Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1945 WANTED : A DEFINITION OF AIMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 25 May 1945, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1945 WANTED : A DEFINITION OF AIMS

NEW Zealand at the moment is suffering from a bad attack of procrastination at Government headquarters, Nobody there seems to want to make decisions or take the people into confidence over the future direction of the remainder of our total war effort. The result is confusion about the path we are now to tread and a hesitancy which comes from failure to adjust war policy quickly enough to fit in with changed conditions ; a time lag is always wasteful of productive effort. If the crumbs which fall from the Cabinet table are pieced together they do not provide any very intelligent index of intention. Canada and South Africa have been told what is going to happen to their fighting men who have helped win the victory in Europe. New Zealand does not know what is to be the future of our famous Second Division. Another call-up of men—mainly the eighteen-year-olds—has been made “to provide a reserve of manpower for military purposes,” together with the announcement that such procedure must, of necessity, be continued until final victory over Japan is achieved. About 6000 reservists have been combed out of industry to go overseas and it has been said, somewhat vaguely, that these are to provide replacements for men with three years or more of overseas service, who are to be brought home. On the military manpower side little more is known publicly when the Government could, without risk to the requirements of security, give additional information. Speaking at Hamilton last night Mr Nash let in a little more light on the subject but showed that, even now, the Government has not made up its mind about what New Zealand’s part is to be in the war against Japan. The time lag in decision still operates. Is the Government afraid to let its right hand know what its left hand doeth? Coincident with the taking of men from farms goes out a beseeching appeal for more production and news coming almost da'ily from many parts of the world leaves no doubt that food is No. 1 priority on the list qf United Nations : food for the fighting forces to be massed against Japan ; food for the liberated peoples of Europe, who, however, are found to be in better heart than was anticipated ; and—of prime concern to New Zealand—food to support the meagre rations of our British kinsmen, one of whose VE gifts is a further cut in rations. They are being asked to celebrate victory by tightening their belts, yet no word comes that this land of plenty is to render fur-

ther help by adjusting the ration scales of those foods which wc produce and of which Britain stands in urgent need of more. Mr Nash’s statement on food printed to-day deals in generalities but does not come down to specific questions of what this Dominion proposes to do by way of relief. The greatest contribution New Zealand could make to the war effort now would come from not sending another man away who would add to our food production and from concentrating by every means in our power on growing more food. This, however, is not likely to be done because of a very natural desire that New Zealand should be in at the death on the fighting front of the Pacific war. If that is a gesture most people would approve it is not really necessary militarily because United Nations already have far more fighting men mobilised than can ever be deployed against Japan. They have not, however, more than enough food with which to feed them. Farmers can be excused for feeling that there is a conflict or confusion of objectives between the pressing call for more production and the further denudation of manpower from the land, while those people who argue at this stage that every man should have a turn in the armed forces do not realise that, without the home front, the fighting front could not long endure in total war. There was a time when the call to arms over-rode all other considerations. That has passed and now food is more important to the common cause than fighting men so far as the employment of the reserve in our manpower pool is concerned. Everyone, including the Government, is eager to make the best use of all our resources by diverting them into the most essential channels in the current circumstances but to split them is to risk doing no one job properly. A keener edge will be put on incentive if the people are told fully and frankly, within the limitations of security, what the Government’s war plans o_n the different fronts are for, say, the next six months. Mr Nash’s speech at Hamilton is almost an admission that it does not know them.