Exeter Advocate, 1914-12-31, Page 6VeteVOX
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Aa
Rural Coi.structior
[Address; delivered by Rev, John
MaeDotigall,author of "Rural Life
in Canada," at the Rural Teach-
ers' Coii£erence, Ontario Agricul-
tural College, Gueip'hj,
D'A.rey McGee, that true patriot
and salacious statesman, the mar-
tyr of ,Confederation, in one of his
great orations, said, "WeCana-
diens are here to vindieete our
capacity by the test of .a new poli-
tical ,ceeation. What we most im-
mediately want in order to do so
is hien, more inen, and still more
hien, in • town and •Country."
Does his dictum still hold true,.
or has its force changed with
changing times? Or if,. tenfold
more true of the city now than
then, would the presence of more
and still more men be Niel to the
< ountry ? Is there an iron law
drive`s men thence, for the court -
try's good, and. the world's good?
Just what, precisely, is the prob-
lem of rural reconstruction? Is it
merely to ameliorate the conditions
of whatever rural population may-
be
aybe left us by the city's growth? Or
is it to make a rich contribution to
the cause of advancing civilization
by the country's own comprehen-
sive growth?
Dr. Josiah Strong, who was one
of the pioneers in the study of the
rural problem, now in effect con-
tends that there is no rural prob-
lem but only a city one, namely,
"Shall the city dominate for good
or for ill t In his recent volume,
"Our World," lie writes: "Let us
have done with the false and foolish
cry, "Back to the Land," which is
a futile attempt to evade the prob-
lem of the city. It is worse than
useless, because it distracts atten-
tion from •the real problem, and
diverts funds from well -matured
and scientific plans which would
throw valuable light on the whole
subjeet, and which have been. forced
to lie on the shelf for precious
years." Nor is he alone in this
view, but represents many..
Though Dr. Strong disassociates
the "Back -to -the -Farm" movement
from the "Country Life" move-
ment, and commends the latter as
:ireful in its way, it is not merely
the farmer which he has in mind in
such censure. For he says: "The
preachers of this, gospel of social
alvation by land assume that if—
rural life •could be made more at-
tractive to the young people they
mould stay on the farm." "Once
more it is assured -bre the advocates
-of this theory -that by making agri-
culture sufficiently scientific and
therefore remunerative, the tide
from country- to city would be
checked, if not reversed.
1)r. Strong declares it impossible
tv cheep the tide. "There is abso-
lutely no .escape," he . declares,
".from the conclusion that the in-
cr asixne disproportion between
rural aed urban population must
eontinue. It is useless to spend
time deploring the inevitable, and
worse than useless to shut our eyes
io facts because we do not like
them, C'ertainly there is peril
when civilization is dominated by
a rabble -ruled 'city, but economic
and soeia1 laws will have their way
juot the same: They are as indif-
ferent to any danger which may be
involved in their operation as
gravitation is indifferent , to the.
peril of . stumbling over a preci-
pice.'
Dr, Strong unwarrantably as -
sum. es that the sole cause of the
current is the industrial revolu-
tion. The chief cause of the ex-
cessive depletion of the whole situ-
. ation is the exploitation of that re -
vol otion--which
e-volution-which is the. cause also of
-the city problem.. The industrial
revolution is a pure boon to all.
It's exploitation creates the present
situation in the •city and creates
also the country , situation -the
desert.
Professor Gillette justly,' distin
gui=hes between the fundamental
and incidental forces behind the
drift to the city. The fundamental
force he finds in the industrial re-
volution the incidental forces in
social, eultival, • recreational, and
vocational influences:. The current
due to the latter, he holds, i'nay be
checked by remedial efforts. 'Yet
even he does not discriminate' be-
tween the intrinsic force of the in-
dustrial revoluton and its 'exploita-
tion. • Theformer is as. irresistible
as it is beneficent, the latter as un-
called for as it is evil.
The coming of the modern indus-
trial -world is said to have swept
the country free of all .oeaupations
save agriculture. Yet even in this
process there was exploitation. For
instance, hand-anade harness front
the village shop was both profitable
and in demand, and where the sups
ply 'of suitable leather was cut off
by
wholesale leather houses at the.
behest of the harnees frictories,
The introdueeion of machinery on
the farm is said to have driven off
the abandoned farm folk. Let the
machinery mortgage for .the exces-
sively -priced machinery was the last
straw, to the fannerwith the poorer
soil or fewer .acres.
