VISIT TO BRITAIN

Hokitika Guardian, 22 November 1927, Page 4

VISIT TO BRITAIN

MRS AY. S. BHA.X'S TAfPRESSTOXS.

“Tt was the soundness, the integrity, and the silent tradition of England which made the biggest impression on me," said Airs \A . S. Bean, who has just relumed to Christchurch from a holiday in England, to n “Lyttelton Times” interviewer last week.

“\Ye in Xew Zealand sometimes hear of England as being in the throes of industrial life, and generally living a country of unrest, hut that is lar from being the case. There is a great, feeling of security there, and anyone who talks of there living a decadence in England is propounding utter nonsense. The loyalty of the people is wonderful. There is very little demonstration about it. They seem to take it for granted. -Soap-box oratory of the sensational type is regarded by the great, majority as a safety valve, and receives little attention.

"The British worker wants Ins rights, hut lie will have nothing to do with Russia, and will not stand Bolshevism at any price. “The parks and gardens are one of the most pleasing features of Hie City of London, and other cities. One is apt to think of England as a congest ml country, where the need for emigration is extremely pressing and apparent, ibut the facilities that are there for all classes of people to get out into the open air are marvellous. Tim parks, woods, commons, and gardens are wonderful. In ihe spring they need to he seen to to believed. Hyde Park is a picture of beauty.

"Xew Zealand has a great name at Home, and there is nothing that they will not do there to make the stay ol an overseas visitor a happy and interesting one. The cricketers did a great, deal to enhance the name that had been established by the soldiers and Hie footballers. They were very modest, and played the game, both on and off the field. “Great work is done by the leagues and societies there. They go about it in an unassuming manner, hut one realises that they are always carrying on. and they get the results that they aim at. “The countryside very Leantil ill and peaceful, and there is an atmosphere of peace and solidarity about the old thatched-roofed cottages, which one realises must have been there for centuries. The moorlands are especially beautiful. “The great man of the time, and the one who is outstanding as having the love and regard of Ihe people, is the Prince of AYales. He has a faculty for reaching all classes and everyone in the. whole country worships him. The Duke and Duchess of York received a great reception on their return to England. Indeed, the whole of the Royal family stands very high indeed in the estimation of the peoplo. “England is a wonderful country, and when one has been there it is easy to realise why it is re lor red to as Home.”