A TEST FOR NEW ZEALAND

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 291, 9 December 1941, Page 6

A TEST FOR NEW ZEALAND

MEW ZeaUndera at home have had two years of experience of the inconvenience* and minor dislocations of war; a much sterner test is coming, a test which will involve a readjustment of our whole mental outlook, a period, perhaps, of complete self-reliance and self-support when, whatever we want we will have to supply ourselves and when we must hold our own rock ramparts and be prepared to meet peril face to face, not half a world away. We can do it; the record of our soldiers from Gallipoll to Tobruk shows that New Zealand can breed men, the heroic manner in which the mothers, wives and sisters of this Dominion have faced sacrifice is the best proof that they will not shrink from the most fiery test But we have yet to be told what to do; we will not reach even the first stage of war efficiency until whatever policy may have been hammered out In the two years of preparatory truce has been made known, it is certain that the easy-going pace of civilian life up till now is not fast enough; more, much more, will have to be done if we are to prepare grimly for the new conditions which the entrance of Japan into ihe war will inevitably bring abbut. There has been enough or speech-making and more than enough soft soap has been spread concerning what New Zealand as a whole is doing to help the war effort The machine must be got Into top gear now, and every last ounce of effort must be put into every conceivable precautionary step which will help to keep our coasts inviolate. Parliament will meet in a little over a-week's time; if the delay were any indication of our ability to face a crista the outlook would be black indeed. But it is not. During the intervening days the whole war effort can and must be transformed into a high-speed defensive system. Some of the decisions which will have to be taken in high places will need courage, but if the foresight which is the essential corollary to courage has been exercised during the past two years there should be no lack of willingness to make decisions which may be unpopular, and no delay In putting them to the test. Beyond a temporary check to the use of petrol coupons life -is normal to-day, but we may expect an ever-increasing flow of orders and instructions, which will In themselves indicate the readiness of those in authority to put the country on a real war footing.