The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1939. MR. FRASER'S MISSION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 263, 7 November 1939, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1939. MR. FRASER'S MISSION.

For the causc that lacks aeai.tt.nnoc, For thr wrong that veedfs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the nood that ire can do.

Tin- lir-i report describing in Mime <I<• r;111 thr nature (if Mr. Eraser's 1 negotiations in London is welcome,! though it provokes as much curiosity as it satisfies. Probably the majority of people in New Zealand to-dav feel that, with the two months old, there pugiii> to be more visible evidence of the Dominion's participation in it. "Will the special military force, the first echelon of which is now being trained, be required abroad. 1 It >n, how large a force will he needed ? What products that Xew Zealand can send does the lulled Kingdom need most? Are ,-omc products needed in unlimited quantities, or j.- T.here ;i limit .' These are questions which luu-t be answered

ill lea : tentatively before the people ■ I Xew Zealand will know their war la-k ;i;111 -rl about it, with I lie vigour

which -o many c.irne-tly ile-irc to display. It must be admitted that they are difficult questions to answer, for the answers must be affected by the international scene, which has changed quickly sincc the war began and will change more yet, and byopinions as to the probable, duration of the war. For these reasons mainly the question of the extent and direction of New Zealand's war effort is still "in the air," and the report concerning Mr. Fraser's doings leaves it there.

The transfer of men and machinery from "certain public works" to primary production, we are told, is one of several possible readjustments that will be "considered." Has it not been considered yet, or must consideration wait until Mr. Fraser's return? Such a leisurely approach by the Government to its war problems would inspire no confidence in its ability to solve them. The method of paying for the maintenance of the special military force abroad, if it is sent abroad, has been little discussed. Mr. J. A. Lee has advocated a "pay-as-you-go" policy, without specifying ways and means; but there would seem to be no practicable alternative to borrowing, and it is indicated that Mr. Fraser wiil discuss this matter with the Treasury in London To the extent that borrowing in London is possible and expedient, there will be a further call made upon the Dominion's exiguous sterling funds, a substantial part of which must be earmarked iff" the next five years for the purposes of redeeming old loans. These certainties and possibilities together need, and will before long dictate, action within the Dominion to transfer public expenditure, and the men and machinery employed, from non-essentials to essentials. The Government delays facing that issue. It is nn issue which has come more prominently to the front because of the war, but it did not arise because of the war, and the war should not be blamed for it. It was before the war that Mr. Savage himself, in the Budget, declared that "if public works

. . were continued at their present level for long the present difficulties would be accentuated, and in one way or another tho result would be a lowered standard of living generally."