1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



507 



man aspect of the matter, which is the 

 making of homes for the homeless and 

 the giving of social and industrial in- 

 dependence to those now dependent 

 upon the enterprise of others. Let us 

 take care of the family and the nation 

 will take care of itself. 



ATTRACTIONS OF RURAL LIFE FOR 

 PEOPLE. 



L,et us look a little closer into this 

 wonderful social process which is to be 

 brought about b}' the new national pol- 

 icy. I think perhaps the time has come 

 when something should be said about 

 the attractions of rural life for the 

 masses of our people. We have heard 

 a great deal about the allurements of 

 the towns and the manner in which 

 the}^ draw to them the cream of our 

 young men and women. Living in the 

 country has become unpopular. No 

 body but old folks and foreigners can 

 endure such an existence. Everybody 

 else looks for a situation in the big 

 city and the bigger the better. It is 

 undeniably true that the tide has been 

 setting away from the soil, and that both 

 here and alDroad the cities have been 

 rolling up to portentous proportions. 

 Are there any signs of a reaction ? I 

 think there are. In the first place, 

 country life is becoming fashionable 

 again. The abandoned farms of New 

 England have been largely bought up 

 to be converted into the country estates 

 of well-to-do city people. These city 

 people are extending their vacations a 

 little more each year. It is now almost 

 customary for them to spend about six 

 months on the farm. Simultaneouslj' 

 with this development we see a new lit- 

 erature springing up in response to it. 

 There is no end of new books about 

 birds, and flowers, and domestic ani- 

 mals. There are new periodicals which 

 have quickly acquired large circulation 

 because they deal attractively with this 

 subject. 



Now to my mind this new phase of 

 our social life has a very deep signifi- 

 cance. I hope and believe that it is not 

 a mere fad or passing fashion. In my 

 opinion, it is a manifestation of one of 

 the strongest traits of human nature ; 



and that is man's inherent and inerad- 

 icable love for the soil. This is our 

 natural taste, while the fascinations of 

 town life are artificial. The}- do not 

 satisf}' our deeper feelings. Some one 

 has said: " Religion is that fine sense 

 of soul that brings the individual into 

 touch with Universal Purpose." I have 

 walked the streets of the finest cities in 

 the world, but pavements and hotels 

 and business blocks never touched that 

 spring in my beiifg which gave birth to 

 a sentiment. On the other hand, I have 

 climbed the rugged and picturesque 

 sides of our great mountain ranges. I 

 have stood upon the summits of some 

 lofty peaks and beheld the beautiful 

 panorama of snow-clad ranges, their 

 mighty forms lifting far above the 

 abodes of men and extending for miles 

 in every direction. I have gazed at the 

 sky and I have listened to the birds 

 and to the roar of the mountain streams; 

 and there, indeed, I have felt " that 

 fine sense of soul which brings one into 

 touch with LTniversal Purpose." With- 

 out attempting to elaborate the idea, 

 I undertake to say that there is some- 

 thing in the heart of the dullest man 

 who ever lived that responds to the 

 beauties of nature. I firmly believe it 

 is this instinct which is sending the 

 well-to-do from the cities to the coun- 

 try, and which in the next few years 

 will make the reclaimed areas of the 

 arid west sought after b}^ the very best 

 elements of our middle class population. 



BLAINE'S FAMOUS DEFINITION OF 

 POVERTY. 



James G. Blaine, in his eulogy of Gar- 

 field, referred to the fact that our sec- 

 ond martyred President was popularly 

 supposed to have been reared in direst 

 poverty. The orator then went on to 

 draw a contrast between the poverty of 

 cit}^ life and the "clean, sweet poverty 

 of the country." He showed that in 

 the one case evil influences predominate, 

 while in the other there is every inspi- 

 ration to noble endeavor. This is abso- 

 lutely true. It constitutes one of the 

 very strongest arguments in favor of 

 national irrigation. In how many biog- 

 raphies of successful men of men who 



