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PROSPEROUS BRITAIN

A RETURNED TRAVELLER. CHAT WITH MR M. M. KILROY. Mr -M. M. Kilroy, of the firm of Kilroy and Sutherland, who with Mrs Kilroy, and Mr Brian Kilroy, kit Duuedm last February on a visit to the Old Land, returned again to this citylast Thursday. During iirs absence Mt Kilroy travelled extensively both in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and was a keen and interested observer of comrneraal and industrial developments in theeu lands, which ho had not visited for 30 years. . | Mr Kilroy has com o back strongly ira-i pressed with tho sound prosperity 01 -England, and could find no ground tor the jfissimiEtio predictions sometimes made ibout her decadence. On tho contrary, he iound' hor factories running lull time and, 10 told a reporter, so busily employed that t was olten very difficult to get an order ixecuted. Mr Kilroy considers tho British caders in business to be quite up ■to date md wide awake in their methods, and says hat tbey compel the respect _ and adimraion eveu of their American rivals. When questioned on the subject of Home lule, Mr Kilroy said that personally he nought the subject was largely a political ne. Undoubtedly Ireland had never boon o prosperous or so contented as sue was t tho present moment, and in his travels! ,oro V,o UnH hrv>n iinaMn to discover nnv /

desire for a change. The peoplo were getting eplendid ]>nccs for their produce, I and the deposits in the Irish sayings bank were abnormal. An illustration of the prices prevailing was afforded by the fact that Mr Kilroy'e nephew, with whom he was staying, disposed of 26 bullocks for £24 each, and of 100 6hcep of an ordinary cross at no less than k,6 5s per head. These, ho added, were not stall fed, but were just taken off the grass. A system which was ha-ving excellent results among the agricultural labouring classes was the compulsory purchase of single acres from farmers and landowners and the erection on each of these thousands of allotments of four or five-roomed cottages, with slate roofs, at a contract price of £300. These were let to agricultural labourers at from la to Is 6d a week —cottages, for which the weekly rent in Dunedin would be quit'.' 15s. The Government also encouraged the labourers to take -a pride in their sections by giving annual prizes for the best kept gardens in each county. The old Irish . log cabin and the pig were now only a ! memory of the past. Air Kilroy was much i impressed with Belfast, a city of 375,000 inhabitants, and spoke enthusiastically of | its magnificent town hall, and of Messrs I Harland and Wolff's vast ship-building yards, which he had the. privilege of visiting. While in the neighbourhood ho enjoyed a few days' grouse shooting, in the hills of Antrim. He thoroughly believes in the determination of the people of Ulster, and does not doubt that they will use the arms they are now preparing if they aro forced to do so. The Ulsiormen have good reason to believe that they have many sympathisers among the British regular troops, and this, no doubt, strengthens j them in their attitude. I

Mr Kilroy found London still growing enormously. To his mind the London policeman is a marvel, and his control over j the traffic simply phenomenal, Ho was . a witness of tiio amusing, but always im- I prcesive sight of the whole of the Strand traffic.hold up while a policeman led two little tots of two and lour years of age across the thoroughfare. The metropolitan policeman he found very tactful and oblig- : ing, and a perfect encyclopaedia of in- '. formation. In the House' of Commons Mr : Kilroy beard Mr Lloyd George, Mr: A. Bonar Law, Sir John Simon, the Solicitorgeneral, and other less widely-known poli- _ He wae not greatly impressed with their speaking, and said that personally he did not think that anv of them could equal the fate Mr Scobio "Mackenzie. Mr Lloyd George was making a debating speech, and was more forcible than eloquent. London has br-jn transformed by the twopenny tubes and the motor buses. Horse traffic is gradually dying out, and the motor conveyances have been brought to 6uch perfection that they are entering into competition with the' railways over distances extending 200 miles from London. Almost the only unfavourable criticism Mr_ Kilroy had to make was directed against the railway management. The Homo trains ho Had found to be frequently unpunctual, and often very far behind time-Üblo time. He mentioned a curious side effect, of the Balkan war that had come undo: his notice. Kid gloves were extremely scarce and difficult to purchase just now, largely owing to the fact that the cultivation of kids in the Balkan States had been much neglected of late, and many of the animals have been shot or otherwise destroyed.

Mr Kilroy both went and returned by the Suez route, and owned to feeling a certain satisfaction in seeing tho British flag flying at almost every port. On the return journey he paid a brief visit to Queensland, and was much impressed with tho possibilities of that State, which, as he points out,, is live times the size of England. The dairying industry he found to be making immense strides in Queensland and along all the railway routes could bo seen smiling homesteads and tho evidences of great activity in building and settlement. "If the Australasian colonies are properly advertised, the future is theirs," said Mr Kilroy, "I believe that during the next 10 or 12 years the emigration to them will greatly increase "

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19131110.2.13

Bibliographic details

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15917, 10 November 1913, Page 3

Word Count
940

PROSPEROUS BRITAIN Otago Daily Times, Issue 15917, 10 November 1913, Page 3

PROSPEROUS BRITAIN Otago Daily Times, Issue 15917, 10 November 1913, Page 3