“THEY SERVE”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21530, 18 December 1939, Page 6

“THEY SERVE”

Army, Navy And Air Force Government’s Critics Merely Speak “They serve rather than make I speeches,” said the Prime Minister, I the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, last night in the fourth of his weekly radio l speeches on “New Zealand’s Problems ! i As I See Them.” after he had referred i < to the efforts of the men in the ' Army, the Navy and the Air Force. | He compared them with those people ! i who were criticising the Government. After attacking both the Leftists and i the Rightists for their efforts to “wreck the Government in a time of diffi- i culty,” he said it was the Government’s duty to take action against the [ endeavours of irresponsible critics. The attention of his hearers was drawn to a resolution carried at a ! recent meeting of the Electoral Com- i mittee of the National Party in Hawke’s Bay. The resolution stated that the Hawke’s Bay electorate offered its whole-hearted co-operation with the Government in effectively helping with the war aims, and asked that active steps should be taken by the Government against Communistic and other organisations for their efforts to hamper the war effort. In many ways he agreed with the . resolution, said Mr Savage, but he l could understand why one group * should have been specially named for attention. There were two groups I critical of the Government’s effort and they were the Leftists and the Rightists. The Leftists considered that the Government was not making changes fast enough, and those groups were not particular about the methods they adopted to embarrass the Government. The Rightists thought the Government was going too fast and they, too, had no scruples about the methods they used to show their disapproval. He was not certain which was the greater menace. Both were out to overthrow the Government while the enemy was at the gates. If he was in front of a firing squad he would not worry who was at the end

of the rifles. The result would be , just the same. Shot at From Both Sides ! The Government was being shot at ; from both the left and the right. The j Government had received wonderful ■ help both inside the House and out- ' side, but at the present time public functions, such as school breaking-up ceremonies, were being used to get in subversive propaganda against the Government. If the people believed the statements made, then the Gov- | ernment would not last five minutes, i “It is not the duty of the Government in peace or in war to try to suppress reasonable criticism, but 1 anything likely to limit the GovernI ment’s war effort in this time of difI Acuity was an entirely different thing,” I continued Mr Savage. No GovernI ment liked to use its powers under the war regulations, but when there were continued endeavours by irresponsible I critics it was the Government’s duty to act without fear or favour. Thousands of New Zealanders were already in camp and they were willing to serve wherever and whenever they were required. Thousands were in the mercantile marine ploughing their way through seas which had been indiscriminately mined by a ruthless foe. Some hundreds had already made the great sacrifice. After describing further the risks those men took on behalf of their country, Mr Savage said there was not a yard of the way between New Zealand and Britain that could be said to be safe. Yet the sea-

men faced the journey without a murmur and undertook their dangerous task with courage. The Navy Praised There were also the men of the Royal Navy. “The Silent Service,” continued the Prime Minister. “Who amongst us was not thrilled when he read of the wonderful stand by the officers and men of the Achilles against overwhelming odds?” he asked. They did their duty irrespective of ! what Government was in power. They j served rather than made speeches. Last but not least there was the , Royal Air Force. Already some had made the supreme sacrifice. Others were engaged in the most nervewracking service of all time and had made names for themselves as well as making history for the world to emulate. Anyone who said the Government was not taking measures to aid those men as far as possible was entirely wrong. "I raise my hat to all of them and pledge myself to do my utmost to see that the foundation of their existence in peace or war is not destroyed, ’ continued Mr Savage. “Every person attempting to destroy the confidence , of these men, by saying the country is i bankrupt and other equally stupid things, are not friends.” “People Well Off” The approach of the festive season found people as well off as they ever had been. That was his reply to the wreckers, whether of the left or the right. Every fair minded person in the country knew what was happening and knew that the people were better off now than in former years. He would say to the leftists that the country had made more progress for the benefit of the people in four years than it had under any other Government. To those on the right he would say that there was no evidence of poverty and distress among the people of New Zealand. Mr Savage commented on the totalisator figures and on the number of fine new cars to be seen at race meetings and at agricultural shows. He was proud of that display and of the standard of life among the people of the Dominion. Sometimes there were complaints about the high cost of living but the totalisator figures were going up all the time. People seemed to be able to invest their money at the races after they had enjoyed their standard of life. There was no evidence of distress in New Zealand, he repeated. An illustration in the “New Zealand Herald” showing the new improved parking space at the Te Rapa racecourse filled to capacity. That was at the opening day of the Waikato Racing Club’s well attended spring meeting, at which the totalisator figures were a record for the course. The centre of the Waikato was Hamilton, and he remembered a display at Hamilton recently when a half-holi-day was declared to try to impress the Government by a mass meeting of protest. “The New Zealand Herald” stated that the number present was 4000 but in the “Sydney Morning Herald” the figure was 10,000; it had grown by 6000 on the journey across the Tasman. That was how some people were helping to win the war. Yet they were asking him to believe that some people were not trying to wreck the Government in the military as well as the public actions by which it was trying to aid in winning the war.