372 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



residence. Schools, churches, library facilities, plumbing, and 

 steam heat can all be had in the country as well as in the city. 

 But if people cultivate a liking for the noises, the electric dis- 

 plays, the large billboards, and other similar delectations of the 

 cities, the country can furnish few attractions of this kind to 

 compete with the city. Country people will continue to move 

 cityward, seeking a chance to spend their money for the things 

 of their choice. 



It may be supposed that if the country should furnish the 

 things which city people really want and are willing to pay for, 

 it would contribute to the financial prosperity of the country ; 

 but this conclusion must not be too hastily reached. It must 

 not be imagined that a mere willingness on the part of certain 

 townspeople to spend a part of their time and money in the 

 country is in itself a mark of genuine appreciation of country 

 life, or that it tends to make real farmers, who have to make 

 their living at farming, more appreciative of rural enjoyments. 

 It is one thing to go to the country once in a while to disbur- 

 den one's self of an accumulation of surplus cash, and then 

 return to the city to talk about it ; it is quite another thing, to 

 appreciate the quiet and homely enjoyments which lie within 

 the reach of the plain farmer, enjoyments which do not re- 

 quire even an automobile as an accessory. Against the idea 

 that the rural-life problem is to be solved by a few wealthy 

 capitalists building themselves palatial residences in the country 

 and spending a part of their surplus time there, Sir Horace 

 Plunket uses the following weighty words : 



I am not, so they tell me, up to date in my information ; there is a marked 

 reversion of feeling upon the town versus the country question ; the tide of 

 the rural exodus has really turned, as I might have observed without going far 

 afield. At many a Long Island home I might see on Sunday, weather permit- 

 ting, the horny-handed son of week-day toil in Wall Street, rustically attired, 

 inspecting his Jersey cows and aristocratic fowls. These supply a select 

 circle in New York with butter and eggs, at a price which leaves nothing 



