The Country-Life Movement in the United StatesBailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)
History
The Country-Life Movement in the United States
Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)
Country life
It is too little appreciated that every natural object makes a twofold
appeal to the human mind: its appeal in the terms of its physical or
material uses, and its appeal to our sense of beauty and of personal
satisfaction. As the people progresses in evolution, the public mind
becomes constantly more sensitive to the conditions in which we live,
and the appeal to the spiritual satisfaction of life constantly becomes
stronger. Not only shall the physical needs of life be met, but the
earth will constantly be made a more satisfactory place in which to
live.
We must not only save our forests in order that they may yield timber
and conserve our water supplies, but also that they may adorn and
dominate the landscape and contribute to the meaning of scenery. It is
important that our coal supplies be conserved not only for their use in
manufacture and the arts, but also that smoke does not vitiate the
atmosphere and render it unhealthful, and discolor the objects in the
landscape. It is of the greatest importance that water supplies be
conserved by storage reservoirs and other means, but this conservation
should be accomplished in such a way as not to menace health or offend
the eye or destroy the beauty of contiguous landscape. The impounding of
waters without regard to preserving natural water-falls, streams, and
other scenery, is a mark of a commercial and selfish age, and is a
procedure that cannot be tolerated in a highly developed society. It is
important that regulations be enacted regarding the operation of steam
roads through woody districts, not only that the timber may be saved,
but also that the natural beauty of the landscape may be protected from
fire and other forms of destruction. The fertility of the soil must be
saved, not only that products may be raised with which to feed and
clothe the people, but also that the beauty of thrifty and productive
farms may be saved to the landscape. The property-right in natural
scenery is a tenure of the people, and the best conservation of natural
resources is impossible until this fact is recognized.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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