HOME GUARD DEFENDED.
Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Sept. 19. Discussing the formation of the Home Guard, Hon. R. Semple said the only reason it was created was to protect the lives, property, and liberty of our people. It had been said the Government was creating a Fascist organisation. That was a dcliberatfe misrepresentation. An organised nation could discover where traitors were and put them out of action. A disorganised country was a fertile ground lor a traitor—a term he preferred to Fifth Columnist.
Every country in the world to-dav had a percentage of traitors, and New Zealand was no exception. The Home Guard would serve to bring the New Zealand people closer together so 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 a better nation for having rubbed shoulders . together and created a better understanding of
one another, true tolerance, and comradeship. Referring to the vanquished countries, Mr Semple said every vestige of liberty in them had 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 will always be an England !” he added.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 250, 19 September 1940, Page 10
Word Count
211HOME GUARD DEFENDED. Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 250, 19 September 1940, Page 10
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