THEIR TIME OF TRIAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 10 January 1940, Page 7

THEIR TIME OF TRIAL

BRITONS’ DEMEANOUR DETERMINED TO CARRY ON TO VICTORY MR FRASER IMPRESSED “One could not fail to be very much impressed by the general attitude, outlook and even the demeanour and t aring of the British people in their time of trial and danger,” said the Deputy-Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, in a national radio broadcast address from Wellington last evening. Mr Fraser recently returned from London where he represented New Zealand at the conference of Ministers from the Dominions. CRUSADE AGAINST EVIL “In the eyes of the people of Britain the war is a crusade against the greatest force of evil in the world to-day, against the greatest and most immediate menace to mankind,” said Mr Fraser. “They are prepared to make any sacrifice in a cause which is saci'ed to them.

“In both military and civil war efforts the Ration is one. The manhood of the United Kingdom have responded in their hundreds of thousands to the country’s call. National service is accepted as an everyday fact. Wherever they are on service, in British camps, in France, or in the Middle East, they are showing the same spirit of cheerful devotion and willingness to do their shan. in the life-and-death struggle against the insufferable tyranny which threatened the smaller nations of the world.’

“In industry the workers are straining every nerve to produce the maximum amount of munitions and other commodities required to wage the struggle successfully. A fe./ hours in a munitions works or any other factory will show anyone how intense and efficient the efforts of the British workers are. Much of the success of the transportation of British troops to French, where they arrived without the loss of a single man, was due to the seamen and dockers as well as to the Army, Navy and Air Force organisations. Special mobile units of dockers have been organised, and those \fcho volunteered for service from the ranks of th' Transport Workers’ Union are most advantageously employed in many French and British ports where the ordinary dock workers were unable to cope with the additional work. AGRICULTURAL WORK “The agricultural work of Great Britain is being organised in a more efficient and thorough fashion than ever before. The farmers and farm workers generally are putting their whole heart int the work of producing as much food as possible for the people of the United Kingdom. In this field the Women’s Land Army is playing a conspicuous part. Women and girls have left their homes by the thousa 1 and have gone on to the farms of Great Britain to help in food production. “Women are also playing an important part in connection with air raid precautions. St. John Ambulance and Red Cross work, auxiliary fire brigade activities, and, most conspicuous of all, in connection with the army. There are thousands of women cooks and other helpers in all the military camps. They are giving great satisfaction and are looked upon row as an integral part of the army mobilisation. “Women are conspicuous in many other activities to-day. though up to the present the number employed in the engineering and munition works is not so great as they were toward the close of the last war. It can truthfully be said that the women of Great Britain are helping in every conceivable way in the country’s fight for democracy. HOUSEWIVES AND MOTHERS “The housewives and mothers are having a trying time. It was fully ex-

pected that the war would commence with numerous and devastating air raids upon the main cities of Great Britain. Consequently, in addition to the air raid precautions and gas masks, sandbags and general protective works and shelters, the difficult task of evacuating the children to safe country districts was Undertaken. This was an enormous job. It involved hundreds of thousands of children leaving their own homes and going to live with strangers. Little imagination is required to see that such an extensive transfer of children would raise many and difficult family problems. “I had an opportunity of meeting and conferring with the War Cabinet and the various Ministries, including two of very great importance to New Zealand, the Ministry of Food and the Ministry of Shipping. It is well for the people of New Zealand to realise the fact that all the ships to and from Great Britain are under the control and direction of the Ministry of Shipping. The allocation of ships to convey Dominion produce to the United Kingdom is part of the work of that Ministry and its importance to the Dominion cannot be over-estimated. MINISTRY OF FOOD “It is not necessary to point out how closely New Zealand is bound up with the activities and decisions of the Ministry of Food. Without going into details I can express my opinion that the negotiations carried on by the Minister of Marketing. Mr Nash, the High Commissioner for New Zealand, Mr Jordan, and the economic adviser in the High Commissioner’s office. Dr R. M. Campbell, have been satisfactory from the point of view of both New Zealand and the Mother Country. “It was laid down at the commencement of the war that New Zealand would not be a party to any exploitation of Great Britain’s need, and that fact, I believe, has been appreciated in Great Britain, and I feel certain that arrangements fair to both countries will be arrived at during the whole course of the war.”