Toward the 20th Century 面向20世纪
By the late 19th century, rural citizens were becoming very uneasy about the country’s direction. Although paeans to country life continued unabated from rural and urban writers, people living in rural areas believed that they were being left behind politically, economically, and culturally by the increasingly powerful urban centers. Agricultural wealth as a percentage of national wealth dropped from nearly 40 percent in 1860 to barely 16 percent in 1900. Moreover, when the Bureau of the Census noted the closing of the frontier in 1890, it seemed that the long era of cheap land for new farmers had finally ended. As farmers’ numbers declined after the Civil War, they began to regard themselves as an interest group with unique demands. Postwar farm groups such as the Grange, the Farmers' Alliances, and the Populists searched for ways to keep farming economically viable in this new world. One popular response was the founding of cooperatives to pool buying and selling by individual farmers and to eliminate middlemen. Though some cooperatives were successful, many others failed from inexperienced management. To many farmers, the answer lay in politics--in supporting a variety of regulatory and macroeconomic reforms and, in some cases, running farm candidates independent of the major parties. The two most persistent demands were for the regulation of railroads and grain elevators and for inflationary currency policies, such as the free coinage of silver. Other ideas in the air were for postal savings banks to expand rural credit, the breakup of monopolies and trusts, new tax policies to lessen the dependence on property taxes, and even a plan for government warehouses to enable farmers to borrow against their crops while waiting for the market to rise-- a concept that finally found expression in the price support policies of the New Deal in the 1930s.7 十九世纪末期，农村居民对美国的发展方向深感不安。虽然来自乡村和城市的文人们仍然在书写着渲染田园生活的颂歌，但农村居民越来越感到，他们在政治上、经济上、和文化上被崛起的城市中心抛到了后面。农业财富占整个国家财富的比例从1860年的40%跌到1900年的16%。更重要的是国家统计局在 1890指出的“消失的边界（译者：1890 F.J. Turner提出美国疆土扩张已经结束。这成为美国发展的一个转折点。参见这里）”，标志着之前一个很长的廉价获得土地的时期似乎到了终结。随着美国内战后农民数量的减少，农业人口逐渐形成了一个有特殊需求的利益集团。内战后出现的一些组织，如“庄园（Grange）”、“农民联盟（Farmers' Alliances）”和“平民主义者（Populists）”，都在谋求农业如何在新世界的经济中生存下去。一个普遍的做法是建立合作社，集中个体农民的买、卖行为，并以此消除中间环节。尽管少数合作社取得了成功，大多数由于缺乏管理经验而失败。对于大多数农民来说，答案来自政治－－支持一系列相关规章和宏观经济改革；同时，在有些情况下支持独立于主要政治党派的农业候选人竞选。两个最强烈的要求是对铁路和谷物仓库的规范管理，以及通货膨胀政策，比如 “银币自由铸造（free coinage of silver）”。其他被讨论的还包括要求邮电储蓄银行（Postal savings bank）增加农村信贷、打破垄断和托拉斯、降低对产业税依赖性的新税收政策、甚至由政府建立一个粮库，农民可以在等待市场回升时从中借粮（译者：不是很清楚这里的逻辑）－－这一概念最终在1930年罗斯福新政的价格支持政策中体现出来。
This new interest by farmers in government policies came at a time when Americans were rethinking their views of the proper role of government in the economy. Rural people were by no means the only ones worried about the future of America. Industrialization had come at a high cost--urban slums, poorly paid labor, dangerous working conditions, monopoly control of a number of key industries, disregard for the environment, and extremes of wealth and poverty that contradicted the United States' reputation as a land of opportunity. Toward the end of the 19th century, a number of rural and urban reformers, today termed Progressives, called for a great expansion of government activity at all levels to regulate monopoly enterprises in the public interest, improve working conditions, abolish child labor, and establish standards of public health, among many other things. Disgust with political corruption, along with the growing complexity of public affairs, caused many Americans to oppose the old political patronage system by which many government jobs were filled on the basis of party loyalty. Instead, reformers put their faith in experts with specialized skills. They believed that the methods of science could be applied not only in the laboratory but also to society. In short, the country was ready for major change led by governments at all levels. 农民对政府政策的关注，恰与美国人民反思政府在经济中应起到的作用向吻合－－不仅仅是农村居民在担忧美国的未来。工业化带来了高昂的代价－－城市中的贫民窟、极廉价的劳动力，危险的工作环境、核心产业被垄断、对环境保护的忽视，以及极度的贫富悬殊使得美国作为“机会之地”的美誉名不副实。19世纪末，一批今天被成为“进步人士（Progressives）”的农村和城市的改革者，提出政府应该在各个层面扩大其职能，约束与公共利益行业相关的垄断企业、改善工作条件、禁止童工、建立公共健康标准、等等。出于对政治腐败的憎恶，以及公共事务越来越复杂化，很多美国人开始反对陈旧的、任人唯亲的政治体系－－当时，很多政府部门的职位任免由对政治党派的忠诚度来决定。改革者们则把希望寄予具有专业知识的专家。他们相信科学的方法不仅可以适用于试验室，也可以适用于社会。简而言之，由政府领导的、在整个国家各个层面的变革势在必行。
