Community Civics and Rural Life

by Arthur William Dunn

THE "NATIONAL SERVICE ARMY" OF PRODUCERS

A few days after war was declared against Germany, the President made an appeal to his fellow producers countrymen, in which he said:

It is evident to every thinking man that our industries on the farms, in the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be made more prolific and more efficient than ever and that they must be more economically managed and better adapted to the particular requirements of our task than they have been; and what I want to say is that the men and women who devote their thought and their energy to these things will be serving the country and conducting the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and just as effectively as the men on the battlefield or in the trenches. The industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a great national, a great international Service Army,—a notable and honored host engaged in the service of the nation and the world … Thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable to military service will of right and necessity be excused from that service and assigned to the fundamental, sustaining work of the fields and factories and mines, and they will be as much part of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under fire.

He then appealed directly to every kind of worker in the country, and to the farmers he said:

The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which we are cooperating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. … Without abundant food … the whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail … Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure, rests the fate of the war and the fate of nations. Let me suggest, also, that every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations; and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself in the ranks of those who serve the nation.

The nation needs the productive work of each citizen in time of peace as truly as in time of war, although when it is not fighting for its very life it is more tolerant of those who do not contribute efficiently by their work to the common good. It carries them along somehow. But such members of the community are a burden and a source of weakness at all times. Therefore, for example, there are in most of our communities laws against vagrancy; that is, against willful and habitual idlers "without visible means of support," such as beggars and tramps.

PROBLEM OF THE UNEMPLOYED

There are times when many men are "out of work." In times of business depression the number may become very great, while in prosperous times the number dwindles; but always there are some. It is often through no fault of their own; it is another result of the imperfect adjustment of our community life. It often happens that while large numbers of men are unable to find work in industrial centers, the farmers may be suffering for want of help. This may be merely because there is no way by which to let workmen know where they are needed, or of distributing them to meet the need. Or, many of the unemployed may be unskilled, while the demand is for skilled workmen; or they may be skilled in one line, while the demand is in another line. Whatever the causes, the "problem of the unemployed" is one of the most serious that the community has to deal with. During the war the national government sought to overcome these difficulties by the organization of an employment service in the Department of Labor, and state and local communities established employment bureaus.

Who have been some of the builders of your own community by reason of their business life? Explain.

So far as you have observed, what boys have been most successful after leaving school—those who make it a practice to do all they can for their employers, or those who have tried to do the least possible?