IN A NEW SPIRIT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 137, 11 June 1940, Page 6

IN A NEW SPIRIT

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —Your editorial on Friday, "Keeping Away Gloom" rigntiy states: "Uf course, it would be wrong to allow pleasure to come before war work, but it is also wrong to encourage a state of mind which spreads gloom."

Now that the gravity of the war is at last uppermost in the minds of an increasing number of New Zealanders, what is the most effective antidote for the germs of "gloomitis" and "defeatism"?

We are today faced with a crisis that demands that patriotism and service" be stronger than self-interests and party ties; thus, to avoid national deterioration, any desire for political and social importance must be subordinated to national service in our war effort on the home front. This is not the time for political bargaining, petty party politics, or sectional strife, but it is a time for less talk, action, and true cooperation under a strong national war Government that will possess a driving force that will not only safeguard the morale of the^ people, but also prove that in a crisis^ democracy can be made to work in New Zealand in the same way as it is working in Great Britain.

The awakening is here. The call is for a new spirit among the present members of Parliament, and the founda* tion of this new spirit must be Christian principles in the interests of all sections of the community, irrespective of past political labels, differences, and individual aspirations.

This can only be done under a National War Cabinet with party politics relegated to the scrap heap. The right man in the right place in a vigorous National War Cabinet would be the Hon. R. Semple as head of a special department to deal with enemies and traitors in our midst— "fifth columnists," Communists, and others.

A vigorous National War Cabinet as mentioned is the only antidote for "gloomitis" and "defeatism." Let the following from Magna Carta be an inspiration in these critical and uncertain times: —"To none will we sell; to none will we deny; to none will we delay—Right and Justice."—-I am, etc., T. A. FRASER.