"RURAL AMENITIES."
(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] Ste,—May we, through the medium of the Spectator, inform the writer of " Rural Amenities " and others of your readers that the Women's Village Councils' Federation since 1920 has been endeavouring to remedy the present disgraceful condition of many rural beauty spots through dumping of every kind of rubbish in lanes and woods and streams and ponds? After appealing persistently, but unsuccessfully, to rural authori- ties, and making the discovery that no sanitary standard exists about such matters, our councils decided to arouse public opinion through their Beautiful England Scheme for the creation and preservation of national health and beauty— beginning with The Children's Promise, with suggestions to parents and teachers as to the best methods for gaining the child's interest and understanding of order and beauty. I beg to enclose a copy of the Promise. Children are used as agents for the disposal of rubbish, and often may be seen going to school with an old kettle or an ancient pair of boots to be thrown under the first convenient hedge. A friend staying in a Sussex village, near the schools, told us it was her custom to go out with a stick and to clear up a hedge near her windows whenever she was giving a tea-party, as such a fore- ground completely spoiled the lovely view beyond.
In 1920 our Federation carried out a rural survey in eleven counties in some of the most beautiful parts of England. only to find that the absence of any system of collection for the clearing of rubbish resulted in the disfigurement described by your cor- respondent. To-day a large proportion of food is sold in tins. There is no room in cottage gardens for their disposal. With other household rubbish they are left in ditches in decaying heaps, a breeding-ground for flies and a harbourage for rats, or else piled in dumps by the wayside where village children search for treasures, often cutting their hands and feet with the broken china. Parish and Rural District Councils can only be made to realize the very real danger to health and the need for collections and destruction or suitable disposal of refuse through an organized public opinion. Encouragement is not wanting for our efforts. The electric railway companies in a booklet are inviting the publio to clear up their waste-paper after their holiday outings. Schools are adopting The Children's Promise. It can only be by united strenuous effort of all persons and societies interested in health and beauty that we can arrive at a better state of things. and we venture to ask the Spectator to make the Beautiful England Scheme known. Further information will be gladly "THE CHILDREN'S PROMISE To help the child to find joy in the creation and preservation of beauty. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.'
Name of Town or Village—Beautiful Why not?
1. I promise not to destroy wild birds' nests, nor to pull up plants by the roots, and not to injure animals, trees, plants and flowers in and about 2. To do my best to sow seeds or plant trees or flowers in and around at least once a year.
S. Not to throw broken crockery, tins, papers, or any other rubbish in the fields, lanes, and woods, or in ponds or streams round about 4. To do all I can to make my home, school, and village healthful and beautiful.
NA ME
DAY OR SUNDAY SCHOOL PP [If this promise were taken up in every elementary school we should see a great improvement in a few years. This is a matter in which children can become the teachers of their parents. It is not easy to understand the state of mind of people who at great pains visit a beautiful place and then make it ugly with a disgusting litter. No doubt most offences against good taste are the result of ignorance. Taste can be acquired—that is to say, it can be taught—and when acquired it is nearly always a source of healthy pride. Therefore, the case is by no means hopeless.—En. Spectator.]
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