FIGHTING FOR LIVES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 96, 21 March 1940, Page 7

FIGHTING FOR LIVES

BRITISH CAMPAIGN. MINISTER ’ S ST ATEM EN T. REPLY TO CRITICS. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Brilish Official Wireless.) Received March 21, 10.33 a.m. ' RUGBY, March 20. The Minister for War (Mr Oliver Stanley), in a speech, said the Allies were fighting for the world and for a world in which nations might be safe, even if they were small —a world where people might even be free to differ. He referred to the practice he had observed' in foreign newspapers of describing the war as bogus and phoney, and said how easy it was from the ringside, after a comfortable dinner. to urge other people to hit and go on hitting each other. The British were fighting not for the entertainment of other people, but for their lives. “We are going to fight in our way, not in their way,” added Mr Stanley. ALLIED DIPLOMACY. CRITICISM IN COMMONS. EFFECT OF FINNISH DEFEAT. LONDON. March 19. The Lender of the Labour Opposition (Mr C. 11. Attlee), speaking after Mr Chamberlain in the House of Commons debate, said: “All deplore that the magnificent fight put up by a free people against aggression has resulted in a loss of territory to them.” 'Though differing in the adversary, the cause Finland was fighting lor was the same as that of the Allies.

Norway and Sweden were very close to the front line, Mr. Attlee continued, and he did not like' hearing harsh judgments against them. The amount of the British help to Finland was conditioned by the extent tc which it was possible to act in concert with Norway and Sweden any infringements of whose rights would have been unthinkable. “We had to ho sure that the kind of aid we gave Finland would not bring down on that country other dangers,” he said. The House was not in a position to say that the Government could have sent more supplies with safety, but lie wished to he assured that there had been no unnecessary delay in dispatch. Other countries might be threatened, and he wanted them to realise that the Allies were able and willing to give effective aid. Mr. Attlee urged the building up of the diplomatic, military and economic field, saying that the Finnish lesson showed that to defeat aggression it was necessary to stand together. COMPARISON WITH 1914. Sir Archibald Sinclair, speaking for the Opposition Liberals, said he regarded the Russian-Finnish peace treaty as a great defeat to the cause common to Finland and the Allies. Britain had lost prestige throughout the world as a result of the Finnish war. He doubted whether the present cabinet was capable of vigorous and decisive action. Mr L. Hore-Belisha, the former War Minister, drawing a distinction between a desire to criticise and an intention to analyse, devoted himself to the question of whether the Allied strategy and diplomacy were on the surest way to achieve their aims. He reminded the House that in the last war Germany endured the blockade for four years and a-quartcr while she was compelled to expend her resources on several fronts. Comparing the Germansituation then and now, lie pointed out that the advantages the Nazis had mitigated the effects of the blockade and suggested that if the war remained passive Germany would be able to continue for a long time to survive, while if she were compelled to conduct intensive operations she would be dependent on continuous supplies of iron ore and 6teel.

These, he suggested, would have been jeopardised if the Finnish war had continued, and he thought that the events showed a delay on the part of the Government in making up its mind to offer substantial aid to Finland. Though there was a good case to argue that effective intervention was too strategically hazardous to undertake, Mr Belisha said, the Allied decision to send 'an expeditionary force must be taken as the answer to that objection.

SACRIFICES AHEAD. AUSTRALIANS WARNED. SYDNEY. March 20. In a speech at the official luncheon at the Royal Show to-day the Prime Minister (Mr R. O. Menzies) warned Australians that they would have to pull their weight in this war. They must be prepared to tighten their belts and suffer individual loss and inconvenience—and even ruin in some cases. The nation must lje prepared for a reduced standard of living and primary producers must cease cavilling about the prices of wool, wheat and other produce. The Prime Minister announced that the Commonwealth Government would not intervene in the coal strike. It would stand by its decision to uphold tlie authority of the Federal Arbitration Court.