CHANGES IN FRANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23259, 31 January 1939, Page 10

CHANGES IN FRANCE

PRAISE FOR PREMIER LONGER HOURS OF WORK PARIS VISITOR'S COMMENTS [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] DiVERCARGILL, Monday A tribute to the boldness aad tenacity of M. Daladier, the French Premier, .was paid to-day by Mr. L. Hazel, who arrived by the Msiunganui. Mr. Hazel, who lives in Paris, said there was a tendency in France to revert to longer hours of work. ''Tie working man there on tho 40-hour week does not know what to do with himself," he said. "The railways and some factories are going back to tho 45-hour week. France is surrounded by countries which have a 48 or 50hour week, so you can see what that means. Competition is too keen now for any country to suffer such a disadvantage." The financial position in France, he said, was improving. Undoubted!" BUS* takes had been made, but tiiey were being corrected, and the outlook was definitely better. In England business people were uneasy about the New Zealand import restrictions, but lack of definite newj was the chief worry. People always feared the worst, even although things might not be nearly so bad as expected. Some firms, he said, might be looking for openings for business, but would keep nut until they could see further ahead. The spending power in New Zealand had increased., but overseas people wondered if it was an artificial rise or sound finance. What the Dominion needed badly, he added, was increased population.