universe, til
mysterious law of unity and interd
pendence, enforcing it's eternal less,
of cooperation.
In civilization, who can separate Il
economic, the educational, the soci
the spiritual? Who can fail to s
their interdependence, that they a
n react upon Zach other; that t
n cannot say to the other, 81 ha
no need Of thee; that the highe
safest. sanest civilization is to be {
tanned and kept only through the {
operation Of all for the good of eac
and for the good of the whole, or
through the proportionate develo
ment of each in recognition of Il
universal law Of unity and inter6
pendence.
What are some of the existing CO
ditions economic, educational. soci
religious. indicative of the need
the improvement of rural civilizati
in the South and Of cooperation
hat end?
Economic Conditions.
The average annual income Of
farming population of the Southe
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