Conditions In England Are Very Depressed, Is Opinion Of Mr A. I. Rattray.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18640, 18 December 1928, Page 11

Conditions In England Are Very Depressed, Is Opinion Of Mr A. I. Rattray.

INDUSTRIES ARE LANGUISHING AND LAND IS NOT BEING MADE FULL USE OF, HE SAYS.

44 T OXDOX is living on its interest,” said Mr A. I. Rattray, I -J secretary of the Metropolitan Trotting Club, who arrived back in Christchurch this morning after a ten months’ tour abroad. Mr Rattray’s trip, which was undertaken largely for health reasons, embraced Great Britain and the Continent and America. He has returned fully restored to health, but by no means pleased with the conditions he found prevailing in the Old Country.

Mr Rattray toured about 1800 miles in Great Britain by car. “The country is very pretty,” he said, “but unfortunately it is not used to the extent that it should be. You will pass thousands upon thousands of acres of land and not see a beast on it.” Mr Rattray said a good deal of this was due to the large estates, many of. which were now being broken up. The' impression that he gained from his tour through the country districts, however, was that the land was not being profitably used. “The farmers are terribly dissatisfied,” he added. “They | maintain that they have not sufficient margin to keep going, what with taxes and one thing and another. Whether conditions will improve or not you cannot tell.- Many of the things that I noticed were noticed by other people from New Zealand who visited England.” Deserted Mines. Mr Rattray said the industrial depression was very marked. “You will pass coal mine after coal mine that has been shut down,” he said. “There were fifteen mines shut up in one month in Fifeshire, while I was in Edinburgh. I met miners with their families tramping round the roads and trying to get shakedowns at farm houses. It was heartrending to see the poor little kiddies.” As to the causes for this condition Mr Rattray was unable to venture a definite opinion. He thought that it was due in the first instance to the strikes. “Then again,” he said, “the industries in England are. languishing. They are not as they should be. I met people in Glasgow who told me they had lost the linen industry to Italy. I met people in Glasgow who told me they had lost the rope industry.” In a Groove. Going down the Clyde, Mr Rattray said it was really saddening to see the number of slips that were empty. “There were dozens and dozens of them unoccupied by vessels” he said. “I understand that the position has improved a little since. The industrial outlook all round is bad. They cannot compete against the Continent. “When I was Home there were 1,350,000 unemployed,” added Mr Rattray. “I spoke to some operatives at some printing works, and they told me that another half a million could be added to that number of those out of work who had not registered. When I went to the Royal Show I passed a registry office, and outside it there was a queue that was about a quarter of a mile long —men waiting to register. I don’t quite

> know what the trouble is. The people seem to have got into a groove and , they are not able to get themselves out > of it.” I “Ah,” he exclaimed, in answer to a > question as to how things appeared on the Continent. “There you have a 5 different story.” He said that “The Times” sent a special commissioner to : France, who made inquiries from the > highest authorities and could find only - 1300 unemployed in the country. The Busy Continent. ’ “Every acre of France is used,” said ;Mr Rattray. “There are vineyards, ’ vegetable farms, farms growing flowers for the London market, wheat and other crops, all on small holdings. On my way to Marseilles 1 passed a valley 1 where there were thousands and thousands of cattle grazing. All the industries are going full swing. You see villages all with their factories going. - Italy is the same, and so is Switzer--1 land. In Belgium there is also great ; activity and great agricultural produc- : tion. The iron works are going full i swing, both there and in Alsace-Lor- [ raine. In Belgium every little home- - stead has its herd of cattle. Every- : where on the Continent there is activ--3 ity. It is totally different from Eng- - land. i Praise for Mussolini. t “The dole is a great curse in England. ; If they give the dole they should make • the men work for it, even if it is only • on the roads. The whole of the Cont tinent is becoming electrified. The rer ticulation is being pushed everywhere. I was told that Mussolini intends to i have the whole of the railways of Italy electrified within the next two or three years, and so be independent of coal. He is a great man, Mussolini. He is a r dictator, of course, but he is a dictator , of the right sort, and the people absolutely worship him.” Mr Rattray said j the people of the Continental nations 5 were patriotic, and were prepared to ’ work like Trojans for their country. They placed their country above everything. They wanted to make good. They had discovered their backwardness since the war. and intended to • make themselves independent of all out- • side sources. [ Mr Rattray spent some time in the J United States. “Everything was very 1 busy,” he said. “They are a very inc genious people, and in fifty years’ "time > they will be a race of their own.” Mr Rattray added humorously that by that J time they would have a language of > their own. “I found it very hard to J understand some of them,” he said.