PACIFIC MENACE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 27, 11 March 1942, Page 3

PACIFIC MENACE

NEED FOR ACTION

THE DUTY OF AMERICA

"Arc we going lo leave the people of Australia and New Zealand to bear the brunt of attack alone?" asks the New York American in an editorial believed to have been written by William Randolph Hears! himself. '•it is appropriate to remember that Australia and New Zealand are much more in need of immediate aid at this crucial time than England, which is completely safe l'rom any kind of invasion. "Mr Churchill's assurances that Britain will be able to take the offensive in 1943 are most heartening to Australasia, provided the Japanese courteously wait". But it is possilile that a barbarian nation like Japan will not keep to Mr Churchill's schedule. "New Guinea is a perfect base l'rom which to attack Australia, against whom Japan may be fully equipped and ready to strike by the middle of 1942. Are we going to allow Japan to obtain this complete preparation and favourable location, and leave the people of Australia and New Zealand to bear the brunt of the attack alone? "It is time the United States thought less of the Atlantic and Mediteranean, more of the Pacific, mere of Australia, more of Canada, and even more of the United States, and decided not to wait until 194344."