The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1939. New Zealand’s War Effort

Southland Times, Issue 23969, 8 November 1939, Page 6

The Southland Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1939. New Zealand’s War Effort

AFTER a first week of discussion between Mr Fraser and members of the British Cabinet a statement has been cabled from London in which “the transfer of men and machinery from certain public works to- primary production” is visualized as "one of several possible important readjustments” in the Dominion’s economy. According to the phrasing of the message this action will be taken if Britain “indicates that hei’ requirements warrant such a move.” Presumably the qualification is meant to imply that no changes will be made in the present economic order unless the British Government undertakes to buy foodstuffs and raw materials on a scale greatly in excess of normal imports from New Zealand. At the same time it has been hinted that Mr Fraser will later go into a detailed examination of New Zealand’s financial position with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Such negotiations are probably in line with those now being shared by Cabinet Ministers from other Dominions, but they reveal basic differences when they are related to this country’s political and economic background. Canada and Australia are able to co-operate rapidly , and effectively because their resources are unimpaired after several years of prosperity and prudent Government, Dike New Zealand, they wifi be anxious to take advantage of abnormal market requirements, if only because by doing so they can better withstand the strain of unproductive expenditure But they have behind them the strength of sound economies, They enter the war with both the will and the means to meet their engagements as independent nations in the Empire. Initial Mistakes

These eomparisons will present themselves involuntarily to the minds of New Zealanders who want to see their country ranged with the other partners of the British Commonwealth in a free and relatively equal association, There would be little point in stressing them, however, if there was evidence that the Government is carrying out in the fullest way its promise of unconditional aid given by Mr Fraser at the outbreak of war. It js true that a special military force has been recruited and is being trained for service at home or abroad. It is also true that early steps were taken to provide an organization for the maintenance and expansion of primary production, But everything that has been done so far is merely a framework for action: the care and foresight bestowed upon it were trivial compared with the thoroughness and quickness shown in taking emergency powers that threaten to bring a permanent increase of State control, If the Government had thought more of the country’s War-time obligations and less of its Own socialist policy it would have attempted to gain the confidence of the’ farmers and of the people generally by acknowledging the temporary nature of measures which are not compatible with democracy in peace time. It would then have reconsidered the question of conscription, both as a means of establishing equality of sacrifice and as the most efficient way of utilizing man power, If the Government believed that universal training could not be justified in an emergency (and it has advanced no convincing reasons for such a belief) it could at least have published a list of essential occupations from which trained men could not be recruited. Hundreds of farm workers have already enlisted, and although the Minister of Defence recently expressed surprise when he was informed in the House of Representatives that farm labour was being depleted in this way the names of shepherds, ploughmen and even farm managers continue to appear in the published lists of recruits.

Public Works

It is.idle to suggest that this initial blunder can be remedied by transferring men from public works to the farms, Such action should have been taken in the beginning, not as a way of replacing trained workers, but to sup* ply additional labour for the country’s most important industry. Actually the Government has shoy/n no sign ■■ of modifying its public works programme: pn the contrary it announces new enterprises that will absorb money needed for defence, and has emphasized the desirability pf employment OP public works—compared with work pn the farms —by authorizing a new wage increase. Meanwhile . farmers throughout the Dominion have been attending mass meetings to express an active discpntent in the industry that is npyy expected to meet a demand fpr increased production. If this sort of thing goes on much longer the Government’s war effort will show signs of a debility that may be increasingly hard to conceal.