The Harvest of RuskinGraham, John W. (John William)
Religion
The Harvest of Ruskin
Graham, John W. (John William)
Ruskin, John, 1819-1900
Above these stricken ones comes the ordinary farm labourer, who is
unfortunately migrating to the towns. Him Mr. Ruskin hoped to settle on
land. Such a scheme of small holdings, if backed by sufficient capital,
worked by experts, and favourably situated for a market, might even in
the seventies have succeeded. Of course it would not have had about it
all the moral excellences, the grace of character and the charm of
nature and art, which delight us so in the St. George’s lands of the
future which we read about in _Fors_. However, Ruskin never concentrated
upon it, but spent most of his time and of the resources of the Guild
on the Sheffield Museum instead. He did what he found he could do the
best. He knew he was leaving great gaps for others to fill up. He says,
touchingly, in the Preface to _Love’s Meinie_ in 1881: “It has been,
throughout, my trust that if Death should write on these plans of mine
‘What this man began to build he was not able to finish,’ God may also
write on them, not in anger, but in aid, ‘A stronger than he cometh.’”
But with labour and patience and against strong hostile political
forces, the Small Holdings Act has been for some years at work. The
obstruction of the squires still renders it useless in many counties,
and there can be no more true task for St. George than to support
agencies such as the Small Holdings Association. By its means, as a
matter of fact, the peasantry is being restored to the land on a proper
business basis. Tasks of this magnitude require organization on a large
scale, and the payment of proper returns. No social benefit is given by
letting some individual hold land at less than its value. The County
Councils since the war are engaged upon it. We are now again on the eve
of a large settlement of returned soldiers on the land, and of an
attempt to brighten the villages.
St. George, again, ordered that the homes of workpeople should be
cheerful, that they should have gardens and flowers and sunshine, that
the long miserable rows of uniform cottages should be of the past. These
things, largely under the inspiration of Ruskin, are being done, in
First Garden City at Letchworth, and in such model villages as
Bournville, New Earswick, Port Sunlight, the Hampstead suburb, and
similar suburbs at Manchester and Hull. But it is all on far too small a
scale. The true task of St. George to-day is to strengthen these
progressive movements. The growth of the towns since 1871 has made this
urban problem the most urgent of all. How many rows of dreadful box
homes have been built. The country is being choked by the spreading
towns. Purely agricultural colonies are good, but towns cannot be
founded without the help of the manufacturers who make a town.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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