BEAUTIFUL ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20324, 3 August 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

BEAUTIFUL ENGLAND.

OBJECTION TO HOARDINGS.

SUPPORT BY AN AMERICAN

MONEY GIVEN FOR CAMPAIGN. An American resident of Williton, Somersetshire, is one of thn roost active supporters of tho movement to preserve tho beautv of rural England. 110 is Mr. Boies Penrose, of Pennsylvania, who recently gavo £IOOO to the causo, pledged £IO.OOO moro on tho condition that it bo matched with contributions from other sources, and then fled to Spain to avoid publicity. When he returns ho will undortako, at his own cxpenso, a complete survey of Fomorset in with tho aims of tho Council for the Preservation of Rural England, which was organised about two years ago to fight the encroachments of " modernity " upon the quaint and ancient beauty of England's countryside. To his colleagues in the movement Mr. I'cnroso is something of a mystery, Tlioy know only that ho is a rather young American who resents the disfiguroment of- rural districts in his own country and still moro tho spread of highway sign-

boards and unsightly service stations to England's roads. English supporters of tho causa include the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, tho Earl of Mayo, Lady Trevclvan and members of the council's many constituent and affiliated bodies. The council's aim is not to block now construction, modern improvement and [he building of electric transmission lines merely because they ure what they are, but to ensure that such developments shall harmonise with what is best in the neighbourhood and " inflict tho minimum of disfigurement." Motor-car service stations as they have bcon built in England lately aro the particular bane ol tho fiiends of rural beauty. Often atrociously ugly in themselves, these stations so important to tho motorist frequently become centres of even uglior signboards and nondescript signs advertising the rival brands of petrol. Promiscuous tree cutting is another thing tho council hopes to abolish. Trees of great beauty, many of them with interesting historical associations have been cleared away wholesale to make room for new roads or buildings. Persuasion, rather than compulsion, is relied upon for results by tho council, which has four photographic exhibitions of " awful examples " touring the conn try to awaken public interest and stiinu-

late willingness to co operate among local authorities New legislation is not nought except where existing statutes offer no foothold for operations. Tho same desire to preserve the beau tics of nature is shown in llio United ■States. "We will stand by tho firms which support our policy for no billboards on the landscape," was the fist of a resolution passed by tho General Federation of Women's Club recently Two thousand dolcgates, representing moro than 2.000,000 clubwomen in America, enthusiastically endorsed this resolution. A still more vigorous campaign for tho restriction of all outdoor advertising to commercial districts, is announced by the federation committea for tho coming year.