The Auckland Star; WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1941.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 90, 17 April 1941, Page 6

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

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 1941.

For the cause that lacks assistance, I For the wrong that reeds resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that tee can do.

j UNITY NOW. "So far as tlio electors of New Zealand are concerned," said the Prime Minister, in his address to the Labour Conference, "there is only one issue, and that is the winning of the Avar. Other matters must of necessity be left in abeyance." That is a fair statement of a prevailing public sentiment in New Zealand to-day. But what is the prospect? Besides the "one issue," the Dominion has before it a political election campaign, which, if as strenuously fought as it is likely to be, must and will result in a dispersal and dissipation of effort that ought to be devoted to war purposes. No doubt each political party will try to excuse itself by the contention that the re-election of the Government, or its defeat, is necessary and in the best interests of the war effort; but neither party will be able to convince the public with such a plea. As the war situation abroad grows more grave, and the area of the conflict is widened, it will occur to the least imaginative persons that we should not be diverting part of our energies to political conflict at such

a time. What, then, should be done? What is needed before the people can feel satisfied that their political representatives also are aware that there is "only one issue?" Words will not satisfy them, for there has been a surfeit of words. What is needed is action on the lines of the proposal yesterday renewed by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Holland, that there should be formed "a truly national all-party Government." The reason given by, Mr. Holland for renewing the proposal needs no elaborating; it is the "extreme gravity of the war situation," and the fact that New Zealand forces are actively engaged in: the conflict. The war situation is such that the future is unpredictable. What can be predicted is that its consequences will be felt by the Government, by any Government, in a multiplicity of problems, many urgent,,and some unprecedented. The Government which has to grapple with those problems should not only be the best available in so far as personal composition is concerned; it should also have no preoccupations or distractions.

There is clearly needed not only .a national, all-party Government, but. a small, inner War Cabinet. Ifc is true that there is a War Cabinet now, but its powers are circumscribed .and the position of two of its members is obviously anomalous. The War Cabinet that is needed should have nothing removed from its consideration and control. This need not mean that the function of the House of Representatives would be adversely affected. Indeed, there would be an opportunity for the House to represent the people much more completely than it has done in recent years. It should, irrespective of party, reassert its control of the Executive by continually reviewing the actions of the Executive. The game of party politics is played out, and should not be renewed while the war lasts.