t would be
put. These persons must be men and women of the town in whose judgment
the people have full confidence. Regular expenses should be met by
annual payments, as the Young Men's Christian Association is sustained
in cities all over the country, and by occasional entertainments. A
limited endowment fund would be helpful, but too large endowment tends
to pauperize a local institution.

171. =Intellectual Stimulus.=--The second task is to put the community
house to use. There are numerous ways by which this can be done, but
the best are those that fit local need. Of all the needs the greatest
is stimulus to thought. Ideally this should come from the pulpit of
the rural church, but its stimulus is usually not strong, it is
commonly confined to religious exhortation, and it reaches only a few.
All the people of the community need to think seriously about their
economic and social interests, and to be drawn out to express
themselves on such subjects. The old-fashioned town meeting provided a
channel for such discussion once a year. What is needed is a
town-meeting extension through eight or nine months of the year. The
community house offers an opportunity for such an extension. Under
the initiative and guidance of one or two energetic local leaders,
inspired by an occasional outside lecturer, such as can be obtained at
small expense from agricultural colleges and other public agencies,
almost any American community ought to carry on a forum of public
discussion for weeks, taking up first the most urgent questions of
community interest and passing on gradually to matters of broader
concern.

172. =Social Satisfaction.=--As the adults of the community need
intellectual stimulus, so the young people need social satisfactions.
The salvation of the American rural community lies largely in the
contentment of the young people, for without that quality of mind they
leave the country for the town, or settle back in an unprogressive,
unsocial state of sullen resignation. There must be opportunity for
recreation. The community house should function for the entertainment
of its constituency in ways that approve themselves to the associates
in charge. But it is not so much entertainment that is wanted as an
opportunity for sociability, occasions when all the youth of the
community can meet for mutual acquaintance and the beginnings of
courtship, and for the stimulus that comes from human association. If
association and activity