Excerpt from The Rural Problem of the Church

The main point I wish to make to-day is that the so-called Rural Problem is not just another, but is the problem of our church for the present day. It is practically the only question before us which has a right to be called a problem; for the satisfactory settlement of this question will carry with it, to a large extent, the settlement of all questions, whether in church or state. No other question so well deserves the careful study and thought of this Presbytery, and my'one regret about to day's conference is that we have not some one in my place, with the exact knowledge of an expert, and the voice of a prophet, to set before us the cause of the rural dweller and convince us of the opportunity and danger of the time. If any proof of the importance of the rural problem were re quired, it is furnished by the fact that a National Conference on the subject was held in Columbus, Ohio, last December, attended by delegates from all parts of the United States, and opened by President Wilson in person. Ex-president Roose velt said some time ago that with the single exception of the conservation of our natural resources, which underlies the problem of rural life, there is no other material question of greater importance now before the American people. What is true of'the United States is-true of Canada. This is our first and greatest domestic problem, overlapping or including practically all others. It is, of course, nothing new in the world; exploitation of rural populations has been a primarycause of national instability since the beginning of history. Nor is the question one that concerns farmers and country ministers alone. The city is as much concerned in the social welfare of the rural population as are country people them selves. The city is in fact largely a product of the country. Genius is rarely born in the city, and probably nine-tenths of the nation's influential leaders come from the farm. I suspect that the city derives from the country half its brains, two thirds of its wealth and three-quarters of its character.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.