CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 150, 26 June 1940, Page 6

CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS.

WHY FRANCE FAILED. (To the Editor.) The French. Prime Minister, Marshal X'ctain, the hero- of Verdun, who -wasresponsible for the famous order, "Da ne passeront pas," in a recent Prnsa . cablegram give* the reasons Tor his asking for an armistice in these c-oul-stirring words: —"The request for an armistice was inevitable , from June 13. The iblow surprised you. lam going to give the reasons for it. ... We will loam a lesson from the battle which lias been lost. The spirit of pleasure prevailed over the spirit of sacrifice after the victory in the last war. The people, demanded more than they were givenand wanted to spare themselves effort. To-day misfortunes come. . . ," What an object lesson to us in this country, who have been .living in a- fool's paradise. Let all sections of the community

realise that the spirit of pleasure must give way to the spirit of sacrifice. Wβ must have increased production and this involves the sacrifice of the 40-hour week. Taxation, too, must inevitably be higher. All sections of the community must steel their will and bend their effort towards the common victory. Without victory the Empire will fee enslaved, under the menace of dictatorship and the domocratic ideals that we have cherished for a thousand years will perish from.the earth. GAINOR. JACKSOJT.