THE LITTLE DEMOCRACY
Wilson stated, succinctly and forcibly, the whole purpose of this plan in his letter to the chairmen of the State Councils of Defense when he said:
"Your state, in extending its national defense organization by the creation of Community Councils, is in my opinion making an advance of vital significance. It will, I believe, result, when thoroughly carried out, in welding the nation together as no nation of great size has ever been welded before. It will build up from the bottom an understanding and sympathy and unity of purpose and effort which will no doubt have an immediate and decisive effect upon our great undertaking. You will find it, I think, not so much a new task as a unification of existing efforts, a fusion of energies now too much scattered and at times somewhat confused, into one harmonious and effective power. It is only by extending your organization to small communities that every citizen of the State can be reached and touched with the inspiration of the common cause. The schoolhouse has been suggested as an apt though not essential center for your local council. It symbolizes one of the first fruits of such
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