SCOTTISH VISITOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26617, 13 November 1947, Page 8

SCOTTISH VISITOR

DOMINION TOUR BRITAIN’S AUSTERITY SHORTAGES AND HIGH WAGES Making an extended tour of the Dominion, Miss Mary Fletcher, of Dumbarton, Scotland, is at present visiting Dunedin, in company with her sister, her brother, Sir James Fletcher, and Lady Fletcher. Miss Fletcher expressed herself as delighted with New Zealand. She has travelled up and down the country, and has found everybody “ particularly cheerful,” while the hotels are excellent, and the service all that could be desired. “ There are no smoky towns, such as we have in England,” she told the Daily Times; “the atmosphere is pure and clear even in your larger cities. However, in spite of the charm and freshness, I do think that New Zealand lacks the fascination and character of older countries.”

Referring to the food problem in the United Kingdom, Miss Fletcher said that nobody was starving. Children, in particular, were not suffering as they did after the 1914-18 war, because school milk and school dinners were available, while the special green ration book gave children priority where eggs, milk and imported fruits, such as oranges and bananas, were concerned.

“ My feeling is,” she said, “ that this period is telling on the young adults and middle-aged people, who are not getting sufficient calories for the required energy, with the result that it takes three people to do the work of two. Miners, who have extra rations, are ’nursed,’ because we must have coal for both industrial and domestic uses. At one time, conditions for miners were very poor indeed, but the. pendulum has now swung in the opposite direction, and they are the privileged class. The hazards of war did not ‘ get people down,’ but postwar conditions may do so. Rations are deadly monotonous. We are heartily sick of sausages, which we call ‘ bread-crumbs in battle-dress.’ Fats are scarce, there is now a shortage of potatoes, and fruit is plentiful only in the. country, where it is homegrown.” “ For Export Only ” Miss Fletcher said that the London shop windows were full of beautiful things. “There was,” she said, “only one snag—a little card marked ‘For Export Only.’ The people of Britain, however, are not complaining unduly about these shortages. We want your mutton, your butter, and your cheese, and therefore we must export. The, housewife becomes dispirited at times. Many houses are labourcreating, instead of labour-saving. Help is unprocurable, while furnishings and household appliances, as well as being scarce, are very expensive. Dresses range from 15gns to 60gns, the latter being a popular price. One I saw recently was actually priced at SOOgns—and it was not hung with diamonds! ” Parcels Welcomed Miss Fletcher was prominent in an organisation which distributed food and clothing parcels to “ blitzed ” people. “We were overwhelmed at the generosity of New Zealanders,” she said, “ and parcels from the Lady Gal’way League were tremendously appreciated. In fact, we were charmed by the beautiful garments sent by the league, particularly as second-hand clothes are coupon-free.” Another field of activity for Miss Fletcher was the Women’s Labour Exchange. “Tailoresses are in great demand,” she said. “They can earn up to £9 a week., The supply of nurses falls far short of the demand, this probably being due to the spartan conditions under which they once worked, and to the rigid rulqs. Anomalies and injustices in the nursing profession are, however, being gradually adjusted.” Miss Fletcher concluded with a plea 1o the people of New Zealand to continue sending gift parcels, which were increasingly welcome, and helped to take away from the drabness of the housewife’s task.