STRIKES AND HOLD-UPS

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 May 1943, Page 2

STRIKES AND HOLD-UPS

EFFECT ON. MEN OVERSEAS

CHRISTCHURCH, May 17. The bad effect of industrial holdups and disagreements upon the man in the line was emphasised to-day by Lieutenant T. Tikao Barrett. M.C. when speaking in Christchurch before the Businessmen’s Club. Lieutenant Barrett was the first South Island officer of the Maori Battalion to be decorated. ■ . . “When they hear of strikes and hold-ups in New Zealand, the men are invariably disgusted and say: ‘Why not send them out here?’ ” said the speaker. “The men in the front line are often worried about you folk back home. They want to know why you don’t get on with this war job quietly and efficiently. If people at home are discontented I can assure you that there is a corresponding reaction among the boys in the front line. You people are apt to grumble about your little restrictions. You cannot always get the petrol you want,” he added. “But let me tell you this—what you are doing without at home is nothing to the sacrifices of these New Zealand boys abroad, who have now been permitted to see the finale of this great campaign in North Africa. Here you people are Jiving in clover, and I don’t think half of you realise what a wonderful and exceedingly beautiful country New Zealand is.” Everyone was wondering what part the New Zealand Division would play in the next part of the campaign, said Lieutenant Barrett. “Personally, I do not think that any of our men will want to come back now that they have a chance of going forward ” he declared, “and that ceitainly goes for the members of the Maori Battalion.” 1 An attempt to have a resolution passed seeking furlough for New Zealanders in the Middle East forces failed at the annual meeting oi the Christchurch branch of the Returned Services’ Association this evening. Several efforts to open a discussion were made by different members during the evening; but the meeting finally agreed to pass on to the next business.