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Show PEASANTS FLOCK TO CITIES i NUMBERS Depopulation of French Farming Farm-ing L)itricts Presents FJrob-lem FJrob-lem tor Gpvernmtnt. TOWNS ARE CONGESTED More Than 300,000 Persons in Paris Are W ithout Proper Places of Abode. BY PIERRE ROCHAMBAND. Special ("able to The Tribune. PA BIS, April 27. -Prance generally, and Pans especially, is confronted with a problem familiar to Americans a problem which, incidentally, has been growing more serious every year. On the one hand the country is threatened with the overpopulation of the towns. and on the Other hand there is a eon-I stanl drainage of farm laborers from1 the agricultural districts The evil ha been steadily growing, and the govern ment. occupied with other matters, has temporarily shelved this question, but I it has now become so all important thai further delay is dangerous and drastic step; will have to be taken be-fore be-fore worse befalls. Judging by Ihe most eonservat 1 ve estimates, the annual influx to Paris from the provinces is between 85,000 1 and 26,000, and as the number of work- men's duellings has only slightly increased in-creased in the past few years, the dil fieultv of finding house room for these newcomers is rapidly becoming serious. Need Workmen's Dwellings. According to the Moniteux Indus-; trial. Pans alone, at the present moment, mo-ment, is sorfely in need of 800 workmen's work-men's dwellings capable of housing be tween 00 and 600 inhabitants epiece. as according to their figures there are i 840,000 persons in tho French capital I 'who are bsdly housed. Other authon-j tics state thai, these figures underestimate under-estimate rather than overestimate the number of workmen 's dwellings which are needed, and they furthermore point out tliat owing to the enormously en- i hanced cost of land, and the increased j cost of In ing, which has risen, theTe is no immediate prospect of solving the difficulty. Mr. Bertlllon has 6tated that no less than one-tenth of the inhabitants of Paris are living in rooms without air and without light. This in itself is deplorable, but when, in addition to this, house rent, especially in the poorer quarters, ha increased enormously, it j will readily be seen that the steady and continuous influx of provincials still further aggravates no already critical j situation. Leave the Farms. This, however, is only one sido of the Question: another and evon more dangerous side is the steady depopulation depopula-tion of the agricultural districts, for Ihe farm laborers do not confine their; migrations to Paris alone; the same j state of affairs prevails in nearly every provincial towiij while the mining and manufacturing districts also claim their QUOts It is quite conceivable that the at- tractions of a town prove irresistible to the average farm laborer, for a time at any rate; be probably had had a glimpse of ths gaieties of the capital while doing his military service, but until unite recently this glimpse as all-sufficient. He was perfectly con-, tent to return to the form and Bye on the memory of those, to him, delirious 1 days Now, however, all this is ( hanced. There is no longer that love pf the country, that love of the farm and of all the animals on it, which prompted Alphonse Daudet to write "Carcassonne ' aud his other poems ofl farm life. Attracted by Cities. Prom many points of view the cap-1 it:il nppoars to bo a Mecca to the j average farm laborer. His wage will be better, his lodgings more comfortable, I or. at u" rate. ue thinks they will be. I while if lie is ill, or an accident should happen to bim he is cared for at no er- j pensc to himself. But while tho wages he receives are larger, he forgets to I take Into coiisiderat ion the increased cost of living, and although after u brief sojourn ho is disillusioned, he still fatuously hangs on. Mieawber like, waiting for better things to turn up- ..., All ills, fortunately, have their rem j edies. The r irst thing, therefore, to i bfl done is to ascertain the condition of the farm laborers; and this will go ; far to easing the congestion of the j towns- There can be no doubt that j the small holdings idea has proved a failure, and it duly remains for ths government to formulate some scheme Fa- which inducements ran be held out to the farm laborer so that he will bo Content to remain in the agricultural districts. Problem Is Serious. So serious is the problem that the government would be well advisod to subsidise, and subsidize generously, all farming industries, found and maintain main-tain technical schools, and generally ameliorate the condition of CDS farm laborer, .nnd thus woo him back to the land. This will then relievo ihe con : gestion i'1 'he towns, and then the vari j OtIS municipalities will be able to rope I satisfactorily with the workmen's! dwelling difficulties without danger of being swamped by ths steady influx I from the provinces. J |