COMPLACENCY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 65, Issue 5494, 6 July 1942, Page 6

COMPLACENCY

STILL BRITAIN’S WEAKNESS “Is it typical of the- British popu- ! lation, this attitude of watching the I war from a grandstand? Of course j not. The great majority of us are I wide awake to the danger of our posi- ■ tion, impatient for positive action, i humiliated by the fact that, after two i and a half years, Britain is still on ! the defensive in Europe and on the re- | treat in Asia. But complacency is catching. And our need at this time is not merely to prevent the spread of complacency. Our need, our instant need, is to eradicate it completely from public and private life of Britain. That is a task for the Government. It cannot be performed by vaguely prophesying offensive action in some future years; It will not be assisted by encouraging our countrymen to place greater reliance on the material power of America and the military power of Russia than on their own efforts. It can be accomplished only if, in the Government, the true meaning of the Japanese menace is accurately read, only if that meaning is bluntly explained to the public, and only if the energies of the complacent, as they start from their sleep, and the energies of the uncomplacent are engaged without delay at the peak of capacity.”—Daily Herald, London.