"WONDERFUL JOB"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 149, 25 June 1943, Page 4

"WONDERFUL JOB"

THE MERCHANT NAVY "When the roll of honour of this war comes to be written the men of the Merchant Marine should occupy Number One place on the roll of non-com-batants," said Mr. A. F. Moneur (Government, Rotorua) in his Budget speech in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. "We complain about certain things," he said. "For instance, some people complain about the 15 per cent, of the wool price, but how many of us think of how that wool gets to Britain and of the trials and tribulations of the merchant seamen who do the job? When I was overseas (Mr. Moneur was with an aerodrome construction unit in Malaya) I watched the working of those men with pride. They never grumbled or complained. They were not armed, and they worked in the bowels of the ships and at any moment were likely to be blown up by torpedoes, but they carried on and did a wonderful job." About 650 of the sons of merchant seamen in the last war were taken by Flock House and 450' of those boys had gone back to the present war, added Mr. Moneur. The Government should see that the sons of merchant seamen in this war should be as well treated as the sons of the seamen in the last war. Mr. W. J. Broadfoot (National, Waitomo) : Flock House is not doing that job today. Why not make it go back to its original job? Mr. Moneur replied that the best that could be done for the merchant seamen and their sons should be done.