It. is • said an economic law pre-
vents profitable wheategrowing in
Bxitr in,
New England or Ontario,
Let only the expi itabion of the
'virgin fertility of the prairies is be-
hind that law.
It is said •that scarcity of labor
accounted for the drop-in the num-
ber of cattle in Ontario .a few years
ago. Net the profits of the meat
trust and the decrease in cattle
were in inverse ratio,
When inevitable economic law is
pleaded as indifferent to welfare,
we not only retort with Simondi,
the human economist, against lei-
cardi, the stock -exchange econo-
mist, "What then, is wealth every-
thing ? Is man nothing'? But we
claim that every economic law is
beneficent.' Their exploitation; only
is malign, Such laws explain in
part the eitys growth, but not the
country's waste. Depletion ie un-
natural on fertile ;soil.
Again, economic law has to do
with general wealth, not with indi-
vidual wealth, Exploitation gives
individual fortunes at the expense
of general wealth. A lesser growth
of the city would have been a bene-
fit to the city as a community. The
city will outgrow the country, yet
must the country grow, and make
its own rich contribution to advanc-
ing civilization. :It is time that all
diatribes against the "Back to the
Farm'." movement should cease, We
need to maintain the highway
from the ranks of- agriculture to
professional life and public leader-
ship, but we need to maintain the
"open road" from city to country
as well. That scores of young men
from the cities are now found in
many an agricultural school is a
fact, but a slight indication of what
the near future' will bring.- The
mobility of society cannot be at-
tained while we have a rigid city—
a city whose growth is relieved
only by the barbarous method of.
blood-letting, whose only relief
from increasing congestion is the
death of her trampled ones.
The problem is not only that so
forcibly put by Dr. Strong in his
earlier work, "The New Era,"
namely, "We must therefore expect
the steady deterioration of our
rural population unless preventive
measures are devised. How to de-
vise such measures is the problem
of the country."
Nor is it merely that eo clearly
stated by President Butterfield in
"The Country Church and the Rur-,
al Problem" :. "The rural problem
is to maintain upon our land a
class of people whose status in our
society fairly represents our ideals
industrial, political, social and
ethical."
Civilization must advance to..
wards the final goal of the.Kingdom
of God. In such advance the coun-
try met bear its full part. The
rural problem is not merely to pre-
vent deterioration, not merely to
maintain status, but to advance
civilization. Deterioration there
must be or else advance. Advance
in the city there cannot be of the
country stand still. Rural recon-
struction calls for "the vindicating
our capacity by the test of a rich
rural contribution to, advancing
civilization. .
Precisely what Dr. Strong de-
clares impossible has been
achieved. Denmark has stemmed
the tide and reversed it. During
the eighties so stromigly was the tide
surging toward the city in Den-
mark that while rural population
increased two and one-tenth per
cent. in the decade, the provincial
towns grew by twenty-three per
cent., or eleven times as fast, and
the capital by thirty-five and a half
per ` eent, or seventeen times as
fast. But to -day urban growth in
Denmark is less than 1ialf of what
it had then attained, and rural
growth is almost, seven times what
it had then fallen to. The reversal
of the tide is complete. The rate
of rural growth is now greater than
that of urban growth. During the
past seven years the proportion of
rural to total population has again
risen from sixty to sixty-one per
cent.
But that the cityward tide has
been stemmed is : the best part of
the achievement. A forward step
in world advance has been' taken.
The,Danes have vindicated . their
capaity by a gift to civilization.
The country has been remade:
The soil, naturally poor, has be-
come one of game proactivity, the
sand -dunes have 'been checked and
reforested.' Reade remade,farm-
steads and .hooses rebuilt: Voca-
tional education is an accomplished
fact. .A.griculture has become scien-
tific and efficient. Co-operation has
become universal,. .Country people
areprosperous, contented, cultured
and.altnestic. The nation has been
remade.
Denmark has been uplifted out
of great militarydefeat, out of
debt, out of social disintegiettion.
From being one of the poorest of
oountries'ehe has attained the high-
est diffused wealth of any country
in the world, The reflex advance
in city Iife has been marked..` Den-
mark' has given, to the world the
most signal and original contribu-
tion to education of the past half-
eeetury.
Iter achievement is a ohallen _.ge to
Canada!
