RURAL SCHOOLS AND THE
SPIRIT OF CO-OPERATION
Interesting Article Taken From Jul) Number of
Carlson's Rural Review Co-operation Necessary
in Conduct of America's Rural Schools.
(By O. L. Carlson)
It la characteristic of the Ameri
can people to want to do unnatural
things. If they are filled with the
uplrlt of progress, they will attempt
to force progress. It they believe
cooperation will prove helpful to
them, cooperation will be forced to
the limit, only to find later that
something has been left undone; or
Is wanting, to make cooperation a
auccess. If reform of any kind be
comes the popular thing, all are In a
hurry to Institute the reform, never
.seriously thinking about the funda
mental principles Involved, or that
which makes the reform so desira
ble. It is this want of serious thot,
the want of careful Investigation,
causing us to jump from one extreme
to the other that makes real prog
ress so slow and uncertain in this
country.
Just at present we are more or
less mad about cooperation. We send
commissions to Europe to study co
cperation as practiced in various
countries there. These commissions
And that cooperation is a success in
Europe: they return to their homes
and talk of its many advantages to a
community of producers, and recom
mend it to their fellows and neigh
bors. Being more or less in dis
tress, like the drowning man grasp
ing at straws, we jump into coopera
tion, but we still fall to cooperate.
It is easy for most Europeans to
work together and cooperate in all
their activities; It is a most difficult
task to find a community of farmers
in this country who will cooperate
la anything. Why? We are all
agreed that cooperation is a mighty
good thing for those engaged in any
industry, yet we find it a moBt diffi
cult thing to do to find any consider
able number of farmers in a com
munity who will get together and
cooperate. Why this dlffreence In
the people of Europe as compared
with our own? There must be
something more than the difference
f race or climate or government to
account for this; there must be
something more fundamental, more
elemental in community develop
ment than appears on the surface, to
account for such a difference In spir
it and desires as regards cooperative
principles and activities. It shall be
the purpose of this article to investi
gate, and, if possible, to learn why
the American is so slow to unite with
his fellows in cooperation.
It may be well to inquire If there
is not something in our civilization
that is destructive of the spirit of co
operation? It may not be improper
to ask whether or not society is so
Instituted in this country that self
ishness has been developed at the ex
pense of helpfulness? It cannot be
aald that the American, as such, is
Inherently more selfish than other
peoples, especially if we take him as
he was in this country fifty or more
years ago.
In the early settlement of this
country, without reference to the
section in which settlement and de
velopment were In operation, the
spirit of cooperation was in evidence
cn every hand. If a new settler
wished to build a house, the neigh
bors would unite and build the house
of age who cannot recall many such
acts. It Is known to all older per
sons that cooperation was the rule In
this country during its early devel
opment, just as It is now the excep
tion. It may be said, then, that our civ
ilization has something in it that is
destructive of the spirit of coopera
tion. What this is should be of In
terest to all who are interested in
any phase of cooperation. It will,
more likely than not, be found that
there are several forces at work, all
more or Icbs destructive of the spirit
of cooperation.
One of these forces is the city. In
no other country has the city been
developed along the same lines as in
this. In other countries cities have
been the result of natural growth,
Just as the country districts support
ing them have developed. In other
countries the cities have developed
because there was a place and a need
for them in the economics of the
country, while here they have pre
ceded the rural development. Let
a railroad build thru a new and un
settled section of this country and
towns will spring up as if by magic,
waiting an opportunity to harvest
the harvester, even before the Bod is
broken. This is now and has been
true of the settlement of all western
sections of this country. Towns
grew up where there was no need of
them, and the surrounding country
has been taxed In one way or anoth
er to support these towns. Every
producer has been made to feel this,
to realize that to a very large extent
the town waB waiting for his crop,
his all. When a man who is looking
for a free home ina new country
steps off a train, only to meet sever
al ready to show him a "vacant"
piece of free land at a high price for
their services; where he is made to
pay extortionate rates and prices for
everything he is compelled to use or
buy, he would, indeed, be a stupid
sort of a man who had any of the
spirit of cooperation left in him by
the time his last dollar had been tak
en from him.
Then, too, towns have not as a
rule been built with a view to serv
ing the country around them. More
often than otherwise they have been
built in the very worst place for such
service. Instead of having been lo
cated with a view to giving the best
service to the country around them,
they have been located with a view
to enriching someone by the sale of
town lots. It is anything and every
thing but service to a community
that is responsible for the existence
of the modern American town. Serv
ice is never thot of, unless it be serv
ice which will enrich a few at
expense of the many.
