THE DRIFT TOWN WARDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 422, 13 June 1922, Page 4

THE DRIFT TOWN WARDS

Wmr.K then 1 is nothing particularly new in the figures presented in the report of the ('mural Progress League, made plihlie in Wellington cm Saturday, concerning the drift of population townwards, their publication on the eve of Parliament re-assembling for the despatch of business should set the Government seriously considering how far it can remedy what is admittedly a very unsatisfactory state of a (fail's. Within what are termed the "m-haii areas.” that is the (iiteen chief cities and boroughs of the Dominion, there were located, at the time oi the IDR 1 census, some (J05,,30.3 persoiis.compiising more than half the population oi the Dominion at that time. Ihe lour metropolitan areas alone show an increase of 131,11! within the last ten

years, with a pronounced tendency towards further increases; while in spite ol tlie large amount ol soldier settlement- that lias been going cm within the last Iwo or three years, the rural population is not making anything like similar progress. A mere discussion of the l figures is not likely to lead to a solution of the problem they present. Tlie causes which lead to the drift townwards should first he investigated. Ja this Dominion we have a country which not only requires developing hub which will pay handsomely tor devtdopinent, yet we are producing less than ws were doing during the pre-war period : and, while we have been adding

In the attractions and advantages ol town life, little or no attention has liven paid to the requirements of country settlers, either socially or educationally, thus making life in what are termed 'The hackhlcr'lcs” so dull and monotonous that the average man lias

little or no time and less inclination to spend his days reunite hum the busier haunts of humai i;y. To begin with, ll: durational Lodii..-; arc greater in the urban areas; then there is always something fresh in ihe way of amusement ; there are the picture houses and theatres, and meetings by the score. Always there is something fresh cropping up ni town lili- to engage attention and insniiv interest, and, tor the worker, there is always the prospect ol employment at better wages than are usually olfered in the country. In normal tunes, as some o! our country settlers proved during the strike ol 1313 when they went down to Wellington and up to Auckland to work on tlie wharves, the waterside' worker earns hotter money than many a iarmer when ilie Inner has to i mploy other men to do the work on his iarni. Last Governments, and even the present Government. wiih an eve to the political future have been too much concerned in making conditions easy lor the town worker to devote much a item ion to the harder worked country soitler; and. il the Government would like to solve ibis problem of country settlement and arrest the drift townwards, it must see that life is made nun v; aitractive in tho rural districts, uud that the haekhlneks settler is given greater opportunities for social inierconi'.--"' and ior the cclu- , alien oi his children than he possesses at present. and. iurtlier, thai something is done---a. much as is possible—(o relieve the deadly monotony e.l life in tlie haekhlcicks.