DUBIOUS RECORD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20137, 5 January 1940, Page 6

DUBIOUS RECORD

DOMINION WAR PLANS GREATER EFFORT NEEDED “GET IN WITH BOTH FEET” CORRESPONDENT'S VIEW Dissatisfaction with the war effort of New Zealand is expressed in a letter to the editor of the Herald by a correspondent signing himself "Ignuvia.” Urging that the Dominion should “get into this war with both feet,” he points to the advantage of being able to defend the country thousands of miles away without sharing the fate of other small countries which have been the victims of aggression. His letter is as follows: As a New Zealander who claims to have served his country both in peace and war, may I be permitted a little criticism of my fellow countrymen, particularly with regard to our war effort. There was a time when I was proud of being a New Zealander, perhaps aggressively so, as is the way with the young; but the question now arises as to what we have to be proud of. The answer will perhaps be “Look at the last war and the part we played; look at Gallipoli; look at what we have done in 100 years; look at the Labour Government; look at our extravagance; look at the record we have broken in going virtually bankrupt from our former sound position during four years of record prosperity.” Traditions of Pioneers All right, let us look at some of these things. Yes, New Zealand played a great part in the last war, but although we get unstinted and generous praise from the Old Country, let us never forget that a very large percentage of those who fought on Gallipoli and in France with the New Zealand forces were home-born Britishers. Also, regarding the truly remarkable developments oi' the last century, again the early settlers, English and Scottish, and their immediate descendants, were responsible. Now that we are preponderantly New Zealand born, it is open to question whether we are keeping up the tradition of our fathers and mothers. The young New Zealander would do well to bear in mind what Plutarch wrote: “It is a glorious thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.”

As to our vaunted war efforts and the smug complacency with which we throw bouquets at ourselves for our “loyalty,” “patriotism," and so forth, early in the war we had the usual talk of the “last man and last shilling” sort, “links binding the Empire” and the rest. The first man has not gone yet and thanks to our own folly the last shilling appears to be already in a precarious position. The effects of the criminal disregard of the prewar exhortations of highly-placed and experienced officers are now too obvious to need further comment. “Cold Meat For Enemy” We can rest assured that those who have voluntarily enlisted will uphold the traditions of those who have gone before, but what of the thousands who are hanging back? It is time New Zealand got into this war with both feet and realised that we are defending New Zealand as surely as if the enemy were actually attacking this country. That we have the opportunity of defending it thousands of miles away is an inestimable advantage, instead of sharing the fate ol Poland and other countries which would surely be the case if the British war efforts were proportionally comparable with our own. We would be simply cold meat for any enterprising enemy.

Why are our young men not enlisting. particularly in the towns? I saw in a recent paper that road works were being drastically cut down in England, resulting in the saving of many millions of pounds for war purposes. In the same issue I noticed that the number of men in our own bloated and top-heavy Public Works Department was 2500 more than when the. Budget came out and is still ■growing. There are thousands of unmarried men of military age among the hordes of Public Works men and it is perhaps not surprising that they prefer the high pay—raised since war began—and short hours, to a soldier's life. At the same time numbers of men with families are enlisting. The whole thing is wrong.

“Will Neither Work Nor Fight”

The not very creditable record ol members of the present Government when they had the chance of serving their country makes their attitude towards conscription more or -less understandable, but they should at least refrain from competing with the army for men. Leave the public works to the rharried men and those unfit for soldiering and get rid of the others. Many would probably enlist. Many men would gladly go if their minds were made up for them. The stand some of them take is; "Why should I go while these others stay and grab all the jobs, mine among them? Let them go and I will go too.”

The Prime Minister’s broadcast appeal for increased production is hard to reconcile with his advocacy a lew minutes later of shorter hours and less work. If we are to increase our production this country must get to work; there is no other way. Tne time is inopportune for the continued encouragement of organised loafing. The apparent failure of voluntary enlistment is a sorry business. It is to be devoutly'hoped that the failure is only temporary, otherwise we must face the fact that we are rapidly developing into a nation that will neither work nor fight. RECRUITING FILLIP FLOW IN AUCKLAND SEQUEL TO PARADE (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. The parade of troops of the First Echelon in Auckland on Wednesday has given a remarkable fillip to enlistments for the Second Echelon of the Special Force. For the two days up to 5 p.m. yesterday the total enlistments in Auckland were 174, in comparison with the previous weeks, when the enlistments were comparatively slow. The Drill Hall has been kept exceedingly busy during the past few days. There has been a constant flow of men anxious to enlist, and it has been necessary to engage extra staff to handle the work.