RETURNED TRAVELLER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13839, 26 February 1909, Page 7

RETURNED TRAVELLER.

MR WILLIAM'HJ'X'P. Mr William Hunt, who with Mrs Hunt, left Timaru early in April last on a trip Home, returned here on Tuesday afternoon, haying had, what he describes as a splendid holiday unm'aV red by any, untoward incident. They' were treated at Home, said Mr -Hunt, in conversation with a Press representative, with the utmost hospitality and they could not fail, under such pleasant circumstances as they found themselves placed, to spend a' highly enjov•ahle time. Mr Hunt has; returned-im-pressed with the fact that while England is a' very fine country in which to spend a holiday,-or to live if one has pleutv of money, we are on the. whole better * off in New Zealand. He found that trade in both England and Scotland, was very dull, with the result that thousands of men were out of work, and with their families were on the .verge of starvation. Tariff reform is,, in his opinion, required to remedy this state of affairs, and it greatly surprised him to find so many men in England who seemed to have no idea of"the value of protecting their own industries. In Leeds he was infornied that there were between 10,000 and 12,000 empty houses, .and the same state, of affairs prevailed practically all over England. In the cities the big warehouses, or many of them had flat upon flat unlet, and from his own observations he judged that there must be millions of pounds' worth of property lying idle in this way. England had apparently been over-built. Too much money had been sunk in buildings and business in that line was , very slack. No more buildings would he required for a long time. As evidence of the straits to which the people were put for work at Home, Mr Hunt mentioned that when in Scotland he had seen in a brickyard at Airdrie-: near Glasgow, two young -women hard" at work at what v is known as tossing bricks. They were doing the work of two men. and hard work at that. Mr Hunt says that he saw all too much of the appalling poverty at Home, and lie came to the conclusion that the craving for alcoholic liquors was in a great degree responsible for it. He found it to be the general- opinion at Home that a very great mistake had been made in throwing out the Licensing Bill, and how those in authority could sit by and allow such a state of affairs to go on, passed his comprehension.

Speaking of agriculture in England, Mr Hunt said that agriculturists at Home were now more progressive in their methods than formerly. He noticed modern farm machinery in use, including one machine which he had not seen in use in New Zealand. This was a hay elevator, used in building stacks, and was the means of saving a lot of hard manual labour. The only fault he could find in their methods was that seen in cutting up the holdings into a lot of small paddocks, some of thenr not more than an acre in extent. A lot ot ground was wasted in fencing these —and they had great broad fences—and when the owner went to work such small areas, it was a ease of keeping his team turning all day, instead ot getting on .with his work proper. The teams travelled at a much slower pace there than here. Some of the farmers lie had spoken to, informed him that some few years ago when there was a great depression in the agricultural line, the landlords lowered the rents and they had not since raised. them, so that to-day, the leaseholders of such lands were doing well. Touching on the lighter side of his trip, Mr Hunt mentioned a few of the sight-seeing, places he and Mrs Hunt had visited. Going Home on the Rimutaka they called at Monte Video, Rio, and Teneritfe, and were greatly interested in what they saw at each place. So smooth a passage did they have going Home that not once did the "fiddles " have to be placed arorund the tables. At Monte Video they admired the beautiful gardens with their tea kiosks and all manner of conveniences; at Rio, they were struck with the manners of the Spanish people, and at Teneritfe, it was the picturesque scenery which mostly appealed to them. Mr Hunt mentioned incidentally, that at Rio, he saw no milk carts, but in their stead, goats . being led round from house to house and the milk taken fresh from them at each door. Immediately on arrival in England, lie made for the scene of his youth in Devon, and was delighted to find the hedgerows, wooded valleys and lanes all looking as beautiful as ever. Here he met a number of relatives and friends, all doing well, in spite of the depression. From Devon. he went to Leeds, and thence across to Scotland, not forgetting to pay a visit to the Kdinburgli Exhibition which though small, was good. They were greatly enamoured of the scenery which Scotland had to show them, and after completing their sojourn there, they returned to England, going here, there, and everywhere as fancy dictated in search of all that «as to be seen. Having drunk to the full, of the pleasure of travel, they returned to London .and spent three weeks at the Kxhibition. Mr Hunt says that the illuminations outside of the great building were not oqaiil to those at tin- Christchurch Exhibition, but inside, the scene was magnificent. He was disappointed with the New Zealand Court, which was neither well arranged nor well attended to and it paled into insignificance compared with the court representing Canada. On visiting Wales, Mr Hunt was agreeably surprised to find trade somewhat im?>rove'! there compared with the other places he had visited: and speaking of Cornwall, he mentioned that the tin mines there, which had been a source of so much wealth, we're now

practically done, the tin being too deep down to pay for getting. In reply to a question concerning the cost of living at Home, ilr Hunt said that house rent is dear in England and the rates are very high, ranging from 7s 6d in the £ —up to 9s 6d. For a house, the rent of which was say, £3O a year, the rates would amount to half again as much, and in England, it was the recognised thing that the tenant .•had to pay the rates and repairs. In conclusion Jlr Hunt said he dei sired to express his appreciation of the action of the New Zealand Shipping Company in their generous treatment 'of passengers by the Tongariro, the boat by which he returned. As a result of the mishap which the steamer met with in the Channel passengers were delayed for five weeks, and the Company, of its own free will, made an allowance of 7s 6d per day to each passenger for this period. ;