DEFENCE MEASURES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22860, 15 October 1937, Page 15

DEFENCE MEASURES

Sir,—Kotare's article in' 4 the Heralb Supplement of October 9 makes for •thoughtful reading, and it is difficult to understand the apathy of the average Now Zealander in, tho matter of defence against invasion. One sentence is particularly impressive—"Bettor no defence at all than out-of-date defence." We have no supply of gas masks in New Zealand, and no submarine protection, and, although the Government has done and is doing splendid wqrk at Hobsonville and Wigram, we havo no system for training civilians in ground knowledge of aerial defence. The formation of a strong Air Defence League is overdue. Such a league could bo of great assistance to Government and municipal authorities in settled times, and in the event of attack would bo invaluable. A big naval engagement at sea is one thing —for that we nro well equipped—but the skies are high and the; oceans wide, and troopships, aeroplanes and submarines could reach us from long distances without even hearing the guns of a naval encounter. At "such a time when Now Zealand's arid isolation nro brought home to us almost daily, wo find a group in the capital city engaged in parochial criticism. Surely these misguided people* can realise that those attributes which have brought to the Waitemata tho Matson Line, Pan American Airways and, probably, the transtasman air terminal, are tho very factors which mako Auckland, more than any other New Zealand city, most liable to attacks from sea and air. Auckland's vulnerability is New Zealand's vulnerability, and perhaps Australia's menace also. Without indulging in a fantastic vision of an Oriental flag flying from our War Memorial, we have to face the fact that New Zealand would bo a vahjable acquisition to either of the Eastern Powers, or even to tho teeming hordes of Central Europe. A foreign Power entrenched at Auckland would hold the key to both British possessions separated .by tho Tasman, and however peaceably inclined wo may bo individually we should realise that, internationally, the law of the jungle still operates, with "Nature >ed in tooth and claw." Elsie Burton.