NEW ZEALAND AT WAR

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22620, 28 June 1943, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND AT WAR

A Visitor Looks In The writer of this article. Mr Kyle Palmer, is a war correspondent representing the Eos Angeles "Times." Xt home he is the political editor of the “Times” and was formerly its Washington correspondent. lie lias been a member of the st aIT for 21 years and is well known in newspaper circles throughout the United States and on the Pacific Coast as a political writer. Mr Palmer has just visited the Dominion and was so pleased with what he saw of New Zealand's war effort, that, he has placed this article at the disposal of the New Zealand press. Dogged docs it. New Zealanders arc among the world’s first class fighting men. Thcv have been hi the war since it started. They did valiant service in Greece, in Crete, in Libya, in Tunisia. They have been flying with the Royal Air Force throughout the war, and in the Pacific they have stood toe to toe. flown wing to wing, with our own wherever the fighting has been thickest. . , There was no need to come to Auckland or Wellington to learn of the fighting qualities of these sturdy, tenacious islanders. Our Army, Navy and Marine commands sing their praises in Guadalcanal, in the New Hebrides and in New Caledonia. Long before the United States was drawn into the active fighting, New Zealanders were rallying to the defence of the British Empire. And when the Japanese struck their desperate, treacherous blow, the people in this Dominion had every reason to anticipate they would be among the important points to be attacked. Every resource of the population of slightly more than 1.600.000 was marshalled. But the New Zealanders did not recall their fighters from the Middle East. They buckled down to the job on their own with what they had. One working man out of three has gone into uniform. Upwards of 200.000 men have been mobilised for the armed services since the European war startea. More than 80.000 New Zealanders have gone into the various services overseas. The Royal New Zealand Air Force overseas numbers approximately 10,000 men. , ~ , ~ To match New Zealand s fighting forces on a basis of comparative manpower, the United States would have at this time 13,000,000 in the Army and Navy 7 , and an additional 8,000,000 m the home guard. And of the 25.000 casualties suffered up to April of this year by New Zealand forces.Booo are at present prisoners of war and 600 have been deaths. Some estimate of what such figures would mean to the United States can be gained by checking up on the respective population totals of the two nations. ~ , . . , But even the figures which seemingly show that this Dominion stands first in the British Empire for the proportionate number of men sent overseas, wounded, taken prisoner or killed, and for decorations for valour, do not tell the story.

Liberty the Breath of Life The storv is actually of a solid, selfreliant. hard-working and peace-loving people, to whom liberty is the breath ot life.' Their dogged, matter-of-fact undramatic determination to preserve their independence as a people and their liberties as individuals is both a heritage and a national characteristic. They are fiercely proud of their British ties, but are equally firm m a strong sense of individual nationalism. Fundamental in the New Zealand character is a homely practicality. Distinctions of class arising from wide differences in standards of wealth are not emphasised. In an agarian country where most of the wealth comes from dairying, the raising of cattle and sheen, and where strong effort has been directed to assure the small farmer an important place in the scheme of things, a distinctly wealthy class has not evolved. Moreover, the tendency to sustain the small business man and the small manufacturer which dominated peace time policies has been carried over into war effort. Contrary to the trend in the United States war has brought no general consolidation either in business or in industry. Doubtless such conditions explain why, in spite of a virtually complete turnover from an economy of peace to an economy of war. the ordinary structure of New Zealand’s economic life has not been greaty dislocated. Changes in the actual fighting requirements of the United Nations and the shifting theatre of war have greatly altered the manpower problems here and a gradual reduction of the armed forces to permit a much more vitally needed supply of labour for war industries is immediately in prospect. New Zealand’s main fighting emphasis in the future will gradually be placed in her air forces. In the Pacific at this time those are merged with the American commands. But as the 25.000 air trainees complete their preparation for combat and are supplied with planes and essestial equipment from the United States, an independent New Zealand Air Force will be created to work in partnership with the American air arm. The supreme need here at this time is for men to work in war industries and on farms developed exclusively to supply foodstuffs for Allied fighters in the Pacific area. As the situation now stands, about 250,000 persons are employed in activities directly related to the war effort. Such effort includes manufacture of munitions, bombs, mortars, shell fuses, radio equipment, gun fittings, small arms ammunitions, and the manufacture of boots, shoes and clothing. Gets Things Done There is marked tranquility about New Zealand procedure which sometimes slightly ruffles the aplomb of the faster-paced Americans. But the New Zealanders get things done. They get them done in spite of the fact that everything in this busy little corner of the world moves to the left. The street cars —trams —go up the left; automobiles go to the left, horses, dogs, cats, men, women and children, all move to the left. This is a little confusing and at times slightly embarrassing after a lifetime of faithfully keeqing to the right. I've done several one-two-three’s with bewildered who have tried to outguess me in passing It gets to be a sort of waltz, but when the New Zealander perceives he is dealing with an American he smiles—and serenely passes to the left.

For the use of her own and Allied forces in the Pacific. New Zealand is now building more than 300 vessels of various sizes and types, including ocean-going tugs, lighters and small motor boats. The two main islands which comprise the Dominion are destined jointly to become one of the major replacement, repair, recuperation, recreational and hospitalisation centres of the South Pacific. Hospital units for the accommodation of thousands of United States fighters are under construction. These centres will be among the most modern and fully equinped in the world. They will spread over scores of acres and will include entire auxiliary communities. Great repair shops for planes and ships are a-building. In practically all phases of this tre- 1 mendous construction programme, due notice of all possible post-war adaptation has been taken. Wartime hospitals will be used for .schools; scores of war housing units will be converted into dwellings; other structures will be used for industrial purposes. Lend and Least* Significant also is the fact that when war is finished and the books are balanced on the financial side between the Allied nations, goods and services received by New Zealand and goods and services supplied by New Zealand are expected to reach a near-balance under the provisions of land lease agreements. There has been no great increase in the cost of living as a result of the war. New Zealanders are not luxuryloving and had few unessentials to forego. There have been some shortages and a certain amount of rationing. Further rationing of food commodities is anticipated because of additional commitments to supply Allied armed forces. New Zealand is financing the Dominion’s share of the war with high taxes and the sale of war bonds.' Fairly successful efforts have been made to stabilise prices, wages and farm costs. Profits are held down and price ceilings are enforced. Instalment buying is discouraged,

and campaigns are to induce the population to spend less, save more, and buy war bonds. Thus, fighting or working, New Zealand is carrying its share of the load. Until to-day a statement could truthfully have been made that this remote hive of Industry, courage and accomplishment had experienced virtually all of war’s major hardships, sorrows, sacrifices, terrors, alarms, and confusions except one. But after today that one, too, will be ever-present. To-day a member of the Dominion Parliament rose in his seat in the Legislative chambers at Wellington and proposed that this baffling problem be also added to the perplexities and burdens of a war-conscious people. He said it was a scandal that the matter has not hertofore received attention. He proposed a pay-as-you-go tax programme.