SUPPORT FOR DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 71, 25 March 1938, Page 7

SUPPORT FOR DEFENCE

MEETING GIVES A PLEDGE

ONE DAY A WEEK OF SERVICE

ORGANISATION OF RESOURCES

Nearly a thousand people who attended a public meeting in the Town Hall last night offered, to devote one day a week _to the defence of New Zealand if required to .do so, and a resolution urging theXoverjnment to take immediate steps to organise the whole ol the country's resources to meet any crisis was carried unanimously. The meeting was arranged by the Wellington branch of the JNew Zealand Defence League, and the president of the league (the: Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C.) was the principal speaker. The Mayor ot Wellington (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) preside^, and the representatives of many organisations occupied seats on the dais.

By 8 o'clock approximately 800 persons were present, and as the majority icf these entered the hall they were handed leaflets, bearing the imprint fof the Christian Pacifists Society, Rodrigo Road, Kilbirnie, which declared: "You can't cross a chasm by stages; we must leap to peace, or crash to ruin. Some people want to take a lot of little steps over the abyss. Others Vant to jump. Which are the realists?" A second leaflet was headed "The jPeace Pledge," and asked: "Are you ■prepared tp sanction or support an•other war?" Expressions of opinion .by prominent persons on the possibilities of future wars were quoted. The Port Nicholson Silver Band was [In attendance and played a number 'of selections, while the audience was ■gathering, and when, the official party, which included a member of Parliament (Mr. n. A. Wright),-representa-tives of' the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association, South African ,War Veterans' Association, Wellington 'Chamber of Commerce, and other ; organisations, mounted the dais the National Anthem was played. The Mayor read a number of apologies, including one from the Minister jof Health and Education (the Hon. P. Fraser). , STUDY OF DEFENCE. It was a privilege to have the opportunityl of; presidfng,' Mr.'Hislop said. fTh&Hon. W. Perry needed no introduction.; : had given years of study to. tieferice/and he was going to attempt to arouse the people of New Zealand to the realities facing them 'today, so that they- could 'assure~the Government of adequate support in matters of defence. The. gathering was not political, and defence should never be a subject of party,;politics. It was a national matter. . He; had never heard that it was unwise .'to insure in the commercial sense, and surely it was even wiser to j insure against the loss of life, the loss of country^ and the loss of the heritage [of the generations to come. ! Only that .morning. he: had visited (tunnels under the city and had. heard Jthe-remark; that they would make ideal shelterslvagainst air attack. "What a reiriafk'i.fe.hear only twenty years after •th'esGreat-War!1/ he exclaimed. However,.'the state of the,world made, that 'remark 'appropriate to present condi-tion&^After-the war the.League of: N&tlG|ttSyhad,>be*en : .forimed, "but Japan 'hla'invaaed'-Cffih^'anii'ltaly-had gone inb-Abyssinia; and the League had failed to stop them. The League had protested against v.