Australia Earned Of War Trend: Canberra Report

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 March 1948, Page 6

Australia Earned Of War Trend: Canberra Report

CANBERRA, March 14. Senior Commonwealth Ministers are reported to be worried by seerpt cablegrams warning of a trend towards war. The Prime Minister (Mr Chifley) has ordered the Commonwealth Security Service to keep the closest check on Communists in Australia. There is a dossier in the Security Service’s files now on every known and suspected Communist. The chief of the Security Service (Colonel Longfield Lloyd) is now in Canberra for a special conference. The Communist coup in Czechoslovakia has had a marked effect on public opinion, which has also been influenced by statements such as that made by a Liberal member of Parliament, Mr T. W. White, who said: “Mr Stalin is swallowing up countries-with a more insidious technique than Hitler’s blackmail.” The International situation was extremely grim, and future developments were difficult to forecast, said the Secretary of State for Air (Mr Arthur Henderson) to aircrews at Abington, according to a London message.

“All we can do is to keep on our toes, maintain our war-time efficiency, and be prepared for any call that may be made on the Royal Air Force,” he said. “You have seen what has happened in Czechoslovakia, and what is about to happen in Finland. We must take the international situation into consideration in going about our work.”