ENGLAND’S WEALTH

Hokitika Guardian, 23 November 1928, Page 5

ENGLAND’S WEALTH

MORE FOR THE MASSES.

AUCKLAND, Nov. 20.

“The wonderful apparent improvement in the condition of the people in England impressed me very much,” said Mr J. L. Webb, of Auckland, a business mail with interests through-

out the Dominion, who returned from a world tour by the Aorangi. “Take London, for instance,” lie said. • “The slum areas are practically a tiling of the past, and one might see more poverty in the big cities of America than in the heart of our Empire, this, despite the unemployment that is still apparent in different centres. It appeal's to the visitor, who takes an intelligent interest' in what he sees, that the wealth of England is being distributed 'to a greater extent to-day amongst the masses. ‘Big business’ still lias its place but the under dog is getting more than he obtained before the war, and there are not so many individual rich people as formerly. This is a good thing for the nation, and in contrast with America where the wealth is gradually being concentrated into fewer channels witli mergers and trusts, and the masses are not getting their quota in comparison. “(Germany,” said Mr Webb, “is showing great trade activity, and the big cities give no indication that a great war is only recently over. Austria is different, especially Vienna. The war aftermath is being felt acutely and there are not the same signs of recovery as in Germany. ‘'As far as Italy is concerned it seems to lie a hew country, and to use the words of Mussolini, the nature •itself of the people will almost alter under the regime if it is allowed to continue for a few more years. ’J he thinking people of the nation realise to the full what the present administration means to the Italian nation.”