EFFORTS RENEWED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20101, 22 November 1939, Page 4

EFFORTS RENEWED

GISBORNE DRILL HALL “£70,000 FOR RADIO” “NOTHING FOR DEFENCE" “I think it is time we made further representations about the provision of a drill hall for Gisborne, if the Government can spend £70.000 on a new radio station,” said .Mr. T. Corson yesterday afternoon at a meeting of the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce. On the motion of Mr. Corson, seconded by the chairman, Mr. H. H. Do Costa, it was decided to write to (he Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, with a view to having the drill hall rebuilt. “It is disgraceful to see our boys penned up in the small Abercorn Hall, and we should impress upon the Government the urgency of the matter,” .‘ontinuecl Mr. Corson. “They can afford to put up a £70,000 radio station to hear themselves talk, but when it comes to the defence of the country they don’t do anything at all,'' said Mr. De Costa. “The Government seems to forget that we have a war on. Mr. R. W, J. Edwards contended that proper facilities should be provided in every provincial centre. “As a returned soldier I would like to stress the fact that there is no more important job at the present time than that of the man in the front line,” said Mr. Edwards. "It is deprecating to say that men will be employed more usefully behind the lines, and that statement has been made too often without objection having been taken. He said that there were many thousands of men on the Western Front, in the Navy, Royal Air Force and Merchant Service, and that it was they who were doing the important work. Those behind tile lines and in the Dominion might be doing helpful work, but it was not as important as that being carried out by the others in active service. He would not like to ihink that too much importance would be attached to the wrong statement, and said he was taking the opportunity of making his objections known.