BRITAIN PROSPEROUS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 49, 27 February 1934, Page 4

BRITAIN PROSPEROUS

FEMALE WORKERS SCARCE

PLENTY OF BUILDING

A lemaikable boom in building was noticed by Mr. 0. T. Evans, of Wellington, during a motor tour of Great Britain. Houses T\eie going up eveiyuheie, he said, m many cases m rows at a time. The prices for from five to eight rooms varied from £350 to £700; The designs vere veiy attiactive. Most of the cottages he saw being built were of two stoieys, and all, of course were oither of brick, stone) or reinforced concrete.

The villages were clean and the pcoplo seemed to be happy and'contented. A gieat change had come over the country recently, due to the reawakened piospeuty. England, ho vas convinced from the conversations' he had had with people of other nationalities on his travels, was ia the best position in the world today. "What surprised me was the great scarcity of female labour all over'thc'l country,!' he said. "I visited factories in Manchester, Leicester, and many'l other districts, and they were all'comI plaining that they could not get skilled i women workers. Domestic labour is un» attainable in England, and is being got from the Continent. On making in quines I was surpuscd at the wages being paid. 'Girls*with three and:four | years', experience could get £.2 a week ant1, more in the: factories. It is all I piece-work, and the minimum -uage allowed by the awards is 33s for a skilled gill. They were all appaiently hfippy and contented in the factories. .This was paitly due, I think, to tho fact | i that they were all anxious to make themselves as competent as possible,! 'owing to the' personal advantages I gained by those proficient in piece-work, and also because their amusements-are 1 well catered for by their employers,. who provide tennis courts, etc. There ' is no doubt that something extra, which can be obtained by the efforts of the individual, tends to / make work a pleasure. ' ''Another thing that impressed me was that-when one of the employers or head men. came into'the workrooms there was none of the old feeling of constraint and nervousness.- ..The feeli ing, on ,the other hand, seemed to Jbe much more friendly on bo^h; sides^ the I employer taking a greater interest in i the -rc-orkers' side of it, and evidentlosing nothing Tjy it."