DEBT AND HONOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 188, 11 August 1939, Page 6

DEBT AND HONOUR.

So often has the Government asserted its intention fully to meet all the country's obligations that the Rt. Hon. Mr. Forbes' amendment to {he Budget resolution would never have been framed were it not for the fact that a number of the Government followers, members who take a very prominent share in the conferences of the party, have by plain inference suggested default. The nature of the speech made by the member for Grey Lynn, whose attack on the Budget was as deliberate as it was oblique, brought the matter to a head, and the Opposition would have failed badly in its duty had it not demanded an official statement from the official Government spokesmen. It is to the great credit of the acting-Leader of the House, Mr. Fraser, that he responded, not only promptly, but in language which no one could criticise on the score of ambiguity. His speech this morning deserves to be read carefully, for it expresses, much more nearly than any Government statement for a long time, the feeling of the body of responsible men and women of this country. New Zealanders are not quitters. What they need is honest leadership. If they are told the full facts of the financial situation they will do what is required, and they will assist the Government to do what is required.