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Figure 2. Map of name county nhowlnit Hrlimtl diNtrlt'U organized on a
plan that liu-ream the average size of district, and reduce the average
walking distance. TIiI.h lan gives to enrli nine mtIIoiim, with tlie bound
aries runniug thru tlie renter of the section.
country folks. The wants of the
rural communities are now better
supplied than ever before, but the
fact remains that the most vital
needs of a people have not been sup
plied by the towns, such as a whole
some social condition, education and
the like. The amusements, if any,
have been such as would yield a prof
It to those who controlled them. It
never occurred to those responsible
for community growth, that whole
some amusements were as necessary
to a community us a water supply or
fire protection. Instead of being a
community matter, and placed upon
a free community basis, amusements
have been sold as other commodities
are Bold.
The church, too, must bear its
share of the failure to develop a spir
it of - cooperation. When church
people quarrel over such trifling
matters as the amount of water to be
used in baptism, there is small
chance of getting them together in
the larger fields of cooperation. Just
to the extent that the spirit of co
operation has been neglected in our
scheme of civilization, just to that
extent the people have lost interest
in the church and all church work.
Every minister in America who
speaks frankly on the subject says
the one big church problem of the
present is to maintain a membership
interest in church work. Unless the
Protestant churches can bury their
small differences and get together in
all the work for bettering humanity,
they will all be burled together. The
people are fast losing confidence in
a religion, the philosophy of which
Is so little understood that no two
persons can agree concerning it.
The development of the prairie
states has had something to ao in de
stroying the soirlt of cooDeratlon. In
theiBettline and develoninK the timber
Cooperation sections, progress was very Blow. It
Quite often we hear a person say
that cooperation Is very popular in
rural Europe, and they cannot un
derstand why it is so different here.
Such persons fall to seo the underly
ing principles involved, causing Eur
opeans to favor cooperation while
we oppose it. In Europe most farm
era do not live on their land, but in
rural villages. In these rural cen
ters every want and need of the
community life can be supplied. The
school, church (one mind you, and
not several), bank, store amuse
ments, and every other community
need will be found in this village. It
is not necessary for a person In this
community to leave It for anything
necessary to the community life. In
this country our social and govern
mental systems have been so Insti
tuted that one Is often compelled to
go long distances to supply himself
with many wants, and those vital to
the community life are the ones most
likely to be wanting.
The rural school In this country
has had more to do in destroying the
spirit ct cooperation ttaa all else.
Our rural schools have never been in
touch with rural life. They teach
city ideals rather than the Ideals of
the country, and more often than
otherwise the teacher Is from the
city rather than the country. Our
text books are all simply ideal for
training rural youth to be dissatis
fied with rural life. Not a single
text book used in the rural schools
of this country is In harmony with
rural life. What rihgt have we then
to even expect our youth to develop
in harmony with their surroundings.
or that a spirit of cooperation could
be developed under such circum
stances? Man is largely what he is
can never oe successfully built on required years to clear a small farm
BUCn a IOUnaailOn. nt ita llmhor rrnwth. cnt mtmh of
The modern American town does the work was of a nature that re-
not as a rule serve tne district in quired more than one man to do it
wnicn lr is locaiea ai an. out ratner successfully. The develoDment of
compels the surrounding country to the prairie regions was easy by corn-
serve 11. me average town nas naa parison. Men began to do things on
but one motive for Its existence, that a larger scale, and the advent of the
of profit, and this profit must come modern machinery which followed
from the producers of the commun- made it possible for one man to do
Ity. These producers have been a much could be done bv several
charged the last cent for which they hn a country covered by timber. This
developed a spirit of independence
that has been neither good for the
individual nor the community. While
many farmers boast of their inde
pendence, their independence is ap
parent and not real. There is not a
class of persons bo dependent upon
others, in this or any other country.
as the farmres of this country. U?
to within the past two years, there
was nothing the farmer could do
without the help of others. Every
article of necessity to him was made
by someone else, and sold to him by
still another. He has bad no voice
in the price at which he has sold his
own product. He has bad no voice
in the price charged htm for all he
has had to buy. He has been financ
ed by others when be needed more
capital, and he has paid the interest
rate charged him, willingly or un
willingly it mattered not. In our
system of economics he has been
what the child is In our family sys
tern always suoject to a higher will
with no right to voice an opinion of
his own. This is anything but in
dependence, yet the farmer has been
made to believe that he was the
most independent of characters,
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rlrts thruout the state. It will be
notired that In some of the smallest
districts some of the children are
compelled to walk three miles. There
Is every reason to believe that the
men responsible for such school dis
tricts had no conception of child val
ue, and rather believed that land is
more valuable than the future citiz
ens of our state.
