CALL TO SERVE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 92, 20 April 1939, Page 8

CALL TO SERVE

_ MEN UP TO AGE OF 5 -r. DEFENCE OF DOMINION vth it. APPEAL BY PRIME 'a MINISTER i,” eil1 ' WELLINGTON, April 19. I . 1 ' National responsibilities were ', discussed by the Prime Minister, Kt. Hon. M. J. Savage, at a State luncheon yesterday in honour of L u the delegates to the Pacific Cona ference. He said that whatever so disaster or emergency came along there was much to be done, and e for that reason every man up to i. s 45 or even 50 years of age should es avail himself of the opportunity ,1c to be ready to serve his country. li_ As a layman he felt that the best r, "ay to help the British Commonin wealth was to help ourselves. -’s A tribute was paid to President F 1 D. Roosevelt by Mr. Savage, who als< a commended the statement of Mr Eammon de Valera that it was bette: to have a conference before a wa: it than after one. The name of Frank lin Roosevelt, he said, would live whei ie many of them had been forgotten be le cause of the things he had been say 111 ing the last day or two. i " | In extending a cordial welcome t< 1 | the visiting delegations, Mr. Savage Jg I said they were there to exchange opinions as to the best means of j fence in the Pacific. lr It was a time for calm and coo thinking, and a time for calm anc i cool action, said Mr. Savage. Al n ought to know what part they hac to play in defence of a system thej and earlier generations had helped tc build. The delegates, said Mr. Savage, hac J a very important mission. When one i looked at the world to-day one coulc J hardly be surprised at the fact that , there was a defence conference meeting in Wellington to see what could e be done and what should be done tc help them to keep their end up in this , part of the British Commonwealth. “I am always ready to lift my hat y to men like President Roosevelt,” said _ Mr. Savage, amid applause. ‘‘Without stopping to ask any questions, he i simply says what is in his soul. I am i ready to raise my hat to President Roosevelt for a number of reasons, i and not the least is that in his own - country he is up against great difiiculties, the reasons for which will s commend themselves to those present without amplification on my part. President Roosevelt seems to have a heart and soul that are not found in 5 many places these days, and which 1 mean so much to humanity. Talks Before, Not After | "Then again I find myself on side i with Mr. de Valera, who thinks it I better to have a conference before a war than after it,” said the P?jme Minister. ‘‘That seems to me plain common sense. I could talk with a man better before I fought him than after. Whatever I might look like after, I think I would look better before.” Mr. Savage said there was not verymuch difference between men. All of them were very much the same. They did not set out with any bad intent to injure their neighbours, and that applied generally to the human race. If they had an opportunity of talking things over beforehand there

