AUSTRALIA DEPRESSED

Hokitika Guardian, 16 May 1929, Page 2

AUSTRALIA DEPRESSED

MH WILL APPLETON INTEItV HOW 101). OHR ISTC'i! dItCH, May 13. A pi', ii.uau in.; .strial depression is Mfci r.ng Lne v.oa;...om\oalth. and Mr W ill Appleton, ot the t liarles Ha nes Ad.c'rtisiiig Agency, who has just reCi.rnr.t t.i t..e Hun.mi n.. told it rep >rt„>r yesterday that* no sign 01 an improvement had been noticed. Labour unrest iviis largely to blame, but -Australia. ivies passing through the same experiences troin whuh Neiv Zealand uni e.nv ln.pp.ly emerged. “Over the lasnian they will have to tueklc the pr.hem ot' cutting down their imports.” he said, t nlortunately, aitliougli there was a- good deal ol native industry, the proats were very low. The time iliust e .-me when the Domini..n and the Comnu-n wealth would get together to frame a reciprocal tariff. present New Zealand could land French and Italian goods cheaper than the Australian product. Air App.eton said the Queen land election result was parti u arly significant. It was an indication of l üblic feeling in regard to the rule of the extremist section in the. Commonwealth. r l he average man in the street was fed up with the Labour leaders. Tlio Queensland Labour Government when in office, had to face some big strikes, including two on the railways, and it . iiad become apparent, to it that it was up against the same problems as its predecessors; Its handling of ; the situaLi n had not appealed to. a section of the trade unionists, who had probably- 1 taken their revenge by assisting to vote it out. In. Sydney and Melb urne a trial of strength was in progress as to whether there was' to he a 4-1 or a 48-hoiir week in industry, hut whatever the outcome .Austin ia’s trouble was that it was not producing enough. The Sydney watcrskler worked far harder than the Me bourne wliarl labourer, and it was in the Victorian capital that labour unrest was most serious. Taken all round, there was a bettor class of workman in Sydney than in Melbourne. The more moderate section of Labour realised that it must get rid of the extreme element. Melbourne ir-oinpa red unfavourably with Sydney in the cost per ■ ton ol handling .ships- 1 ■ cargo, and worse still with New Zealand. ■ PEPLOU ABLE CONDITIOXS

Living conditions in Sydney were dep ( pable; TL.nv the average man with a wife and family to support could survive, when the high prices of foodstuffs and enormous rents' were considered, was a matter for wonderliient. .Tn Sydney a man would need at least 23 per cent, more in wages-to live at the sUmo;standard of comfort as ruled in t lie Dam in n. hut real wages were generally lower than hero.

The lawlessness in Melb urne and Sydney was not no iceable to visitors, and the newspaper reports of outrages gave a false impression. The difficulties of Sydney residents had been added to. through tiio action .of the Government in increasing, taxati *n, hut it was forced to obtain. money from somewhere. The Sydney Civic- .Commissioners seemed to have devoted most, of their, cnergic' to investigating the fau’fcs and- mistakes ,of the previ us Adnrnis'ration, without carrying out their real job. and so. far as he could see, they had not effected much improvement. . , Traffic conditions in Sydney were deplorable, and compared most unfavourably with those in Melbourne, where he control was on sound lines. There were nearly a dozen street accidents, many, of them resulting in death, in Sydney daily, and it was unsafe for pedestrians to cross Pitt, Castlereagh, or George streets. The one-way traffic added to the dangers of people on foot, as the traffic! travelled so fast and covered the whole street. In Mc’bournc the streets could be crossed only at appoipted places. The system of coloured lights, in use in Wellington had been adopted there, with satisfactory results. There was a big development in picture theatres in Australia, and he had not seen one in Wellington or Chris!chuch which was really up-to-date. All of tbe big theatres over the Tasman had a combination of pictures and vaudeville, with, wonderful music and ballets. It was found that the people wanted more than the film. There was room for a tip-top theatre in Christchurch, and such a development had to come. He was glad to see that the building boom, which he'had forecasted for this city, was now devolr-ping.