-German expansion through Austria, but within the last fortnight' Austria had become part of ■the* German Reich. Of the great nations only Great Britain and France remained in the League, and the hope that the League would ensure peace was gone for the present. The time had come when realities should be faced, and the Defence League was '•attempting to arouse interest in what should be done. The Government of (the day was doing good work for de- ; fence, but the people of New Zealand i wanted to know what was being done, so that if enough was not being done the people could prove that the Government had the backing to do what was necessary. (Applause.) ■ New Zealand had a Territorial Force and a Regular Force, and- the mechanised units were up to date. However, (their numbers were deplorably small. iThen, was the Territorial system workSing? A battalion should consist of 11000 men, but the Wellington Battalion could scarcely muster -200. At a recent artillery camp the three batSeries were 'manned by 52 volunteers, and: there were 47, instructors 'present. At another camp''there' were 18. offii cers and 18 other ranks, and at another there were 11 officers and nine other ranks. ■ •- in conclusion Mr. Hislop referred to ,the people of New Zealand and the 'country they possessed. • A voice: For how long are we going to 'keep it? Mr. Hislop: That's for you and others to jsay. v It depended on What was done, what heritage would be handed on to the .future, he added. i SPEAKER APPLAUDED. Mr. Perry was received with prolonged applause, and expressed gratification at the presence of such a large audience.- It appeared,. he , said, thai the people of New Zealand were be ginning to realise the necessity of defence in the Empire. The Prime Minister of Great Britain had saic i £1,500,000,000 was not sufficient for defence. The balance would be provided 'in the Supplementary Estimates, anc 'no one knew what it would be. Thre« years ago it was announced that Bri tain would spend £300,000,000 on de fence in three years, and. he had beer bold enough to say it would be nearei £%300,000,000.. He had been smiled at, but iiow £1,500,000,000-was no enough.-.. - - '[''■.. Mr..': Perry referred to -the horroi with which the breaking-of the Bel gian Treaty was received in 1914, bu in the post-war years treaties had' beer broken every day. The League of Na •tions had been the hope of millions The League had been established a '-"^arsailles, and New Zealand was ; 'signatory to the Covenant of th< ;league. One of New Zealand's obli gations under the Covenant was t( provide such forces as might be re quired by the Council of the League but the League had failed as a mean: of settling international disputes. Ii 1931 Japan, then a member of thi League of Nations, invaded China, ; fellow-member,, and seized Manchurii and Jehol. In 1935 Italy, a member invaded Abyssinia, also a member, and in spite of the efforts of the othe: members, seized the country. Thi League had failed and Italy conquered If that had occurred in 1913, whei Britain had a two-power navy, even i Italy had been as strong as it was ii 1935, h*e .believed: Britain would hay said, "Keep"your hands off Abyssinia, and Italy would have obeyed. In 1936, continued Mr. Perry, Hi tie reoccupied the Rhineland, thus violai ing the "Treaty1 of Locarno, and, onl; a few days ago, Germany had invadei Austria. ,-.■.. Much as it might be. deplored, Ne\ Zealanders must face the fact that the; could not rely on the Covenant of th League for protection. That fact ha> been realised in Britain in 1935, whe: Britain first realised the full necessit; [lor re:armament r ~Greatßritajn,- whie

