“DOGGED DOES IT”

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 26 June 1943, Page 4

“DOGGED DOES IT”

NEW ZEALAND AT WAR A VISITOR LOOKS IN WHERE EVERYTHING .MOVES TO j THE LEFT (By Kyle Palmer, “Los Angeles Times" i Staff Representative) The writer of this article. Mr Kyle Palmer, is a war correspondent representing the “Los Angeles Times.” At home he is the political editor of the “Times” and was formerly Its Washington correspondent. He has been a member of the staff for 21 years and is well known in newspaper circles throughout the United States and on the Pacific Coast as a political writer. Mr Palmer has Just visited the Dominion and was so pleased with what he saw of New Zealand’s war effort that he lias placed this article at the disposal of the New Zealand Press. Auckland. Dogged does it. New Zealanders are among the world’s first class fighting fnen. They have been in the war since it started. They did valiant service in Greece, in Crete, in Libya, in Tunisia. They have been flying with the Royal Air Force throughout the war, and in the Pacific they have stood toe to toe. flown wing to wing, with our ow'd wherever the fighting has been thickest. There was no need to come to AuckInad or Wellington to learn of the fighting qualities of these sturdy, tenacious islanders. Our Army, Navy and Marine Commands sing their praises in Guadalcanal in the New Hebrides and in New Caledonia. Long before the United States was drawn into the active fighting. New Zealanders were rallying to the defence of the British Empire. And when the Japanese struck their desperate treacherous blow, the people in this Dominion had every reason to anticipate they would be among the im portant points to be attacked. Every resource of the population of slightly more than 1,600,000 was marshalled. But the New Zealanders did not recall their fighters from the Middle East. They buckled down to the job on their own with what they had. One working man out of three has gone into uniform. Upwards of 200,000 men have been mobilised for the armed services since the European war started. More than 80,000 New Zealanders have gone into the various services overseas. The Royal New Zealand Air Force overseas numbers approximately 10.000 men. ON A BASIS OF COMPARATIVE MANPOWER To match New Zc ..land’s fighting forces on a basis of comparative man power, the United States would have at this time 13,000.000 men in the Army and Navy, and an additional 8,000.000 in the Home Guard. And of the 25.000 casualties suffered up to April of this year by New Zealand forces. 8000 represent prisoners of war and 6000 have been deaths. Some estimate of what such figures would mean to the United States can be gain ed by checking up on the respective population totals of the two nations.

But even the figures which seemingly show that this Dominion stands first in the British Empire for the proportionate number of men sent overseas, wounded, taken prisoner or killed, and for decorations for valour, do not tell the story. The story is actually of a solid, selfreliant, hard-working and peace-loving people, to whom liberty is the breath of life. Their dogged, matter-of-fact and undramatic determination to preserve their independence as a people and their liberties as individuals is both a heritage' and a national characteritsic.

They are fiercely proud of their British ties, but are equally firm in a strqp# sense of individual nationalism.

FUNDAMENTAL IS HOMELY PRACTICALITY

Fundamental in the New Zealand character is a homely practicality. Distinctions of class arising from wide differences in standards of wealth are not emphasised. In an agrarian country where most of the wealth comes from dairying, the raising of cattle and sheep, and where strong effort has been directed to assure the small farmer an important place in the scheme of things, a distinctly wealthy class has not evolved.

Moreover, the tendency to sustain the small business man and the small manufacturer which dominated peace time policies has been carried over into the war effort. Contrary to the trend in the United States, war has brought no general consolidations either in business or in industry. Doubtless such conditions explain why, despite a virtually complete turnover from an economy of peace to an economy of war, the ordinary structure of New economic life has not been greatly dislocated. Changes in the actual lighting requirements of the United Nations and the shifting theatres of war have great ly altered the manpower problems here, and a gradual reduction of the armed forces to permjt a much more vitally needed supply of labour for war industries is immediately in prospect. New Zealand’s main fighting emphasis in the future will gradually be placed in her air forces. In the Pacific at this time these are merged with the American Commands. AN INDEPENDENT AIR FORCE But as the 25.000 air trainees complete their preparation for combat and are supplied with planes and essential equipment from the United States, an independent New Zealand Air Force will be created to work in partnership with the American air arm. The supreme need here at this time is for men to work in war industries and on farms developed exclusively to supply foodstuffs for Allied fighters in the Pacific area. As the situation now stands, about 250.000 persons are employed in activities directly related to the war effort. Such effort includes manufacture of munitions, bombs, mortars, shell fuses, radio equipment gun fittings, small arms ammunition, and the manufacture of boots, shoes and clothing. There is marked tranquility about New Zealand procedure which sometimes slightly ruffles the aplomb of the iaster-paced Americans. But the New Zealanders get things done. They get ’em done despite the fact that everything in this busy little corner of the world moves to the left. The street cars—trams—gQ up the left* automobiles go to the left, horses, dogs, cats, men, women and children, all move to the left This is a little confusing and at times slightly embarrassing after a lifetime of faithfully keeping to the right. I’ve done several one-two-three’s with be wildered pedestrians who have tried to outguess me in passing. It gets to be a sort of waltz, but when the New Zealander perceives he is dealing with an American he smiles—and serenely passes to the left. For the use of her own and Allied 1 forces in the Pacific, New Zealand is j now building more than 300 vessels of | various sizes and types, including oceangoing tugs, lighters and small motor boats. WHAT NEW ZEALAND IS DESTINED TO BECOME The two main islands which comprise tlie Dominion are destined jointly

to become one of the major replace ment, repair, recuperation, recreational and hospitalisation centres of the South Pacific.

Hospital units for the accommodation of thousands of United States fighters are under construction. These centre* will be among the most modern, and fully equipped in the world. They will spread over scores of acres and will include entire auxiliary communities. Great repair shops for planes and ships are a-building. In practically all phases A this tremendous construction programme, due notice of all possible post war adapts tion has been taken. Wartime hospitals will be used for schools; scores of war housing units will be converted into dwellings: other structures will be used for industrial purposes. Significant also is the fact that when war is finished and the books are bal anced on the financial side between the Allied nations, goods and services received by New Zealand and goods and services supplied by New Zealand are expected to reach a near balance under the provisions of lend-lease agreements. There has been no great increase in the cost of living here as a result of the war. New Zealanders are not luxury-loving and had few unessential* to forego. There have been some shortages and a certain amount of rationing. Further rationing of food commodities is anticipated because of additional commitments to supply Allied armed forces. CARRYING ITS SHARE Ol THE LOAD New Zealand is financing the Do minion's share of the war with high taxes and the sale of war bonds. Fairly successful efforts have been made to stabilise prices, wages and farm costs. Profits are held down and price ceil ngs are enforced. Instalment buying is discouraged, ind campaigns are w aged to induce the population to spend less, save more, and uuy war bonds. Thus, fighting or working, New Zea land is carrying its share of the load. Until to-day a statement could truth fully have been made that this remote hive of industry, courage and accom plishment had experienced virtually all of war’s major hardships, sorrow*, sacrifices, terrors, alarms, and con fusions except one. But after to-day that one. too, will be ever-present. To-day a member of the Dominion Parliament rose in his seat in the Legislative Chambers at Wellington and proposed that this baffling problem be also added to the perplexities and burdens of a war-conscious people. He said it was a scandal that the matter has not heretofore received at tention. He proposed a pay as you go tax pro