WILL TO CARRY ON

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 71, 25 March 1940, Page 6

WILL TO CARRY ON

IN BRITAIN TO-DAY. UGHTS DOWN BUT HEADS UP. DIfUKE OF DABJOnBSS OVERCOME. I/)XDON. February 23. Let IK Ttegin in London, and, as chivalry commands, with the ladies. Let us take a walk one winter afternoon along Oxford Street, the great shopping centre, the "Women's Mile," as it ha* been called. Life in Britain to-day is not normal. Of course not. It is not normal to be at war, to have one* menfolk away, to have a house strangely empty or strangely crowded with refugees and war workers, to know that you must not only pay an income tax of 7/ in the pound but must save voluntarily, if you can, in order to lend money to tbe Government, writes Ivor Brown, the distinguished British author and dramatic critic. So it is hardly to lie expected, thi* winter afternoon, that Oxford Street will be it* old self. It u-cd to be so gay. aa the light* came t winkling out in the window*, then Mazing everywhere, and calling out t » forget the darkness, to spend, to be social, to t link of going on afterwards in company to a dinner and a show. Now. a* we walk along, we cannot look forward to a West End all a-t winkle with light. It is. indeed, very difficult to walk in Oxford Street at all. There are so many people about. The pavement i* jll eked. The shops arc packed. What is more, the counters in*ide the shop* are packed. There were not these crowds in September. Plenty to Bay. They are shopping, easily, for there i-i plenty to buy. There is no extravagance. The British people are well aware that they now have to compromise in money matter-. They mii-t *|M>lld to keep trade moving: they mil-' ' save to pay for the war. So we *hali | t-ee housewives going watchfully ahout their chopping. purchasing serviceable things, stronger shoes than of old. for example, and comfortable, u-seful articles to send to their son* and daughters on war service at home or abroad. Quality and utilitv arc now the goal. There is not the old hilarity of the town lit up. but there is stout-heartednes* and confidence and the will to carry on. Later on some of theae myriad* will be going to theatres and picture houses. These have reopened in large numbers and many of the entertainment* arc packed. _ Meanwhile those at home, the Londoner*. are not idle in their eveningsOnc hundred and fifty thousand of them are engaged in defence work, air raid precautions, fire-fighting, ami so on. You will not see many children. 1 ney are mostlv in the country, where the Government would have them remain. Let us imagine ourselves in an English countrv town, one of those serene, mellow, red-bricked towns with a fine old market sqnare, where the commerce of tbe land ha* been carried on since the Middle Ages. On market day, round the aquare, thev are selling everything from cattle to cabbages, farm stockto furniture, exactly aa they have beea doing for hundreds of years. The difference to-day i« that there is more of evervthing, not less, in this market town. More cattle and calves and sheep and pigs are driven to tbe stalls. There are more people certainly, for there are Air Force and Army depots round about, and there are London children in thousands, and relatives and friend* who have come to see them. It would T% extremely difficult to find a shortage of anything here, except of space inside a shop. That is scarce, because all tbe farmers and their families come in on market days and fill the town with •their cars and carts, the streets and shopa with their persons, and the tills and banks with their money.

Hot Making Fortunes.

The farmers are not making fortunes. If there should ever be a shortage of food they will not be allowed to exploit it, but they are prospering reasonably. The taverns are packed with them when their business is done and they feel inclined to chat and argue over a pint of beer. This being a free country, they will talk very freely about the war and how to win it. and they will be as critical as they like of the Government, knowing that nobody is spying on them and reporting what they say to the secret police.

There is one quite new feature in this otherwise unchanging market amid the English meadows. A shop has just been opened which sells one thing only, war saving certificates and defence bonds. The interest on these is low, but the security is good and the cain-c—that of victory for freedom—approved by all. There are plenty of people inquiring about the bonds—and buying them.

Prices of commodities have advanced a little, both here and in London, but not greatly. A large firm of clothiers announces no change of prices since the war. War-time movements of population have mixed classes and ages and accent*. In the remotest parts of Wales you will find large deposit* of young Liverpool. So in the counties round about London there is every kind of war-time blending. These movement* have had extraordinary effects. It was hard for many people in tho towns to se© their children «*o away last September, but the statistics provo how beneficial to many of those town children the country life has been. The Afinister of Health recently gave Parliament most eucouraging figures about their physical development under the new conditions.

Their mental growth has not been neglected. By working in with local rural schools the town children are now being given complete education in the country and are getting a far wider view of life.

Problems Smoothed Out.

The enormous migrations caused, inevitably, a multitude of personal and administrative problems. But all these are now bciug successfully smoothed out. There can be no dispute about one thing. The chauge of environment has been immensely stimulating to many of the children from the towns, to whom quite new horizons have been opened. Of course, it Is not a happy Britain that entered this most fateful'year of 1940. Happiness and war do not mix. The British are not fuss : ng about happiness. They are getting on with their various jobs without pomp and pretentiousness. They nre keepin™ their lights down and their lieiuU up. Tliey «f fostering trade mnl keeping a little [>o<ket money for recreation.

.\l>o\e all. they mean to keep their miml* tree, to speak their opinion., and lead and hear what they plca-c. There is no atmosphere of hate'or intolerance or hysteria. They know that loss of freedom, self-control and solfrespect would be. in effect, a Nazi victory. And that they will never permit.