Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1939. WAR REGULATIONS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 280, 8 September 1939, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1939. WAR REGULATIONS.

The first noticeable sign, so far as Ashburton is concerned, that New Zealand is in a state of war with Germany was the few motor-cars to be seen in the streets yesterday. This was the result of the prohibition, under the Emergency Regulations, of the supply of petrol to private car-owners. This restriction is only one of " many measures necessitated as a precaution against possible contingencies. Curtailment of some of the liberties enjoyed by everybody in normal times is part of the price that must be paid on the outbreak of war. The general public will be affected chiefly through the control of the food supply, a course that is taken in the interests of everyone. The object is to conserve imported foodstuffs, so that should there unhappily be any interruption in the supply—and necessarily curtailment must be expected in the best of circum-stances—-the supplies will be equitably and carefully distributed. One of the means by which this equal distribution is obtained is by the prevention of over-purchase and hoarding of essential commodities. Hoarding at a critical juncture may impose on others privations that are unnecessary. It is a form of selfishness that in the common interest has to be checked. We in this land, far removed from the centre of operations, are blessed beyond our fellows in the Motherland, who besides enduring the hardships of much more drastic precautionary measures live in daily dread of the horrors of war coming to their very homes. This, too, in addition to the anguish that is theirs when loved ones make the supreme sacrifice, a lot that will also be ours should an expeditionary force be dispatched. So that apart altogether from any considerations of patriotic duty, New Zealanders may be relied upon to accept philosophically and as cheerfully as possible conditions thrust upon them through Britain s fulfilment of her pledged word.