LONDON TO-DAY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20168, 21 February 1931, Page 2

LONDON TO-DAY.

SIGNS OF PROSPERF£t. \ | "'' v * ' RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. (Part I.—By T.C.L.) - " The visitor ,to London does not 'see, among the public any evidence of * a lack of money or . of spending power. It is impossible, to secure: seats* it any good theatre where there .is anything but a thoroughly dull play unless yoji book well ahead. Every session of the picture houses is well patronised, the programmes usually being decidedly in* ferior tp the average programme of a New Zealand picture theatre, though the prices-are .twice or thrice as high. All the fashionable .and expensive hotels are full, and it is not, easy at times to book in. -'Flats in Mayfair andother, fashionable quarters command extrava-* gant rentals. ■The - elflfbctfatej-and expensive restaur a roaring trad?, whilst the bars of the hotels arb full of customers of botlu,sexefc.--- 'The patronage at A&cot'* arid; 'other races shows ' no signs of - diminishing, and crowds still throng Wimbledtm, jElendon, Olympia, and other places. - The large departmental, stores, and i high-class .millinery; jewellery, And fur-' . niture 'shops are crowded., with cußtom-i ers. Nearly all'the. people in the streets are well dressed, stnd beggars, oufc side the regular pavement artists .and blind supplicants, are to oft.seen. . In no city in the" world are 'there Bojmany expensive - an,d luxurious cars running in the streets, ,and sit week-ends' and holidays all the roads leading from tha metropolis* are crowded v with pleasuroI seeking motorists. 1 1 Below th§ Surface. v * ' It is only when the 4igs be,neath the surface of things and makes careful < enquiries that he finds there is j another side to the 'picture; that of the old-established n ssos aro i having an extremely' 1 difficult time or 1 are in the hands,- ofOiquiditorsj th&t, ithose in the financial-paTt of the city are haying a very lean, time; that'all with, means are being taxed up -to the hilt; that many who lucrative positions for years art) in'-wefekly dread of receiving notice of dismissal; that others Qf the middle class in /intermittent work are finding the /struggle to live" very" burdensome; aid generally the visitor finds by further experience .that London is not England. _ > , . unemployment, .however, do prove that .London,",and the South, of England are much fetter off than the rest of the Kingdom, a fact which can readily' lip .understood when it is remembered 'that London is the greatest' shipping'and business' centre in the world, attracting v from every part customers who in the aggregate must represent a addition to tho y populati9n pf several hundreds of ,thousands yearly. "New Zealand is^the ~ furthest ypoint from this world's centre y et _ft estimated that it has bsen sending to London for several, years past no fewer than.6pOfr people annuaily, Estimating their expenditure . at < th{ low figure of £BOO each, it will be seen that New Zealand visitors: alone spend nearly two million; a|erlirig* annually,* ii London. From the east, from the west, # south, from the ffcve, Gontinehtt Of the world the Visitors come to pas tribute to 1 London, , , * New * There i& ( another'factor making foi London a prosperity, o r ; : father, makinj her less .pjor thap; the rest 4 , of the King j i .® ?, a,B k of the import ' T0 )e ? n "located in.'the 'We North; or in' the Sputt ■ - Yorkshire ®® tt; 9" goods ;n Lancashire, the iron P steel near .thecoal, mfnes or the jfiome aaout in recent years. 'Many oi t' I, inumorablo new mdu tne« ; f (|yfid; sites ,ii

v , i '/v/' >- A few'"years ago; thejre"welte 'wle spaetiß- along it for'a few inilespnt to day are covered "with faatgyies/LAttifei manufactories." Qn6 rfea'aon choosing the of London for factory sites la -thei* can# trality. Nowadays manufacturers' d£| sire io beT m close tofcelr , going on; and want to;irot#fcimi# in ruining up-to Loudon. lands or any other parJjXit "np" to %vea< > never "down''). , <*b&ClraaMji£ la the deairerto get union officials and tlteir trqratfeta'-upOa. industry, which; WveAeen., the industry in the XEdlanda for many decades allv, there is still a good deal of asfi? mosity and distrnbt harboured ,by vaioag {sts towards employers, 'twhot? 1 ,gard as their natural enemies,. and• }wh<>j! in turn, have littlo personal interest in the" 1 welfare of their* are exceptions, ofeonraej-ilti «^e t xn4&'|ls 1 tries the relations between Capital and Labour'being all thai <&n' "be*desired' with mutually beneficial results. - ' ThesO large' adgitiojfif IrtT the 'iditisi, tries of the Motfropolia have provided further employment, and "to house the' employees streets upon-streets of mow housed ► have "been erected' and -sre' ipt course of erection. - of ,the building is one o'f the 'thingß iAP presses the visitor who has been away froiu. London for a few years. I%s 40£ confined to one suburb;-everywhere it, is the same. It is amassing, and one wonders where all the people comd froxnf and where they find ,employjnen^^; t - Eor the most part the' houses, J a!re semi-detached, two being built ■together, containing from five to Bix rooms, with all conveniences, and selling. Jfor-»£rom £,600 to £9oo,each. The' London CJobnty Council' is responsible for;a giceafct?t\any of the ..new houses, but speculators and builders are also very buajr, and sell on easy terms, with'h' deposit 'ranging from £2O to £SO. The structures'are of brick and appear to be substantially built, but there are .those who say that a large proportion. are ■5 t jsrry built and consequently ;will not la p t many years without) extensive 'repairs. - Improvement of Slum Areas., The County Council, haa -bepasf doing very useful work'in demolishing slump, widening streets in £hese and re-erecting tenements , on, up-to-dajfe lines, also in, getting <the* population from tlrt congested areas to move out into the new suburbs, financially the enterprise has not. been justified, bijt in every other respect it has been ian undoubted It is' not surprising' therefore the slums,in the' East 'End 'tab not t&C J ' pestilential pla&s Ifhey once' were'. Eyen in Liiuchouso street and' 41 Chinatown 5 ' conditions 4Te,v,gueh.;fertlay' that£a stranger could pass through, by .day orTii gh t - w'ithoU t 4 b 6fn^jtfl)fstat' r ' to JnblesjSa-' tion any more ♦ than'' pwrts'of the metropolis, 1 The, /Of

JiißßiMpLjlfjßß