19 JULY 1902, Page 24

Garden Cities of To-morrow. By Ebenezer Hor. - ard. (Swan

Sonnenschein and Co. la. 6d. net.)—This book, a second edition of "To-morrow," sets forth an attempt to combat our great evil of the day, the depopulation of the country and the overcrowding of the cities. Meet the evil, it says, with an arrangement which shall unite the advantages of urban and rural life, shall give to the dweller in the country the more numerous interests in life which he seeks in town, to the dweller in town space, fresh air, and natural beauty. So far we are all agreed. But we feel bound to protest against the extraordinary statement quoted from a speaker at the Demographic Congress of 1891, that "abominable cottages" were at the bottom of the mischief, and that the rural population is so "deteriorated in physique" that it cannot work. The country-folk are far better housed than town-folk, and are far superior in physique. Let any one look at a train of excursionists from Wigan or St. Helens, or any other typical Lancashire or Yorkshire town, and he will need no further argument.