Awake, my country! The hour is
great with change !
tinder the m gloo i
gloom *hide now ob-
seures the land,
From ice -blue strait and
Laurentian range•,
To where those peaks our western
hounds cominand,—
A deep voice ' stirs, vibrating in.
men's ears, 4
As though their own hearts:
throbbed that, thunder forth;
A ~sound wherein who hearkens
wisely 'hears
The voice of the desire of this
strong north—
This North whose heart, of fire as
yet knows its desire
Not clearly, btt's dreams and mtir-
mnt};s in the dream, •
The hotel: of dreams is done !, Lo,
on the hills the gleam!
•
It is 'significant that. Denmark's
advance began in her " schools.
Bishop Grunding founded the Folk
High Schools upon the idea of mak-
ing a man master sof his,task, He
held thatedtt,•cation should not bo
giv=en in such a way as not to breed
eontempt for work; but so as to en-
noble .a man's daily toil and height-
en his ability to perform it well:
Blit it is pat' merely such efficien:cy,
in labor that is sought, but patrio-
tic national citizenship and the
highest world -citizenship as well.
"It is the special business of the
High School," says one of Den-,
mark's ablest Folk school teachers,
"to show how we, through union
with Britain and America, are help'-
ed
elp;ed in our . efforts towards" that
higher human development our rade
is striving after."
Teachers of . Canada! It it yours.
to,, arouse such loyal response ,to
the call of the soil and the service
of men in the hearts of the ;boy—
and girl—with cheeks of tan in your
country schools. Our land, our
country, Canada itselfsummons
you, in the great words of Freder-
ick George Scott:
Now, in the dawn of a nation's
manhood, no -w, in the passion=
ate youth of time,
Wide -thrown portals, infinite vi-
sions, splendor of knowledge,.
dreams from afar,
Seas that toss in their limitless
glory, thunder of cataracts,
heights sublime,
Mock us, and dare us, to do and
inherit, to mount up asf eagles,.
to grasp at the star. •
Voice of the infinite eolitude, speak
to us, speak to us, voice of the
mountain and plain,
Give to us dreams which the.
lakes are dreaming, lakes with'
booms all white in• the dawn;
Give us the thoughts of the deep-
browed mountains — thoughts.
that will make .-us strong .to
reign;
Give us the palm which is preg-
nant with action; calm of the
plains when the night is with-
drawn.
God, then, uplift us; God, then,
uphold us; Great God, throw
wider - the bounds of man's
thought;
Gnaw at our heart -strings the
hunger for action ; burns like a
desert the thirst in our soul;
Give us the gold of a steadfast en-
deavor; give us the goals which
our fathers have sought; •-
Tho' we start last in the race- of
• the nations, give us the power
to be first at the goal.
4'
�..
stern
In rural reconstruction the first
goal ''to be placed before us is:
That a satisfactory farm life must
be based upon 'social and economic
justice and opportunity. Exploita
tion must cease. A few fundamen-
tal things may be said first. We
have a right to demand of the. city
that it become the garden city, the.
humane, 'nay, a nursery of ; men
and possessions where men shall
not wither away, but replenish
the earth, so that the city shall no
longer requisition the country's
sons and daughters, but give unto
the, country men as the country
gives mito her. s
Men speak of the high :cost of
living to -day, and blame the fan.-
mer, - but forget the high cost of
farming. That excessive cost is due,
to economic injustice. Many .des-.
cant on the farmer's low plane of
living, and jibe at the farmer; that
low standard is fostered by lack of
economic opportunity. The farmer
is themost of all men"
On the "abstinence" theory of
the rise of capital, his capital.
should be above that of all others.
His fruitful toil, his thrift and
meagre means combined are: proof
of eeonoinic wrong.
The English Socialist, Edith Nese
bit, speaks for: the farmer as well
as the laborer
Food that we make for you,
Money we earn,
dive us, our share of them,
Give us our turn.
Ever a grows rows our demands
Give us our ;share of the wealth of
`our land.
Middlemen, merchants and -batik-
ert+i, wt' make
Out of our lives this new wealth
that you take.
Food thee we make for you,
Money we earn,.
Give ns our shate of diem,
Give us our turn.
But what is the teacher's relation
to thisdemand This most vital rc-
latiort that while economic justice
trust be shown by the farmer him -
Cigarettes are Always Welcome in the Trenches.
