BRITAIN’S AUSTERITY

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 August 1946, Page 6

BRITAIN’S AUSTERITY

COMPARISON WITH OTHER COUNTRIES NEW ZEALANDER’S VIEWS (Rec. 10.55 a.m.) Sydney, Aug. 5. “Britain may have lost substantial material resources during the war but she retained unimpaired her greatest asset, which is the character of her people,” said Mr. D. F. C. Saxton, of New Plymouth, before leaving Sydney this morning by Tasman flying-boat for New Zealand. “After visiting the Continent,” he continued, .“one is struck by the apparent anomaly of Britain, a principal war. victor, living more austerely than neighbouring liberated countries. “The truth is that Britain is the only country where rationing really works. Elsewhere it is substantially a farce and in one capital all coupons are openly purchasable at street stalls. It is quite likely that only Britain will weather the coming winter reasonably well. “British production and research are proceeding apace. Motor vehicles are coming off the production lines in hundreds daily, shipyards are as busy as beavers, and manufacturing is swinging into stride. Yet there are still few consumer goods on the British market. The reason is plainly apparent on the journey out. In shops in Egypt, India, and the Straits Settlements, new English goods are freely available. Britain is plainly determined to recapture " her lost overseas trade and assets, even at the expense of continued severe austerity at home.” Mr. Saxton is convinced that no other people would accept such hardship. British women, particularly, who are showing obvious signs of strain, continue kueueing and working on restricted menus exactly as before victory. . .