TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, 4th DECEMBER, 1939. A SELFISH MINORITY.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4219, 4 December 1939, Page 4

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, 4th DECEMBER, 1939. A SELFISH MINORITY.

IT should not have been necessary for the Minister of Supply, Hon. D. (3. Sullivan, to make an appeal for economy by motorists when the petrol restrictions were lifted last Friday. An educated community, which might reasonably have been supposed to possess a normal intelligence, and, moreover, a community professing a patriotic desire to yield its utmost in war-time effort and sacrifice, should have needed no reminder of the call for economy. Yet, nevertheless, in the first two days of open sale it was remarkable to observe how a selfish minority can create troubles for themselves and everybody else and to these patriotic (?) people we may look for conditions which will make the re-imposition of restriction necessary. Hardly had open sale of petrol been resumed on Friday and Saturday than a few selfishly-disposed people were observed carrying away supplies in containers and “ shrewdly ” consoling themselves with the thought that they would not be “ caught ” again. For selfish indifference and short-sighted patriotism this example of their actions would be hard to beat. Such people are a menace to all that means freedom in life, and it is because of them that the whole community suffers curtailment of privilege. The Government had striven to minimise public inconvenience by waiving the restrictions. The risks attending a reversal to the policy of open sale were made widely known by the Minister, who explained the pressing claims on overseas credits and the effect on war-time supplies. “ The funds are depleted by our purchases of petrol,” he explained, “ and it is up to all of us to do our bit by helping to conserve supplies.’’ More directly to the war aspect, the Minister rightly remarked that “ the struggle is even more a war of resources than a battle for military objectives.” This, of course, is patent to everyone who cares to heed the signs, and the marvel is that we should have in our midst people who are so short-sightedly selfish as to indulge in hoarding at a time like this. Such people would no doubt resent any suggestion that they are unpatriotic, but who, be it asked, can condone patriotism which is marked by such callous selfishness,? The Government plainly desires a com-mon-sense use and not a mis-use of supplies, and, by the withdrawal of an enforced control, it trusts the good sense of the people to exercise a selective demand. It is assumed that there shall be a public recognition of the problems attendant upon supply, and also of the more pressing demands in the war zone. “Every gallon of petrol that we use in New’ Zealand means one gallon less for the prosecution of the w’ar overseas,” the Minister said w’hen stating an obvious fact. But he speaks of use. Every gallon hoarded by thoughtless, selfish individuals is not only a depletion of war supplies but is a treachery which violates the Government’s intent and tends to make restriction necessary again; and, since no regulatory system other than an arbitrary rationing by license or coupons can check the evil, there simply will have to be public good intent. People who are known to be hoarding, and by methods which are neither clever nor shrewd, violate a trust that the Government has placed in them should be held in contempt. When all is said and done, freedom from coupons and licensing is a privilege which is not devoid of responsibility, and there is certainly a personal obligation if freedom is to endure. The difficulties of maintaining supply for necessary uses must be apparent, and should alone be proof against abuses. Very certainly, if the people or even a minority, fail to recognise the difference between use and mis-use of an open market, then they must again be disciplined by the Government. That appears the only alternative, but as just now it is left w’ith the people it is they who must decide.