INDUSTRY’S PART

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23955, 2 November 1939, Page 7

INDUSTRY’S PART

WAR EFFORT CONTRIBUTION MEETING ALL DEMANDS SPIRIT OF CO-OPERATION r (British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) RUGBY, Oct 31. Mr Ernest Brown, Minister of Labour, in a broadcast talk on the contribution of industry to the war effort, said: “As a great industrial country we had already great resources of skill and plant, and to these great additions have been made and are being made so that there will be no doubt that whatever effort is required this country will be able to meet all the demands which will be made upon it, This is a formidable task, but we have entered upon it with an asset which our opponent does not possess, the asset of being a free people with free institutions. It is a remarkable fact that we were able to enter upon the war without imposing any new form of legislative control upon the regulation of wages and working conditions During the past 20 years we have beer steadily setting up in each industry joint machinery through which representatives of employers and the work: people manage the affairs of their industries and settle their own condiditions. As I speak this joint machinery is operating to adapt those conditions; to war circumstances. In the fight; for freedom we have the inestimable: gain of fighting, with the aid of a free organisation of employers and work; people, carrying on their work in the: way they have* themselves decided. Trade Union Movement “The powerful trade union movement in Great Britain is convinced that; the war is against forces that threaten, those institutions and that endanger the liberty of work people throughout; the world. They believe its object is to create circumstances in which their fellows in Germany will be able to regain freedom to live their own lives: and have again their own free; organisations.- “ To-morrow afternoon there will, take place the first meeting of the National Joint Advisory Council to which the T.U.C. General Council and the British Employers’ Confederation, have appointed representatives. These representatives will be in touch with all industries, and when I say that; directly represented on one side or other are agriculture, cotton, wool, shipping, engineering industries, and retail distribution, it will be seen how great is the knowle Ige which is placed at the disposal of the Government. The purpose of the council is to advise the Government on questions in which employers ani workers have common interest.” The Minister continued with a survey of the way in which the various! industries had met and were meeting the particular difficulties occasioned! by the war. “A list of key occupations has been compiled in order that: men in such occupations shall not be taken from industry unless required in the forces for work in which they are skilled,” he said. “This will assure as far as possible that industry will be kept fully manned to produce muni'tions and to maintain the peace of the nation, and also that when the war is over industry generally will have a basis for reconstruction and expansion.” . , Mr Brown concluded with a special word of praise for British merchant seamen and fishermen in their most vital and hazardous work. THE POISON GAS STORY BASELESS NAZI ALLEGATION FURTHER DENIAL BY BRITAIN (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, Oct. 31. The War Office announces that, despite its statement issued on October 20 in which the German allegations; that Britain supplied poison gas to Poland were categorically denied for the third time, Germany continues to circulate in neutral countries, by pamphlet and wireless, repetitions and elaborations of the same baseless charge. Since October 20 the Polish Government has also .issued a categorical denial that poison gas was ever supplied in any form by Britain, to Poland, and the Swiss doctor who examined German soldiers alleged to be victims of British poison gas in Poland has declared in an interview on October 23 that he “found no evidence indicating in what circumstances the poisoning had occurred,” and that he had at the time “feared that his statement would be misused for antiBritish propaganda.” Alleged Evidence The justification put forward by Germany for repeating its charges is that what it calls “a laconic answer” is no sufficient rebuttal of what it. claims to be “a charge proved by cii’cumstantial evidence.” This socalled circumstantial evidence consists of the following assertions:—First, that large dumps of mustard gas mines were found at or near Oxhoeft, in the vicinity of Gdynia, and were stored among war material supplied byBritain; secondly, that Polish dockers admit having unloaded at night, shortly before the war, all the material found in these dumps; thirdly, that mustard gas mines and shells, discovered near various towns in Poland, were accounted for on delivery forms showing that they had been distributed from the dump at Oxhoeft mentioned above. Thus the sole connection between Britain and the poison gas alleged to have been found anywhere in Poland is that this gas came from the Oxhoeft dump, and that this dump had been filled from British ships. The following is. therefore, a further reply to this charge:—lt is necessarily’ laconic, but none the less complete. The Board of Trade, through its system of export licences for raw materials, maintains the strictest control and complete records of all exports of munitions. A detailed examination of these records and every possible source of supply shows nothing of {he kind has been sent to Poland at any time. COST OF NEUTRALITY AMERICAN EXPENDITURE WASHINGTON, Oct. 31. (Received Nov. 1, at 10 p.m.) President Roosevelt told the press that maintenance of neutrality would cost 275.000,000 dollars during the first 10 months of the war. The chief items were an increase of 100,000 dollars in the armed forces and anti-espionage agents, the recommissioning of sf> Great War destroyers and the main, tenance of a neutrality zone patrol. FRENCH FINANCES SUFFICIENT FOR LONG WAR . PARIS, Nov. I. (Received Nov. 1, at 11 p.m.) M. Reynaud, the Minister of Finaarti in a speech said: “We must prepar* for a long war, but our financial strength is sufficient. The return of capital which started a year ago ha.< been continuous since the wah uni our reserves are greater than at the outbreak of war.