Figure 2 will show the same coun
ty organized according to a system.
This gives nine sections to a district,
and In no case will a child have to
walk quite two miles. Such an or
ganization of a county Into school
districts makes the districts smaller
than necessary, since It is possible to
give each district 16 sections without
Increasing the average walking dis
tance. In figure 2 the district boun
daries are made up of center-section
lines. Instead of section lines as at
present. This does away with the
necessity of sending children to dif
ferent schools who live but 100 feet
apart, and with only a roadway be
tween them. This system of organ
izing districts makes for economy,
since, including the towns, It makes
64 districts do the work of 82 as at
present organized.
The difference between our pres
ent want of any system, and the sys
tem shown at figure 2 will be the
better understood if the reader will
study and carefully compare figures
3 and 4. At figure 3 may be seen
the ordinary four-section district,
such as Is the rule in Iowa under the
township-unit plan which is In force
there. In all such districts the sec
tion line, or highway, la the district
or sub-district boundary, and the
children living on the two sides of
as compared with the pran in preaeoA
use. Under our present plan tltfas
district requires 128 acres to giro K
the necessary roads, while under tbo
plan as shown In figure S but 81.8
acres are required to give It a com
plete and nearly perfect road or
tern. This saving would give to Ms
district a free farm of 39.2 acres for
educational purposes. Not only bare
our school districts been organize
without purpose, but our roads ha
all been built for the express r
pose of taking ua away from ear
community centera, rather than to
them. Every scheme of government
in this country is against the boot
rural community life, and In favor
of the larger cities. Alt roads am
built for the sole purpose of coaxing
farmers to visit the towns and spe4
their money there. There has acr
er berore been printed a plan or
scheme of developing rural centos
along scientific lines. In fact, rosr
little tbot has been given the subject.
The one great big scheme of Amort
ca la to devise plana for encouragfac
producers to part with their moncr.
No tbot has been given concerninc
the citizen of the future, and In tfelo
fact we find the answer to the eft
repeated question, why do we make
progress so slowly?
Let us make a careful study of
figure 5 before wc lay It aside. Lot
us suppose such a rural district tw
isted in Nebraska or any other Am
erican state, consisting as thia doe
of 16 sections and having a similar
road scheme. Then let ua auppooo
thia district owned 40 acres of IaasT
upon which the school was founded;
that it owned a few choice individ
uals of the various breeds of Irre-
the highway must attend different stock needed in the district; that
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Figure 4. Man of a nine-section school district with ooandarieo ruaiaff
thru tlie renter of sections on all sides. This gives an area two and cos
fourth greater than In figure 8, with the same maximum walking iHst
mce. This plan reduces school cost by little more than hoJr, bnelocai
zlving giving better service. It is a long step toward the- raral social so
r, but may be Improved upon as shown In figure 5. I
schools. In all auch districts child
ren must walk up to two miles to
reach the achool houae. At figure 4
may be Been a nine-section district
by reason of environment and train-1 the boundaries running thru the cen-
Ing. If we place him in an environ-! ter of the section. Thia givea two
ment where the air he breathes nour-jand one-fourth more area, or land
lanes bis inherent selfishness, and I for taxation to support th eschool,
then train him for self and to doubt I and yet no child has to walk any far-
the honesty and sincerity of others, Ither than in the four-section district
there will be small chance of 'level-1 with the boundaries In the highways.
oping a f-p'rlt of cooperation. I By auch a system of organizing
Of all the stupid things the Amer-1 school districts two Important things
ican has done, he has never done I are accomplished, a lower per capita
anything quite so stupid as in the I cost, and the first step toward a so-
organlzation of our rural achool dis-lcial center and cooperation.
trlcts. In no way could our rural
school districts be organized to de
feat the purpose for which they were
organized so well as they now do in
the way we have organized them.
The chief purpose of organizing
school district is to serve the largest
number at the lowest cost in money
and effort, and yet we have reversed
this principle and organized our rur
al school districts to serve the small
est possible number, at the highest
possible cost in both money and ef
fort. All thru Nebraska, as well aa
in every other state, we will seel
children living within 100 feet of I
each other, and only a road between
them, and the two seta of children
attending different schools. If child
ren that are neighbors and chums
are not permitted to attend the same
school, how In the name of common
sense is the spirit of cooperation to I
be developed In them?
