Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1939. SERVICE TO THE STATE.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 April 1939, Page 6

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1939. SERVICE TO THE STATE.

OBSERVATIONS that have much more than fugitn e a V and significance and deserve to be pondered fol then practical bearing on the problems by t with oth«a community, as a nation, and in our contact.with othe nations, were made by the Mayor of Masterton (Mr 1. Jotdan) in the address lie delivered at the Dann Patade Wellington on Anzac Day. pure and strong, we shall have tOl tl aJ . the for the few, but as a normal state of mind foi all of . This is a challenging statement, but who is prepared to say considering the facts calmly and without . "hnken not justified? Is it not true that we have of late been -shake , by a menacing international ferment, out of a co ndit on complacency in which most of us were ready to take ; nearly everything lor granted where our membership ol a demoeiaX c State, and the privileges that membership confers, are concerned? Politically we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into a sense of false’security which even the Great, War disturbed only temporarily. In that cataclysm, New, Zealand played a worthy part, at a cost and sacrifice which tell chiefly upon it youthful manhood and on those who held them dear in repelh in* the threat then raised to the existence of all free nations M hei the war ended, however, the people of this country and others ao-ain came to believe themselves established in a position of security to which they need give little thought. Today that comfortable belief is blown to the four winds, particularly where international relations and their .possible repercussions even on the autonomous States 01. the biitish Empire are concerned. Without thought of panic, we are yet bound, as a matter of common sense, to recognise that our status and privileges as citizens of a. free Commonwealth are not immutably guaranteed and that their continuance qin e conceivably may come to depend upon our own ability to uphold and defend them. No one, probably is less inclined to militarism than our present Prime Minister. Yet. in the course of an extended statement on national defence he made on Tuesday, Mr Savage said, amongst other things, that we have to be able to have New Zealand in the position to meet any sort of emergency, and no one can say how soon a military emergency can take place. We have to be prepared to meet a condition of isolation. In’these self-evident facts of the situation in which we now find ourselves, lhe call to national service is sounded very clearly and imperatively. There is an impressive lead to this country and to othei Dominions in the manner in which the Mother Country is facing her national and international responsibilities. Under the Budget just brought down, Britain is to, spend on defence alone more than three times her total public expenditure for all purposes before the war, and to this expenditure of revenue, she is adding a further huge expenditure from loans. Yet, as the Chancell'or of the. Exchequer (Sir John Simon) declared, no one anywhere suspects Britain or intending aggression. Iler enormous expenditure 'on armaments is a warning to aggressors and a contribution to peace. Within the limits of their resources, human and material, the people of New Zealand evidently are called upon to follow this lead. The happy conditions in which we were able to fake national security and stability for granted have fallen to pieces. Every citizen must now be prepared to play his or her part in making the State secure. Some comfort, and some hope are to be derived from the reflection that the liberties ol our nation have evolved much more in struggle and turmoil than in easy days, and that in such conditions as we face today the true quality of our race may be expected to appear. Apart from lhe question of a possible war emergency, an intensified and increasingly widespread perception of the duty we all owe to the State is lhe vital underlying condition of the health of a democracy. Comparatively few are called to leadership, but the achievements and the quality of leadership depend not a little upon the standards of the rank and file. There is a vast amount of detail work to he done in building iir> the life of a free community and in the extent to which that work is done well and worthy the Jmin.lations of national life will be made more secure and the people will be safeguarded aoainst false leadership. It is in these conditions, too. that a democratic people will best nourish the A uallt^ ''f; I ,' they must rely in enduring and surviving any ordeal that late may impose.