THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Thursday, June 19, 1947. DEFENCE EVASIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26491, 19 June 1947, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Thursday, June 19, 1947. DEFENCE EVASIONS

The reluctance to get down to the fundamentals of the matter which has characterised the attitude of the Government ■ towards defence ever since the end of the war was again in evidence in the remarks. of the Prime Minister at the opening of the annual conference of the New Zealand Returned Servicemen’s Association. Government spokesmen are at all times ready to speak largely, and vaguely, of commitments to the United Nations, to the British Commonwealth, and .to Australia under the Canberra Agreement, but no definite indication has yet been given of how the Government is preparing to meet those undertakings. It may be admitted that some delay in arranging details has been necessary while the replanning of Imperial defence in view of Great Britain’s reduced power has been carried out, but this can hardly excuse the failure of the Government to state its policy broadly. The manner in which the Government has handled the recruiting for J Force replacements, and its dilatoriness in deciding upon rates of pay and conditions for the New Zealand permanent force, have not been inspiring of confidence. The defiision announced in March to establish a joint service liaison staff in the United Kingdom was a commendable one, but it should have been promptly followed by a similar arrangement in respect of Australia, and perhaps also of Canada in order to complete a Pacific link. Upon such matters of high defence policy it may be expected that Field-marshal Montgomery will have some advice to give during his forthcoming visit, but it would be a reflection upon this country if he were to find it necessary to emphasise clearly the limitations of Great Britain’s strength and to point the inference that New Zealand . must accept some form of compulsory military service. The president of the Returned Servicemen’s Association, Mr B. J. Jacobs, was very definite in outlining the attitude of that organisation on defence. The Returned Servicemen’s Association, he said, would not be satisfied until compulsory military service became law. In reply, the Prime Minister was evasive to the point of becoming ridiculous. It is uncertain what meaning is to be taken from his statement that “no reasonable person would dispute the principle laid down of national service,” and it is doubtful if there is any meaning in the remark that conscientious objectors “ could give some free voluntary service and it would be no harm if they were compelled to do it.” Mr Fraser refused to go into the “ principle of general compulsion,” but his reason, that it was necessary to see the final defence plans first, is surely invalid iji the light of experience with J Force recruiting and also of the voluntary system before the war. One feeble gleam of light was contained in the Prime Minister’s remark that if he had been at the Labour conference in Great Britain he would have been with the majority—that is, it must be presumed, he would have been in favour of compulsory national service. But it could, of course, be argued that what is necessary in Great Britain may not be necessary here. It must be concluded that this apparent lapse into near-frankness is merely a trial balloon released so that Mr Fraser can gauge the strength of the adverse winds he obviously expects and can endeavour to prepare himself accordingly.

DENTAL HEALTH

Generations of New Zealanders have grown up in the tradition that bad teeth were part of their birthright, an inherited or environmental disability from which there could be no escape. On what grounds this belief was based has never been made clear, but there can be no doubt that the assumption has been largely responsible for the widespread tendency among the people of this country to accept early dental decay as inevitable and preventive measures a supererogatory and profitless investment. The legend has now been exploded by Dr Walsh, director of the National Dental School. Alluding to the popular belief, he said, in an interview printed in our columns yesterday, that New Zealanders had the fixed impression that they had the worst teeth in the world. He was convinced, however, that there was nothing basically wrong with the teeth of the nation, it was only the attitude of the people to dental hygiene that was at fault. Badlyformed teeth were rare, but dirty —even filthy—teeth were common among the children he examined. The relationship between dental health and bodily health is very close, and there must be a determined effort on the part of all health authorities to overcome the ignorance of the many people who permit their children to grow up without a proper appreciation of the value of sound teeth. Inertia on the part of ignorant or complacent parents can destroy all the valuable preventive work that has been done at a school clinic or by practising dentists. It is useless, as Dr Walsh declared, for the Government to spend thousands of pounds on children’s teeth if in adolescence the teeth are allowed to fall into decay and to be replaced by dentures. The School Dental Service is now an extensive organisation, operating in 447 centres and serving 2348 schools. For the year ended March 31, 1946, the number of children treated was 210,920, and more than a million teeth were preserved for useful service in the mouths of the children. The extension of the national dental service to include treatment for adolescents emphasises the need for a greater awareness of the importance of dental health, but it will be only with the full co-opera-tion of parents that children will be inculcated with a knowledge of the principles of dental hygiene that will encourage, and enable, them to preserve their own teeth.