WEALTH AND POVERTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19279, 18 March 1926, Page 10

WEALTH AND POVERTY.

LONDON'S TWO ASPECTS. LUXURY AND EXTRAVAGANCE. SIR F. CHAPMAN'S RETURN. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT • ] WELLINGTON. Wednesday. While he did not have the opportunity on a purely pleasure trip to make a close investigation of social and other conditions in England and on the Continent, Sir Frederick Chapman, who returned today after 15 months' absence abroad, was particularly impressed by the great show of prosperity which was apparent to the casual observer. He was also struck by the contrast between the extravagance of dress and general living in some quarters and the distress reported from others. "You would suppose," said Sir Frederick this morning, "from a residence m the parts of London that I moved about in, including the city and West End and many other districts, that the whole population were rolling in money. The expenditure is extravagant, lhat stands out at every tarn. You would think you were in the midst of an enormously wealthy population, the most obvious facts being indulgence in dress, motorcars, and all kinds of entertainment. "On the other hand, people who livs in London are constantly receiving appeals from clergymen and others connected with charitable relief who describe appalling distress that exists in the South of London and in the Last End. I did not have much occasion to go into those districts while I was in London, but the contrast between what the colonial visitor to Loudon sees and what he hears about those parts which he does not see is most striking. The complaints of distress in the poorer districts are not confined simply to what one hears from clergymen and others whose duties take them, into those sordid parts. The visitor carmot but be. struck with the fact that there are two Londons." Continuing, he said he. found the principal seaside places in England swarming with holiday makers. All the accommodation was booked up ahead, and he was unable to secure quarters. No doubt that was due purely to the intense heat provailing and the rnsh to the seasido from London and other closely-populated centres. The apparent prosperity prevailing in London was also' noticeable in Paris and in the main in Italy and other parts of the Continent that he visited.