THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, May 14, 1940. UNGUARDED SHORES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24297, 14 May 1940, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, May 14, 1940. UNGUARDED SHORES

With the Prime Minister's observations upon the undesirability of "anything in the nature of scaremongering at this critical time" there will be agreement. It could certainly serve no, good purpose if conditions of "undue panic" were caused in New Zealand through exaggerated emphasis being placed on the dangers with which this country, in common with many others in a world at war, is confronted. But it would appear from his confident, and even condescending, reply to a new political organisation which approached him with a request that the man-power of the Dominion should be more fully utilised to meet the demands of the day, that Mr Fraser has not quite appreciated the anxiety of the community concerning the full effectiveness of the Government's war plans. As to the Government's pledges to Great Britain in respect of naval, military and air force organisation having been fulfilled, Mr Fraser's assurance can be accepted. The public is not unappreciative of the despatch with which, from a standing start, the Government has proceeded with the recruitment and training of servicemen for overseas. But can Mr Fraser suppose that, this work having been efficiently organised, the State is secured against the unpredictable menaces of the total war in which the democratic Allies are now become engaged? .As a matter of policy—or perhaps of political expediency—the Labour Government has apparently turned its face away from compulsory military service, which many people consider the, fairest and best method of obtaining men for the fighting services. The success of the voluntary system will be judged, as time passes, by the results achieved. But even if New Zealand is enabled under this system to maintain the strength of its forces in the field, it cannot be suggested that a division of men serving abroad constitutes an effective defence for this country against every exigency of war. The fact is that New Zealand is virtually without defences nearer than the Singapore base. Yet the developments in the war situation, ' and specifically the . invasion of the Netherlands, present the possibility that the Pacific area may not remain permanently isolated from the conflict. If the danger of Australia and New Zealand becoming more closely involved in the schemes of landhungry nations is remote, it should surely be prudently assessed by those who are responsible for the safety of these rich dominions. The Government has at no time given the public any real assurance that' the steps taken by it for l-he internal defence of New Zealand are adequate^

Just a year ago the then Prime Minister, Mr Savage, announced the intention of the Government to introduce a comprehensive scheme for the defence of this country. In particular, he called for registration by those willing to undertake training for home defence. Thousands of men of all ages and classes answered his appeal for volunteers for this national reserve. But ironically, the coming of the war, the threat of which caused Mr Savage to emphasise the urgency of this appeal, appears to have arrested progress in the training of a home defence force. That the first need, when hostilities broke out, was the equipment and training of men for overseas service goes without saying. But with the war in its ninth month, and the country the poorer in defence resources through the departure of thousands of fit and fullytrained young men for sei'vice abroad, the question of defending the shores of New Zealand against any emergency apparently remains in abeyance. This is the position which Mr Fraser appears to-day to regard with complacence. It is in no scaremongering mood that many people, attempting to interpret the incalculable whims of the modern aggressor, to weigh the imponderable elements in the tides of war, are wondering whether their country is adequately equipped to withstand the trials to which it may ■be exposed. While . recognising that the Dominion's frontier perhaps lies far beyond these shores, in the theatres .of war in which the Allies are engaged, they are still entitled to ask that the Government should take the fullest possible precautionary measures on the home front.