Mrs. Gwynine distributing cigarettes to the risen in the trenches, This picture was taken in one of the
trenches a few miles beyond Pervyse, and gives a graphic idea of ahem. Note the snow on the ground
and the wrecked condition -of the surroundings.
self, he must be trained in social
efficiency by the teacher before he
can win for himself 'justice.- He has
everything •else requisite for obtain-
ing justice except social efficiency;
all the power of numbers and all
the vantage of right, So ours it is
to bid him, Antoeus-lake, stand firm
upon his mother . earth and win;
to say to him in the splendid words
of one of the real teachers of our
day in the U.S., Charlote Parkins
Gilman :
"Shall you complain who feed the
world,
Who elothe the world, who house
the world,
Shall you 'complain who are the
world, "
Of what the world. may •do 1
As from this +hour you use your
power
The world must- follow you!
The world's life hangs on your
.xight hand,
Your strong right hand, your skill••
ed right hand;
You hold the whole world in your
hand; .
See to it what you do !
Or dark or light, or wrong or
right;
The world is made by you-!'
To emphasize this demand is; not
to occupy a sordid position, but a
lofty one. It is not to put mone-
tary above moral considerations,
but to claim - for the farmer a share
in that economic justice for all
workers which is one of the fore-
most ethical problems- .of our_ day.
Then rise as ne'er you rose before,
Nor hoped before, nor dared be-
fore;
And showas ne'er was shown be-
fore,
That power lies with you !
Stand all as one till 'night be done,
Believe, and dare, and do l
.One reason why farmers lack so-
cial efficiency is because they have
never learned team -play in youth.
As often as you lead - children to
play together for the !sake of their
side, or their team, you help • on
the cause:
Another reason why farmers lack
social efficiency .ie bec•a,nse they in
youth so little overcome the instinc-
tive aversion towards strangers. It
is when people come together with.
pleasure that they overcome this
aversion, and merge ae to become-
s, community. As often' as you lead
groups from different neighbor-
hoods, to associate, you help on
the day when farmers shall stand'
•all as one till right be done, be-
l1eve and dare and do.
The second goal in rural 'recon-
struction is found in the principle
that a satisfactory .Lenin .life ihust
not only be : based on economic
justice and opportunity, bitt must
also be built up in industrial. and
business efficiency,
Farming does not pay as do other
industries., In the U.S.: country
people are just half of the popula-
tion and' holdjust one quarter of
the nation's wealth: That is,
each person engaged in other` occu-
pations holds on the average just
three times as 'much wealth: as does
each person engaged in aa.grieulture.
For this ,state of things them ,aice
just ttyo general -causes : exploita-
tion of the termer,. and relative effi-
eiency of agriculture. Despite the.
Marvellous advance in the conquest
of disease by;, modern medicine;
nor w'i'sh;' say, retail trading in or
genization, nor with the steel in-
dustryoutput.
Agi'icujture must be made more
efficient by adapting.all. lands to
their fittest uses, by,. conservation
of fertility, by rotation .of crops, by'
control o? weeds and insect pests
and plant diseases, . by better till-
age, • by superior stock, by plant de-
velopment, by' farm management,
by basiness methods, by develop-
ment of markets, by rural :credit.
At this point the problem be-
comes two -fold: the securing of in-
dustrial efficiency through educa-
tion and the securing: of business
efficiency through co-operation.
The 3rd goal is : Adequate and
intrinsic satisfaction of life. A
new - and - better rural life must not
only be based on economic justice
and built up in industrial efficiency
but its satisfaction must be ade-
quate and intrinsic.
To plow eindtsow, and toil and save;
To eke out strength for' bread
and things,
A Iivelihood to gain ? No' more 1
All this is but the drudgery of a
slave. .
Soul was not born to be in bondage
to the clad,: •
It is its bent to rise with all that
laughs and sings,
To fill the world with Love and
Peace, and to restore the Para-
dise of God."
Never again can we leave the old
farms; of worth behind: '
(1). `.Community of Ideals and
Solidarity.
The country community has been
ropes of sand where it should have
been chains of steel.
(2). Joy and pride of Labor.
All good work world has seen has
depended on this. •
(3) Appreciation of, country vai-
nest -
(-).. Of the joy of service.
2nd goal: industrial business effi-
ciency.. -
A satisfaction from life must not
only be based on economic justice
and opportunity, but must 'be built
up in industrial business efficiency.
At this paint 2 fold: The secur-
ing of industrial efficiency through
education and of business efficiency
through co-operation. -
Williaxn Morris; in "Town and
Country."
