BRITAIN IN WAR-TIME

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 November 1939, Page 4

BRITAIN IN WAR-TIME

AUSTRALIAN MINISTER’S PRAISE Tpki. prkrs ahrouiation.l WELLINGTON, Noyember 20. “The transition of Britain from peace to war has been effected with a minimum dislocation, and the whole business has earned the respect and admiration of a person like myself, who is fairly familiar with the trials .and difficulties of improvising Government institutions,” said Mr. R. G. Casey, Australian Minister for Supply, in a speech broadcast from London, today. “We have naturally been concentrating very closely on the task that we came here to do —and this has brought us face to face with the tremendous war efforts that Britain, the senior partner in the Empire, is making.

“It is quite incredible. Cost is apparently not allowed to count at all —if some activity is required for war purposes, the machinery is set in motion at once. Besides the vast expansion of the fighting services, six great new departments have been created to cope with the necessities of war —the departments of supply, food, shipping, information, economic warfare, and home defence. One would naturally expect a good deal of confusion and over.lapping and cross-purposes in the early weeks of these great new organisations; but the wheels are turning remarkably smoothly, and my own personal experience has been that all my many queries are answered promptly and effectively. There is no doubt that the British do come up to scratch when they are up against it.”