WORK AND GIVE!

Grey River Argus, 6 August 1940, Page 10

WORK AND GIVE!

Duty of N.Z. HON. R. SEMPLE ON WAR ISSUES WELLINGTON, August 5. “I know from certain knowledge that there are people in this country who think that a Nazi victory would bring little change, and that we would be as well off as we are* now.” said the Minister for National Service (the Hon. R. Semple) in a broadcast address last evening. “What a fool’s paradise! In France, where are the trades unions, social security old age pensions, invalid pensions', all that we enjoy to-day? The country has been hurled back into slavery. Freedom and the right to live have been sacrificed. Under’ Nazi rule men who would have led the nation are gone, and the approaching winter brings starvation, disease, and death for thousands. “The same fate would overtake us,” he said. “Could we expect better terms? We are fighting for democracy, but we are fighting for something even more elemental—the right to live. What sacrifice is there in New Zealand? Is there any shortage of food and drink? Is the ‘tote' just a memory? Are the cinemas empty? Have our amusements been curtailed? I am not saying that pleasure should be cut out of our lives, but I am saying that we have not felt the sacrifice of the war effort in New Zealand yet. “Yet there are people who whimper at the extra shilling in the £ which we pay to prevent the same disaster overtaking us as overtook the other countries I have referred to.”

Mr Semple, in his address, referred to the outstanding dates in British history, those of the Amada, the battle of Trafalgar, and the battle of Waterloo, dates where triumph was wrested from apparent disaster, and anxiety was transformed into courage and resolution. The present year would stand among them. If ever there was a time, when New Zealanders should feel proud of the stock from which they came it was now.

“And in New Zealand what shall we do?” he asked. “Shall we play our part and stick out as good comrades till we win our way to victory? For years Germany has been slaving 60 or 70 hours a week devising engines of war. Our statesmen’s thoughts have been turned not to engines of destruction, but towards making a brighter and better world, where all can live in peace. Some have thought that this policy was wrong, that it has brought us face to face with danger. But I am confident that we shall win through, and that when history is written the endeavours’ of the British Empire to build a brighter and better world will stand out as a beacon light. “We must work and give till it hurts, so that when victory comes we will be worthy of it,” Mr Semple said. A.S.R.S. RESOLUTION. CHRISTCHURCH, August 5. The Canterbury branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants passed the following resolution at its last meeting: “This branch protests to the Government against the continued rises in the cost of living and asks for the repeal of the new national emergency tax which is quite unfair in application to the wage earning section of the community. Our opinion is that an equal sacrifice can only be made by the confiscation of all salaries and incomes in excess of £5OO. We realise that the necessities of existence are fast becoming an impossibility to the average wage earner, therefore, as man-power is to be conscripted, we call upon the Government to immediately conscript wealth as promised.” It was stated that some members with families to support would be in receipt of less than £4 a week,J and this would be quite acceptable at the present time were sacrifices equal throughout the whole community.