toward them? He _may_
ignore them; but we assume that he will seek to work with them and to
use them for the greater glory of God. He must then recognize them,
encourage them, and co-operate with them. To do this successfully he
must first be a student of sociology; he can then well afford to
meditate upon the possibilities of making his church in some measure a
social-service church or at least of making of himself a social-service
pastor; he can work for church union at least on sociological lines; and
finally he can do his best to secure an active federation of all the
forces involved in the rural problem.

CHAPTER XIII

A SUMMARY OF RECENT PROGRESS

In some respects the most notable recent advance in rural matters
consists in the improved means of communication in rural districts. The
country is relatively isolated, and it is this isolation in its extreme
forms that is the bane of country living. Undue conservatism, lack of
conformity to progressive views, undue prominence of class feeling, and
a tendency to be less alert are things that grow out of this isolation;
but better means of communication decrease these difficulties, and the
last few years have seen a remarkable advance in this respect. For
instance, the rural free mail delivery system is only ten years old, and
yet today there are more than twenty-five thousand routes of this
character in the United States serving possibly twenty million people
with daily mail, a great proportion of whom before had very irregular
mail service. Results are patent and marked. Time is saved in going for
mail; market reports come daily; farmers are more prompt in their
business dealings; roads are kept in better shape; there is an
increased circulation of papers and magazines. Thus the farmer is in
closer touch with affairs and much more alert to business opportunities,
to political activities, and to social movements. The circulation of
daily papers in country districts has increased at a marvelous rate. The
amount of letter-writing has increased. Rural delivery of mail arouses
the spirit of "being in the world." Its results have been almost
revolutionary.

So, too, the rural telephone. Recent investigation in the states of
Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana showed that out of 200,000 subscribers to
the independent telephone companies of those states about one-sixth were
in farm homes. A few years ago, hardly a telephone could be found in a
farmer's family. This busine