A COLONISTS TOUR IN EUROPE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 125, 28 May 1887, Page 3 (Supplement)

A COLONISTS TOUR IN EUROPE.

An addreaa was delivered 4t Gbllingwood ,by M* G..D. Larigrid^, M.ll A.,* bri'his ex-periences-during hia recerit. travelaiini land and on the Continent. The buildincr was crowded, arid bhe mayor of Colling, wood, Mr A. Aitkeri, occupied the chafr. |_ Mr __arigridge.at the6*j,ts"et remarked thab ib^was a mabter of infinibe/Batiafacbion !'to learn that- dnring the whole period of his' absence, not a single, unkindWbrd.Had been' said by any of his constituents, "with'regard to his having left the colony at a .time when he had duties to perform in ParUariienb as, their representative. He briefly sketebed some of tho many, incidents, experiericjed during the voyagb. He wiis delighted with' Coldiribd, but A'dehhe describeo. as the moist miserable, frowning, ugly place, he had bv'eh Seen. Ab Porb Said- heha'd ihe; advaribage of Beeing'. bhe Mediterranean squadrpri,and "at, Malta ! the real' pleasures vof the' trip commenced. On" seeing' Gibraltar, he could not help being sbeuck wibh the "cheek" of Old England in seburing every and all "places looked upon as n'eotessary foi* maintaining and upholding British interests. A bull fight in Spain did not strike him 9*3 a very edifyirig spectacle. It was all right for the bull and the toreador, but it Was a'piebe of right down cruelty for bhe poor horso, Which was always abandoned to thfe ferocity of the goaded beast. At Plymouth the Customs House officers seized a couple of Eouride of tobacco which in his irinocbnce c confessed was in his possession. He found, however, that the. English tariff levieeLduties on a few articles Oiily, such ___ spirits, tea, gold, silver and tobacco. Ib was apparent at the outsbb bhat England waa i being swamped with goods of foreign man.- ■, facture. The markets were glutted, and* everywhere numbers of men were to be seen out of employment, and absolutely unable to" obtain work. This atate of thirtga was, ac-, cording to his opinion, entirely due to the free-trade policy of-England, and, from all he could gather* he was able to predict that a very important change would before long be made if the prevailing distress was in any way to be relieved. Mr, Larigridge gave' some very humorous illustrations of the ideas. generaUy-^held by a large aection of the English people with regard to bhe topography of Australia and bhe, nabural colour of bhe Australians. He spoke.very highly of the sanitary condition of London. For workmen work was far more perfriarient iri Loridon than it used bo be, and wages ranked higher. Now, men were paid 9d per hour, they had to,work 52 hours per week, inatead of 60, aa before,and always had a Saburday half holiday. From what he. had seen of the drink traffic in London he considered thab bhey, should Ibe proud of bhe system adopbed heref and bhe. bounds within which it i/s limited. In Loridon ladies, whilsb shopping, could be supplied in riearly every place Wibh wines and obher liquors ; and there were working men's clubs beyond number where by paying an entrance fee of 2s per year anybody could become a member, and procure drink in spite of all laws regulabing ibs sale. He bad seen the two exbretnes of Sabbabh observance in Paris and Glasglow. He hoped riever agah. to witness a Parisian Sunday, but in all fairness he had bo confess bhat he. noticed more drunken people in Glasgow on a Sunday than he did in We French capital. The railways in Erigland he regarded as almost perfect, the convenience and comfort of travelling, a,nd the "courtesy of the officials, being alike worthy of the highest praise. In England there were at the present timo nearly 33,000 miles of railway* He was greatly struck with the convenience of the underground, railways, by mearis of whibh the whole of the city of London was compaased.