MORE RECRUITS WANTED PRIME MINISTER'S APPEAL TO THE YOUNG MEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 24, 29 January 1940, Page 6

MORE RECRUITS WANTED

PRIME MINISTER'S APPEAL TO THE YOUNG MEN

PRINCIPLE OF VOLUNTARY SERVICE REAFFIRMED

A stirring appeal for recruits for the New Zealand armed forces was made last night in an address by the Prime Minister (the Rfc— Hon. M. J. Savage), who emphasised the gravity of the issues at stake and of the situation which confronted the Empirg. He discussed the question of obligatory service as opposed to voluntary service, and reaffirmed the Government's belief in the superior merits of voluntary service. "In its opinion," he said, "to compel men by law to defend their country is, in effect, to deny the existence of one of , their strongest arid noblest instincts." "-- •

In his appeal to the young men of the country to offer themselves for service, Mr. Savage stressed the fact that he wanted that service to be the service of men who bear - willingly the amis they had taken up so freely.

"To a man who is already past military age, and has himself never been on active service, no task can be less

congenial than that of. urging .other men to go to war," said Mr,. Savage. "If, without shirking my duty, I could escape this task, I would gladly do so; but I cannot. :' "It is impossible to consider the many problems thaf await solution in this country without realising, all the time, that the big .fiff stands in front of any plans that we may form. Social security, the development rand extension of our industries, immigration* increased rural developments-—these and a score of other tasks will retain, importance for us if, and Ife,ar only if, we win the war; On that, • pur every hope for- the future, depends I cannot help wondering at tunes whether everyone in the country realises this. Do the thousands who have been camping in recent weeks in the innumerable beauty spots of this favoured land realise that if we lose the: war their latest holiday was perhaps indeed the last? Do the crowds who have been so gaily thronging the' racecourses know that If Britain is beaten1 the good times are over for ever? I v^piild give everything I have to be able" to find words that would burn that truth tonight into the consciousness of every man and woman, of every boy and girl in this Dominion. We are in jeopardy as never before. Our Centennial year is the most critical in all our history. "We all look forward to the return of peace, praying that it may be soon. But what if peace were to bring >us defeat instead of victory? How would we fare then? Very earnestly do I ask the people to consider that question. Remember that great States and Empires have in their turn crumbled and collapsed. Think of Rome with her world-wide empire. Remember how after keeping the peace for centuries she grew weary and weak, and succumbed- beneath , ? the blows of, the barbarians. *: • . ■■ .■ s' "There is nothing defeatist in what I am saying. It is within our power to escape the fate that overtook ancient dome. What I am trying to make clear is this—that we must use that power, every ounce of it, if we are to escape destruction. "Many of you have heard the Hon. P. Fraser describe the magnificent war effort that the Old Country is making. You have heard him tell of the grim determination that, inspires the people there. And what is the reason for that? It is that over there they realise that they are fighting for their very existence. That spirit—the spirit of Britain—must pervade New Zealand from the North Cape to v the Bluff. NO HONOURABLE ALTERNATIVE. "New Zealand is at war because there was no honourable alternative," continued the Prime Minister. "God knows we did not want it, any more than our partners of the British Commonwealth, or France, •- or Poland wanted it. But it came, and we had to face up to it or be utterly shamed and later, as we should have deserved, destroyed. I challenge any honest and intelligent man or woman to. say that New Zealand could have, stood out of this war.

"At times all of us no doubt succumb to the temptation pf thinking that it this or that had been done in the past; | [this war igould never have-happened. It may be that if different counsels,, had prevailed at certain critical periods in. the last twenty -five years that would have enabled us to escape.! [the present calamity. . But even ii that be so, where does it get us? Nowhere. We are at war and that is the inescapable fact. ' Let us forget what might have been, or could have been; let us think of what is, and shave up all of us to the demands of reality. MORE SOLDIERS NEEDED. "Of these demands the most urgent and insistent is for soldiers. This is the day and the hour for the fighting man. We need him badly, and we need him now. He is to be found m his thousands throughout the country, in all occupations and all places. "To all New Zealanders who can play football, cricket, hockey, baseball, tennis, who love swimming, boxing, wrestling, and every other strenuous exercise and art, I say tonight— and would to God that I didn't have to say it—the time has now come for men to fight. "Throughout the Empire yesterday's sportsmen are today's warriors. Men who have worn the jersey of the All Blacks and the blazer of a New Zealand eleven —men who have led them —captains courageous—are now wearing khaki. We are proud of them. Where they lead, will others hesitate to follow? I think not.

