“ONLY ONE COURSE”

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 9 January 1940, Page 8

“ONLY ONE COURSE”

DOMINION AND WAR MR SAVAGE’S CONVICTION [United Press Association] WELLINGTON, Bth January. The conviction that New Zealand could not have adopted any other course than that which she was following in supporting Great Britain and her Allies in the war was expressed by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) in the fifth of his broadcast . talks on “New Zealand’s Problems as I I See Them.” I Mr Savage said that before the out- | break of war he was arm ng those who I thought that a conference of nations 1 before a great war would be more I likely to produce results than a conj ference immediately after a war, when tempers would be frayed and some of those concerned would be actuated by a spirit of vengeance. He still thought so, but he would admit that Germany by her actions had made that course impossible. The German Government believed only in the rule of force. Great Britain had done her best to avoid war, but there had to be a stopping place some time. During recent years there had been a marked tendency towards dictatorial forms of government, and unless the democracies were prepared to stand together and to fight, if necessary, the democratic form of government would vanish from the earth. His personal opinion was that the democratic form of government was worth making sacrifices for. In business Great Britain was New Zealand’s best friend, Mr Savage continued. He emphasised that unity was strength, and that the combination of the British Commonwealth of Nations and its present allies was unbeatable. Without outside help in wartime and in peaco it would be only a matter of how long New Zealand could hold out against nations seeking new lands for their teeming millions. Without the assistance of Great Britain and her Navy and mercantile marine New Zealand could not export a pound’s worth of her produce. Whatever way one looked at the position it seemed that there was only one sane thing for New Zealand to do, and that was support Great Britain and her allies. “To the young men of New Zealand I would say that if ycu wish to preserve your right to govern you have a better chance to do it in unity with Great Britain and her allie~ than if left to fight your own battles here,” said Mr Savage. “To those who enlist I have only one pledge to make: they will not return to this land ‘to take part in an unseemly struggle for the right to live. It will be the duty of the Government to safeguard against that, and it will be my job as Prime Minister to see that that happens and that the men who do the fighting are not left, as they were on a previous occasion, to struggle for a decent pensions system and for the right to live when they return to New Zealand”