The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1942. SINCE SINGAPORE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 44, 21 February 1942, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1942. SINCE SINGAPORE

A f fh ° rp °rcanidation of the British War Cabinet had been intorw" 1 i'n en''V ,nrn,i " rc fH! ' tho demand for it had become more nrti -liv , anrl there can be little doubt that the notirojhl.v 1r.. ; , cordial reception given Mr. Churchill earlier in the week convinced hun of tho fpcl|n£ , Qf th(j House Qf Commons> whjch he tZ u M " { ' f b r"r V mnStPr '" The outcome of the reorganisation I. that, Mr. hurchill nr. it, head, the War Cabinet, reduced in sl*r ,i onsets of three Conservatives and three Labour representatives, he la ter inrhuhng Sir Stafford Cripps, who a few years ago was too radical for tho labour party. But political affiliations, past or present count for little in Britain to-day. There, the desire, increasingly insistent, has been for tho appointment of the ablest men to direct the war effort, anrl although opinions will always differ on questions of men's ability the reorganisation is rightly to be looked upon as an «' empt to achieve that desire. Of particular interest to the Dominions is the fact that for the first time the Secretary of State for the Dominions sits in the War Cabinet as of right. lr. the r A nH ra ! ia ., lhc T,° has , h £ Pn " sincf ' the fall of Singapore, no change t "d™ nr? ,r1 i? '°V f wnr cfTort - but at present there appears i cm i ,n f, r,I' 1 " Government led by Mr. Curtin has acquired fnllithi f " r /' and vigorous action, and since Singapore's rail it has not belied that reputation. "For no longer will this (lovei nriient afjpeal. said Mr. Curtin last Tuesday, when ordering the »Essr 'TSSTT rJtnnl human and inati rial —jt will order and direct. There can be no douht thit th> • imperative tone, provided it is matched by skilfuf, purposefu act who t r bliC T?? tr, -, ,lay - Per ' l,k - who the Rawing nearer' who arc dismayed though not daunted by the enemy's succession of U lt >, T , ni r ! Y ] n? k to , he ir Government first to observe its reaction f it is plain to them that their Government is taking extraordinarv action to meet an extraordinary situation, thev are encouraged if they see nn such signs, they wonder first, anrl then doubt whether their Government Is fit to cope with the new situation. . j,'V s the ""fortunate consequence of the secrecv of the last session r 'ament. anrl the secrecy with which the Government increasinclv and often quite unnecessarily, surrounds its actions that in N'ew Zealand nri rh m°r T"?, pe ° ple ask what the Government IS doing see no change in the composition of the War Cabinet thev r, i, .Tr«ed ht such ny , S H tlfm ° r 3ny mPmb ° r °f the House has sugge ted"™ by thiS*" 1 U m,,r a S, ra Snvince r the* l ° S the I^on? r 'ls >^a rIlamen^s^isfled^ 'present wf/fSt if sat o"™secret!"'0"™secret!"' SS*™,* 1 * have captured the Maglnot Line of Singapore' The Sl rin .nS so nor, perhaps, does the Government If so MrT L ,° l to himself and his War Cabinet colleagues shouiri f!„'i Fraser - in Justice to tell the people, and not in broad JSSalSStons whit it Is doing, and what it oronosp* at 11 thinks, what too strong a disposition to look abroad Lf. am 9"K all classes far likely to be helped if we do more tohelo ourS.c are . the more thelead? 316 An< * "ls < or the «vc