Mr Webb And Mr Burnett

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21957, 8 May 1941, Page 4

Mr Webb And Mr Burnett

IN emphasising the need for unity in the face of *■ present dangers the Hon. P. C. Webb said at Mr William Holmes’s meeting in Timaru on Tuesday evening: “If a bomber came over Timaru in half an hour’s time I don’t think Paddy Webb and Tom Burnett would be arguing politics. They would be working together trying to keep off the bombers.” Nobody doubts that. Mr Burnett, in fact, might have interjected, had he cared to use a slang phrase: “You’re telling me.” That political unity is needed now as it has never been needed before is widely admitted. There are selfish elements in the political life of the country unwilling to countenance any surrender of authority at this most critical phase of the war, but by now they are far in the minority. In the circumstances it is interesting to have Mr Webb’s admission that only bombs overhead would cause suspension of political argument. Surely the best time to unite is before the bombers arrive. The truth of the matter is that New Zealanders inside and outside politics are united to the extent that all sections understand the nature of the Nazi menace, and they are united in their determination to oppose it by all available means. The Leader and members of the Opposition have repeated often enough to satisfy anybody that they are stoutly behind the war effort of the Government. For any critic of the Opposition to suggest otherwise is to brand honest patriots as traitors. This unity has already been expressed in many ways, but it has yet to be expressed finally in the formation of a united National Government. Common sense, not bombs, should bring about the imperative coalition of political forces.