Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1939. UNITY IN TIME OF WAR.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 November 1939, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESD AY, NOVEMBER 29, 1939. UNITY IN TIME OF WAR.

TN his broadcast, last Sunday evening the Prime Minister (Mr (Mr Savage) had a good deal to say on the subject o unity and co-operation in a period of war emergency. Inevitably, perhaps, his observations were cast in terms so genera as to offer little in the way of a specific lead or guidance W mle he maintained that national unity was not to be bought by a people’s Government by the abandonment of its domestic policy, Mr Savage acknowledged freely and indeed afiirmec that? “In time of war there is room, as there is need, tor accommodation between a Government and those who oppose its domestic policy” and that: “Mutual concessions, reciprocal restraints, are as feasible as they are desirable. As a statement of working principle this will command ready approval. So, too, will his observations on the. subject of a moderate use of powers conferred by, lar-reaelung wai regulations. It is one thing, however, to agree on principle and another thing Io find a basis of working agreement In the valuation of details, differences of opinion are bound to arise. Mr Savage made some attempt to define the basis that is needed when he said that a Government ought certainly to abstain from enlarging its powers on the pretext that these are necessary for the successful carrying on of the war, and that on the other hand opponents of the Government’s domestic policy ought to abstain from attacking developments of that poliex which would have come about even if there had been no war. In working practice, however, there is no hope of attaining complete agreement on the question of what extensions of governing power really are necessary. Some current aspects of the Government’s policy—notably the refusal of an explicit assurance that the commandeer of export produce is to be purely a war measure—have awakened genuine opposition and fears for the future on the part of a numerous section of the community. Questions of this kind can only'be settled ultimately by an appeal to the people, who make and unmake governments. There is no possibility, even in the great national and international emergency in which we are now involved, of bringing to a smooth settlement and adjustment even the principal questions on which those more or less politically opposed are divided. In the end these questions must be put to a democratic test. Meantime an extended liberty of action necessarily is conceded to a Government which is in office by the votes of a majority of the electors. Far as many people may be from agreeing with this or that detail of what the Government has done or proposes to do, there is no doubt, that national unity and co-operation in the extent to which they are possible are demanded fairly as a duty that no section of the community can justly evade. No sacrifice is demanded, or is likely to be demanded of other members of the community that can be held to outweigh the sacrifice of the men who are facing death, or a worse fate, in order to defend their country and the Empire and uphold the cause to which the Allies are pledged.* If political differences cannot be obliterated, there should at least be a sufficient impetus to ungrudging co-operation in the consideration that our first duty is to support and second worthily the efforts of our fighting forces and that when the war is over, the greatest of all our obligations will he to see that the men who return from the war and those dependent on them get fair treatment. Whatever we may think individually of this or that aspect or detail of the policy of the Government, there is a wide field for practical co-operation in war effort and in preparing to cope with the problems that will arise after the war. The Alinister of Labour (Mr Webb) has said that efforts are being made to transfer men from public works to the improvement of farm lands and bringing them into production and that :— The aim was to develop industries and bring land into cultivation and be prepared tn absorb immigrants from Britain after the war. The Prime Minister, in the broadcast already referred to. declared that the Government needed and admitted that it needed the best, services of all its citizens and that it had received and welcomed the co-operation of men of proved ability and experience. Much may be done to develop and extend co-operation on these lines even if political differences needs must remain unsettled. It is bound to be recognised, however, that there are legitimate, differences of opinion on policy and method between those who are of one mind in supporting a loyally united war • effort. Attempts to stifle legitimate discussion are an unwarranted and indefensible use of power, and particularly of emergency power. The unity in essentials to he sought ami promoted in this country by every possible means is the unity of a free people. At the same time, plainly mischievous attempts to stir up dissension and sectional feeling, from whatever quarter they come, ought Io be condemned by all right-thinking men and women, not only in time of. war, but at any time,