4 The Problem to be Solved 



of December, no work which would every day 

 compel me to say good-bye to my children in 

 the early morning. Of course such a life must 

 be found in the country, if anywhere, and in 

 country occupations. To some people this 

 might mean in itself misery. To me, with my 

 love of sunshine, it is otherwise. During the 

 years when I was tied to a desk from morning 

 till night, the very sight of the agricultural 

 papers among my exchanges, even in the dead 

 of winter, was sufficient to make me feel like 

 throwing business overboard and getting into 

 country life, even if nothing better than po- 

 tato-raising presented itself. At the same time 

 that I thought and talked about the miseries 

 of city life I was by no means blind to the 

 dangers of the country. 



Any attempt to cut loose from city life in 

 summer might result in the city cutting loose 

 from me in winter. Where, then, would be 

 my music, my opera, my theatres, my lectures? 

 As a newspaper man I had become accustomed 

 to all these things as a part of existence. As 

 I had lived for years in the heart of the con- 

 tinent's life, the quiet of a country winter 



