The War on the Home Front

Northland Age, Volume IX, Issue 16, 28 November 1939, Page 1

The War on the Home Front

QNE OF THE most remarkable things about the war situation is the unanimous determination of the people of Britain to put an end to Hitlerism and all its works. When we remember that eleven million adults only a short tinie ago signed the great peace petition, only one of the indications of their hatred of war, that memories of the sufferings and sacri- i fices of the" last war are still vivid, j and its failure as “a war to end war” or “to make the world safe for demo- | cracy,” realised, with the prospect that j another war would be still more ruthless and destructive than the last; that it would likely involve more suffering and call for greater sacrifices; at the end, to, of a year of great tension and war preparations under which the nerves of a less courageous or a more imaginative people might have snapped—to find the British people solidly united in their determination to pursue the war until the foundations for a just and durable peace are laid, is something to marvel at, and the only thing about this war that one can really rejoice over. Evidence and instances of that unity are abundant. There was deep discontent in the country and smouldering revolt even among its own parliamentary supporters with the present British Government and with the policy of the Prime Minister, whose well-meant but very ill-advised efforts to preserve peace only encouraged Hitler to plunge into war. Forced by his opponents and circumstances to totally reverse his policy, Mr. Chamberlain yet remains at the head of a Government behind which the whole force of the nation has gathered. Politics are suspended for the duration; there is there only one active political question: How can we best win the war ? There are to be no political contests for Parliamentary seats that fall vacant, organised political propaganda has ceased, industrial disputes must be settled by reason and compromise and not by strikes and lock-outs, the heavy burden of war expenditure is placed on the shoulders best able to bear it, food is equally shared so that no one can have too much until each one has had enough. If there is war abroad there is more peace and harmony at home, a deeper feeling of unity among all classes of the community. Dearly prized liberties have been surrendered, a people more impatient possibly than any other of regimentation and restraint have submitted cheerfully to having their lives ordered for them in a remarkable way. It recalls Gladstone’s saying : “The people may reason wrongly but they always feel rightly.” Civil War in New Zealand Can we say the same of our people here in the Dominion? We are just as solid in our opposition to Hitlerism and as resolute in our determination to see it ended as our kinsfolk, but are we displaying the unity among ourselves or the same readiness to make great sacrifices to that end ? We are, very fortunately for us, as far away as we can get in this round world from troubled Europe, we have little to fear from bombing air raids, we need not make gas masks inseparable companions, fear to show a glimmer of light after sunset, or provide rabbit-burrows for us to dive into when a syren shrieks an alarm at midnight. There is as little fear of having our food rationed, that we will have to limit our meat meals or scrape the butter thinly on our bread, to deny ourselves anything necessary for our health or comfort. We have to submit to war taxation, but our income tax does not start so low as a £2 a week income, and does not run from 7/6 in the £ to as high as 18/6. Old Country people, practically in the firing line, are running great dangers and making great sacrifices without complaint. We here, practically safe from war dangers, called upon at worst to do without a certain amount of imported luxuries and suffer a certain amount of inconvenience, are either grumbling or fighting against their infliction. It is no doubt the realisation in the .Old Country that the people are facing a universal and pressing danger as well as sharing a common patriotism that has led to the present unity in face of the enemy, and that practically freed from that danger we do not see either the necessity or the desirability of following their example. But that our common patriotism cannot shame us into dropping our political squabbles—instead of intensifying them as we are doing—is little to our credit. In this, as in most quarrels, both