•or years had disarmed, had found that ; ■ her voice counted for little in the council of the nations. She had suf--1 fered humiliation and was stilj doing ; so. In 1931 a protest to Japan had , been ignored; the same happened in ■ 1935 when a Note was addressed to ' Italy; and again when, in ; 1936, a ques- . tionnaire was sent to Germany after . the reoccupation of the Bhineland. The i British Ambassador to China had been 1 wounded by a Japanese soldier, but no i explanation or apology was forthcom- . ing from Japan. RULE OF FORCE. ■It was well that the British people should realise the implications of what ; had happened, Mr. Perry said. The ■ rule of force had taken-the place of i the ruje of -law, and it was essential that the - Empire should re-arm as • 'quickly as possible.: The League's year • book showed that £1,400,000,000 had been spent on arms in 1936 and at least 8,200,000 men were under arms: This necessity for rebuilding a navy to keep the seas open and the building up of an air force was realised in Britain. In spite of the warnings of naval experts, who' said the minimum cruiser strength to keep the Empire trade routes open was 70, the cruisers 'in the Navy had been reduced to 50. At the present time the naval dockyards "were working at high pressure, but the question they had to ask was, "Will there be-time?;', .If the Empire had until the end of' 1939 or 1940 the programme might,be completed, but would unfriendly nations be kind' enough to wait? Battleships of 42,000 tons were being built because Japan had refused to agree to naval limitations. In that day's "Post," said Mr. Ferry, a speeding-up of armaments had been announced, and a conference was being held in England between employers, employees, and the Government with a view to speeding-up re-armament. If Britain had to do that New Zealand must follow. The New Zealand Defence League had realised the danger in 1936, but it had failed to get much support. The formation of the Defence League had followed the receipt of a letter addressed to himself from Sir Andrew Russell, who had been G.O.C. fof the New Zealand Division overseas, ) and who was then in England. That letter had outlined the grave state of affairs in Europe, and had forecast a \ possible understanding between Hitler and Mussolini; and -on the day it reached Wellington some form ,of agreement between Italy and Austria had been announced by cable. - ' How had that agreement been reached? Mr.. Perry asked. He believed Germany had been given a free hand in Austria in return for Italy receiving a free hand in. the Mediterranean and, : Egypt. . ■ '■ ' : A voice: How do you know? _ A few seconds later the same inter- ' jector asked: Haven't you got anything ■ except guns to talk about?1 '■ ' Mr. Perry: If some of the nations had fewer guns there would be no need for us to be here. (Applause.) Last week, said Mr. Perry, Britain ■ had to face the question of interyention if Czechoslovakia were invaded; and if Britain had been forced to in- ■ tervene the Empire would have been at war. It appeared that Britain would not intervene and what would happen? ■It seemed certain that Czechoslovakia : would be. invaded next and later • Yugoslavia and' Rumania would ,be ; swallowed up by Germany. If that ■ happened what would- the Little En-' , tente think of their allies, Britain and . France? There was a possibility that Britain and France would be driven into a camp by themselves. •■ THREAT OF WAR. t Japan had invaded China and was, to all intents and purposes, in charge 'of the International Settlement at , Shanghai. There was war in Spain, and if Franco won, what would be the position of Gibraltar? There , was ' trouble in Palestine, fostered by Italy, and it seemed possible that the Empire t would be surrounded by a ring of : enemies. The threat of war did not come from the democracies. If the Empire was in danger of having to .stand alone, New 'Zealand, as ' the most'vulnerable-point, must make ' provision for defence and make it ' speedily. The Covenant of the League t of Nations was no safeguard at. the - present time. Imperial co-operation - in matters of defence was New Zea- - land's greatest safeguard because a 1 manifestation of solidarity was a sure - buckler if it was backed by deeds and 1 not by words. The fate of New Zea--1 land might be decided far away from 3 New Zealand as it had been during the - last war. If Germany had won the - Great War Australia and New Zeai land would have become German col-' r onies. He did- not think many people I in New Zealand thought of that, but t "the proof of the pudding was in the eating." What happened to Germany's r colonies? he asked. If New Zealand . was going to "pull her weight" in the t co-partnership of the Commonwealth -i of Nations it might be necessary to .. send another force overseas. ("Hear, ._ hear!" and applause.) t The first line of defence for New a Zealand was the Navy, said Mr. Perry, c but the time was coming when Britain - would not be able to do as much as in 0 the past and New Zealand would have :- to do something for herself. During re- !, cent years .the New Zealand Division s of the Royal Navy had been strength--1 ened, but more and more should be c done, because if New Zealand were a blockaded it would be impossible to a export the country's surplus produce <, overseas. '> The second line of defence was the r Air Force, and substantial wcrk was c being done in the air; but was New '• Zealand getting on with the job fast a enough? • Next they came to the land forces of n the country. Very few New Zealandf ers contemplated an invasion of New " Zealand, but as long ago as 1920 the invasion of Australia was considered ras a possibility. Australia had ret- cognised the need for a strong land y force, and if there was a possibility of d an invasion of Australia there was an even stronger possibility of New Zeam land1 being invaded, because New Zeay land would be easier to occupy. What c would happen if a war broke out d with Japan, Italy, and Germany on one n side, and Britain on the other? The y British Fleet would be fully engaged \ in the North Sea and the Mediterran-

