WAR DEMANDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 November 1939, Page 6

WAR DEMANDS

PREMIER ON THE NEED FOR UNITY BROADCAST LAST EVENING. CALL FOR SUSTAINED EFFORT. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Confidence in the ultimate success of the Allied cause, together with a warning not to underrate the military strength of the enemy, were two points made by the Prime .Minister in a broadcast address last night. Victory, 3.1 r Savage said, was a prize that must be worked for and fought for. “Because there has so far been no clashing on a vast scale of Allied and enemy forces, some people have been suggesting, till the last day or two at least, that there was no war on.” said Mr Savage. "Perhaps the recent sinkings have opened their eyes. There is a war on, make no mistake about that; and a very grim and real war it is for the men who are fighting it. It is true that the strategy on both sides has so far been rather different from what is was in the last war, and it is this difference that has tended to create the impression that hostilities were at a standstill. ALLIED STRATEGY. “I am not a student of war. but I imagine that if it be the plan of Britain and France to wait as long as they can behind strong positions in the field while gradually tightening the blockade and strengthening their air arm. no sounder strategy could be devised. Whatever the Nazi rulers may profess to the contrary, Germany cannot stand up indefinitely to the blockade. Time is working inexorably against her. and well she knows it. Hence the infamy of the secretly-sown magnetic mine, which has taken so heavy and indiscriminate a toll of shipping during the last week. Like all surprises, it may achieve results for a time; but it will not be decisive. When it is known that an assassin is abroad his days are numbered. “Let us not,, however, underrate the military strength of the enemy. Germany was secretly re-arming long before Hitler came to power. Since then half of the national income has been devoted to armaments. We may be sure that they will be used: and that no devilry in the varied and abundant Nazi repertory will be omitted Or discarded. “Nor should we cherish too sanguine hopes of an early breaking of the German morale. That it will crack in the end, if we ourselves remain in deadly earnest, I have no doubt whatever. But it is very far from that just at present. Doubters there are in Germany, of course; and enemies of Hitlerism, also, but their hands are not on the levers. Their contribution to the restoration of sanity, moderation and balance in their country will be made only when we have created the necessary conditions of disillusionment and disenchantment. For the great mass of the German people those conditions do not yet exist. THE PRICE OF VICTORY. “I say these things only that we may not deceive ourselves into imagining that victory is just round the corner, and will be achieved merely by a demonstration, lasting for a month or two, of our disapproval of Nazidom. “In order to win we must stick io it with stout hearts as our fathers did. time and time again, in days gone by. Our resources of men and of materials are more than sufficient to bring us victory—if we have the courage and the resolution to use them. I say it deliberately, because it must never be forgotten that a just cause does not, of necessity, attract victory. Triumphs in the past do not inevitably lead to triumphs in the future. Victory is the reward of effort—it is a prize that must be worked for and 1 ought for. We cannot just wish or talk ourselves into it. FREEDOM THROWN AWAY. “Nazi Germany is not merely a menace to the freedom of the world. She is also a tragic reminder that freedom and the right of self-government may be lost. She had freedom; out recklessly, in dissension and disunion, she threw it away. "Warned by her example, let us guard well the national unity that is essential io our democracy. Let us preserve the mutual tolerance and forbearance. the good temper and moderation that have, in the main, hitherto marked the conduct by New Zealanders of their public as well as their private affairs. "Undoubtedly, there is among us unity in the sense that we al‘e agreed on the nature and the justice of our cause. 1 may call that intellectual unity. It is essential, of course, but it is not enough. "There must also be a moral unity —a oneness of heart and will, of feeling and purpose." said Mr Savage. "We must all feel that we are striving toward the one great and essential end. knit together by bonds of friendship and common interest —like the members of a happy and united family. Have we got that kind of unity'.'”