OUR ALLIES TO-DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 251, 17 July 1920, Page 8

OUR ALLIES TO-DAY

A TOURIST'S IMPRESSIONS ENGLAND LEADS THE WAY FRENCH ELATION AND ITALIAN DEPRESSION Perhaps there is no subject bo interesting, certainly none more vitally important to tho world than the industrial condition of those countries which have so recently been engaged in tho business of beating the common enemy, Mr. C. B. Norwood, of Wellington, . who has just returned from an interesting trip to America, England, and Europe, is a keen observer, and as he visited tho countries of four of tho Allies he is able to speak with a certain authority on their positions to-day.

America he found to be full of complex problems, extremely, feverishly busy, yet. seething with industrial trouble. It seemed to him, after observing conditions in England and on tho Continent, that' Labour was never so ably led in America, France, or Italy as it was in England. In England Labour had a common lot, and valuing leadership, went straight for a deflnito object; but in so doing it exercised judgment and showed itself amenable to reason. In America the leaders could never say that they voiced the opinion of Labour; at least they were not backward in saying it, but it had no substance in fact, as the whole field of Labour was made up of so many nationalities, which were as often as not at cross purposes. Whilo the chance of pulling off big national strikes in America was less, tho elements concerned made them more dangerous. On the other hand the British leader had at tho back of his head a quantum of British common sense that made adjustments of differences more readily achievable.

Italy Disappointed. "Talking about post-war conditions," said Mr. Norwood, "I had to go to Italy twice, and I think of all the countries among the Allies sho is in tho most depressed condition. For instance, all her big industries are still under tho control of the military authorities, a measure necessary to prevent tho destruction of plants. I visited Genoa., ltome, Florence. Milan, Turin, and Bologna. Of these cities, Turin is the engineering centre, and there- tho condition was not at all enlivening. The cost, of living was high, and was tho cause of much unrest; but at the hack of it all Italy feels that sho has had none, of tho fruits of victory, and entertains a most determined hatred of France, and regrets that before going into the war she did not make some commercial arrangement with England. "I happened to be travelling on a train in Italy," continued Mr. Norwood, "and in my compartment were four or five gentlemen who conversed earnestly, evidently on national affairs, for 1 could detect the names of countries cropping jvp now and again. At length, one of ine party, imagining that I was interested in their talk, asked mo if I was an Englishman. I said I was a Britisher from New Zealand, and in reply to another question told him that I had not understood the conversation, but had judged it had some 'bearing on international affairs. Then, being a. fairly' fluent speaker, of English, he told mo that they wore about to attend a big industrial conferenco as Italy's represenJ2.tivcsj.jind went on to show tho position Italy was in. Italy, he said, had enjoyed none of the fruits of victory— indeed, was suffering acutely for her participation in tho war. Germany would at one time have given Italy anything sho wanted to go into the war on her side, and that would Jiavo ended the war in three months, owing to tlto number of men it would have released for thp Western front. _ But poor Italy had'trusted to the Allies, and in doing so had piled up a national debt of such dimensions that her total resources could not pay 'the interest, without considering the principal. As the result, Italian money had depreciate*! until it was almost worthless. Tlfen, again, for Ilalv to export sho must import. For her manufactures sho must Jiavo good AVelsh coal. It cost .£5 a ton in England and £G in Italy (in English money), but owing to the shocking depreciation of the lira the. coal cost almost .EM beforo it was available for use- in tho engineering works of Turiu.

Country Lost Heart, "The impression I got was that the Italians had lost heart. Tkfc Latins generally are cither up in the- air or down in the depths of depression-they luck that stolidity and firmness of purpose characteristic to the Britisher, who will ibe knocked out one day, but alter a sleep will get up prepared to start in again. So tin Italians are not making the best of their bad lot. Wages had gone up sky high., but that benefited only tho few, as under the conditions Italy could not begin to contemplate an export trade. Fortunately in the case of Genoa and Turin there was a hydro-electric service, which supplied most of the works and minimised as far as those two cities were concerned the effect of tho coal trouble in Italy.

France Elated. "On the other hand, France is elated. While the community had not at lira time of my visit settled down to steady manufacturing, the spirit of France was good. The Boche had been well beaten— bon! I believe France will soon pull herself together, and that she will produce good results in the near future. Of all the Continental Allies, Belgium is probably moving most rapidly towards normal industrial conditions, ami 1 am confident from what I heard that Belgian manufactures will >he showing up in tho markets of the world before long.

England in the Lead. "Of couree England is showing the way to all of thorn. i\'o country I visited is adjusting herself more rapidly to tbs new conditions born of the war than is England: vShe leads tho way, and I um sure she will reach a stable period sooner than any of the other countries affected. It is sometimes difficult to analyse the conditions precisely. Whilst on the one hand you hear of the awful cost of living and of thousands out of work, and on the other hear of the life and spirit of unprecedented gaiety, it is difficult to imagine that there hiis evei •been a war. In the cities there appears to be plenty of money for pleasure, tho cafes and theatres arc all doing a roaming trade, aud tho letail businesses seem to be flourishing; yet the element of grave trouble is always there as a 'background. Why, iu Bologna, in Italy, there must have bfen thousands of young men walking aimlessly about the streets —idle, moody, despairing. Tho women aro industrious—the men lazy, iu the face of hard times. So one wonder >iow long it is possible for a nation to bur« the candle at both ends.

"I return to Wellington from my tour pleased that I am a Britiskir, and perhaps more pleased that I am. the citizen of a country whose moral code, commercially and socially, .stands higher than that of any other country I have visHtcd."