TWOFOLD PROBLEM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 71, 6 January 1936, Page 6

TWOFOLD PROBLEM.

MODERN COUNTRY LIFE. The problem of modern country life is twofold, says "The Times," in commending the solutions being offered by the Women's Institute movement. There is the old handicap of remoteness; for, in spite of the enterprise of omnibus companies, communities still exist in England whose only direct link with the towns is a puny thread of a lane, muddy during eight months of the year and dusty the other four. One the other hand is the problem generally called the drift to the towns, but really signifying more than the fact that'the likeliest lads are leaving in search of higher wages. There is a mental drift downwards which has affected wholo villages and is quite as disintegrating in influence as direct emigration. While many hamlets remain secluded, others within the last ten or fifteen years have been brought suddenly—too suddenly—into contact with the outside world. The villagers can have an afternoon's shopping and an evening's entertainment once a week in the cities which previously they visited perhaps once a year.' And motoring has brought townspeople into their midst .regularly every weekend. In some ways the easier means of transport have been beneficial and enlivening. It may bo hoped that such will be their ultimate effect as a whole. But their main result so far has been to unsettle the old cultural and religious life of the old) village unit. Machine-made has too often taken the place of the home-made, and the towns have been seen mainly as opportunities for frequent escape.