The sane emotionalism of American public opinion--Gifford Pinchot as the Apostle of Conservation--His test of national efficiency--Mr. James J. Hill's notable pronouncements upon the wastage of natural resources--The evolution of the Conservation policy--Historical and present causes of national extravagance--The Conference of Governors and their pronouncement upon Conservation--Mr. Roosevelt's Country Life policy--His estimate of the lasting importance of the Conservation and Country Life ideas--The popularity of the Conservation policy and the lack of interest in the Country Life policy--The Country Life Commission's inquiries and the reality of the problem--The need and opportunity for reconstruction of rural life 17 CHAPTER III THE ORIGIN AND CONSEQUENCES OF RURAL NEGLECT The origin of rural neglect in English-speaking countries traced to the Industrial Revolution in England--Effect of modern economic changes upon the mutual relations of town and country populations--Respects in which the old relations ought to be restored--Three economic reasons for the study of rural conditions--The social consequences of rural neglect--The political importance of rustic experience to reënforce urban intelligence in modern democracies--The analogue of the European exodus in the United States--The moral aspects of rural neglect--The danger to national efficiency of sacrificing agricultural to commercial and industrial interests--The happy circumstance of Mr. Roosevelt's interest in rural well-being 35 CHAPTER IV THE INNER LIFE OF THE AMERICAN FARMER Reasons why the rural problem resulting from urban predominance exists only in English-speaking countries--Neglect of farmer more easily excused in the United States than elsewhere owing to his apparent prosperity--Country Life Commission's pronouncement on rural backwardness--Why the matter must be taken up by the towns--A survey of American rural life--The problem economically and sociologically considered in the Middle West--Causes and character of rural backwardness in the Southern States--The boll-weevil and the hookworm as illustrations of unconcern for the well-being of rural communities--The problem in the New England States not typically American--The progressive attitude of some communities in the Far West in rural reform 57 CHAPTER V THE WEAK SPOT IN AMERICAN RURAL ECONOMY