SOCIAL LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1801, 14 July 1913, Page 4

SOCIAL LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.

AND THE DRIFT TO TOWN. Mr. R. C. Bruce sends tho following reply:— I.—From all that I have heard I am of opinion that our schools aro doing excellent work, the value of which it would bo difficult to enumerate, but which will be bettor realised in the years which' aro to come. The study of natural history will, I feel sure, be attended with Im r perial and far-reaching results. 1 am of opinion that the teacher has never been given the status in the community to which tho importance of the position entitles him. I should like to see our teachers in receipt of larger salaries, as by so doing it would attract a. more highly-qualified class of men for tho position. ll.—This question quite outshadows in its importance all which have nroeeded it. The undue gravitation on tfio part of £he young country people and tho attendant congestion amongst urban populations is olio of tho incut notieeablo features and movements of our time. And this con-giY-tion spells poverty, misery, vice, and crime. What in this world of cause and effect is tho reason of this over flowing current citywards? In Amorica life on tho farm was when I know it indescribably monotonous and materialistic. Tho young people heard from afar the jinglo of city life, and pined over thoir loneliness, but they would, often, without warning, disappear, and many would novor again bo seen or even heard of by their sorrowing parents. After many a discussion, I arrived at tho conclusion that sexual causes woro mainly responsible for tho gravitation citywards. Tho young people if both sexes liavo in city very many opportunities of mooting n'nd associating

with each other, nrnl this is mainly the crux of the question. And wlmt is the remedy? This must be in the direction of making country lifo as pleasant as possible: enoaurag-c nil sorts of outdoor games, promote tho study of our flora and fauua, and for various reasons encourago 1 tho study of music. , In conclusion, I wish to quote the ideas of one of tho greatest of mankind. It has been said 1 by tho lato Foot Laureate "that the crystnlisation of Shakespeare's wisdom was that in order to make tho most of Una lifo wo should livo in tho country in communion with Nature, and livo in a to> tagc."