``In Town let me live, in town ,let
me die,
Tor - in truth, I can't 'relish the
country, not I;
If you must have •n villa in summer
to dwell. ,
O give'•me the ,sweet shady side ,of
Pell-Mell.
,But a ,house is much more to my
taste" than a tree, •
And for groves -0! a good grove
of chimneys for me.
Gerald Massey: •
There is nodearth of kindness
In thisoldworld of ours,
Only, in our blindness
We gather thorns for, flowers.
OutWard, wo are spurning,
Trampling one another,.
Whilst we are idly yearning, .
At the nanie of brother."
Kipling, The City:' •
Royal and Dower -royal, I rho
owner, -
Basis; for Exeliange
He had a drove of dispirited
steeds and paused to give them a
much needed rest, The storekeeper
carne -out and looked them over.
caenaily. .,
• "Want a'. horse ?"
"Guess not.''.
"I'll take it out in goods," said
the ;str:anger. "P11 take it out in
toh,,cco, in fast,"
"Might do ,some business along
those lines," responded thestore-
keeper, "it we kin agree on a ba-
sis."
"What's your basis 1"
"Well, I'll trade you, plug for
plug
51111 DIDN"T KNOW Hurl.
Hubby Hoene from the Trenches
Needed a Bath.
One faithful and anxious woman
has had .a pleasant surprise, says
the London Chronicle. There ap-
peered a man on the doorstep. He
had a horrid growth. of beard, he;
was muddy from. head to heel and';
frogn no outward point of view;
savory. But the woman, after a'
moment's puzzlement, fell on his,
unsavory neck, rejoicing. It was
her husband, home for ten days' l
leave.
Early that morning he had `been
in the trenches. Leave came. By,
tea time he had reached London,.
just as. he was, taking the simplest
means. What he really wanted was
a bath—which he hates abandoning
for six weeks on end -aid .a few
days off. So if you meet a filthy
scarecrow eniergina modestly from
a taxicab, don't be alarmed. Prob-
ably it is a British officer on a hit`
of a holiday.
Roane Aids.
To keep curtains from • blowing
out the windows, conceal thin iron
washers in the bents - and earners.
It will make the curtains hang
evenly and without• constant stir-,
ring in a breeze. • '
If you have any icizi•g left over
after; the cake is• iced, spread it on
buttered crackers and ,sprinkle with
nuts, raisins or dabs of peanut brut-,
ter. •
If the turkey is not very fat,
avoid its ibeing, dry after roasting`
by spreading butter over the out-
side, and baste it frequently while
it is roasting.
Dresses "that have been laid away
in drawers for'•some time often be-
come very much creased,' Hang
them .in front of •the fire for a while
and the ereases• will disappear.
A teakettle should be given.. fre-
quent .bathe, else lime and other
salts will settle on .the .sides. Keep!
an oyster shell in: the kettle to pre-.
vent this.
In .cooking rice, if you with,. to
keep every, grain .separate, eook in
rapidly boiling water, with cover
off' the vessel:
To 'remove stains from, white flan-
nel shirts and . similar things,
smear with equal part of yolk of
egg and glycerine. Leave for an
hour and, wash,.tleni in the Usual
Never throiw sway cake, no twit-
ter how dry, but the next time you
bake a ;custard; slice the- dry cake
on..top just before you ,place it in
the oven, This. makes .a' delicious.
caramel. •
: Bake pastry in a hot oven; this
will expand the air nn, it and 'thus
lighten the flour. Hancd'le ,pastry.as
little and as lightly as possible..
Use rolling pin lightlyand with
even pressure,
Flannelette may be rendered non
inflammable ity rinsing .it after
washing it in .ajum: water. Dissolve
two ounces of alum in a gallon of
cold weterti
?ap tni,ese Women Cheat Old Age.j
Japanese women Intve discovered
the art.of keeping young that is
worth passi–ng along the line: • •In.
Japan se baby is called one year old•
the day he is born, becaws,e her has.
lived in that ve,ar. If he is born ;the
day bef-r-e New Year's ho is two,
years old .in less than 24 hours, The,
women reveeee this; trier, and whhen,
fi daughter iis borne in the latter part
of Decern•ber her bitth isnot an-
nounced until Jonoasy.. This makes
the diffe.renee, •as the child guosys
up, that elle is e0 years old instead,
of 22. •Afton t(ha.t she can knack offs
the .years bo • snit herself, -