In 1900, rural America stood near the end of an era. The population shift to the cities was irreversible. “Rural” still meant mostly farm in 1900 (65 percent of the rural population) and the number of farms would not plateau until the 1910s (fig. 2).8 But in the future, the problem would be decline rather than too-rapid growth. While the cities were growing dynamically and becoming more diverse from the influx of foreign and rural immigration, the countryside was maturing into a more homogeneous and stable society. Even in newer western towns, population turnover slowed. In the words of one historian, the years around 1900 were the "apotheosis of the small town," when small communities across the country achieved their greatest relative prosperity and sense of well-being.9 This was about to change. 1900年的美国农村站在世纪的交口，人口从农村流向城市的趋势在所难免。而在1900年时，“农村”的意思基本上还等同于农场（占65%的农村人口）。而且农场的数目仍在上升，这个趋势直到1910年才停止（图2）。但在不远的未来若干年间，衰退将成为面临的问题，而不是增长过快。当城市迅速增长、并随着外国移民和农村人口迁入日益多元化时，乡村则日益成熟，成为一个同质、稳定的社会。即便在新兴的西部小镇，人口变动率也在放慢。用一位历史学家的话来说，1900年左右，是“小城镇的巅峰”。全国的小城镇社区达到了相对最繁荣的和安乐的时期。但变化就要来了。
In the minds of a growing number of rural people, stability led to stagnation. Better
communications with the outside world accentuated the sense of cultural lag. Many people,
especially the young, left for the more exciting opportunities of cities. Later, when technology
revolutionized farming, the push of economic necessity would join the pull of cities to leave rural
communities bereft of much of their traditional farming base. Nineteenth century urban planners
had wanted to bring the advantages of country life to the city. Ironically, the country did come to
the city in the 20th century--in the form of its people. By 1970, the farm population had fallen to
less than a third of its 1920 level.
越来越多的农村居民意识到，稳定将带来停滞。与外界越来越多的交流，进一步让他们意识到乡村于城市间文化的断裂。很多人，特别是年轻人，离开农村去城市追求更让人兴奋的机会。而之后的农业技术革新，使得农业人口的经济必要性进一步下降，从而再度加强城市的吸引力。这剥夺了农村社区传统的农业基础。十九世纪的城市建设计划者们曾经试图把乡村生活引入到城市。而具有讽刺意义的是，在20世纪，乡村是进入城市了－－乡村中的人进城了。到1970年，农业人口降低到1920的三分之一。
In the 20th century, rural problems on and off the farm would bring unprecedented government involvement in agriculture and rural affairs. The collapse of farm prices in the 1920s, the general depression of the 1930s, and loss of farm population in the decades after World War II brought demands for new and creative government policies to shore up rural economies and preserve the virtues of rural life. General promotion of agriculture through the distribution of resources such as cheap land gave way to a whole array of specific policies aimed at improving farm and rural life. Starting with efforts to give rural people some of the cultural and economic amenities enjoyed by urban people through better postal service, paved roads, and expanded credit, programs were added to support farm income, encourage conservation, extend electricity and telephone service, and resettle farmers off marginal lands. After World War II, emphasis shifted to stemming rural-to-urban migration through economic development, antipoverty programs, and preservation of the rural environment. 在20世纪当中，与农业有关或无关的农村问题，会引起政府前所未有的重视。20世纪20年代农作物价格的崩盘，30年代的大萧条，以及二次世界大战后农村人口的锐减，都为政府带来新的挑战。政府必须利用创造性的农村政策保护农村经济，同时保持农村生活作为美国立国之本的特质。过去通过给予资源（如廉价土地），对农业范化的支持，转变为一整套针对改善农业和农村生活的特定政策。由给予农村人民城市居民享受的舒适条件入手，比如更好的邮电服务、柏油公路、扩展信贷服务；以及一系列支持以农业为收入、鼓励节俭（译者： Conservation）、提升电力和电话服务、和安置农民离开贫瘠土地的计划。二次大战后，重点则转移到通过经济发展降低农村向城市的移民，反贫穷计划，以及农村地区的环境保护。