Why ao little Intelligence has been
exercised In the organization of our
rural school districts we have no way
of knowing. That there has been
no intelligence used in thia work will
be plainly evident If a study of fig
ure 1 of thia article be made. Thia
figure represents the school districts
of Madison county. Nebraska, and
differs 1 nno essential from the man
ner of organizing rural school dlst-
thls center there waa sot only an Ag
ricultural high achool, bat a charts.
bank, store; a place for while
amusements and where every
omic and social want ot the comma
lty could be supplied. Dee any oao
doubt that a healthy spirit of coop
eration would develop under a oca.
condltiona? Again, doea anyone few
lleve for a minute that In auch
community, and under auch condi
tions, there would ever bo any dif
ficulty experienced In keeping the
young people In the cowntr yas farm
ers? la not the future of agriee
ture worth a little ot our time for a
Id 6 j Ns. I ' (3
f ; ir i
UMirarM 1 . Hchool district man of Madison connty, Nebr. Note the uneven
And Irregular shapes of many districts. Also the fact that In some of the
smaller districts some of the pupils must walk nearly three miles. In no
.district has any consideration been given the saving or ume ana casn.
lor him. It was the same if the
seed was for a barn, a new field to
be cleared, or a crop to be barvest-
ed. Very few things of any Im
portance were done by one man dur
ing the early development of all aec
ciona of thia country. It a thing of
Importance, or one requiring much
labor, waa to be done, all able-bodied
men in the community turned out to
do it. The writer haa in mind a
time before the civil war. when the
home of a family in aoutheastern Io
wa was destroyed by fire. Smoke
was still rising from the burned re
mains of that home when the entire
neighborhood for miles-around turn
ed out to build a new home for this
family. In three daya the family
waa nicely located in us new bou,
little the worse for Us loss. There
.are few persons living In thia coun
try that are now fifty or more yeara
will stand on all their purchases;
they have been made to pay an In
terest rate that no productive indus
try can live under; and if the town
chanced to be a county aeat many
political schemes were incubated, re
sulting in high taxes but giving no
adequate service in return. Aa an
illustration of what ia meant by thia
last sentence, thousands of dollars
have been spent by counties for
bridges, and yet some of these coun
ties have not a safe bridge inside
their boundaries. From 83,000 to
86,000 each has been spent for
thousands of steel bridges that have
little or no value, while half the
money would have built a re-lnforc
ed concrete structure that would en
dure for ages.
11 IZ
Figure 5. Map of Ideal rural echo ol district. Similar districts are C
rule in all countries except this. TbJ a map drawn to conform to our r
I taugular survey system, which la un known In Europe. Such a district !
eludes 10 sections with a maximum walking distance or not mocn
than two mllec In such a district th e school cost la reduced to the mis
mum, with service unexcelled. Road cost also reduced, bealdea aiding: aw
the social center idea by making the center of the district easily aa
quickly accessible, and doing away with all roads not needed In rearhtnaj
the school. Under the present system 128 acres are occupied in moon,
while under the above system It reo ulree but 68.8 acres to give the dm
rict a perfect road system, a sufilcie ut saving to give the district SttJtV
acres for educational use.
At figure 5 an ideal rural achool
I district la shown. The writer haa
seen scores of similar districts in
Europe and also in Costa Rica. This
has been changed in the drawing on
ly to the extent that It might con
form to our system of surveys. In
Europe there are few straight roads,
most of them following curves rather
than angles. With our rectangular
system of surveys, roads are more
often straight than otherwise. Fig
ure 5 was drawn to represent a six-
teen-section district, with the school
Figure 8. Map of sub-district unde r Iowa plan. This gives four sections In the center, and all roads built for
Towns and cities are now doing! to each school, with a maximum wal king distance of two miles. This Is I the one purpose of reaching thia
more to bring about a better under- the most expensive system ever devls ed, and one that gives the poorest I center In the shortest possible dls
standing between their own and service. Iloundary line In center of roads. Itance. This plau saves 88-2 acres
study of this subject? Ia not the fa-
ture rural citizen worth more than
the land required to develop himf
If these two questions are to be giv
en a negative answer, we may aa
well cease all effort toward perfect
Ing a better and higher civilization.
By the use of proper intelligence,
the average county of sixteen town
ships can be reorganised into thirty
six school districts, each so organis
ed that it would develop ita own cen
ter, and in which the average walk
ing distance for pupils would be lee
than under the present plan. Sue)
a plan would be in the direction ot
(Continued on Page Four.)