can, and it would be easy for Japan to occupy New Zealand. Some people seemed to think the possibility of invasion was fantastic, but it was not. Mr. Chamberlain had recently said the protection of Britain was paramount because if losses were sustained overseas they might be regained later. "Is it so fantastic that New Zealand should be invaded?" Mr. Perry asked. "I wonder how many Germans living in Samoa prior to 1914 imagined in their most fantastic dreams that Samoa would be invaded by an expeditionary force from New Zealand.' A RAID POSSIBLE. "Let us contemplate a raid on New Zealand by Japan," Mr. Perry added. Japan had received a mandate ever the Marshall Islands- on condition that they would not be fortified, but when Japan had been asked if the islands were being fortified an accredited representative of Japan had announced that Japan would not give those islands up. The Marshall Islands were 2100 miles from Brisbane and 3000 miles from New Zealand. It would not be very difficult for aeroplanes to fly from the Marshall Islands and bomb the cities of Australia, and it would be even easier to assemble aircraft-car-riers at the Marshalls and send them out with aircraft to bomb New Zealand cities. l v -~ , A voice: What would the China Squadron be doing? Mr. Perry: I don't know. It might be busy in the Mediterranean or the C^nthfuing; Mr. Perry said a strong Territorial Army was necessary in New Zealand, but recruiting for the Territorial Force was deplorable, m the old Volunteer days the position was infinitely better. New Zealand would have to "get down to it, and get down to it in the near future." Men would have to be trained before a war broke out. When war broke out soldiers and not recruits were needed. The people of New Zealand were proud of belonging to a democracy, but democracy would not stand by its own virtue, Mr. Perry said. Democracy could only survive by personal service. Material and money alone were not enough. It was the bounden duty of every male and female in the country to give some kind of service to defence. Institutions that had been been built up by a freedom-loving democracy should be protected and not thrown away. Mr. Perry appealed to his audience not to go away thinking and hoping that something would be done, but determined to endeavour to help towards adequate defence. At the conclusion of his remarks there was prolonged applause. QUESTIONS ASKED. A question was handed in asking Mr. Perry if he would approve of the whole Civil Service being put into a camp for a month in the year. Mr. Perry said the whole Civil Service could not be put into camp at once,, but he considered all members of the service should be encouraged to serve. In reply to another question, Mr. Perry said he had a great respect for the Christian pacifists, but they should not be blind to the fact that wars had gone on during the whole 2000 years since Christianity was established. "I hardly think this is a question," said the' Mayor: " 'To end war put all dictators up against a wall and shoot them. 1 That is like the question about the rat; you have first got to catch him." . A voice: We'll catch him. Another questioner asked it the mothers of New Zealand would prefer their sons'to be trained as soldiers or as rickshaw boys. Several other questions were handed in, some of these asking for the passing of a resolution urging the Government to take steps for more adequate defence. RESOLUTION CARRIED. Mr. W. H. Barnard moved the following resolution: — * That this meeting of citizens of Wellington urges the Government, in view of the grave international situation, to take immediate steps^to organise the whole of the country's resources to meet any crisis that may arise. It is suggested:— 1. That the man power of the military forces should be very considerably increased, as the defending of New Zealand's lengthy coast line must necessarily require very large forces. 2. That a militia force of citizens over the age limit for territorials be formed to operate under the military command. .. 3. That the civilian population be so organised that in time of 'national crisis there will be as little confusion as possible. 4. That the civilian population be instructed in the use of gas masks and in the method of gas decontamination. 5. That all public and private transport be so organised as to be of greatest use to the Government at the shortest notice. ... 6. That the Government .treat the defence of New Zealand and the British Commonwealth of Nations as a national matter and request the cooperation and utilise the services oi all members of Parliament and citizens throughout the Dominion for this purpose. The motion, which was received with applause and was seconded by Mr. G. M. Tolhurst, was carried unanimously and with applause., Someone in the body of the hall asked if the chairman would ask all those present who were willing to give one day a week to defence to hold up their hands. The Mayor did so and some 800 or 900 hands went up. ' The hands of those not prepared to help with defence were then called for and three appeared, two belonging to one person. The meeting concluded with votes oi thanks to the Mayor, moved by Colonel C E. Butcher and Mr. H. M. Haycock, and to Mr. Perry, moved by Colonel R. St J Beere and Mrs, A. R. Smith. "Let us resolve to act," said the Mayor as the meeting broke up, and there were "Hear, hears" from the hall.