Produced by Tom Roch, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images produced by Core Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University) THE RURAL LIFE PROBLEM OF THE UNITED STATES [Illustration: Publisher's logo] THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO THE RURAL LIFE PROBLEM OF THE UNITED STATES NOTES OF AN IRISH OBSERVER BY SIR HORACE PLUNKETT New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1919 _All rights reserved_ COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1910. Reprinted October, 1910; January, 1911; October, 1912; September, 1913; January, 1917. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFATORY NOTE The thoughts contained in the following pages relate to one side of the life of a country which has been to me, as to many Irishmen, a second home. They are offered in friendly recognition of kindness I cannot hope to repay, received largely as a student of American social and economic problems, from public-spirited Americans who, I know, will appreciate most highly any slight service to their country. The substance of the book appeared in five articles contributed to the New York _Outlook_ under the title "Conservation and Rural Life." Several American friends, deeply interested in the Rural Life problem, asked me to republish the series. In doing so, I have felt that I ought to present a more comprehensive view of my subject than either the space allowed or the more casual publication demanded. I have to thank the editors of the _Outlook_ for the generous hospitality of their columns, and for full freedom to republish what belongs to them. HORACE PLUNKETT. THE PLUNKETT HOUSE, DUBLIN, April, 1910. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE SUBJECT AND THE POINT OF VIEW PAGE The subject defined--A reconstruction of rural life in English-speaking communities essential to the progress of Western civilisation--A movement for a new rural civilisation to be proposed--The author's point of view derived from thirty years of Irish and American experience--The physical contrast and moral resemblances in the Irish and American rural problems--Mr. Roosevelt's interest in this aspect of the question--His Conservation and Country Life policies 1 CHAPTER II THE LAUNCHING OF TWO ROOSEVELT POLICIES