WAR EFFORT

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32309, 6 September 1943, Page 4

WAR EFFORT

TASK OF GOVERNMENT ADDRESS BY MR THORN MEETING HELD AT TIROHIA Speaking to a meeting on Tuesdaynight at Tirohia on the Labour Government’s "War effort Mr James Thorn, Labour candidate for Thames, said that the Government had been confronted by problems of a kind no other* Government had had to face in the history of the Dominion, and these included the responsibility of placing New Zealand in a position to resist an invasion of its own territory 'by a ruthless and powerful enemy. Nevertheless the Government’s achievement had been a creditable one which ®had been eulogised by many prominent people from Mr Winston Churchill down. Some indication, he said, of the terrific nature of the problems created by the war might be gained from its cost to the Dominion. Up till March 21 last New Zealand had spent on the war no less than £239,000,000 while during the present financial year 'it was proposed to spend another £148,000,000. These enormous expenditures made a serious drain on the Dominion’s resources, and while they were necessary it was simply stupidity to suggest that the work of social reform could go on as if no wai* were being* fought. * War Effort The war effort, as directed by the present Government, had involved the enlistment of no less than 160,000 men and women in the Armed Services of the Dominion. In addition approximately 100,000' men had joined the Home Guard while 350,000 men and women had been engaged in the various activities covered 'by the various E.P.S. schemes. The creation of so large a military organisation had had to be done very hurriedly, and it was • therefore not to be wondered at if some mistakes had been made and, some shortcomings had been revealed. On balance, however, the effort had been magnificent, and it was one for which the Government was entitled to the confidence of every responsible man. and woman in the Dominion.

Mr Thorn said that it was remarkable that although 160,000' of our best young men had been withdrawn from the productive and distributive industries and that man-power difficulty had thereby been created, factory production since the year before the war had increased by 36 per cent., and last year was valued at £155,000,000.

Farm production had increased in the war years by 20 per cent., and the output of coal last year,- 2,6'78,000 tons, was a record in the Dominion’s history, and represented an increase of 14 per cent, on the pre-war year figure. Defence Construction Possibly the greatest achievement ' in industrial achievement was that of the building trades which, in the matter of defence construction alone and this mainly during the period since Japan’s entry into the war, had erected accommodation for thte • Dominion and American Forces equivalent to the construction of 17 towns each of 7000 inhabitants. In addition the Government had constructed over 90 ! aerodromes covering 10,000 acres and . containing metalled runways aggregating 108 miles, and concrete runways of 70 miles.

The Government’s war effort had greatly impressed many people of importance in other parts ,of the world, and Mr Thorn read the eulogies of several of them. The Montreal Gazette, one of Canada’s great newspapers, had stated editorially: “What New Zealand is doing for the common war effort is more than a creditable contribution—proportionately to size- perhaps the greatest of all the United Nations. New. Zealand had before the war came the most advanced social programme of any country in the world. Not even the Scandinavian nation could equal the New Zealanders’ insurance against destitution from every conceivable form of mishap, including unemployment. For her soldiers l she has the most elaborate and complete system of social protection the world has seen.”

Such praise, said Mr Thorn, justified the Government in its appeal for a further term of office backed by an overwhelming majority of the people.