32 NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



The villages themselves do not ask for 

 population. They lack the local patriot- 

 ism that might put them into competition 

 with the town. They are slow to increase 

 or improve the benefits of corporate life : 

 good roads, trees, parks, schools, libraries, 

 sanitary appliances, and access to the arts. 



The establishment of an exile for the 

 useless would be a blessing not to the 

 towns alone. The crowding of the West 

 and the filling up of trades and professions 

 will do something to bring farming into 

 vogue again. But perhaps increased in- 

 telligence and increased rent promise best 

 for the restoration of rural life. It is 

 growing more difficult every year for peo- 

 ple of moderate incomes to remain in town 

 under conditions that enable them to retain 

 health and self-respect. Taxes do not in- 

 crease in rate, but rents do ; and the tenant 

 who pays both gets less and less for his 

 money as the streets fill up and his air 

 and light are taken away. 



The saddest part of the town habit is 

 the injury it entails on children. Young 

 folks want earth to sport on and oxygen to 



