WHERE TO LIVE

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 85, 7 October 1933, Page 14

WHERE TO LIVE

IF OWNING A FORTUNE

FAMOUS NOVELIST'S ADVICE

THE PLACE OF CITIES

Authors, uncaptured'.: criminals, and winners of sweepstake prizes are among.the few,people •at liberty to choose- where they-shall live. For the vast majority of people- in this orderly and civilised world it is extornal circumstances that decide the question, writes Eric ■ Linklatcr' in^ ; tlie ■'' Daily Mail."' ;•• ■-'~ .;/;/.:; ' ;•..-. ;' A man may,. of.; course, choose between ono suburb .and'another; and; his wife can easily decide'on a third. -But ;except within these '■■ narrow limits of selection there' is little freedonv, for the deniands ,o£ office, shop, .factory, foun: dry, jor professional connections speak in a stern, determined voice that must bo' obeyed. ''' . ' ' ~" : : And so ono often shears -people wistfully saying,-" Oh; if Only I were independent! If only I were at liberty to Jive just where I 'pleased!."'And they think that if -they haid £30^005 in. the bank, and the freedom -which that! sum can > bestow, they would ('live ■ happily ever after. ■ ."- : ■■'..' .- ; But as a matter'of : fact they Would be faced with an! appalling : difficulty, especially if -they hadanyT imagihationi For so many and'various-jaro the attractions of the .world- thalt' it is _ by. no nicaus easy to' decide: where .to live. ,. COMPANIONSHIP PBbBLBM. V^ , Perhaps you' nurse- a. romantic nostalgia; for the; South' Sea?.Butnvhich; of ten' thousand islands,'.all- ''unfamiliar,' would^ you; decide upon-were you to.win a fortune? And -.unless' youvproposo-. to live'like Crusoe in. solitude,. : whom would you choose •to accompany "you and how would you persuade them that, for .example, ■ the Society. Islands are prefel-able to' tho Marquesas,. or that the- anlcnitics: of' Norfolk Island; are superior to those jof-Balij-Hondlul.Uy.and Tahiti?'. .'- ':' 'l- ' "■-'"' ''• ' .'■; ' ' And;-at"'lasVafter*a;year-;of' debate and:two years of ■" .exploration,.. • when eventually.''you.'had* .'-discovered pbme green' paradiso'; tiesM.e'.a',"'. ; liago6n', ' of heaven 's' ; blue,', would Mp'V, theCbliss'of yburv 'existenc 6 -.|j e 'shat:tere|d^by' tne,;iealisation that'ybu','wqre';B0>oimilc's^.frpm0 i milc's^.f rpm the ■iip'Urest'.'fle'htiSij^ " *'.""','', '.' # ; '■'.-■; But^ you, say, ,;y,6u :.haye ( ' no ;'inclinat tionioj,tropic islands.-Ybu haYe Jhe'ard of the' charms-of'"(Jrj'ntinen'tallifei and a villa at"any'.one^pf.'. hal^ a , dozen places-would suit,you'very well; ' , . Alas! when you -have settled 'downj there; is .a' f all-in, sterling,..' the exchange' ' goes' villainously^ against' you) and' the income ' from 'even '£30,000 shrinks: like a cheap; woollen suit..,.. •. ■..". .'• t . .", ~' • ... . ; HOME IS_BBST._ You return to England -and take , a cottago in ■ Devonshire, and "<lecide; that home is best. But after .your' foreign travels, and" because.of your: independence, you now adopi'a critical attitudeto your fellow-co'untrymeu, arid in summer the multitude: of-.trippers offends you, and the winters you-find dull because tho neighbours:'are^scarcely 'to your'liking.' Yom-'aJso' hanker, for tho theatre, 'the; Testauraiit- gaieties, , and the hearty bustlo^'of^iionddn—:aiid you hear of a> pleasant -'and 'opportunely vacant houso''in;;Hantpstead.' '• London at first delfghts.you,, but, by-

and-by boredom again, descends on you, for now you have ho-work to do, and work, though undoubtedly" a/perversion, is the best and: most--satisfying of tho.'perversions. So .Once more you; seek, distraction'in;ttrayel,-.andi, to im-; prove your mind you.;r(?ad;widely as| you go, and so collect-, a vast number; of books. ." ■■■ •■■ ; >.;;-> ■ *■-■,' -V-' v : An as you passf rom Egypt to India,! from China to Japan,, and South; America, your wife accumulates a hugej quantity of 'curios, •.knic-knacks, and; supposititious wovksof art. But what; is the use of books unless you have' a library, of curios unless yoii can dis-: play them ion .the. delight and envy, of; your friends? ■ .So. y.et. .again you. are forced to look .feu.-, a. house. : ■'".. : . It is, I 'think, .regtettable that the; majority of r-oads Jead. .to. London. It' is wrong that. .London • should' draw; from all other parts of the; country, with; a^force almost equal'to-that'of gravity:i forvwhat I haye :said:\ol:aiithorship ap-. plies equally, woll to many otjher grades. ■ This tendency, liqweyejry isi not new. Both Queen; Elizabeth1 and King'Jame* 1, if I reniember'tightly,' realised its existence and', "deciding that\it' was contrary/ to the..welfare, ol Jthe ;country decreed that ■ their nobility must spend long periods ,of /time on their own ( es%ates.■ . ;■,' -*, ,J •.• .- ■■":l i RIVALS. PO» LONDON. Now there are 'still 'iii-existence r-.ter-ritorial; magnates ;and Jrioneyed; people •with country, residences,, and it would be ;-np bad thing if: those ( Tudor and Stuai-t ordinances ' were: revived and they were: compelled.to 'live in! their country homes,.not*. merely,tp own them from.; a distance.; : They icould foster local life, industrially, ,• socially, and even intelleetuallyy and.sp provide rival centres of. interest to London. ■ : But perhaps it ,is impractical to expect legislation ,on such.-lines, -arid the probleni of where to live, when it exists, must be answered individually. It may; not be so .important,.after all ,as»the companion question,: how to live,? -And perhaps,;"they.. "can 'be answered* together': ;tb niy" mind ■ there is a gre,at dealto.besaid: f pr,the. cowboy "fashion, the.'jgol^-seeker'. fashion, the wartime fashion, of .six^mpn.ths'. on active service, and/.six ; days- of- magnificent abandon to iluxury. Hard work and. comparative splituqe"rproduce ■?■ Gargan'tuaii'.appetite.for pt?asure,,.aiia ■then-the stnsiof.riotpus living nia,yt)B expiated'in. more^ hard work. , , j". • It is a'good thing to liye,in the back-, woods.and at iritefyals'descend on the city 'hungry' and1 .eager' .as a cowboy; or. a ' soldier, on. leave,:. '"Live; danger-, ously "' is" a,' mo,tto ' for 'heroes, 'Jbut; (fLiye!v?ri,(}usiy^";i3;'g^d:; advice t'fpi1; mQst'pepplej."-.'.,'^;'':./;';':i\:- ,','..,..„,,;,",, '■