TRAITORS IN ALL NATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 23685, 19 September 1940, Page 10

TRAITORS IN ALL NATIONS

REASON FOR HOME GUARD HO FASCIST ORGANISATION [Peb United Pkess Association.] WELLINGTON, September 19. Discussing the formation of a Home Guard, Mr Semple said the only reason it was created was to protect the lives, property, and liberty of our people. It had been said that the Government was creating a Fascist organisation. That was a deliberate misrepresentation. An organised nation could discover where the traitors were and put them out of action. A disorganised country was a fertile ground for the traitor, a term he preferred to “ fifth columnist.” Every country in the world to-day had its percentage of traitors, and New Zealand was no exception. The Home Guard would serve to' bring the New Zealand people closer together, so that they would understand they had a common destiny. Even if there was no need to use the Home Guard in defence of the country, and God forbid we should, we would be the better nation for having rubbed shoulders together and created a better tolerance and comradeship. Referring to the vanquished countries, Mr Semple said every vestige of .liberty in them Lad been wiped out, and if the British Empire fell, we would have to face the same fate. “ But the British Empire will never fall. ‘ There’ll Always Be An England.’ ”