CONCLUSION 401 



first part of the reference, the recommendations of the 

 Committee are very valuable, and would, if carried 

 out, furnish trustworthy information from time to time 

 as to the actual physical condition of the people. With 

 regard to remedies for " those evils the existence of 

 which is admitted " the Committee offer suggestions 

 rather than recommendations. In this respect their 

 Report is disappointing. In face of the evidence 

 placed before them their reference to rural depopula- 

 tion is halting, insufficient, and lacks decision. "With 

 a view," they say, "to combating the evils resulting 

 from the constant influx from country to town, the 

 Committee recommend that every effort should be 

 made by those charged with the conduct and control 

 of rural schools to open the minds of the children to 

 the resources and opportunities of rural existence." 

 But at present there are no " resources and oppor- 

 tunities of rural existence," and the Committee do 

 not suggest any scheme by which these inducements 

 might be created, but content themselves with giving 

 advice to the local authorities to put the Housing 

 Acts into operation, and with the statement that " It 

 should also be seriously considered whether the ex- 

 periment, for which there are legislative facilities, of 

 dividing land into small holdings, might not be tried 

 more frequently." 



The chief worth of this inquiry is the great amount 

 of evidence that it has brought forth, and which is 

 of exceptional value. That evidence is given by 

 eminent persons who have deeply studied the subjects 

 on which they speak. Their testimony unfortunately 

 lies buried in Blue Books instead of being, as it should 

 be in a reduced and popular form, in the hands of the 

 public generally, who would then know on authority 



