BAD TO WORSE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 392, 29 November 1932, Page 5

BAD TO WORSE

STATE OF SRELAND GLOOMY PICTURE PAINTED BY EX-NEW ZEALAND RESIDENT ' ' DE VALERA'S GOVERNMENT 0 A letter received recently in Roto--ua nrovides some interesting sideJ i -i at.'Ow the troubled position of t Fsve State at the present ; and by -comparison, should make b.-v, Zeaianders more content 'with te'!' b-L which in s])ite of the -diffi- . i.'me.- tiivough which the country , is passiag, is still free from a great many of the troubles which are hesetting countries in other parts of the world. ' , The writer of the letter was -for several years a resident in New Zealand. but eventually left the Dominion for his native Duhlin where he ifitended entering into business. His ventrne was ill-timed, ancT before he had time to become established; the ■ new enterprise was upset by the econ;omic turmoil into which the country was thrown as the result of the recent change in Government. •; Dealing with the establishment of the business, he says: 'Conditions were dead against us, when. in Noyember last, the new Government came into powrer. Heavy tariffs of foufpence and sixpence per pound were imposed on tea, which we were buying for eight- pence a pound. This was of course, cash downti, and we had six months or more credit from our firm . . . but we were a young firm, and we went back. Then the present eeonomic war hegan and now I am out of it, and broken, bnst and bankrupt, and on the old heat looking for a job." South Africa No Better Convinced that cpnditions in the Free State were too diffieult for business success, the writer then epmmunicated with relatives in South Africa in an endeavour to ascertain whether eonditions were any more favourable in the Union. He had p^eviously lived in this country also, but thc reply he received painted- almost as gloomy a picture as that which was depicted in his own country. "Last week I had from him," he says, "a tale of unusually acute eeonomic depression, starvation and hlueblack ruin, togetlier with a greatly increased language difficulty to that which obtained in my time. It was so bad that even I would not risk it nlone>" From Bad* to Worse Going on to speak at more detail f eonditions in the Free State, he ays: "Truly the old world is sick, "id L' eland, which should have heen th? oi the most prosperous parts of the Empire. is going from bad to worse. Is it not hard that the country should snffer for the fanaticism 01 11 few fools 5n tlie Governlnent, and fhoii- unfounded hatred of England? This poor distressful country, with pench.'.nt for fighting England is -* Inu ,h'n ( stock of the world' — -ig and, her neighbour, and practically the only market for her produce. "There is widespread trouble and distress, not only in the Free State, but in Northern Ireland. De Valera, of course, is the tool of his party, hut he must have been a fool to link up with a party which holds such fevolutionary political opinion. It is the yeneml idea here that his Govern'uent will not last long, and tliere is a real and increasing dissatisfaction all over the country. He is rapidly osing support, and when he goes His "olitieal career is finished. Rose Garden of Empire "This crisis in my'oWU affairs has made me long for New Zealand hll the more. It is the rose garden of the Empire, wliat with its grand temperate climate, living eonditions, its freedom from any racial and religious barriers, and the fine spirit and altruism of the man in the street. I see it as a haven, and the only place In which I could settle down and live eontentedly. You have no idea what an ever present trouble religion is to us, and what a stumbling hlock it is to internal peace. Why it should he so, God only knows. Down there (New Zealand) it is no trouble to anyone. Every man's religion is respected, and could not, hy any stretch of the imag'ination cause the slightest friction. So I want to get away from it and its petty squabhles- I think before many moons are passed, I will breathe the air of New Zealand again."