6.--What do you reckon among the privileges of living in the country? 7.--Discuss the real optimism you find in the "challenge of the difficult" in country life. 8.--How do you explain the "back-to-the-soil movement" from the cities to suburban and rural villages? 9.--Show how the real "Country Life Movement" differs from this. 10.--Mention some of the early plans for rural welfare in America. 11.--What part have the agricultural colleges had in the Country Life Movement? 12.--When did rural betterment first become a national issue in the United States? 13.--What definite rural needs did President Roosevelt mention in his message to the Country Life Commission? 14.--What special call for rural leadership did this Commission voice? 15.--What do you think about the program for rural progress which the Commission proposed to Congress? 16.--What do you think about the proposal to establish a parcels post? 17.--In what special ways do the farmers' interests need safeguarding? 18.--Make a list of improvements which you consider necessary in the country sections you know the best. 19.--Name as many agencies as you can which are making a better rural life. 20.--On what do you base your faith in the new rural civilization? CHAPTER III THE NEW RURAL CIVILIZATION CHAPTER III THE NEW RURAL CIVILIZATION _Introductory: Rural Self-Respect and Progress_ I. _The Triumph Over Isolation_ Conquering the great enemy of rural contentment. The social value of the telephone. Good roads, the index of civilization. Railroads, steam and electric. The rural postal service. The automobile, a western farm necessity. II. _The Emancipation from Drudgery_ The social revolution wrought by machinery. The evolution of farm machinery. Power machinery on the modern farm. The social effects of lessened drudgery. III. _Increased Popular Intelligence_ New agencies for popular education among the farms. IV. _The New Social Consciousness_ Group loyalty and a true social spirit. V. _The Effect of the New Order on Rural Institutions_ New efficiency in the modern school, church and farm. Rural progress and the providence of God. CHAPTER III THE NEW RURAL CIVILIZATION FACTORS THAT ARE MAKING A NEW WORLD IN THE COUNTRY _Introductory: Rural Self-Respect and Progress_