NO DRUNK MEN SEEN AT HOME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19271, 7 January 1931, Page 14

NO DRUNK MEN SEEN AT HOME.

MR JUSTICE MACGREGOR TELLS OF EXPERIENCES I Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, January 6. 1 His Honor Mr Justice MacGregor, : who returned by the Maunganui to-* day, referred briefly to conditions in' Britain and in Australia. He said that after spending a few weeks in London he went to Bournemouth for a short stay, and then returned to London, en route for Scotland. t “ For three months we travelled ini Scotland and had a most enjoyablei time,” he said. s “ I had left Scotland! as a youth some forty-eight years be- t fore and naturally I found enormous changes. The principal changes ob- 1 served were, first, an apparent improve- 1 ment in the conditions of the poorer* classes: and, second, the absence of v drunkenness. I saw no drunk men; in Scotland or in England during the whole of my stay. ( “ On arrival at Fremantle it was quite t apparent to me that the country was' in the throes of depression; and, as 1 we went on to Adelaide, Melbourne 1 and Sydney, this became more and 4 more marked. It appears to me thatt the financial condition of Australia ati present is a very unsatisfactory one,,; and it is clear that the Labour Gov-i ernment now in power are not making, sufficient effort to put their affairs in“ order. Business men are apprehensive, and this is not to be wondered at. I spent a week in Sydney and was very much. depressed by the evidence all round of lack of money and employment. People fear the future, and it is difficult to see any sign of improve ment. The fact is that Australia has been for several years past extravagant, both publicly and privately, and has been living in the main on borrowed money, Vrhich has come to an end. To get out of their difficulties will requlfe the utmost economy and foresight oh the part of all classes of the people, and it is only now that they are beginning to recognise that outstanding fact.” j