£l,000 A WEEK

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 577, 1 February 1929, Page 8

£l,ooo A WEEK

DURING the past ten 3'ears, the Prince of Wales has shown a happy faculty for establishing contact with the masses he will one day be called upon to rule, and it is sad to know that the most devastating scenes of human misery which have yet met his gaze have been found, this week, in England. Touring the northern coalfields he has met men who are unable to obtain the work that would support the women and children who have to pass their bleak and hungry days in hovels. He has seen them without proper clothing, stung by the scourging flails of the English winter. “More than once,” the cables say, “he left cottages with an angry look upon his face.” While the Prince was asking miners’ wives how they managed to preserve life on 20 shillings a week, the English papers were publishing stories which explained how Mrs. Kate Meyriek. through indulging vicious appetites of indolence, was able to earn for herself £I,OOO a week. Any historian-commen-tator of future days, confronted with these facts, would be justified in drawing unflattering conclusions, and assuming a decadence which happily does not exist. The misery of theminers is great, and for years they have suffered while the English people, blind to the real situation, hoped that the wretched phase would pass. It has not passed, and is not likely to pass for a long time; but the visit of the Prince to the homes of these broken-spirited people will have the effect of making the whole kingdom labour for the betterment of an appalling situation. The excellent clients who lifted Mrs. Meyriek into the ranks of the big money-makers are to be met in any civilised c6mmunity, and fjieir presence, fortunately, does not signify the decay of national virtues. Mrs. Meyrick’s trade is always to be gained by those who are subtle and enterprising enough to anticipate the needs of those of the wealthy who choose to perform no useful social service, and have not enough spiritual resource to entertain themselves. Within one week England has awakened to the presence of two evils. Mrs. Meyriek, anxious to ensure her position, found that she was able to corrupt the-police, but although her ability in this direction was well-known, years had to pass before the scandal became public. Now the “Night Club Queen” is in prison. She will soon be forgotten. But the other evil—the poignant plight of thousands—can not so readily be forgotten and England must face with determination the alleviation of such miseries as brought anger into the heart of the Psince.