NO HALF MEASURES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 120, 23 May 1941, Page 6

NO HALF MEASURES

WINNING THE WAR "CANNOT MUDDLE THROUGH" "We have one great inferiority to our foe, we are inferior in machines," said the Prime Minister of Australia. the Rt. Hon. R. G. Menies, during the course of his speech at a State dinner at the Grand Hotel last night. "We are not inferior in men and certainly we are not inferior in spirit. and it is the spirit that wins." he continued. "The spirit wins more quickly, however, when the men who possess it have at their command the instruments with which to fight the foe."

Years ago Germany started to prepare for war, Mr. Menzies said, Weapons were made of great quality and in enormous quantity. The British people forgot about that. They placed their heads in the sand. Thpy went on building up a standard of living and then suddenly found themselves confronted by an enemy possessing superior machine power with which he had inflicted defeat after defeat and had net finished yet.

"We are not prepared to contemplate defeat, but we will not avoid it by saying we have a just cause." he continued. There were those who said that a just cause won in the long run, and that truth was great ami would prevail. Truth had to be valiantly served. It was no use saying that we had a good cause and that we would get through in the long run—that we would muddle through. "I denounce such nonsense," he said. "You will never muddle through to victory against Germany in this war. Not one scrap of individual comfort, standard of living, or annulling else we have talked about during the last ten years matters a hoot until we do win. If we have to work ourselves to the hono to produce tanks, guns and aeroplanes let us give up argument and work ourselves to the bone. No half measure will win this war." Astride Half the World? The enemv sat astride Europe to-dav Mr. Menzies said. To-morrow, for all we knew, lie might sit astride half the world. Tie was an enemy not to be de<=ni«oil. Tfe had abi'ity and courage H" ;«'«<> had wtriini-unir power nnd a will at le-rt p* as ours. In bis in Euro"" lv h-id "-lthered up a nmiv of ■killed woi'-fi-- and manv of tho-r m<">n were in France "I do no' believe we are al'xie ; ,- >e world." he continued. "T believe in '•>;inrp »-,o rrn ic-o j in th* , spirit nf thp French " Frenchman in occunird Frnnre had to work to liv. nnri what thev produced was avni'able to Germany. Rv Tta'v. \vf« now a German province. Czechoslovak ifl and Austria millions of men had been brought in f o the German servics. Her production was great pnd a growing Against that was »he industrial power of f'vprt pvifiiri witV" pv"i'V fantrjl'V and p'ant Table to he bombed every nifht. u'a<? thp p'-nwing nnwer of the rinmiyions Rn r l tbo vnct repo - '>-""= nf ii-ir> Arv-ic>ri"nn Co-i----•inpnt. TpfcinT jntn tpnnunt wp r"i"'l th ,, fno but how lnnrr jf poing t n hV"' The inri"n*«-«"! fp-..... f , p , n f T'-vrlln --•n-.-'. nlcp pys'l'ible. ThP erro" 'hT'''l no •>>-> f>oi->-i•--.;«»«-] o f rTirtirifir the I'lii'iona on njthpr c-ir'"—»i-,-; "nine must be nrp'itpr thnn seven."

"Tn th" winninrr o f this war and tiip ( ii-.!T 'his World in flnr-pnt Phririn time i" the of tb" c-ti-nc." he Sl'jrl. "I HIT, ,-, O » rO ~«^n . ,)T, t yyr, •ihmihl develop, ot-r =vneriority in in r, vp or

vr>;.'-c: - tilv"—""'l t'vit l= I'liel r'boTif how lons it will take unless we civo I'n all eneoi!i-n<'enient to o>ir cmyjf'n-t----able pnij pn'nt of view that says: 'Yp.«. wo must dn what we can. but Th ive mv f;mv!v and my rijrhts anrl T fool tlrif if l wnnt to have a 'tiike I should be able to have one ' If that is the noint of vi«w it win take us five, seven or nine vears. and we will nn( recover in your lifetime or in mine. Kvrry Ounce Required. "What is needed is some kind of aine'e punfiKp leaeue thronarhout the world. The time for philosophic dnvbt has sone hv, There i-s one job in hand and onlv one. We make up our minds about that." He had not come hnrk from h'= ionrnevinT« with any hint of defeat in his mind, but he had come back with a more vivid impression of the dangers and menaces confronting us.

"To win the war is no part-time .'oh." he said. "If every one of us man. woman and child, devotes every ounce he or she has to win the war it will be enough. Nothing else will be enough. "I have come.back with a tremendous impression of the skill, ingenuity, power and diabolical cleverness of this evil thing we are fighting Not only are we fighting it for ourselves, but for those who come after us. It is not a matter of the sacrifices we make in our generation —it is the kind of world the next generation is to live in that we have to consider.

I have merely been pxitting into imperfect words the radiant spirit that shines in the hearts of those in the darkest back street of Manchester and Birmingham and other places. They are the most magnificent people the world has ever seen When I went to the United States I found there something that confirmed what I had expected. It was the development of American opinion m our favour —the growing consciousness in the I'nited States that this is their struggle and that it will determine the kind of world that they will have to live in. A People's Glory. "It is not so much due to the great speeches of the move and countermove of propaganda, but above all it is due to the fact that the common man of the I'nited States has looked across the Atlantic and seen the common man of Great Britain and marvelled at him. If there is one thing that has stirred America to the depths it is the spectacle of these people with so little to lose and so much valour to defend it. In the long and glorious history of our race great fame has been won by armies and navies and by fighting forces, by generals and great admirals, whose names have been recorded and whose portraits hang on walls, but this is the first war in which the honour and the glory belong not to a single man or to a few men, but to an entire people. (Applause.)