The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-04-21

The history Of the pulseless com.
munity II we'll known. the pioneer
father who thrust his plow into the
unbroken prairies was az vital az his
acres. He had come to the new coun.
try tc make a home. His neighbors
We're home builders. The non-interfer.
ence Of outside world. need for pro.
lection and common ideals, fostcred
social contact. They were the best
type CT humanity, being the kind who
were not contented to be poor in the
| state or the foreign country from
which they came. Since they were in
their new homes to stay they set
about making their communities fit
places in which to- live. They built
school houses and churches at the
same time they broke the sod and put
up barns. The next generation took
I'up community building at the point
left on by their parents. The old
homestead was kept in the family, all
| members CT which started out equally.
IT anything. the boy whose lot 1t was
to stay home and run the farm was
considered to be bit better Off than
the boys who had studied pedagogy or
medicine, or letters. Fortune had not
Iovertaken the pioneer people vet, but
they reasoned that 1t was q new coun-
try, and the future was promising.
About three genrationst away from
the pioneers the real exodus begins. A
little visiting back and forth with
the members CT the family who had
cast their lot in the cities and towns
makes the children wonder If the lot
or the brother to remain on the famil v
homestead fs the one to be cherished
And by this time there IL a title
less hope for the future. Three or
four generations Of unfulfillment is
not very conducive to the vtrility Of
hope. The old homestead ia rented
to a class CT people not quite progress
sive enough to get away. The COM
munfty Immediately loses much of it's
stability. There ia no community
pride for these people except to move
again In year or Sc and naturally
do not feel responsibility in their tenn
p0rary arrangement. And where the
profits of the land must be shared
between two families. the landlords
and the tenants, there is nothing left
to devote to the ideal community GEN.
ter. The taxpayers I've away from
the land and are therefore not per.
sonally and subjectively interested in
the church. schools and social phase
of their neighborhocd. There Is such
constant shifting of residents that
organization is difficult There are
no local allurements and ties and as
soon "a member rises above the
level Of his environment he goes to
the city where more is promised him,
even IL it is not always given.
In the meantime the descendants Of
the first farmers have either lost out
In the demands of city life and are
finding their mess OF potage as day
laborers. or they have prospered and
forgotten the farm from which they
received their birthright. And most
OF them do prosper. 1t has been said
that "a per cent of the leading citi-
zens OF one Of our large eastern cities
were brought up on a farm. OF a
group OF 100 representative men. Cm-
mercfal and professional. in Chicago. l
found that IS per cent came from the
country. More than 60 per cent Of
the men and women list ed in "Who's
Who" are likewise from the country.
The successful ones return to the
country and build paltial homes and
estates and constitute the highly ed
ucated landlord class. Is the country
slowly differentiating into this and
the propertyless' laboring classes? If
America becomes the home Of land
owners and peasnts we will have fail
ed our Pilgrim fathers miserably and
inexcusably.
! have not been discussing the Uni
ted states on an average. l have
CHOSEN the wornout community and
the wornout farm as signals Of cam
ger ahead. Like we sometime. &C
through the barrel and pick out GER
.ain apples.
There is no doubt but that the root
OF the evil is the prevailing economic
inJustices dealt the farming industry.
The farmers themselves are the ones
who will have to change this system.
They cannot all walk off and leave it.
Moving to town may solve the prob
lens and better the finances the
individual but toll VIII be taken later
on national basis.
The farmers who deny their children
the emancipation of liberal education
likewise drain the fertility CT the
neighborhood. The physical labor is
returned with the personal interest in
the individual farm; the wheat is us.
ually properly stacked, and the hogs
well housed. But these are the farm
ers who ride the plow in disgruntled
objection to the wcrld market condi-
tfons with which theyt are united
to combat. Their vision is as narrow
as their lanes. They are the farmers
whose blind refusal to join in co-op-
eratfve marketing. believe in the Farm
Bureau. and be independent in pcli-
tics. holds back rural progress. BY
the hardest work and the closest saw
ing they usually manage to get more
or less ahead financially, but they do
not go about 1t in the way that bene.
fits the whole community. and there
Is nc margin In their profits for bet
ter community conditions. And where
silos make proud the landscape " lille
house and church and school SQUAT
apologetically in their shadows there
Is no real wealth.
II sending our young folks away to
be educated does not gain us anything
In our own communities: IL ignoring
the possibilities OF education dam
gerous. must be the system of edu-
eaton that is at fault