CONDITIONS ABROAD.

Shannon News, 5 December 1924, Page 3

CONDITIONS ABROAD.

A NEW ZEALANDER’S IMPRESSIONS IN' EUROPE. “The welcome accorded one everywhere in Great Britain, supply because one is. a New Zealander,” stated Mr, H. H. Seaton, a, Wellington business man who Las just returned from a trip to. Europe, and who is spending a few days in Levin, to a “News” representative recently, “makes one feel .very proud of the splendid reputation which the New Zealand troops built. Up during the war. Everywhere I went it was the same—one had only tQ mention* New Zealand,. and the traditional frigidity thawed immediately and they could not do enough for one. in Scotland this was even more evident; the people apparently hold the. memory of the New Zealanders in real affection, and the. fact of being a New Zealander was a sure passport tq their regard. Mr Seaton went to England for the purpose of. visiting the Empire Exhibition, and took the opportunity of seeing as much of England as possible. Purchasing a car he toureu through the greater part of England and Scotland, and also visited the Continent, where ihe passed through France, Switzerland, and Italy, spending some time in each. His impressions of conditions in Europe are of particular interest in view of the inevitable influence of these on New Zealand economics. ENGLISH UNEMPLOYMENT.

Taken on the/whole, Mr. Seaton explained, business in London appeared to be fairly satisfactory. In the provinces, and more particularly in the iron-trade, there was some depression, but the prevailing tone.' was optimistic. What did strike the overseas visitor, however, was the prevalence ot unemployment, a state of affairs which the “unemployment dole,” whilst no doubt a necessity in tne main, lias assisted m perpetuating in certain instances'... It' was quite a common thing, i6r instance, for , a girl drawing a dole of 15s per week, to be offered a half-time job at'a factory at a wage of £1 per week, and when sent down by the Labour Agency to the position, to scribble the words “position .filled” across - the note of introduction which, sue carried from the agency, and initial it. This, was accepted as bona-fide evidence and the girl, in whom long-continued charity nad destroyed any feeling of independence, continued draw the 15s in idleness, in preference io working, even for three days a week, for a larger sum. In another case a small shop-keeper, complained to Mr. Seaton that pne of his sons, who. before the war bad been an excellent tradesman, had done no work since the war. He was a big able-bodieu man, but having six chiluren, he. chew a dole of nearly £3 per week; anu was content to live o.n-this. WAGES IN ENGLAND. Wages, for those, who could get .work, were practically on aJevei, m mos.t branches of industry, wuh ttiose obtaining in New Zealand. Carpenters, bricklayers, and plasterers earned from £4 to £5 per week. Policemen received £4 T2s 6d per week, anu the scavengers employed by the L.C.u. received in the neignbourhood of £4hiving hr England would probably be about on a par with New Zealanu. foodstuffs, were, probably slightly higher, but it was amazing tq see New produce sold in England at prices actually lower than those Obtaining for tne same axticle.s in the country in which tuey were prohuced. xsew- Zealand lamo, lor instance, sold in the prQvmces, during the tune oi his tour, at Wd to Is per lb. lor the. nest cuts, add down to did. New Zealand butter, as suciv was unobtainable, but “Empire butter,” probably a blended butter, was obtainable at fs yd per Jb. / ' -

-.Mr Seaton stated, that in several towns which, he hah visited lie, nau inquired lor New Zealand butter, nui was told that It never found its way . imo the shops, as. such, although the New Zealand butter, sola in Jib pats at the New Zealand .pavilion during trie Exhibition was received with the greatest favour wherever obtainable. U6thes, on the other- hand, were little more than half the price paid in New Zealand. A man’s tweed all-wool suit, by a city tailor cost £§ to £6 lQs. Even ti'om the exclusive. Bond Street tailors, the price was. only on a par with New Zeaand, viz., £lO to hi*. a uress-suit, excellently cut _ and unlsliea, cost ten guineas m tue . eio. wallst ahieavy tweed overcoat, niaae, which ivir i *eatou snowea om lepicoentative, cost £6. AUSTRALIAN ANjl) CANADIAN TRADE AJJVEUIiSEMENr.

in mi tue large towns tiuouguou, England and Scotland, the uoveiijlnents of. Canada ana the states, by arraiigement witu agaiuo, had winuoW displays of .their country s products, whicn were always objects of-interest to shoppers ana wituout" doubt stimulated a dernuuu tneir goods. Sucb an arraiigement, he contended, In the. case of New Zealand, could hot but. be productive o. good as providing, a practical advertisement m the. centres of consumption.

SHOP RENTS. - What had really surprised him, Mr Seaton continued, was the low rental or,urged fotr shops, compared with " New Zealand values. As a business man 'this... had particularly interested him, and on inquiry he had found that a shop of a given floor-space, in uxford Street,‘London’s busiest shopping centre, actually cost less than it would in Willis Street, Wellington. ENGLISH ROADS. Most of this travelling in England, Mr Seaton did by . car, he having pur- ■ chased a machine, in the country. The lloyal Automobile. Association had treated over-seas motorists with the greatest courtesy, making all members of the New Zealand Association, honorary members of the Royal Auto- . mobile Club during tbe currency of " the Exhibition. This Association has a wonderful system of assistance to •motorists throughout thq country. > Every few mhes along the roads are telephone boxes where 9, motorist who lias had a breakdown may ring ,up ■ / an Association centre, when a man. with a repair kit is sent out immediateiy. A further activity *qf the Asi- J , ’ , * .

sociation,. paore or less praiseworthy according t.o whether it is. looked upon from the. viewpoint of the motorist or the local authority, is .the-'stationing of men along the roads, to * warn speeding car drivers of police-traps. Ihe main roads, of England are all sealed, the Government and local-bod-ies. spending, a to.tal of £40,000,0dd on upkeep yearly. Of this huge, sum, a vviueei-iax, assessed at a rate of hi per horsepower, provides. £14,000,000, foe remainder being made, up by the local, bodies, with m certain cases, subsidies from the Government. CONDITIONS'ON THE CONTINENT. A stay of a fortnight was made m Paris, which Mr Seaton knew, well, irom a six-months stay in 1900. Here us in, every_ other part of the Continent. which he visited, labour conditions appeared to be'infinitely more settled than in England. There was no unemployment, he was. informed in France, Switzerland, or Italy, anu although wages were small, comparatively.*, the people appeared, on the whole; to be busy, and prosperous. Living in Paris, with an exchange rate of 85 to 88 francs, to the £1 was very cheap, the' cost of living at hotels, with wine in reason, outside tne exclusive establishments, being about £2 per week. Clothes were even cheaper than in England. GERMANY COMING BACK.

In Switzerland and Italy, the best hotels were 'run by Germans, and their best, patrons, were also German. These people spent money lavishly, and the general opinion on the Continent was that Germany was very prosperous.

Mr and Mrs Seaton spent a fortnight in Venice, with which they were especially charmed, considering it the most interesting place seen in their travels. They came back, Mr Seaton stated, quite convinced that New Zealand was still the best place in the world in which tq. live, although an occasional trip to Eurbpe, he explained laughingly, was useful to keep the fact impressed on the mind.