Country Life
" CONCILIA PIORUM."
It is a very good sign of the times that an "amenity group" has come into being in the- House of Commons, and is showing great and wise activity. It is not very happily christened, perhaps, but the name serves, and is definite enough. No one is more businesslike and particular, or brings a more practical mind to the study of aesthetics, then Mr. Hurd, who is one of the authors and inspirers of the movement. Indeed, about the personalities of the whole group and their sympathizers there is nothing pretty- pretty, as some few adverse comments would suggest. The formation of the group has synchronized with preparations for Sir Edward Hilton Young's coming Bill for the Preserva- tion of Rural England ; and him we all recognize as a" Happy Warrior" indeed, and a man of action who "sees what he foresaw." Another ardent votary of the art and craft of beautifying the additions to the countryside, especially the great new roads, is Mr. Morrison, perhaps the most direct and practical member of the present Government. If one imagines for a moment that the movement, represented by the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, runs contrary at all to business or commercial development, he is wrong. The heart of England cannot beat truly if its person is ill-clothed. We have sacrificed husbandry. We have deci- mated—very nearly an accurate word—the country labourer. If we are going to scotch the beauty as well as the use of English acres, we shall cease to be English at all.
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