COUNTRY LIFE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16564, 30 May 1914, Page 10

COUNTRY LIFE.

Some little time ago we directed attention to a suggestion made by Mr J. D. Hall and Mr E. C. Brownell that organised work should bo undertaken with a view to rendering country life more attractive, and we are very glad to seo that these gentlemen have been enlisting the. sympathy of tho Farmers'Union for their proposal. Broadly, it may he said that the men who go into tho country do so rather from material considerations than becauso rural lifo attracts them, and every year there is a marked movement of jTfung men' from the country to tho more attractive towns. Admittedly all the organised pleasures and entertainments are provided for the people who are massed in tho cities. The conveniences and facilities, big and little, that render daily life and toil pleasurable are provided at a nominal cost in the towns. Tiio efficient schools aro there and the great libraries. The footpaths are asphalted, tho streets aro paved and swept, high-pressure water supplies are laid on and modern drainage and lighting services aro always provided. It is in the towns that in his leisure hours the resident can be entertained by other people. In tho country the average family enjoys none of these privileges. If a man there has leisure ho must provido his own amusement, and while everyone will cheerfully admit that the country life is the healthier and produces the better human stock, the eyes of the young country people turn longingly to the more attractive cities, and the farmer who has earned his competence sells his farm and settles in tho suburbs of the big town. Tho difference has been roughly expressed in tho observation that in the cities the residents have everything done for them, while in the country they do it for themselves. Thero is no logical reason why the country districts should be so neglected by the organisers of attractions. It has been shown in the United States that by enterprise, energy and imagination country life can be rendered so attractive that the drift of people to the cities is checked, and it is a movement of the samo sort that Mr Hall is anxious to promote in Canterbury. What is wanted is that a few publiospirited people in the cities and in tho country districts should put their heads together and formulate a scheme, and that when it is formulated tho community should give it the necessary financial and moral support. Most movements of the kind start with a fund and many of them end there, but so far we have heard nothing of the financial aspect from Mr Hall and his colleague. Doubtless that has still to come, and wo daro say that the financial arrangement will he the easiest part of tho work. Tho public of both town and country will wish Mr Hall and Mr Brownell success in their work and we shall all bo glad to hear the details of their scheme.