Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), Wednesday 30 December 1925, page 1


ENGLAND'S DOLE SYSTEM

ADELAIDE MAN'S VIEWS.

After a tour of Great Britain, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Belgium, ex-tending over 10 months, Mrl> R. J. Lavis, of Hooper's : Furnishing Ar-cade, returned to - ' Adelaide by the R.M.S.- Mooltan on Saturday (says the "Advertiser"). v

Mr. Lavis, who was . accompanied hy his wife, left the boat at Marseilles, and travelled across the Continent' to England. While in Rome Mr. Lavis was present at ? the -pilgrim's - Holy Year ceremony in St. Peter's "Cathed-ral, at which the Pope officiated. - In Brussels Mr. Lavis visited the ' town

hall, and in ah hour - witnessed _ 40 marriages, each being purely a. civil contract,. and not taking more than a few minutes. Three days were spent by Mr. and Mrs. Lavis in France, visiting the battlefields and Mr. Lavis expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the graves of nearly 10.000 Australian soldiers were being cared

for.

So far as Britain was concerned, Mr. Lavis said that he took particu-lar' notice of the shops, and he con-sidered them to be superior in every way to those of the French. Although certain articles, such as dresses and hosiery, were cheaper, "prices were very much the same us ia Australia. Tn England dogs are pampered and pet-ted in an absurd fashion, and some women treat them as they would child-ren. The trade returns showed that England was gradually assuming a bet-ter position with regard to the un-employed, the number of whom were decreasing by hundreds every week, and a generally brighter outlook was resulting. The dole was an excuse for a large amount of imposition. It was not an uncommon sight to see nearly 100 men idling about the Thames em-bankment able-bodied apparently, but being as well off while in receipt pf the dole as when at work, and * they liad no incentive to look for employ-ment. The moral effect of tin's pro-longed idleness was likely to- be farreaching. When people were down and out they should be helped by all means, but assisting those who were in a position to help themselves was deliberate saunerisation.