D 658 
 .C2 P3 
 Copy 1 
 
Iliiiiillliiillll 
 
 021 140 416 4 
 
 Metal Edge, Inc. 2006 RAT. 
 
D 658 
 .C2 P3 
 Copy 1 
 
 'Ih< 
 
 e 
 
 Community 
 
 and the 
 
 Post-war 
 Problems 
 
 By WILLIAM V. COWAN 
 
 CommiMioner of Community Councils of the State 
 
 Council of Defense, and State Director of 
 
 Four Minute Men of California 
 
 The. State Council of Defense 
 
 Sacramento, California 
 DECEMBER 15, 1918 
 
 Oalifornia State Printing GflQco 
 
 Sacramento 
 
 1918 
 
fi. of D. 
 
 JAN 10 1919 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 Ileiv are oiven only a few random thoughts 
 that may tend to emphasize the need of com- 
 munity organization. If they bring forth dis- 
 cussion and other thoughts, then this pamphlet 
 has served its purpose. 
 
 The conununity idea can not he fully described 
 and wholly developed without circumscribing it. 
 Perhaps it is best merely to ])laze a few trees, 
 only pointing out the general direction, and then 
 let the local leaders pioneer their way. 
 
 The conununity is a partnership, and the suc- 
 cess of that partnership depends largely upon 
 the spirit of harmony, of give and take. Every 
 community leader and subleader should read, and 
 read ravenously every available book on social 
 work and communal development, remembering 
 always, liowever, to fit the academical and theo- 
 retical ti> the changing practical conditions. 
 
 (3) 
 
We are on the threshold of a new era of 
 National history. There have been four years 
 of destruction and famine, of bloodshed and 
 human hate. There shall now be many times 
 four years of rehabilitation and construction, of 
 social regeneration, of world-wide comradeship 
 and, if possible, of continued human happiness. 
 
 We have seen tremendous things brought about 
 by organized destruction. We hope now to see 
 what wonderful and glorious results may be ac- 
 complished by organized construction. 
 
 —Heretofore we organized the better to kill 
 men. Henceforth we should organize the better 
 to build men. 
 
 Winning a war requires national organization : 
 but building men requires community organiza- 
 tion. We have been amazed in America at what 
 we have accomplished through organized volun- 
 tary service during the war. There is promise 
 that we shall be equally amazed at what we may 
 accomplish through organized voluntary service 
 during the days of peace. 
 
 Consequently, in California it is proposed to 
 form in every school or community district, a 
 community organization for mutual neighbor- 
 hood welfare, mutual neighborhood betterment, 
 and mutual neighborhood helpfulness. 
 
 (5) 
 
In the days before the war America strode 
 through History somewhat unmindful of the 
 social and economic worries of the world about 
 her. But today not only the nation, not only 
 every state, but even also every community in 
 every state is conscious of the heart-beats, the 
 misery and the political chaos that exist in the 
 former cradles of civilization. Not a single com- 
 munity, no matter how small and no matter how 
 far remote, can heiLeafter claim that it is beyond 
 the influence of the tremendous present interna- 
 tional upheaval. Conversely, it is necessary that 
 every community prepare to exercise its influence 
 during the period of readjustment. 
 
 Without detracting in the least from the brave 
 and glorious work our army and nav}^ performed, 
 yet it may still be said that the industrial worker 
 in the foothills of the Appalachian, the farmer 
 of the plains, the housewife in the Sierras, the 
 children of the cities, proved to be the Kaiser's 
 deadliest foes. The plow^share and the pruning- 
 hook were more potent than the sword. The 
 producers of the Allied nations defeated Prussia 
 before the cannon of the army and navy could 
 beat her into submission. The simple folk be- 
 hind one army line made the world untenable for 
 the kings l^ehind the other army line. 
 
 If it were only to feel the joy of victory, then 
 we might he happy indeed. — But there is the 
 war-wreckage, the awful war-wreekace. 
 
 (6) 
 
And it is this wrei-kage that makes the prob- 
 lems of peace even more serious than the problems 
 of war. Destruction is always much easier than 
 construction. Out of the broken bricks and 
 mortar a new world edifice must be l)uilt, not like 
 the old one, but an edifice that will meet the 
 world's requirements of today. 
 
 And what are those problems? There are the 
 millions of war-torn people across the sea: the 
 millions unfed, the millions without employment, 
 without homes and without immediate hope for 
 the future, and millions that suffered and bled, 
 the widowed millions, the pareutless millions, the 
 childless millions, the millions that have come out 
 of the black tunnels of tyranny and autocracy 
 into the sudden light of national freedom, dazed 
 and stunned and groping about ; the millions who 
 have never until now had a chance to express 
 their innermost thoughts about matters political, 
 social or religious; the millions that have not 
 even been permitted to think overmuch and 
 whose education has been carefully arranged for 
 them, repressed and moulded to suit the whims 
 and the selfish desires of autocracy. 
 
