A PROSPEROUS WORLD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4945, 1 March 1926, Page 2

A PROSPEROUS WORLD.

“ NG SIGNS GF POVERTY.” BETTER LIVING IN ENGLAND. In these .days when so much is heard about Britain being down and out, it is refreshing to meet someone who holds the directly opposite view. A Johnsonville resident, who has just returned from a visit to England, declares that the people of. that country are better dressed and better fed, more prosperous, and a good deal happier, than when he last visited Old Land, twenty-four years ago. ' In spite of the 1 income tax, he says, people with moderate means, are much better off in England than in New Zealand, as the cost ofc living at Home is very much cheaper, a. loaf of bread only costing from 8d to 9d, as against is Id to Is 2d in the Dominion.

“From all appearances, the people of England are prosperous and happy,” remarked Mr H. W. Lawrence, of the Chemical Service Laboratories, Johnsonville, in giving his impressions of a world! tour to a Wellington Dominion reporter. “One . would never imagine that such a thing as a slump existed. A feature of English life is the wonderful development of motor transport which has taken place. Motor-busies 'are the popular mode of travelling, and the char-a-bancs were crowded all over the country while I was in England.” BUSES SUPERSEDING TRAMS.

Mr Lawrence stated that motorbuses were superseding tra.ms in many parts of England. There had been a loss in the running of the Lon- ' don trams last year of £280,000'. Buses were everywhere, and shifted the crowds 1 comfortably and expeditiously. 1 . The Darlington and Taunton Councils, had actually scrapped their tram services recently. “A feature of traffic in London is the pace at which the buses travel,” said Mr Lawrence. “Though they are limited to 12 miles an hour, they travel at nearer 30, and their average pace is about 20.- The motor-bus, is far more popular than the electric tra-ms. I aliso f found that a, good many Canadian cities are substituting buses for trams.” Mr Lawrence also visited the United States and Canada. There, too, were to be seen signs of material prosperity. On all sides building operations were active, both by the State, public bodies, and private enterprise. It was evident that the authorities 1 were buildingi with an eye .to the future. A handsome big bridge which was being constructed at Calgary had provision for four tram tracks. It was the same wtih all buildings which were being erected; provision waOeing made for 20 years ahead. WHERE PEOPLE WORK. ' ’

“It w'as astonishing to see the pace at which workmen do their jobs in the States, and in Canada,” said Mr Lawrence. “At one of the big towns on the Great Lakes the men on the waterfront were actually trotting about their loading operations. ‘What makes you fellows go so fast ?’ I asked one of them. ‘Oh, I know where you come from,” the worker replied ; ‘you come from Australia.” ‘No, I come from New Zealand,’ I replied. ‘I knew it was from either of those places,’ the worker said. ‘We don’t adopt ijheir methods here. You see, we are paid to work, and we work. I ha,ve just earned ten dollars in the last two hours. Isn’t that .worth working for? Go slow methods- don’t pay a man in this country.’ ” The New Zealander was amazed at the signs of prosperity he saw in Sydney. New buildings were going up on all sides, and very handsome buildings they were, too. The city was expanding a.t an incredible rate, .and fortunes were being made by people who owned suburban lands. A acres of sand dunes were being converted almost overnight into (suburbs of dwelling houses. The secondary industries, all appeared to l>e .flourishing, and generally there was an air of prosperity. /“It is amazing where the money comes from for ajl the building that is going on,"- said Mr Lawrence. “They must surely be borrowing a great deal.” »