would be less damage than ther would be by fighting. Last time the; fought for more than four years, an< then did their talking and he was no sure that they got too much com CQ mon sense out of that. “If our fellows would only talk fo 12 months we could be sure the; would not be fighting for that period, said Mr. Savage. “It seems just ; simple problem with far-reaching con sequences unless we handle it. Ther are reasons for all our disagreements and till we put them out of existenc altogether we will never get th’ superstructure that we are all asking for and that everybody wants. I seems to be a fair thing that w should start around the conferenc $ table. We cannot carry pious reso , lutions in favour of this and that am : wait for results; we have to be pre : pared for other things that may hap pen, and for that reason we have ou: good friends among us to-day. Looking After Ourselves “As a layman I have always fel that the best way in which we car help the British Commonwealth o Nations is to help ourselves, and i we have anything to spare after tha we can leave it to the manhood o. F New Zealand,” said Mr. Savage. “Tht sQ first thing is to be able to look aftei Ir ourselves. It is not altogether a boy’: e p job,*' I would rather think it was i ar job for the manhood of New Zealand and perhaps in some respect’s for the en womanhood of New Zealand, to mee' )e _ any disaster that came along.” Mr. Savage said there was so mud to be done, whatever disaster oi to emergency might come along, and foi that reason every man up to 45 oi ge even 50 years of age should embrace e _ the opportunity of being ready tc serve. (Applause). That was onl> lo j just a plain understanding among themselves. He hated to use words which meant compelling people to de ac j something they disliked and to coney script this, that, and the other things. to When a nation had its back to the xvall, perhaps Isolated from the rest lc j of the world, they should be able to ae feel that every man would be ready Id to say: “I am here; what can I do to at heI P ? ” . Defence of a System t 0 A lot of people, said Mr. Savage, ‘is were asking the manhood to enrol. He said good luck to them, but it could not be left to their efforts. The id people of the country were being asked to play a part in looking after ie themselves if it should come to the m worst. He was hoping in the near future that they would be asking s » every man up to 50 years to do what n he himself would do, and so make i" every man feel he was defending something that was. worth while and that he was playing a part in the defence of a system he had helped to a build. Conditions had changed in the n last 20 years, and there was greater h reason for every man to be more interested in this than ever before. Political systems were in the melting pot and the rights of the people to e govern were being challenged, and it everybody should have their thinking a caps on. e “This is a time for calm and cool n thinking, and time for calm and cool a action,” said Mr. Savage. “It is too a late when the balloon goes up, to use e a popular phrase, to think about what - you are going to do. All ought to know what part they have to play in defence of the system they and earlier f generations have helped to build. I do not claim that the present system t is perfect, but the perfection or t amendment of it is with us and not , with some individual. It seems to me that the people as a whole should play 2 their part.” Might Have War Mr. Savage, in referring to the pres--1 ence of the delegates from the United - Kingdom and Australia, said they had - heard, no doubt, something about im- - port control. However, there might 1 be no argument about that in a week : or two. It might be decided for them. - The day might come, sooner than they c thought, when they might have to go

to war. It was reasonable to sugges that the reason for calling the confer ence was not altogether to hear thei own voices, but because they wantei the best advice on methods, how thei kinsmen overseas were going to move and how they in New Zealand coul< move with them so that at a givei moment they could start the machim going in such a way that would a least mean something different t( chaos. They would have the views o the delegates, and it would be th< Government’s job to implement wha was considered necessary by those wh< should know the best way to keef their end up in New Zealand. Thi: country had played its part in th< past, and if obliged to do so would d( the same again. Replying on behalf of the Unitec Kingdom delegation, Air Marshal Sii Arthur Longmore said he had beer impressed by the desire to co-operate to the fullest extent. He was confident that the personal contacts anc friendships the delegates were nov making would be all to the good. The final decision as to whether the conference had been a success or nol must depend on the implementatior • of the measures that it recommended He thanked the Prime Minister anc the New Zealand Government for the wonderful hospitality extended to the delegates, and in that connectior spoke also on behalf of the British Air Mission, of which he had been a member. Colonel V. A. H. Sturdee, who replied on behalf of the Australian delegation in the absence of Vice-Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, said it was regretted that an Australian Minister of the Crown had been unable to vivsit New Zealand for the conference. The Australian delegation was purely a service delegation. He thought it safe to say that the main object of the conference was to get the maximum co-operation. Co-operation between Australia and New Zealand was not new, having started before the war. In 1914 there was no real direct threat to the two countries, but to-day the threat was far greater and therefore a greater degree of co-operation was called for. The destinies of Australia and New Zealand were closely allied. NEW PLYMOUTH PREPARES EMERGENCY COMMITTEE f Per Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, April 19. The Taranaki Hospital Board decided to-day to establish an emergency committee to provide an organi-

sation for sudden calls on the New Plymouth Hospital in the event of war, an epidemic, or a similar disaster. The Mayor, Mr. E. R. C. Gilmour, a member of the board, also agreed to establish a similar committee representing appropriate organisations in the town. REJOINING THE COLOURS OVER 300 OFFICERS [ Per Press Association.l AUCKLAND, April 19. Over 300 officers of all ranks and from all branches of the service have intimated their willingness to rejoin the colours and have filed particulars of their service and qualifications with Captain Humphrey Davies, Dominion representative of the Officers’ Association, who has undertaken this initial voluntary duty to assist the defences of New Zealand.