DRIFT TO THE CITIES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 158, 19 June 1936, Page 4

DRIFT TO THE CITIES

The Hon. W. E. Parry Hopes To Arrest It “Anything that is done to make happy the conditions of the young mtn on the laud—to keep them from the glitter of city life and its uncertainties is, in my opinion, worthy and wellmerited.” Ho spoke the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. IV. E. Parry, to a deputation of small farmers asking tm State assistance to prevent the loss <4 their showgrounds and non-totalisat-ir racecourse, says the official Labour paper. “Almost every Christmas—when the holiday spirit is in full force—l meet many estimable and stalwart young t ellows from the country who toll me they are not returning to the farm,” con tinued Mr Parry. “They had become saturated with the glamour of the ci tv and the easy confidence they had of being able to get work to their liking in the city could not be shaken. Homo of these young men I know well; I hud met them on their farms during sho -ling expeditions. I know their wurtn; they were id! experienced men on the land —born to it—and were iutnluable in the work they did for their parents. What happened when the. young fellows declined to go back to the farms? Their parents were unable to get the places of their sons filled and consequently—this is where the sadness comes in—there was practically stagnation on the farms which wore once hives of industry and productivity 7 in their full working. “We must all, therefore, strive to make the amenities and general conditions of those young men— and women, too —more attractive and congenial to keep them on their farms —away from the uncertainties of city life. To h'lp in that way I am trying in my offic al position to do many things to help. “I want to see kept intact the country race-plu--picnic meeting; agricuiluri'.l shows of farm products and notable exhibits of farmhouse cooking, in which each farmer's wife usually excels— to see revived the breeding if draught and hack horses and the obitime friendly rivalry that existed among the competitors. “I feel that if we can get back that atmosphere again in the country, together with added modern facilities, the drift to the cities of the cream of our young men from the farms will Lt greatly less than it is to-day.”