Rural Progress Waiting for Trained Leadership_

Leadership is the ultimate factor in every life problem. No movement can
rise above the level of its leadership. In many fields to-day, progress
is lagging because of inadequate leadership. This is acutely true in all
phases of rural life. Rural progress is halting for the lack of trained
leadership. The colleges must be held responsible for furnishing it.

The agricultural colleges are rising magnificently to their opportunity
and are striving to keep pace with the demands made upon them for
technically-trained rural leaders. But though some of them double their
enrolment every three or four years they cannot supply graduates fast
enough for the various agricultural professions, quite aside from other
kinds of country life leaders.

All schools of higher education must share the task of training and
furnishing rural leadership. The broadening of country life, and its
rising standards, puts increasing demands upon its untrained leaders which
they are unable to meet. Rural institutions can no longer serve their
communities effectively under the leadership of men lacking in the very
essentials of leadership. Many country communities are demanding now as
high-grade personality and training in their leaders as the cities demand,
and they refuse to respond to crude or untrained leadership. Well-trained
doctors, ministers, teachers, et cetera, have a great chance to-day in the
country, because their _training_ finds unique appreciation for its very
rarity and efficiency; while every profession is foolishly overcrowded in
all cities.

As soon as adequate leadership, well trained and developed, is furnished
our country communities, they will develop a rural efficiency which will
make the rural problem largely a thing of the past. But until then,
progress halts. Leadership is costly. Trained, efficient personality,
ready for expert service is rare and beyond price. The colleges are
lavishly sending it to the cities. The country deserves its share and
patiently presents its claims.

II. Rural Opportunities for Community Builders.

_The Call for Country Educators_

There is little need of emphasizing to college students the opportunities
of the teaching profession. Since 1900 teaching has claimed more graduates
than any other life work. Taking 27 representative colleges as typical,
more than one-fourth of all college graduates become teachers, the
percentage having doubled s