WORLD AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 109, 11 May 1939, Page 12

WORLD AFFAIRS.

PANIC DEPRECATED. ■ i MR. SAVAGE DEFINITE COMING RADIO ADDRESS. In hi* proposed broadcast to the people nf Xrw Zealand on his impressions nf world nrTair-». the Prime Minister, tilt' Ht. lion. M. .1. Savage, does nut intend to suggest to them that the Dominion i< likely to il )t . invaded. Mr. Savage gave tlii-i inforinntion to i "Tin , Standard." in mi interview this week, lie —ii fr 1 Ik' knew of no tea son why the people hlioii l<l become, panic stricken hocntiMo of world events. It wiii ipiito true that thiiilt.s were very indefinite, luit there were a lot of people in ;i position to express a worthwhile opinion whn firmly believed that ''there is not likely t<) be another great war in our time." "Notwithstanding all tlint, there is no reason in the wide world why New Zen In n<l should not ho prepared for a mnjor disaster of any kind," the Prime Minister -aid. '"Those who know the history of New Zealand know that in the past we have had pood reason for being sorry I hut we have had no organisation in lii-lp (hose in distress. Those of im who w< , lit through the epidemic that struck New Zealand in iftlS. nnrl in Aticklnnd in particular, will understand what I mean. National Security. "Then those who remember the Murchison arfd Napier earthquakes will not need to he told that an organisation for national security is not out of place, whatever mny happen in Europe." "With the uncertain position that exist* in Europe to-day it in desirable for us to be prepared for the worst. And if nothing happens we have lost nothing." Mr. Savage said the appeal of the Government to-day woe to tha manhood of >*c«- /en In n<l. not to enrol for foreign servi-p. hut to form a reserve of physicpi, v Pt; men who would be prepared to « f inrl m> in New Zealand for New Zcali'nil's defence if need be. "We are not asking them to go into camps for long periods and we are not ■asking the taxpayers to fit them all out with uniforms or anything of that de scription, and whatever poiltictillyminded people mav say I am still of the opinion that the manhood of Xew Zenlartd wjll measure up to whatever the Government expects of them 100 per cent.

"Men associate with one another in football clubs, cricket clubs and in a thousand and one other ways for their common interest in s|>ort. Wn think they will associate for their common interest in defence. They will need no driving force except the feeling that in defending New Zealand they ir" defending something it has taken them long years to obtain." Ifo Invasion Talk. Attempts were lwing made and would continue to be mnde to misrepresent the position, but with all the information one could obtain it seemed clear that the manhood of New Zealand would measure up from every angle. "There are clangers, of course, but I eay very definitely that there is for panic," the' Prime Minister reiterated. In the broadcast which he hojU , :! to make he had not the slightest intention of suggesting to the people thrft New Zealand was likely to l>e invaded. Those who talked that way were not helping New Zealand or the peace of the world. His talk over the air,would not be for the purpose of telling the men of New Zealand the details of military training, but for the purpose of inspiring them with the common desire to co-operate ■with their own Government in providing an organisation for service in any emergency.