sides arc to blame and both sides accuse the other of starting the strife. On the declaration of war there was unanimity among all parties to range ourselves immediately and solidly behind the Mother Country, to pledge if necessary “our last man and our last shilling.” There was an understanding that Party strife should be dropped, even a hope, on the part of some members of the Opposition at least, that a real National Ministry would be formed of both Parties to prosecute the war. The Government did not see either the desirability or the necessity of this, and how far that contributed to the rupture of the short-lived Party truce must remain a matter of opinion. The deplorable fact remains that Party strife is more active now than it was before the outbreak of war. We have war abroad and bitter war at home. What the Position is Just a year ago ouv present Government was returned by a large majority of the electors voting, a thing that has not happened here for a generation. It wa; elected on a clear-cut policy which it has since consistently and persistently pursued, and which it had a mandate from the electors to carry out. The Opposition was elected to oppose that policy, but as democrats have to submit to the will of the people until they can secure a majority to change it. Their duty is not to hamper and oppose the Government at every turn, to misrepresent their motives and question their honesty as well as their wisdom, to seize on every incident that may be turned to political advantage even if it may mean injuring the credit or reputation of the country. It is true that our political divisions are sharper and more bitter than those in Britain, that politics touches our lives more nearly here than there, and that many people honestly think that our present Government is leading our country to the slippery Gadarene slope to the sea of destruction, so that drastic measures must be taken to prevent all being involved in the Common ruin. To them the Government is as great a menace as Hitler and must be fought with the same weapon. That way Fascism lies. Press Propaganda It is rare indeed to open any of our great city newspapers without finding some bitter attack on the Government for something it has done, or failed to do, or what it may be suspected of intending to do. Anything that may be twisted to the discredit of the Government or to shake public confidence in it is given a prominent place in the news columns and heightened by editorial comment. One does not need to be a Labour partisan to resent this sort of thing, and a little common sense would lead any one not blinded by prejudice to realise its futility. The great majority of our people have a keen sense of fair play, they judge people by their deeds, not by what other people say about them, and though if enough of mud is thrown some of it is bound to stick, they cannot be got to believe that our Ministers are so black as our great dailies consistently paint them. No man and no body of men set to jarry out difficult work can avoid making mistakes or committing blunders, even if they had the wisdom of Solomon, for even he drove his subjects to the verge of revolt. It is the business of the Opposition- of His Majesty’s Opposition as an integral part of our constitutional machinery —to help the Government by c r.structive criticism of any measures brought forward, to check any tendency to exceed its ’estimate powers or to go beyond the mandate it has received from the people. The Government is the servant of the people, not their master, and while the Opposition’s duty lies in reminding Ministers of the fact if necessary, it is equally their duty to see that the King’s Government is carried on without let or hinderance, especially in a grave emergency like the present. To attempt to divide the country or even to discredit a freely-elected Government is certainly not work for patriotic men. Opposition Patriotism Of the patriotism of Mr. Hamilton as Leader of the Opposition there can be no question. Nothing, we are sure would lead him knowingly to hamper the Government’s heavy war tasks tc gain any Party advantages. But unfortunately, in spite of his strong patriotism, his fundamental honesty and his real if somewhat pedestrian ability, he is not a far-sighted man and he is quite innocent of the statesmanlike qualities necessary for leadership in a crisis like this. Like mosl men of his race, he is “a bonny fechter” when faced with the enemy

but has proved a poor general in planning a campaign. His good qualities command respect even among his political opponents, but his lack of that quality w'e call personal magnetism makes his leadership of his Party largely ineffective. He has in his following men far more ambitious, more clever and less scrupulous than himself, who seem to find little difficulty in utilising him for ends that he would not approve if he could see them more clearly. Innocence is often a dangerous quality in a politician. There is little question but that the great majority of our people are heartily sick of this policy of “politics as usual,” and even more so, that they would gladly see our politicians sink even their important political differences and join hands in helping to play our part in the war in which we are as much involved as Britain, whose duty is no greater than ours. This war has faced us with great problems which will take all the wisdom we can command to solve satisfactorily, and Party warfare and Party squabbling, whatever excuses may be made for them, is treason to our past, our democratic ideals, and the future of our children, j Then let us no, like snarlin’ tykes, In faction be divided, Till whang! comes in an unco’ loon An’ wi’ a rung decide it. The public has a sturdy rung on hand, and can use it very effectively on snarling politicians.