BACK TO ENGLAND

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 18, 31 May 1939, Page 3

BACK TO ENGLAND

DISGUSTED WITH N.Z. ENGLISH FAMILIES LEAVE A fortnight in New Zealand has been enough for two Englishmen e»nd their wives who came with the intention of settling. They left again by the Rcmucra from Wellington in a state, to use their own words, of "disillusionment and disgust." They were Mr and Mrs C. Perks, and Mr and Mrs W. A. Walton. The Waltons have two children, aged 12 and six. Mrs H. Harvey, who saw them off, also arrived with her husband and two children a fortnight ago. She said that berths were not available for them, or they, too, would have been returning to England. Living Costs Though the difficulty of finding somewhere to live has ben the chief problem confronting the three famthey said they were disgusted with living costs generally. They were attracted by publicity matter issued through agents by New Zealand House, London, painting a bright picture of conditions in the Dominion and containing no warning of a housing shortage. Mr Walton said he had tried Auckland for accommodation, but had returned to Wellington and gone to a boardinghouse. He had thought of buying a house, but, after being =hown some at about £2000, which lie could match in England for £500, he gave it up. He had brought to New Zealand several thousand pounds in capital and intended to retire from his profession, engineering. IT<i was offered a position in Wellington at what he admitted was a good salary ? but after his experience of the cost of living he decided the only thing to do was to return to England. He had not been able to find a house to rent at under £3 a week.

1 Cost of Clothing * "I would be belter off sitting by . my fireside in England and living on the return from my cap'tal/' he said. . His wife had paid 15s for an artie'e of clothing costing 3s in England. i The shoes he was wearing were bought th re for 9s. His suit had cost Him £2, but here he Avas asked to pay £8. Mr Walton Avas only just articulate after paying a tax of 5 per cent I on a fare of £173 back to England. But ho soon Avarmed up to his subject. *'f spend my money and then have to pay the New Zealand Government 5 per cent for spending it'' he said. "This Government is always talking about how good it is to th<> but avc think the opposite."' Building Costs Ridiculous A bricklayer by trade, Mr Perks declared that the °f building a house in New Zealand Avas ridiculous. The lowest quotation he had beeni able to obtain AA r as 17s (id a foot. The home he left in Oxford, England with the best timber and fittings, could be built to.day for £400. The union rate for bricklayers in England Avas Is 10d an hour, compared with 2s iOYid an hour offered him in Wellington,. The best imported timber used by builders in England cost 12s a 100 feet. That seemed to ; be the cost of bark or sap timber in New Zealand. Told Flats Easy to Get After paying £1 a Aveek rent for 3 handsome home, it AA r as something of , a shock to find the rents ruling in 1 Wellington, said Mr Perks. He had I been unable tf> obtain a house or a < flat, though he had been told by the ] agent s of New Zealand House that a ] flat Avould be easy to get. Of 11 1 tradesmen who had arrived in the ! Dominion, on the same boat, six Avere ! returning to England, as disgusted ( 3s lie Avas. < £4 8s For Board Mrs Harvey, Avho has been at the same boardinghouse as the otherssaid her husband an instrumentmaker, had obtained a job at £0 a ; week. For lodging, bed and break- i fast for themselves and two children < they were paying £4 8s a Aveek, leav- < ing. after payment of social security i tax, 2Gs for the other two meals and ! the rest of their liA'ing costs. They ' could not find a house and because ")f the children, Avere not Avanted in 'rooms or flats. If ihey could not find sorncAvhere to live, they would have to return on the next boat. For Qual'tv Printing of eA'erv description—The "Beacon/* Strand, 'Phone 10.