WORK OF WAR CABINET

Southland Times, Issue 24237, 21 September 1940, Page 4

WORK OF WAR CABINET

FREQUENT MEETINGS HELD EXPENDITURE EXCEEDS £lOO,OOO A DAY “We are spending three-quarters of a million a week—more than £lOO,OOO a day—on war work. Today the War Cabinet is a team of five men contracting for and directing expenditure on a scale not exceeded by the entire Budget of the Dominion only a few years ago,” said the Hon. Adam Hamilton, Minister in the War Cabinet and Leader of the Opposition, when he was interviewed in Invercargill last night about the work of the War Cabinet. “We" have settled down to the job after the initial stage. It is now some two months since the War Cabinet was formed,” Mr Hamilton continued. “People often ask what we are doing and how we are getting on. I am afraid it is not the sort of business that is accompanied with full-page advertisements, but I can assure everyone that we are very much on the job. I would say that those who stop to think for an instant must realize the magnitude of the task the War Cabinet directs and controls—our entire war effort and the emergency regulations connected with that effort ’ x NEED OF SECRECY

“The work of the Cabinet in the main is secret and the subjects and information discussed must be retained in the fewest possible hands. Whether it is supplies, ships, equipment, troop movements, munitions, general organization or information from various parts or the world, the reason for this is clear. That is why it is not publicized in the normal manner.” Mr Hamilton explained that the War Cabinet normally met every day. It had met on practically every day since it was set up in July and it had frequently sat all day. . Information was received from various parts of the world, was considered and replies given. Important decisions of this nature were made almost every day All the work was of an immediate and urgent nature. Members of the War Cabinet maintained as close a touch as possible with the various training centres so as to make the contact both personal and practical. When asked if he considered, in the light of his experience on the War Cabinet, that New Zealand is making, and planning to make, a reasonable contribution to the Empire’s cause, Mr Hamilton replied: “Emphatically, yes. He added: “We in New Zealand had ground to make up. Who in the Empire, the Mother Country included, has not had ground to make up? We are making it up. Wherever New Zealand forces face the foe they will be trained and well equipped for any emergency. Every day—every hour—sees a further improvement. In this no stone must be left unturned, of course. FULL WEIGHT NEEDED “Talk will not win the war, but I want to say confidently that the plan for New Zealand’s war effort will take our people right up to the collar in the great work ahead,” Mr Hamilton continued. “The question I ask is: Do the mass of . the people in New Zealand, as well as their leaders, yet realize the extreme emergency, the dire necessity? I fear sometimes that we who are far from shattering of bombs and the destruction of the conflict are a little apt to continue pleasure-loving peace-time tempo in thought and action. Today I emphasize that we must throw our full weight into the scales for victoi-y. We have by- no means reached a stage in this conflict where we have not got to exert ourselves to the utmost to succeed.

“When I say this I do not mean effort in any unusual sense. To those who say: ‘What can I do?’ the best answer often is: ‘Do your own job to the utmost of your ability and strength all the time, so working that efficiency is improved and time and effort saved to increase output while the strain is on.’ It does not matter whether the task be out on the farm, in the workshop, or in offices. The job today is the nation’s job and all are in it. ■ “My earnest hope is that by close attention to its job the War Cabinet may set an example that will provide leadership and inspiration to all. Our first thought today is that the New Zealand soldiers are now in the front line. No man worth the name in New Zealand can let them down at home.”