ECONOMIC SITUATION

Otago Witness, Issue 4033, 30 June 1931, Page 11

ECONOMIC SITUATION

A VISITOR’S • IMPRESSIONS MR ALLAN WILKIE INTERVIEWED. “ I have found Nelson to be the least visibly affected part of New Zealand, so far as the economic depression is concerned,” said Mr Allan Wilkie, who, with Mrs Wilkie, who is better known by her stage name of Miss Hunter-Watts, will give a series of Shakespearian recitals in Dunedin during the week, in the course of an interview with our representative on Friday evening. Mr Wilkie went on to say that, after seeing how bad conditions were in Australia. there was comparatively little outward appearance of poverty in New Zealand. He said that sounder Government had always prtvailed here than in other parts of th world, and this was probably the reason for conditions not being worse than they actually were. He- was snr» that, with the return of Letter markets, New Zealand would recover very speedily —much more so than Australia. It was noticeable that the people of the Dominion did not wear the same dejected appearance as the Australians, who showed plainly by their demeanour and by the fact that their sole topic of conversation was the economic situation that they were in much worse plight than were the people of New Zealand. Mr Wilkie said that the theatrical business did not seem to have been so severely affected as might have been expected. He had found the type of entertainment which he was offering on this tour very popular and, indeed, his tour had. been so satisfactory that he had altered his first intention of making a short visit to the Dominion and had decided to extend his itinerary very considerably. After the close of his Dunedin season Mr Wilkie intends going to Invercargill, and then visiting Christchurch before returning to the North Island.