A COLONIST'S TOUR IN EUROPE.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 206, 4 June 1887, Page 2

A COLONIST'S TOUR IN EUROPE.

An address -Wx^ delivered afc Cbllingwood by Mr G. D. ftafcoridge, M.l*A M on fii» expej.^enceSi.duriiig," qi&- recent tnwels inf England and on the* Continent. r sh& building was crowded, sa&£ the mayor* of CoUiflgjwood, Mr A. Aitkeiv occupied tie chair.. ' Mr Langridge at iihfe outset remarked tihofe it was a matter of infinite satiefaotiom to» learn that, during the whole period of His) absence, not a single unkind word hadbeew said by any of his constituents with regard! to his having left the colony at a time when i he hod duties to perform in Parliament astheir representative. He briefly sketched j some of tli© 1 many incidents experienced during the voyage. He was delighted with ' Colombo, but Aden he described as the most miserable, frowning, ugly place he had ever seen. At Fort Said he had the advantageof seeing the 1 Mediterranean squadron, and at Malta the real pleasures of the trip commenced. On seeing Gibraltar he could not help being struck with the " cheek" of Old England in securing every and all placo3 looked upon as necessary for maintaining and upholding British interests. A bull light in Spain did not strike him as a. very edifying spectacle. It was all right for the* bull and the toreador, but it was a piece of right down cruelty for the poor horse, which was always abandoned to the ferocity of the goaded beast. At Plymouth the Customs House officers seized a couple of pounds of tobacco which in his innocence he confessed was in his possession. He found, however, that the English tariff levied duties on a few articles only, such as j spirits, tea, gold, silver and tobacco. It was apparent at the outset thab England was being swamped with goods of foreign manufacture. The markets were glutted, and everywhere numbers of men were to be seen out of employment, and absolutely unable to obtain work. This sfcato of things wad, according to his opinion, entirely due to the free-trade policy of England, and, from all he could gather, he was able to prodiet that a very important change would before long be made if the prevailing distress was in any way to be relieved. Mr Langridge gave some very humorous illustrations of the ideas generally held by a large section of the English people with regard to the topography of Australia and I the natural colour of the Australians. He spoke very highly of the sanitary condition of London. For workmen work was far more permanent in London than it used j to be, and wages ranked higher. Now, j men were paid 9d per hour, they* had to work 52 hours per week, instead of 60, as before, and always had a Saturday half holiday. From what he had seen of the drink traffic in London ho considered that they should be proud of the system adopted here and the bounds within which it is limited. In London ladies, whilst shopping, could be supplied in nearly every place with wines and other liquors ; and there were working men's clubs beyond number where by paying an entrance fee of 2s per year anybody could a member, and procure drink in spito of all laws regulating its sale. He had seen the owo extremes of Sabbath observance in Paris and Glasglow. He hoped never again to witness a Parisian Sunday, but in all fairness he had to confess that he noticed more drunken people in Glasgow on a Sunday than he did in the French capital. The railways in England he regarded as almost perfect, the convenience and comfort of travelling, and the courtesy of the officials, being alike worthy of the highest praise. In England there were at the present time nearly 33,000 miles of railway. He was greatly struck with the convenience of the underground railways, by means of which the whole of the city of London was compassed.