Active Interest in National Defence Urged

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 179, 1 August 1938, Page 3

Active Interest in National Defence Urged

EX-OFFICERS’ CO-OPERATION INVITED The fact that tho Defence Department is prepared to utilise the services of ex-service men and officers in connection with coastal defence plans was made known at the annual conference of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association when the co-operation of the members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was invited. The country’s defence organisation is considered in certain authoritativo quarters to be such as calls for a more active condition of preparedness and while the Returned Soldiers’ Association recorded its willingness to supply the assistance sought for in connection with coastal defence, it is understood that further steps are to be taken towards creating a more active interest in the necessity for the provision of adequate defence. An appeal is being mad© to ex-officers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, to work tomards the creation of a public opinion alive ,to the dangers of our present position. Many believe that a voluntary system of training is inadequate to meet the danger which confronts the Empire and it is considered desirable that there should be a nation-wide effort to meet the possible aggression of countries organised on a totalitarian basis. The view is held that our defence organisa- ' tion should not be confined to the training of soldiers and the provision of equipment to serve the different sections but to organise all material resources as well as every individual, so that nothing will be wanting in the event, of an emergency. It is likely that steps will be taken [in Feilding shortly to call a meeting of ex-officers with a view to winning public interest in the question of defence. Eater steps will be taken by the New Zealand Defence League to organise public meetings.