 These millions, friend and foe alike, are now 
 crj^ng to America for sympathy, for food and 
 for general aid. And no matter how selfishly or 
 unselfishly we have lived in the past, today more 
 than ever we are our brother's keeper. The 
 changing times have thrust a responsibility upon 
 America that will be felt in every community. 
 
 (7) 
 
Besides, there is all the other wreckage. The 
 millions of tons of ships and food and supplies 
 that were sunk into the sea. and the millions and 
 millions of tons of shrapnel and guns that per- 
 haps can never again be of material use to hu- 
 manity. All the iron and metals feverishly 
 mined from the earth were poured into Flanders 
 and Picardy. But that does not mean new iron 
 mines will be found there. It only means that 
 Flanders and Picardy are pocked deserts. 
 
 Then, too, are the thousand demolished vil- 
 lages; the acres and acres of ruined vineyards 
 and orchards, the miles and miles of injured 
 canals and highway. 
 
 — But why catalog it all ! 
 
 It is enough to know that it must all be 
 replenished and rebuilt, and that the replenish- 
 ing and the rebuilding are a greater task than 
 the destruction. 
 
 And so also, without likewise cataloging the 
 misery of European humanity, the shell-shocked 
 brains and the shattered hopes, the wild visions 
 of upstart leaders, the social tumult and political 
 disorderliness, it is enough if we but understand 
 that the work of rehabilitation and of readjust- 
 ment of all these things concerns the people of 
 California even more fully and even more ur- 
 gently than did the task of winning the war. 
 This social confusion and this economic disorder 
 concerns even more than we now realize the 
 uttermost community. 
 
 (?) 
 
And so again it may be repeated : It is just as 
 important to organize to construct as it was to 
 organize to destroy. 
 
 Furthermore, over two millions of our men in 
 service will soon return from months of unprece- 
 dented excitement and adventure. Even though 
 without hospital record, many, many of these 
 men possess nerves that are gas-shocked or shell- 
 shocked. It will not be easy for them to change 
 suddenly from an active and thrilling life to the 
 quiet, common, everyday existence of peace and 
 tranquility. We can not expect otherwise. It 
 may take months for many to free themselves 
 from the spirit of restlessness and incessant mo- 
 tion belonging to army life and to become accus- 
 tomed to the change. It is a long way from 
 charging a hidden machine gun through wire 
 entanglements to following a plow or selling 
 shoes. 
 
 And so, in every connnunity we must foster a 
 kindly sympathy and a community parental feel- 
 ing for these men who have gone through His- 
 tory's fiercest furnace. 
 
 But our task does not end there. The world 
 is not going to be the same as it was before the 
 war. Said Lloyd George of England: 
 
 "The democracies of the world are not 
 fighting for the world as it was before 
 August, 1914. They are fighting for a new 
 world. 
 
 (9) 
 
''You can not have the world as it was. It 
 was a libel on Jesus Christ. It was a shame 
 upon His name. This is the land that boasts 
 that it is Christian. It was not. To see men 
 rotting, women and children rotting, in pov- 
 erty, without any sin on their souls except 
 that they were the children of the same 
 Father, that was a libel on Jesus of Nazereth. 
 
 '^We must not have that again. ^Millions 
 of men have not died for a world of that 
 kind." 
 
 In some measure those words can apply to 
 America. We must adjust ourselves to the new 
 order of things in the world. AYe must not only 
 readjust ourselves but we must also join with 
 our neighbors to help them readjust themselves. 
 
 The war has torn open the very heart of 
 autocracy and its traditionary falsehoods. It 
 has opened to view the castle-rooms stocked full 
 with food and delicacies while the plain folk out- 
 side were starving. It has made Prussianism 
 and all that it stands for smell most offensively 
 in the nostrils of the world. More than ever has 
 it made us appreciate the pioneer spirit of 
 America, the spirit of the days of Boone and 
 Clark, the spirit of the days of Forty-nine, — the 
 simple, plain, unaffected, unselfish spirit of 
 straightforward intercourse and straightforward 
 living. 
 
 For a time we were inclined to stray away 
 from that spirit. We were inclined to let it be 
 
 (10) 
 
laid aside during- the great bustle of a century of 
 development. It is for us now to resurrect that 
 spirit and reintroduce it into everyday living. 
 AVe must return, each to his own community, to 
 put it into practical use. 
 
 In California it is proposed to resurrect and 
 preserve this inheritance by organizing perma- 
 nently in every school district a nonpartisan, non- 
 sectarian neighborhood democracy. We shall 
 modernize the old town meeting idea and apply 
 it to every community. The door will be open 
 to every man, every woman and every child. 
 The rich man on the hill will once more discuss 
 community welfare with the poor man in the val- 
 ley — as men created equal and desiring mutually, 
 and in the same neighborhood, to enjo}^ together 
 the blessings of life, liberty and the pursuits of 
 happiness. 
 
