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Hokitika Guardian, 28 August 1929, Page 4

Men live in town or country either trom choice or from necessity. One man chooses to move into the town . because he desiras 'the educational facilities there provided for his children. Another man would prefer to go to the country, but as he cannot get land, stays unwillingly in town. On the whole, rural districts have always produced more children than can be absorbed into rural occupations. Thus he surplus moves in from many points to the central point—the t wn. The impression is- that the birthrate of the rural districts is higher vhan that of the towns, hut statistics at first sight do not confirm this impression. The birtn-rate seems higher in towns than in the general average of the whole; hut people in country districts avail themselves of nursing and hospital facilities in towns, and tlis affects the statistics. • In New Zealand births are allocated according to the, domicile of the parents, with the effect that /each of the four main centres has a birth rate below the average for New Zealand as a whole. Thus in 1927 the rate per 1000 in Dunedin was 16.13 as against 20.29 for all New Zealand. Again, those who succeed in rural industries commonly send their children to town schools, thus swelling the urban population and at the same time giving the children a taste for town life. A taste for town life is acquired by living in town, for country life by living n the country. An agricultural bias given to education will not of itself create a desire for rural life.