WAR EFFORT

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 137, 6 March 1941, Page 8

WAR EFFORT

Surpassing Scale Of 1914-18

MR. FRASER SUMS UP

More Men For Abroad; Cost Much Higher

(By Telegraph-—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, March 5.

“New Zealand will be sending more men overseas than it did in the last war," said the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, in an interview at the conclusion of his Auckland visit. He said that the Dominion must also maintain defence forces at home on a scale which was not necessary in 1914-18, when it could count on the .protection of the Japanese navy.

“We have 25 per cent, more men of military age today than we had in the last war and we shall need them all in some capacity,” said Mr. Fraser. "We are getting a higher percentage of fit men than we did from the ballots in the last war. The percentage passed as grade A from the ballots in 1914-18 was 34.4 per cent. Today, in (lie first three ballots for territorials, for which the test is substantially the same as for overseas service, 56.8 per cent, were passed as grade A.” It had to be remembered, continued Mr. Fraser, that not every fit man was available, as the Government had to consider the needs of the essential industrial life of the country. A proportion of fit men had to be held back till they could be replaced. The Government had given a great deal of consideration to the importance of freeing postponed men as soon as possible. £40,000,000>-ln 18 Months. "For the first 18 months of the war it is estimated that New Zealand’s war expenses will have amounted to about £40,000,000,’ said Mr. Fraser. He compared this with the first 18 months of the last war, when war expenses totalled £8,000,000. Of the current year’s war costs up to -the end of March, £17,500,000 was to be incurred locally and £20,000,000 overseas. The Government’s policy was to raise as much as possible of the internal expenditure by taxation, and it expected to obtain £14,750,000 by this means. It was also borrowing by compulsory loan and taking measures to avoid inflation. So far the compulsory loan had brought in £9,120,000, and in four months £1,000,000 had been subscribed to national savings accounts by 100,000 small contributors. Every man who went overseas with the Army was costing the Dominion £7OO to equip and £7/5/- weekly to maintain. Home Guard Organization. Local governing authorities had been of great assistance in organizing the Home Guard and. the Emergency Precautions Scheme, declared Mr. Fraser. The Home Guard had developed very satisfactorily in-the short space of six months. A Dominion-wide organization had been set up, and nearly 70,000 men had enrolled. The Government, fully acknowledged and appreciated the important part played by local bodies in building up that organization. The scheme had started from nothing, and there was no precedent to follow and no opportunity to draw upon the experience of Great Britain. They could only learn by their own experience and perfect organization as they went along. Local bodies had set up hundreds of Home Guard committees to carry on recruiting and give general assistance. Overseas conditions had caused a shortage of rifles, but the Army had made a considerable number available, and his recent appeal for serviceable rifles should bring in many thousand more. Other equipment had to be improvized by members of the guard themselves. The Government bad undertaken to provide uniforms as they became available. Part of the costs of the guard was a charge on local bodies, a principle which had been agreed upon when regulations forming the guard were framed. After careful consideration the Government had come to a decision that it would be responsible for all expenditure down to and including area headquarters. Local bodies would be responsible for. all expenditure connected with recruiting and other expenses incurred by units below that of area headquarters.

Consideration was now being given to the payment of capitation grants of one shilling a head quarterly for every active member of the Home Guard,

"Training under the Empire Air Scheme ; has now reached top gear,” said Mr. Fraser, lie expressed pride in the record of New Zealand airmen serving with the Royal Air Force. A. total of 74 Dominion airmen had received decorations.

New Zealand, lie added, was able to reach a maximum output under the Empire Scheme, because of the comprehensive framework for expansion which was set up long before the war. Pre-war schemes for building up the force enabled the Government to take the tremendous expansion of the Empire Scheme in its stride. There had been nearly 23,000 applications in New Zealand to join the Air Force, but many men became impatient as a result of waiting to be admitted and joined the Expeditionary Force. Altogether some thousands of pilots, observers, and air-gunners from New Zealand were being trained this year, in addition to a considerable number of mechanics and technicians. A recruiting campaign to ensure a continued and adequate flow of volunteers into tlie Air Force- would be launched shortly, concluded Mr. Fraser, who added that many willing to join up were probably not aware that there were vacancies for them.