86 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



any real opportunity of securing an inde- 

 pendent livelihood, with nothing before them 

 except the miserable wages of a farm hand 

 and pauperism at the close, the landless 

 villagers turned their thoughts more and more 

 to the towns, and that rural exodus com- 

 menced which continues to this day and has 

 drained away the best and most active life 

 of our countrysides. 



