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Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 210, 2 June 1944, Page 4

Behind the opening phrase of an occasional Admiralty communique, “Our light, coastal forces.” is an interesting fact, revealed by the Manchester Guardian, which deserves to be more widely known. These “little ships. ’ which guard Britain’s shores and night after night smash Hitlers “coastcrawling convoys” in swift, daring forays, have sunk or severely damaged hundreds of enemy vessels in the hist three years. “These achievements notes the Manchester Guardian, “are a tribute to tho amateur sailor. I robably 99 per cent, of the officers and nearly as great a proportion of ratings are Royal Naval Reserve Volunteers, ami many had never been on the sea before.” 1 . J. * *

A point of great significance was recently made by Professor .1. IL Jones, Professor of Economics ar lhe University of Leeds, in eonnexmn with wartime official controls. “In eight to ten years,” he said, “children who were 15 in 1939 will have grown up in an atmosphere of control. They will have lost a great deal of knowledge about the conditions which existed before the war. In the days to come we must go on preaching tho kind of society that is the real alternative to the controlled economy from winch we are now suffering. People will Have become accustomed to control, and we have to see tbit they do not take it for granted. . We may have to fight hard to establish these democratic principles again.’ This warning applies with even greater emphasis to New Zealand, where Governmen controls in accordance with the Labour Ministry’s Socialist policy and programme have been growing steadily ever since 193 a