THIS SUDDEN COLLAPSE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 85, 29 June 1943, Page 4

THIS SUDDEN COLLAPSE

THE decision of the New Zealand War Cabinet to practically demobilise the. Home Guard by designating it to a reserve status with the liability of parading one day eveiy quarter (less than 50 minutes weekly) coupled with the drastic cutting down of the Dominion's regular armed forces leads the: a/verage person wondering at the suddenness of the military collapse. Ever since the Prime Minister of Australia told the world that all danger of a Japanese invasion of Australia was now passed we have known that the War Cabinet of this country has been uncomfortably conscious of its top heaviness, coupled also with the growing volume" of complaints from the long suffering section which was carrying the growing burden with more and more difficulty. The remedial measures however, have all but taken 'the wind out of the nation. The standing "army of de>fence, approximately 120,000, is to become almost completely inactive, the army with the exception of the overseas units is to be placed on a territorial basis, and composed of men of two categories: (A) Single men or married men without children of medical grade 1 and 2, between the ages of 18 and 40, inclusive; (b) married men With not more than three children, grade 1 and 2, between the ages of 18 and 30, inclusive. Even in the selection of these two classes care will be exercised for we are informed that "in collecting these men regard will be paid to the individual circumstances of each man including (a) availiability for service in the event of emergency; (b) availability for withdrawal from industry for one month's camp

training per annum; (c) availability for periodic parades in view of hours worked, location, etc." Has the pruning knife been over-severe in its latest cut? From a country completely on : a war footing in which every man capable of bearing arms was given military training, women and girls drafted ?,lso into the forces and compplsorily put to essential industries, we are now to go back at one sweep into almost wholly a civilian capacity or the normal status of the Dominion at war, with an overseas Division and outpost island garrisons.'This is a parallel almost to our position in 1914-18. Pleasing as it will be to most of us who have found military and Home Guard obligations somewhat inksome in the face of the innumerable other duties now imposed upon the wartime civilian there arises a simultaneous sense of warning as to the drastic of the new regulations, which would have been completely absent had the process been more gradual. We can only hope that our legislators have been fully satisfied and thoroughly seized with the war situation to have enabled them to reach such a decision which makes such sweeping changes in our own state of preparedness. It' seems difficult to understand how the position which dictated such action could have arisen over night. ;