“NOT ENTIRELY RIGHT”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25443, 26 January 1944, Page 5

“NOT ENTIRELY RIGHT”

DAILY MAIL’S COMMENT (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 24. “ Lord Halifax is not entirely right in saying that at the outbreak of the war the dominions were not in danger of direct attack,” says the Daily Mail, in a leading article on Lord Halifax’s speech at Toronto. It continues: “It may not have been plain at the time, but subsequent events in the Pacific show the peril was very real. The day is passing when Britain, merely by holding out, as in 1940, can give time to Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand to build up their war industries and fighting forces. In this era speed is as important as the possession of vast resources. There should be foreign defence policies, not for Britain alone, but for the Empire as a whole. The dominions should participate in framing these policies and make contribution according to their capacity.” The Daily Mail describes the New Zealand-Australian agreement as the nucleus of an Empire and international agreement. This clear-sighted act of would be a model for further developments. Alone the dominions, with their present populations, would sink to the level of small Powers, but in closer partnership with each other and with Britain and the Colonial Empire they formed a mighty federation, whose influence was essential to the world.