The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1903-06-11
Country Lite
=: and Town Life.
Selected from an Exchange.

Selected from an Exchange.
1t is one Of the dsscouraGing features
Of the time, that 80 many young men
are leaving the country for the town.
The prevailing unrest has seized upon
the farmers sons. One farmer has
+ ree or four sons reared to farm lie,
another has five or six, another may
have but ono but one and ali may
often leave him, often going away sore
" against his wishes and his interest.
The movement is going ON more or
:ess everywhere, not only near great
cities but near small towns. Not only
ara ancestral estates near New York,
for instance, going to decay, or passing
into the bands IF foreign immigrants
because the young men who inherited
them have chosen to cast themselves
into the whirlpool Of the city, many
Of them only to be ruined by its temp
ations, few of them to succeed but
wen in the quiet towns, remote from
The great centres Of trade, country boys
ire found In growing numbers, who
ave left the farm, and Its beautiful
life, for the confinement OF the town.
One who was reared In the country
md loves 1t dearly, and whose long res
idsnce in the cities and towns, makes
him return with longing to his first
love, may be allowed to invite the rest
| ,ss boys only to briefly compare town
life with country life, in the hope OF
9 ,nvincing them of their mistake in
exchanging the one for the other.
In the town there is more stir and
excitement, more to see and hear, more
society, greater variety Of amusement
md of instruction, and what is more
important to the majority, greater adj
.antages for making money. But these
i~sirable conditions are offset by the
.;reater temptations to vice and excess,
TO extravagant living, to wild specnla-
tions and trade-gambling; while
here is less repose for mind and body,
and life is largely artificial and unnat-
ural.
But in the country We are in the
embrace OF Mother Nature, iwho gives
rs pure air imprisoned by the bad
.nells OF the town,sunlight unobstruct-
ed by tall and clustered buildings, blue
kles undimmed by the reek OF a thou
md chimneys, and clouds ever chang
.g in their hues and assuming ever
more new shapes majestic or fantastic.
There in invigorating winds blowing
rec over forest and field, the breeze
Whispers among the trees and signs In
he pines we hear the song OF the
birds, and the music of
"The brook that all night long,
In the leaiy month OF June,
Singeth in the woods quiet time"
Our ears arc greeted with the lowing
Of kline, the bleating Of sheep and goats
the growing Of cocks, the gable ol
( ,ese and quack OF ducks, the cheerful
clack, clack, of guinea fowls, the cluch
Of hens to their chicks-all softened
and harmonized by distance and I'M
confined spaces. These and all Other
81 gh.s and voices OF Nature are freely
ours to enjoy.
1t Is indeed true, as the poet Cowpe1
sang, that
God made the country,
But man made the town ;"
I'd thoughtful mind In Nature's do
main finds tongues in trees, sermons
In stones, books IN the running brooks
a I'd good in everything"
There is, it is true, in much of coun
try life lack of society, of amueemen
md Of opportunity OF self-culture. Blu
with ever extending railroads, with th'
growing movement for good countr,
roads, and above all with the free deliv
~ of mails, country folks are brough
r,ore and more in touch with the town
I'd nearer a market for their produce
The country for the Same reason,
growing more accessible, and also NOR
attractive to town folks; many Of whom
not only resort to it in greater number
during the summer, but are exchana
Tag their city homes for surburbal
homes, men spending their bushes
hours in the city, and passing thei
evenings and nights in the country.
Farmers, again, do not realize thei
importance in the political economy
IT they who produce tho necessarie
OF life and some OF Its Injuries ]; an
they furnish the sinews Of poWer will
uut them there can be no government
no anything, and We would relapse IL
to the savage state. Tho meats IN
treadstuffs which they raise sustai
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