ADDRESS BY SIR HARRY BATTERBEE

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23444, 26 September 1941, Page 10

ADDRESS BY SIR HARRY BATTERBEE

Sir,—The recent speech of Sir Harry Battterbee is to be welcomed as the most realistic in tone made in Australia and New Zealand since the outbreak of war. Let us iace the situation, as he suggests, in an impartial light, and soberly take stock of our position, man against man, gun against gun. Then, and then only, will we abolish this awful state of apathy, which is strangling our war effort and blinding us to our awiul peril. We are British, after all. and we can face the situation unflinchingly, however great the danger. Apathy there is—a result of wishful thinking, unjustified optimism, and ignorance—not only in New Zealad but also in Australia and the United States. In Australia the party wrangling hardly justifies her dominion status, and her war effort, considering her importance economically and strategically, shows that she, too. does not recognise the danger. Apathy in the United States is one of the greatest dangers confronting us. People there must be shown that the war will be won and lost in the New World., and it is for this reason that speeches such as that of Sir Harry Batterbee are to be welcomed. Never let it be said that the British people in their hour of trial were unable to face the truth.—Yours, etc., TINKER. September 25, 1941.