FORTUNATE NEW ZEALAND.

Shannon News, 24 December 1923, Page 3

FORTUNATE NEW ZEALAND.

CONTRASTED WITH HOME ''.CONDITIONS. ENGLISH, MERCHANT'S IMPRESSION'S. "I am inclined to think that Mr Seddoii was not far wrong wlion lie called Nfiiw Zealand "God's Own Country," was. the opinion expressed to a" "Chronicle" reporter by Mr A. Rawson, a visitor to New Zealand iroan England. Mr Rawson was until lately a member of a wefi-known lii'm of English cloth merchants, and is a brother of Mr I. Rawson of Levin, with whom he is staying. Mr Rawson said he. was greatly struck with the difference in the conuicions in the fcwo countries. "Here every man sits under his own figtree, as it were. There. are plenty of opportunities for every one ana plenty of room. If a man will work ne gets a .good return lor his labour. That is not so at Home, where the working man does not get a chance. If 1 was a young man starting out in life this is where I .should be. It is clear that there is more than enough lor everyono heiie'hy the way you waste things. I was hr-ed a farmer and I cannot help seeing it. Look at the waste land and the unused grass growing! Qn the sides of the roads. And then again the. timber you've wasted. It seems as if when there's been a 'bit of bush in the way you've .said 'Oh hum it off,' without thinking of the timibier. You don't . realise how' well off you are. At the same time, you seem to have benefited to a large extent by other people's mistakes, and turned a lot of these American ideas to good account. I was much impressed by this butter factory you hav.e here and your system of supplying it. You know in England the Women still make their butter by the pound and take it in on market day to sell for what it will fetch. Here it seams the men do the milking and take the cream to the factory. Look at the work it saves the women." Mr Rawson went on to dwell upon the conditions in England. "I am not a Labour mian and never shall be, but I have a lot of sympathy with Labour. When you think of the conditions under which so many have to live you cannot blame them for becoming Bolsheviks. The housing! shortage is terrible and in many towns the people are herded together like cattle. And then, you know;, these people are educated, given free libraries, shown the ideal life, and then told 'You must stay were you are.' That is what breeds Bolshevism. England seems to be. under a dark cloud. The taxation is frightful. Just think of those 40 millions which we have to pay to America every year; they have to be raised somehow. And neany all that money was borrowed for other people who won't pay us back. We are standing for an ideal and standing alone and America is letting us do it. Still if the Old Country is poor she is proud, proud of her integrity. And if right is right- and .right in the end wins through there is a good deal ,in it.