 In this manner we hope to mobilize the good 
 things coming out of the war, — especially the 
 spirit of Service and the spirit of Sacrifice — for 
 the general betterment and social advancement 
 not only of every community but also of the 
 world at large. 
 
 We must soon demobilize the war workers but 
 we must never demobilize the Spirit of Service. 
 ''Goodwill toward men" must not be relegated 
 to a mere phrase. 
 
 ai) 
 
What is America ? It is the community multi- 
 plied. We can therefore best glorify the nation 
 by glorifying our own home community. The 
 great commonwealth can never be any more demo- 
 cratic than is the community. 
 
 — And the responsibility for the measure of 
 democracy in the community invariably lies with 
 the individual citizen. 
 
 Therefore, you local leaders, you leaders of 
 community thought, you men and women who 
 read and think, this appeal must be to you. 
 
 It is for you to understand the things that are 
 coming out of the war. 
 
 It is for you to catch the new vision. You who 
 have been perhaps more fortunate, you who have 
 had more opportunity, you who have been blessed 
 with the power more easily to understand — the 
 greater responsibility is yours. 
 
 — You can not close the Book of War and say 
 3^our duty is done. 
 
 — You can not close the Book of Service and 
 say the work is finished. 
 
 — You can not close the Book of Sacrifice and 
 say henceforth you shall be the taker and not the 
 giver. 
 
 Though the fighting be ended the complicated 
 matters of the world are still unraveled. There 
 are murmurs of social discontent that threaten to 
 
 (12) 
 
disturb the foundation of society. You can not 
 shrug your shoulder and pass on disinterestedly. 
 There are misunderstandings between men of 
 business and men of labor. In fact there is a 
 din and clamor all about the earth that sounds 
 like ominous prophecy of unhappy possibilities. 
 
 You can not go back yet to your farm or your 
 office or 3^our books or your club or your kitchen 
 and carelessly toss off your responsibility. 
 
 Yesterday your country called you. But today 
 your Community calls you. The fact that the 
 war is over does not make it less compelling. 
 
 "What shall you do ? There are no paved high- 
 ways ahead. It is for you to help lead your com- 
 munity-host through the social and economic wil- 
 derness, going carefully, choosing wisely, — and 
 looking always for the promised land. 
 
 — The promised land of a more perfect demoe- 
 rac3^ 
 
 — The promised land of greater commercial and 
 industrial development. • 
 
 —The promised land of better social life in the 
 city, better housing conditions, a land where earn- 
 ing a mere living will be less serious and less 
 melancholy. 
 
 — The promised land where the children of the 
 poor may all have an opportunity early to acquire 
 the little courtesies and polished manners as well 
 as the other refinements of taste and culture. 
 
 (13) 
 
— The promised land where mothers and house- 
 wives may have some respite from drudgery, some 
 opportunity to keep in touch with the big world 
 outside. 
 
 — ^The promised land where farming will be 
 made mere enjoyable, more scientific and pajdng 
 better, 
 
 — The promised land where the advantages 
 offered by the various departments of the State 
 and Nation will be brought to the doorstep of 
 every family-. 
 
 — The promised land of greater and more last- 
 ing prosperity, not alone in the aceunmlation of 
 material wealth, but also in the accumulation of 
 knowledge, art, science and all the other good 
 and beautiful things of life. 
 
 — The promised land where every schoolhouse 
 will be a social center, a public forum, a com- 
 munity clubhouse of democracy, where the 
 Spirit of Service will be weekly mobilized for 
 the ''everlasting teamwork of e\'ery bloomiiiLr 
 soul." 
 
 (14) 
 
J^reiiiier Llo^'d George says : 
 
 '*We must have reconstruction when we hav(> 
 the k^ssons of the war fresh in our minds. We 
 must reconstruct when the national limbs are 
 supple with endeavor and l^efore they become 
 stilf with repose and slumber, and you must 
 reconstruct when you see you have behind you 
 the great spirit of patriotism and sacrifice which 
 has been raised from the depths of human nature 
 in every house and every breast in this land. 
 You must reconstruct when you have got behind 
 you the momentum of victory to carry you 
 through to an even greater triumph. That is 
 why the whole field of national enterprise, of 
 national endeavor and national resource and of 
 material well-being is being examined carefully 
 with a view to immediate action before that great 
 spirit grows cold in the frigid atmosphere of 
 self-interest. Let us have it when the nation is 
 riding the chariot of a high purpose ere it comes 
 down to the dusty road. That is the time to 
 reconstruct, that is the time to build ; when there 
 is fraternity throughout the land.'' 
 
 (15) 
 
LlBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 'Teace does not mean that we 
 can fold our hands. ^It means further 
 sacrifice. ^We must prove conclu- 
 sively to an attentive world that 
 America is permanently aroused to 
 the needs of the new era/^ 
 
 —PRESIDENT WILSON 
 en route to France December 8, 1 9 18. 
 
Metal Edge, Inc. 2006 RAT. 
 
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