The Daily News WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. OLD AND NEW BRITAIN: A COMPARISON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 213, 2 September 1908, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. OLD AND NEW BRITAIN: A COMPARISON.

in the July number of uie Nineteenth Century and Ailcr Airs. Kb. uio.-.s-maim, a New /.ealand lady, draws a soinewil.it striking picture ot poverty in Loudon as compared wil'.i Uie degree of wain to be louad in N.w Zealand.' As was to be expected, the contrast to such a visitor was astonishing, for those whose lives have been passeu in a nourishing British colony call -hardly conceive the great gulf between tile lower strata, of the. social tuuiny m Wie two hemispheres. The contribution makes tile relative positions fairly apparent, although Mm. lirussuian only claims to speak of outside London life, not from tiie inside. Her comments, even if somewhat superficial, can hardly fail to interest those wliu hh.si perforce accept snub information second hand for want of opportunites for personal investigation. Probably very few of those who make riie grand tour, thanks to the great steamship companies, is now so quickly and economically accomplished would care to go "slumming," for the task is a harrowing one to tender susceptibilities.

The writer of the article under nouns mentions the case of a fellow-visitor who was So troubled by the scenes witnessed that she felt compelled lo leave, tile country at once, for the signc of so much misery that she was quite powerless to relieve embittered ner stay. The two distinct characteristics that visiting colonials most frequently commented on were, writes Mr-. (JroSsmann, Ihe Old World C<>n--erniiivi«m of ideas and the inequality of social condiiions. These appeared to be a'.t the bottom of the difference between I lie problem of poverlv as it appears in the West End of London and as it appears in New Zealand. This is quite comprehensible when it is remembered filial it may be said, almost without reservation, thai here are ail workers, and that we have no loismed class mm nothing to do but to think how t'hev' slmll kill time. In the Wesl End jV London the poverty is intensified by contrast with luxuriant extravagance —.with unresisting misery and depravity on the one hand, while on the other there is displayed exquisite and fantastic luxury . In the one class of society are found "women who practice beauty culture, spending their lives in places of amusement, worn out often by w'hat ought to lie occasional relaxation, physically suffering from uxcess of self-in-dulgence, displaying incessant changes lo summer liaery or in costly furs which will be thrown aside from mere caprice and restless love of novelty long before they are damaged. In Regent and Bond streets unseasonable fruits are sold from 10s to 20s per lb."

The other side of the picture represents a class in London, not the lowest, w'hose "bodies and souls are cheap," clothed in shoddy, and using flimsy furniture in their homes that is ready' to fall to pieces. It need hardly be pointed out to fortunate dwellers in the Dominion that no replica to this picture is to be found amongst, city dwellers under the Southern Cross. Daughters of the wen-to-do here think it no disgrace, but rather a duly and a privilege, lo qualify themselves for business positions in ollices, scholastic institutions, or in nursing homes. As a "direct resiili o!' an unique system,'" as Airs. Grossniaun calls it, Uritish "young ladies" would consider it a great hardship, an indication of being in "reduced circumstances," to lake up those dulies of bread-winning that their New Zealand sisters face without 111.' faini.sl suspicion flint they are placing 'themSelves in a menial position." The writer has -not failed to notice the enornio: ,': amount of almsgiving thai goes on in (he great metropolis, but suggests lh,ii "there is far too much charily froithe higher to the lower ranks, and far too little justice; ami amongst Hie masses there is a callous inditfer 'nc to the Snllcrbigs of others." The question of food supplies to those in thv. nether world of London is referred. to at some length, and prices there am! here are contrasted to show how inliu(tely better off New Zealand workers are than those in the Alolher Count it. It is staled that while Is 2d is a fair price to pay for English mutton (prime loin chops, probably), the price charged at the residential quarters of Ik' working classes for inferior meat is -Id per pound, anil at timet. -l\U\. "li is little to say,"' the writer comments, "tnat (his food is unlit for human (■o,'Hiiniption: it is not fit for dogs." Slab, eggs, fish, anil poultry, withered vegetables, decayed fruit, exposed for hours, perhaps days, to the taint „f the cily's malodorous. ilirl-Indiii atmosphere, are sold without the slightest check. "

The picture is probably slbrhlly ()V1 .,.. drawn, but there j s su'lliciciit truth ; m '1 lo permit resident* in this part of the world to congratulate tbeinselvs thai Iheir birders can be sirpplicd* wilh provender cheaply purchased, and of a quality thai cannot be called in question. Tin- great defect in the means for dealing with the povertv problem in Ureal llniain, .Mrs. Urossmann thinks, lies in (he fact that there (he masses, whether they have votes or not, arc not truly represented in Parliament. In -Vew Zealand humanitarian legislation does not come so much from the bencvolence of the richer to the poorer as from lite active self-interest of the working classes. A nian of the people works for the people in a colonial Parliament, because it is (heir power that put him In Ins place. They vote for the man whom they think likely to do most for them, and when he is elected thev watch lo see what he is doing. That'is the wav this shrewd lady puts the position, and concludes hi* interesting contribution !,v pointing mil; that the cardinal difference between the problem of poverty in the Old World and in the New is that in th> latter there is more ground for hope. Auspicious Hope! in thy sweet garden

Wreaths for each toil, a charm for every woe. Dul in the submerged thousands that swarm in every great Luropcan city and excite the commiseration of visitors from these favored isles, the miserable can hardly derive benefit from that medicine. Theirs is a heritage of woe handed down from generations of poverty-stricken forbears, and the problem of their uplifting seems almost too dillicult for all that philanthropists and reformers devise and strive lor.

Here we are in the fortunate position ot preventing depressing illu \ degrading social cuuililious iiiu a fooling in our midst, while we are -liniukilcd to Mieh endeavor, l,y studying Ihe nien--ures adopted in older countries to remove tliein. It i, ~011,,. satisfaction <■> know, as a contemporary points out, that Ihe Mother Country is steadily improving the conditions of life tor t»io-c most needing a helping hand. The ttj. ward movement is slow Init sure. The rich are not getting rich at the expense of the poor, and the poor are not getting poorer. The investments of [he industrial classes in savings banks, friendly societies, co-operative societies, and similar organisations is now reclc- | oned by hundreds of millions sterling. Since 152.3 the population of Great lirilain lias doubled, but the produce of a penny in the pound income-tax has trebled since IS3H. Tlic National Debt, notwithstanding recent costly wars, is now ."ill millions less than it was in 182"),

or about hall' the sum per head of the population. The paupers receiving relief in inn" were about the same us in 18m —iiamelv. 1,11111.(1110- -though, the population has nearly doubled. The inereasinvolume of British Irade. notwithstar, iiug the necessary competition from cnormou-ly expanding industries on the Continent and in America, has, .if course, greatly -benefited the artisan classes, while the development of fresh sources of t'0.,,1 supplies In, made l|tp more worth living to those who have to work for their daily bread. These are the anielioraliiiL' conditions that r in the Newest lOnglaud of the South I can appreciate in the interests of kin I ship, while we are at the same time j thankful ihai our h,t ha- fallen to us m more pleasant pto-es.