Legacy of the Past 过去的影子
Even as the economy changed, certain rural attitudes would persist in the 20th century debate on rural policy. The Jeffersonian celebration of farm and rural life would continue even as the number of people enjoying that life shrank. Indeed, the turmoil of the 1920s and 1930s brought forth a wave of rural romanticism in literature and a brief back-to-the-land movement that raised the number of farmers to its all-time peak during the Great Depression. After the War, as farm population shrank, Americans retained a high opinion of farmers and farm life that could readily be appealed to in support of farm programs. This remained generally true even though the large, heavily capitalized commercial farms of recent years scarcely resembled the small, general farms that were by then fading into nostalgia. Moreover, the strong association of rural areas with farming in the public mind kept alive the argument that equated farm aid with rural community aid long after farmers had become a minority in their own communities.10 尽管经济情况发生了变化，然而在农村中，人们的一些看法，仍旧聚焦在20世纪关于农村政策的一些辩论上。尽管享受农村生活的人数锐减，人们的意识中仍旧保持着杰佛逊那种对农业和农村生活的赞美。20和30年代的动荡，甚至带来了文艺作品中以农村为核心的罗曼蒂克情怀，以及回归土地运动。这使得农民的人数在大萧条期间达到顶峰。二战后，美国人民对农民和农业生活保持了很高的认同感，这使得支持农业的计划很容易得到呼应。即便近年来农场已经高度商业化和资本化，和已经成为历史的小农场面目全非了，这种认同仍然存在。更重要的是，在公众心目中农村和农业的紧密联系，使得对农业的支持等同于对农村社区的支持这一观点长期存在，尽管农业人口早就是农村社区的少数人群了。
Likewise, 20th century rural policy would have to be made against the backdrop of inherited government institutions and the ideology surrounding them. Longstanding American reservations about the proper role of government in economic affairs have remained a constant part of the debate on rural policy. The government activism of the Progressive Era at the turn of the 20th century was soon challenged by a resurgent belief that economic decisions were best left to the marketplace. Among farmers themselves, traditions of self-reliance made it difficult for them to cooperate economically or even agree on which government policies were best for agriculture. The New Deal and the 1960s represented high points in the confidence that government expertise and spending could solve major problems, but they were succeeded by periods of skepticism in government and faith in the private economy. To this ambivalence about the efficacy of government programs, rural areas added a local orientation that fostered uneasiness about proposals emanating from Washington. Despite strong growth in the National Government from the New Deal through the post-World War II period, State and local governments remained important actors in rural policy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than any Cabinet department, worked through local people in planning and administering its programs. This tradition has continued into the new millennium. 另外，20世纪的农村政策会在过去的政府机构和历史观念的大背景下形成。长久以来，美国人民关于政府在经济生活中作用的看法会成为农村政策中延续的争论。20世纪初，“进步人士年代”激进主义的政府干预观念，很快会面临经济决策应由市场左右这一理念的复兴。而对于农民，由于自力更生的传统，让他们很难在经济上进行合作，甚至很难对于哪些政府政策会对农业最有利达成共识。罗斯福新政时期和60年代，人民对政府的专业职能和财力投入可以解决重大问题的信心曾达到高峰。但随之而来的，则是对政府的怀疑和对私有经济的信赖。除了这种对政府职能效用的矛盾看法，农村地区对于来自华盛顿的政策提议，还存在一种出于地方主义的不安。尽管从罗斯福新政到二次大战后这段时间，联邦政府的职能得到了极大的加强，州和地方政府在农村政策的制定中仍旧扮演重要角色。美国农业部，和内阁中的任何部相比，都更要通过地方来进行计划和贯彻其政策。这一传统一直保持到新的千年。
This book focuses on rural rather than farm policy. It traces the evolution of rural development policy from 1900 to 2000, covering the growth of rural development as a concept and the economic and social conditions that led to changes in rural development policy. Finally, it examines how rural policy was actually formulated, its leading agents, and its consequences for rural communities. 本书关注的是农村而不是农业政策。它记录了1900到2000年美国的农村政策的演化，农村发展概念的发展，以及引起农村发展政策变化的经济和社会条件。最后，本书检视了农村政策是如何制定，由那些部门制定的，以及农村政策实施的结果。
