NATIONAL SERVICE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 April 1939, Page 5

NATIONAL SERVICE

EMERGENCY BILL POSSIBLE

Men Up to Fifty Years of Age

PRIME MINISTER DISCUSSES OUTLOOK

PACIFIC DEFENCE CONFERENCE DELEGATES ENTERTAINED

By Telegraph— Press Association. —Copyright. WELLINGTON, This Day. National responsibilities were discussed by the Prime Ministei, Mr Savage, at a State luncheon yesterday in honour of the delegates to the Pacific Defence Conference He said that whatever disastei 01 emergency came along there was much to be done, and for that reason every man up to 45 or even 50 years of age should avail himself of the opportunity to be ready to serve his country. As a layman he felt that the best way to help the British Commonwealth was to help ourselves. A tribute was paid to President Roosevelt by Mr Savage, who also commended the statement of Mr de Valera that it was better to have a conference before a war than after one. The name of Franklin Roosevelt, he said, would live when many of them had been forgotten because of the things he had been saying the last day or two. In extending a cordial welcome to the visiting delegations, Mr Savage said they were there to exchange opinions as to the best means of defence in the Pacific. He apologised for the absence of Vice-Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, Chief of the Naval Staff, Australian Naval Board, who is the leader of the Australian delegation and also attached to the British delegation as a representative of the Admiralty. The Vice-Admiral is indisposed and the Prime Minister expressed the hope that he would have a rapid recovery. It was a time for calm and cool thinking, and a time for calm and cool action, said Mr Savage. All ought to know what part they had to play in defence of a system they and earlier generations had helped to build.

ON HELPING OURSELVES. “As a layman, I have always felt that the best way in which we can help the British Commonwealth of Nations is to help ourselves, and if we have anything to spare after that we can leave it to the manhood of New Zealand,” said Mr Savage, in the course of his address. “The first thing is to be able to look after ourselves. It is not altogether a boy’s job; I would rather think it was a job for the manhood of New Zealand, and perhaps in some respects for the womanhood of New Zealand, to meet any disaster that came along.” Mr Savage said there was so much to be done, whatever disaster or emergency might come along, and for that reason every man up to 45 or even 50years of age should embrace the opportunity of being ready to serve. (Applause). That was only just a plain understanding among themselves. He hated to use words which meant compelling people to do something they disliked and to conscript this, that and the other things. When a nation had its back to the wall, perhaps isolated from the rest of the world, they should be able to feel that every man would be ready to say: “I am here; what can I do to help?” FAR-REACHING CALL. A lot of people, said Mr Savage, were asking the manhood to enrol. He said good luck to them, but it could not be left to their efforts. The people of the country were being asked to play a part in looking after themselves if it should come to the worst. He was hoping in the. near future that they would be asking every man up to 50 years to do what he himself would do, and so make every man feel*he was defending something that was worth while and that he was playing a part in the defence of a system he had helped to build. Conditions had changed in the last 20 years, and there was greater reason for every man to be more interested in this than ever before. Political systems were in the melting pot and the rights of the people to govern were being challenged, arid everybody should have their thinking caps on. “This is time for calm and cool thinking, and time for calm and cool action,” said Mr Savage. “It is too late when the balloon goes up, to use a popular phrase, to think about what you are going to do. All ought to know what part they have to play in defence of the system they and earlier generations have helped to build. I do not claim that the present system is perfect, but the perfection or amendment of it is with us and not with some individual. It seems to me that the people as a whole should play their part.”

Mr Savage, in referring to the presence of .the delegates from the United Kingdom and Australia, said they had heard no doubt something about import control. However, there might be no argument about that in a week or two. It might be decided for

them. The day might come, sooner than they thought, when they might have to go to war. It was reasonable to suggest that the reason for calling the conference was not altogether to hear their own voices, but because they ■wanted the best advice on methods, how their kinsmen overseas were going to move, and how they in New Zealand could move with them so that at a given moment they could start the machine going in such a way that would at least mean something different to chaos. They would have the views of the delegates, and it would be the Government’s job to implement what was considered ' necessary by those who should know the best way to keep their end up in New Zealand. This country had played its part in the past, and if obliged to do so would do the same again. REPLIES BY VISITORS. Replying on behalf of the United Kingdom delegation, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore said he had been impressed by the desire to co-operate to the fullest extent. He was confident that the personal contacts and friendships the delegates were now making would be all to the good. The final decision as to whether the conference had been a success or not must depend on the implementation of the measures that it recommended. He thanked the Prime Minister and the New Zealand Government for the wonderful hospitality extended to the delegates, and in that connection spoke also on behalf of the British Air Mission, of which he had been a member. Colonel V. A. Sturdee, who replied on behalf of the Australian delegation in the absence of Vice-Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin, said it was regretted that an Australian Minister of the Crown had been unable to visit New Zealand for the conference. The Australian delegation was purely a service delegation. He thought it safe to say, that the main object of the conference was to get the maximum co-operation. Co-operation between Australia and New Zealand was not new, having started before the war. In 1914 there was no real direct threat to the two countries, but today the threat was far greater and therefore a greater degree of co-operation was called for. The destinies of Australia and New Zealand were closely allied. PLEDGE OF SUPPORT. WELLINGTON MANUFACTURERS’ RESOLUTION. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The Wellington Manufacturers’ Association has passed a resolution welcoming the indication given by the Premier that immediate steps are to be taken by the Government to organise individuals and firms for the defence of New Zealand and pledging the fullest support and co-operation of the association. ■