BRITAIN TO-DAY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 286, 31 October 1933, Page 2

BRITAIN TO-DAY.

CONDITIONS REVIEWED. Conditions as observed in Great Britain during his recent visit were discussed by Mr W. J. Jordan, M.P. for Manukau, in an address to the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday. Mr Jordan, who was introduced by Mr C. \V. Teppett, recalled that it was thirty years since he was in Palmerston Norh and had wandered to Pohangina to chop bush. Mr W. G. Black presided over a good attendance of club members. The city queen carnival candidates, Misses Iv. Richards, E. Boon, M. Nathan, J. Barnett and J. Russell, were introduced by the Mayor (Mr A. E. Mansford). Visitors welcomed were Messrs J. A. Colquhoun, T. Madge, L. J. Madge, J. Hodgens, W. J . Black, Joseph Wallace and Dr J. S. Yeates. “Britain is such a mighty place, in that it is the centre of the world’s activities; there are so many things,” stated Mr Jordan. “We saw Britain during the Great War. We saw it immediately afterwards, in a sense financially ruined, with the people mourning and to a great extent brutalised. They determined to restore the world to its old place.” Organisation and scientific research were, he said, coopted. Seven years after the war the material wealth and production of the world was greater than before. The standard of living was higher, and the social order improved. Excepting for the loss of its fine manhood, the world recovered from the great shock. Production and consumption enabled countries to stand up to their loan commitments. “There is no doubt that one gets the feeling that Britain will win through and come out better than ever,” added Mr Jordan. Production of the necessities of life had been proceeding in full volume, exceeding all figures previously thought of. The state of pleasure was until 1928 that of one big family with which all might well have been satisfied. They saw Britain in an energetic and enterprising state, with money pouring in for manufactures —then came the crash. One could not allot the blame for weakness and short-sightedness. A mistake was made when the cry went up that the people were living too well, in a state that was unhealthy. The speaker then proceeded to review conditions from that time onwards. He mentioned the great scheme in London to replace the slums in ten years. Criticising generally the methods of investing money, Mr Jordan said that financial papers reviewed as good a roading scheme involving the outlay of £20,000,000 annually for 20 years. Mr Ramsay MacDonald had stated that Britain had now reached a state in which it was. impossible for her, under the present circumstances, to employ all her people. There was a determination in Britain to improve her trading conditions and some improvement had been achieved, the speaker proceeded. The Argentine, Australia and Canada were the only countries trading with Britain, which had not shown an improvement in their trade figures with the Mother Country. The Minister of Agriculture in England had been empowered by Order-in-Council to limit imports and there was no knowing when that action might be taken to protect Britain, which had an unfavourable trade balance of £330,000,000. Ancestral holdings in England had been broken up under the pressure of taxation, and must become available for farming. Peers were seeking entrance to industry and the landed proprietor was going rapidly. There was more gold in Britain than ever. The difficulty was to find a profitable investment. The people generally were not being blamed tor being unemployed, and were being cared for. Britain at present was providing for an army of workless. vVhere ordinarily one might not expect sympathy, it was now found. The payment of the dole enabled people to live somehow- Business men said it was necessary or they could sell nothing. The money was raised not by rating, but by distributed taxation. Astounding transitional benefits were paid in England, as much as up to 45s 6d a week for a man with a wife and four children. Public sentiment was behind the great movement for the care of struggling people. Leading church dignitaries and ecclesiastics said that consideration should be given to the faults of the system which said people should receive less than that on which they could live. That was the spirit sweeping right over England, in which there was a determination to win through. The speaker was accorded a warm vote of thanks on the motion of Mr C. N. Rabone.