its report were both the effect and
the cause of an awakening of the public mind upon this most important
problem. Within the past few years the cry "Back to the country" has
been heard on every hand, and means are now constantly being proposed
for reversing the urban trend, or at least for minimizing it.

=A Generation Ago.=--Rural life, as it existed a quarter of a century or
more ago, was extremely severe and indeed to our mind quite repellent.
In those days--and no doubt they are so even yet in many places--the
conditions were too often forbidding and deterrent. Otherwise how can
we explain the very general tendency among the younger people to move
from the country to the city?

=Chores and Work.=--The country youth, a mere boy in his teens, was, and
still is, compelled to rise early in the morning--often at four
o'clock--and to go through the round of chores and of work for a long
day of twelve to fifteen hours. First, after rising, he had his team to
care for, the stables were to be cleaned, cows to be milked, and hogs
and calves to be fed.

After the chores were done the boy or the young man had to work all day
at manual labor, usually close to the soil; he was allowed about one
hour's rest at dinner time; in the evening after a day's hard labor, he
had to perform the same round of chores as in the morning so that there
was but a short time for play and recreation, if he had any surplus
energy left. He usually retired early, for he was fatigued and needed
sleep and rest in order to be refreshed for the following day, when he
very likely would be required to repeat the same dull round.

=Value of Work.=--Of course work is a good thing. A moderate and
reasonable amount of labor is usually the salvation of any individual.
No nation or race has come up from savagery to civilization without the
stimulating influence of labor. It is likewise true that no individual
can advance from the savagery of childhood to the civilization of adult
life except through work of some kind. Work in a reasonable amount is a
blessing and not a curse. It is probably due to this fact that so many
men in our history have become distinguished in professional life, in
the forum, on the bench, and in the national Congress; in childhood and
youth they were inured to habits of work. This kept them from
temptation, and endowed them with habits of industry, of concentration,
and of purpose. The old adage that "Satan finds some mischief still f