AGAINST INVASION

Grey River Argus, 2 May 1942, Page 2

AGAINST INVASION

N.Z. INSURANCE Meaning of War Outlay [Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, May 1. Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, in concluding his financial statement in the House said: “All will agree that our armed forces should be provided with an the arms and equipment that can be obtained, and be trained to the highest possible standard of fighting efficiency. The loan of £15,000,01)0 is an essential part of the financial programme to meet the requirements of the armed forces, and every one is vitally concerned in making it an outstanding success. By doing so they are not only assisting in the war effort, but providing liquid funds for themselves for use in the post-war'period. We are passing through the most difficult penov ever experienced in the history of this Dominion. It is not a pleasant , duty to impose heavier taxation, but j the demands of war leave no alternative. It is not merely a question of facing up to the demands of the , moment, heavy and pressing thouga they be - but there is the necessity, also, of taking steps now to avoid , for the future a legacy of social disaster and individual misery. We have before us, still fresh in mem’ory, and bitter memory, the worldwide lessons of the last post-war period. Such problems cannot be passed for solution by us to the generation that will survive this war. It is my bounden duty, as trustee or the people, to recommend the steps which must be taken if more serious financial difficulties are to be avoided later. I have laid the financial position of the country freely before this House, and before the people, with confidence that every demand which is being made will be fully and willingly met. Every New Zealander worthy of the name wishes to undertake some direct part in t ie war effort, but, while all cannot bear arms, there is no one who cannot do something useful to assist. The family and the home are the real sufferers of war. They bear the bitter losses, whatever victory the nation may achieve; but those losses would be inevitably more bitter and more cruelly poignant in the event of a defeat at the hands of the Japanese, the Nazis and their other Axis partners. This is essentially a struggle to protect our families and our homes, the lives of all who are dear to us, our way of life, our country, and all it means to us. Above all, we are fighting to retain the most precious privilege of precious heritage, that of liberty itself, a privilege enjoyed for so long that it is regarded, I am afraid, as a commonplace. The long-drawn-out and bitter struggles by which slaves and bondsmen became free are all too often unknown or forgotten at the present day. Yet this is but a continuation of that age-old conflict which we must not lose. It behoves every citizen in these times to -ecall the issues at stake. They affect equally each and every one oi us and the realization of these facts will I am sure, stir the hearts and stiffen the resolve of every citizen to work and give of his best without stint or qualification. Thus will we be able to play our part in the titanic strugle in which the British Commonwealth and our Allies are engaged, a struggle that friend and foe agree, alike, will turn the destiny of mankind for many centuries to come. Here in New Zealand, all that we have, even life itself, is not too high a price to pay to keep our shores inviolate, and to crush the foul menace which threatens to strip us of everything we hold dear, and to engulf our very civilization itself. The financial measures whicn I have described and the additional war taxation, which it is the Government’s intention to impose, are indeed but an insurance against The grim possibility of invasion of Nev* Zealand itself, and the loss of precious lives among our people. ,