Prime Minister Addresses An Audience In Wanganui On Compulsory Military Scheme

Wanganui Chronicle, 23 July 1949, Page 4

Prime Minister Addresses An Audience In Wanganui On Compulsory Military Scheme

Some In+erjec+ors, But Meeting Was Overwhelmingly In Support

Addressing an audience of about 900 "people in the Opera House, Wanganui, last night, the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) made a strong appeal for an affirmative vote when the referendum on the question of compulsory military training for the defence of our emphasised that it was essential that in her own interests and also those of the British Commonwealth of Nations, without which she would not survive, that New Zealand should build up adequate and efficient defence forces. It was not a matter of war-mongering but of plain common sense, even though the international situation had improved over the past nine months.

Apart from rather frequent interjections which came from a very small minority, Mr. Fraser was given a good hearing, his remarks often being met with applause which indicated that the bulk of the audience was with him.

On a show of hands, the meeting carried the following motion:

“That this meeting expresses support for compulsory military training for the defence of four people, our country, and our Commonwealth.”

A large body of police was present under Inspector F. Forsythe, but the meeting generally was very orderly.

The Mayor (Hon. W. J. Rogers, M.L.C.), presided, and other speakers who supported the appeal were the Minister representing the Maori race (Mr Tirikatene), Mr J. B. Cotterill, M.P. for Wanganui, Mr. W. A. Sheat, M.P. for Patea, and Mr. E. V. O’Keeffe, a member of the executive of the Wanganui branch of the Returned Services’ Association. Also on the stage were the president of the Wanganui R.S.A., Mr. H. R. Gilberd, a vice-president, Mr. M. R. Wadey, and Mr. D. Russell, a member of the R.S.A. executive. FREEDOM ENJOYED IN N.Z.

Mr. Fraser said that New Zealand 1 today enjoyed freedom of religion, • freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom of speech, but in i some countries these were trampled i underfoot. Every government of a j democratic country was compelled to < face up to the problem of preserving ] these freedoms. New Zealand, as a | democratic country, must prepare to , defend itself against these aggressor i nations. j The Government respected the < opinions of genuine conscientious ob- . jectors, but there were other avenues in which they could serve. There were t several classes opposed to compulsory j military training, however, and some < would like to see Russia fully armed < because they believed that conscrip- i tion was not wrong in a Communist ] country, but that it was wrong in New ] Zealand, which was a capitalist coun- : try. There was no question that nine ; months ago the international situa- 1 tion was critical. Thanks to the Berlin 1 air-lift and the strong stand taken • there, together with the Atlantic Pact i the chances of peace were better. i New Zealand was concerned about the defence of her own shores, the ap- i proaches to the Pacific and the de- « fence of the British Commonwealth of i Nations, because if that fell the Do- : minion could be plucked like a ripe 1 apple from a tree. He had discussed 2

defence problems with the highest authorities overseas and the Government had gone fully into the question of adequate and efficient land, sea, and air forces for the Dominion Even though the situation had improved, New Zealand must prepare and have a properly trained land force. Canada was trying to increase its forces with the voluntary system but of the 400,000 required, only 40,000 had been obtained. Australia, <hich was .also endeavouring to raise a force voluntarily. was far short of the 50,000 required. Careful consideration given to this question in New Zealand had resulted in the Government coming to the conclusion that only by compulsory military training could the required land force be raised. Britain and the United States combined had an armed strength of 2,300,000, while Russia had four million under arms and a trained reserve of 20 million. Russia had proposed a reduction in armaments of one third, but would not agree to Allied repre-

sentatives going into the Soviet Union to ensure that the reduction was being carried out. Some people were suggesting that the compulsory military training of youths would have a serious impact on industry, but he had never heard of such rubbish. Mr. Fraser added. The number of 18-year-olds available for training would be 9000. In 1950 that would not be one-half per cent, of the total labour force, in 1951 it would not be one-half per cent., in 1952 just over one-half per cent., and in 1953 .61 per cent. Opponents of the referendum, with the exception of the Christian Pacifist Society and the 2nd N.Z.E.F, Association, were saying that when compulsory military training was introduced there would be manpowering legislation also, but he had never heard of such nonsense, the Prime Minister added. Such legislation was available in the event of war, but nobody wanted to project war legislation into peace. “To say that industrial legislation would be passed to manpower everybody is nothing but utter nonsense,” he said. Many untrue statements were being made by these opponents of the scheme for compulsory military training. but behind all these bed-time stories was a fifth column element for the purpose of undermining New Zealand