LEAVING THE SUNSHINE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 145, 18 June 1912, Page 9

LEAVING THE SUNSHINE.

DEPAKTXTBE OF MB. R. F. BELL. XEW ZEALAXD PEEFEKEED. Mr. E. F. Bel]. Australasian representative in London of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union, left Auckland by the t.s.s. Maheno last evening for Sydney, en route to England, after a ten months' furlough, the latter portion of -which has been spent in his native land—Xew Zealand, in mentioning to a "Star" reporter tne probability of an early return tn and a settling in this Dominion, Mr. Bell remarked: "I feel tbat I want to feel the sun by day, and see the stars benight, and that is what one cannot do in London.'' Mr. Bell has apparently enjoyed his sojourn in New Zealand to the firH. especially that portion spent in the South Island, which he left as a youthful seaman some years ago- He feels that it is a slower country to live in than the land to which he goes — much slower, in fact, than he believed when he first left these shores. He also thinks that the spirit of hustle is less apparent in New Zealand than in parts of Australia, as, for instance, Sydney and Melbourne, where the methods of the people arc more like those of an American community. "'Here,"' he said, "the people are of a more easygoing and satisfied temperament; they are more English." From the industrial view point. Mr. Bell -considers the conditions of the workers in Xew Zealand (especially the seamen) are far ahead of what ran be expected in England for many years to eorne. "No good results can be obtained over there." he said, "without striking. Something dramatic must be done be/ore proper attention to grievances can he secured."' He believed that a syteru of compulsory arbitration would be a fine thing for* the workers of England, in spite of the fact that some of the leaders out here did not appear to appreciate it''My opinion is that conditions have undergone such change.-, that- they -have got ahead of the .V:." he added. Mr. Bell is a believer in the Socialistic view thai the workers should b" given iB-.-n-a--" after increase until the time arrived when they got the whole of the products of their labour. That is how he put it to the interviewer, with the concluding remark: "Labour can never get anymore than it is entitled to." Mr. Bell expres-ed pleasure at f,he cpp:irfnt suer-«: of many immigrants in New Zealand whom he had formerly known in England. "Most of them mive tcl-l mc thai they are more than satisfied." iv"and a favourite remark by th--m is that ■they would not go back to live in the Old Country for all the tea in \.hiua.'"