able for this work. But the army of workers in this
field of social service needs two things: first, some definite plan for
cooerdinating their several activities, and, next, some recognised source
of information collected from the experience of the Old and the New
World. It is the purpose of these pages to show that these needs are
real and can be met.

Two obvious questions will here suggest themselves. Why should the
United States--of all countries in the world--be chosen for such a theme
instead of a country like Ireland, where the population depends mainly
upon agriculture? What qualifications has an Irishman, be he never so
competent to advise upon the social and economic problems of his own
country, to talk to Americans about the life of their rural population?
I admit at once that, while I have made some study of American
agriculture and rural economy, my actual work upon the problem of which
I write has been restricted to Ireland. But I claim, with some pride,
that, in thought upon rural economy, Ireland is ahead of any
English-speaking country. She has troubles of her own, some inherent in
the adverse physical conditions, and others due to well-known historical
causes, that too often impede the action to which her best thoughts
should lead. But the very fact that those who grapple with Irish
problems have to work through failure to success will certainly not
lessen the value to the social student of the experience gained. I
recognise, however, that I must give the reader so much of personal
narrative as is required to enable him to estimate the value of my
facts, and of the conclusions which I base upon them.

To have enjoyed an Irish-American existence, to have been profoundly
interested in, and more or less in touch with, public affairs in both
countries, to have been an unwilling politician in Ireland and not a
politician at all in America, is, to say the least, an unusual
experience for an Irishman. But such has been my record during the last
twenty years. Soon after graduating at Oxford, I was advised to live in
mountain air for a while, and for the next decade I was a ranchman along
the foothills of the Rockies. To those who knew that my heart was in
Ireland, I used to explain that I might some day be in politics at home,
and must take care of my lungs. In 1889 I returned to live and work in
my own country, but I retained business interests, including some
farming operations, in the Western States. Ever