BROAD OUTLINE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 236, 5 October 1937, Page 14

BROAD OUTLINE.

MR. LYON'S PLATFORM.

"BALANCED" DEFENCE PLAN

LABOUR'S CRITICISM

(From Mur Own Cnrri'RpnntlPtit.) SYDXKY. Oi'tohiT I. Tlin I'limi" Minister, Mr. Lyons, i|>. ivcri-d hi-. pi.Mry upcocli at IVloinine Tn«iiiiiuiii) last Tiicmlnv i>v<-nitijr. ll' , l< , nil nt jrriMil length with thp principiil rutin-' , « nf I lu< pri'Mciit pnlitii-nl citinii«ni. mill ho Mki'lclii'il i-1.-nrlv iind i-flVr ivrlv (lie Unit liis piirty mil liii I iin I'i'iiiiicnl intend tii i-iirrv out

n I In l ful hit. 'I'll** imiiii planks in Mr. Lyons' pint iiii'jn nu' National insurance, mcmim-il iiiil ci'iiit \ lu'iiclil •>. iin|iiiry into "tho .llotlel' Winking week, l'«tltlllil*lllllOTlt of i long i.ini mortgage bunk. assisted ■iii in i .11 inn for iii >m inn toil emigrants, ui,i • i..iii....i • a.'fi'ini'. I lie 'i, i ;-.>itit was elaborate! care- . '\ l.\ • ..■ I': nu,' Minister, lie struck ln< k \u.•• .- of his [Mil icy in t hese i ■-«. v.' .i.-iil-. "Wc iiiiii ,ii preventing lie i'n. i _\ f i ."in reachine, our territorial w ii.-ih \\ i' . ■•imiiliM' n policy of isolation i' .in i: M'H t It iitii in tuivi'ilul. Only >\ .'.-,> co opt'itiiion between a strong \'ii~tr,ii:.in Saw ami tin' llei-U of the |< ii |.', ■ , in n,' liopf to prevent tin: .•in'iii\ imiii coming within striking iliai.in.e oi AiHtruliii. We nre <lctt>riniiied no' to wait until tin* enemy i« at. • •iir c.ati"< m■iii ii vr destruction upon us licfoi c ue ui tnc k him."

Aggressive Tone,

Tin , aggressive tone which Mr. Lynn* adopted w<it» m> doubt fully ju-tifh'd by the event* of the hint few tvei'k« in tin . Fur Kiirtt. mill the determined effort* tln*t the Labour Opposition him made to discredit tho policy nf Imperial defencp which the Prime Minister and liis colleagues regard us moi t>»in ry ii n<l Inevitable. Hostile ci'ilii'M Hi'izcd ii poll this feature of hie epeecli lit r>iici> and the "Labour Daily." in mi editorial heii<led "A Policy of War," denounced what it rlescrihed a*> an attempt to inveigle this country into a position in which, without the people's knowledge, she would Ivo bound by "the contingent obligations of other nations, nnd of other units of the British r'.mpire, Imposed by the Covenont of the tiPtiglio of Nation* and the secretive decision** of the Comniittcn of Imperial Defence."

Tho Labour party in this country makes almost as much a bogy of "foreign entanglements'' as the Americans themselves, and even Mr. Curtin has boon most careful to assure his supporter* that under no circumstances will tho people of Australia be involved in European or Asiatic turmoil without their own consent. It is already evident, however, that the Opposition means to work this point of national defence most Industriously during the campaign.- end Mr. Beasloy has made a start after Ills own peculiarly melodramatic fashion. He line propounded some questions for Mr. Lyons to answer, and, backed by the "Labour Daily," he U pursuing the Primn Minister most assiduously with these- Interrogations.

Wide Range of Question.

Tho question* lire: — (1) Whether the Government, in the event of the Soviet, France or Britain becoming involved in war, proposes that Australia should ;il*o bo Involved automatically; (2) Why Australian ratings were conscripted during the Abyssinian crisis without consulting Parliament} (3) Whether, at the Imperial Conference, a war plan was adopted by Britain and the Dominions to be put into operation autornatitally; (4) What influences induced the Government to withdraw tho prosecution against the Communist party and to lift the ban on Communist literature immediately fallowing tho vinit of M. LitvinofT to London ?

This lust question, of course, carries with it tlui insinuation—which Mr. Lang, Ml". Hoiisloy and the "Labour Daily" have already developed into a definite charge— that Mr, Lyons and his colleagues arc roiilly "hand in glove" with the Communists for tho purpose of this election campaign, and that they have entered Into "a fowl conspiracy" to accept Communist aid and alliance in the hope of inflicting thereby a disastrous defeat on Labour.

Noedless to nay, Mr. Lyons regards these questions and ehargm as too absurd to treat seriously, but auch expedients ■in thnso, oven when palpably invented for tho occasion, may carry weight in an election campaign, and they indicate eloarly enough the lengths to which the Langltos are prepared to go to gain their ends.