TOWN DWELLERS’ LACK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 September 1939, Page 7

TOWN DWELLERS’ LACK

DISTRIBUTION OF BRITAIN'S POPULATION. Today 93 per cent of our population in Britain lives in cities, writes Sh Wyndham Deedes of national trends. Divorced from life on the land where man is "close enough to nature to b» prompted to awe and reverence by her beauties and sublimities and to gratitude by her vast and perennial benevolences,” the urban dweller lacks a primitive and profoundly spiritual experience. What of spiritual value de urbanisation and this mechanical age substitute for this most vital loss: Mass-produced articles replace the craftsman's creations, while the machine robs him of his technique. Man’s iob today is to watch cogs and wheels and steel arms produce the article which formerly he took pride in making. The factory provides little outle' for his creative interests, nor does urban life tend to develop recreations which enrich his spiritual resources. The gaming machine, the greyhound track and the cinema play a greater part in the development of the modern Englishman than all the creations of art and wonders of nature.