DOMINION AT WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 152, 29 June 1943, Page 4

DOMINION AT WAR

A VISITOR LOOKS IN

AN AMERICAN TRIBUTE

The writer of this article, Mr. Kyle Palmer, is a war correspondent representing the "'Los Angeles Times. At home he is the political editor of "The Times" and was formerly its Washington correspondent. He has been a member of the staff for 21 years and is well known in newspaper circles throughout the United States and on the Pacific Coast as a political writer. Mr. Palmer has just visited the Dominion and was so pleased with what he saw of New Zealand's war effort that he has placed this article at the disposal of the New Zealand Press. Dogged does it. New Zealanders are among the world's first-class fighting men. They have been in the war since it started. They did valiant service in Greece, in Crete, m Libya, in Tunisia. They have been flying with the Royal Air Force throughout the war, and .in the Pacific they have stood toe to toe, flown wing to wing, with our own wherever the fighting has been thickest. There was no need to come to Auckland or Wellington to learn of the fighting qualities of these sturdy,; tenacious islanders. Our Army, Navy, and Marine commands sing their praises in Guadalcanal, in the New Hebrides, and in New Caledonia. Long before the United States was drawn into the active fighting, New Zealanders were rallying to the defence of the British Empire. And when the Japanese struck their desperate treacherous blow, the people in this Dominion had every reason to anticipate they would be among the important points to be attacked. Every resource of the population of slightly more than 1,600,000 was marshalled. But the New Zealanders did not recall their' fighters from the Middle East. They buckled down to the job on their own with what they had. One working man out of three nas gone into uniform. Upwards of 200,000 men have been mobilised for the Armed Services since the European war started. More than 80,000 New Zealanders have gone into the various Services overseas. The Royal New Zealand Air Force overseas numbers approximately 10.000 men. To match New Zealand's lighting forces on a basis of comparative man-power, tne United States would have at this tune 13,000.000 men in the Army and Navy, and an additional 8,000,000 in the Home ylAnd' of the 25,000 casualties suffered up to April of this year by New Zealand .forces, 8000 represent prisoners of war and 6000 have been deaths. Some estimate of what such figures would mean to the United States can be gained by checking up on the respective population totals of the two nations. FUTURE EMPHASIS IN AIR. Changes in the actual fighting requirements of the United Nations and the shifting theatres of war have greatly altered the manpower problems here, and a gradual reduction of the Armed Forces to permit a much more vitally needed supply of labour for war industries is immediately in prospect. New Zealand's main fighting emphasis in the future will gradually ;be placed in her air forces. In the Pacific at this time these are merged with the American commands. But as the 25,000 air trainees complete their preparation for combat and are supplied with : planes and essential equipment from the United States, an independent New Zealand Air Force will be created to work in partnership with the American air arm. ~,..,• The supreme need here at this lime is for men to work in war industries and on farms developed exclusively to supply foodstuffs for Allied fighters in the Pacific area. As the situation now stands, about 250,000 persons are employed in activities directly related'to the war effort. Such effort includes manufacture of munitions, bombs, mortars, shell fuses, .radio equipment, gun fittings, small arms ammunition, and the manufacture of boots, shoes, and clothing. There is marked tranquillity about New Zealand procedure which sometimes slightly ruffles the aplomb of the faster-paced Americans. But the New Zealanders get things done. They get 'era done despite the fact that everything in this busy little corner of the world moves to the left. The street cars—trams —go up the left; automobiles go to the left, horses, dogs, cats, men. women, and children, all move to the left. This is a little con-^ fusing and at times slightly embarrassing after a lifetime of faithfully keeping to the right. I've done several one-two-three's with bewildered pedestrians who have tried to outguess me in passing. It gets to be a sort of waltz, but when' the New Zealander perceives he is dealing with an American he smiles—and serenely passes to the left. For the vise of her own and Allied forces in the Pacific, New Zealand is now building more than 300 vessels of various sizes and types, including ocean-going tugs, lighters, and small motor-boats. The two main islands which comprise the Dominion ar6 destined jointly to become.one of the major replacement, repair, recuperation, recreational, and hospitalisation centres of the South Pacific. Hospital units for the accommodation of thousands of United States fighters are under construction. These centres will be among the most modern and fully equipped in the world. They wi.ll spread over scores of acres and will include entire auxiliary communities. Great repair shops for planes and ships are a-building. POST-WAR ADAPTATION. In practically all phases of this tremendous construction programme due notice of all possible post-war adaptation has been taken. Wartime hospitals will be used for schools; scores- of war-housing units will be converted into dwellings: other structures will be used for industrial purposes. Significant also is the fact that when war is finished and the books are balanced on the financial side between the Allied nations, goods and services received by New Zealand and goods and services supplied by New Zealand are expected to reach a near-balance under the provisions of Lend-Lease agreements. . . . New Zealand is financing the Dominion's share of the war with high taxes and tiie sale of war bonds. Fairly successful efforts have been made to stabilise prices, wages, and farm costs. Profits are held down and price ceilings are enforced. Instalment buying jis discouraged, and campaigns are I waged to induce the population to spend less, save more, and buy war bonds. Thus, fighting or working, [New Zealand is carrying its.share of ithe load.