"It may be that many men have not offered themselves because they think that if the situation were really grave, Parliament would at once be asked to enact a measure providing for compulsory service. Let me say emphatically that such an idea, if it exists, is twice mistaken," said Mr. Savage. "It ignores the flact that the situation is now really grave, and it reveals a complete failure to understand the mind of the Government on this profoundly-important matter of State policy. The. Government has not brought forward, and has no wish to bring forward, any measure establishing obligatory service, for the sole reason that it believes in the superior merits of voluntary service. In its opinion, to compel men by law to defend their country is, in effect, to deny the existence of one of their strongest and noblest instincts. I

"What man requires to be compelled to protect from injury his mother or his wife, his sister or his child? I have always believed that free men can be safely trusted to offer themselves voluntarily for the defence ot those nearest and dearest to them.

"I know that there are those who take a different view. They say that national defence is the interest of ail, and that all, therefore, should be re-

quired to share in it. They also deny that a voluntary system can be a fully [effective one, deriving, as they believe, its strength;from,part,only of the"manpower of the nation. Ido not propose to debate this issue., I can see the point of view of'those "who reject the voluntary principle. I can also I respect it though,. it is not my own. ilt is my conviction that what" is given" freely is to be preferred to what is. yielded under constraint. "That, right or wrong, is my way of thinking. I have always believed it to be right. I trust that I may never feel myself compelled by events to regard 4t- as .no : longer tenable. , , "Now, haying.said,that, may:l.adi dress a remark or, two. particularly. to all fit men between the ages of 2i | and 35 years of age who have not yet enrolled. To those of them who support the voluntary system I say this, "You favour the voluntary principle, which the Government, also, prefers and on which it is at present basing its war effort. Both you and thfc Government believe it to be the more excellent way. Now, do you realise that every man of military age who can volunteer and-who'ab-stains from doing so' without ''gqdd reason, is an argument hi" favour of the principle of compulsion, which you think wrong. "To those who favour the compulsory principle but have not yet enrolled, I would say this: "You believe that all fit men should be required to defend their country. You,do not object to that form of service. On the contrary, you approve it. At heart, you'are really a volunr teer, and if you believed that all others were the same you would never think of compulsion. Well then, 1 ask" you, would it not at thi's critical moment in our histroy be best, in the national interest, to assume that all will, do their duty? ,- Do not underestimate the power of your own example. What you do will inspire others. POLICY IN BRITAIN. "In staling my preference for the voluntary system.l do^ not forget that in Britain it-.has-rre.ceatly beep _rer, placed by the principle of compulsory services I appreciate,the significance of the British precedent, and I recog.nas _ se i we all must—that we who Hve in!New'Zealand h\a'Ve ho'lesser duty or interest than our kinsmen at Home in the matter of defending the Empire, which is ours as much' as theirs. is the peril" donfronling'uY any' 'less deadly "than that which '"aces'the people* of Britain. " '"," ,"*" ' .'/" "In this war against thev Germans w& are fighting to destroy riot a people but' something that has" taken "hold of a people, to'their hurt as well" as" ours.* For that reason our victory will' be theirs also, for it will free them—this time, we trust, for ever—from the evil thing that has taken possession . of them. And what is that evil thing? Some will call it Godlessness, others materialism. I quarrel with- neither answer, but I may add that what I find most repellent in the Nazi make-up is the overbearing oX consent by force, the subjugation -of all- reason by .a discipline sustained by violence that knows no restraints. With all my heart and soul do I pray that our arms may prevail and cast -this devil out of Germany.

"But it would be a terrible thing if in overthrowing Nazism, we ourselves went« Nazi by \ sacrificing liberty s on the altar of efficiency. What shall tt profit a man if tier. sTsOtt-the whole world and lose his own soul? What shall it profit us if we gain victory by destroying freedom? "I ask' the young mci. of this country to offer themselves, in their thousands, now, for military service anywhere, whether in New Zealand or abroad for the place where freedom can best be defended is the place for our fighting men to be," said Mr. Savage in concision. "But I want that service to be the service of -men who. bear willingly the arms, that they have taken "Vwfeh'it to be said that every New Zealand soldier is a volunteer on whom no compulsion was brought to beatr but that of his own conscience The First Echelon consisted wholly of such men. The Second and Third Echelons will be of the same texture and-comppsition. I trust that in the whole New Zealand Division there will be not one conscript" " ,