CHANGING ENGLAND.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19676, 20 July 1929, Page 19

CHANGING ENGLAND.

TO THE BUITO3 0* THE PSE3S. Sir, —There appeared recently in "The Times'' the announcement of a very generous gift and an even more generous pound for pound subsidy from an American lover of England in aid of the funds of the Council lor the Preservation of Rural England. You yourself doubtless- know that this Council is not a collection of eccentrics suffering from an idee fixe but a highly practical, educational organisation of puhlic-spinted men, who assist and co-ordinate the work of all the local constituent bodies engaged in attempting to preserve the amenities of the countryside. I know that you must have thousands of readers who ;re ardent lovers of this countryside, both those who nave already had the good fortune to see it with their own eye*, and who have not, but hope to do so in the future. It is not too fantastic to predict that, in a few years' time, travel may be so swift and cheap that many for whom the idea is at present out of the question may be able to snatch a trip Home. It occurred to me that they would perhaps appreciate the opportunity of contributing to the sinews of war, which are urgently needed to educate the destroying hand, both of the vandal and of the merely thoughtless. I have therefore taken what is. I trust, not an unwarrantable liberty in offering to write to you and solicit your co-operation. May I hope that in the event of your seeing your way to opening a fund those of your readers who are interested in this cause will add to their sympathy some tangible expression of that interest. It may be objected that charity begins at home and that there are already in New Zealand too many calls on the purses of the generous. But this work 6tands in a class by itself. England's peculiar charm and beauty, once destroyed, can never be re-created, and in these days of blind and misguided "pre* gress," prompt action is essential. A donation now is an investment for future enjoyment: He gives twice who gives quickly.—Yours, etc., TAN MACDONALD. Ix>ndon, May 11th, 1929. [We refer to this letter in enr leader columns. With regard to our correspondent's suggestion that we should open a fund for this cause, we are afraid it is not practicable, though the movement has our strongest sympathy, and, we are sure, tb-U of many of our readars. Those who wi*h to assist should send their contributions direct to the hon. treasurer of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and Wales, 17 Great Marlborough street, London W. 1; but if they prefer to send them through The Pbbs? we undertake to forward them promptly to the proper quarter.—Ed., The Press.]