THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1941 WORKING FOR VICTORY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23859, 9 January 1941, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1941 WORKING FOR VICTORY

In its sharp criticism of the British Government's shortcomings on the economic front, the Times has diagnosed a weakness even more palpable in this country. The military achievement has been admirable, but the fighting forces are not yet receiving maximum support on the home front. If it is true of Britain, it is much more so of New Zealand, that industry and manpower are still far from full and effective mobilisation in support of the fighting forces. This should not be if official statements meant what they said, if words were matched with deeds. Thus the national policy for New Zealand in 1941 has been proclaimed by the Prime Minister

in precise and vigorous terms. "We must make 1941 a year of tremendous national effort," Mr. Eraser declares. "There is need for still greater effort, for harder work, and for still greater efficiency. . . . All our combined energies must be concentrated on one object alone —the attainment of victory." The precept is excellent; it is time, and more than time, that it was practised. New Zealand must now expand its contribution to the utmost capacity of its full strength and total resources. That can be achieved only by intelligent organisation, and the key to successful organisation is the co-operation of every man and woman for which Mr. Fraser appealed. Appeals are not enough, however. What the Times says of Britain is as true here. "There is growing exasperation over Ministers' reliance on appeals to the public, when they have the powers to do whatever is necessary."

The vast majority of citizens are eager to do more : they will respond to marching orders as readily as the thousands who have entered the armed forces. Organisation of the Dominion's military strength has been successfully established : organisation of the industrial army is only partial and imperfect. It should be undertaken now upon the confident assumption that the response to the ; need for greater service will be a | fresh demonstration of courage and I devotion to the common cause. Mr. j Fraser declared that we are fighting i for the maintenance of our high social and economic standards. The first duty of the Government is to make the people of New Zealand realise that to safeguard those standards they must light the enemy that would destroy them. Leisure, comfort and abundance must be sacrificed now if they are to be preserved for the future. The fighting forces of the Empire must be armed, fed and clothed, and that can be accomplished only if the civilians go short or produce more by greater effort. There is a misleading appearance of prosperity in New Zealand. The people must be } told that unless they exert them- | selves this prosperity will quickly | fade into scarcity and hardship. | The supply of imported goods is j dwindling ; the production from New j Zealand factories is not increasing j sufficiently to fill the gaps, owing to lack of raw materials and the drain on manpower. The concentration of industrial operations upon war work would alono be sufficient to curtail supplies for civilian requirements, ! and there is no artificial method of repairing such deficiencies. Mr. Fraser has named the only solution for ' the problem —harder work. A war effort to the utmost of our capacity demands the utmost efficiency in every department of production of goods for export and the utmost efficiency in domestic economy to ensure both our full contribution to the attainment of victory and the maintenance of a reasonable standard of living under war conditions. New Zealanders i manning the home front must pro- j duce more and do with less. Only j thus can war problems of finance or supply be solved. This is a hard prescription, but the people, if | touched to the high issue, will prove j they possess the spirit to fill it. But they must have direction, be t old, what is required of them. The; general policy enunciated by the j Government is sound, but either its implications have not been worked . out or Ministers hesitate to apply | them. A grip must be taken of this j business of waging war industrially, j the kernel of which is the mostj efficient use of manpower for pro- j duction. Appeals must give way to organisation and action, for, as the Times truly asserts, we cannot expect to beat a fully mobilised Germany until we put our whole strength into the war.